The trio flew back to Sandgem Town where Professor Rowan gushed praise and admiration. None of them told him what Manny had done. Rowan advised them to challenge Sunyshore Gym, then the Pokémon League. He also told them that the three Lake Pokémon had returned to their homes.
The three Trainers rested that night in Sandgem's Pokémon Centre, exhausted from that day's adventure in another world. When morning arrived, Manny was so sore that he could not get out of bed.
"You guys, I'm taking today and probably the rest of the week off. I feel like a Golem is sitting on my chest."
Hanny smirked. "Considering the amount of walking and riding you've been doing since we first met, you shouldn't be sore from one epic battle."
Manny rolled his eyes. "I swear it's painful to even talk."
Nurse Joy walked into the bedroom. She had dark circles under her eyes. "Manny, I would like to speak with you about one of the Pokémon you brought in for treatment."
"We can only speak here, Miss. Too sore for words," he apologised.
"I spent all night researching and chatting online with my colleagues in the other regions, but all they could offer was a carving on a stone tablet."
"The carving looked like my Pokémon?"
"Yes," she said, holding out the printed page. The carving was, of course, ancient, because they didn't have paper or cameras back then to record what was seen. The depiction of Giratina was wrong, though.
"This picture has six legs and wings. Giratina is a snake with wings."
Nurse Joy quirked an eyebrow.
"Is that its name?"
"Her name."
"But it's genderless!"
"How do YOU know? Are you familiar with ghostly dragon anatomy?"
Nurse Joy blushed, but continued, "According to the scanner, Giratina would not have fit inside the Centre, so Blissey and I took her into the forest for treatment. She eats Pokémon food and is healed by potions, so she seems to be perfectly healthy."
Manny breathed a sigh of relief, wincing as he did so. "I'm glad you kept it a secret, Miss. I do not want the general public to know."
Nurse Joy gave a firm nod. "There would be mass panic, yes. As a professional, I practice discretion with all of my patients. Your secret is safe with me."
"But Manny, aren't you going to use her in battle?" Hanny asked.
"Giratina… does not belong to me. She doesn't belong in this world, either."
"Don't be stupid! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You'll be training a goddess!"
"Deities do not need training."
"YOU defeated her in her wild state, didn't you? Doesn't that mean only YOU are capable of unlocking her full potential?"
Manny looked at her with newly open eyes, and said, "Hanny, you're absolutely right. It would be criminal negligence to catch and release a legendary Pokémon as though she were a Magikarp. She'd get angry and evolve into a Gyarados, and take revenge, and I think that metaphor got away from me. The point I'm trying to make is that there is a bond of trust between a Trainer and Pokémon… a trust that both will grow stronger together, whether in friendship or on the field of battle."
Nurse Joy looked between the two Trainers.
"You two sound like Professor Oak."
"Wise?" Manny suggested.
"Genius?" Hanny prompted.
"Too old for their bodies. You must have been born old."
"Not me!" Mint piped up. "Hanny says I'm getting simpler every day!"
Manny yawned, tried to roll to his side, but failed. The pain was too great. His body had been transmuted into lead overnight.
Nurse Joy displayed outgoing concern without fail, placing a hand on his forehead. "Manny, you need a day at the hot spring in Celestic Town."
"Huh? I must have missed it."
"We were kinda preoccupied with stopping Team Galactic; we didn't get a chance to see the sights," Mint said.
"The three of you use Pokémon with Fly, correct? I shall have Blissey design a harness to airlift Manny."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I am not being airlifted like a beached Wailmer!"
"Afraid of heights?" Joy tittered.
"No, I'm Superman!"
"Then there's no problem!"
She flounced out of the room. One hour later Manny was making a high-pitched keening noise while he swung to and fro in his harness held fast by Keira, Wise Shitashi and Togekiss. They were soaring at two thousand feet, heading northeast over Mount Coronet.
"How's the weather down there?" Hanny called down to him.
"I HATE BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH! AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Mint cackled.
