Stolen Plates

While plates can make champions extremely powerful forces of nature, they are not immune to hardship. While players have yet to identify Pokémon with a stolen plate, the below details are common knowledge and known to the world about what it means to steal a plate and the consequences of doing so.

How plates have been stolen
There are several stories of how champions have lost their plates to other Pokémon. The most common stories often detail champions fighting for the balance of the world and getting hurt in the process. While hurt, the plate is taken from them by unsavory individuals. One example of this was with the Largo the Giving losing his plate after saving the world from a meteor. His jealous siblings had stolen it from him after the meteor had weakened him, creating the nightmarish champion Rayquaza, the two headed beast.

Another common way has been through trickery and the betrayal of trust. Raikou had given up her plate to a kingdom in desperate need of it with the condition that it be returned. The Queen of Alipam refused and so the Plate of Plains has remained in Alipam for some time.

There is also a story of a Dedenne that managed to steal a plate from the laid back Mew by tricking Mew into exposing it. While incredibly harmful to Mew who perished of old age soon after, the Dedenne has according to legend: “Stole it so they could live long enough to explore the world and it’s many terrible secrets and so they could finally relax wherever they want, without being bullied”. Despite seeming unstable, the Dedenne took on the plates power well and is well known for living in tropical spots and jungles.

There is talk that a few champions had broken their plates down into smaller pieces, beyond what Arceus envisioned. While these smaller pieces severely lowered the plates potential powers, this led to the development of at least two communities with special gifts. Smaller chunks have been passed down like heirlooms and easily lost or stolen over the years.

While not all plates that have changed hands from their original host are done unwillingly, it is not often ideal either way for a plate to be lost to someone who was not picked by Arceus. Arceus seemed to have a great wisdom about the characters of the Pokémon that received her plates, and often times those who replace the originals are not as adapt at handling the influx of power.

The Consequences of Plates
Plates offer a tempting power for those who seek such things, but one would be wise to quell those temptations or they might find themselves with a broken mind and body.

There is no formal documentation of the consequences of owning a plate are, but many myths and cautionary tales have shared ideas about it based on the few mostly factual stories they do know. Below are a few common traits of the stories shared.

Nearly all stories detail the owner getting immense strength and some sort of special power, whether that be over the elements or some supernatural phenomena it seems entirely based on the plates. One consequence of these influx of power is often a loss of control. Unprepared Pokemon will be unable to direct the ability meaningfully and may cause destruction with unrestrained attacks and movement.

Another consequence is the changing of one’s physical body. The plates usually cause a change in the owners physical makeup in order for them to better facilitate and control the powers that are being given. These changes can not be controlled by the plate’s owner and spikes in the emotional stability of the owner has been said to influence the changes. The change can happen slowly over several years, or in sharper and often powerful bursts. There is even a record of two Pokémon who had stolen a plate from their brother together, and in their emotional instability, had cause the plate to fuse them into one body that was incredibly strong but equally unstable. Champions, even when physically changed, often still have a few visible characteristics from their old forms.

The plates have been noted to sometimes change the personalities of the owner, often due to some sort of enhanced perspective. Someone calm and collected might suddenly find themselves manic and rash- unable to think straight with the sights their new power gives them. There is also a more natural observation that sometimes the power just brings out the worst behaviors in the Pokémon who received it and no longer can be held to the morals and laws of normal Pokémon.

The last of the common stories are often tied to the lore of Arceus. It was said that Arceus was born because the Hollow shattered itself to make it happen. Arceus in turn also was said to have shattered under the great energy she was made of, even when she had attempted to prolong the effects by giving some of that energy away with plates. Most believe this curse follows those who hold onto plates. The energy is corrupting and eventually the owner will fall into madness and perish under their own power, repeating the cycle.