The Banished One

Jonathon had been walking through the mountain for a while now. Exploring the passages but still slowly making his way towards the top. The further up he went, the stronger the strange aura he felt back when he saw the mountain at the lake got. Eventually he walked out into daylight. Strange obelisk structures lined the area. "Is this the peak?" He said, adjusting his eyes to sunlight again.

"Not quite yet," a voice called from behind Jonathon, "but a little farther and we'll reach it." The source was a cold and tired looking Summer, who had flown as far up as her Pidgeot could take her, then when the mountain cold and climate became too much, followed Jonathon's path, just now catching up to him.

Her face was filled with concern as she took in their surroundings. "Something... isn't right here," she murmured to herself, glancing from one end of the path to the other. "The Pokemon here are terrified, like they sense something foreboding coming. It's such a dreadful feeling." She shuddered, then glanced to Jonathon. "I never told you what made me 'special', did I?" she trailed off at the end, not waiting for Jonathon to reply before speaking again. "I'm an empath. I can feel the emotions of other people and Pokemon, experience them myself if I truly want to."

"It's still strange," she muttered, "you looked like you knew where to head next, but I don't sense any other People here. The Pokemon are reacting strangely, and they're obviously tense as if something is wrong. It's like they've just reached the peak of the mountain and went into another world or something, but that'd be ridiculous." She chuckled and looked to Jonathon. "So, what did make you so confident this was the place? It looks interesting and all, but what's so special about it?"

Jonathon smiled a little when he saw Summer. It felt good to have someone else who knew what was going on to talk with again. "Well, I went to the lake just outside the city and met a pokemon called Uxie. It mentioned something about a banished one, which also reminded me of some research I had done back in Olivine." He paused for a minute. "I know we're looking for a pokemon called Giritina. When I left the lake, something drew my attention to this mountain. Like some kind of weird aura I just couldn't identify."

"A strange aura and air of foreboding can't bid well to our situation. With your studies of Giratina, was it?" She paused, recalling the name as correct, "was there any information about what it was like? All the signs are saying Magnus and the organization that captured him would be here, Uxie never lies. And yet, there's no sign of either, suspiciously so." She furrowed her brow in thought, but raised no explanation to her questions.

"Yeah, it was Giritina. My research wasn't all that successful though." Jonathon said, mildly ashamed. "It was shortly after I got the letter from the dragonite, I found a few things at Magnus's lab. One of them mentioned a Black Shadow and when I tried to find it online at the pokemon center, I didn't get much. The best I found was a little story about Giritiana. I really have no idea what to do." He kept walking forward, stopping at the center on a circle of the strange pillars. It was a struggle for him to even stand. "That aura...It's really strong here..."

"Well, there's no coincidence about the odd feeling here, there's definitely something wrong," Summer replied, scanning their surroundings with a look of concern. "What have you gotten yourself into this time Mag?" she half muttered, half sighed to herself, before taking a step forward. "It's terribly reckless to go on without any plan or knowledge, but I guess it's a risk we have to take." She took another step forward, toward the center of the clearing. "The ill feeling is just growing as I get closer to here, it's almost as if i-" her vice abruptly cut off as quite suddenly Summer disappeared, without a trace of her left on the world Jonathon stood in.

"Summer...? Summer!" Jonathon said, turning and seeing she was gone. The energy around him was getting to strong and it pushed him back. Looking up at whatever thing was there and had taken Summer away, Jonathon caught his breath. "Ok you big...whatever you are. I have no idea where you took her, but I'm going to get her back." At that, he charged the center of the pillars again, closing his eyes, not quite sure what he'd be seeing when he opens them.

An eerie silence was the only thing that replied to Jonathon. Not even a cry or yelp from Summer could be heard any more. Jonahon's closer inspection, however, revealed a slight distortion in exact center of the clearing. Undoubtably, this is what Summer hadn't seen and fell through.

He stopped again, feeling the strength of the aura. Looking around he saw the faint ripple in the air. "I'm most likely going to regret this..." Jonathon said. He put his hand up to it and watched as his hand slowly vanished into the air. "What the!" He pulled back but found he couldn't. "Well...no turning back now...Here goes nothing!" The aura trainer then dove into the ripple, vanishing from the mountain top.

The landscape that awaited Jonathon was one that defied every basic physics lesson in the book. The ground was broken into floating platforms that hovered over the eereeily dark pit below. In some spots, the platforms even hovered sideways or upside down, giving a strange growth pattern to the few otherworldly trees amid the landscape. There was even a waterfall flowing straight upwards.

