I honestly don’t know where to start.

I write this in my home in Celestic. I used to live in Veilstone, then moved to Jubilife after the events I am about to describe in an attempt to seek familiarity. I found, however, that my once beloved village had turned into a soulless metropolis. Celestic better suited the life I had built for myself, all those years ago.

I suppose I have just started. It’s funny. After so long of silence, so long keeping my secrets to myself… I thought the words would flow. Where do I start? At the fateful beach? My first outing into the wild?

I suppose some context would be of benefit.

I’ll start over forty-six years ago- when I was twenty. Team Galactic’s world-ending plot was at its zenith, and I had been plucked from Veilstone as a potential sacrifice to the demon they planned to summon. I was kept imprisoned in their headquarters and was eventually forced to climb the dangerous cliffs of Mount Coronet with seven other hostages. I had never been so scared in my life. How could these terrorists have gained so much power? How had the League let them do as they pleased? And why was nobody saving us?!

I had later learnt that it had been a trick. The League at the time were sniffing elsewhere. Nobody even thought to look up in the skies…

And so, I was bound and brought uncontested to the peak of Mount Coronet and glared at by a ferocious looking Houndoom whose sole task was to keep us all in line. All of the Team Galactic admins were present. Faces I had only seen in the news up until that point. But there was another man I had not heard of. A man with a face so stern it almost radiated disapproval. He had blue hair- clearly dyed the same colour as his cold eyes- and a countenance that made him look older than he actually was. He was the leader. The well-kept secret that had been running Team Galactic from the shadows.

The man barely glanced over the hostages and I. Even as we wept and begged for our lives. He spoke almost no words, but the admins were calling him ‘Cyrus’. For the most part, he simply stood there and waited, as if he were a tourist taking in the splendour of Spear Pillar.

Spear Pillar was a crumbling temple built atop Mount Coronet- Sinnoh’s tallest peak, as you all know. Large stony pillars rose from an undamaged tiled floor, reaching up high for a roof that simply no longer existed. The achingly cold wind lay a constant assault on the plateau and filled our ears with an ominous howl. The entire continent of Sinnoh was in sight all around us, obscured only by the sullen grey clouds that lay beneath the mountaintop. There were no barricades to stop a fall. If one were to trip up there, a tumbling fall over Coronet’s jagged rocks would send them splattered on the ground far below. The grunts seemed to know this, too, for they all strayed from the edges wherever they could.

Two admins, Mars and Jupiter, had approached their leader. Cyrus remained steadfast and apathetic even as everyone around him shivered in the cold. “The foreign girl is fighting her way past our grunts.”

It was the short redhead, Mars, that had spoken those words. Cyrus didn’t even look at her when he responded. “And the three?”

It was Jupiter who replied. “Will arrive before the girl does.”

Cyrus had deigned to spare her a glance. “Then all is well.”

One of the other hostages whimpered. But I remember feeling a vague sense of hope. A rescuer. From seemingly nowhere. Contrary to Cyrus’s dry confidence, Jupiter decided to err on the edge of caution. She barked at all of the grunts to intercept our rescuer. I had watched with terror in my heart as they all sprinted into the cave behind us.

Almost immediately after the grunts disappeared, six new ones emerged from the same cave, carrying three egg-shaped containers between pairs of two. Amniotic fluid sloshed silently behind the glass walls and I was just able to make out three fairy-like Pokémon within. Each of the three had a red jewel encrusted in their forehead and looked to be in some sort of stasis.

The containers were placed in a triangle formation around Cyrus. A grunt sprinted out of the cave behind and whispered animatedly into Jupiter’s ear. The purple-haired admin then whispered into Cyrus’s ear. The Galactic Boss nodded stiffly. “Begin the ritual!”

I still remember how silent it was for a moment, back then. How the howls and gusts of wind only accentuated it.

