He carefully folded the delicate piece of paper. There was a moment of anticipation before he dropped the note into the fire. Its faint glimmer lighted up the darkness, turned into a blaze. Everybody is afraid of something. His note dissolved into smoke and arose through the shrine's chimney, taking at least a bit of his worries with it. He glanced at the Champion kneeling next to him, eyes closed and her arms solemnly stretched out as if she was expecting a blessing. Had she ever been afraid of anything? The incense made his head feel dizzy, but not in a bad way. Suddenly, she rose from her position. Her ceremonial kimono whirled around her like a beautiful purple gust.
"You've had some exhausting weeks, haven't you? If you ever need some rest, just give me a call. Celestic Town is a great place to understand oneself. I'll visit my grandmother there for a few days. Feel free to join me and stay at her guest room!"
When his PokéNav had received Cynthia's message some days ago, his tired mind was basically on autopilot and he instinctively answered "Okay". No need to question the Champion, right? After he woke up during early afternoon, he found that she had already invited him to come over this evening. Crap. He massaged his temples. Did he even remember answering her message? Maybe. Whatever, he needed to leave now to reach Celestic Town in time. He quickly gathered all of his stuff and, with slightly trembling legs, jumped onto his Magnezone. After a flying across Sinnoh for at least an hour, he finally spotted a few old houses surrounding a small valley and ordered his Pokémon to descend. Jumping onto the ground, his legs felt like jelly, but he blamed the long flight for this. The old-fashioned houses were either built out of wood or massive and coarse bricks. He looked around, but wherever his eyes wandered, he could only see the rugged rocks of Mount Coronet and a few, sparse bushes. The entire village was in a valley and at its lowest point, an almost ancient looking shrine had been erected. Its red roof stood out against the earthy colours of the other houses and Magnus could not help himself but walk towards it. He timidly reached out his hand to touch the shrine and as his fingertips just barely connected with the old wood, a shiver went down his spine. How old was this shrine? Who had erected it? How many people had prayed here? He quickly withdrew his hand, feeling a bit embarrassed for carelessly touching this shrine which might be sacred to the people here. But – wasn't it also his shrine? He shook his head, trying to convince himself to forget this, when from the corner of his eye, he saw the mouth of a cave. Something was surrounding its entrance, but he could not figure out what until he walked closer towards it and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He had seen these silhouettes before. To the left of the cave entrance, there was Dialga. Cold sweat started to run down his spine. To the right, Palkia. His mouth became dry. And in the middle, the dark cave entrance leading to another place. He stared into the darkness. Either he was about to go completely mad – or something golden was about to come out of this cave.
"Ah, there you are!" a familiar voice greeted him, "I was wondering when you'd arrive here!"
Cynthia's blonde hair sparkled in the late evening sun as she climbed out of the cave.
"Nice to meet you", Magnus mumbled and snapped back into the present.
"It's getting late already. Let's go to my grandmother's place and grab a cup of tea."
Her grandmother wore a long black dress, not dissimilar to Cynthia's clothes, and covered her hands with white gloves made out of silk. Even inside her own house, she wore a large hat, decorated with white flowers and with an eccentric pattern of holes in its brim.
"Welcome to my home", she said and handed Magnus a cup of tea. To his surprise, her voice didn't sound like a typical old woman's voice, but much younger, though nevertheless tired.
Magnus thanked her and sat down at the kitchen table. Cynthia decided to keep standing while drinking her tea and her grandmother sat across him.
"Thanks for inviting me here", Magnus mumbled because the silence felt rather uncomfortable to him.
"Celestic Town is always welcoming its guests who seek a retreat from the struggles of life outside. The ways of the past continue to live on here amidst ourselves and preserve much wisdom which elsewhere has been lost to time", she answered. The melodic rhythm of her voice soothed Magnus.
"And besides", she turned to Cynthia with a sly grin, "It has been some time since my granddaughter brought company home."
"You've already seen our shrine in the town centre", Cynthia said and Magnus nodded, "Tomorrow, I will prepare you for a ceremonial visit to the shrine. It is the perfect place to spend your time thoughtfully."
