The tremors had caused mass confusion and disruption across the Sinnoh region. Pokémon had become stressed or aggressive in the aftermath and some people had been stranded in caves, requiring the aid of multiple rescue teams consisting of humans and Pokémon like Machoke, Machamp, Excadrill, Gurdurr and Conkeldurr.

Issei and Tatsumi walked hurriedly around Jubilife city, helping anyone who had been affected by the tremors. Some people had been injured by falling lampposts or trees, and others had been attacked by otherwise passive Pokémon that had been stressed out by the sudden quake. They wandered from street to street, lending a hand to whoever needed it.

After a few hours of doing so, they returned to the Pokémon centre and collapsed onto the couch in the waiting area.

Issei: "Bro... If I gotta lift another fuckin' lamppost like that... Kill me."

Tatsumi let out an exhausted sigh as he nodded.

Tatsumi: "Suicide pact?"

Issei: "Yyyyup."

The two shook hands as they leaned their heads back in exhaustion until the familiar plodding of Chansey's footsteps caught their attention. The large round Pokémon placed down a tray with two large mugs of coffee before smiling at them and walking back to the front desk. The two boys laughed before groaning as they sat up to drink.

Though things were fine on their end, it was very much the opposite back at Rowan's lab.

The researchers kept a safe distance as they observed the Pidgey that Miki had brought in.

Rowan furrowed his brow as he carefully looked at each feather on its body in turn.

Rowan: "Hm... This is unprecedented."

F/n: "What is it?"

Rowan: "The Pokédex isn't registering it as any known species. It registers as a Pidgey, but it's not just that, there's something else..."

M/n: "... Wait, isn't there a Pokémon that matches the description of what we're seeing here as well as the pidgey? Grey body, golden crown, amorphous wings of shadow?"

The professor smacked his hands together as he put the pieces together.

Rowan: "Precisely! There is a Pokémon mentioned in old Hisuian mythology that matches that description!"

Rowan rushed to one of the old books on his shelf and he flicked to a particular page,

Rowan: "Yes! Right here."

He turned the book to show it to the others. The pages were old and fragile, but the words upon them were clear as day.

"And lo, as the sky above Mount Coronet darkens to an inky black, comes the form of he, the lord of the dark realm. Banished from His light to the depths below for his violence, it is under the sheen of his golden crown that humanity is judged, and by the black of his wings of shadow that the world is distorted. He is Giratina, and his wrath knows no end."

F/n: "Giratina, eh?"

M/n: "By the black of his wings of shadow that the world is distorted... Wait."

Rowan: "Hm, yes I think I see the connection."

M/n: "Giratina must have been behind that tremor just now, but why? It's been silent for who knows how long. Why would it suddenly decide to get angry now?"

The professor furrowed his brow again as he looked at the corrupted Pidgey in front of him. He had no idea why Giratina would suddenly unleash such a blast of power without provocation, little did he know what exactly was happening just beneath the skin of reality.

Within the twisted world, Giratina flew frantically, it's gargantuan serpentine body writhing and slipping around every corner with practiced ease. It's crimson eyes flashed with intense hate as it blitzed after its quarry. This was the realm that it ruled over, there was no place for the interloper that claimed dominion over space. The two colossal dragons sped around the distortion realm, Giratina letting out a deafening screech of fury as it chased down his prey.

It vanished into shadow and slipped around, only to emerge and find the gem upon its opponent's shoulder shining and humming with spacial energy. It barely had time to react as a wave of spacial energy crashed into it with a wave of the other dragon's clawed hand. Stunned for a moment, Giratina floated backwards before swiping away the dust and debris from the attack with its tail, finding that its target had escaped back into its own dimension outside of reality.

Giratina hovered quivering in fury before it turned to a nearby waterfall. It floated down to it as it saw a small number of Pokémon swimming around in it. It surmised that it must have accidentally dragged them in while it was chasing the lord of space out of its home. It watched them for a few minutes as they splashed around, confused and afraid. Despite their fear, it simply watched with what looked like an apologetic look on its face as their forms twisted, taking on its characteristics. First it was the Krabby, then the Shellder, then the Staryu. Other Pokémon were also corrupted and Giratina could only watch as its characteristics were inflicted on the small beings beneath its gaze. When the transformation was complete, it roared and opened a wormhole back to the world above, sending them back before returning to its solitude.

