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The Aura Trio, also called Yggdrasil Trio, XYZ Trio or Mortality Trio, are fan terms used to refer to three powerful Legendary Pokémon of the Kalos region: Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde. They are considered the beings of life, destruction and order respectively.
Contrary to the main pattern of legendary trios; this trio, at least one of them Zygarde, has a different base stat distribution total. Xerneas and Yveltal have a base stat total of 680. Zygarde, on the other hand has different base stat distribution and total for each of its forms.
The trio was themed after the concept of mortality, order, or equilibrium of life and death; and are named after the last three letters of the alphabet or the axes of the Cartesian coordinate system. Xerneas is considered the being of life, having said to have shared eternal life, and exudes a revitalizing aura; Xerneas also represents the letter X. Yveltal is known as the being of destruction, possessing the reputation of a destructive nature; Yveltal represents the letter Y. Zygarde, their internal trio master, is renowned as the being of balance, it is said to have monitoring the ecosystem. And when the ecosystem falls into disorder, Zygarde unleashes its true power; Zygarde represents the letter Z.
The abilities of this trio only interacts when only these three are in battle, Xerneas with Fairy Aura, Yveltal with Dark Aura and Zygarde 50% forme, with Aura Break. In Pokémon Rumble World, there is a title that can be earned through befriending these Pokémon. The title is called "Aura Traveller." Thus the name Aura Trio.
Mythology
The Legend of X, Y, and Z
As seen in The Legend of X, Y, and Z!, the three Legendary Pokémon have guarded the equilibrium of mortality in the Kalos region since ancient times. In the story of Jan and Aila, these Pokémon were involved. Jan was in love with Aila, despite their different social status, with Jan at the lower tiers of society and Aila being wealthy. Yveltal ever since have caused multiple destructive deeds in their village. To be proof of Jan's love, Aila's father sent him to a quest to slay Yveltal, to put an end to the village's suffering. One day, Jan said his plan to Aila and set off. Not even a kilometer of journeying, Yveltal appeared in front of Aila. Jan rushed back and the Pokémon's attention turned to the man. Yveltal was about to beam Jan but Aila intervened to protect him. In return, Aila petrified as she received Yveltal's beam. Jan berated in grief of Aila's petrification. He seeked the help of Olympica, the village's mage. Olympica said that to restore Aila's normal state, he would have to seek Xerneas, the Legendary Pokémon of life. For years, Jan seeked Xerneas in hope to restore Aila. Meanwhile, in a nearby country, Veofum, a greedy king, wanted to forcibly harness Xerneas' power to make his country more fertile. Veofum's troops seeked Xerneas and encountered it in its tree form, so they unrooted it and brought it to the kingdom. Xerneas would not help Veofum, so Veofum tried to burn it in thinking that it is worthless. Jan arrived at odds in Veofum's kingdom. He tried to stop the burning of the tree, but to no avail. Zygarde's cells saw the tragic event and transformed into a 50% forme Zygarde. Zygarde's wrath brought the king and his troops to their demise, while Jan and Xerneas were left safe. Xerneas pronged away even if it saw Jan seeking for help. Jan returned to his village, now deserted and barren with only the Lady Statue, Aila, left. He just dedicated his life to restoring the village to its fertile state. The village grew, with some people returning. A drought struck the area. Xerneas appeared and revitalized the village, making every plant and tree flourishing. Still, Aila hasn't been unpetrified. Jan stayed with Aila as the years passed by and died by her side. To this day, Aila's Statue is still not unpetrified.
Evidences/Origins
There are two theories that show evidence of the trio being interrelated:
3-dimensional coordinate system Theory
During an interview with Ken Sugimori, Pokémon X and Y's Art Director, he revealed that the legendaries were based on the axes of the Cartesian coordinate system, apt with the first games to use fully fledged 3D graphics in the Pokémon game core series. The x-axis is spread horizontally, which reflects Xerneas' residence on land, the y-axis is positioned vertically, or pointing upwards, which reflects Yveltal's avian feats. The z-axis, only present when graphing 3-dimensional figures, means depth; reflecting Zygarde's residence underground.
Yggdrasil Theory
In Norse Mythology, there exists the world tree, Yggdrasil, which holds all the realms of the said continuity. There are beasts that reside in the said tree, there are deer in Asgard, an hawk on top of the tree, and a serpent in Midgard.
The deer, namely Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Durathrór, are four stags that gnaw on the branches of Yggdrasil, the reason why Xerneas has four differently coloured pairs of horns. There are some rumors circulating that these 4 stags have their horns the color of Xerneas', but no evidence shows this feature. Another deer, called Eikthyrnir, is a stag that stands on Valhalla, and grazes on the foliage of the tree of Læraðr. As Eikthyrnir feeds on this tree, drips of water flow from its horns, and provides water to the beings of Yggdrasil -- whereas water also symbolizes life, so Xerneas' design might have drawn inspiration from it.
The hawk, Vedrfolnir, sits between the eyes of another bird, an unnamed eagle. They sit on top of the Yggdrasil, giving the squirrel, Ratatosk, gossips to bring to Nidhogg. Another avian being in Norse Mythology is Hraesvelgr, or the Corpse Swallower, is a jotunn that takes form of an eagle, sits at the "end of the world" or the northern part of the sky. This may be the inspiration for Yveltal's design.
