…
Chapter 12
Pure as New York Snow
Giselle and Joe stand together over a podium, with an older man with them. Giselle then takes a look around the room.
"I'm at church," she thinks, while finding her mouth unable to speak. "And this is…"
She looks down at the podium, which the old man is holding a baby.
"It's my daughter!" Giselle thinks. "She's being baptized!"
But instead of the old man sprinkling water on her daughter, he splashes it right in Giselle's face.
"Why the-"
Splash!
"…hell!"
Giselle wipes off her face, which has water all over it. "Who the hell just did that to me?"
"You were sleeping soundly," Joe says. "But we needed your help, so Lucian splashed you to wake you out of your slumber."
"Well, why couldn't you have gone ahead and dropped me out of a second-story window so I'd wake up faster?" Giselle complains, wiping the water off her face.
She then looks around, seeing Lucian, Professor Carolina, Joe, Roxanne, Brawly, and a brown-haired girl.
"Where the hell am I?"
Carolina chuckles. "You are in Celestic Town, in my underground bunker," she tells Giselle. "And this is no ordinary bunker."
Giselle looks around, seeing all kinds of books, electronic items, and games. She sees food and drinks stacked up in the corners. She sees pool tables, refrigerators, power generators, and a machine that looks identical to those found in Pokémon Centers.
"Wow," she says. "Not even our bunker at Indigo Plateau had this much. How did you get this here?"
"We knew far in advance that Judgment Day was coming," Carolina says. "Lucian's a psychic, and he was very close to my granddaughter. Cynthia tried enslaving him and her own sister, but they escaped. Lucian then let us know her plans, and we spent weeks putting together a shelter that would survive even the worst circumstances."
Giselle then turns to the girl with brown hair. "And who the hell are you?" she asks.
The girl laughs. "I'm Cynthia's younger sister," she says. "My name is Diane."
"Let me explain everything to you," Carolina says.
"Please do," Giselle says sarcastically.
Carolina ignores Giselle's sass and begins to speak. "Giselle, you and Joe are the only hope we have left of preventing a second Judgment Day. You two… and your daughter."
Giselle's eyes grow wide. "You mean, you believe the truth, which is that I have a daughter?"
"Yes," Carolina says.
"And you believe the truth that I won the last three Pokémon League championships?" Giselle adds.
Carolina chuckles. "Don't sell yourself short. You won seven in a row, before Princess Iris came and stole away your crown. Then you won three straight silver medals."
Giselle freezes. Suddenly all kinds of memories return to her brain. She sees herself lifting championship trophies, year after year. She also sees herself lose to a trainer by the name of Iris.
"Three silver medals?" she complains. "No, this can't be true."
"Giselle, there's something more important than that," Joe says.
"And what could that possibly be?" Giselle asks.
Carolina clears her throat. "The last ten years of a post-apocalyptic world… they never happened."
Giselle's eyes light up again. "Huh?"
"We are living in an alternate universe," Carolina says. "This world is not the real world. In reality, the world went on without a hitch. You won seven Pokémon League championships in a row. And yes, three silver medals… and more."
"You mean…"
"Yes," Joe says. "You and I had a daughter named Synneva. I remember it all now."
"Then… then…"
Giselle sits down and starts to cry. "How is this possible?" she says. "Somehow I remember all that, and somehow I remember all the suffering too."
"It's because of the Distortion World," Carolina says. "The Distortion World has many alternate realities in it. Somehow the alternate reality where we are came when Arceus rained down Judgment, and mixed us with the actual reality that we lived a totally normal existence. And right now, we are in that alternate universe."
"My head is spinning," Giselle says. "Tell me you know where my daughter is."
"Can you do something for me?" Carolina asks.
"Please, I'll do anything!" Giselle replies. "Except throw a match at the Pokémon League tournament. I'd never do that."
Carolina chuckles. "I ask you… to save my granddaughter."
Candice, Volkner, Janine, and Falkner ride their Pidgeot across Sinnoh. As they go along, Candice starts feeling pain.
"I feel it!" she exclaims. "Come on, we've got to get down now!"
"Are you sure?" Volkner says.
"Absolutely! Now!"
The Pidgeot lands in Celestic Town, the very place where the other trainers are visiting. Candice leads them along toward Carolina's underground bunker.
"Welcome," she hears a voice say.
"This has got to be it," Candice says. "Let's go into here."
"I sure hope you're not throwing away your life," Volkner says.
Carolina helps lead Candice and Volkner down the stairs to her bunker. Janine and Falkner follow along, and they then see Giselle and the others.
"There's where you guys are!" Janine exclaims. "How did we get split up?"
