Uncharted Territory: Distortion World Travels

Journal Entry #1

I stared into the abyss where Cyrus had just been taken by a shadowy figure. Cynthia ran up besides me, a cry of frustration escaping her mouth as I stared in awe of this new world. The Guardians of the Lakes, Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit, came forth in bright balls of light; however, Mesprit paused in front of us before continuing into this strange place. Cynthia turned to me, apologizing for arriving late, and proceeded to explain to me the origin of this gloomy giant called Giratina. She continued by telling me that the distortion from the world Giratina lives in will continue to spread like a virus. I looked up at the pillars that once stood proud but now appeared like the whittled fingers of an old man. Cynthia asked me if I was willing to chase Cyrus, and I hesitantly answered with a nod.

Journal Entry #2

The gravity here was unlike Sinnoh, with the sideways land and ability to jump over chasms with ease. My fear of falling was initially an issue with progressing further into this puzzling abyss of twists and turns, but that had to be subdued quickly. Cynthia was acting as my guide, so I hoped to stay with her throughout this journey. Like a pendulum, this place seemed to be hanging in the balance, being kept apart by a strange magnetism between each piece of this new world. The mysteries of this world scared me and yet piqued my interest, as it is a scientific anomaly waiting to be solved.

Journal Entry #3

Cynthia explained to me that there are no Pokémon in this world she dubbed "The Distortion World" and that time and space feel like they're standing still as a statue. She continued by stating that these unique masses of land have indentations that allow them to shift whenever we apply our weight to them. The first indentation I encountered didn't shift one of these pieces of land but rather made me float across the massive chasm that lay below me onto a floating piece of land. This land seemed to be on its own plane of gravity, allowing it to pave its own path throughout this murky world. Cynthia proceeded to tell me what I just got through figuring out, with me scrunching up my face in a way that made her fade into silence as I stepped on the dip in the middle of this slab.

Journal Entry #4

Cynthia hopped along this floating path, jumping from each piece to the next. Soon enough, she was out of my eyesight and I was stuck standing in the indent on this hunk of unsettled land. There was nowhere else to go, so I followed suit, but she was nowhere to be found. I had a little panic attack as I heard a slight cry come from the shadows. My breath became shallow as I figured this would be my first encounter with Giratina, the crepuscular cretin. Luckily for me, it was just Mesprit appearing from the darkness. Mesprit drifted off into the void as I continued along the path to find another indentation. This one didn't shift the land, but rather myself as suddenly I was walking sideways on another floating piece of land. At first, I was scared I would fall, so I cautiously took steps, but, luckily for me, I found another indentation soon after that, which put me on another piece of land right-side up. I felt better as the gravity reset itself, since walking sideways gave me vertigo. At this point, I wondered where Cynthia ran off to as I moved further forward into this labyrinth-like bottomless pit.

Journal Entry #5

This world's abnormal view has had me going every wrong way possible. Some pieces shift in ways that lead to dead ends, nothing to see but the endless pit this place calls an atmosphere, while other pieces didn't move despite having these indentations. I eventually met up with Cynthia, who decided it would be best to split up in hopes of finding this shadowy presence. While I left Cynthia behind a while back, time stiller than a statue, I couldn't gauge how long it had been since I last heard or seen another human. As I continued forward with the emptiness inside and outside my body, a figure appeared in front of me. I started to shake, thinking my mind was going, making mirages as if I were in the middle of the desert. The figure slowly formed, taking the shape of a human. I thought it might've been Cynthia finally meeting up with me, but it was none other than...Cyrus!

Journal Entry #6

Cyrus approached me, and I could see my rugged expression in the deep blue pools on his face. I was mesmerized at how forlorn I looked when I realized Cyrus was talking to me. He was asking me if I knew about genes, to which I hesitantly answered yes. He proceeded to discuss with me the ins and outs of the basics of genetics as if he didn't hear my answer. Maybe he wanted to hear himself speak, who knows? Anyways, I continue to listen to him say how genes live on a DNA strand and that said DNA is made up of two opposites, as one cannot live without the other. He tied this back to the mysterious Pokémon that sucked him into this opposite world, saying that it is keeping the balance between this world and ours. It had to reveal itself because he himself was trying to change our world and this Pokémon didn't want that. Cyrus proceeded to tell me what he planned to do, like every villain in a bad action movie does, which was to get rid of this Pokémon and subsequently the world so that, in turn, our world would change as he saw fit. With that, he walked away slowly with what I can only say was a determined look, leaving me to fend for myself again...

Journal Entry #7

As I moved forward, I discovered that now these little holes would make platforms disappear rather than move a specific platform, which made me wonder how the mechanics of this alien world worked. I wanted to explore, but I knew that if I didn't work my way through this maze, I would soon be stuck again in my own mind as I was before I saw Cyrus and was slapped with the reality of it all. I wanted my Pokémon to keep me company, but I also felt wary of bringing one of them outside of their PokéBall just in case something were to go wrong. Eventually, I found an indent on this long fork-like hovering piece that made a platform appear and I discovered a familiar square piece of land, furthering me down into the depths of this godforsaken world as I stepped forward on the carved-out notch.