Rain started to trickle onto the window.
"I've never been to such a shrine", Magnus said, "We don't really have these in Hoenn. To be honest, I feel a bit uneasy about this... What if I accidentally do something disrespectful to it?"
Cynthia chuckled and her grandmother gently grabbed his hand with her gloved fingers.
"Be not afraid" she said as she held his hand like that of a child, "You are a son of Sinnoh. You will find that the old ways and their rites flow within your blood. You just have to learn to listen to them. But there is no better teacher than my dear Cynthia to guide you towards this path."
Magnus took a sip from his tea. The warmth spread from his tongue throughout his body.
"But I think I should guide you to your bed now", Cynthia said to her grandmother, "it's getting late already and the doctor said you need your rest."
"Commanded around my own house. But you are right."
Before going to bed, Cynthia's grandmother showed Magnus his guest room upstairs. A small chamber with a little window and a bed made out of dark wood, decorated with carvings in all sorts of shapes. A ring was hanging above his bed, approximately as large as a hand. Inside the ring, a web of strings had been spun and the ring itself was covered in light-green feathers.
"It is an old talisman", she remarked, "said to protect one's dreams."
"I used to sleep here as a child", Cynthia added with a smile, "and never got a nightmare here."
On the next day, he did not wake up until late in the after-noon. For the first time in a while, he managed to sleep through the entire night. His head finally was less dizzy, but that only allowed him to think more clearly about the poor state of his mind during the past days. A strong herbal tea calmed him down a bit.
"Here, try this out", Cynthia interrupted his train of thoughts and handed him a blue piece of cloth. Magnus unfolded it and realised that it was a blue kimono, decorated with red patterns resembling the faces of some Pokémon. He could recognise Arcanine and, perhaps to his surprise, Electrode.
"It's not necessary to wear our traditional robe when entering the shrine, but it will help you to feel more like being in the moment."
She showed him all sorts of different incenses that they were going to use and explained what exactly they were going to do during the ceremony. In the meantime, Cynthia's grandmother prepared an old-fashioned stew, the recipe of which dated back to the time before Sinnoh was first settled by outsiders from other regions.
"In those harsh and unforgiving times", she said, "our forefathers needed a strong meal to replenish their spirits."
When the sun had set behind the silhouette of Mount Coronet, it was time to start. Cynthia, now also dressed in a kimono, instructed Magnus to use one of his Pokémon to light up a torch and his Ninetales swiftly followed suit. "On our walk, your worries shall rise above and beyond us just like the smoke of the fire." They followed a specific path around the village, leading them to several small memorials. Cynthia chanted old verses from the time of the settlers while Magnus was standing solemnly and held the torch. Luckily, he could not feel the cold night air through the kimono's thick fabric. Finally, they reached the shrine.
It was a single room, lit up by a fire pit in its centre. The fire looked like it was about to go out and only gave the room a gloomy red light. Magnus placed his torch into the fire pit, adding his worries to the prayers of who knows how many people had been here before him. To his surprise, the fire nevertheless remained in its gloomy state from before. Cynthia handed him a piece of parchment and a quill. Just as she had told him, he wrote down the first thought that came through his head. Everybody is afraid of something.
He folded the note and handed it to the Champion. She sprinkled it with incense and threw it into the fire pit. As soon as the note hit the fire, a massive blaze lit up the whole room and Magnus could finally see the delicate ornaments from centuries long forgotten which decorated the interior, before they quickly disappeared in the gloomy darkness from before.
During this night, it wasn't nightmares which kept Magnus awake. His mind felt like it had awoken from a long slumber and was not ready to fall asleep yet again. Thoughts wandering around, finally thinking straight about his actions and experiences during the last days. It took him well past midnight until he drifted to sleep.