There didn't seem to be signs of Summer nearby, she undoubtably surged ahead in search of her brother. The land itself was dead silent until a piering screech shattered the silence. It wasn't easy to discern if it was anger or pain, but it did originate from a very powerful source deeper within the strange world.

Jonathon shivered when he heard the scream. "What sort of pokemon made that noise..." He said, looking around the void. Realizing standing would get him no where, he started to walk towards what he hoped was the center of this place. Then the piece of land he was on stopped. He could go no further. "Whoa!" He said, almost plummeting to his death. "How am I supposed to keep going!"

The dropoff of land showed no signs of a forward path, and the only other way forward was a piece of land that hovered precariously sideways, it would seem Jonathon was at a dead end, but recent shoe marks from another traveler, no doubt Summer, were shown sturdily made on the unnatural platform of land.

Another piercing screech sounded through the dimension, but this time is was accompanied by two shouts of other people, but it was impossible to discern the meaning or emotion behind what they were saying, Jonathon was too far away.

Jonathon looked up at the wall and gulped. "Here goes nothing." He jumped into the air and felt a bit of vertigo before landing on the wall. "This is weird..." He said as he began to walk up the wall. Eventually he found another platform, this one upside down from where he started. Leaping onto it he was even more disoriented. Continuing his trek towards where the screams and shouts cam from Jonathon twisted and turned several more times.

The distorted landscape seemed reliable enough to lead Jonathon closer to the shots and Pokemon cries, but the voices were still too far to clearly decipher. Suddenly, the ground below Jonathon's feet, wherever that may be, tremored as a piercing cry loud enough to echo across the void caused the entire world to tremble. After a few heartbeat's time, it halted and fell into stunning silence. Not even the arguing shouts spoke, but the tension in the air told of forboding times in whatever lied ahead.

"Hello...?" He called out into the void and silence. Nothing. "HELLO!" He shouted, hoping something would respond. Still nothing. There was only one thing Jonathon could do, keep going. He'd come this far. He kept going the same way, navigating the ever changing terrain, getting closer to the center of the void he was lost in.

As he got closer, many things came into focus. First off, the land finally leveled off once more into a straight path leading to the heart of the Distortion World. It was here that several people, one of which was Summer, could be seen. One, a man messied hair and a bleeding, broken nose lay across the ground, bloodied and beaten, while clutching his stomach from an unseen injury. His breathing was ragged, and his aura blazed erratically as he glared up at another figure with his one unbruised eye.

Summer was struggling against the tightening grip of two non-descript figures, both locking her arms behind her back and covering her mouth. She was glaring and trying to scream at the same figure that had presumably beaten the man on the ground, and that figure simply smiled.

Now, unlike the strange power and mystery that radiated off of Summer's unnamed 'brother', the man whom they were glaring at radiated evil and power, and like the secretive organization he lead, his aura was a dark, shadowy black that seemed to almost consume the air around it. Loosely gripped in his hand was a black, metallic cane, which hovered over an otherworldly stone that seemed to have been damaged by something, taking a beating just like the fallen man.

Even with all of these figures, there was one presence that consumed the attention of everyone present. Hovering and hiding in the shadows were two glowing eyes, focused entirely on the stone below the cane. A growl echoed across the area. The eyes shifted.

"Ah, ah, ah," the cane weilding man cautioned with an insidious grin, bringing the tip of it closer to the stone. The eyes blinked and backed up, the rumbling growl getting louder.

The man on the ground violently coughed, and in a hoarse voice said, "you're making a mistake. What you're doing won't work, the Griseous Orb's damage wi-" his voice cut off abruptly as the cane suddenly swung and hit him right in the abdomin.

"I wouldn't like to hear another word from you unless it's a word of cooperation. All of this would be much simpler if you would have done what I requested of you!" the other man yelled, causing Summer to thrash around, but not enough to break from her captors' grasps.

The beaten man looked as if he was trying to say something, but no words formed. Instead, he only could make the motions of speak. It wouldn't have worked, his lips were saying, both methods will kill us all. His eyes were framed with defeat, and he fell silent, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain.

During all of this, no one seemed to have noticed Jonathon approaching. He at least had that advantage, but what to do with it? He could be a shining ray of hope and light, finally piercing and expelling the darkness. Though any light can be blotted out with a deeper blackness. It was his move, his time to take action or wait until the story unfolded without his intervention. Surely one action or another will ultimately cause a different chain of fates to be formed, and it all started with this moment...

