The sound that Yuga and the others heard was extremely ethereal, and it was not so easy to track it down. The three of them spent a great deal of effort before they finally found the place where the sound originated.
In the depths of the floating island cluster, there was an even larger floating island, and unlike the other floating islands, this floating island was formed by a mountain peak that towered straight into the clouds.
This mountain peak was not so gigantic, but it was especially, especially tall, like a sharp sword piercing directly into the sky.
The curious, childlike laughter that Yuga and the others had heard was precisely coming from the top of this mountain peak.
"Let's go, let's go up and take a look!" Yuga said.
So the three of them commanded their Pokémon to land at the foot of the mountain, and just like the other floating islands, once they entered the mountain's region, the gravity that was different from the outside world returned to normal again.
The three of them were just about to lift their feet and walk up the mountain, when suddenly, countless dark-blue patterns lit up on the ground beneath their feet. The three of them could feel a vast energy beginning to converge toward the mountain peak, as if it were guiding them forward.
"Hee hee hee~"
That eerie laughter came again, echoing around Yuga and the others, unseen and intangible, and they could not trace its path of transmission, as if it were directly produced right beside their ears.
Iris was a little scared, she hugged her Dragonite tightly and said: "I…I… are we really still going up?"
Yuga nodded and said: "Of course." After he finished speaking he lifted his foot and began walking toward the summit.
When Seiryu saw this, he did not say another word and immediately followed up after him, and Iris shouted: "Hey~ you guys wait for me!"
The three of them tried to ride their Flying-type Pokémon to fly upward, but here it seemed to forbid flying. As soon as the Flying-type Pokémon left the ground and reached about one meter in height, those same dark-blue patterns would appear on the ground and strike them down.
These dark-blue patterns appeared quickly and also disappeared quickly, as if they were being controlled by something.
So the three of them had no choice but to huff and puff and climb the mountain.
They did not know how long they had climbed, but finally, the three of them reached the summit.
The summit's area was not large, only less than one hundred square meters, the whole thing was like a platform. If a person with a fear of heights stood on it, they would definitely feel dizzy and faint.
At the very center of the summit, there was a shrine, which appeared to be made of stone.
In the middle of the shrine was placed a stone that glowed like a crystal, flashing with dark-blue light, exactly the same as the gleaming lights that Yuga and the others had seen flickering on the ground before.
The stone was overall oval in shape, composed of crystalline strips of stone, about the size of an adult's head, and when it saw Yuga and the other two appear on the summit, it let out an even clearer laugh.
It was obvious that what had attracted Yuga and the others here was precisely this stone.
"This is…" Iris exclaimed in shock.
"It is Jirachi!"
Yuga was not unfamiliar with Jirachi, so with just one glance he recognized the true form of the stone before them.
"Is it the very Jirachi from the legend that can grant any wish?" As soon as Iris heard, her eyes sparkled like stars as she looked at Jirachi.
Yuga replied: "It is Jirachi indeed, but the legend that it can grant any wish is false."
"Eh~ how could it be like that!" Iris's tone was filled with disappointment.
"But isn't this supposed to be the Dragon Ruins? Why would Jirachi exist here?" Seiryu asked in puzzlement, "And what purpose would Jirachi have in calling us here?"
Yuga shook his head: "I don't know!"
At this moment, suddenly in the depths of Yuga's heart there resounded a voice, guiding him to slowly walk toward the shrine.
"Mr. Shimizu…"
Seiryu looked at Yuga in astonishment, but in the blink of an eye, Yuga was already standing before the shrine, placing his hand on the stone.
At the same time, the stone began to flash with dark-blue light, pulsing like the beating of a heart.
A moment later, Yuga looked at the stone in shock and said: "You want me to help you awaken your true body?"
The flashing frequency of the light on the stone grew faster, as if it were agreeing with Yuga's words.
But how should it be done?
Yuga was completely at a loss. According to legend, Jirachi only awakens once every thousand years, and each awakening lasts only seven days, but for him to forcibly awaken Jirachi… he did not know how to do it at all!
At this time, in the depths of Yuga's heart once again resounded Jirachi's childish voice: "Go… go find… find Gira… Giratina…"
Jirachi's consciousness had not fully awakened, and communicating with it was not smooth.
Through the exchange, Yuga came to understand that Jirachi had temporarily awakened a part of its consciousness because of their arrival, and then drew them over.
