I braced myself to come face-to-face with Sinnoh's legendaries. Not only was our ascent long, but it was steep. Mount Coronet loomed over us at a ninety-degree angle. With time and space acting up, at times we seemed to be going down.

I had to give props to Ash for training his Pokémon so well. Talonflame braved the flight, and all I had to do was hold on tight and lean forward, urging the bird Pokémon onward. I led our flock of flying types, with Aaron and Kenny on either flank, since all three of our flying Pokémon were some of Ash's strongest. Riley and Conway guarded the sides, Corviknight's and Sigilyph's bulkiness blocking winds from the side. Conway also ordered Sigilyph to use Psychic to help Togekiss fly so that Cheryl and Ace could sit upright comfortably.

I landed on an awkward run at Spear Pillar. My block heels echoed oddly on the pale gold stones. Most of the pillars had crumbled since the last time I was here. The red chain hovered over a broken altar.

Aaron returned all three of Ash's Pokémon to their Poké Balls. He held onto them, since Kenny and I were already carrying full teams, and walked toward the altar. "Is all the wonky reality warping because of that red chain?"

"The Distortion World is beckoning us," I said. Kenny shivered. Riley and Cheryl bowed to the altar; Ace hung back, more hesitant. Aaron lifted one eyebrow, skeptic. I suspected he would have sat down right on top of the altar if the chain wasn't floating above.

Conway adjusted his glasses as he scrutinized the altar's engravings, which faintly resembled the three lake guardians Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie. "Nothing out of the ordinary here."

As soon as he turned away, Mesprit's eyes glowed. The Guardian of Truth still shared a connection with me.

Conway stood on his tip toes to examine the red chain. "Now, this is most peculiar."

"What's wrong?" Ace asked, approaching the red chain now.

Conway looked at him. "Touch it and you'll understand."

"What? I don't think that's—"

"Don't touch it," Aaron said. "It looks really creepy."

Cheryl stood up, her knees shaking. "I've heard it said that if you touch the red chain—"

Conway spoke over her. "Go on, Gym Leader, touch the red chain."

Ace hesitated, his turquoise eyes fixed on the floating chain. Aaron scowled at Conway. "You touch it."

Conway scoffed, adjusting his glasses. "I'm not a Gym Leader. I don't need to prove anything."

Kenny and Riley exchanged a look. Ace reached for the chain, but Aaron swatted his hand away. "Don't listen to this guy, Ace. He couldn't even make it to our exhibition battle."

"But I'm curious."

Cheryl repeated slightly louder, "If you touch the red chain—"

Conway interrupted her again. "Look, the Gym Leader wants to do it. You're holding him back, Aaron."

Piplup looked back and forth between the bickering boys. I flung my hands into the air. "Boys are useless!" Before I could have second thoughts, I stuck my arm out. My finger jabbed the red chain, which burned like a heated oven—the sharp prick of a thorn. A black spiral appeared in front of us, drawing us into the Distortion World.

"Dawn!" Kenny cried out, reaching for me. I stretched my hand out to him, but he was too far away, and distortion pushed us further apart. Piplup held onto my shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. Riley turned toward Cheryl. I don't know if he reached her in time, because in the blink of an eye, Piplup and I were alone on a red rock island floating in oblivion.

I squeezed Piplup close to me, too scared to move at first. Piplup's eyes were still squeezed shut. I cupped his round head in my hand and took deep breaths until my racing heart calmed down. "We're okay," I whispered. "We'll find everyone, fix this mess, and return to Hearthome City. Sound good?"

Piplup shook his head.

I added, "I'll also bake your favorite poffins for you."

Piplup opened his eyes and chirped in delight. I patted him. "That's the spirit. There's no need to worry. We'll find everyone..." I repeated my words like a mantra as I walked to the edge of the red island. The next island was perpendicular to mine. I hopped off.

The new island had its own gravity, but the feeling of walking sideways didn't go away. I found Conway, Aaron, and Ace nearby, the three of them walking together along with Aaron's Heracross and Conway's Slowking. Their mouths flapped like they were bickering – Heracross and Slowking tussled with each other, too – but I couldn't hear them.

I raised my arm and waved at them. "Hey, guys!"

Their heads perked up. They swivelled around, searching for me. A few times, their eyes passed right over me. Ace said something I couldn't hear. Conway paled. Aaron and Heracross threw themselves at each other in trepidation. Ace rested a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"You can hear me but you can't see me," I said. "I can see you but I can't hear you. I'm walking sideways while you're upside-down—but that's only relative to how I came in. There's no up or down, no left or right. In the Distortion World, there's only deep and deeper until we reach the deepest part. That's the solution to this puzzle, I think. I mean, I don't know for sure, but we have to try, right? We have to have faith."

Slowking nodded sagely. Aaron and Conway did not look reassured. Ace met my gaze. I read his lips: We'll see you at the end, Dawn.

"See you at the end, Ace."

Without looking back, I ran, hopping from island to island. I had to trust that I was going the right direction in a world without direction. I had to have faith, not only in myself, but also in the Pokémon who created and lived in this world. They wouldn't have made something so meaningless. There had to be sense in what seemed like nonsense.

"Dawn, is that you?"

The voice sent chills down my spine. It was low but with a gentle chime to it, like a bulky Chimecho. I spun around to face the girl from the past.