The Doors of Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but I do own the characters in this story.

Chapter 1

I stared down at the gray slab of rock in front of me. Words were engraved on its cracked surface, large block letters that seemed heavy with the burden they carried. Solemnly, they proclaimed the praises of a life long since ended, a "true companion and loyal partner" who was buried underneath, forever asleep. Tears blurred my vision as I read the words, trying to recall a place and time I had never seen.

I should explain. My name is Phoebe. I'm a Reuniclus, and the grave in front of me is that of someone very important to me: my father.

Gently, I reached out, touching the ancient stone with my large, gel-like hand. You see, my species is entirely encased in a green, translucent substance that keeps us safe, protecting our more vulnerable inner bodies from harm. We evolved it in order to deal with threats as our brainpower improved, resulting in our physical bodies wasting away and becoming nearly helpless. Without the gel, we can't survive. But with it, we can do so much, even using parts of it as limbs to pick up and manipulate the world around us. Each of us possesses two arms made of the gel that we can move freely, one of which I was now using to run over the lettering on the gravestone, feeling its rough and broken surface.

I sighed. I had never known my father, even though I wished I had. My mother told me that he had died a very long time ago, when I was still very young. He had been owned by a human, a Pokémon trainer, and had been accidentally killed in a battle with another trainer. His trainer had brought him here, to Celestial Tower, and had buried him here. In Celestial Tower, the final stop on the journeys of so many Pokémon, my father had been laid to rest.

Noticing that the gel in front of my vision was starting to fill with tiny, clear bubbles that began to slowly drift away from my eyes – my tears – I turned away, taking a deep breath to try and compose myself. My left brain was getting all emotional again, making me shake a little as I tried to contain my sobs.

I should probably explain that, too. See, my brain is divided into two halves, a left half and a right half, and both of them each have their own distinctive personality. My right brain is the more logical side, while my left brain, as mentioned, is the more emotional, creative side. This is completely normal for my species, it's something that all Reuniclus share. I think it's actually kind of weird that most other species don't have it…

Calm down, you didn't even know him. He died a long time ago, there's no reason to get so worked up now.

But… but he's my father! If only he were still alive…

Yeah, well, he's not. Get over it.

…F-fine, okay… Okay, fine, I'm over it. I took another deep breath, absorbing air through the gel that surrounded me and filling my lungs. …Mostly…

Uh-huh. Sure you are.

I glanced back at the grave one last time, then sighed and drifted off toward a staircase on the other side of the room. As I drifted, I passed many other graves, all marking the resting places of Pokémon that had met the same fate as my father. The whole place had an eerie feeling, with dim lighting and walls made of old stone blocks, some of them crumbling and nearly falling out. Everything was completely silent, adding to the atmosphere. It was as if the whole tower were holding its breath, watching and waiting for me to make a mistake, and as soon as I made one wrong move it would eat me alive. I shivered.

Once I got to the staircase, I paused. Should I go up or down? This place was kind of scary, but then I didn't really have anywhere else I had to be, and I was a bit curious as to what was in the upper levels of the tower… After a long moment of contemplation, I decided to go up. At the very least, it might provide a nice view of the surrounding countryside. This was really a very pretty area.

Silently, I floated up the spiral staircase. It looked like it might fall apart at any minute, and several steps were broken or missing, but luckily I didn't have to worry about that. It's one of the perks of being a Psychic-type.

Before long, the dim light began to grow brighter, and when I glanced up I noticed an opening a short distance above me. Thinking that that must be the way onto the roof, I continued on up toward it. It wasn't long after that that I reached the opening, and I paused to brace myself against the bright light before floating through it.

Once my eyes adjusted, I looked around, blinking as I took in my surroundings. It seemed my previous guess had been correct: above me was open sky, and on every side I could see for miles in any direction, rolling countryside spread out below me. My breath caught in my throat. It was beautiful.

