02 A Threat in Sinnoh
A few
hours later, the aircraft descended into Lavender Town. May noticed the somber
tone of the town as they circled around the tower before landing in front of
it.
“Creepy,”
May commented after she and Cassidy had disembarked.
“Well,
Ghost type Pokemon are predominant here,” Cassidy responded matter-of-factly.
“That
makes sense.”
“He’s
waiting in one of the other buildings,” Cassidy said.
May
followed Cassidy into a large room, and saw Giovanni looking over a large
tablet table showing Sinnoh in detail.
“Ah,
you’re here,” he said.
“What do
you have on Cyrus?” May asked, so as to get to the point and out of Lavender
Town as quickly as possible.
“Quite a
lot,” Giovanni answered. “That he’s already at the Spear Pillar, that is a
ruined temple at Mt. Coronet’s summit, so time is running out.”
May
watched as the map on the tablet zoomed in on Mt. Coronet to show the Spear
Pillar.
“Satellites
are showing distortions all around Mt. Coronet,” Giovanni continued. “And there
are reports of wild Pokemon acting strangely all over Sinnoh.”
The map
zoomed out again. Two nearby cities were highlighted. “So, we’re headed to one
of those cities?” May asked.
“Yes.
Either Oreburgh City, or Hearthome City,” Cassidy said. “As you can see, they
are not very far from Mt. Coronet.”
“But
Oreburgh is smaller, so there would be a less chance of detection,” Giovanni
said.
“So, it
would easy to approach the mountain from either city?” May asked.
“Yes,
but there are more covered trails from the direction of Oreburgh,” Cassidy
answered.
“I would
like to avoid Team Galactic’s patrols. I had enough trouble battling through
Team Aqua and Team Magma. Oreburgh!”
“That
isn’t guaranteed,” Giovanni said. “But I know you would be able to handle
yourself.”
May
nodded.
“Additional
fuel and equipment are being loaded as we speak,” Giovanni added.
They
remained in Lavender Town for another ten minutes, but May spent that time
looking at various different maps of Mount Coronet to better idea of the lay of
the land.
A few
hours later, they were approaching Sinnoh’s southern coast.
One of
the cabin staff came back to the passengers. “You’re going to have to make a
decision,” she said to Cassidy.
“Oh?”
Cassidy asked.
“The
space-time distortions over Sinnoh are increasing. I can guarantee that we’ll
make it to either Oreburgh or Heartholm, but once we’re close to either of
them, we have no idea if we would be able to make it to the other one in time.”
“Oreburgh,”
May said.
“Got
it.”
As they
got closer to Oreburgh City, the more turbulent the flight became, as the
space-time storm emanating from Mount Coronet grew more intense.
“This
means that Cyrus must be close. We’re going to have to hurry. You have Repels,
right?” Cassidy asked.
May
glared at her. “Of course.”
“We’re
going to need them.”
The
turbulence was severe when they reached Oreburgh. They had to circle the city
before they managed to land in the on the northern edge.
“We’re
down,” Cassidy said. “Let’s move.”
“You’re
coming with me?” May asked.
“Giovanni
wants you to stop Cyrus. He wants me to make sure you get there.”
“Of
course.”
Outside,
the city was deceptively calm, as most of the inhabitants were inside, away
from the wild Pokemon who were acting strangely.
May
looked towards Mt. Coronet, or what she could see of it. The distortions were
swirling around the upper reaches of the mountain. “That doesn’t look good.
Let’s get going!”
“You
don’t need to tell me twice,” Cassidy said as she handed May an additional
paper map of the mountain and its surrounding area.
May took
out her Pokegear. The distortions were already causing significant signal
interference. She was briefly thankful for Giovanni’s resourcefulness, although
it made her uncomfortable.
“Ready?”
Cassidy prompted.
May
nodded.
They
ascended the lower slopes without incident, but they soon ran into two Team
Galactic Agents.
“Who is
there?” Someone said.
May
looked. The girl wasn’t much older than Cassidy. “We’re investigating what’s
going on.”
“Stop
right there! It is Team Galactic business!”
“So,
you’re working for Cyrus!” Cassidy interjected as she pulled out a pokeball. “Raticate!”
May also
pulled out a Pokeball. “Blaziken!”
