Red dirt was beneath their feet, and yet there was nothing beneath the dirt. Mere meters away, it suddenly stopped, dropping off a broken edge into eternity. Small scatterings of what might be considered the “ground” were all around them. And that was in the most literal sense possible. It wasn’t islands on the surface of a lake, but rather patches of dirt that floated through space that didn’t adhere to the force of gravity, or at the very least, not in any way that was familiar. An alien, vine-y plant grew from the soil on an island perpendicular to theirs, and yet instead of growing upwards or succumbing to normal gravitational forces and falling down, it instead grew straight out, hanging above their heads like a pipe stretching off into nothingness, despite clearly not having enough support for that to make any sort of sense.

  Not that anything in sight made sense.

  A few islands away there was a small pond. The pond was upside down, at least from their perspective, and yet the water stayed there except in one far corner of the pond, where it gushed out in a roaring reverse waterfall. That the pond held a meager amount of water seemed not to matter, as it stretched out into infinity, or at least far enough that the other end of it was not in sight.

  And beyond the infinity of the small red islands, and yet somehow closer still than they were, no matter how contradictory that was, there were fractals. Trees sprung up out of stone that stretched and warped and repeated. A fence that looked similar to the ones on route 214 ran on and on out onto a horizon that never came. In the distance, far enough that they should appear small and yet close enough that they should be looming, buildings radiated from a single point, spiraling and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating no different from the mountains beyond them and closer than them taking up all of their vision and none of it blinding them with how dark the never ending stone was with the lack of light that Mount Coronet let through and surprising them with how small Sinnoh’s biggest mountain appeared against the backdrop of the purple sky and blue fog and white clouds that repeated and repeated and repeated endlessly both blending together into an amorphous blob and being separate enough that their singular identity was obvious with all of it filling their eyes and their minds and their souls and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating and–

  “I think I’m gonna be sick,” Mimikyu groaned as N fell to his knees, gasping for air. Lucas looked even worse off, his skin pale and slick with sweat, as if he were deathly ill without hope of recovery as he collapsed onto what might be the ground or the ceiling or a wall of this place.

  No sooner had N cursed their luck than whatever this was started to assault their senses all at once, and now N wasn’t sure he’d be able to curse again if he tried with how out of sorts he felt. He tried to focus on his breathing, on his heartbeat, yet they were too fast and too slow and made no sense at all, not unlike the rest of this place.

  “Dusclops, do you know how to fix Rotom’s friends? Rotom can’t afford to have them dying here.”

  “I don’t even know what’s wrong with them. I’ve never been to the Distortion World before,” Dusclops admitted.

  “You-” N tried not to dry heave, “You don’t feel that?”

  “Feel what? Rotom does sense a lot of distortion, but your symptoms don’t match up with previous data.”

  “It’s like…” Mimikyu sucked in a breath, “fuckin’ VR sickness but turned up ta ‘n ‘xtreme…”

  “VR sickness? I’ve never heard of that. Is it like Pokerus or something?” Dusclops asked.

  “Nah, it’s- ah, damn, I think I’m gettin’ used to it now- it’s uh… when yer eyes ‘n’ body don’ agree on what’s goin’ on… I guess this mess is similar ‘nough ta lookin’ at shitty VR ta cause the same problems…”

  “Hmmm,” Rotom buzzed. “Maybe Ghost types are resistant to that sort of thing? Or maybe it’s because it’s caused by Distortion? Rotom supposes that such theories will be confirmed or denied when you regain your Ghost typing.”

  “Speakin’ of which, how is shovin’ us in the Distortion World s’posed ta fix me? Do I jus’ wait aroun’ ‘n’ suffer ‘til it fixes itself?”

  The feeling was slowly starting to subside in N, and he forced himself to stand, doing his best not to gaze at anything not in his immediate surroundings lest he set off another episode. “That’s a good question, but more importantly, how do we get back? The portal shut behind us.”

  “Well, from what I’ve heard second hand, there should be other portals?” Dusclops hesitantly spoke up. “They won’t spit us out where we entered, but they’ll at least send us out of the Distortion World.”

  “And do you know where we can find these other portals?”