Jonathon looked upon the entire scenario trying to wrap his head around it. He knew that one wrong move would result in a lot of deaths. The first thing he did though was try and hide his aura. If this guy had that much power, who knew if he could spot Jonathon or not. Plus, those eyes seemed to see everything that went on. Not just in front of them, but in this whole world. Sliding a hand to the gun in his pocket, he knew he may have to use it. He had that braviary, but that was about if for pokemon that might stand a chance here. Pulling the weapon out and clicking on the safety, he began his approach. While the land was flat, everyone seemed focus on the rock, the man, and the eyes. Jonathon figured if he could get close enough to get a clear shot, he'd have a chance. Sneaking along behind the men holding summer he stayed low the the ground and silent. He got closer and closer to the man. Moving to a spot where he had a clear shot, he aimed for the hand holding the cane. Leveling his arm and trying to control his breathing and his frantic heart beat, he pulled the trigger. Firing a single shot at the man with the cane.

It seemed as if time froze while the small bullet hurtled toward the man, but a man, no matter how horrible or dangerous, was no match for such a thing. His eyes went wide for a split second as the sound reached him, and as they locked with Jonathon's own, a hole ripped into his chest, and a trail of blood ran down from his mouth: a crimson against the sudden paleness of his almost lifeless face. The man's body fell, first onto its knees, then with a thud against the ground the dying man shuddered.

"NO!" Summer suddenly screeched, as if sensing an emotion that crossed the dying man, and she struggled even harder against the grip of the shell-shocked grunts, and she broke free, but it was too late.

As his one final action, the man lifted his cane and brought it down upon the Griseous Orb with the last of his strength. An audible 'crack' echoed across the area, and the stone was now damaged, not quite split in two, but damage had been done. The entire Distortion World shook and shuddered, and the eyes that hovered nearby blazed red, then a startling black.

The world shook once more, but did not stop as Giritina, the master of the domain, lost all control. Giving out a piercing screech of agony and insanity, the beast spread it's six tendrils and rampaged. It hurtled toward the man's now dead body and sent it spiraling down the abyss with one flick of its mighty head. Then, without reason, its blazing eyes found the closest person, the man on the ground, and the beast launched itself upon him with a blind fury.

"NO!" Jonathon screamed. Shoving the gun back into his pocket he ran toward the man. He knew he couldn't save the man, he wasn't even sure he could save the others. But he could buy them some time. He ran towards the man and the dragon and picked up the broken orb. "Giritina! I know this man has put you through a lot of pain. But he's dead now. You can stop. I know the orb is broken but there has to be some other way." He looked over his shoulder at Summer and mouthed the word "Run" before turning back to the beast. "Please Giritina, stop this." Jonathon closed his eys and began to spread his aura. First into the broken orb, and then towards the large pokemon.

Right as Giritina was about to impale the helpless man on the ground, it shuddered as Jonathon's aura suddenly reached it. It hesitated, then with an angry screech, its blazing eyes locked onto Jonathon's own then fell to the stone in his hands. Its six tendrils spread and pointed toward Jonathon, who's words seemed to have no effect on the maddened dragon. With inhuman speed, it hurtled toward Jonathon with the intent to kill.

Then, just as all hope seemed lost, someone made a falling dive toward Jonathon, and pushed him away, taking his place as Giritina's next prey. From above, a lone black Charizard hovered, confused as to where his master had jumped off to. Then, his eyes lowered and found the horrid sight of his bleeding and dying partner, who had given his life in exchange for Jonathon's.

"The name's Elric," the black haired man, Magnus's and Summer's brother, coughed out, "it's a shame you couldn't hear my side of things," he heaved one more bloody cough and collapsed for a final time. The man that had always helped and protected Jonathon, the man whom Jonathon cast aside and ignored at the insistence of others, the man who hadn't hesitated in sacrificing himself for Jonathon was now dead at his expense.

A cry filled with grief and hatred suddenly sounded through the clearing. Elric's Charizard hovered with blazing, tear filled eyes, staring with hatred and murderous intent toward Giritina. The maddened dragon hadn't hesitated to sent Elric's body down the abyss, but the Charizard dove after his master and grabbed the body, setting it gently back down on the hovering platform. Then, compacting all of its fury into a single launch, he hurtled toward Giritina, and a fight of dragon against dragon ensued.

Both Summer and the man on the ground that narrowly managed to escape Giritina's wrath because of Jonathon had an eye of shock and grief to their eyes. "The unkillable terror," the man whispered, "finally met his end..." Then, he looked toward Jonathon, and worked his way painfully to a sitting position. "A-Aura can control the beast," he choked out, clutching his pained stomach, "if we can pool both of our auras, w-we may have a chance."

