Mark's P.O.V.

"I shouldn't have left alone," I muttered to myself as I watched the gash grow bigger. As I reached the shore of Guardian's Island, the water had suddenly become too shallow for me to travel across and the coral had caught the bottom of the boat and tore it open. I really should have brought a few other people with me, especially Red.

But that was too late. The ship was sinking and there was nothing I could do about it. A few aquatic Pokemon stare at me with an expression of confusion and curiosity. One of them, I could tell, was a Guardian.

"Why do you dare trespass into the land of the Guardians?" Tapu-Fini, the Guardian of Water, asked me. She had a serious expression on her face, one that told me that she was not going to let me pass easily. Her stern look became one of self-doubt when she mumbled to herself, "Who am I kidding? He's not going to understand me. I'm a Pokemon and he's human. Why the heck didn't Arceus allow us to communicate with humans?"

I sighed, knowing that the conversation could get awkward if I didn't handle it correctly. "Look, Tapu-Fini, I can understand you. I... Er, I am Arceus." Her eyes got wide with surprise. "It's a long story that I can't really explain that easily, but..." I trailed off.

"If you're Arceus, prove it," Tapu-Fini demanded stubbornly, crossing her slender, black arms.

With another exasperated exhale, I pulled out my PokeCore. I was about to press the button when Lugia appeared and landed heavily on the still sinking boat. "Tapu-Fini, I believe that the Golden PokeCofre is enough evidence. Arceus, what brings you here?"

I strained to remember what the Council had told me to say. When I came up with what I thought was a reasonable response I replied, "Lugia, I would like to see Hoopa if that doesn't trouble you."

Suddenly, a short burst of laughter emitted from behind me. Turning around, I could see Celebi, who was rolling uncontrollably on the floor as he laughed. "Oooh. Dialga was right when he said you were a newbie. Goodness! Your personality is so... So formal and laid back! The previous Creator was much more serious than you are," he sat up, wiping tears from his face, "excuse me for my sudden burst of laughter. I'm guessing you don't even have a clue what a Guardian is?"

I thought about it for a couple of minutes, looking from Tapu-Fini to Lugia, then Celebi, then back to the Tapu. "Guardians are Pokemon that protect the elements of the earth, right?"

Lugia shook his head. "No, that's only part of it. Guardians were once Gods but were one day rejected and given a somewhat less important, yet much needed, role. I could have been the God of the Sky, but Rayquaza already took that position."

"Oh... Well, I'm sorry about that," I said, clearing my throat afterward. "So, um... Is it possible that I could see Hoopa?"

Celebi and Lugia asked in unison, "Why do you need to see Hoopa so badly?"

"The rest of the Council has sent me to retrieve the Shard of Amulet of Chronicles in the human world," I replied seriously. "May I see him?"

Celebi rubbed what would be his chin, then answered, "Yes, you may... This is quite a serious mission they sent you on for somebody that doesn't even know how to be a God," he then led me off the boat and onto the beach.

The island was tiny, with only several buildings made of palm tree leaves, branches, and other materials. They were incredibly small and most of them seemed like they only consisted of one room. Celebi led me to one of the larger buildings. He stopped me at the front of the doorway. "Before you go in, I have to warn you that Hoopa is quite a trickster. He loves pulling pranks."

As we entered, I looked around the inside of the building. There was a bed that was constructed with small branches and palm tree leaves, similar to the roof. To the left of the bed, there was a cloth of some sort that acted as a door. A flat rock lay in the middle of the room, acting as a table. Several coconut halves lay on the table, providing as bowls. A larger, wooden bowl lay in the center, holding a variety of berries.

Hoopa entered through the door that led to the other room. Hoopa was a lot smaller than I expected, especially after hearing all those myths about him as a child. He stared at me for several seconds before speaking. "Celebi, who is this?"

I cleared my throat, then introduced myself. "Hoopa, my name is Mark Oak, but you may-" I was interrupted by Celebi, who glared at me for a couple of seconds before replying to Hoopa.

"He's Arceus, and he has very important business to deal with in the human world." Celebi looked around the room casually, then flew over to the bowl of berries. "Are there any razz berries in here? I'm quite fond of the spiciness they have," He continued to dig through the various berries, picking out a few of the red berries before popping them into his mouth.

After hearing Celebi's first statement, Hoopa became very serious at first, then grinned. "Ah, you're the newbie. Well then, I can sure help you get to the human world. Do you know what an Ultra Wormhole is?" I shook my head. "Oh... Well, an Ultra Wormhole is a portal that leads to Ultra Space. Ultra Space is a network of several different dimensions. You would be using Ultra Space to get to the human world if it weren't for MissingNo."

I tried to understand what he was telling me, but I couldn't. I was too confused and, to be honest, just wanted to get the Amulet of Chronicles so that this would be done and over with. "Then how am I going to get to the human world?"

"I was about to get there if you were a little more patient. I can't send you to your destination through Ultra Space, so I'll send you there through one of my rings." Hoopa then reached towards one of his horns and removed two of the rings that wrapped around it. He handed one to me, then walked into the other room.

Hesitating, Celebi motioned his hand, telling me to follow him as he went through the doorway. I followed, moving the fabric out of the way as to make entering the room easier. Hoopa tossed the ring that he had kept to himself. I gasped in awe as the ring expanded, becoming large enough to cover most of the wall that we faced.

Hoopa then looked at me, then shook his head. "This won't do. If you're going to go to a place in which Pokemon don't exist, you're going to have to do away with those ears and tail. Thankfully..." he paused as he took another ring off his other horn and stretched it a little with his other hand. He reached through and pulled out some scissors. "We can cut them off!"

"How about we try something that would be a little less painful? Besides, I need my ears to hear," I laughed awkwardly as Hoopa pushed the scissors back into the ring. He grinned impishly at me, then giggled in such a way to match his grin. He started to dig through his ring once more.

"In that case... I have an idea. I have somebody over there who told me that live Pokemon don't exist, but they are a popular franchise as video games, card games, and other things," as he said this, he continued to dig through the ring. He soon pulled out a creamy-brown colored jacket that, surprisingly, matched the color of my ears and tail. He handed it to me, then gestured for me to put it on.

"How in the heck..? Where did you get this stuff?" I asked as I slipped the jacket on, then zipped up the zipper. My ears and tail slipped through some holes that were large enough for them to fit in easily, but small enough to make it look like they were part of the hoodie.

Hoopa grinned his devilish grin again. "Oh, I just borrow things from people that won't miss them anymore. I put them in my secret stache, which I can access through my rings. Cool, right?"

"I guess so," I said as I watched Hoopa turn to the ring on the wall and focused on it. As he started doing so, a blue light started to form on the inside of the ring. After a minute, the light in the middle had intensified and seemed to ripple.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, it's ready." Hoopa told me. I stepped towards the portal, when suddenly, from behind me, somebody shoved me. I fell inside of the portal but managed to grab the edge of the ring.

"Hoopa! What did you do that for?" I gasped in fright as I started to lose grip.

"Were you surprised?" Hoopa asked me giggling mischievously as I slipped from the ring's grip and fell down. It was exactly like one of those nightmares where you're falling down a cliff, then wake up right before you hit the ground. Except I wouldn't wake up from this nightmare.