888
When they touched down in Celestic, Manny was a blubbering mess. Using his Torterra, Hanny and Mint conveyed the boy to the hot spring resort nestled further up Mount Coronet. The lobby was empty and silent, so Mint asked to see the manager. She was a thin woman of around forty years, who wore a clean green headscarf and apron.
"Business slow?" the boy asked.
"We don't advertise," the manager explained. "This way, we are never crowded, and always have exclusive treatment for our guests."
"How do you turn a profit?"
"Our hourly rates are quite exorbitant, I'm afraid."
Mint whipped out his credit card. "So is my bank account."
Mint and Hanny rolled their sore friend off his turtle's back, stripped him down to his skivvies, and asked the resort attendants to roll him into the male section of the hot spring. There were only two other men there who were deep in a business discussion. Mint stayed with Manny, ensuring his nose and mouth were above the steaming cauldron of water, while Hanny enjoyed the female section of the hot spring. The areas were cordoned off by a very tall bamboo fence but the boys could hear Hanny and three other girls laughing and splashing around.
"Hey, Manny, don't you wanna peek at the girls?" Mint ribbed him.
"Mint, it is bad enough that I'm stuck here half-naked with you. Do not poison me further with your lecherous ways."
So Mint scrambled up the bamboo fence.
"EXCLAMATION: INTRUDER DETECTED," Glitch announced, firing a Tri-Attack. Mint became a solid ice block and plunked back into the male section of the hot spring, splashing Manny with near-boiling water. The latter could do nothing to shield himself, and screamed with further pain. Mint thawed out a minute later, gasping for breath. The extreme temperature differential gave him a migraine. They heard Hanny laughing on the other side of the fence.
"I KNEW you were going to do that!" she exulted. The other girls were in a violent fit of giggles.
"HOPEFUL QUERY: PERMISSION TO SEEK AND DESTROY, MASTER."
"Disengage, Glitch. That was punishment enough."
"INDIGNANT STATEMENT: MASTER, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OVERKILL."
888
After they had boiled Manny like a Corphish, Mint asked the resort attendants to dry off Manny, change him into his pajamas and put him to bed. While Manny slept, Mint and Hanny attired themselves and discussed their plans over lunch.
"I want to capture Uxie. He is such a cute little boy!" Hanny said.
Mint replied, "Mesprit is mine. She's the most fun!"
Hanny leaned forward, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Wanna go now?"
A fire ignited in Mint's eyes as well. "Heck yes!"
Hanny flew to Lake Acuity while Mint set off for Lake Verity. Neither Trainer encountered the horrendous pressure Manny had suffered (the Lake Guardians were gentle creatures, after all), thus Hanny was able to fight Uxie with all her might while Mint chased Mesprit all over creation on his bicycle.
In Mesprit, Mint had truly found a kindred spirit. He and Mesprit laughed while zooming along almost every path known to Sinnoh, both veritable dynamos of youthful energy. Mesprit enjoyed the chase almost as much as Mint did, pausing every now and then to battle the boy and his Pokémon. Though Mesprit was faster than the wind itself and possessed devastating attacks, not to mention formidable defenses, she was no match for Mint's well-trained team. He had, after all, dedicated his life to being the best. In each encounter with the legendary Pokémon, she weakened until, at last, his forty-second Ultra Ball caught her. Mint held his trophy high, shouting his victory for anyone who cared to hear it. As he was in the middle of a blizzard along Route 216, only a Snover heard him, and she wasn't impressed.
Hanny, meanwhile, was having a hard time whittling away Uxie's adamant defenses. The tiny creature was tougher than an Onix and nimbler than a Furret, but possessed little in the way of attacking skills. Hanny's team weathered his modest psychic attacks and, with her thirty-third Ultra Ball, Uxie was captured. Hanny squealed with delight, jumping up and down like Mint would.
"QUERY: WILL YOU NOW TORTURE YOUR PRISONER OF WAR, MASTER?"