“I can
battle too!” the Team Galactic agent said. “Purugly!”
Two
Purugly emerged from her pokeballs.
“Blaziken,
Flamethrower!” May called out.
“Raticate,
Quick Attack!” Cassidy added.
The
ensuing battle was over quickly, with May and Cassidy’s teams being much more
powerful than the girl’s.
“Our
Commanders have more experienced teams,” the girl said as she recalled her last
Pokemon.
“Then
we’ll just have to avoid them,” May responded.
“That’s
unlikely. They are patrolling all the routes to the Spear Pillar.”
“We’ll
get there,” Cassidy declared.
They
continued up the slope, but found that the path wove in and out of tunnels
carved into the mountainside. As they exited one of the caves they found a blue
haired trainer with what May recognized as a Piplup coming out of another
tunnel onto the path.
“Oh!
You’re not with Galactic, are you?” she asked.
“No!”
May responded.
“You’ve
come to stop what they’re doing?” the trainer asked rhetorically. She held out
her hand. “I’m Dawn.”
May took
it. “May.”
“Cassidy.
We should keep going.”
“Oh, of
course,” Dawn said.
They
continued up the mountain, dodging other Galactic agents. However, they were
almost at the Spear Pillar when they ran into a Galactic Commander.
“Stop
right there,” she said.
“We’re
here to stop Cyrus!” May said.
“So,
Dawn, you brought the Hoenn Champion into this?” the Commander asked.
“No!”
Dawn objected.
“Cyrus’s
plan has leaked to other regions,” May said. “They have responded.”
“We’re
going to stop him!” Cassidy declared.
“No
you’re not,” the Commander said as she grabbed a pokeball. “Perugly.”
“What is
it with Galactic and Purugly?” Cassidy asked as she grabbed Raticate’s
pokeball.
“I have
other Pokemon!” the Commander retoreted.
“Double
battle!” May said.
The
Commander grabbed another pokeball. “Bronzor.”
Commander
Mars was annoyed. The girl from Twinleaf Town was enough of a pest without the
Hoenn champion and a blonde trainer with a Kantonian accent. She looked at the
latter’s Raticate, and the Hoenn Champion’s Blaziken. “Purugly, Fury Swipes on
Raticate. Bronzor, Confusion on Blaziken,” she ordered.
“Raticate,
dodge and use Quick Attack!”
“Blaziken,
dodge and use Flamethrower!”
Raticate’s
Quick Attack hit Purugly and Blaziken burnt Bronzor.
Dawn
watched the battle unfold. She had barely beat Mars the last time they had
cross paths, but May was rather skilled and Blazikens attacks were highly
effective against Bronzor.
Soon
Bronzor fainted and Mars sent out Golbat. “Golbat! Confusion!”
“Blaziken,
dodge and use flamethrower.”
Blaziken
managed to avoid the Confusion and hit Golbat.
“Confusion
again!”
Mars
soon lost.
May,
Cassidy and Dawn entered the Spear Pillar and saw Cyrus in the distance,
beneath the massive forms of Dialga and Palkia, who were confined in a red
chain.
“You’re
too late,” another, male, Galactic Commanders said.
“No,
we’re not,” May said.
The two
Commanders were about to send out their Pokemon when there was an interruption.
Champion Cynthia had arrived, her Garchomp right behind her.
“Cynthia,”
Cyrus said as he turned. “You’re too late. Jupiter, Saturn, stall her, and
those others.”
The
Commanders then sent out their Bronzors and Golbats.
“Quadruple
Battle,” May commented. “Let’s do it.”
Dawn and
Cynthia stood opposite Jupiter. “Piplup, use Bubble Beam!”
“Garchomp,
use Dragon Claw!”
Both
moves were highly effective against Bronzor, but both were able to continue
battling.
After
she and Cassidy had defeated Commander Saturn, she approached Cyrus. “Stop!”
“It’s
too late. I shall create a new world. One without spirit, without emotion,”
Cyrus responded.
“This
world is chaotic, but the people and pokemon deserve to exist!” May shot back.
“A world
where a tyrant orders a Champion to save it?” Cyrus asked in response.
“If not
me, then it would have been someone else.”
“The
world is corrupt, but it still deserves to exist!” Cassidy added.
