In another timeline, Ho-Oh eliminated the source of the virus, causing all infected hosts to descend into madness.
But in this timeline, the Mythical Pokémon had a different plan—they intended to banish the virus source to the Distortion World. As long as the source wasn't destroyed, infected hosts would remain stable. So long as the virus source was trapped in the Distortion World, Lugia and the others could maintain control over one host with an extremely high fusion ratio to act as a proxy commander in this world.
That host... was Azelf.
Dialga had once claimed that Azelf was the key to countering this threat. After all, who better to lead than the Being of Willpower?
Azelf would now serve as the infected army's new commander—igniting a full-scale war between the Hive and the Pokémon League.
Once both factions were exhausted from the conflict, the Mythical Pokémon would appear and purge human civilization once more—just as Kyogre and Groudon had done in ages past.
"You've long wished to wipe out humanity," said Lucius, "but because of the ancient pact forged by Arceus, you weren't allowed to intervene directly. So now you're engineering a war between the Hive and the League to rip up the contract and interfere with the world again."
"Ha ha ha... how astute. You're even smarter than most humans," Lugia laughed, its voice booming with ancient scorn. "Yes. That's exactly our plan."
"Over our eternal lifespans, we've seen many civilizations rise. Some advanced. Others primitive. But none as twisted and depraved as this one."
"Humans once opposed Pokémon, or sometimes coexisted with them—but they never sought to capture them in balls, brainwash them, and enslave them," Lugia said gravely.
"You take Pokémon—creatures that should roam free in nature—and force them to fight for your amusement. All for shallow glories like 'Pokémon Master.' You bleed them dry in endless battles, making them live short, brutal lives."
"You domesticate them. Breed them. Instill them with the mentality of slaves and pets from the moment they're born—just so they can serve you."
"Your civilization has veered so far off course—indulgent, wasteful. You plunder nature without end. In many regions, the resources are all but gone."
"You burn coal—the fossilized remains of ancient forests. You burn oil—formed from long-dead Pokémon and animals buried deep in the earth. Compared to past civilizations like the Crystal Civilization or the Solar Civilization, your so-called progress is a civilization built on the burning of corpses."
Lucius and the League Champions present were stunned. What humanity saw as its proudest achievement—industrial progress—was, to the eyes of the gods, monstrous.
"Originally, we didn't plan to intervene so soon. But your ambitions have grown—to the point where you now think you can challenge us with Infinity Energy. We can no longer stand by."
Perhaps it was the worsening ocean pollution, but the Sea Guardian Lugia seemed especially indignant compared to the other Mythical Pokémon.
Infinity Energy?
The moment Lugia mentioned it, the League executives immediately understood.
Years ago, a joint project was launched by the Pokémon League and Devon Corporation: the Project Sky Break—an initiative to capture Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon.
They had developed a device powered by Infinity Energy, capable of weakening Mythical Pokémon by draining their life force.
Using it, they successfully captured Rayquaza, who had been weakened after a titanic battle against the extraterrestrial being Deoxys.
Everyone present was a high-ranking figure. None of them were fools. In that moment, they saw the true reason behind the Mythical Pokémon's declaration of war.
Yes—overdevelopment, Pokémon enslavement—those were real issues.
But the true threat, the tipping point, was this: humanity had grown strong enough to challenge the gods themselves.
In the ancient world, people revered them as deities. But this modern civilization? It dared to control them.
Rayquaza was just the beginning.
Who would be next?
Lugia? The Phoenix of Rebirth, Ho-Oh, whose power to resurrect made it the most coveted of all?
It wasn't rage. It was fear—a deep, primal fear of what humanity had become—that spurred the Mythical Pokémon into action.
Having spoken its truth, Lugia seemed satisfied. It turned toward Lucius and the League Champions, all of whom were now restrained by Palkia's spatial power.
"Giratina awaits you in the Distortion World. It doesn't like rude guests. Be sure to greet it properly."
As the words left Lugia's mouth, the vortex in the sky surged with gravitational force. Everyone—humans and Pokémon alike—was lifted into the air and sucked into the gateway to the Distortion World.
The four Mythical Pokémon stood motionless.
Once only Azelf remained, Dialga and Palkia retracted their powers. The black vortex slowly vanished into the sky.
Lucius felt the world spin.
The sky was beneath his feet. The ground floated above.
Gravity twisted in every direction. He had entered a world of shadows and chaos—the Distortion World.
He recognized it immediately.
This was the inverse mirror of reality, the same realm explored in the original Platinum storyline.
But unlike the game's dozen map tiles, the real Distortion World was as vast and endless as the physical world itself.
He reached out with his mind—his telepathic link to his infected hosts still pulsed clearly. But his link with Lorelei, Shelly, and the others was faint, distant.
He immediately ordered the infected to converge on his location.
Where had the League Champions ended up?
If the entry points were random, some could have landed miles away.
According to canon, there was only one way back to the real world: through Giratina.
But in a realm this vast, where could one even find the Renegade Pokémon?
As a fragment of Arceus—just like Dialga and Palkia—Giratina was unlikely to help even if it were found.
Lugia had revealed much—but some things still didn't add up.
Why was Giratina involved at all?
It ruled the Distortion World. Human industrial pollution had no bearing here. Nor could humanity ever threaten it directly.
Why help the others?
The space beside Lucius shimmered.
Anabel and Gardevoir appeared in a flicker of teleportation energy.
But they weren't alone.
Above them, a white Pokémon fluttered in lazy circles before vanishing into the shadows.
Togekiss.
The same one Cynthia had released moments before.
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