"No, Glitch, I shall cuddle him and love him and call him 'Daichi'," she spoke to the Ultra Ball.
"STATEMENT: YOUR CODDLING IS ILLOGICAL, MASTER."
"Pffff, your violence is illogical."
"PROUD STATEMENT: BRUTE FORCE IS ALWAYS EFFECTIVE. WHERE BRUTE FORCE FAILS, NOT ENOUGH IS BEING APPLIED."
The manager met them when they returned that evening. "The five guests who shared the spring earlier have left. However, two more guests arrived at the resort while you were gone, but they locked themselves in their room and show no signs of coming out. We invited them to dinner, but they asked that their meals be brought to their room. A most peculiar pair of guests."
Hanny smiled. "Perfect. That means we can celebrate with all of our Pokémon. My good woman, can you and your staff keep secrets?"
The manager grinned. "Madam, keeping secrets is our business."
That night, Mint and Hanny celebrated with a lavish dinner with all of their Pokémon in the hot spring resort, including Manny's. The latter was still fast asleep. They knew Giratina was too big to fit inside the dining hall, so the Trainers arranged for a table outside with a mountain of provisions and meat. When they summoned Giratina, she had six stubby, armour-clad legs instead of spiky protrusions, along with a pair of vast inky wings. The manager and her staff were quite horrified, but the Trainers reassured them she was quite harmless.
"Is this the same Pokémon Manny captured?" Mint asked.
"Do you know of any other dragon ghost he caught recently?" Hanny rebutted.
Giratina leaned forward, sniffed the offering curiously, and ate it, along with the entire table, in one chomp.
Hannah turned to the manager and lifted her hand. "We will need more food."
She revealed Uxie. The attendants squealed like little girls over how cute he was. Mint revealed Mesprit, who enchanted the adults with her aerial acrobatics. While the legendary Pokémon awaited their victuals, they took this opportunity to acquaint themselves with their respective Trainer's team. To the human beings present, the ensuing conversations sounded like the Pokémon repeating various syllables of their species's name, except for Giratina, who sounded like a diesel engine warming up.
"You are all so very tiny," Giratina told Manny's team. "I am astounded you defeated me."
"You ain't so tough," Torterra snorted.
"You almost died from her attack," Alakazam pointed out. He bowed to the dragoness. "I am honoured to stand in your most august presence."
"Please," Giratina dismissed his formality with an irritated shake of the wings. "Bowing and scraping are for humans. As Pokémon, we are all equitable, and must be afforded equal respect."
"But you're a legend, believed to be a myth!" Vaporeon argued. "Yes, we helped capture you, but aren't you an aristocrat among Pokémon?"
"Segregation is a human construct. It is childish. Do we not all live in one world? Were we not all born of the Original One?"
"Who is the Original One?" questioned Keira.
"The One who created life. Humans and Pokémon alike are children of the Original One."
Luxray frowned. "Another god? Are you not one of the creators of this world?"
Giratina shrouded herself with her liquid wings. "I created nothing. I am but a steward of the cosmic balance. When time and space distort, I stabilise them."
"I'm sorry for going off-topic, but are you really a girl?" Rapidash had to ask, pawing at the ground with one hoof.
"Though I have tried, I am incapable of reproduction," she said in a neutral tone. "Dialga, Palkia and I are avatars of the Original One. Our bodies reflect our purpose."
While they were having that stimulating discussion, Mesprit was trying to keep up with a flurry of inanity from Mint's team.
"Where did you grow up?" Infernape asked.
"At Lake Verity. I sort of popped into existence a really long time ago, even though-"
Floatzel hopped up and down, holding up a paw. "Do you have a favourite colour? Mine's yellow!"
"I really like the colour p-"
"Do you like flying? I love flying! Flying is the best. How fast can you fly, huh, huh? I bet you can't fly faster than me! How fast can you fly?" Togekiss babbled.
"Well, I-"
"Let's arm wrestle!" Gabite challenged her. "Or better yet, let's have a fight! I want to sink my teeth into you one more time!"