Then, the grunts with the three small Pokémon started to turn and twist various nobs and dials on the containers. I felt a terrible pressure bear its weight down on my shoulders. A series of grunts confirmed the others felt the exact same thing. Even Cyrus flinched a little at the feeling. The jewels within the three Pokémon’s foreheads began to shine a deep guttural red.

And then, two black splotches of what I can only describe as darkness appeared on the ground ahead. Both were offset from the centre of Spear Pillar and had the circumference of a house. A blue stream of otherworldly energy poured from the left whilst motes of light-purple specks erupted from the right. The pressure surrounding us intensified. An omnipresent ticking assaulted my ears and I felt the air surrounding me press upon my body as if seeking refuge from whatever was emerging from the dark. I remember crying out and covering my ears.

It was then that a figure burst from the cave. She was dressed in all-white and looked almost bundled within her winter clothes. Brown hair whipped harshly in the wind and she had bright eyes that contrasted her dark skin. A giant Pokémon I didn’t recognise loomed behind her. It was around eight foot high and looked like a strange regional variant of the Unovan Samurott. I saw the girl tense harshly against the intense pressure wafting from Spear Pillar. She gritted her teeth and her fists seemed to clench tight of their own volition. But her eyes. They were wide in panic.

Cyrus had noticed her arrival and growled to Jupiter in a display of emotion I hadn’t yet seen from my brief observation of the stoic man. “Delay her!”

Jupiter nodded to Mars and the two sprinted towards the newcomer. The brown-haired girl’s eyes turned fierce and she yelled to her strange Sumurott two words that I had never ever forgotten.

“Kill them!”

It wasn’t the words themselves but the way she had said them. There was so much ferocity and determination within her voice that I felt almost allayed by them. Like all was well. She knew what she was doing.

Samurott charged like a demented Walrein. It wasn’t the fastest Pokémon I’d ever seen, but it barrelled so momentously towards the two admins that I couldn’t help but fear the thing despite knowing it was on our side.

Both Jupitar and Mars whirled before the Samurott could reach them and two Bronzong appeared in a flash of red to intercept the charging Pokémon. “Reflect!” Jupiter yelled at her Bronzong. “Kill its momentum!”

“Gyro Ball!” Mars screeched.

The two Bronzongs dutifully followed their orders. Mars’s spun and spun in place until it was a blur of blue-green whilst a semi-transparent screen appeared in the space between them and the charging Samurott. The girl flashed out her arm and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Brick Break, then Dark Pulse!”

The shocked expression on both of the admin’s faces mirrored mine. Brick Break was nothing out of the ordinary, but no known Samurott could ever learn Dark Pulse. The charging Pokémon’s dark horn glowed deep red as if superheated and it rammed Bronzong’s screen head on. The Reflect instantly shattered and the Samurott kept up its momentum. A wave of dark energy erupted from its body and screamed towards the two psychic types. Jupiter’s Bronzong shuddered hard as the wave ravaged through its body- its blood-red eyes blinking in distress. It dropped to the floor with an almighty clang. A bell toll echoed through the frigid air.

Mars’s Bronzong fared a lot better, using Gyro Ball’s momentum to tank through the Dark Pulse and slam itself into Samurott’s hide. The water type bellowed deeply and shot an absurd amount of water from its gaping maw in retaliation. “Get the admins!” the girl was yelling to it. “Ignore the Bronzongs!”

She shot a wide-eyed look at the hostages and, for a quiet moment, her tawny eyes met mine. I saw something flash in them. A hint of recognition and nostalgia. Her lips parted slightly as if begging to say something, but a loud crack forced both our gazes back to Cyrus.

The Galactic Boss was cackling loud as two giant figures began to emerge from the darkness. The ticking noise intensified to an almost unbearable degree and breathing became difficult. It was them. The two I, and likely you reading this, had only ever seen in depictions.

Dialga, the Lord of Time, on the left.

And Palkia, the Lord of Space, on the right.