  “...well….”

  N let out a defeated sigh.

  “Oh?” Rotom chimed before floating up before N’s face. “So your primary concern is getting out of here? Not fixing Mimikyu?”

  He frowned. “Of course it is! Not that I don’t want to help him out, but I think not being trapped here forever is a bit higher on the priority list.”

  “Interesting. So the latent Distortion must be overriding…” Rotom broke off into a distorted electronic giggle, floating off to inspect their surroundings.

  Weird.

  A water bottle was shoved in his face, distracting him from any potential follow up on it. Looking down, he saw Lucas eagerly chugging down one of his own. “Ah, yes, some water might help with the nausea. Thank you, Lucas.”

  The boy simply nodded, taking off his hat and pouring the water over his face.

  As he slowly sipped at the water, not quite as desperate for relief as Lucas had been, he cautiously took a look around. There was nothing resembling the portal they’d come in through within his line of sight. So that meant they’d have to travel.

  Except, they were on an island. Floating on nothing.

  “...are we stranded?” He nervously pointed out.

  “Hm? Nah, we just gotta hop from island to island,” Mimikyu replied, as if that were obvious.

  N looked at the gap from their island to the nearest one on their… plane? There was no way he could make that jump. He looked back to Mimikyu with an eyebrow raised.

  “Relax, yer just thinkin’ ‘bout it wrong. Look at it more like a puzzle…” He paused for a moment, looking around. “That island with the plant stickin’ out at us? Walk towards the edge of this one ‘n’ jump towards it.”

  N carefully observed the island in question.

  “You want me to jump towards a wall… with nothing but the void beneath it? I’ll just fall!”

  “I think I see what he means…” Dusclops refuted.

  The rest of them watched on worriedly as the Ghost stepped towards the edge of their island and jumped.

  Instead of falling into the endless expanse, however, Dusclops’ body twisted in midair, falling towards the second island and landing on it.

  He was now standing on the wall.

  “So the direction gravity pulls in is dependent on the nearest island?” Rotom questioned. “Though you can’t float like Rotom, so Rotom isn’t sure how much you should trust the extent of that…”

  “Rotom could ya shut up so ya don’t get these two so scared they refuse ta search for ‘n exit?”

  “Possibly!” Rotom giggled robotically.

  N still wasn’t certain that this was a good idea, but Lucas was apparently convinced because the next thing N knew, the boy was sprinting at the wall, jumping up and landing feet first. There was a wide smile on his face as he waved up towards N.

  “Right. We’re walking on walls now. Okay.” N tried to let it sink in, but everything about this place just felt extremely wrong.

  “At least ya ain’ gotta jump straight from floor ta cielin’, that sounds unpleasant. Now ‘elp me figure out a path outta ‘ere…”

  As much as N hated to admit it, he was starting to enjoy the weirdness of being able to look up at a ceiling/floor and realize that they’d been standing on it not long ago. It was freeing, in a way, though he wasn’t sure if it was something he could handle long term. Lucas, with the way he was running around and jumping between islands they didn’t need to traverse just for fun, might even be open to living in a place like this.

  Or at least until he let his eyes wander off the immediate, got sucked into the never ending fractals, and had to try and hold down what was in his stomach.

  N was starting to suspect that when Dusclops told them that Turnback Cave wasn’t for humans, it wasn’t so much the cave that was the problem but its proximity to this place.

  If it weren’t for that, this place would almost be picturesque. It was amazing to be able to walk under a giant lake while being above the surface of the water. They’d walked through an unfamiliar city at one point, with the buildings’ roofs and supports acting as starting points for mirror images of each building to repeat on and on, stretching out further than they could see. Mount Coronet’s terrible looming specter in the distance made him wonder if the city was something that existed in the real world as well, but he wasn’t certain he’d be able to recognize an unwarped version of it even with that in mind.

  That was another strange thing about this place. They hadn’t crossed much ground, yet they’d somehow walked over what N assumed must be multiple routes and through a major city. It was like they’d been walking for a mere fifteen minutes, but also that they’d been at this for hours or days or weeks. His sense of time and distance had been completely ruined, and he’d not been the only one to notice it.