Back in the real world, Y/n finally began to stir from his sleep. As he opened his eyes, he found Gible asleep next to him. The trainer chuckled as he saw his arm in Gible's mouth. Clearly the Pokémon was hungry.

He slowly sat up as the door opened and Chansey plodded in with a tray of medical supplies. The Pokémon gave a friendly wave as it set the tray down on the bedside table. It then plodded out to fetch Nurse Joy, leaving Y/n alone with his thoughts. He felt that something had happened, that much was obvious by the stuff that had been knocked over. His suspicions were confirmed when Issei and Tatsumi came in and sighed in relief when they saw him awake.

Tatsumi: "Dude, you will NOT believe the day we've had."

Issei: "Yeah, we met Cynthia then a fuckin' earthquake decides to rock the fuckin' region."

Y/n narrowed his eyes upon hearing the news.

Y/n: "The region?"

Tatsumi: "Yeah, it just came up on the news, apparently people got trapped in victory road. Cynthia and the Elite Four are up there getting people and Pokémon out"

Issei: "All this crazy shit as the masters tournament is right round the corner. Feels like there's some bullshit goin' on."

Y/n sighed as Nurse Joy walked in and did a few medical checkups, taking his temperature as well as taking a small blood sample to test for any lingering venom. She did her job dilligently and as quickly as she could until Y/n's phone went off. He picked it up and held it to his ear as Rowan's voice sounded off through the speaker.

Rowan: "Y/n, can you hear me okay?"

Y/n: "Loud and clear, professor. What's up?"

Rowan: "There's a... Situation. I'd like you and your friends to return to the lab. Your Pokédexes need an impromptu update."

Y/n frowned in confusion, but agreed nonetheless. The pokédex was the professor's main research project, so if it needed an update then that was no problem, though he was confused as to why it needed to be updated in person rather than via transmitted software.

After a few final checks, Y/n was discharged and the three were on their way back to Sandgem town. Conifer remained perched on Y/n's head while Mochi was kept in Issei's arms while Chimchar stood on Tatsumi's shoulder.

Tatsumi: "So why does this update need to be done in person?"

Y/n: "Don't know, but the professor sounded serious when he was talking about it."

Issei: "To be fair, he sounds serious about everything."

Y/n hummed in agreement, Rowan was known for being a serious man, but even then his tone over the phone was something bordering on concern more than anything else. Nevertheless, the three continued on the road, making sure to learn from their previous mistake of giving Issei the map. This time it only took about an hour to get from Jubilife to Sandgem, though they also took some shortcuts. As they exited the route and stepped onto the familiar ground of Sandgem town, the three of them immediately felt a sense of familiar comfort. They made their way through the main road to the professor's lab, making sure to say hello to some of the kids that were running around, though Y/n refrained because he hated them and how noisy the little buggers were.

They soon made it to the professor's lab and walked in, finding a few pieces of equipment knocked over, but everyone seemed fine. Rowan himself was standing in front of the Aviary containing all the Starly and Pidgey that had seemingly retreated to one side of the enclosure.

Y/n walked over and Rowan wordlessly acknowledged their presence. Issei then spotted the strange Pidgey that stood on the other side ofthe Aviary.

Issei: "The fuck is that!?"

Tatsumi crouched down to try and get a better view of it, but he was just as perplexed as Issei. Y/n turned to the professor with a frown, though he occasionally glanced back at the odd pokémon, feeling its unblinking crimson eyes boring into him from behind the glass.

Y/n: "I assume this is why you wanted to see us in person?"

Rowan gave a quick nod before turning back to his desk.

Rowan: "Give me your pokédexes, I'll update them."

Y/n complied and handed his over, as did Issei and Tatsumi, but the three couldn't ignore the weird ghost pidgey in the room.

Issei: "So... You gonna tell us 'bout that lil guy over there?"

Rowan let out a sigh as he allowed the software update to go through. He then turned to the Aviary with a frown adorning his moustached face.