Summer, meanwhile, was staring at the battling dragons above with a look of mingled horror and calculation, as if trying to sense any kind of good coming from either one. "They're both too lost in their emotions to listen to reason," she stated, shaking her own head clear, "it may be the only way to keep them both from destroying the other."

"Elric..."  Jonathon said, testing the name in his mouth.  It was so strange.  Here he was, this man that was always a villain in Jonathon's mind.  Dead.  He had been protecting Jonathon from the start, but he had believed Magnus and Summer.  "Why should I trust you?"  He said, not looking at them, just watching the two dragons fighting.  "I trusted you when you told me Elric was against you and it turns out that was wrong?  How do I know you're not just trying to control Giritina yourself."  Jonathon fell to his knees.  Despite the fact that he was conversing with the others, he was still trying to channel his aura through the stone.  Then memories of this whole thing came to him.  All the death and lies and other wrongs he'd seen.  It was too much.  "Make it stop..."  He said, his aura began to grow around him, shifting colors.  "Make...It...STOP!"  He screamed, throwing his head back.  His aura bursting out of him and hurtling toward the two beasts.

The bleeding man on the ground's gaze continued to look at the body of Elric, and his eyes continued to be moist with emotion. "Desperate times make saints into killers and sinners into heroes," he sighed, "Elric had two choices he could have made, and Arceus knows why he finally found enough good in himself to see you as someone to save." Although, his statement wasn't necessarily entirely true. Though Magnus, the beaten man, believed Jonathon was the one he would save, Elric had full intentions to retrieve his brother out of whatever mess he had found himself in.

As the aura poured through the stone, so did all of Jonathon's emotions: his hurt and betrayal all flooded into Giritina along with the memories Jonathon recalled. The rampaging Beas paused for a moment, and looked to the body lying on the ground. Something crossed its face, and it seemed to feel guilt as it looked down at Elric. Then, as suddenly as the emotion came, the Charizard slammed into Giritina, and made anclean and deadly slash across its body. Giritina shrieked in pain, and the entire distortion world shook, but not like before. All of the floating platforms made a sudden but slight drop, and wrenched farther apart from each other. The two dragons continued their battle.

"There's no time Jonathon," Summer yelled from her position, "you can hate us all you want later, we don't have time for this. I don't know what you think about me now, but I never meant to hurt you or Elric..." she closed her eyes, and tears streamed down her face, "there will be time for grieving when this is over. If this gets over. Jonathon, if Giritina dies, then the Distortion World decays with it. We need to stop their fight, lest one of them really does kill the other!"

Jonathon heard their words. He also felt Girtina, as if he was linking with it. The link was destroyed though when the fighting started up again, severed entirely. He was thrown back away from the stone, the aura fading. Staggering toward his feet he made his way back to the stone. Picking it up he began toward Elric's body, searching for something, but not able to find it. Looking up at Magnus and Summer and realizing that they could be his only chance, he knew he needed them. He made his way over to Magnus and fell to his knees, putting the orb between them. "Summer...Try and find the charizard's pokeball..." He said to her, not looking. "And Magnus...Help me..." He began to send all of his aura, all of who he was, back into the stone, hoping that Magnus would be strong enough to do the same.

Both people nodded, and while Summer shuffled toward Elric's fallen body, Magnus stayed where he was and closed his eyes. Now, instead of two auras surfacing to try and control Giritina, something odd happened to Jonathon's. It began to grow and strengthen as Magnus's aura guided it and brought it to its higher potential. Magnus was helping to guide Jonathon's aura, though the control would have to be all upon Jonahon to do.

With the strengthened aura, Giritina hesitated once more, feeling the connection between it and Jonathon grow. Not feeling any emotion or resolution, however, it continued fighting, lashing a deadly tentacle through one of the Charizard's wings, causing it to cry out and begin falling down into the abyss, desperately flapping his wings to no avail.

Summer was frantically searching, but none of the four Pokeballs on her brother's body were that of Charizard's. She glanced up at the falling dragons, and shuddered. "Oh, Arceus, no," she said, searching even more desperately so that she could save her brother's partner Pokemon, because she didn't save her brother. Her eyes filled with moisture and her will was crushed. "I'm just useless," she whispered with heavy breaths, "I can't save anyone."

Jonathon opened his eyes and looked down at the orb, then up at Magnus. "Did...Did we do it? Is it over?" He asked, slowly standing up and looking around him. It was surreal ad quiet now that the dragons were gone. Staggering his way over to summer he put a hand on her shoulder. "You tried, at least you can say that. You tried to save him." He said, mildly disoriented by the amount of aura he had just used. "So...do either of you know how we're going to get out of here?"