In front of the Abyssal Cavern, Aven's figure appeared.
He was still momentarily dazed, and by the time he came back to his senses, he realized he had already arrived at his destination.
"Lilli!"
Lilligant's expression was serious as it warned Aven to be careful—the real adventure was about to begin.
"Garde… Voir…"
Gardevoir's expression was equally solemn. No one knew what awaited them next.
"Lass~"
Froslass floated forward, gray mist surging around her body as she indicated she was fully prepared.
"I know. Then let's go in," Aven said, taking a deep breath.
He led the Pokémon straight into the Abyssal Cavern, quickly making their way toward the inner hall.
Due to the last Abyssal Beast tide, the hall was now in ruins. However, with Gardevoir's spatial perception, it was easy to locate the entrance to the relic space.
As spatial energy surged, ripples spread through the air. A spatial gate opened, and Gardevoir immediately teleported them into the relic space.
Blue skies, white clouds, green grass—the relic space was as tranquil as it had been before.
From time to time, faint blue lights drifted through the air, then fell rapidly into the lake, tearing open a spatial seam before merging into it.
"The Sendoff Spring… the legendary place that connects life and death," Aven said gravely.
"Lass~"
Froslass floated above the Sendoff Spring.
As she connected with the grey crystal's energy within her body, the lake surface suddenly trembled, and a pitch-black passage abruptly opened.
"Let's go. We're going to find Giratina."
Taking a deep breath, Aven slipped his hands into his pockets, gripping the remaining four Poké Balls, and stepped into the Sendoff Spring together with Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir.
As space twisted violently, his figure vanished in an instant. When his consciousness gradually cleared, he found himself standing in a gray, desolate world—and the strangest thing was that everything here was inverted.
His gaze fell upon an upside-down floating island. "Is this the reflection of the real world?"
With this thought in mind, he scanned his surroundings. Aside from being gray and inverted, everything else was nearly identical to the real world.
"According to legend, Giratina, who mastered antimatter, was exiled by the Creator God to a world of distortion. This should be that place of exile," Aven murmured.
This confirmed all of his previous deductions—Giratina lived in this world. Now all he needed to do was find it and convince it to go to the real world to help deal with the Sorcerer Organization.
Whooo—!
At that moment, a chilling wind suddenly swept through.
In the distance, thick gray mist surged forward, accompanied by waves of powerful energy!
"The Gray Mist—and Ghost-type Pokémon corrupted by it," Aven said solemnly. "The power of the Gray Mist… so it really originates from here."
This ruined world was likewise filled with an aura of death, essentially a special kind of Ghost World.
Back when the Sendoff Spring was opened, these Ghost-type Pokémon had followed the Gray Mist into the real world, forming the terrifying Abyssal Beast tide!
"Lass~"
Froslass immediately flew forward.
Upon entering this place, her body trembled, and gray mist began to drift from her form. Powerful energy waves spread outward as large amounts of Gray Mist were drawn toward her, continuously merging into her body and making her aura grow stronger and stronger.
The rapidly advancing Gray Mist thinned under Froslass's control, revealing the Ghost-type Pokémon hidden within. Their eyes were vacant, devoid of any spark of life.
Yet under Froslass's command, these corrupted Ghost-type Pokémon were extraordinarily obedient, like puppets that could be manipulated at will. Aven knew this was the power of the grey crystal.
This mysterious crystal possessed an astonishing level of control over the Gray Mist. Both the mist itself and the Pokémon corrupted by it could be freely commanded—its effect was even more remarkable than that of the black crystal.
As Froslass continued to exert her power, the Gray Mist clinging to those Ghost-type Pokémon was rapidly expelled, fleeing frantically toward the far reaches of the world.
"Lass~!"
At that moment, Froslass suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward the deepest part of the world.
There, she could faintly sense an immense energy fluctuation—one that seemed to resonate with her on some level.
"Did you find Giratina?" Aven asked as he approached her.
"Lass!"
