Diantha watched as Hawlucha and Gardevoir dealt with the grunts' remaining Pokémon. The second wind they all received from before was still going strong, but even so, Diantha could notice the fatigue coming off of her two Pokémon, especially Gardevoir. She gauged the remaining enemy Pokémon, which were two Houndour, a Croagunk, and a Golbat. The Golbat would be the hardest to deal with, so Diantha figured she'd focus on that first.
"Hmm…" Diantha narrowed her eyes, "Gardevoir, use Psychic on the Golbat!"
Gardevoir's eyes glowed a faint blue color, and a blue aura surrounded Golbat and converged inward. Following up on that, Gardevoir once again brought its hands together and created a sphere of darkness, sending her Shadow Ball attack rocketing into Golbat to send it tumbling to the ground, unconscious.
"Nice work.." Diantha said, impressed by Gardevoir's instincts. Her attention went to Hawlucha afterwards, "Sky Drop!"
Focusing on a Croagunk, Hawlucha rushed over to it and launched it into the air before chasing after Croagunk and pummeldriving it into the ground, right on its back. Watching the scene play out in front of her, Diantha got an idea and grinned to herself.
"Throw them all up into the air, go!"
Hawlucha followed Diantha's orders without question, dashing towards each remaining Pokémon and throwing them as high as it could muster. Hawlucha looked back at Diantha afterwards, awaiting further instruction.
"Gardevoir, Moonblast!"
Gardevoir hoisted its hands above its head, causing a pink sphere of energy to swirl into fruition. Charging up the attack, Gardevoir was able to get the sphere to exponentially grow in size, and the orb grew large enough that it hit the airborne Pokémon that Hawlucha threw. When Gardevoir lowered its arms, the Moonblast followed, slamming all the Pokémon caught up in the blast into the ground and then exploding in a brilliant pink light. Diantha placed her hands on her hips proudly; finally, she finished dealing with all the grunts and their near endless supply of Pokémon. In that instant after her brief celebration, however, Diantha heard a terrible, horrifying screech, one she knew too well from her nightmares. She looked over her shoulder and off the platform towards the depths of the Distortion World, catching a fleeting glance of a shadow flying about.
Pressing a button on her earpiece to unmute the mic, Diantha looked around for a passage to the lower levels, "Cynthia… Be careful down there…"
"What- What's happening?!" Lisa shouted. Being stuck in a different world than where all the action was was a bit inconvenient.
"That shadow Pokémon's showed its face, finally…" Diantha muttered. She returned Gardevoir and Hawlucha to their Pokéballs.
"You mean Giratina?" Eileen asked. She looked between her fellow commanders with a look of concern.
"I believe so. You'll have to forgive me… I'm not from this region, so I wouldn't know." Diantha's eyes spotted the waterfall leading to the depths of the Distortion World, so she focused on making her way over there.
"Diantha, was it?!" Marc began with urgency in his voice, "You have to hurry to Cynthia's side! There's no telling how she's holding up now that Giratina's arrived! She needs you right about now!"
"Trust me…" Diantha clenched her fists, "I know."
"Be careful! Giratina's strength rivals that of Dialga and Palkia themselves! This is a legend you're dealing with!" Eileen warned.
Diantha reached the downward spiral of water that ran directly to the bottom levels, and hesitantly she leaped onto it, relieved when it felt solid beneath her feet, "...Perfect." She replied, "I'm on my way now!"
Stormclouds swarmed over the Sinnoh region, with the heaviest parts of the storm being over Turnback Cave and Mt. Coronet. Looker watched as thunder and lightning boomed over Sendoff Spring when he and his agents finally arrived, brow furrowed at the sight.
"We're at Turnback Cave. We're heading in now!" Looker said on a line to the three commanders back at the Galactic HQ.
"Roger!" Marc said back, "We'll let Cynthia know!"
Looker glanced around for a moment, "There seems to be a problem still, however… I'm afraid that Diantha is nowhere in sight. I'd hate to tell Cynthia that I failed to protect her after she asked…"
"...Er… Well, I know where she is, sir. She's in the Distortion World." Marc replied hesitantly.
"T-Then I must make haste!" Looker stammered, motioning for his squad of agents to follow him as he made his way to the entrance of Turnback Cave, "I cannot fall short of Cynthia's only request! I have to find Diantha before Cynthia finds out that she's in the Distortion World as well!"
"But sir! Cynthia already-" Marc was cut off by Looker hanging up. He slouched over in his chair, voice losing traction, "-knows…" He looked over hesitantly towards Eileen and Lisa. Eileen just pursed her lips, and Lisa shrugged with a confused look.