"More like, how did we get brought back together?" Roxanne says. "It must be the will of Arceus!"
"Shut it with that Arceus garbage," Giselle says.
"Janine, you've got to hear this," Roxanne says.
"Hear what?"
"The universe we are living in right now," Carolina says, "is an alternate universe."
"Huh?" Falkner says.
"That's right," Joe says. "When Judgment Day happened, it opened up a wormhole that caused the real universe to become mixed with several other universes."
"That's why in some universes, I was with Joe, and in other ones, Giselle was with him," Roxanne says.
Giselle crosses her arms. "No, no," she says. "There never was a universe where you were with Joe. You just made that up."
"Professor Carolina," Joe says. "Please, give us a history lesson. Tell us what happened over the past eleven years."
"Okay, here goes," Carolina says. "Let's flashback to 2009, when the feud between my granddaughter Cynthia and Saffron City gym leader Sabrina started. Giselle, you started experiencing Dark powers, as did my granddaughter. These were brought on by the Dark Pokémon Darkrai, who had not been discovered yet. Giselle, with your powers you ended up being falsely accused."
"That's right," Giselle says. "As if I'd want to have Dark powers in the first place."
"Well, my granddaughter ended up turning evil, and things got out of control in our world. A couple years later, Judgment Day occurred on 11/11/11. But in a way, it didn't."
"Huh?" Giselle says. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Carolina clears her throat. "When Arceus rained down Judgment, two different worlds were created. There was the world we used to live in, and the world we live in now. In the one we live in now, my granddaughter became pure evil. She absorbed Arceus' powers and became one with Arceus. She helped rain down judgment upon our land with Arceus' help. Then she hid away in the Distortion World, waiting for the chance to come back and start a new world with no Pokémon, no freedom, and only sycophants to serve her."
"Sounds just like her," Giselle says.
"Except… that's not her," Carolina says with a tear running down her face. "My granddaughter was never this evil force. She got corrupted by the Dark Pokémon Darkrai, and she did things she regretted. But when Judgment Day happened, my granddaughter was cured, and she went on to live a happy life."
"Really?" Joe says.
"She and Sabrina made up from their spat, and they even worked together, in an effort to protect the Pokémon world from ever having this happen again. That's where your story kicks in, Giselle."
"Mine?"
"You had already won three Pokémon League championships, but you went on to win the next four in a row for a total of seven."
"Yeah, yeah, that's not a surprise."
"But!" Carolina says. "The Champion of Unova, Princess Iris, entered the tournament and won three straight years, beating you in the championship match each year."
"That's hard to believe," Giselle says. "Are you sure about that?"
Carolina looks sad. "That's when tragedy struck," she says.
"Tragedy?" Joe says.
"About your daughter," Carolina says. "Your daughter Synneva was diagnosed with a rare illness. You, Giselle, did everything you could to help her. You stepped down from your position as Indigo League Champion. You never competed in the Pokémon League again. Your one goal was to save your daughter. After years of trying everything you could, she finally succumbed to death, 11 years old."
Giselle freezes. She feels faint, and she reaches out to Joe, who grabs her arm and keeps her from dropping to the ground.
"My daughter… she… she died?"
"That's unfortunately right," Carolina says. "Which makes things interesting for this universe, because in the one we're living in now, she is not yet 11 years old yet, and thus still alive."
Giselle snuggles her head next to Joe's, as the two of them stand in shock. "Joe, you've got to help me right now," she says.
"I'm here for you," Joe replies.
"If I may," Roxanne breaks in, "are you implying that there might be a way to save their daughter, because she has not turned 11 years old yet?"
Carolina's face looks stern. "That's right," she says.
Giselle bursts into a ball of energy. "Let's go save her right now!" she exclaims, jumping out of Joe's grasp. "Come on, Joe, we've got to get her before she turns 11!"
Carolina shakes her head. "I'm afraid that's no good," she says.
"And why not?" Giselle asks, with her hands on her hips.
"She was sucked into the Distortion World," Carolina says. "And Giratina went into that world with her. The only way to get there is via the powers of Arceus."
"Arceus?" Giselle says. "I don't even believe in Arceus! But okay, if that's what I need to do, tell me how I can get there."
Carolina chuckles. "That's where I – no, we – need your help."
"Help?" Joe asks.
"Queen Cynthia was once my wife," Lucian says. "This girl here, Diane, has been my companion for the time that she has been gone in the Distortion World. Diane has always known that my true love is Queen Cynthia. But we've got to find some way to get our universe back to the one where she was cured from these Dark powers."
"And exactly how do we go about doing that?" Giselle snaps.