They were rising out of the darkness with an animalistic gaze. Dialga was quadrupedal and predominantly dark blue with metallic grey protrusions lining its head and the back of its neck. Grey crest-like plating surrounded a deep blue crystal embedded in its chest. Palkia was of a softer light purple and bipedal- but looked just as fierce as its counterpart. Grey linings formed tribal tattoo-like markings across its body culminating in two shield-shaped platings upon its shoulders where pink crystals lay nestled at its centres. Two fin-shaped wings fanned out from its shoulder blades and stretched as if languishing in the sudden freedom. But free they were not. Red interlocked chains had burst from the Jewelled-Pokémon’s containers and wrapped tightly around their necks. If the two Lords were bothered by this, however, I don’t recall them showing it at all.

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“Samurott! Stop trying to protect me!” the girl’s frenzied cries reached my ears. There wasn’t much time until the two Lords fully emerged from their realms. “Break those containers and stop the ritual! I’ll deal with the Bronzongs!”

“Stop the thing!” Mars’s responded in kind, sending her Bronzong to stop the Samurott before it could carry out its trainer’s orders.

“Get the girl!” Jupiter commanded her own Bronzong.

Samurott bounded towards the closest container and slammed its head face-first into a Protect. A Psychic tore into its body and the air shimmered along with the onslaught, however the attack didn't actually seem to do any damage. Samurott roared and tried to blast Cyrus down with what looked like a Hydro Pump, but Bronzong was adept with Protect and the attack splashed forcefully against the invisible barrier. Cyrus barely even paid the attack any mind.

The Houndoom guarding the hostages and I released a sinister snort and sported a smug expression as it watched the fight. Jupiter’s Bronzong was levitating straight for the defenceless girl- its body angled downwards as if leaning into a shoulder-charge despite its bell-shaped body form. For her part, the girl stared at her oncoming doom head-on and grabbed what looked like a loose bag from her coat pocket. I watched her fist clench around it.

Just as the Bronzong readied a Psychic around the girl, she forcefully slammed the bag onto the ground with a cry. A bright light erupted and sent static scattering across my vision. The sound of a thousand small explosions deafened me to the point I could barely even hear my own pain-filled yells. A bell toll once more echoed across Spear Pillar as the dazed Bronzong lost control of its levitation and dropped like a stone.

When my vision recovered, I had cast my gaze around the ruins. Houndoom looked perturbed by the mini-explosion. Even Cyrus had turned to see what all the fuss was about. Samurott had been ravaging Mars’s Bronzong with a flurry of water and dark moves and barely even winced at the concussive blast. But the containers were still intact and the two Lords were almost completely through. The Red Chains were continuously darting from the three trapped Pokémon and were hungrily wrapping themselves around Dialga and Palkia’s limbs. In one mad dash, Samurott tried to go for the container again but was narrowly halted by a hasty Protect from the still-recovering Bronzong.

The girl’s left ear was bleeding, but she was too focused on the battle for the containers to care. I watched her face drop. Instead of dispatching Bronzong while it was stunned, Samurott had made the mistake of thinking its dazed state would render it incapable of protecting the containers. Samurott smashed and bashed its horn against the Protect and even threw its entire body into it, but the move held just long enough for the ritual to finish.

With a cry that warped time and a roar that encompassed the world, Dialga and Palkia finally manifested into the world.

But Samurott was still able and managed to finally break through the Protect. It charged with a menacing horn towards the container and pierced-

It froze.

Glass cracked and splintered dangerously, but ultimately held. With a flick of its head, Palkia sent the water type soaring through the air. Its trainer recalled Samurott before it could fall helplessly to its death. I noticed her hands shaking.