Meanwhile, Looker and his agents had entered Turnback Cave and had made their way to their first crossroads. Looker pondered the situation over for a moment before turning back to his agents, "Split up! Take every direction! We'll cover more ground that way!"
The agents split in half, with one bunch taking the left passage and the other group taking the right. Looker took the northernmost passageway on his own, charging forward with his flashlight shining in front of him. As he moved through the dark caverns, he started to notice how there was a residual, fading light source that lingered in the air in some of the rooms he passed, like some sort of move like Flash was used mere moments before he happened across the room. His curiosity was piqued, and as he ran along, sometimes he'd tear his eyes away from the path in front of him and glance around to see what the source of the dim light was without hindering his speed. This lapse in focus on where he was going led to him running into someone, and while he only stumbled backwards from the collision, the same couldn't be same for the other person, who was knocked to the ground.
"Oh, you better not be another one of those cursed grunts!" The other person shouted- a female, Looker realized by the voice. He could also hear a growl coming from near the woman's side- probably a Pokémon.
"International Police!" Looker shouted once he regained his balance and composure, "Freeze!" He shined his light on the mystery woman, and he lowered his guard immediately, "Director Elizabeth?!" He could recognize Cynthia's sister anywhere, even if she was wearing sunglasses in that moment.
Elizabeth jumped to her feet, brushing herself off, "Looker?" She asked, equally as confused, "You got here quick…"
"As have you… Though, what made you come?"
"I'm not letting Cynthia handle this on her own. I didn't want her to do this in the first place! It should've been me that went into the Reverse World! She didn't need to suffer like this!" Elizabeth clenched her fists, face filled with rage. Lucy, her Luxray, walked up to Elizabeth's side and nudged her leg to get her to calm down, which Elizabeth did with a heavy, loud sigh, "...I came as fast as I could to try and help… Even if I could be even a little bit helpful, that's fine with me."
Looker furrowed his brow and nodded along as Elizabeth spoke, now resolute in his plan, "Then follow me. There's work to be done!"
Elizabeth nodded, mirroring Looker's resolve, "Got it! I'll have Lucy light the way for us with Flash! Just… don't look directly into it. It's really, really bright…"
"Ah… That must be why you have the sunglasses on despite being in a cave. Not to worry. I have my own pair as well." Looker reached into his trenchcoat to get his sunglasses and put them on, "Let's go!"
The duo continued on in their journey to the final chamber of Turnback Cave, with Lucy leading the way with Flash. Before long, they had come across the final chamber with the sparking vortex to the Distortion World at the base of the chamber. The Galactic grunts that Diantha had knocked out before had since reawoken as well as their Pokémon, and some of the defeated grunts that were in the Distortion World had emerged from the portal as well. Looker went to give his usual Interpol speech to get the grunts to freeze, but Elizabeth waved him off. "Leave this to me…"
"Hey, losers!" Elizabeth shouted, getting the grunts' attention, "Step away from the portal!"
Some of the grunts gritted their teeth and summoned their Pokémon forward. They weren't going down without a fight.
"Go, Golbat!"
"Go, Houndour!"
"Go, Croagunk!"
Lucy growled at that, lowering into a hunting position at Elizabeth's side. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the grunts, and she looked over to Lucy afterwards with a sigh, "Sorry, Lucy. I'm gonna call on someone else instead. Thanks for everything, though." She said as she recalled Luxray into its Pokéball. She pulled out another one from her lab coat and tossed it in her hands a few times, "Alright, guys. Let's get right to the chase. You're going to leave this place, right now, and never come back. You've done enough damage. Go out and turn yourselves over to Interpol now and spare yourself the trouble of angering me. You don't want to see me go hard."
"We're not going down that easy!"
"Of course you aren't…" Elizabeth sighed. She reeled her arm holding the Pokéball back and threw it, "Don't say I didn't warn you… The time has come! Dialga! Show these idiots just how big of a mistake they've all made!"
Looker's eyes went wide, "Did she just say… Dialga?!"
To everyone's great surprise, Dialga emerged from the Pokéball Elizabeth threw, and it let out a mighty, piercing roar when its feet hit the ground. All the grunts were rightfully terrified, but they didn't back down yet. They hadn't yet run, so Elizabeth had to give them a little push.
"Want to play it that way? Fine." Elizabeth pointed towards all of the grunts and their Pokémon, "Roar of Time!"