There was also a bell. For some reason, there was a massive green-and-yellow lump of metal in the center of the tower, suspended by two pillars on either side of it. Its surface was splotchy with rust and wear, but some patches managed to sparkle in the sunlight, hinting at the beauty it no doubt once contained. I gazed at it, wondering why it was there. Maybe the humans had once used it to communicate with the surrounding area? Certainly, it was large enough to be heard for miles around. Curious, I went over to inspect it.

Closer inspection, however, showed nothing more than my initial impression had, and after a moment of thought, I dismissed it. Who knew what went through the minds of humans? I would probably never know what its original purpose was.

Turning, I instead looked out over the edge, thinking quietly as I continued to admire the view. I didn't really think about anything in particular, just… my life in general. I had been wandering on my own for over a year now, ever since I'd evolved into a Duosion; it had been only recently that I'd finally become a Reuniclus, evolving after a particularly grueling battle with a hungry Liepard. It had taken a while to get used to my new powers and appearance, but I thought I'd adjusted pretty well.

With a heavy sigh, I gently lowered myself to rest on the stone rooftop, leaning back on my hands. Sometimes, I wondered about my father. What was he like? What did he like to do? I'd asked my mother about him, but she had said only that he was "very sweet and charming", and little else. So, I'd taken to imagining him in different ways, building up my own image of him based on what I thought the perfect father would be like. He was wonderful, witty, understanding… I missed him so much.

Suddenly, I was jolted out of my thoughts as a grinning face abruptly appeared right in front of me; it was the face of a Litwick, one of the ghost Pokémon that seemed to populate old creepy places like this. I yelped and jerked backward in surprise, only to bump right into the bell I'd been studying earlier. Wincing, I shot a death glare at the mischievous candle, and it giggled. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, it vanished again.

The next second, there came a loud gong sound from right behind me, and I flinched, my body rattling inside its layer of gel from the force. Quickly I moved away from the bell, only to turn and watch in dismay as it continued to swing from side to side. Every time it did so, it released another deafening peal, which made me flinch again and cover my ears each time. Crap.

Eventually, it slowed down and, gradually, stopped ringing. Tentatively, I uncovered my ears, before breathing a sigh of relief. My heart was still beating in my chest from the shock.

Almost guiltily, I glanced around. Would any humans have heard it? Probably, I answered myself grimly. It was so loud, I'd be surprised if the whole region didn't hear it. Of course, that didn't mean they'd care, at least not enough to come check. Maybe it was a common occurrence for wild Pokémon to ring the bell?

Suddenly, there was a dull thump from right behind me. I immediately stiffened. Darn it, had someone already come to see? Slowly, I turned around, holding my breath anxiously.

What I saw was, to my mild relief, not a human. Rather, it seemed to be some sort of Pokémon, though one I had never seen before. I blinked, staring at it in bewilderment. It looked like just a large, irregularly-shaped purple mass, covered in fur and with a face on one side, which currently looked very confused sprawled on the stone floor. It did not seem to have a body; rather, as I looked more closely, the entire thing appeared to be nothing more than a disembodied, furry head. Only not quite as nasty as that sounds. Strewn across the floor next to it were what looked like two clawed hands, which were similarly disembodied. I assumed the hands were part of it, since they were covered in purple fur just like the main creature even though they were not connected. Overall, this creature was very… strange-looking.

Not to mention confused-looking. It blinked its large eyes dazedly as it met my own eyes, which probably looked just as confused. For a long moment, we stared at each other, neither of us moving.

Finally, the odd creature broke the silence. "…Where the hell am I?" it asked, lifting one of the disembodied hands and scratching its head in bewilderment. "What… what just happened?"

It took me a moment to find my voice. "…Uh, you're uh… the Celestial Tower," I stammered.

It raised an eyebrow at me. "…The hell is a 'Celestial Tower'?"

I gestured vaguely downward, still keeping my eyes on the creature. "Uh, it's… this place," I explained lamely. Where had it come from? Was it a Ghost-type, was that how it had managed to suddenly appear out of nowhere?

It followed my gesture, and seemed to realize for the first time that it was sitting on a solid surface. Quickly it lifted itself into the air, coming to a hover several feet above the ground. I just kept staring. "…Alright, well… How did I get here?" it asked, glancing down at the floor before looking up at me again.