Cyrus’s laughter filled my ears, but the man collected himself enough to point triumphantly at the girl. “Dialga, Palkia…”

The girl reacted fast and dove into a roll, but she simply froze in place. Suspended mid-air in a dive, I could only watch with terror in my heart as she was moved silently towards me. Then, without warning, she reanimated and fell hard into my side. I slammed helplessly into the hostage to my left who let out a yelp more surprised than pained. Regaining my balance was difficult with bound hands, but I managed. For her part, the trainer groaned and blinked at the sudden change in position. She reached for a Poké Ball, but a rage-filled snarl from Houndoom stopped her. Cyrus appraised her with more than a touch of glee in his otherwise emotionless eyes. “Mars,” his voice didn’t waver. “Remove her Pokémon.”

The redhead complied with a concerned look towards her still-dazed Bronzong. She collected the girl’s sole Pokéball from her belt and whispered something into her ear before shoving her harshly onto the floor. The trainer wordlessly rose back onto her knees. “I’m sorry,” she then spoke directly to me for some reason. “I couldn’t save us.”

I nodded with wide eyes. I didn’t dare speak for fear of my voice breaking. I was so scared I could barely breathe. In hindsight, Palkia’s spatial Pressure wasn’t helping, but my fear-addled mind could not even comprehend the two’s abilities. “And now!” Cyrus splayed his arms and raised his head skyward. "For the plan's zenith!”

No sooner than those words had left his mouth did clouds form impossibly high above Spear Pillar. Lightning silently flashed within the cloud form’s murky depths and a bright white series of large cracks opened at its epicentre. Dwarfing the patchy darkness that had summoned the two Lords, whatever was inside wasted no time in slowly slinking out of its realm. Shadows sheathed the new Pokémon like a cloak, obscuring its features, and it just kept falling and falling out of the cracks until it made even Dialga and Palkia look tiny. Our unsuccessful saviour tried to rise to her feet but was stopped by Houndoom’s warning flames. She cried out and clutched her arm. I caught a glimpse of burnt skin underneath her hand. Falling to her knees once more, I heard her hiss through the pain. “Giratina…” she muttered lowly, her eyes following the demon high into the sky. “I hoped we wouldn’t meet again…”

Dialga and Palkia were frozen in place. Power wafted around them in waves and concentrated around Giratina’s murky mass. I knew little of what was happening at the time, but the League’s published documents later explained it well:

The three Pokémon in the containers were Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf respectively. The jewels in their foreheads were forcibly activated by their prison and formed the Red Chain- a contingency nearly as old as the universe itself to control Dialga and Palkia in times of need. Using the Red Chain, Dialga and Palkia were able to summon Giratina. Their combined power was just about enough to control the demon.

It all bled back to those containers. Break one of them, and the Red Chain would collapse. Dialga and Palkia would be free from Cyrus’s influence and the summoning would’ve failed. The mysterious trainer that had fallen beside me had been so close. But I would later learn that her actions were ultimately doomed to fail. It was fate.

We all know what happened next.

As tall as Veilstone’s skyscrapers and as long as a stadium, Giratina’s giant red eyes stared down at us from the now darkened sky. It was predominantly grey and black with spiked gold rings wrapping around its neck before terminating in semi-crescent shaped crown atop its head. Ghastly black wings spread as wide as its body was tall and featured three claw like spikes on each wing. Six stump like legs supported its weight and a featureless tail hung firm over the edge of Mount Coronet. “Eight sacrifices to seal our bond!” Cyrus yelled up to Giratina, heedless of whether his words would reach the demon or not. “The ninth will simply be a show of good faith!”

Giratina let out a low growl that froze my muscles so tightly that they cramped up. Flashing images of red eyes and snake-like iterations of the Legendary danced in my eyes of their own accord. They jumped out at me with razor sharp teeth- their snarling maws racing towards my face before vanishing in an instant. The left-most hostage screamed in horror when shadows wrapped around her torso like a vice. The rest of us howled and screeched in fear as we watched her fly high towards Giratina’s glowing eyes. One of them tried to run, but Houndoom lashed out with its mouth and bit down on the man’s ankle. He yelled and writhed at the ground as it dragged him back to his place. “Don’t move…” the girl with the Samurott was whispering to me through a wince as Giratina’s visions accosted her. “This will all work out.”