After quite a while again, Yuga said in amazement: "You are saying that the space we are in right now is a part of the Distortion World?"
This time Yuga was truly astonished—no wonder the gravity outside was abnormal, that indeed was the case with the Distortion World.
It was just that if this place was truly the Distortion World, then at the moment they entered, it should have already attracted the attention of the master of the Distortion World, Giratina. But in fact, it seemed this was not the case.
Yuga's doubt was quickly answered. It turned out that this part of the region had been separated from the Distortion World a very, very long time ago by the Remnant of the Dragon Clan with the aid of Jirachi's power, and it had been used as the place for the Dragon Clan to live and reproduce.
But in Yuga's heart, new doubts once again arose. Would Giratina allow such a thing?
Even if it were Jirachi, Giratina might not necessarily give face, especially with something like building a nest right inside someone else's home.
And also… what about the Dragon Clan who once lived here? Where did they go?
But when Yuga wanted to continue asking something more, Jirachi could not help but once again fall into slumber, all the light on its body completely disappearing, and no matter how Yuga called out, it was useless.
Iris stepped forward, curiously looking at the stone that Jirachi had incarnated into, and asked: "What should we do next?"
The conversation between Yuga and Jirachi had been heard clearly by both Iris and Seiryu, enough for them to understand the course of events.
Yuga said: "Of course we should go and find Giratina."
Seiryu said: "Although we already know this is the Distortion World, but how can we possibly find Giratina?"
Yuga speculated: "From Jirachi's words, this place should have been cut off by Jirachi's power. As long as we walk out of this area, then Giratina will naturally be able to sense us outsiders."
Yuga possessed the Reverse Mirror that Giratina had gifted him, and he could be said to be the human who understood the Distortion World the best. If not for the fact that he had not brought the Reverse Mirror with him, then finding Giratina would have been incomparably easy.
But unfortunately, not bringing it was still not bringing it…
"Then let us hurry up!" Iris said.
So the three of them once again began acting separately, searching in this space for a way out. Since this was a part of the Distortion World, then there must definitely be an entrance leading to the Distortion World.
Heaven rewards the diligent. After some searching, Iris found on another floating island a stone forest, and in the middle of the stone forest there was a stone formation.
The structure of the ancient stone formation was extremely complex, and it was not known what kind of material had carved it, but it astonishingly showed no trace of damage at all.
When Iris and Seiryu, these two descendants of the Remnant of the Dragon Clan, stood in the middle of the stone formation, the complex lines on the stone formation suddenly lit up with bluish-violet light, and the light formed into a vortex, extremely similar to the vortex through which Yuga and the others had entered here.
At the same time, in the Distortion World, Giratina was with Yuga's Jellicent sleeping on a giant boulder, its expression very peaceful.
Suddenly, it sensed that in the Distortion World there had appeared three auras of outsiders, so it suddenly opened its eyes wide.
Giratina lifted its head and looked in one direction, and the Jellicent who had been startled awake looked puzzled: What is it? What is it?
It is there! Giratina sensed the direction where the outsider auras appeared, and those distant memories long buried in its mind began to surface one after another, and it immediately flew up.
If not for the appearance of the outsider auras, it would almost have forgotten that place. That place… should already have no people anymore, right…
Thinking so, Giratina increased its speed.
The three people came out from the vortex, and Yuga immediately realized that they were already in the Distortion World, after all, he had been here before.
"How are we supposed to search for Giratina?"
Seiryu asked this as he observed the marvelous scene before his eyes.
In the Distortion World, the mountains and rivers were all inverted, while in the Dragon Ruins they had been normal. This was also the reason why Yuga had not recognized earlier that the Dragon Ruins were actually a part of the Distortion World.
Yuga said: "No need to go searching. Giratina will very soon come to us on its own."
Just as Yuga's words had fallen, a huge shadow descended above their heads. The three of them looked up, and saw a gigantic dragon-shaped Pokémon gazing at them with its pitch-black eyes.
Giratina!
Seiryu and Iris instantly realized that this was the legendary master of the Distortion World.
Although both of them were trainers who extremely loved Dragon-type Pokémon, at this very moment, being stared at by such a Pokémon that had only ever appeared in legends, an immense pressure naturally welled up within them.
Giratina was also a little surprised. It had not expected that the outsider who had entered the Distortion World would actually be Yuga, and at the same time, it glanced at Iris and Seiryu, who were standing beside Yuga.
Remnant of the Dragon Clan?