Froslass nodded firmly, then quickly drifted toward the distance.
Seeing this, Aven immediately followed. Within this ruined world, he felt as though he had entered outer space.
There was no gravity here—movement felt like swimming, his body floating freely through the air as he drifted rapidly forward.
Beside him, Lilligant and Gardevoir followed quietly, streams of life energy continuously flowing from their bodies into his, helping him resist the power of the Gray Mist.
"Lass~"
As they ventured deeper, the sensation transmitted by the grey crystal within Froslass grew increasingly intense.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally arrived before an inverted temple. Thick gray mist continuously drifted out from within it!
"Lilli!"
Lilligant's expression turned grave. She could sense that the life energy emanating from this place far surpassed anything she had ever felt before.
Even Darkrai and Heatran—guardian-level beings—were utterly incomparable to the presence within the temple. If strength and life energy were proportional to some extent, then just how powerful must the being inside be?!
"We've found it… Giratina," Aven said as he slowly withdrew his hands from his pockets, taking out four Poké Balls.
As white light flashed, the figures of Rhyperior, Naganadel, Darkrai, and Heatran appeared on the temple steps.
"Let's go," he said, standing among his Pokémon. "We're going to meet the Dragon Lord of this place."
With that, he strode forward into the temple.
The entire structure was incredibly dilapidated—fitting for a world of ruin. At the center of the temple, a figure resembling a bobbit worm lay quietly asleep, with six ghostly, ribbon-like wings floating behind its back.
…
Mount Coronet— even in the height of summer, this place remained eternally shrouded in ice and snow.
At this moment, within a certain cave deep inside Mount Coronet, three gigantic figures stood silently beside the leader of the Sorcerers.
The bodies of these three giants were respectively formed from rock, crystal, and steel. If Aven were present, he would undoubtedly recognize them at a glance—these were none other than the three legendary titans spoken of in ancient myths.
They were Regirock, the Titan of Rock; Regice, the Titan of Ice; and Registeel, the Titan of Steel. At this time, all three legendary titans were enveloped in dense black miasma, with the power of the Demon God continuously flowing through their massive bodies.
"Hm? Did the plan to capture Heatran fail?"
"Forget it. Failure is failure. As long as we can successfully forge the Red Chain, we can still locate the Spear Pillar and summon Dialga and Palkia."
Listening calmly to his subordinate's report, the Sorcerer leader's expression remained indifferent. He then shifted his gaze toward the three figures floating quietly in midair—Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie.
At this moment, each of the three legendary lake guardians was bound by a black demonic ring. Streams of black energy continuously invaded their bodies, causing their forms to tremble uncontrollably.
Before long, crimson light began to emanate from the bodies of the three lake guardians, only to be forcibly siphoned away by the black rings. Gradually, this extracted energy gathered in midair, condensing into a mass of red radiance, within which terrifying power churned ominously.
As time passed, the red glow on the bodies of the three lake guardians grew increasingly faint, while the red light floating in the air became more and more intense. Strange and eerie runes flickered upon it, slowly forming the vague shape of a crimson ring of light.
"According to legend, the Lake Guardians contain within them a portion of the power of the Creator God, Arceus."
"As long as this power is extracted, it can be forged into the Red Chain—an artifact capable of controlling the Space and Time Dragons of Sinnoh."
"And the so-called 'King of Sinnoh,' spoken of in legend as one who earns the recognition of the Lake Guardians, likely refers to the power of the Red Chain itself."
As he gazed at the Red Chain gradually taking form in midair, burning fervor surged within the Sorcerer leader's eyes. As long as he obtained the Red Chain, the entire Sinnoh Region would belong to him!
And if he could use the Red Chain to control Dialga and Palkia, then the entire world would fall under his dominion—he would become the undisputed king of this world!
In midair, as their power continued to be drained away, Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie soon lost even the strength to struggle. Their bodies drooped limply as they fell unconscious.
