With the curry simmering, I turned back to Cyrus. He was staring at the pot of food as if it were Arceus, or Giratina. It felt odd, cooking for someone who had intended to destroy his world. He hadn’t spoken another word since I agreed to share the food. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk to him, but figured it would be best to learn about this dimension.
“So, how have you survived so long here?” I asked. Cyrus’ face scrunched for a split second.
“It’s been difficult. Especially with the lack of natural resources like food,” Cyrus started. “The Great One, Giratina, has created a utopia where life cannot survive, cannot ruin the beauty of the world. My very presence has thrown this world’s balance off. As such, the world has tried to correct itself by trying to eject me. Gates to the other world of despicable humans have opened to force me to leave.
“Many times, Pokémon, people, and random objects often come through and have brought me what I needed. This time, it has brought you here. Unfortunately, you were much stronger than anticipated and we couldn’t kill you or your Pokémon.”
“...” Did he just imply…?
“You would have killed me and my Pokémon and then eaten us?”
“Naturally. Though, I most likely would have gone through your bag to see if there was anything else we could use. It is only the weakness inherent in human emotions that lead people to misjudge the basic logic and actions that are only natural. I was misjudged in my journey towards the ultimate power, and now you misjudge me for making sure that I could survive in this dimension.”
‘That’s…’
“You know what, that’s actually fair,” I responded. “While I disagree with your view on human emotions being a source of weakness, I can understand where you come from. Now tell me, what do people taste like?”
0-0-0-0
[Nautilus POV, Akala Island]
It’s been four days since that DAMNED Tapu pushed Marco and the rest through the portal, four days since I was separated from my family. I was in shock for several minutes when it happened, then went on a rampage against her.
It took Olivia, Nina, that Kukui guy two days, and being knocked unconscious by the Tapu, before I calmed down enough to not try to attack her. I knew there wasn’t much I could do but hope that Marco and the rest were safe. They probably ended up in that demon’s dimension. I shuddered at the thought of the team being forced to face multiple of those rampaging tyrants.
I’ve thrown myself into training, trying to get strong enough to get past Ana’s Pokémon, who won’t let me enter the portals that open. There have been three so far and her Scizor won’t let me through. Damn bastard.
All I can do is train and get stronger. At least Ana’s Primeape and Sceptile are understanding. They’ve been helping me with my training, beating me with ease and showing me the level I need to catch up to.
0-0-0-0-0
[Elio POV, Alolan Pokémon League]
*sigh*
Why can’t I catch a break?
*knock knock*
“Aw, man. Come in!”
One of the secretaries dropped off a paper before leaving and continuing with their duty. One look at the paper and I knew I was in deep trouble. It was bad enough that Tapu Lele had forced Marco, Professor Sycamore’s Lab Trainer and Calem’s little project, through one of the portals. But now Tapu Koko was causing problems with the Galarian birds.
And Ethan has been spamming my phone with voicemails and memes. I swear, if it weren’t for Professor Elm, I’d have steamrolled him and his team twice over with just Primarina. Sadly, I have to bear his obnoxiousness because the professor is collaborating on important research regarding regional variants and breeding outside of their home regions.
*sigh*
I used to be so carefree and happy during my journey. Day and night, battling and having fun with the team. Getting stronger, keeping the islands safe, and getting myself into all sorts of situations and trouble were the norm.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Now here I am, sitting behind mountains of paperwork getting all this bull from the legendaries and their decisions. That’s not even counting everything I’ve been swamped with regarding these unknown creatures causing chaos throughout the regions.
I wish I hadn’t chosen to be Champion. I’m barely going to turn 17 in two months and I’m the face of the Alola region. I guess… I guess I should cut Ethan-.
*BOOM*
A thunderous boom, followed by a strong rumbling left a bad taste in my mouth. I looked out the window and saw several portals releasing streams of zombie-like people armed with guns and shotguns. I wasn’t worried about them because most people could shrug off a bullet or two.
No, the floating skulls set ablaze worried me. One of them came from a lower floor of the Pokémon League Building and I could see more charging through other buildings. I released Toucannon and had her grab me as she flew in. Each one we passed was taken out by a series of Rock Blasts, each one hitting with a precision only my Toucannon could achieve.
While we were working up in the sky, I released Primarina and Ninetails. Both Alolan natives knew exactly how to keep everyone safe while minimizing damage. Once the skies seemed clear, Toucannon and I joined the other two down on the ground. A new monster appeared, this one similar to what Olivia reported.
I let Lycanroc, Oranguru, and Tsareena out as well. Better safe than sorry, as my mom ingrained in me. Olivia said this ugly mass of flesh and metal was super tough, but it hadn’t met my team yet.
0-0-0-0-0
[Marco POV, Distortion World]
As we ate, Cyrus asked questions about the main dimension. I was surprised at how relaxed I felt at the moment. You’d think being stuck in a different dimension with a madman and devil would leave one shitting himself in anxiety, but no.
