Chapter 202: Giratina
If Naoki gave up on the poisonous mushroom soup, it would go to waste.
When he thought of that, Naoki felt a twinge of regret.
But the poison in the mushroom soup was no joke. Insisting on eating it could potentially cause irreversible harm to his body.
Just to be safe, Naoki decided to visit the town hospital for a check-up and consult a doctor.
That afternoon, Naoki rode Koraidon to the human hospital in town.
After a series of examinations, the doctor, dressed in a white coat and sporting a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looked at Naoki's test results and said, "You're fine! Your body's as healthy as a Tauros running wild in the fields!"
Naoki blinked. "..." 'What kind of metaphor is that?'
Noticing Naoki's puzzled expression, the doctor raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Naoki quickly shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to ask—if someone gets poisoned and then uses an antidote or a Pecha Berry to cure it, could it cause any long-term effects on their body?"
The doctor became thoughtful. "Ah, this question touches on Pokémon medicine. While we are humans, there are certain similarities between us and Pokémon."
Naoki asked, "Such as?"
The doctor explained, "For instance, if a person is poisoned, they can be cured by using a Pecha Berry, just like a Pokémon. And if someone suffers burns, applying Pecha Berry juice can help the wound heal faster."
Naoki had suspected this but still found it a little surprising. "So… does that mean humans are actually a type of Pokémon?"
The doctor chuckled. "Some people think so, but many believe humans are just humans. It's a debate—much like the old geocentric versus heliocentric arguments among scholars from long ago."
"My personal belief is that humans are simply humans. We don't possess the magical abilities that Pokémon do."
"Rest assured, even if you're exposed to a deadly poison, as long as you detoxify it in time, there won't be any lasting effects. You've got to trust in the resilience of the human body!"
Naoki: "..."
He nodded politely but didn't entirely agree.
After all, in a certain Pokémon movie, a human named Koko was able to use the Pokémon-exclusive move Jungle Healing with Zarude's help. Plus, there were individuals with rare superpowers, like the Gym Leader in Kanto.
Regardless, the main reason for his visit was clear now.
'As long as I detoxify the poison in time, the poisonous mushroom soup won't harm me.'
Naoki's curiosity flared up again.
He immediately rode Koraidon back home and set the pot of poisonous mushroom soup on the dining table.
He sat down, staring at the soup, which had briefly connected him to the Reverse World.
Although several hours had passed, thanks to the thermos, the soup was still steaming, giving off a rich, earthy mushroom scent.
As soon as the Indeedee siblings saw Naoki bring out the soup again, they rushed over, clearly worried.
"Ai ah!" they exclaimed in concern.
Naoki cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, I went to the hospital, and the doctor said that even if I get poisoned, as long as I detoxify in time, it won't harm my body. So…"
Even though the siblings still disagreed, they couldn't convince Naoki to change his mind.
They had learned about poisoning during their studies at the manor, and from what they knew, a Pokémon experiencing poisoning would be in great pain.
Naoki munched on seed crisps, understanding their concern, and suddenly felt a bit puzzled.
"So, you think I'll be in pain, and that's why you're stopping me from drinking it?" he asked.
The brother and sister both nodded.
But Naoki didn't feel any pain! The only effects were dizziness when his vision shifted and a brief weakness when he woke up.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Naoki's mind. "I know!"
The two Pokemon looked at him curiously.
Naoki grinned. "It's probably because I made the poisonous mushroom soup!"
Hearing this, the siblings immediately understood what Naoki was implying.
They were well aware that food made by Naoki often had magical properties.
Naoki reassured them, "Don't worry! I'll be fine, as long as you can detoxify me in time!"
Seeing Naoki's determination, the two Pokemon could only reluctantly agree.
Sister Indeedee, still worried, reminded him, "Ai Yi." (If you feel unwell, you must tell us.)
"Okay," Naoki replied obediently.
Meanwhile, Koraidon, who had been watching everything unfold, was completely baffled.
'What on earth was going on?'
Before Koraidon could process what was happening, Naoki had already taken another sip of the poisonous mushroom soup.
This time, Naoki had arranged with the siblings to give him fifteen minutes.
As the soup went down, dizziness hit Naoki again, and the world around him started to shift rapidly.
When his vision cleared, Naoki was astonished to find himself once more in Giratina's Reverse World.
However, this time he wasn't floating in the void. He stood on a floating island with an upside-down waterfall.
Naoki still felt a little dizzy but kept calm, surveying his surroundings.
"Different location..." Naoki muttered, deep in thought. "It must be because my position in the real world has changed."
Last time he drank the poisonous mushroom soup, he had been sitting on the sofa. Now, he had been moved to the bed, likely by the butlers using telekinesis.
Curious, Naoki tried walking a few steps and was surprised to find he could move freely in this world.
He headed towards the edge of the island, wanting to get a closer look at the strange phenomena.
Meanwhile, in reality, Koraidon and the Indeedee siblings watched Naoki stand up from the bed and crouch down, seemingly observing something under the bed.
Koraidon and the siblings shared a glance: "?"
Concerned, Koraidon asked, "Raao?" (Is Naoki okay?)
Sister Indeedee shook her head slightly. "Ai eh..." (How strange...)
