"Dawn!" I cried out, reaching for the girl I love.

Beside me, Riley wrapped his arms around Cheryl in an attempt to protect her from the red chain. Lucario stood in front of Chansey, ready to battle—but this was not an opponent we could fight head-on. Dawn slipped out of my reach, the first to enter the Distortion World. And I was the last.

I could see red strings of fate form between some of my friends. A string connected Ace and Riley; another connected Dawn and Cynthia. I exhaled in relief. The people I cared about most would not be alone. Aaron was capable of holding his own as a member of the Elite Four, and Cheryl's serene kindness concealed more strength than Riley gave her credit for. As for Conway, I didn't much care about him.

Even though I was alone in the Distortion World, far from everyone I knew, the thought of all of them comforted me. We'll meet again. I'm sure of it.

As a trainer from Sinnoh, I'd grown up with tales of Arceus and Giratina as bedtime stories. Although I never thought I'd end up here, I knew what to expect: indigo-blue void around me, dusty red islands with their own gravity, dead trees like frozen seaweed, water I shouldn't drink or wash in. If you were violent and Arceus sent you here, then you'd remain here for all eternity. But if you entered of your own will or by chance and your heart is pure, then there is a way out. Going deeper into the Distortion World, solving puzzles and facing trials, you would eventually reach the core where Giratina resides. And that is how you can return to your own world.

But there was nowhere for me to go. I stood alone on a dusty red island isolated from any other island. The void spun around me in a way that I could be aware of how my platform rotated so that there was no "deeper," no way to find the core.

I shouted into the void. "What do you want with me? Why am I here? Arceus—or Giratina or whoever's listening—what did I do to deserve this?"

A gentle harp melody caressed the void. I turned around. Standing on an island perpendicular to mine, Nando strummed his miniature harp. Kricketune rubbed his feelers to create a lovely accompaniment. When we made eye contact, our islands' gravities swapped. Nando's cape and long black hair fluttered sideways from him like a flag. My hand flew to my head, dizzy from this sideways gravity. I stumbled but didn't fall into the void.

"Kenny, my friend," Nando said, "you didn't do anything deserving of the Distortion World. But sometimes, we find ourselves in a state of suffering because we are called to be heroes."

I got my bearings. Nando and Kricketune's island had more space than mine, so I leaped toward them. As soon as my feet left my own island, all of gravity disappeared. I hovered in the void for a few seconds, directionless—like I could be falling backward instead of heading forward. In my periphery, shadows hovered. I could see Dawn and Piplup reach out to a trio of spinning orbs, Cynthia behind them, her long platinum hair a ray of light. On my other side, Ace held the remnant of a ruined stone pillar for him, Riley, and Lucario to examine.

The moment passed. Nando stepped back so I could land. Thrill rushed through me when my feet found solid ground. Kricketune didn't move away in time, and I crashed into him. Now that we were on the same island, gravity returned to normal for us. My old island vanished; in its place, stepping stones formed a path.

"If we follow the path," I mused, pointing in that direction, "will we find what's been causing the distortion in Sinnoh and put a stop to it?"

Kricketune let out a high-pitched cry. Nando cocked his head to the side. "Perhaps."

I led the way, Kricketune behind me, Nando following last. When I glanced back to make sure they could keep up, Nando's cape fluttered with the dust of the path behind him, which was dissolving. I ran faster.

We arrived at a shrine like the one on Spear Pillar, but this radiated with gold and untainted splendor, nothing broken. The red chain lay in splinters on the floor. A brilliant light shone from the altar, so bright that we couldn't look directly at it, though I noticed a majestic silhouette standing within it.

Welcome to an image of the Hall of Origin.

"We're in the Hall of Origin?!" I exclaimed. "Like, the-birthplace-of-Arceus Hall of Origin?"

This is merely a reflection of the true Hall, the voice spoke in our heads, more like a chorus than a singular voice, but you are correct that the Hall of Origin is my birthplace.

"Arceus," I breathed, dropping to one knee, undoubtedly bruising it against the hard stone floor. "Can you tell us how to fix the distortion afflicting Sinnoh?"

I can tell you, Arceus replied, that time and space have already been mended. As soon as the bringer of morning touched the red chain, the world was healed.

The bringer of morning? "Do you mean Dawn?"

Nando spoke up, genuflecting beside me. "If I may ask, Creator, what caused the distortion in the first place?"

That is beyond the scope of what your minds can handle. But I will tell you this—the distortion warped reality so drastically that there is a person in your world who should not exist. He must be brought to the Hall of Origin so that I can end him and restore the world to its rightful state.

Nando and I looked at each other in fear. Who is it? If it was one of my friends... at least because of the pronoun that Arceus had used, I knew Dawn would be safe. And it couldn't be me or Nando, because Arceus would have told us directly. I wondered with dread if it was Riley, who was so mysterious that no one knew how old he was or where he came from.

"What's this person's name?" I asked.

Arceus answered. Nando and I shared another look, mingled horror and relief and then more horror at our relief. It was a vaguely familiar name, though it wasn't someone we knew well.

You need not be in the Distortion World, Arceus said. I can bring you to Sendoff Spring right away and spare you from further suffering in the forsaken world.

"I would like that," Nando said. "My Pokémon would appreciate that, too. Kenny?"

"I can't," I said, my voice hoarse as I gave up an easy way out. "My friends are still here—Dawn, Ace, Aaron, and all the others. I can't leave them behind. I'm sorry, Nando."

"Do not apologize, my friend. Some of us are called to be heroes. I am not one such person. I'm a coward."

"No, you—you're a great person. It isn't cowardly to be afraid. It's the Distortion World, for Arceus's sake! Uh, sorry, Arceus."

I am not offended. The sword wielder is correct, conqueror.

So those were our names, according to Arceus. I had to admit, "sword wielder" sounded pretty dope. Cooler than "bringer of morning," anyway.

There is no shame in fear. Sometimes, love is stronger than fear, but not always. I will return you to Sendoff Spring, and I will bring him to where he is needed.

Before I could thank him or say bye to Nando, I ended up stuck hanging upside-down from a dead tree.

"Kenny!" Cheryl exclaimed. Aaron and Conway paused their bickering to run toward me. I waved at them from my awkward position.