Dialga lifted its head back, gathering blue energy near its mouth. The spikes of its tail elongated and the gem on its chest shone brilliantly as it charged the attack, but at that point, all the grunts came to their senses and understandably hightailed it out of there. Elizabeth called off Roar of Time before it could fire, and she watched as the grunts fled as fast as their feet could take them.
"W-When did you…" Looker gritted his teeth, still staring at Dialga with wide, unbelieving eyes.
Elizabeth flashed a weak smirk, and a dark aura surrounded Dialga until it was covered with a black fog. When the fog dissipated, Dialga had disappeared, leaving Elizabeth's Zoroark in its place. "Figured they wouldn't stick around for long if I scared 'em off like that.. Thanks, Zoroark. I can always count on you for a good con job." She returned Zoroark then, and the vortex to the Distortion World sparked with excess energy pouring out of it. She narrowed her eyes at it, then glanced over at the computers that were likely keeping the vortex open, "We have to stabilize that portal somehow! We can't have these two worlds merging!"
"Right!" Looker nodded, running along the walls of the chamber to get to the side with the devices. There were two similar computers that were operating, so he took one while Elizabeth took the other. The two of them worked to try and stabilize the vortex, but the second they both put in the override commands for the current settings, they triggered a self-destruction sequence from the system sensing enemy interference. The computers detonated and burst into flames, and the force from the explosions caused Elizabeth and Looker to go flying back into the walls of the chamber. Elizabeth was knocked out cold instantly, but Looker had a few seconds left in him. He groggily lifted his head to see that even though the devices keeping the portal open were broken, the vortex was still very much present and growing. The Distortion World and the real world were merging… The damage was irreparable for human hands. The only remaining hope was to get Giratina to come to its senses to reverse what has happened and separate the two worlds again…
"Team Galactic…" Looker muttered, spots clouding his vision. He managed to get out one last phrase before falling unconscious, "What have you done…"
Giratina let out a deafening shriek, and Cynthia covered her ears and recoiled at the sound. She could only stare in disbelief in fear at the beast towering over her as her experiences from the past rushed back to her and flooded over her. At least the last time she was in the Distortion World, Giratina was somewhat of an ally in that they both worked to take down Cyrus, but Cynthia herself wasn't completely free from Giratina's rage since it did take some of it out on her. Now the tables were turned, and it was Cyrus and Giratina against her, and Cynthia was the sole target of their combined power and rage. She felt frozen, and terrified. Nothing registered for her completely. She heard Marc's voice faint in her ear, but she couldn't make out what he said in its entirety: something about Looker? She didn't know. Her mind glossed over it, and she glossed over what was probably Diantha's concerned voice that followed. Cynthia was in a near dissociative state, but a sharp growl from her Garchomp was what grounded Cynthia back to reality, and she looked over to see Garchomp holding its limbs to its head, obviously in pain.
Her eyebrows furrowed out of sympathy at the sight, and Cynthia felt a surge of guilt inside. This was Mega Evolution's consequences finally setting in for Garchomp, and Cynthia started to feel it too; her body felt completely drained. "I'm sorry…" was all she could utter in hearing Garchomp's long, continuous shouts of pain, "but please… We can't stop now! We… We have to defeat Giratina…!" Not even Cynthia bought that from herself.
Garchomp's growls started to transition from being caused by pain to being caused by anger, and the rage that was burning within Garchomp from the fact that its vaunted wings were turned into scythes by the Mega Evolution was now fuel for Garchomp to keep fighting. It channeled its rage into energy, and it was ready to take on Giratina.
"My 'insurmountable companion, second to none…'" Cynthia reminisced the titles that Garchomp was given in the past, and it did help to give her a bit more confidence, "Flamethrower, max power!"
Garchomp released a vicious stream of flames from its mouth, turning into a vortex nearly four times its size to ravage Giratina within the fire. Cynthia clenched her jaw at the sight; with all of Garchomp's moves except for one being not very effective or ineffective entirely, this was going to be a hard battle.
"Do not let this insubordination go unpunished." Cyrus instructed of Giratina.
Giratina vanished as soon as the flames died down, morphing into a black and shadowy entity. It snaked around the battlefield in this state before suddenly emerging from the shadows and sending a spear of darkness at Garchomp's back. Garchomp flew forward after being hit by Shadow Force, driven into the dirt, but wearily it got back up, using its scythes to pull itself to its feet.