  “Incoming cloud,” Rotom warned them. The group paused, watching as the so-called “cloud” floated in front of their path before drifting out of the way. Unlike the fluffy white water vapor that the name implied, though, this was a dark purple…. Something that crackled with an unnatural electricity and had all the makings of a bad time. None of the group had any idea what it was, or what touching it might do to them, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that they were better off avoiding them when they appeared. And they showed up a lot.

  Was that normal here? There was no way of knowing.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  But it passed, just like the others did before it, and so the group moved forward, leaping from island to island, wandering down the path laid before them simply because it was a path and allowed them to progress.

  It left them a lot of time, or perhaps no time, where all they could really do was talk.

  “So this place…” N gestured vaguely around them, “is where Ghost types get their energy?”

  Dusclops hummed. “It definitely feels that way. Being here… it’s like I’m full to the point of bursting!” He laughed, waving his hands around in a jovial manner. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so good before! Wish I could have visited under better circumstances, though…” he trailed off into a nervous chuckle, peering at N out of the corner of his eye.

  “It’s not your fault, I don’t blame you,” N reassured the Pokemon. “I don’t get it, though. If this place is the basis for that power, why is it so different? When Mimikyu has leaked energy in the past, it was like it was pure fear cascading out, but here…. I don’t feel any of that. Just a general sort of wrongness, but I’m not sure if that’s even something that can be attributed to the energy or if it’s just our surroundings. If it’s…” He struggled to think of the proper terminology, “saturating you to that extent, then surely we must be swimming in the stuff, and I can’t even tell.”

  “Maybe it’s a sorta overexposure kinda thing?” Mimikyu suggested. “Ya got too much of it ‘n’ so yer body adapted an’ now considers this a base level. Though that does bring up concerns of withdrawal…”

  Rotom crackled. “Or perhaps drawing it into Normality changes it in some way? Bzzrt! It could be that it’s totally harmless here, but once taken out of a Distortion rich environment it converts into the fear based counterpart.”

  “But if that was true then wouldn’ you ‘n’ Dusclops be able ta tell the diff’rence? I’d ‘magine that havin’ two diff’rent types of Distortion flowin’ through ya would be noticeable.”

  “Not necessarily!” Rotom refuted. “It could be that the conversion happens instantly upon the energy being pulled into a Pokemon. This would mean that no matter whether Rotom was in Normality or here, as soon as Rotom calls upon the Distortion it converts.”

  “An’ so once ya release it, it’s the fear stuff regardless of where ya obtained it… I s’pose that’s possible.”

  Dusclops laughed. “Your guess is as good as mine!”

  Interesting. This certainly wasn’t how N expected to be learning about Ghost types, even if it was mostly half-baked theories, but he couldn’t deny that being here made for a much more memorable lesson than any sort of dry lecture. He almost wondered if–

  With a choked gasp, N collapsed to the ground.

  If he moved he would die. He had to run. He had to hide. Yet if he did more than merely exist in this space, he was certain that his end was near. Terror unimaginable flowed through him.

  An ear piercing screech broke the quiet of the Distortion World.

  N had to reassure himself that everything would be fine. Mimikyu had done this to him a few times now, and he’d made it through all of those, hadn’t he? He just had to fight against the instincts telling him that death approached. That primal fear just needed to be tucked away into a box in the corner of his mind, because freezing up when something was obviously coming was not a good plan.

  Steeling his nerves, N slowly forced himself onto his hands and knees.

  Mimikyu’s Mime Jr. disguise lay crumpled beneath him. He must have crushed his friend in the fall. He’d apologize for that later, but N was more focused on the fact that the terror was growing stronger, that his limbs were quaking, that he needed to remind himself to breathe. Daring to look up, he was met with a shadow.

  No. That didn’t do it justice. He was met with the Shadow.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lucas struggling to push himself off the ground, Rotom hovering nervously, and Dusclops kneeling in a reverent pose.

  “It’s really the King!” Dusclops excitedly whispered.

  Ah. That made sense. So this was the King of Distortion.