"Uh, I… I don't know," I said truthfully. It didn't know how it had gotten here? "How did you get here?"

It blinked, then frowned, seeming to be trying to remember something. "…Er, well, I just… I was just minding my own business, and then suddenly I'm here. It was like… like I was being pulled or something… There was this noise…"

"Noise?" I asked, eyes widening. Was it possible…?

It nodded, which looked quite spectacular considering it was just a head. "Yeah, a noise. Like a kind of… crash noise, but… higher. Or something. It's hard to explain…"

I glanced guiltily back at the bell behind me. "…A crash noise, huh…"

The creature followed my gaze. "Yeah… Why, does… that thing make noise?" it asked, gesturing at the bell.

I could swear my face was bright red. "…Uh, yeah, it does," I admitted. "I um, accidentally rang it… Do you think that might have something to do with you being here?"

It frowned, thinking. "…It's possible…"

"…Um, if you don't mind my asking, where were you originally?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Home," it said simply. "Doesn't look anything at all like this place, though… This place feels weird. I think… I think this could be an entirely different world, even. Different physics, different look…"

"A… different world?" My mind was blown by that possibility. This creature came from another world? Where? And how?

It nodded. "Yeah, I think so. It's looking pretty likely, anyway." Suddenly it focused on me, and its mouth stretched out into a wide grin. "Say, what's your name? I'm Ruben," it said, and based on its tone and expression, I got the impression that it was trying to… flirt with me? Was it a male, then? Now that I was paying attention, I got the distinct feeling that it was in fact male, just from its body language and behavior. …Huh.

"I uh, I'm Phoebe," I stammered, feeling my cheeks flush red again, though this time for a different reason. "Sorry for, uh, bringing you here from your home. It was an accident, I swear."

He shrugged, or at least did something that I guessed was a shrug since he had no actual shoulders. "Oh, it's no problem. If you brought me here, it shouldn't be too hard to get back. And besides, I could never get angry at someone as cute as you," he added with a wide smirk.

I averted my eyes, internally cursing myself for blushing so obviously. Stupid left… "Well, uh, I… I uh…" What was I supposed to say to that?

He regarded me with a thoughtful smile for a few moments, then spoke again. "…So, you think you ringing this… thing, brought me here?" he asked, drifted over next to me to inspect the rusty bell. I turned and watched him, curious.

"…Well, you said you heard it ringing… right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'd guess so, anyway. I don't really know what it sounds like. Do you think you could ring it for me?"

I paused. "…Well, it's really loud…"

"If it was what brought me here, then it might send me back," he pointed out.

I nodded slowly. "Well, yeah… but it might also bring someone else," I pointed out in turn.

"Yeah, it might… But, still, it's worth a try, isn't it?" he said, giving me a smile.

I sighed, but then nodded. "…Yeah, I guess… Well, here goes." Placing one large hand on the bell, I braced myself, then pushed.

Just like before, it let out a loud gong sound, making both me and Ruben flinch. However, he seemed to be a bit more affected, recoiling away from it as if stung. "Stop it, stop it now!" he yelled, covering his ears.

I quickly grabbed the bell, using both of my arms to steady it. "What, what's wrong?" I asked, looking at him with concern.

He cautiously uncovered his ears, watching the bell warily as if he thought it might ring again by itself. "It's definitely got some sort of spiritual energy," he said, expression grim. "I think you're right, that thing is probably what brought me here."

I slowly let go of the bell, letting it fall back into its normal position. "…Well… how do we get you back home, then?" I was feeling a bit guilty about this whole situation, so I decided that I had to help him get back home, no matter what. It was my fault, after all.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully with one finger. "Well… That's a tricky one, then. I can't get back home using this thing," he gestured to the bell, "and anyway, it's dangerous to mess around with spiritually charged stuff like this. You never know what'll happen…" He paused, frowning and looking downward as he continued to think.

Finally, he looked back up at me. "…What do you know about… 'Giratina'?"