I stood there in shock.

‘Tapu Lele really just threw into the portal. What the fuck?!’

All of my Pokémon released themselves, looks of shock and fury mixed amongst them. I sat down, looking at everyone before I realized-

Nautilus wasn’t with the group.

I didn’t recall him with the others and, because of that, he wasn’t dragged along into a separate dimension with me. The rest seemed to notice as well as they scattered a bit in a frantic search for their friend. They all stared at me, worry, fear, and wrathful hate bubbling in their normally mild and light eyes.

Tetsu was on my left, growling as she scanned the area and set up a circle of Leech Seed spores around us. Kippie stood at my right, silently observing the floating staircases and walls that could potentially hide an attacker. Doublade circled overhead, keeping an eye on the dark skies. Larvesta hid in my clothes, watching fearfully at the new environment full of malevolent, violent energies.

We waited with bated breath for several minutes, refusing to relax while we intruded in such a menacing environment. I knew that there was only one Pokémon I could possibly meet here in the Distortion World, and that knowledge was not helping the feeling of dread slowly creeping across my chest.

A crack of black lightning, nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the sky, flashed silently. It was an unnerving phenomenon, seeing such contrast from the normal storm I was used to. While blinding lightning and booming thunder would definitely have scared us, the eerie tranquility felt like a closet hiding the worst of monsters

More black lightning streaked across the sky, unnoticeable if one weren’t paying attention. After almost ten minutes of silence without lightning, the distorted storm had seemingly passed us. In the minute that followed, I could hear the sound of running water. It was faint, but definitely told of a nearby flowing stream or river.

We followed the sound of the water, walking for several minutes through the sparse vegetation of the rocky landscape. We were walking on solid ground, but the area was only as big as a football field. Once we got to the edge, where a plummet into the dark nothing awaited, I could see a small platform in the distance. As it grew closer, I saw it was a moving mass of rock barely larger than a table.

I withdrew everyone save for Doublade since she could float and fly around. I would rather minimize any accidents in unknown territory. Before doing anything myself, I asked her if she could test the moving platform to see if it would hold. After a few minutes of her moving across the floor and giving it a few shoves and Tackles, Doublade confirmed it was safe.

Once the platform was within range again, I jumped onto it and waited for it to take me towards the next little clearing. Here, there were a few more trees with withered berries growing older and more withered with each second. A stream was flowing through this area from one end to the other, ending in a water- rise? What the fuck?

It was one thing to see it in the games, but the water was flowing upwards. From this area to another little mass of rock floating directly overhead, where it kept flowing as another stream. This was worse than the shrooms I had in college. At least then there was a logical reason for seeing weird shit, that being that I was high as fuck.

But no, this waterfall was flowing upwards from my perspective. Up towards the next piece of land that continued out into the twisting purple energy I could only refer to as a void in space. Across from where I was standing, a set of stairs wound their way up, upside down, and just about every other direction on their way to the platform floating above.

I looked at Doublade, whose rather blank face seemed to shrug as she looked between me and the physics-screwing stairs. With a sigh and a gulp, I began my ascent, descent, and sideway walk. It was a weird experience. While I didn’t feel any physical fuckery happening, my mind was definitely not happy with the twisting and winding.

It was like I stared at my phone too long while in a car that was going up a twisting road as fast as possible. Each step brought a wave of nausea that I powered through, miraculously disappearing when I stepped onto the platform that contained what was now a proper waterfall. Once here, Tetsu and Kippie came out to join Doublade and I.

As we continued on our journey, there was an occasional bolt of lightning that streaked across the sky. Each silent minute amped up my nervousness. I’ve been anxiously waiting for Giratina to appear. In the games, Giratina showed up after you’ve reached the end of the Distortion World dungeon. But that was in the games.