"That's the problem, we don't know," Diane breaks in. "She's pure evil now. I don't know if there's any curing her heart of stone."
Roxanne looks thoughtful. "Giselle, why don't you tell them what Cynthia told you?"
"There's not much to tell," Giselle says. "Only that she has no way of harming any of the pure-hearted ones, and that the only person who can harm me is someone I know. I suspect it's Roxanne here."
"Well, then, let's try that out now," Brawly says. "Let me punch you."
"Why would I allow-"
Brawly punches Giselle with all his might right in the face, while she still in the matter of speaking. He pulls his fist back, and Giselle finishes her sentence.
"-you to do that? Hey, what happened? You punched me, but I didn't feel a thing!"
"It's true, it's true!" Roxanne exclaims. "Giselle, don't you see what's happening here? You are the pure-hearted chosen one! Only you can save us now! Brawly can't lay a finger on you, and none of us can either."
"Want to find out?" Volkner asks.
"Look, there's no way it would be any of us," Roxanne says. "Arceus never does anything unintentionally! If there is someone who can hurt you, then it must be an enemy, because Arceus would never backstab anyone!"
"Maybe it is Lucian," Falkner suggests. "He's an enemy."
"Oh, come on, not really!" Lucian says. "Yes, Queen Cynthia is my love. But I only wish to save her, not to join her. My hope is that someday I'll be able to kiss her again."
Carolina tries to calm down the room as murmuring starts going on all over. "My granddaughter is in peril," she states. "She is well on her way to destroying this entire world. If she does, she will destroy the other timelines, and our real universe will be gone forever. Only the pure-hearted chosen one can pierce through to her heart and save her soul."
"And that's you, Giselle," Diane says. "You are the chosen one. We know this because of two reasons. One of them is that you are one of the eight pure-hearted who saved Kanto and Johto in 2008. The other is that you have offspring. You and Joe were the only ones to have a child; the Johto four remained chaste, and Sabrina's child was illegitimate."
"Rubbish," Giselle replies. "How am I the chosen one and not Joe? How the hell do I save someone's soul? I thought only Christ could do that! You're just making up stuff as you go along! Right now, I don't believe any of this chosen one crap. If my daughter is dead, then there's no reason to live anymore. Joe, could you please kill me painlessly?"
Joe shakes his head. "You're missing the point completely, Giselle," he says. "What Carolina and Diane are trying to tell you is…"
"There is still a chance to save Synneva," Carolina and Diane say in unison.
Giselle stares blankly ahead, not able to take in what she has just heard. "Say that again for me," she says.
"You can still save your daughter," Carolina says. "But it's going to have to be done quickly."
"Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!" Giselle says. "It doesn't involve sacrificing anyone, does it?"
Carolina smiles. "No, no," she says. "What it requires… is Pokémon."
"Pokémon?"
"That's right. You must capture Xerneas and Yveltal, the Pokémon my granddaughter is going to use to create the ultimate weapon and destroy this world and make a new one. They are legendary Pokémon, and they are nearly unstoppable and impenetrable. If you catch them before my granddaughter does, then there is a chance the world can be saved."
"Chance?" Giselle says. "I want certainty."
"Giselle, we don't know exactly how Xerneas and Yveltal will react on someone trying to catch them," Lucian says. "These Pokémon are so powerful that not even Silph's Master Balls can capture them with certainty. But we've got a bunch of them here, and I suggest you take as many as you can. If you stop these Pokémon from unleashing destruction upon this world, then perhaps we will have a chance at saving your daughter and going back to our old universe."
Giselle grins. "All right," she says. "Tell me where to go, and I'll do it."
"Awesome!" Roxanne says. "I knew you had it in you!"
"You must go to the land of Kalos," Carolina says. "There you will go to Geosenge Town, where you must go underground to reach the headquarters of the now-defunct Team Flare. There you will find those Pokémon, which my granddaughter will use to create the ultimate weapon."
"Well, why hasn't she gone and done it already?" Giselle asks.
"That's where you come in," Diane says.
"Me?"
"That's right," Carolina says. "As long as the pure-hearted have hope, the ultimate weapon cannot be created. But Sabrina and Will have separated, and they've lost hope. The Johto four – they've been captured by Team Rocket recently, and they've lost hope. Only you two are left, Giselle and Joe. Without your hope, my granddaughter will create the ultimate weapon and end this world. So, go now, you two. Catch those legendary Pokémon, and we'll have a chance at survival."
"We believe in you!" Roxanne exclaims.
Giselle and Joe take a bunch of Master Balls and stuff them into bags that Lucian has provided.
"All right," Giselle says. "You ready, Joe?"
"Absolutely," Joe says. "Let's roll."
