The Turnback Cave
The cave was drenched in shadow, as though ink itself had seeped into the air. Within the gloom, chaos pulsed faintly at every corner.
At the very center floated a massive draconic figure. Its body was wreathed in darkness, six ghostlike wings beating slowly. A golden half-ring wrapped from its back around its neck, while ten golden spikes extended along its underside toward its tail.
It was Giratina—Origin Forme!
The Renegade Pokémon's crimson eyes locked silently on the intruders—Akari and Paul. For a fleeting moment, its presence was eerily calm.
But calmness was only the stillness before a storm. In seconds, Giratina recognized the human standing before it.
Banished to the Distortion World, Giratina's rage against Arceus had festered endlessly. It longed to drag the Creator from its throne. Yet before it could ever confront Arceus, Giratina had once been forced into retreat—driven back in humiliation by none other than Akari.
And now, that same human dared to walk into its domain? Courting death!
"ROOOOOAR!!!"
The cavern trembled violently as Giratina's bellow shook the walls of the Turnback Cave.
Paul only nodded at Akari, stepping back. He released two Poké Balls, summoning Mewtwo and Dialga to stand guard.
He had no intention of capturing Giratina. Even if he succeeded, he could not take it away from this realm—it held no meaning for him. But for Akari, Giratina was vital.
Paul didn't know how Akari planned to face Arceus in the real world, whether by striking it down with a chosen "avatar" or by overwhelming it with Pokémon power. If it was the latter, Giratina's strength was indispensable.
"Of course. Leave this one to me!" Akari replied with a confident grin, hurling a prepared Poké Ball forward.
"Go—Palkia!"
A roar shook the cavern as the Space Pokémon emerged, its centaur-like frame glowing with Origin power. It faced Giratina with fearless defiance.
Giratina's gaze flickered. It sensed the aura of both Palkia and Dialga. For a brief instant, madness gave way to disbelief.
How? Only months ago, the two of them together had barely managed to suppress it. And now, their power rivaled its own.
Such Pokémon weren't supposed to grow stronger so quickly. But Giratina could not know that Paul had armed them with both the Adamant Orb and Lustrous Orb, and beyond that, they had fully absorbed additional Orbs—Dialga's Adamant Orb and Palkia's Lustrous Orb—brought from another reality. Their power had surged beyond comprehension.
The only comfort for Giratina was this: the battlefield was the Turnback Cave, gateway to the Distortion World. Here, the flow of both time and space was suppressed.
"ROOOOOAR!!!"
The shadows of the cavern writhed as though alive, twisting and spreading across the entire chamber.
With terrifying speed, Giratina lunged at Palkia, golden spikes glowing as they elongated into claws, ready to tear its foe apart.
"Spacial Rend!"
Palkia's shoulders flared with light as it twisted its body. Its wings unleashed blades of energy sharp enough to rend time and space itself. Shadows dissolved in its wake.
But Giratina did not falter. Its form melted into the darkness—vanishing completely.
Shadow Force!
"Distort space—Blizzard!" Akari shouted instantly.
Palkia's eyes gleamed. It twisted the surrounding dimensions, warping the already chaotic shadows. Then, with a single breath, it unleashed a devastating blizzard in one direction.
Almost simultaneously, Giratina reappeared, cloaked in shadowy force—colliding head-on with the frozen gale.
BOOOOOOM!!
The explosion hurled both titans back dozens of meters. Yet neither had suffered true harm.
Without pause, the two Pokémon launched into another clash.
Giratina extended its golden spikes, shaping them into claws that drew the cavern's darkness into a massive Shadow Claw. It slashed toward Palkia.
Palkia's eyes gleamed. With a sudden shimmer, it erected a protective barrier—Protect, reinforced by warped spatial energy—shielding itself and Akari from the strike.
The true battle for the balance of time, space, and antimatter had only begun.
The instant Palkia blocked Shadow Claw, its wings twisted, slicing the air as it unleashed a devastating Spacial Rend.
The rift cut through the shadows like sunlight melting snow. But only for an instant—within moments, the darkness sealed itself again. It was as if the entire Turnback Cave had become Giratina's personal domain.
Then Giratina itself vanished into the gloom, its position blurred, impossible to locate.
Even Palkia, master of space, struggled. Here in this warped cavern, its control over spatial forces weakened.
From the dark, Giratina struck again and again, hurling shadows at Palkia's space-warping barriers. Its crimson eyes gleamed with disdain.
Pathetic. Strength equal to mine means nothing if you can't use it!
But Akari didn't flinch. She patted Palkia's leg and smiled calmly.
"Palkia, give it everything you've got."
Akari and Paul hadn't wasted their time together in Hisui. They had grown too.
"ROOOOAR!"
Palkia's eyes blazed scarlet, its aura surging. Space around it warped uncontrollably.
Rage Mode—activated!
Bloodline Mode—activated!
The two powers fused. In an instant, Palkia's strength doubled.
"Blizzard!"
Palkia's wings beat furiously, unleashing a storm that filled the entire cavern with howling winds and piercing ice.
Cold froze the shadows. Snow smothered the netherworld's flames.
Within seconds, Giratina was forced out of hiding. Caught off guard, it opened its maw and fired a Dragon Pulse.
But before the draconic beam even reached Palkia, the blizzard froze it solid, shattering it into nothingness.
For the first time, Giratina hesitated.
It didn't understand how Palkia had become so powerful, so quickly. But one thing was certain—it could not win this battle.
"ROOOOAR!"
Its eyes flared crimson. With a furious roar, it unleashed its full might. Darkness engulfed the entire cavern, shadows crashing down on Palkia like a tidal wave.
"Spacial Rend!" Akari commanded, her face tightening.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Palkia's wings flared again and again, launching dozens of Spacial Rends that tore through the storm of shadows, ripping them apart.
As the darkness receded, Palkia readied to strike back—only to find Giratina was gone.
...
The Distortion World
Still trembling with rage, Giratina fled deep into the twisted realm.
Yes—once again, it had run.
The first time it faced Akari, at the peak of its power, it had been overwhelmed and beaten back. So it fled.
Now, with the advantage of its home ground, it was still humiliated. And again, it fled.
But Giratina refused to blame itself.
I am strong. Too strong. If I am treated this way, then the fault lies not in me—but in that human.
It would hide here, in the Distortion World, for decades if necessary. And when it returned, it would strike down space first, then time—until even Arceus was forced to appear. Then it would have its revenge.
Yet as it flew deeper, Giratina realized something was wrong.
No matter how far it went, it hadn't traveled at all.
"This… so this is the true nature of the Distortion World." A voice murmured.
"Strange, isn't it? Gravity itself is overturned here."
Before Giratina could react, several figures appeared on floating stone platforms ahead—waiting for it.
"ROOOOAR!"
Giratina's eyes widened as it saw Paul, with Dialga by his side. In an instant, it understood—
THIS WAS A TRAP!
And when it turned back, there was Akari, smiling as she rode atop Palkia, cutting off its retreat.
Together, the two Trainers had encircled it completely.
Giratina: "I'm doomed!"
(End of Chapter)
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