As we got to the water, Kippie automatically jumped in and inspected it. After a quick scolding for not being careful and potentially jumping into a river of toxic antimatter or something similar, Kippie told me the water was safe to drink. While I had enough in my bag to last about two weeks, it was better to have an extra source. I hoped we could confirm a source for food soon.

At the end of this platform, there was a weird ring of fluctuating energy. Up about 8 meters in the sky, another landmass was waiting. This one, however, was on its side. I could see the “bottom” of the land, its rocky and jagged surface looking like the wall of a crevice. Tetsu looked me in my eyes, giving me a reassuring look before nudging me forward.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I stepped into the ring and felt like I had stepped into a room full of jelly. I felt a soft, firm energy pressing against my skin. It was pressuring, but definitely uncomfortable. Thinking back to the games, I decided to jump up. As I went up, my brain and eyes felt like I had always been looking forward. When I looked back, I could see Tetsu and the rest standing sideways like Spider-Man.

Kippie jumped forward in excitement, straightening her arms and legs out in a Superman pose. She landed on her feet, arms up and a giddy smile plastered on her face. It definitely looked weird to see her jump out and land in a different direction because I know it didn’t feel like my spatial positioning changed.

With the Tetsu also jumping over, and Doublade just floating across, we began our trek along this next platform. It was much wider and longer than the previous ones, and had a sparsely packed forest. Hidden behind one of the trees was a hazy figure. From a distance, it looked like a wispy human.

As we approached, the figure looked more like a ghost, its monochrome coloration standing out in the dark area. It reminded me of those movies that used monochrome or sepia tones for flashback scenes. Actually, that was a more apt description, especially with the glowy, hazy effect around it.

The figure, which we now saw was a Pokémon was moving around the area and casually passing through trees as if they weren’t there. It took me a moment to identify it, cause I had only ever gotten one of them in Pokémon Shield, but the Marshadow seemed engrossed in its own training.

Marshadow seemed to be shadowboxing, stopping every few hits to look to its right for several seconds before continuing, better than before. We had stopped so we could observe Marshadow, though I was the only one who wasn’t tensed up and ready to spring into action.

A branch fell from a tree closer to us, resulting in a comedic BOOM, though the way Marshadow’s head snapped right towards us made my body shiver at the sudden movement. He could see us, but he wasn’t fully present in the dimension in the way we were. Before any of us could react, Marshadow disappeared. Another hazy figure, this one a regular Rattata. It scurried around in a panic, looking everywhere as if someone had taken it out of its home and placed it in the middle of a forest.

More figures kept appearing and disappearing in the forest. Most were Pokémon. Several humans showed up in a confused daze. Celebi and Mew both flew around in joy while they played a game of tag as they appeared and disappeared sporadically. At one point, Celebi gave me a wink as they flew by laughing.

I guess this weird distortion in reality is to be expected, but I wonder what happened to those Pokémon and people. I understand Celebi and Mew jumping between the dimensions, as well as Marshadow traveling in between and hiding. But those regular Pokémon and people were aware that they weren’t in their normal world. I could see it in their fear and confusion.

Before I could think any further, a ball of crackling purple and black flew past us and hit the ground in a mini explosion of energy. Another came speeding toward me, but Kippie used Water Pulse to cancel it out. A freezing breeze of Icy Wind swept against us, one that Kippie was able to counter with Blizzard.

Three Pokémon stepped out from the trees: Houndoom, Honchkrow, and Weavile. Houndoom released a torrent of flames from its maw as Weavile disappeared from its place. Kippie waited until the Flamethrower was nearly upon us to release a powerful concentrated Water Gun, effectively canceling out the stronger move.

Doublade shifted in place and slammed one of her swords down with a Brick Break, sending Weavile back in order to avoid the hit. Doublade then entered a fast-paced dance of Slash and Night Slash with Weavile, both trying to outpace the other.