At the same time, the Red Chain in the air finally completed its formation. It transformed into a concentrated mass of crimson light and descended into the Sorcerer leader's palm, merging directly into it and becoming chain-like red markings etched into the center of his hand.
"Success… the Red Chain!"
Staring at the mark hidden within his palm, excitement flashed uncontrollably across the Sorcerer leader's face.
He then turned his gaze toward the three Lake Guardians floating weakly below and waved one hand, recalling the three Capture Rings.
At this moment, three toward Rings were already equipped on his left hand. When the recalled rings returned, they merged into his right hand, forming a bracelet tightly wrapped around his wrist.
With the power of the toward Rings withdrawn, the bodies of the three Lake Guardians fell from the air and crashed to the ground, where they were immediately encased in ice by Regice, sealed completely within frozen blocks.
"Bring the Lake Guardians with us. We're going to find the Spear Pillar," the Sorcerer leader commanded coldly as he turned and strode toward the cave entrance. The three titans each grabbed one of the frozen Lake Guardians and followed closely behind.
After exiting the cave, the Sorcerer leader spread his palm and activated the Creator God's power contained within the Red Chain, beginning to sense the legendary birthplace of creation.
"I've found it. The Spear Pillar is over there!"
His gaze locked onto the eastern side of Mount Coronet as he led the three titans swiftly toward their destination.
Before long, they arrived at a massive rock formation halfway up the mountain. Through the resonance of the Red Chain, the Sorcerer leader could clearly sense that the entrance to the legendary Spear Pillar lay hidden behind this rock face.
"Regirock, break it open!"
At his command, the Titan of Rock let out a thunderous roar as rock-type energy surged violently from its body.
The rock wall began to tremble violently, and with deafening booms, countless spiderweb-like cracks spread across its surface.
Finally, the entire rock formation collapsed, revealing behind it a gigantic metallic door that resembled a silvery eggshell. Through the Red Chain's resonance, the Sorcerer leader could clearly sense the dormant power of the Creator God hidden within.
"This is it—the legendary birthplace of creation!" The Sorcerer leader burst into unrestrained laughter.
With fanaticism blazing in his eyes, he slowly stepped forward and placed his hand upon the door of the Spear Pillar. The Creator God's power contained within the Red Chain surged forth, continuously flowing into the massive door.
In the next instant, the door of the Spear Pillar suddenly radiated crimson light and slowly began to open, revealing a strange inner space. Within the void, countless stairways extended endlessly into the distance.
"I've finally arrived… the place of creation!"
The Sorcerer leader suppressed his laughter, leading the three titans as they swiftly stepped onto the stairs and hurried toward the ruins suspended within the void.
The ruins were extraordinarily peculiar. Towering pillars stood all around, and between them lay a triangular altar carved with countless bizarre runes. Upon the altar stood five upright pillars arranged in a solemn formation.
This was the Spear Pillar itself—the very place where the Creator God Arceus had once created the world, and where the Creation Trio and the Lake Guardians were born.
After ascending the altar, the Sorcerer leader ordered the three titans to place the unconscious Lake Guardians onto the three corner pillars of the triangular altar. He then took out two gemstones from his pack and placed them atop the two central pillars of the altar.
Closing his eyes, he recalled the summoning ritual for Dialga and Palkia depicted in the ancient murals. Spreading his palm, he began to pray aloud:
"Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie—pour the power passed down through your lineage into the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb. By the power of the Creator God, let time and space overlap once more."
As his voice fell, the bodies of Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie all began to tremble violently. Waves of blue, red, and grey light continuously burst forth from their bodies.
The three streams of differently colored energy gradually overlapped and fused together, all pouring into the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb, causing the entire ruin to shake violently.
BOOM!
As the Creator God's power continued to be infused, the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb simultaneously unleashed pillars of light that shot straight into the void above.
The two beams pierced the emptiness, plunging the surrounding space into chaos as time and space began to overlap. Within the void, the faint silhouettes of two colossal figures slowly emerged…
(End of Chapter)