Author's Note: And we're getting back to more plot-relevant stuff, including Giratina's introduction. You may be able to get an idea of where this is going now, but this chapter was still fun to write.
Chapter Four: Twists and Turns
"You know, I wonder what we should be looking for," Iris commented. "I mean, we have found some pretty good stuff so far, but still!"
Rin nodded, idly glancing through her bag. They'd picked up a decent amount of items; even if none of them were super-rare, they were still good to have. Maybe they'd find more if they went further in.
"Well, we've already come pretty far… We may as well get to the end."
Iris nodded. "Yeah! I bet we'll find something super-awesome if we just—"
"Why is the human so uncomfortable with me?"
They both paused and looked behind them. Darkrai had stuck with them the whole time, but he'd trailed behind them slightly. He looked lost in thought, though his eye was narrowed slightly; it was more of a confused expression than an annoyed one, fortunately.
"Er, well…that is…"
"Well, you know, I'm sure she's just heard bad stuff about, like…other Darkrai, or something," Iris replied casually. "You know how it goes. You hear something dumb about one Pokémon, and then you don't like the rest of the species, or whatever!"
He frowned. "Perhaps, but then why have the rest of you been acting so oddly? I have noticed, you know."
Rin cringed. She'd thought that she and Bruce, at least, had done decent jobs of hiding their discomfort. Felix and Iris weren't as good at masking their emotions, though. Still, she thought they'd done better recently… Apparently, Rin was wrong.
She did feel guilty that Darkrai had noticed, though. Maybe it was "bad" to feel guilty… They knew he wasn't exactly the best Pokémon out there; it was understandable for everyone to be awkward around him. Even then, his confusion seemed genuine. And to be fair, Rin knew she'd be annoyed if everyone was acting strange around her while not explaining themselves.
"You just…remind us of someone we knew," she said carefully. "Someone we had a…bad encounter with. We'll have to do better at clearing things up, though."
Iris looked at her for a long time before shrugging and adding, "Yeah, something like that. I think we're almost to the stairs, though, so we better hurry. Come on!"
She darted ahead of them, and Rin sighed as she followed her. She glanced over her shoulder at Darkrai; he was still following them, thankfully. He seemed to have accepted that explanation, at least for now… Rin knew it was rather flimsy, though, so who knew how long it would hold up.
Well, it was something. Maybe that would take Darkrai's mind off things—it was all they could hope for at the moment.
"Is this the end?"
Rin nodded in response to Iris's question as she looked around. They'd emerged into a medium-sized chamber, like many dungeons had as their end points. There were no more hallways branching off to who-knows-where; this had to be the last room.
And, at the far side, she could see a small golden box guarded by a large shadowy figure. As the trio got closer, it was easier to make out his features. He was a giant dragon-like Pokémon, with a long, almost spindly body, shadowy wings, and six legs. Make that an almost bug-like Pokémon, Rin thought. Still, he would've been intimidating if Team Shadow hadn't already seen so many strange things.
(Including their current…well, "charge" of sorts, Rin added silently. But she wouldn't say that aloud.)
At any rate, he'd noticed their approach, and he craned his neck down to look at his visitors. Then, he stretched and nodded. He didn't seem too surprised—perhaps teams came down here on a regular basis.
"I take it you're here for the treasure," he said wryly.
Well, that confirmed her idea. His tone of voice suggested that it didn't upset him, either. Maybe this was more a test than anything—or he just enjoyed getting to fight. Or both, possibly.
"You bet we are," Iris said proudly. "We came here to see what we could find, and if there's treasure, we have to leave with it!"
Rin groaned and elbowed her. "Well, not in so many words, but—"
The guardian laughed. "You're hardly the only ones to come here looking for it. My name is Giratina, and if you can prove yourselves to me, you may keep it!"
With that, Giratina cloaked himself in a dark, shadowy material. When it faded, he was gone, and the three of them were left looking around in confusion. Then, there was another burst of shadows, and he reappeared right in front of Iris. Giratina slammed into her, and she flailed around awkwardly before catching her balance.
Rin quickly raised her bone and flicked her wrist. The Bonemerang struck Giratina before he had the chance to disappear again, and Iris flashed her a grin as thanks for the distraction. Her bone came around again for a second strike as Iris launched a Pin Missile at Giratina. Both hits connected; he was still in decent shape, but he'd taken some damage nonetheless.
"Not bad," Giratina commented. "However…"
He closed his eyes, summoning an Ominous Wind. The move struck all three of them, and Rin gasped for air as she stumbled to the side. Apart from a light bruise or two, she wasn't too damaged either, though. However, the attack served its purpose well enough; it had been a good distraction.
When Rin could focus again, Giratina had already disappeared. It was frustrating, to be unsure where he was even coming from. Though naturally, it made sense for him to abuse such a tactic if he could do it. It made her wish she'd put more effort into practicing Dig—then she could do something similar.