"That really hurt me, you know, it wasn't-"
Espeon smiled. "You're really pretty."
Mesprit blushed. "That's so sweet of y-"
"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" Gabite insisted.
"RACE RACE RACE!" Togekiss demanded, zooming circles around the bewildered Lake Guardian, who became dizzy and had to sit down.
Meanwhile, Uxie was patiently answering Hanny's team. "I am thousands of years old," he told Kipp, "as old as Lake Acuity, I think."
"Why do you always keep your eyes closed?" Wise Shitashi wondered, turning his entire head ninety degrees clockwise. "Are you blind?"
"I have not used my eyes in centuries. They cannot truly see the world around me, so I use my mind."
Zeke smirked. "You live inside your own head."
"Of course! What is life, but signals to the brain?"
"So you can't see what colour the bark is on my tree? You can't see the colour of the leaves, or the way sunlight reflects off their morning dew?" Orric asked, referring to the bonsai plant sprouting from his earthen shell.
"I can feel the movement of sap within the bark. I am familiar with photosynthesis on a molecular level, and know more than a few things about light refraction. Is that knowledge not enough?"
"Do you enjoy swimming?" Minnie asked, feeling left out and shy.
Uxie smiled. "Very much," he said. "I swim more often than I fly. It was only recently that I was forced to forsake my beloved lake."
"QUERY: DO YOU RESENT CAPTIVITY, BLIND ONE?"
"Be nice, Glitch," Zeke cautioned.
"STATEMENT: I WAS NOT TALKING TO YOU, LITTLE PONY."
"I like having friends again. Before, all I played with were Magikarp. They are… dull creatures."
"OBSERVATION: YOU DID NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION."
By that time, everyone's food arrived, and they all dug in, human and Pokémon alike. Giratina restrained herself this time by sampling each dish individually before nibbling the table.
888
Manny woke up at five-fifteen ante meridiem. He tested the manoeuvrability of his limbs and found that they did not screech in unholy protest, so he puttered about outdoors in his pajamas. The air was bracing and clear, the horizon just beginning to brighten as the terrestrial ball turned towards the sun.
None of their Pokémon had spent the night in a Pokéball. Manny found them flopped over heated rocks, huddled in piles of fur/feathers/whatever skin they possessed, or even relaxing in the hot spring. Manny searched for his prized Giratina. The latter sensed his searching thoughts. She guided him to her with small mental 'pulls'. He found her further up the natural trail, perched on the edge of the rocky path overlooking the eastern sea. He sat beside her, his feet dangling over the edge.
"So, you have six legs now."
Knowing he did not speak her language, she spoke his language via telepathy. "My body changes shape between worlds."
"Of course it does. What other tricks do you do?"
"You have already captured me. What more would you have me give you?"
"Giratina, I would release you."
Her wing claws stopped undulating. She lowered her head to stare at the ocean. What happens when one abyss stares into the other? She reminded Manny, "Hannah talked you out of that notion. You concurred."
"Do you wish to be free?"
The ghost dragon was silent for many long minutes. They watched the first piercing finger of the sun break through the horizon.
"I watched the Original One lay the foundations of this planet. I watched this planet's first unicellular organism perform its first cellular respiration. I watched that smallest spark of life multiply. I asked the Original One whether I could do the same."
Manny blinked. He turned to look at her shadowy majesty, asking, "Why do you want kids?"
It was the first time he heard her sigh, a serpentine sussurating sound that brought to mind the Perish Song of an Absol portending tragedy. Perhaps she had taught the Absol to sing? Thus she sighed and said, "In this world, every living creature has kind after its own kind. Flesh of its flesh, blood of its blood, life of its life: a counterpart. Though I know my cosmic role in the grand scheme of things, I am not part of the natural cycle of life and death. I feel like a machine, but even Magnemite and Voltorb reproduce! Where is my counterpart?"