On the next morning, he immediately jumped out of his bed and went straight to Cynthia's room. He had made a decision. Just as he knocked onto her door, he realised that she might still be asleep, but luckily, the door opened almost immediately. Books and old documents were lying on the floor with notes and markers everywhere around them. Even more books formed a pillar on the wooden desk where Cynthia had apparently already started to work during this morning.
"How do you feel after yesterday's treatment?" she asked.
"Better", he replied sternly, "Clearer. In fact, clear enough to have made a decision."
He buried his hand in his bag, pulled out a Pokéball and handed it to her.
"You should take it. You're the Champion."
Cynthia was lost for words. Startled, she looked at the Pokéball in her hand, then at her guest.
"No!"
"You don't understand", he argued and his voice became much more agitated, "I've neglected it ever since I caught it! I haven't even once dared to send it out! I've been a coward and unable to handle this being!"
"No, I cannot take Giratina!" Cynthia hissed and pushed the Pokéball back into his hands. Magnus sensed something in her eyes that he had never expected to see there. A glimpse of desperation.
"But why?" Magnus almost exclaimed, "You're the Champion – there's nobody more suited to tame it!"
"Get in here", she whispered and made a gesture for him to enter her room, "I don't want grandma to hear about this."
Puzzled, he stepped into her room and closed the door behind him. She sat down on the chair at her desk and told him to take a seat on the reading chair next to the bookshelves. He could have sworn that she hadn't even be that unnerved in the Distortion World.
"How do I start with this...", she mumbled, "You have a good relationship to your grandfather, don't you?"
Magnus nodded and wondered where the heck this conversation was going.
"See, I never met mine. But I was told that I take after him very much. Not just in terms of my looks. He was an amazingly strong Pokémon trainer and deeply involved with the myths and legends of Sinnoh. A bit too deeply", she paused for a moment, "He once tried to control Giratina to upset the balance of this world."
Magnus gulped. So Cyrus wasn't the first lunatic trying to control the forces of creation.
"Giratina remembers this. I can feel it. And it can feel my grandfather's spirit within me.", she said, "That's why you had to face Giratina while I stopped Cyrus. I'm afraid that I could've never calmed Giratina down. And I was afraid that something within me might have been too close to my grandfather's corrupt mind."
She placed her hand on his hand which was still holding the Pokéball.
"And I deeply regret dragging you into this."
They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity.
"Nevertheless", Magnus finally said, "I followed you along voluntarily."
Another moment of silence ensued.
"I cannot take Giratina", she said, "But I can at least help you to face it."
A few minutes outside of Celestic Town, the two of them had reached a small clearing within the woods. None of the normal townspeople would be able to spot them here. Magnus held the Pokéball in his trembling hand.
"We'll get this through with", Cynthia said and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Giratina trusts you – that's why you were able to catch it. Now you need to trust it."
He carefully opened his Pokéball and a dark mist emerged from it. A purple circle appeared in the air and the dark mist hid within it. The mist's shape kept changing and changing, twisting and twirling, but a golden head with two red eyes formed at its top, lurking at them from the portal. Its eyes first looked at Cynthia and its misty body bolted and suddenly got more rough and covered in sharp spikes as if shrieking in fear. It looked at Magnus, whose heart stopped for a moment as its piercing eyes met his gaze. But these eyes were not looking for prey. They looked at him searching for... comfort? Magnus raised his hands slowly up and down.
"We don't want to abuse your powers", he said, "be not afraid."
"I'm sorry for my grandfather's ruthlessness", Cynthia said and Giratina became a bit more agitated upon hearing her voice, "I'm sorry for what he wanted you to do. But he's long gone from this world."
As if looking for confirmation, Giratina moved its head again towards Magnus who nodded in agreement. The golden head carefully moved out of the portal and the dark mist behind it slowly stretched out and formed a grey neck. Instinctively, Magnus reached out and placed his hand on the metallically golden scales on the Pokémon's cheek. He could have sworn that the mandibles had looked different in the Distortion World, but maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. Slowly, Cynthia moved her hand closer to the Pokémon's forehead and it allowed her to touch its scales with her fingertips. Then, its body disappeared into the Pokéball.