Journal Entry #8

I worked my way to an area with these oddly shaped vines. I was mesmerized by the way they seemed to look like a giant beanstalk leading back up to the portal that Cynthia and I came through. As I peered out into the distance, I saw another one of the Guardians of the Lake, Uxie. The charm and charisma it exuded almost felt palpable to me. I noticed it hovering over a heavy boulder that looked very familiar. It was those boulders in my world that Pokémon would have to use Strength on to be able to move it. Strangely enough, the method was the same way here. I tentatively allowed Empoleon to use Strength to move the boulder down to the platform below. I continued towards another elevator-like slab that led me down to where this rock had fallen to. Uxie was waiting there adjacent to the stone that somehow landed without breaking into pebbles. I continued on to the multiple paths that strayed from where Uxie hovered, and eventually I found Cynthia. I thought to myself "thank God" as she explained to me that it seemed like Giratina wanted to test those that visit this world with this puzzle involving these masses. She told me that the Guardians of the Lake wanted to show us something, so I followed the path back to Uxie and began deciphering this seemingly intricate puzzle.

Journal Entry #9

While trying to figure out this puzzle with the help of the Guardians, I investigated more of this bizarre world with disappearing and reappearing vines, mounds of rock, and even an upside-down waterfall. The physics of this world floored me by how unbound they were compared to those of my world. I got butterflies in my stomach as my body's concoction of fear and excitement came to fruition at the strangest parts of this world. Eventually, I made it back to Cynthia, and she explained that Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf all seemed to have gone back to our world to keep the peace between Dialga and Palkia as we dealt with the issue of Cyrus versus Giratina. We forged ahead with the mention that Giratina was close. As we stepped onto yet another floating piece of land, it descended to where Cyrus stood. Cynthia confronted him, telling Cyrus that if he didn't like our world, to go and crawl in a hole and become a hermit. He retaliated by telling her that he didn't feel the need to do so, as he shouldn't have to allow us to have an incomplete grasp on what we called "spirit". With this, he faced me and we engaged in a grueling battle.

Journal Entry #10

I overpowered Cyrus's Pokémon with my own despite being hesitant at first to send them out because of this otherworldly environment. Afterwards, Cyrus fell to his knees and questioned what would come of his world and his galaxy. He also cried out about how his dream had been crushed by my reality. He went on about how I can't defeat or even capture Giratina, as it was this extraordinary world. Cyrus forced upon me his legacy as he continued on that Cynthia and I were the ones destroying the world by taking on this behemoth rather than repairing it; with that, Cyrus left us there a bit stunned and a bit worried about whether or not we were doing the right thing. Cynthia stood next to me as we watched Cyrus strut off and broke the air of silence by saying that Cyrus was wrong, as we all have a place in the world, whether it be our own or in this distorted world.

Journal Entry #11

The shadowy figure flew about in the distance as Cynthia and I looked on. Eventually, I stepped forward with caution as three small blocks appeared in front of me. I hopped along until suddenly Giratina whooshed by me and I was almost knocked off the edge. Cynthia rushed forward to make sure I was ok, and I picked myself up, brushing off any of her concerns. I finally jumped to the third and final slab as Giratina materialized right in front of me. This massive beast reared its ugly head as it glared down at me. Its dark aura ebbed and flowed like the ocean's waves. Its guttural growl bellowed, making me almost lose my lunch. I cleared my throat, swallowed the lump, and proceeded to call out all my Pokémon to take down this beast.

Journal Entry #12

Giratina took down all but my Empoleon before I finally caught it. Cynthia grinned with joy, happy to know that it had understood us and was willing to cooperate with us. A gravely voice pinched my ears as I recognized that Cyrus had come back, in shock that somehow the Renegade Pokémon was captured. Cyrus was enraged that Cynthia and I had allowed the Distortion World to live on and complained that we had let our spirit cloud our judgment. Cynthia calmly assured Cyrus that it wasn't spirit that drove us, but rather the fact that, despite the world's differences, the presence of Pokémon unite us all. Cyrus cut her off and went on about how the emotions he felt were because of his incomplete spirit. He stormed off in the opposite direction as Cynthia finally instructed us to go through the portal where the great beast once stood, claiming it was the gateway back into our world.

Journal Entry #13

I stood there in awe of what I had just been through and intrigued by all the wonders of this world. I thought back to when I first learned I could defy the gravity of my world and walk on walls, surf on the ceiling, and go down a flowing upward waterfall. I achieved the ability to leap across pieces of earth that somehow floated on their own gravitational field. Cynthia and I stepped through the portal, a chapter of my life now closed, but one that was definitely filled with the most outrageous and peculiar oddities. A world that seemed to be the complete opposite of my own and one I will never forget.

Art by LifeisDANK.

Epilogue

This wonderful world, while initially overwhelming and scary, was a place I will never forget. The fact that it was so different from the world I live in with no Pokémon encounters and being able to to defy my world's physics left me at first hesitant to continue the journey, but reading my journal has left me with a hole in my heart; the excitement and adrenaline of the adventure came flowing back as if I was on my way into this new world with Cynthia all over again. While I do miss the wonders of the Distortion World, I am glad we live in such a magnificent and expansive world where humans and Pokémon can live side by side and that no matter what, our spirit burns a fire so bright it will never be darkened by the likes of Team Galactic.

HTML by anto | Script by Quite Quiet.

« Previous Article