  Blacker than ink, it was as if all light stopped when it met the King’s form, an absolute darkness that put Mimikyu’s shadows to shame. That said, he could make out a silhouette. A serpentine form was broken up by symmetrical spikes that occasionally jutted out to the sides.There looked to be some sort of spiky headgear at one end, and jutting out of the back along the first third of its body were three pairs of… wings? Legs? It was impossible to tell what they were with no details available.

  The King slithered through the air naturally, curling around various fractals and islands as it observed them. Of course, N only realized they were being observed when two glowing dark red eyes stared him down, that single look almost enough to have his limbs give out again.

  The King’s sights were set on them, and if it was regarded to be on the same level as Palkia and Dialga… Part of the fear coursing through him was natural at that thought.

  Closer and closer it came, not in a straight path, but a twisting and turning one that lasted long enough to be unbearable and yet short enough that he wished he had more time to prepare.

  It wasn’t until the King finally stopped right in front of them that N realized how large it was. The body was likely thicker than N could wrap his arms around if there were two or even three of him, and while it was hard to judge length with the way it never stopped slithering through the air, constantly twisting and turning even if not progressing anywhere, he estimated that it could span the length of several of the islands it had passed on its way to them. Not that such a comparison could truly mean much with how warped the sense of scale was here.

  Nobody said a word as the King inspected them, whether they were too scared to do so or too in awe.

  They watched in silence as one of the King’s wing/leg/tentacle appendages slowly stretched out as if to greet them.

  That was when N noticed that it was tipped with a glowing red blade that was wider than his head at the base.

  His arms trembled beneath him as it became clear that the King was reaching out for him, the blade approaching his face. He was on the verge of hyperventilating, fearing that it was all over for him.

  And then it dipped lower.

  Reaching under him.

  Towards Mimikyu.

  In that moment, his response to the overwhelming fear suddenly changed from freeze to flight.

  “Don’t touch him!”

  Before he could think, N was shoving himself backward, scooping up Mimikyu and trying to get away. It was only after he had gained a few feet of distance that his mind started to catch up to him. What was he doing? Could he really outrun something like this? Was he going to leave the others behind? Lucas was still flat on the ground, unable to even get to his knees yet. What did it want with Mimikyu? Could he really save his friend? What did–

  Peace, issue of humanity.

  The words rattled his bones, coming from both within his head and all around him.

  No harm shall cometh to Mine own spawn.

  The voice was deep but had undertones of something high pitched and piercing beneath it.

  Alloweth Mineself to restore thy Source.

  Restore? N somehow found it within himself to speak up, even in the face of a being that instilled such primordial horror. “Do you mean you’ll heal him?”

  Was this why Dusknoir had sent them here?

  “...’n’ ‘ow exac’ly do ya plan on doin’ that…?” Mimikyu quietly spoke up.

  In lieu of an answer, the blade pressed forward tentatively, going slowly so as to not startle him, or so N assumed. The very tip of the glowing blade gently pierced through the center of the Mime Jr. disguise, where N knew Mimikyu’s actual body to be, and then retreated, the leg/wing/tentacle moving back to rest with the others.

  And suddenly, Mimikyu could move. His friend shivered in his arms before finally supporting himself with his own strength once more. “That felt so weird…” Mimikyu muttered in a strange mix of disgust and intrigue.

  Thou shalt not expend Mine own gift again. The King commanded.

  “...yer gift? I don’ understand.” Mimikyu shook his false head. “Thank you, though, I really do appreciate yer uh… yer kindness there.”

  N breathed a sigh of relief.

  “But uh, I was wonderin’ if ya could do me a favor.”

  N tensed up again. Why couldn’t Mimikyu just take the good ending and be happy with it?!

  “Ya see, yer uh… siblings? Cohorts? I tried gettin’ some ‘elp from ‘em since it seems more up their alley, but they sorta ignored me. Not exactly yer wheelhouse, but would ya happen ta know how I can-”

  Thou art not meant to be here.

  Mimikyu paused, and N frowned. It was pretty obvious that none of them were meant to be here. It seemed nobody, save the King, was meant to be here.

  “Well, yeah, actually, that’s exactly what I-”

  Thou art early. Or twas it late? Time floweth not in Mine own realm.