Cyrus was like any other Pokémon Trainer I’ve encountered. At least, when he wasn’t talking about his utopia, the relationship between people and Pokémon, or his own ideals. Other than those topics, he was surprisingly good company. Lots of philosophical talk, though.
He wasn’t surprised to hear about the invasion of unknown creatures. It was almost like he expected it.
“Did you expect something similar to happen?” I asked him.
“Not this particular scenario, no,” he answered. “But from what you’ve told me about Alola and Galar, it does not surprise me to hear that some other world has found a way to travel to yours. If the Ultra Beasts, as you call them, were able to do it, it stands to reason that others would be able to as well.
“However, they still pose some sort of threat, so I would imagine the Pokémon League is trying to gauge the strength of the invaders as they find a way to cross over and invade. Have the Champions responded?”
“Not publicly. I’d imagine there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved since none of the invaders have attacked a populated area yet.”
“Yes, politics and delusions of control always slow down the responses of the League. Talking about incompetent governments,” Cyrus commented.
We continued to talk about the politics and governments of the Pokémon world. The fact that we had very similar views on most everything was concerning, but I also had no intention to rule over anything and create a new world order.
Cyrus released his Pokémon and I treated them with some potions. They were also starving, so I whipped up another batch of food. I think I had enough supplies to last all of us, about two or three weeks. It would definitely last me at least a month. As much as I was concerned about Cyrus, he had already expressed that he had no interest in the main dimension and was content with staying here.
His team was definitely weakened by hunger. I wasn’t sure if we could beat them at full power considering he was probably closer to the Elite 4 level at full strength. The next few days, or what felt like a few days, found his team gaining some strength back with proper nutrition, and holy shit did it make a difference.
Tetsu was being stalemated by every single one of his Pokémon, while Kippie and Doublade were beat down mercilessly. I didn’t allow Larvesta to take part in the battles, not that he wanted to.
I did my own training with Larvesta, to which Cyrus paid careful attention to. He was surprised I could fight with my Pokémon and actively partake in their training. He also told me that very few people could take advantage of the innate strength most people had, himself included.
As his team grew stronger, so did my worry that they would kill us and take our supplies.
“You don’t have to worry about me killing you,” Cyrus said out of the blue. I stopped my training with Larvesta and turned to him, a bit wary of the conversation that would follow.
“While it would now be very easy for me to take everything from you, I see no point in doing so. You’ve been amiable enough, haven’t shown the same crude and limited understanding that most people do regarding my views of Pokémon and the world, and your food is delicious.
“I would rather you go back and change the faults you see in the world. You have the potential to do it, seeing as your Pokémon have grown much stronger since our meeting. You have the character, being someone who can befriend others easily and give them a peace of mind. All you need is the determination and resolve to see it through,” he said with such sincerity I had to wonder whether this was the same Cyrus from the games. He just gave me a fucking pep talk.
We spent what felt like a few more days with this… changed dynamic. Cyrus was actively training me and my Pokémon, giving me tips like exposing my Pokémon to all of the energies. The more a Pokémon found itself interacting with a specific energy type, the more resistance the Pokémon gained. This resistance could always be overpowered by sheer strength, but it made a big difference with opponents of similar or lower levels.
He also explained the uses of combination moves. Certain moves were extremely useful when combined with others, like combining the effects of Safeguard and Outrage or Petal Dance. Other combos, like combining Iron Head with other attacks like Aerial Ace, were much more energy intensive and impractical if you didn’t have months to train it.
He became more of a mentor, something I was still processing cause that was just crazy to think about. Two weeks after meeting him, I found myself sitting cross-legged, having lunch with a maniac. Everyone was enjoying the stir-fry I made, especially Cyrus’ Weavile. After lunch, we decided to rest for a bit before getting back into training.
Cyrus raised his head and looked into the dark sky. He looked around, making me a bit nervous at the thought of a potential threat. He then looked at me.
“The Great One is close and shall soon grace us with his presence,” Cyrus said, his eyes gaining a shine to them.
“Do not enrage him, for it shall be the death of us,” he added under his breath.
A gale swept over us and a chill ran down my spine as a shadow encompassed the entire area, cloaking the two of us in an unnatural darkness. I turned around to see a giant gray serpent floating. Its head had a golden crown that curved to look like mandibles, as well as two horns pointing backwards. A black stripe ran vertically along most of its front, with five red horizontal lines crossing along the stripe.
It had several golden spikes that looked like they were supposed to be legs and three golden half rings along each side of its neck. Each half-ring had a black, ethereal tendril with a red spiked tip coming out at the back. The tail had four golden spikes protruding out of it.
I was looking Giratina straight in the eyes, something I wish I hadn’t done. Visions of Pokémon being torn apart, roasted alive, burst open, crushed into nothingness… visions of what Giratina had done before it was banished to this world filled my head, dropping me to my knees. Giratina was forcefully sending this to me, making me see what it truly was: The Pokémon world’s devil.
“You’ve finally arrived, young blood,” a low voice erupted all around. I was surprised by its smoothness, expecting more of a demonic or guttural noise.