"Draco Meteor!" Cynthia shouted. It was the only move Garchomp had that was super effective against Giratina, so she might as well use it…
The typical five rocks were summoned over Garchomp's head, but Garchomp let out a mighty roar as it charged the attack, and another five were created. Garchomp poured its energy into forging a staggering twenty meteors over its head, and all were bursting with blue energy when Garchomp sent them flying into Giratina's body. Giratina let out a piercing shriek from the super effective attack, but it quickly countered by unleashing a purple cyclone at Garchomp, Cynthia, and Cyrus: Ominous Wind. Garchomp flew backwards, Cynthia kneeled down to try and ground herself but did skid back a few feet, and Cyrus was pushed back into a stalagmite. It disoriented Cyrus for a moment, and Cynthia saw her chance.
"Give Giratina the throttling it deserves!" Cynthia commanded. Her sights went towards Cyrus again, and despite her lack of energy, she forced her body to run over towards him.
Meanwhile, Garchomp bent its knees before taking off into the air. Mega Evolution compromised a lot of its speed, but it could still fly at a fast enough pace to get the higher ground on Giratina, and using a nearby platform as a booster helped Garchomp fly above Giratina in a heartbeat. Its right scythe took on a venomous purple shade, and throwing all of its weight and momentum behind the move, Garchomp used Poison Jab right on Giratina's head, to send it crashing into the ground. Garchomp did not end there, however. While Giratina was dazed and grounded, Garchomp took its chance to use a move otherwise completely ineffective, and it flew towards the ground beside Giratina. Garchomp burrowed into the rock of the platform, using its momentum from the fall to use Dig and uppercut Giratina with fragments of rock acting alongside the blow with its scythe. Giratina sustained a lot of damage, though as to be expected from a Legendary Pokémon, it would take more than that to defeat it.
Cynthia grabbed Cyrus by front of his shirt, teeth bared in a snarl, "Is this what you wanted?! We're all going to die because of you! For a man who claims to be a genius, you sure are an idiot! Controlling Giratina and using it to wreck havoc on everyone? Yeah, smart move, genius!" She tore the gauntlet off of Cyrus's hand and threw it at the ground, stomping on the Red Chain in the center beneath her heel. The crystal shattered into fragments that flew everywhere, and Cynthia immediately looked over at Giratina. It should calm down now that the Red Chain was no longer able to control it…
Giratina let out another one of its sharp shrieks, and it visibly writhed in pain as it floated through the air. The shrieks weren't stopping, and Giratina didn't look to be any calmer than before. Dragging itself along, Giratina's golden spikes took on a magenta hue, and in a haphazard path, it made its way over to crash into Garchomp and slice at Garchomp with Dragon Claw. Garchomp was knocked over, and for once, it didn't look to be getting up this time… The damage Garchomp sustained from battling Cyrus's Pokémon, then fighting Giratina before, then having to withstand a super effective move… all of it was starting to rack up, and even Garchomp had its limits. It seemed as if Garchomp finally reached it…
Giratina was acting just like Garchomp did; it redirected the pain and rage it felt into fighting spirit. Even without the Red Chain controlling it, Giratina still was enraged by human interference, and it saw Cyrus as something to be exterminated, which unfortunately carried over to Cynthia and Garchomp as well since it was that outraged. It was not calmed at all by the Red Chain's destruction.
"Garchomp…" Cynthia whispered in a defeated voice. Without her companion to fight alongside her, Cynthia wasn't sure if she could still take on Giratina. The rest of her team wasn't well fit to take Giratina on…
Three figures flew onto the scene in that moment, and despite the tense and crushing atmosphere brought on by the situation, a soothing tranquility followed the three figures as they flew by. Cynthia heard their cries, recognizing them as the Lake Trio making their entrance. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were all encircling Giratina, a glow emanating from the gems on their heads as they tried to neutralize Giratina. Cynthia finally felt faith again at the sight.
"Of course… If those three have the power to counteract Dialga and Palkia, then they surely can stop Giratina's rampage!" Cynthia even cracked a smile at that. The Lake Trio helped with Cynthia's journey through the Distortion World once before, so it only made sense that they could do it again.
A soothing pulse of the gemstones in their heads seemed to be doing the trick, and Giratina's pained writhing and haphazard movements from before slowed. The Lake Trio were putting Giratina to sleep, and Giratina began to drift down towards the platform in a trance. The nightmare Cynthia was in was finally drawing to an end, but then Giratina let out a hideous shriek…
Giratina awoke from its trance, and it spun around and crashed its tail into the Lake Trio to send them rocketing away. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were all knocked into the ground or a stalagmite or something similar, and they all cringed and looked faint. Cynthia's eyes went wide from disbelief. This all went against the natural order… The Lake Trio was supposed to be able to counteract Dialga and Palkia. How could there truly be balance if the Lake Trio couldn't muster the energy to triumph over Giratina's rage?
