Veilstone's Myth

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The Outrage

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Please bear in mind that this is a discussion of the meaning of a story and not whether it is or is not actually true. DO NOT POST "IT IS JUST A MYTH AND ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TAKEN AS TRUTH"

Veilstone's Myth

A young man, callow and foolish in
innocence, came to own a sword.
With it, he smote Pokémon, which gave
sustenance, with carefree abandon.
Those not taken as food, he
discarded, with no afterthought.
The following year, no Pokémon
appeared. Larders grew bare.
The young man, seeking the missing
Pokémon, journeyed afar.
Long did he search. And far and wide,
too, until one he did find.
Asked he, "Why do you hide?"
To which the Pokémon replied...
"If you bear your sword to bring
harm upon us, with claws and
fangs, we will exact a toll.
"From your kind we will take our
toll, for it must be done.
"Done it must be to guard ourselves
and for it, I apologize."
To the skies, the young man shouted
his dismay.
"In having found the sword, I have
lost so much.
"Gorged with power, I grew blind
to Pokémon being alive.
"I will never fall savage again.
This sword I denounce and forsake.
"I plead for forgiveness,
for I was but a fool."
So saying, the young man hurled the
sword to the ground, snapping it.
Seeing this, the Pokémon disappeared
to a place beyond seeing...

So Bulbapedia claims this is about Giratina merely because of the last line "the Pokémon disappeared to a place beyond seeing..." and because Veilstone is the closest to the Fourth Lake of Sinnoh. However, the story itself seems more like the Sinnoh Region's Myth which tells the player character of why Pokemon appear in the grass. This storyseems to be talking more about why Pokemon always attack whenever the appear.

"If you bear your sword to bring
harm upon us, with claws and
fangs, we will exact a toll.
"From your kind we will take our
toll, for it must be done.
"Done it must be to guard ourselves
and for it, I apologize."

According to the story, the Pokemon attack all humans in retribution to what that young man had done to them, a distrust built between humans and Pokemon. The Sinnoh Region Myth speaks of how human and Pokemon lived with each other in peace and harmony, but it seems as though this person had ruined that. If this is the case, then it does make sense as to why the Pokemon apologize to having to guard themselves. Now if this Pokemon were refering to Giratina alone, it is not likely that it would be apologizing. From what we've seen, Giratina is supposed to be a viscious creature, being the renegade.

So people havr apparantly interpreted this as Giratina because it takes place in Veilstone, however it could just be a mere coincidence and the young man in this story may have been from Veilstone aswell. This last line is probably what people interpret as difinitive proof that it is Giratina:

Seeing this, the Pokémon disappeared
to a place beyond seeing...

However, note the line before this:

So saying, the young man hurled the
sword to the ground, snapping it.

This is the young man giving up the battle against the Pokemon, our equivalent of the "Run" option. The Pokemon disappearing to a place beyond seeing is probably just a reference to the Pokemon just disappearing after we choose to run away. After all, these Pokemon have reason to fight this man, ye they don't, and that's because he has surrendered. When we encounter a wild Pokemon, they always fight, but we always have the option to run, and they never stop us showing that they are only fighting out of self defense. Just as the Pokemon of the legend had said: If you bear your sword to bring harm upon us, with claws and fangs, we will exact a toll. By choosing the "Run" option, we aren't bearing our sword, so the Pokemon do not exact their toll.

So what do you guys think? Story about Giratina or why wild Pokemon attack on sight but never stops you, now matter how high their level is when you run away?
 
Well, I think, for starters, it's very interesting how you were able to point this out.

However, I'm not so sure about a few things, like the 'Run' option doesn't always work. If Pokemon are simply there to defend themselves and we haven't attacked them, then why would they stay to fight a retreating opponent?

Other than that, I really think that this isn't just about Giratina, but other Pokemon as well as you have stated in your post. I also agree that that's why Pokemon do hide in the grass, but attack us when we walk out into their territory. However, I also think it may just be because, after all, it is their territory and wild animals do protect their territory.

There's only one problem with this. Previous games that were out way before Diamond and Pearl always had Pokemon hide in tall grass, and I'm fairly certain they didn't think 10 years into the future to come up with this. But I've been wrong before.

Thank you for this very interesting post! =]
 
Obviously they didn't think ten years into the future. The creators were probably just sitting around a table and were like "Hey, why don't we use this as one of the myths and also explain why Pokemon are always out to fight you but let you go if you run!"

ShinjiLover said:
However, I'm not so sure about a few things, like the 'Run' option doesn't always work. If Pokemon are simply there to defend themselves and we haven't attacked them, then why would they stay to fight a retreating opponent?
Click to expand...

I never said they would attack a retreating opponent, I said that's why they wouldn't.

Oh yeah, I remember now. Higher level Pokemon don't let you escape, which is why I always wind up killing them after rather than just running away.

It still makes way more sense than the Pokemon being Giratina.
 
That's true, I guess. I didn't even think about them 10 years in the future trying to think of an explanation.

I know you didn't say they would attack a retreating opponent, but sometimes they do is what I'm trying to say. I'm sorry if I worded it in a weird way.
 
This is very interesting, and I'm glad you posted because I probably would have never put so much thought into it had you not pointed it out.

I don't think it's about Giratina at all, honestly. I think your explanation or something similar to it is much more accurate.
 
Yeah I wanted extra opinions before I went and changed it on Bulbapedia. Everytime I read their analysis on that myth, I keep going "Why Giratina?"
 
I also removed it as soon as Platinum came out, as the description of it in Platinum's Pokedex implied that it was sealed away for far longer than the time period the Veilstone Myth took place in.

EDIT: Ok, my mistake, I only added in a footnote that places doubt in it.
 
Last edited:
On a side note, there is a plot hole in the Veilstone myth. From my understanding, the city is fairly new, being built after the mountain it was on was completely mined out and removed for a city.

Should atleast mention what that myth was actually about though.
 
I never thought about it like that. I may also point out that this may be why people do not take up arms against pokemon, either. (I speak of game canon and not otherwise)
 
You did create an interesting theory, and it makes sense for the most part. However, the last line leads me to believe it was a legendary Pokemon. Either Giratina, Arceus, or possibly Mew.
 
My guess is that the story is supposed to represent what happens when you misuse Pokémon. Harmony gets disrupted and schisms occur, such as this one between Pokémon and humans. However, it doesn't mean that this schism is permanent.

As for why it's called "Veilstone's Myth"... it could be a reference to Team Galactic, who wish to misuse Pokémon in the same way as the young man from the legend.
 
PDL said:
As for why it's called "Veilstone's Myth"... it could be a reference to Team Galactic, who wish to misuse Pokémon in the same way as the young man from the legend.
Click to expand...

Judging by the apparent time frame of the book, Team Galactic hasn't existed yet by then.
 
Hmmm...does seem to make a lot of sense, because in the 11th movie, isn't Giratina quite territorial when Dialga enters it's realm, a sign that it's quite peaceful? Or is it just attacking it for no apparent reason? Other than that, it still does make sense that it disappears into a place beyond seeing.
 
Palkia and Dialga started killing each other for absolutely no reason, and they're supposed to be separate personas of the same being.

Its obviously not Giratina since the Pokemon in the story is in plural form, note the Pokemon reffering to themselves as "us" and "we"
 
Please note: The thread is from 17 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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