Space, Time and Darkness
Chapter 1
A cold and wet room greeted me as I entered a hidden floor. Strange machines with strange green-glowing water like liquid were the only light source that casted a faint glow onto my deathly pale skin. My plan had failed. I had been carried off by a strange shadowy Pokémon called Giratina, had been bruised and hurt by the ride then thrown to the floating ground, defeated by a child and told to get lost. Then to add insult to injury, Commanders Mars and Jupiter asked me what happened and asked if I had won.
So now I limped down the hallway and into a room with three machines made to restrain the three lake guardians and a computer to carry out experiments on them. I sat down against one of the machines and pulled out a small first-aid kit from my vest before I bandaged many of my wounds before digging into a few of the crates looking for food. The only thing I found was a box of stale crackers and many bottles of water. But it's better then nothing I suppose.
I could still hear the commanders yelling in my head as I left Spear Pillar. The ordeal was over with, and from what I heard on the news, the child had defeated Giratina and stopped the distortion and was now taking on the Pokémon league. The International police had arrested most the members of team Galactic for questioning and had released them seeing that they were strange and… hilariously harmless.
They were still however looking for me. Team Galactic leader Cyrus Akagi Gallot. The mastermind and the brains behind the whole scheme. Everyone was looking for me, even that idiot agent of the International police, Looker. But not even he'd recognize me now. I was a freaking mess. Unshaven, mussed up hair-worse then usual- dirt, mud splattered with a hint of dried blood, wet, scratched, bruised, bleeding and places swelling due to injuries.
I needed a shower, filling food and a warm and dry place to stay. A gulped down some crackers then began to fiddle with the machines. What else was there to do? I wasn't lugging books and other crap down into the basement lab. My left leg couldn't take it. Same went for my arm. I carefully felt my swelling wrist. I could feel some pain and a few muscles in funny positions. I guessed that it was sprained badly all thanks to Giratina. I was once again in the dark, alone with my tools, machines and my Pokémon. No one would find me here. So I tinkered with the machines for a few days.
After about a week I lost all sense of time. Between me falling asleep and waking up at what felt like odd hours, I decided that two weeks had passed. So I continued to eat the stale crackers. I put down my screwdriver and went up to my office to get something to drink. I grabbed a water bottle from a drawer and drank from it. The harsh yet straight Vodka burned my mouth as I drank from it. I brought it with me back to the basement lab. I began to wonder what went wrong in trying to make my new universe. I couldn't make heads or tails of it anymore. I then heard something coming down the hall. Grabbing the gun from the waist line of my boxers, I pointed it at the door. There was a mewl then a loud bang as part of the door was pushed in. Suddenly there was a curse as one of my commanders walked in.
"Cyrus?"
I looked into her ruby red eyes. It was hard to imagine that Mars would know where to find me, but then again, we had spent so much time together that it was kind of expected for her to know my favorite spots.
"Mars, what time is it?" I rasped. My throat felt hoarse from the lack of use. She sat next to me and gave me a bottle of water before she answered.
"Well for starters get something to drink. Second of all it's two in the morning. Third and finally it's been two months since anyone last saw you."
I spit out the water in surprise. "I slept THAT long!? That's impossible! That's illogical. It can't be true Mars!"
"Cyrus," she whispered. "H-how badly are you injured?"
I stopped and thought. "I'm not sure. My head has been pounding since I smacked my head off one of the machines after I got back from Spear Pillar. I've been sleeping a lot since then. I'm guessing that it is because I might have hurt my head badly."
Mars gave me a funny look. "You are aware that there is dried blood on the side of your head right?" She took out a few bandages. "And on top of it, it sounds like you have a concussion." She began changing my now old, mangy and oil stained bandages to new clean ones. I dropped the gun and closed my eyes. I felt something slap my in the face.
"Don't go to sleep." She growled.
"Commander Mars, please refrain from smacking me upside the head. There is no need to do that. I'm perfectly fine."
Mars pulled off my shirt and swore. "You missed a few injuries. You have a few cuts on your shoulders and on your stomach."
"Commander, I did state earlier that I have been asleep at odd hours. That being said, I was unable to locate and nurse all my injuries." I growled back.
"That's no excuse Cyrus. Team Galactic is looking for you so you can lead them again. You need to clean yourself up and try to heal properly. What's wrong with your arm?" She said as she inspected my arm.
"I'm guessing that I sprained it." I sighed.
"Nah I think you pulled a muscle. It definitely feels like you pulled something." Mars looked back up at me. "You should be at a hospital."
"You should mind your own business." I said bluntly. "They've had time to heal after all."
Mars sighed. "What was it like?"
I looked at her. "I do not understand that irrational question."
"The distortion world Cyrus. What was the distortion world like?" She said cupping the side of my face.
"That is more understandable. The distortion world is very unlike this world. In fact the normal laws of physics have little meaning there. Space is unstable and time doesn't seem to flow. You are able to walk on the walls there as well, any ground that is broken away from any large land mass floats. Some medium land masses act as elevators. And waterfalls run both ways, depending on which way you surf in. Some plants and landmarks aren't really there while others are but aren't visible at first. There are no life forms there, save for a few plants. The sky is endless; it stretches everywhere." I paused for a moment. "It seems like this world and the distortion worlds are connected and that one can not exist without the other. That is why Giratina tried to stop me."
Mars rolled her eyes. "You didn't need to make it a long story."
"I'm deeply sorry Mars, but I was trying to help you to understand. You did ask after all." I pointed put.
"But what are you going to do now? Team Galactic has disbanded… in a sense. So now what will you do? You can't just sit down here doing nothing Cyrus." She had a point there.
"I suppose that I'll move back to Sunyshore and go from there." I sighed.
"Oh I forgot to mention." Mars threw out a Pokéball and placed a white egg with green spots. "I found this out in front of the HQ Sign. I think that it's an egg but it squeaks when I touch it."
I picked up the egg and looked at it before I turned around. A large black dog with horns and red eyes stalked out from behind a machine. It gave a growl before it padded over to me and sniffed the egg. Its hot breath warmed my hands before I thought of something.
"Houndoom, I want you to breathe on the egg so it can hatch. I'm interested to see what comes out of it. No, better yet, let it lean against your stomach so we don't have a hard boiled egg on our hands." I said as I recalled the egg. I shrugged to Mars as she threw me a canvas bag so I could put a few things in it. I threw in a small tool kit, and all the files I had on CD about the legends of Sinnoh. I also threw in a file folder I was working on, about the distortion world. It was hard to close, but well worth it. I followed Mars up to my office, to another warp panel and out the front door.
"Do you have anyone that can fly?" Mars asked as she took out a Pokéball.
"Affirmative, but I do not have them on me at this given time." I replied.
Mars sighed and threw out a shiny Staraptor. The bird chirped and spread its wings, allowing Mars to get on. I hesitated before I climbed on. I griped the bird's sides with my knees and I clung to Mars for dear life.
"Where to?" Mars asked casually.
"Sunyshore City. Don't land at the Pokécenter. I'll direct you to my place of residence." I explained.
The Staraptor's wings pushed down as it soared above the clouds. I tightened my grip on Mars' waist as she turned back to look at me.
"You scared of heights?" She scoffed. I shook my head.
"No I just haven't flown since I was a teenager. And even that bird was much larger."
Mars laughed. I rolled my eyes as Sunyshore came in view. I pointed down at a stand of trees near Route 214. The Staraptor landed in a small clearing before Mars recalled it. The wind blew, making the leaves rustle. A small path lead up to a well kept house overlooking the sea. As I looked up at the house, I had only one thought.
This is where it all began.