Cynthia felt weak. She sank to her knees, eyes trained on the ground. The hopelessness she felt when Giratina first arrived returned, and a single glance over at her downed Garchomp only solidified that feeling. Garchomp didn't look to be unconscious yet, but it was struggling and failing to push itself off the ground, and the Mega Evolution form had long since faded. Cynthia was running out of options. There was little that she could do.
Weakly, she raised a hand to her earpiece and unmuted the microphone. "It's… It's over… The world is over..." She muttered faintly, a strange lull to her voice.
"What do you mean?!" Eileen asked in a panic, "Cynthia, what happened?!"
"The devil… The devil once and twice over… I couldn't stop it… I wasn't strong enough this time…" Cynthia lowered her head, placing her hands to her face. Her fate was becoming all the more clear to her, and it terrified her.
Diantha could hear Cynthia talk on the line, and she could see some of what was happening from where she was, but those words made her freeze. Her eyes shot wide and she swallowed harshly. She recognized those words… They were the same ones from her dreams…
Cynthia shook her head frantically, unable to accept her fate, "There's no escaping the devil's domain… The balance of Sinnoh… I-It's lost! They couldn't stop him! I couldn't stop him!"
Now Diantha was sure of it. The cruel, grim scenario that played out for countless nights without end was becoming reality. She had seen too much of it. She had to change the ending to this scene, or else the same fatal resolution awaited them all. Diantha grabbed Gardevoir's Pokéball again, and even though she hated to summon Gardevoir in its condition, Diantha needed the advantage against Giratina this time around. When Gardevoir was summoned, Diantha pointed to Giratina and urgently gave the order, "Moonblast, full power!"
A brilliant pink sphere of energy swirled above Gardevoir's arms, and it grew in size until it rivaled Giratina's own. Gardevoir then hurled the orb of energy at Giratina, catching it off-guard and trapping Giratina in an explosion of fairy energy. As Giratina reeled from the attack, Diantha finally reached her destination at the depths of the Distortion World, reaching Cynthia's side at last. "Cynthia!"
Cynthia turned towards the voice, expression falling when she saw it was Diantha, "Diantha… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I dragged you into this…"
"Enough of that! We're never going to stand up to this devil if you keep that up!" Diantha said, unwavering. She held out her hand for Cynthia to take, "Cynthia… I've seen this image too many times in my dreams. I'm not letting this end the way they all have. We have to win."
"How?" Cynthia asked, letting out a laugh despite herself, "How are we supposed to win against a god? I'm not even strong enough to stop it… The Lake Trio couldn't calm it down either! What's left for us to do?!"
Diantha clenched her jaw, letting the hand she extended for Cynthia fall at her side. "Well… At this point, all we can do is try…" She said weakly. She looked over at Gardevoir, "I… I need you to make sure Giratina hears me."
For the first time, Gardevoir hesitated. Gardevoir seemed to know what Diantha was planning, and it was unsure if that would work. However, Gardevoir still placed its hands to its head and focused and formed a telepathic link with Giratina.
Diantha drew in a sharp breath to calm her nerves, and in a soft voice, she started to sing. It was barely audible at first, with Cynthia having to lean closer a bit to hear it, but judging by Giratina's sudden shriek and struggle, Diantha's voice was loud enough that it was carried through the telepathic link to Giratina. Cynthia couldn't make out the words as they were probably in French, but something nagged at her that she recognized the song somewhere. Regardless, she still listened as Diantha sang, unable to think of anything else. Diantha was singing a soothing melody, and her voice was gentle and dreamy, and Cynthia instantly felt at ease, calm for the first time all day. A single glance at Giratina showed that it was feeling the same, as it was not putting up as much of a fight as before, and was instead slowly drifting towards the ground, lulled into a sleep. Giratina couldn't fight the calming melody that washed over it, and it couldn't muster up the energy to continue with its rage with the soft song playing through its head.
Before Cynthia knew it, Giratina had crashed into the ground, finally quelled from its rage and finally succumbing to its wounds it sustained. Just like Giratina, Cynthia couldn't fight off her exhaustion, and she wound up letting her upper body fall forward onto the ground, no longer able to keep herself upright. Her eyelids grew heavy and she let out a weak groan; she had no idea that Mega Evolution could drain that much energy from her.