Rowan: "... The current theory is that the tremors that we just recently felt were a result of disturbances in the distortion world."

Issei: "Distortion world? Like hell?"

Tatsumi: "I've heard of the distortion world. According to legend it's where one of the three legendary pokémon of creation rules. A twisted parallel of our own world devoid of any life except for the thing that rules over it."

Y/n: "And this Pidgey came from that?"

Rowan: "That's what we've managed to surmise. We're assuming that pokémon fell into the distortion world during that tremor and came out in a similar state to this, corrupted in a sense by Giratina."

As the group talked, Miki walked over with a concerned look on her face.

Miki: "Professor, I suggest moving Pidgey out of the small pokémon Aviary."

Rowan: "Hm? Why?"

Miki: "It's showing signs of evolution. By all means it should have evolved into a pidgeotto some time ago, but instead it looks like it's skipping the middle stage."

Rowan raised an eyebrow before opening the Aviary and gently lifting the Pidgey out, making sure to wear gloves as he did so. He then motioned for the three boys to follow him as he stepped outside with Pidgey in hand. Miki followed as well with a tablet in her hand displaying the Pidgey's vitals. Issei had a look for himself and he found that his mother was absolutely right. The Pidgey was rapidly approaching its final evolutionary stage, skipping over Pidgeotto entirely.

The theory was proven correct when it began to shine a bright white colour. Everyone took a step back and Y/n stood in front of Issei and Tatsumi with his fists clenched. When the light dispersed, what stood before them wasn't a typical Pidgeot, it's shadowy wings were now replaced with actual wings. It's grey plumage had darkened, but the tips of its primary and secondary feathers were all red while the tips of its coverts were blue. The typical pidgeot plume was also now blue and red and it protruded from a large golden crown that seemed to be melded into the Pokémon's head.

The huge bird pokémon looked down at the humans that were gazing in awe at it before it lowered its head towards Miki, recognising her as the one that found it after it emerged from the Distortion world.

Issei: "Looks like he likes you, Mom."

Miki: "Y- Yes, it would seem so."

Miki was clearly taken aback by the sudden development, but Y/n walked up to the Pidgeot and gently placed his hand on its crown, feeling the cold steel-like material against his skin. He then motioned for Miki to approach which she did tentatively. Issei and Tatsumi watched with smirks as Miki cautiously placed her hand in the same spot that Y/n's hand had been. Y/n then took a step back and allowed Miki to become acquainted with her new Pokémon friend.

Tatsumi: "Hand-rearing pokémon comes in handy, eh?"

Y/n: "Trust me, with the strangth behind that thing's muscles, if it wanted us dead, we would be."

The two let out nervous chuckles before Rowan lead them back inside while keeping an eye on Miki from the window of the lab, thankfully the Pidgeot seemed to be friendly towards her.

Rowan: "... The update has been applied. I apologise for bringing you back here for something that could have been done remotely, but-"

Issei: "You figured it'd be good to let us see what's going on."

Rowan gave a nod, hiding a smile behind his immense moustache.

Rowan: "I'm glad I did, while we likely would have been fine, it's still better to have more trainers around in case things go wrong."

The three nodded as Rowan handed their pokédexes back to them.

Rowan: "Now, I doubt that Pidgeot is the only one of its kind out there, there's likely been other pokemon that have been corrupted by the distortion world."

Issei: "Guess the question is, what caused the disturbance in the distortion world?"

The professor was silent for a moment, but soon shook his head as if dismissing a random thought.

Rowan: "Whatever the case, ensure you are careful out there, there's no telling whether or not this could happen again."

The three boys nodded before saying goodbye and heading back out onto the road again.

Rapidly evolving Pokémon corrupted by the distortion world, things were getting several kinds of hectic around Sinnoh. Though, as the trio made their way back to Jubilife city, they failed to notice the light brown-haired woman watching them from nearby, nor the canine pokémon at her side.

???: "Hm. They seem interesting."

With her mind made up, she made to follow them with her partner pokémon following close beside her.

End of Chapter.

Next Time: Confusion in the Cave.