Chapter 323: Phantom Island
Following Giratina deeper into the Distortion World, Ryan and Lillie arrived at a floating island suspended in the void. There, resting on a stone platform at its center, were the last two plates: the Dragon Plate and the Fairy Plate.
Giratina regarded them for a moment. "Take them. I won't pretend I enjoy helping Arceus's cause — but I won't be the reason things fall apart either. That's not a reputation I want, on top of everything else."
Ryan tucked both plates carefully into his bag. He kept his expression neutral, but internally he found the whole thing quietly amusing. Giratina understood Arceus far better than it was willing to admit. If it had genuinely wanted to refuse, it would have simply refused and made Ryan take the plates by force. Instead it had led them directly here and handed them over while complaining about it. The logic of a creature that cared deeply but refused to say so.
With the plates secured, Ryan and Lillie prepared to think about leaving. Giratina spoke before they could.
"You don't need to worry about that. Stay on this island for a short while and it will handle the exit for you. This island has a connection to a specific island in the natural world — the two switch places periodically, exchanging positions between the Distortion World and the real world. The time flow here is irregular as well. Sometimes a single day on the island corresponds to seven days outside. Sometimes the reverse. I've tracked the pattern — in two or three hours, the switch will occur. You'll return to the real world with the island."
Ryan and Lillie looked at each other.
"The Phantom Island," they said at the same time.
Giratina and Xerneas both looked at them with identical expressions of mild confusion.
Lillie smiled and turned to explain. "There's an island near Sootopolis City in the Hoenn region — locals call it the Phantom Island. It appears at sea unpredictably and vanishes just as suddenly, with no apparent logic to when or where. No one's ever been able to explain it. Now we know why."
Ryan crossed his arms, thinking. "I mentioned it offhand during our time in Hoenn, but I never expected it to actually originate here." He turned the implications over. "If the time flow can be controlled — accelerated training, effectively compressing months of work into—"
"Don't." Giratina's voice was flat. "That line of thinking leads somewhere bad. Humans aren't built for irregular time flow. Short exposure causes no lasting harm. Extended use is another matter entirely — accelerated aging, temporal disorientation, cascading effects on the body's internal rhythms. And don't forget where you are. Every action taken in the Distortion World produces effects in the natural world. This is not a training ground. It is a counterweight to reality."
Ryan clicked his tongue. That particular shortcut closed before it had fully opened.
Xerneas glanced back at him: "Stop looking for shortcuts. Consistent progress over time is what actually matters."
Ryan thought, privately: You say that, but I used EV training methods to develop your stats. That's not exactly the scenic route either.
He kept that observation to himself.
While they waited, the island began to tremble — a low, building vibration, like the first warning of an earthquake. Ryan and Lillie both steadied themselves against the movement.
Giratina moved toward the edge of the island. "It's starting sooner than I calculated. I'll take my leave — I have no interest in being carried into the natural world along with you." It paused, and something shifted in its bearing — an awkward quality, like a creature saying something it wasn't used to saying. "I want to be clear about one thing. I find your personality — tolerable. More than tolerable. So I will train here until that day comes, and when it does, I will find you, and I will follow your lead. But if your strength hasn't grown to a level that satisfies me by then, don't expect me to take orders from you. That's all. You may go."
It turned and flew away without waiting for a response, moving back into the dim reaches of the Distortion World with enormous, unhurried wingbeats.
Ryan watched it go. "Textbook tsundere. Agreed to everything, phrased it as a conditional refusal."
Xerneas: "I wouldn't say that too loudly. It can probably still hear you."
Lillie covered her smile with one hand. "Arceus is on our side. What's Giratina really going to do?"
The island's trembling intensified rapidly — and then, between one moment and the next, everything changed. The dim, sourceless light of the Distortion World dissolved. A salt-tinged sea breeze moved across them, warm and immediate. Above their heads, Wingull and Pelipper wheeled against an open sky, calling to each other over the sound of waves breaking against rock.
The Phantom Island had returned to the natural world.
Ryan checked his Pokétch map and smiled. "Sootopolis area. Hoenn region." He looked out at the water, getting his bearings. "That's our Sinnoh journey wrapped up."
Lillie patted him firmly on the back. "Don't forget — we're going to watch Ash's League Conference."
Ryan sighed. "Ash in the Conference is barely a contest at this point — he's operating above that field entirely. It'd be more interesting to watch him challenge the Champion directly after. And whoever ends up in the exhibition match against him—" He trailed off, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Actually, if it came to that, I'd rather just challenge him myself. That would be worth watching."
Lillie gave him a look. He ruffled her hair.
Ryan recalled Xerneas and sent out Lugia, which spread its wings above the island's rocky shore. The plan from here was straightforward: fly to Sootopolis first, then take a ferry around to Slateport City, and stop in Petalburg City on the way — Norman and Brendan were both there, and it had been too long since Ryan had visited either of them.
The Guild's Hoenn branch was already running well under Brendan and May's leadership. Across the regions, the branch structure had quietly taken shape over the past year: Ethan and Kris holding things together in Johto, Dawn managing the Sinnoh branch, N anchoring Unova, Serena running Kalos. Alola was the one region still without a formal branch — the situation there was too volatile, with the possibility of open conflict still hanging over it. Establishing infrastructure in a potential war zone was an invitation to problems.
Ryan and Lillie climbed onto Lugia's back. Lugia launched from the island's edge with a powerful downstroke, and the Phantom Island shrank below them as they climbed into the Hoenn sky, banking west toward Sootopolis.
(End of Chapter)
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