Her question made Manny feel that the dark queen was not just unhappy, but would never know joy. "Giratina," Manny said, fixing his young eyes onto her ancient ones, "I will find a way for you to have children, someday. Nothing is impossible."
The undulation along Giratina's wings paused. She was very still. She tried to maintain neutrality in her voice, but to her it sounded like pleading. "Breaking a universal constant IS impossible."
Something as trivial as that could never dishearten a child. Manny told her, "I am a human boy, ten years in this world, having a familiar conversation with the physical manifestation of the eternal Void. You having children sounds a lot more natural than that, don't you think?"
She tried to be brash, to withdraw herself from this impertinent stripling of a human, but found herself turning her head toward him. She could not disguise the yearning in her voice this time. "It... it has always been my wish to..."
"Come with me, Giratina. I'll show you a world outside of the Void. It's a place where you will never be alone, and your friends will help make your dreams come true."
Giratina bent her great golden-clad head over him. The glowing coals of her eyes locked onto his tiny brown ones. "Mortal boy, this immortal one would follow you until death releases you from your small body. Will you permit this one?"
Without breaking eye contact, Manny stood, walked to her, placed a hand upon the cold hard gold of her hoof claw and smiled up at her. "With all my heart, yes."
The sunrise reflected off her gold armour in brilliance. At that time, Giratina was not a dark dragon, but a bright one.
"Manny!"
Giratina straightened up immediately. They turned around to see Mint climbing the path.
"There you are! It's almost time for breakfast. We have more mouths to feed, ever since Hanny caught Uxie and I caught Mesprit!"
"You went legendary hunting without me?"
"Yup!"
Manny smacked a fist into his open palm. "This insult will not stand! Giratina,I go to gather the troops! To war, to ruin, to glory! But first, breakfast."
"The return trip will be much faster if you ride me."
888
The sunrise had turned the water of Lake Valor into glittering diamonds. With her Trainer crouched low on her helmet, holding onto her golden horns, Giratina descended upon the lake's island in utter silence, for her wings did not beat. There was no need. She ducked her head so that he could slip off. Only after checking his gear did he realise his blunder: he had forgotten her Pokéball at the resort.
"Oh wow, you're way too big to fit inside that-"
The world became dark.
"-entrance…?"
When his eyes adjusted, he looked around the watery cave. Giratina stood beside him.
"How did you…?"
"I used a tesseract. It is a fifth-dimensional 'doorway' through what you perceive to be the third dimension."
"You could have just said 'teleportation'!"
"Do not presume to lecture me about extra-planar travel, mortal boy."
Azelf was watching their conversation with animated interest, twirling his twin tails in little spirals. Manny cleared his throat, pointing his index finger at the small legend. "Azelf, I have come to capture you! Prepare yourself."
Giratina scoffed at her Trainer. "You are as condescending as humans come. 'Prepare yourself'! Azelf hears every thought, every whisper of the mind in Pokémon and human alike."
"Uh, okay. Keira, go! Use Toxic!"
The battle progressed much the same way Giratina's had. Toxic's severe poisoning wore Azelf down, so all Manny had to do was defend, which Torterra excelled at, withdrawing into his shell while Manny tossed Ultra Balls. Though Azelf attacked far fiercer and moved far swifter than the other Lake Guardians, his defenses were found lacking. Manny's fourth Ultra Ball overpowered the Lake Pokémon who, by the fourth round, was feebly clinging to consciousness.
"I can't believe this," Manny admitted, regarding the locked Ultra Ball with awe. "Why was it so easy to capture this one? I almost died capturing you, Giratina!"
"In my current form, I exert the innate ability 'Pressure', which is actually a focused projection of my battle aura. It weakens my opponent, causing them to tire twice as fast. In my original form in the Distortion World, my innate ability is Levitate."
"Hey, then how come I felt your 'Pressure' back then?"
"I was focusing my battle aura on you, not on your Pokémon. They only wanted to fight me because you did!"
"You're a real jerk, Giratina."
"I am what I am."