Diantha had stopped singing at that point, and when she heard Cynthia hit the ground and groan, Diantha immediately kneeled at her side, "Cynthia?!"
Cynthia rolled onto her back, even though she barely had the energy to do that much, "I'm fine… I'm just… tired… I can finally rest now…"
"You deserve it, Cynthia." Diantha said quietly, "It's over."
Cynthia ended up grinning faintly to herself, "Y'know… That's the first time you've ever let me hear your voice…" She turned her head towards Diantha, "Who knew you were hiding something like that from me."
Scratching her cheek, Diantha let out a nervous laugh, "A-Ah… Well… Gotta keep some surprises, after all…" She glanced around, remembering that Garchomp was still unwell, "I'm… I'm going to check up on Garchomp! Hah…"
Cynthia only shrugged at that, a smile still on her face. Before long, a voice called out her name, and she lifted her head off the ground to see who it was, because she knew that voice anywhere.
"Elizabeth…?" Cynthia furrowed her eyebrows. She knew the voice to be her sister's but the last thing she expected was to see her sister and Looker walking towards her while they were out in the Distortion World, and they both looked worse for wear, too. Elizabeth was leaning into Looker's side to walk, and Looker had to support both her and himself while they were both scuffed up and bloodied. Cynthia looked shocked, "God, what happened to you two?"
"Have you looked in a mirror, sis?" Elizabeth teased, though it came out quite rude, "Stuff blew up in our faces. Literally."
"I think we look worse than we actually feel. Director Elizabeth did get it worse, however. She should be fine in a matter of days." Looker added. He glanced at Giratina, who was still unconscious, and he shot Cynthia a proud look, "You've saved this work again, Champion Cynthia. We are in your debt."
"It wasn't just me this time…" Cynthia began. She forced herself to sit up, though she had to blink a few times since she got faint for a moment, "I couldn't have done it without you two, the commanders, and Diantha. Actually, if anyone deserves all the credit, it's Diantha. She by far did the most. I just attacked Cyrus… Speaking of which, you should probably arrest him."
"Cynthia…" Diantha laughed nervously again, a bit flustered from all the compliments. She had since returned to Cynthia's side, and Garchomp was alongside her as well.
"Then we are in your debt as well, Diantha." Looker amended. He spotted Cyrus still dazed from being attacked by Giratina, and he took on a more serious expression, "Right." Looker glanced at Elizabeth and then Diantha, and Diantha took the hint, so she walked closer and Looker passed Elizabeth over to her so that she could be supported still. After that, Looker went over to arrest Cyrus.
Diantha wrapped Elizabeth's arm over her shoulder to keep Elizabeth supported properly, and Elizabeth nearly immediately fell against Diantha's side.
Looker picked Cyrus off of the ground and placed his hands behind his back, handcuffing Cyrus, "You're coming back with us. You're under arrest."
Cyrus said nothing. He only shut his eyes and kept a blank face. Cynthia grinned pridefully.
"I told you I would drag you back to the real world…" Cynthia taunted, "Now you can rot in jail like you deserve…"
Diantha watched as everything played out in front of her, and she glanced skywards to the upper levels of the Distortion World. She wondered if all of them, as tired or otherwise incapacitated as they were, could reach the portal up there… "Ah… Question. How are we going to leave…?"
Elizabeth coughed, "Yeah, 'bout that… The computers that created the portal exploded. Now that Giratina's calmed down, I doubt that the portal is still eating through the real world right now. It's probably closed…"
"What?!" Cynthia's eyes shot wide, "No…"
"But… the family's all here! We probably won't go crazy immediately." Elizabeth tried to stay positive. That didn't help Cynthia in her crushing realization that she was now trapped in the Distortion World.
In that moment, Giratina started to stir, levitating off the ground and returning to the skies. It let out another yell, yet this one was far less menacing than before. Soon it floated down next to the party, its piercing red gaze staring at them all. A portal opened right in front of them, though it showed nothing of the world on the other side.
"Giratina looks to be back to normal.." Diantha commented, "Perhaps it has learned the error of its ways?"
"Or it wants us the hell out of its domain… Come on, I want out of here just as bad." Cynthia sneered. She forced herself up off the ground, and she was the first to step into the portal. Looker and Cyrus followed, then Elizabeth and Diantha went through, and Garchomp and Gardevoir took up the rear. Garchomp could still barely stand and walk, so Gardevoir was using its telekinesis to help Garchomp stay upright.
They all stepped through the portal, leaving the Distortion World behind one last time.