The serpent, Jormungandr, also called the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, is a serpentine creature that is a child of Loki, along with its siblings, Fenrir and Hel. Zygarde 50% forme may be a reference to Jormungand, as keeps the world in balance, wrapping the world's circumference with its huge body.
Zygarde 10% forme may be inspired by Fenrir, a monstrous canine. The green scarf-like structure on Zygarde 10% forme's neck might be a reference to Gleipnir, a dwarven rope made to bind the canine until Ragnarok.
And finally, Zygarde Complete forme may take reference to Hel, God of the Norse Underworld or Helheim, "Land of the Dishonorable Dead." Hel is commonly depicted as half of its body (lengthwise) is alive, and another half is either rotting flesh or a skeleton. This makes sense to Zygarde Complete Forme's blue and red markings on either side, representing life (Xerneas) and destruction (Yveltal), maintaining its theme of balance and order, an equilibrium between mortality. Zygarde's dwelling underground might also have been inspired by the Nidhogg, a dragon that lives under Midgard.
See more info about the origins of the Pokémon of the trio:
Movesets
Base stat comparison
In the games
Pokémon X & Y
Xerneas and Yveltal are the version mascots of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y respectively. They both appear in Team Flare's HQ in Geosenge Town, in which the villianous team uses the powers of the legendary Pokémon to power the Ultimate Weapon created by AZ. Xerneas or Yveltal will awaken from their dormant formes (Xerneas as the Tree of Life and Yveltal as the Cocoon of Destruction) when first encountered. When defeated, the player will battle the Pokémon again and capture the legendary Pokémon depending on game version. The two are required to be captured to battle Lysandre.
Zygarde 50% can be found in the deepest dungeon in Terminus Cave, or the so-called Zygarde's Chamber. If defeated, it will flee and could be encountered again after battling the Elite Four.
Pokémon Sun & Moon
Zygarde's other formes, 10% and Complete Forme, and the two basic components, Core and Cell, are to debut in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.
In the anime
Xerneas and Yveltal made their debut in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, being two major parts of the movie. Carbink elder Dace tells Diancie to seek for Xerneas' help. Diancie, being the Princess of the Diamond Domain, has a responsibility in maintaining the balance of its ecosystem by making a new Heart Diamond. The problem is Diancie lacks the power to create a stable Heart Diamond, so it seeks for Xerneas' Fairy Aura, which can revitalize energy. As Diancie's journey begins, it bumped into Ash and his friends, and later on they accompanied Diancie in its pursuit of Xerneas. As the team pursue the legendary Pokémon, theives Merilyn Flame, Ninja Riot, Argus Steel and Millis Steel are also in pursue of Diancie to take advantage of its ability to create diamonds. The team catches a moment with Xerneas and bathed under its Fairy Aura. Xerneas then tells Diancie that Fairy Aura is not what it needs, but there is a power inside Diancie. The chase winds up to Allearth Forest and the activity of every person awakened and enraged the Cocoon of Destruction, Yveltal. Yveltal goes on a rampage and fires Oblivion Wing all over the place, petrifying the villains and their Pokémon. Yveltal gains on the team, continually firing harmful beams that triggered an extreme emotion within Diancie, enabling it to Mega Evolve, harnessing its true power. Ash's Pikachu starts to petrify as its tail was hit by a beam earlier. Before it completely petrifies, Xerneas appears and battles Yveltal, and its mere presence appears to quell Yveltal's rage. Yveltal them fled calmly away from the forest. Xerneas used its Fairy Aura to revitalize the forest, revive the Pokémon and people petrified, including Pikachu. Xerneas then transforms into its dormant form and will look over Allearth Forest for the next thousand years.
Xerneas made its TV episode debut in Foggy Pokémon Orienteering!, where Ash and friends caught a short glimpse of it without knowing what it is because of the thick fog.
Zygarde is the central figure of the Pokémon XY&Z season of the anime. Zygarde Complete Forme is to make its debut in Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel.
Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde made their debut as a trio in XYS05.
For more information about the character, visit:
In the manga
In the movie adaptations
Main article: Xerneas (M17)Xerneas and Yveltal appear in the manga adaptation of the first XY series movie, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Main article: XerxerXerneas in its Active Mode, debuted in An X-cuse to Come Out and Play , alongside Yveltal. The two faced each other in a battle, which caused chaos and destruction in Vaniville Town. The two eventually stopped fighting and returned to their dormant tree and cocoon states, which were sought after by Team Flare to power their ultimate weapon. Later after being revived from its tree form, it took on its Neutral Mode. Afterwards, it befriended and was caught by Y and is nicknamed Xerxer. When Malva arrives and reveals that she had captured Yveltal, the two nearly clashed again before Xerosic stopped them stating that Lysandre ordered a ceasefire as the powers of the two would cause an endless war. Xerxer agrees with this and escaped carrying Y and her friends. While contained in its Pokéball, it can speak telepathically with Y.
Zygarde debuts in the X & Y arc. It was first mentioned by Blue, who aimed to find it in order to stop the endless battle between Xerneas and Yveltal. It appeared in person at Anistar City, where it was sought after by Essentia, who aimed to capture it for Team Flare. When X and Y battle Essentia in order to retrieve Y's stolen Xerxer, Zygarde appeared before them and attacked before Essentia manages to successfully capture it.
Trivia
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