Her thoughts were broken when Giratina reappeared. This time, he slammed into Darkrai, causing the Shadow Ball he'd been preparing to fly off at an angle. Rin ducked, though Iris took the opportunity to fling herself forward with a Faint Attack. Giratina noticeably staggered at the impact, giving Darkrai the time to fire off another Shadow Ball.
If they could keep up this momentum, they'd be fine. They just had to keep taking advantage of the timing of Giratina's attacks. Of course, he'd still be visible right after an attack, and he needed a few seconds before disappearing again. All they had to do was watch who he attacked next, and they'd be okay.
Giratina shook himself before blasting a Dragonbreath at Darkrai. Then, he vanished again, and Rin braced herself instinctively. He'd probably go for either her or Iris this time around; it would most likely be her, given that she hadn't taken much damage yet. Making sure all of them got worn down would be the most logical; then it'd be easy to take them out together with another Ominous Wind.
However, she was quickly proven wrong. Apparently, Giratina had realized how predictable that would be. Instead, he reappeared near Darkrai again, and the Dark-Type screeched in pain as he flew backwards. Two attacks in a row had taken their toll on him; he glanced around frantically as he staggered up off the ground.
And then, in his panic, he turned around and opened a Dimensional Hole.
"No, no, no—you close that right now!" Iris shouted. "Don't even think about using it!"
Well, it made sense that he'd want to escape. Rin was too surprised that he could still open Dimensional Holes to think clearly for a second, though. Of course he'd known how to do that before, so maybe the knowledge was still instinctively there in the back of his mind. She hadn't seen him use one in the weeks that they'd been watching him, though, so she'd kind of hoped that he'd just…forgotten how to make them.
"It's fine," she hastily added. "We can still fight, so…please don't run away."
"Oh! You know how to make Dimensional Holes?"
Giratina was clearly impressed and curious at this turn of events. The battle seemed to be out of his mind by now. Fortunate, really, given that he could've used the distraction to keep attacking them.
Rin sighed in relief—that was a good thing, at least. They still had an open Dimensional Hole and a tense Darkrai to deal with, though. Also, Rin wanted to know how Giratina recognized the portal. Hopefully he'd explain that, but it was probably better to focus on Darkrai first.
He looked around warily before focusing his attention on Giratina. "You know what these are?"
"Yes, of course," Giratina replied eagerly. "I used to be close with Dialga and Palkia long ago, and I learned about them from Dialga. Very interesting things, they are. I didn't know anyone else besides him could open them!"
Darkrai paused, side-eyeing Rin and Iris. "If they're rare, then why don't these two want me to use them? Surely it's a valuable skill."
Giratina chuckled. "Perhaps Cacturne and Marowak simply want to finish the fight 'normally.' I'm sure most explorers would want all the experience they can get instead of just skipping fights, yes?"
"Yes, that's it exactly," Rin said hastily. "We just…don't want that."
Hopefully Darkrai wouldn't press that explanation too hard. Rin glanced over at Iris, and she frowned in return. This was going far better than it really should've been, and they didn't want to press their luck.
"…So they can be used to skip over fights," Darkrai mused. "In that case, they could be helpful, yes?"
"Well, 'skipping over' in a sense," Giratina replied thoughtfully. "Though perhaps not in the way you're thinking. In any case, you've impressed me; you may take this."
His stared at the Dimensional Hole, and it shrank before flickering out completely. Rin sighed again. Clearly, whatever information he'd gotten from Dialga was good enough to save them from a potentially-huge problem.
Then, Giratina stepped aside and gestured at the treasure chest behind him. Rin and Iris strode towards it, though Rin eyed Darkrai as they walked. Fortunately, he didn't do anything, and she took her attention off him long enough to open the chest.
Inside, there was a large, smooth, curved horn. Rin reached inside and picked it up; it felt like it was made of stone, and there were small holes carved in one side. She turned it over in her hands a few times before giving it to Iris and letting her examine it.
"It's very beautiful," Rin commented.
"Indeed," Giratina replied. "It's called a Rock Horn. Take it with you!"
With that, he vanished. Rin almost thought he'd attack them again, but she realized a second later it was a silly idea. Why keep fighting when he'd already given up his treasure? Thankfully, he stayed gone; it seemed they were done here.
"Well, that was pretty awesome!" Iris said as she tucked the horn into her bag. "I guess we better get on home, though, yeah?"
Darkrai nodded. "Yes; the others may be back by now."
They collectively turned around and headed out of World Abyss. That had been a long trip; Rin was glad they were leaving. Still…she couldn't help keeping a very close eye on Darkrai, silently hoping he didn't open any more Dimensional Holes on the way out.
They had a problem now, and Rin hoped it wasn't as bad as she thought it was.