Honchkrow flew into the air, only to be sent tumbling back down by Tetsu’s Gravity. Before Tetsu could assist the others with the same move, Honchkrow sent out a wave of sweltering heat. As Tetsu dodged, a barrage of Night Slashes and Psychic waves kept her on her spikes. The concentration on avoiding the super-effective Heat Wave caused her Gravity to falter, allowing Honchkrow access to the sky.

Kippie and Houndoom were still in a showdown, with Kippie’s Water Gun having turned into a powerful Hydro Pump that easily stalemated the massive Inferno of flames spewed out by Houndoom. It would be a battle of stamina, one that Kippie was prepared for.

Doublade and Weavile were still going back and forth, each one easily dodging super-effective hits while slowly racking up injuries with neutral attacks. I wasn’t worried about Doublade because I trusted her abilities and skills. I knew she would come out on top.

While I was observing the battles, something felt off. I recognized these Pokémon as belonging to Cyrus, the Team Galactic boss. However, I only saw three. I was sure there was one more, but I couldn’t remember if I was right on that hunch. I released Larvesta, trusting her instincts better than my own.

I asked her to charge up a Protect and have it ready just in case we were attacked. I looked all around, trying to find the fourth possible attacker. I remembered Cyrus having either a Gyarados or Houndoom in the games, so Gyarados could be the other. But Gyarados was as sneaky as an earthquake in a major city.

As the battles went on, the feeling of something watching me grew palpable. Larvesta was squirming around and I could feel the energy he was charging for Protect grow unsteady. Just as I thought the feeling of unease would continue growing, it snapped.

Larvesta used Protect as I whirled around, keeping him on my back and away from the danger. A bulky Crobat loomed over us, having slammed into the shield while trying to get the drop on us. Before it could leave, I grabbed one of the smaller wings near its legs. Crobat’s yellow bloodshot eyes stared daggers into me, its red pupils telling me it suffered a great loss.

I pulled down and would have ripped out the wing if Crobat hadn’t let itself be dragged down. A silver tint encompassed the upper wings, to which I retaliated with a kick. I sent Crobat tumbling across Doublade’s battle, interrupting Weavile’s Night Slash. This allowed Doublade to land a Brick Break right on top of its head with a sickening crack.

Seeing their teammates being brought down made Houndoom and Honchkrow fight with more fervor. However, they soon slipped up and made mistakes that Tetsu and Kippie punished them for. With an Iron Head to the neck and a Rock Slide on its hind legs, both opponents were knocked out.

With grievous injuries among the attacking party, the fight was over. Before I could start to question them, or at least try to, a man stumbled out from the sparse forest. He was a nearly skeletal version of a human that I almost mistook for an actual skeleton Pokémon. However, his pale blue hair and Team Galactic uniform told everything I needed to know.

After nearly five years in the distortion world, Cyrus was still alive. He slowly made his way towards us, barely able to lift his legs in order to move. He stood strong once in front of me, however. His sunken face was a stark contrast to the fierce look in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” his hoarse voice carrying the unease that was hidden in his expression. I didn’t immediately reply. How could I? Cyrus was still alive, even if it was just barely.

“I don’t know,” I answered, watching him carefully. I couldn’t be too sure that he was any saner than before, especially since he had apparently been stuck here for years.

“I guess it makes sense that you accidentally made your way to this utopia. How could anyone find such a perfect world and be given access to it by the Great One,” Cyrus muttered, his eyes and voice becoming more energetic and passionate. I guess maybe he lost another screw or two.

Cyrus recalled his Pokémon into their Pokéballs, each one worn and faded. Cyrus then sat down and closed his eyes, seemingly comfortable enough to leave himself wide open. Tetsu and the rest shared a look before coming over to my side and getting comfortable, though they didn’t drop their guard one bit.

After a fight like that, I knew they were bound to be hungry. While the cookies were great for short fights or quick boosts, they were nothing compared to a complete meal and some rest. I set my bag down and grabbed a few items before looking up.

“You wouldn’t mind sharing some food, would you?” asked Cyrus with hungry eyes.