“That
might not be persuasive,” Dawn said as she and Cynthia came over, having beaten
Commander Jupiter.
“Nothing
will be persuasive,” Cyrus said, as he continued the ritual and Dialga and
Palkia continued to writhe in the Red Chain.
“Then we
will stop you,” May declared. “Blaziken! Use Sky Uppercut on that Red Chain!”
Cyrus
grabbed a pokeball. “Crobat! Use Confusion on Blaziken.”
Cynthia
intervened. “Garchomp! Use Dragon Claw on Crobat!”
Blaziken
moved as Crobat attempted to fire Confusion at it, but Garchomp’s Dragon Claw
had knocked off Crobat’s aim.
The Sky
Uppercut move damaged the Red Chain.
“No!”
Cyrus said.
“Use Sky
Uppercut again!” May cried.
Cyrus
grabbed another pokeball. “Weavile.”
Cassidy
moved. “Raticate! Use Hyper Fang on Weavile!”
“Weavile!
Use Night Slash on Raticate!”
As
Blaziken hit the Red Chain again, Raticate and Weavile began battling.
Garchomp
caused Crobat to faint, then Cynthia directed him to attack the Red Chain as
well, before Cyrus could react and send out a third Pokémon.
That
proved effective against it, as both Legendaries could move a little more
freely.
Cyrus
sent out his Gyrados, but Dawn stepped in. “A Piplup vs. a Gyrados?” Cyrus
asked.
“I have
other Pokemon,” Dawn responded as she grabbed a different pokeball and sent out
her Torterra.
“Gyrados!
Use Hydro Pump!”
Then
Blaziken and Garchomp hit the Red Chain again, allowing both Dialga and Palkia
to break free. Their roars shook Spear Pillar. Then another distortion appeared
near Cyrus and he could see two eyes gleaming.
“Giratina!”
Cynthia realized.
The
renegade Legendary partially emerged from the rift from the Distortion World
and focused its glare upon Cyrus.
“What?”
he asked himself as he tried to get out from under renegade’s stare.
“You
drew it’s attention,” Cynthia said.
What
happened next, no one was sure. One moment Cyrus was staring off with Giratina,
the next the Distortion world rift blipped and Cyrus tumbled into it, with the
withdrawing Giratina.
May
noticed that the Spear Pillar had stopped shaking. “Is that it?” she asked.
Cynthia
looked up at where Dialga and Palkia were still hovering. “They’re repairing
the rifts,” she said. “But Cyrus is now in the Distortion World. He can still
cause trouble there.”
“You
mean…” Dawn started.
“We have
to go after him,” Cynthia confirmed.
“Of
course,” May said.
“Let’s
do this,” Cassidy said.
They
stepped through the rift into the Distortion World.
“We have
to be quick, but he won’t be too far,” Cynthia said as she took point.
“Do you
know what to expect?” May asked.
“Yes,”
Cynthia answered. “I’m not only Sinnoh’s Champion, but also an archaeologist
and historian.”
“So,
this place is described in myths?” May asked, remembering that Kyogre, Groudon
and Rayquaza had been considered mythical before the machinations of Teams
Magma and Aqua had brought them to her attention and that of Hoenn overall.
“That’s
right,” Cynthia said. “In those of the original Hisui Region before the
settlement of the Diamond and Pearl clans a few centuries ago.”
“I
haven’t really looked into the histories of other regions, other than the
basics,” May admitted.
Cynthia
chuckled. “Quite alright. It can be overwhelming.”
“Talking
about overwhelming…” Dawn said as she looked around.
“It’s
shifting because the physical laws are different to the normal world,” Cynthia
said. “Giratina went its own way.”
They
soon found Cyrus, but Giratina was nowhere to be seen.
“Cyrus,”
Cynthia said.
“Giratina
isn’t here. It brought me here then went somewhere else. But I still plan to do
what I set out to do.”
“Then
we’ll stop you,” Cynthia said. Another battle ensued.
Cyrus
was defeated again and they saw Giratina in the distance, just moving around.
“I have changed my mind,” he said.
“In what
way?” Dawn asked.
“This
world only normally has Giratina in it. Therefore it is what I was trying to
achieve.”
Cynthia
could see that Cyrus was telling the truth. That he intended to stay.