Her words barely even registered over the terror. But I do recall disbelieving her completely and utterly. Another hostage was forcibly lifted by Giratina. Cyrus watched the entire ordeal with rapture in his eyes. Mars and Jupiter were busy sending their now-recovered Bronzongs to further guard over us. I felt a warm hand wrap around my own. I tore my gaze to the girl. “Rei,” she stared so deeply into my eyes that it almost escaped me that she somehow knew my name. “You will escape this. Things are going to change very soon…”

She paused when another hostage was lifted with a scream. I saw her cringe with guilt. “Shut up!” Mars had noticed us talking and grabbed at the girl’s shoulders. “Don’t say another word!”

Another hostage was wrapped in shadows and disappeared skyward. “Why?” the girl asked the redhead admin. “Why are you doing this?”

“We’re abandoning your world,” she replied from behind, whispering almost motherly into the trainer’s ear to the point that I could barely hear. “Going somewhere to make a new one.”

Another hostage flew up. The visions kept taunting me unabated- extending my fear and revelling in my horror. There were only three left until Giratina got to me. I felt my heart pound harsh in my chest. I was going to be sick. “And you’re going to leave Giratina here?!” the girl hissed through gritted teeth.

“Obviously not,” Mars retorted as if the girl was dumb. She paused to watch another man fly up to Giratina’s maw. “We’ll be taking it with us.”

“Mars!” Jupiter snapped from somewhere behind us. I turned my head to face her. She was shivering uncontrollably and looked quite miserable, but had set her features into a stern frown. “Stop chattering and get besides me!”

Another hostage. One more separated me from my certain death. I couldn’t help but whimper at my oncoming fate. The poor man beside me was crying his eyes out. I was this close to losing myself to tears, too. The girl to my right was calm, but I could tell by her ragged breaths that she was terrified.

The man on my left screamed his lungs out and begged me for help when Giratina started to lift him up. I was helpless to do anything. I was next.

“Rei!” the girl now spoke in a frenzy, uncaring of the consequences of talking. “You can trust the professor! Listen to what he says, he’ll guide you! But don’t trust-”

Her words were cut off by my scream. I felt myself turn weightless and the wind rushed past my ears as I was forcibly wrenched skywards. I screamed and screamed until my lungs burned. Tears fell from my face and into the void below. I wish I could say I faced death with dignity, but in truth, I was scared beyond belief.

I felt myself slow and stop. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited, but Giratina was being tauntingly slow. I pleaded and begged and begged. Panic and fear stained my mind like a fog, obscuring the fact that I wasn’t actually being harmed.

I still don’t know how long it took for me to realise that. All I know was that I forced my eyes open and was met with two giant orbs of red. Giratina stared at me.

The wind howled in my face. The cold was so biting that it physically hurt. But there was almost a vague sense of peace in that moment. The demon Pokémon silently… observing. Its red eyes were expressionless. Just eerie and dark. But the accosting visions had stopped and the shadows that had wrapped so tightly around my torso loosened slightly- as if they were afraid to handle me too roughly.

Then, Giratina bellowed out a roar that I would never ever forget. I can scarcely even describe what it sounded like. It was deep and scratchy and otherworldly and terrifying. Yet, somehow, the pained cries of Dialga and Palkia below me eclipsed that of Giratina’s.

With the League’s report, you’ll know what happened.

Dialga and Palkia were controlling Giratina through its emotions. It took all of the two’s combined efforts to take advantage of its rage and its aggression to cow the demon to their will. But something in that moment changed.

Something had caused Giratina to feel an emotion so utterly unexpected that the two Lords controlling it broke out of their concentration. Nobody knows why. But I can tell you. And I can tell you what emotion a Pokémon known only for its violence felt in that very moment.

But first, I need you to learn about what happened next. In Giratina’s triumphant breaking of its shackles, it sent me flying high into the air- and straight through the crack in the sky.