The "Remnant of the Dragon Clan" was the name used by later generations after all the ancient clans had declined, and it was the same for the other ancient clans as well.
Later, as time passed, the descendants of the ancient clans also began calling themselves "Remnants," because they no longer had the glory of their ancestors.
Jellicent, upon seeing Yuga, became very happy. It flew down from Giratina's head and circled non-stop around Yuga's front.
Its size compared to Giratina was far too small, and not easy to notice, so Yuga only now realized that it had also been there.
Seeing this scene, doubt arose in the hearts of Iris and Seiryu. They could not understand why there would be a Jellicent at Giratina's side, nor could they understand why this Jellicent would be so excited upon seeing Mr. Shimizu.
But very soon, their attention was once again drawn back to Giratina.
"Wooo~"
Although Giratina already had some guesses as to why Yuga and the others appeared here, it still questioned Yuga.
So Yuga recounted to Giratina the matters that had happened in the Dragon Ruins, and then he came to understand why the Dragon Ruins had separated from the Distortion World, and why Giratina had not pursued it.
It turned out that the Dragon Clan who had once lived in the Dragon Ruins had helped Giratina. In order to repay them, Giratina had given them a place where they could take shelter.
As for exactly how the Dragon Clan had once helped Giratina, Yuga asked, but Giratina did not answer.
After the Dragon Ruins had been separated from the Distortion World by Jirachi's power, Giratina had lost its perception of it, and naturally did not know how the place had developed afterwards, nor what events it had experienced.
Countless years had passed, and Giratina had long since forgotten that place, until now when Yuga and the others reminded it once again.
"So they are no longer here, huh!"
In the depths of Yuga's heart suddenly sounded Giratina's sigh, and within its tone seemed to be revealed some complicated emotions.
After this, Yuga then told Giratina about Jirachi hoping it could help awaken its true form, and Giratina agreed to help without the slightest hesitation.
In fact, awakening Jirachi was very simple.
The Dragon Ruins had relied on Jirachi's power to separate from the Distortion World, and now as long as the Dragon Ruins returned to the Distortion World, Jirachi's power would be released, and its true body would naturally be able to awaken.
Under the lead of Yuga and the other two, Giratina passed through the vortex into the Dragon Ruins, and arrived at the mountain peak where Jirachi was located.
The prohibition against flying upon the mountain peak was as if nonexistent to Giratina.
"Roooaaaar~~~"
Above the mountain peak, Giratina floated in midair above the shrine, letting out a series of dragon roars, and the entire Dragon Ruins began to tremble violently, as though it was responding to it.
At the same time, Yuga and the others saw that above their heads, the sky seemed to shatter apart like glass.
Those existences like glass were in fact the barrier that separated the Dragon Ruins from the Distortion World.
When the barrier disappeared, Yuga and the others discovered that the space of the Dragon Ruins began to twist and distort.
Not long after, all of the floating islands within the Dragon Ruins turned upside down, becoming identical to the scenes inside the Distortion World, including the very mountain peak on which they stood.
From this moment on, the Dragon Ruins would no longer exist; this place would be merely a corner of the Distortion World.
After the Dragon Ruins returned to the Distortion World, Jirachi's power began to return as well. Yuga and the others saw countless dark-blue lights from the land begin to converge toward the shrine, and pour into the stone into which Jirachi had transformed.
The dark-colored stone began to erupt with a brilliant platinum-colored radiance. No one knew how much time passed, but when all the power had completely returned, before Yuga and the others appeared a small and adorable Pokémon.
Jirachi!
"Humans, thank you!"
After its true body had awakened, Jirachi sincerely expressed its thanks to Yuga and the others. It was capable of telepathy.
"Humans, I would also like to ask you for one more favor?" Jirachi once again spoke.
This was within Yuga's expectations.
For the greater part of its entire life, Jirachi was in slumber. Each time it awakened, it was but for a mere seven days. Since this one had asked them to bring Giratina in order to awaken it, then it could not possibly be without a reason.
"You say it, we will do our best."
Hearing this, Jirachi became very happy.
"Follow me."
Under Jirachi's lead, Yuga and the others arrived at the mountainside. They saw a peculiar power ripple forth from Jirachi's body, and upon the mountainside there appeared a heavy stone door.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The stone door opened by itself, and a long stone staircase appeared, one that extended deep into the belly of the mountain peak. It turned out that the interior of this mountain peak was actually hollow!
Jirachi said: "Follow me!"