I could scarcely believe it. Even after years of work... delving the depths of lore, science and personal consciousness... I don't think I really expected it to work.

But now... now the great Arceus stood before me. His presence seemed to fill every note of silence in the ruins. His towering form radiated a warmth that drove out the cold of the mountain air.

Looking up in awe, I dropped my lens. The culmination of years effort clattered to the stonework like a discarded toy.

I do not know how long I stared into His patient gaze, but eventually I remembered. And so I spoke the words I had practised so many times in the twilight before sleep...

"Will you remove this curse?"

His form was unmoving, spare the gentle swaying of his tail in the breeze. Yet I felt his voice enter my mind. The timber was alien, but comforting; the words unfamiliar, but clear.

<Child,> the voice spoke. <you believe I have not seen you suffer. But nothing could be farther from the truth. I have watched you gain strength in your struggles, and learn not only to overcome, but embrace your circumstances. You have combined the strength of both worlds you have experienced, and used that to achieve something no other has ever done.>

As he looked down, I followed his gaze to the lens lying on ground.Pphantom glimpses of alternate realities still swirled around it, like the refractions of a shattered mirror. Gently I retrieved it, the tool I had used to call Him, the culmination of years mixing human science and pokemon magic. It was as though I were seeing it for the first time.

<You are stronger, wiser, and more adept than you once were, than any who have come before you. Are you sure you want to return to the person you used to be?>

Looking down into the lens clenched in my paws, I thought in silence, eyes fixated on the flickering realities drifting about the surface of the lens. And I thought about all I had learned, about the friendships I had made... and the strength I had found inside of myself... All this time I had been focusing on what I had lost that day, and never realised how much I had gained since. How much would be gone if... if I undid it...

"No..."

The word had barely escaped my lips... when I suddenly became aware I was alone again. I looked up to find the towering figure of Arceus was gone, the ruins empty. In his place, a small yellow pokeball sat motionless on the stonework.

<Take this reflection of myself.> A disembodied voice echoed about the broken pillars <And know I will always be with you.>

Kneeling, I cupped the ball in my paws, turning it over and pondering. The cold of the mountain air had returned, but my fur kept me warm.

And after a minute of thought, I smiled, and began my trek back down the mountain.

(A little story of Kea and gift art from my good frineds Redd and  foxenawolf )