  “Wait, what?” Mimikyu sounded confused. Not that N could blame him. “Look, I think we’re talkin’ ‘bout two differen’ things ‘ere, so if ya could stop in’eruptin’ me so I could finish-”

  Not yet. It is too late.

  Mimikyu growled. “What does that even mean?! I’m jus’ tryin’ ta get ya ta send me home ya impatient bastard!”

  Dusclops gasped from off to the side, and N could hear the crackle of Rotom’s electricity.

  Though thou art of Mine own spawn, thou art not under Mine own purview. Thou shalt fulfill the role granted unto thee by thine Creator.

  “My role? What fuckin’ role?! I got dumped in the middle of a fuckin’ forest with no-”

  Thou shalt receiveth the aid which is sought. Mineself hast seen as such most certainly. Aid cometh when the Time is correct, however. Such Time is not present.

  “Wha- That’s bullshit! So I’m just s’posed ta wait around?!”

  The glowing eyes tilted to the side. Mineself exists outside the bounds of Time and Space. Knowledge of “when” and “where” are not in Mine own scope. Mineself knoweth only what is, because what is not exists here in the reverse.

  “Oh so now ya wanna be a fuckin’ smarta-”

  N clamped his hand over the front of Mimikyu’s disguise, where his friend’s mouth might be, silencing him. “I apologize, Mimikyu, but might I suggest you not anger the Pokemon whose home we are currently intruding in?”

  The King focused on him. Thou have grown to endure Mine own Distortion? Most promising. The shadowy serpent slithered through the air, creating more distance between them. Mineself might suggest that thine group not dawdle, however. Mine own ability to move between realms hath been restricted, and an exit to the lands of… what dost thou call it? Hisui? It shall close soon.

  N shared a quick look with Dusclops and Rotom, but neither seemed to know what the King was on about, and Lucas was only just managing to get to his feet.

  “The best ya can do is Sinnoh?” Mimikyu scoffed through N’s hand, helpfully clarifying. “Do ya ‘ave any idea how big the place is?!”

  The King of Distortion… rolled his eyes? Send thine complaints to such fools who preside over time. Perhaps the lesser shall hear your pleas. Turning away from them, the King slithered a few islands away. Continue down thine path and turneth right at the next tree. Thine portal home lay there.

  The overwhelming fear slowly left N’s body as the King continued on, slithering around the corner of a mountain and then disappearing from sight. The group all shared a look, none of them quite knowing what to say about what they’d just experienced.

  “Why do all the Legends ‘round ‘ere gotta be useless bastards…” Mimikyu grumbled.

  Giratina’s directions had proved useful. They leapt through the portal.

  Upon exiting the Distortion World, they found themselves on the shore of a small pond, the water’s surface serving as the medium for the portal.

  Or at least, most of them did. Lucas didn’t look particularly happy about the fact that he had landed in the water, soaking his clothes through by the time he managed to get his bearings and climb onto dry land.

  Dusclops sighed. “Well this certainly isn’t Turnback Cave.”

  N startled as Mimikyu climbed up on top of his hat, but held still, assuming his friend was trying to get a better look of their surroundings.

  “Rotom. Tell me I’m wrong ‘bout what I’m lookin’ at,” Mimikyu said rather dejectedly, as if he already knew what the answer would be.

  Rotom floated up, joining Mimikyu in getting an elevated view. “Bzzrt. That certainly looks like the opposite side of Mount Coronet…”

  Ah. That might be a problem.

  The Shadows were going to be pissed…

  A clarification: When Giratina first speaks, he refers to N as “issue of humanity”. This is NOT referring to N as one of humanity’s issues, meaning that Giratina thinks he is a problem. Issue in this context is being used in terms of genealogy, which I’m aware that very few of you would even know is a thing. A person’s issue refers to all lineal descendants, meaning their kids, and their grandchildren, and so on and so forth. As far as I know, it is generally only used in wills and trusts and whatnot these days and even then I’m not sure how common it is. So Giratina is referring to N as part of the human lineage, something which might actually make sense in a world where humans aren’t the only sentient beings.

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)