Brother Indeedee, on the other hand, remained calm.
Perhaps, he thought, after eating the poisonous mushroom soup, Naoki could now see things others couldn't.
The three Pokémon were growing more confused by the minute.
Just then, they saw Naoki start moving around more randomly.
When it looked like he might fall off, Brother Indeedee quickly used telekinesis to gently lower him onto the floor.
---
"Whoa."
Naoki muttered as he felt his body float, seemingly unaffected by gravity in this world.
By now, he had made it to the far side of the sky island.
A small waterfall was flowing upward in front of him.
Naoki looked up at it, utterly fascinated. Unable to resist, he reached out to touch the waterfall but felt nothing at all.
"It seems I haven't truly entered the Reverse World," Naoki mused. He realized that the mushroom soup only allowed him to "see" this strange place, but he couldn't physically interact with anything here.
"What is this? The shadow side of the world?"
Naoki suddenly remembered an ancient saying passed down in the Hisui region—'strong light creates dark shadows'.
This place, the Reverse World, was balanced with the real world, dependent on it in some mysterious way.
He gazed at the smaller waterfall, and suddenly, information about it appeared in his mind:
[Water of the Reverse World: A mythical ingredient. When used in cooking, it gives dishes the power to "reverse the universe." This water is born from the Reverse World and guarded by the legendary Pokémon, Giratina. It is incredibly rare and precious.]
Naoki blinked in disbelief.
"Wait...what?"
Just then, Naoki felt goosebumps rise on his skin, and a strange chill spread through his body. He could feel an intense, unrelenting gaze locked onto him.
That gaze was overwhelming—filled with an ancient, unshakable power, enough to make anyone tremble in fear.
The source of that gaze.
Behind him!
Naoki spun around sharply, and there it was—a massive, ancient creature floating in the void.
Its body was long and serpent-like, covered in black and red stripes across its chest and abdomen. Six golden spikes extended from both sides of its body, and behind it were six ghostly, black wings!
Those six wings flickered with an eerie darkness, their blood-red tips glowing faintly. Beneath its golden helmet were a pair of cold, lonely, blood-red eyes.
And those terrifying eyes were staring right at him!
Giratina! The master of the Reverse World! In its Origin Form!
Naoki's entire body froze, chills running down his spine. It took every ounce of willpower not to collapse from the overwhelming presence of the legendary Pokémon.
The feeling of oppression was unlike anything Naoki had ever experienced before!
Not even Koraidon at full power could create such an overwhelming presence!
At this moment, it felt as if time itself had frozen.
There was nothing in the world but two figures—one massive, the other small.
Giratina, the towering, imposing dragon, gazed down at the tiny human below with cold, indifferent eyes.
Its expression gave no hint of what it was thinking.
Naoki was filled with panic.
He had no idea if Giratina could attack him in his current state, and the uncertainty gnawed at him.
But despite the fear, Naoki forced himself to meet the legendary dragon's gaze.
Neither of them moved. Naoki stood frozen, while Giratina hovered silently above, the two locked in a tense standoff.
As the seconds ticked by, Naoki's initial panic slowly faded, giving way to a cautious calm.
"Don't panic. Stay calm. In this state, I shouldn't be able to physically interact with anything in the Reverse World, which means Giratina can't touch me either!"
Even with that thought, Naoki knew better than to provoke the Lord of the Reverse World.
Because there was no telling if Giratina could cross over into the real world through reflective surfaces like lakes or mirrors, launching a surprise attack that could turn his home to rubble.
Once he'd steadied his nerves, Naoki tried to show some goodwill, forcing a friendly tone as he spoke:
"Uh... I mean no harm! I'm not here to invade your territory! I just wandered in by accident!"
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed an unmistakable look of disdain flash in Giratina's eyes.
Naoki: !!!
'Oh great, I'm being judged.'
'In the movie, you got caught by some human tech, so you're not that tough!' Naoki grumbled internally.
But of course, Naoki only dared to think this. Under Giratina's terrifying gaze, he could only offer a weak, polite smile.
Just then, Naoki felt the taste of sweet Pecha Berry juice being gently fed to him.
Naoki's vision quickly returned to the real world, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the concerned Indeedee siblings and Koraidon in front of him. Then, he glanced down at his own position.
"What happened? Wasn't I lying down on the bed after drinking the poisonous mushroom soup?"
'Could it be that... when he moves in the Reverse World, he also moves in reality?'
Naoki immediately asked the three Pokémon standing nearby.
Sure enough, they confirmed his suspicion.
"This really is the other side of the world…" Naoki started to shake off the lingering feeling of Giratina's oppressive presence.
After all, to Giratina, a mere human like him was too insignificant to bother with. There was no way the dragon would go to the trouble of chasing him into the real world, much less attack him.
With that in mind, Naoki felt his body gradually relax. He took the Pecha Berry from Sister Indeedee and began eating it, still shaken as he said to the group:
"You wouldn't believe what I just saw."
The siblings exchanged glances. Brother Indeedee said, "Aiya." (Just now, you were looking at Koraidon like you'd seen a ghost.)
Naoki: "..."
He turned his gaze towards Koraidon, suddenly realizing what had happened.
"No, why would I be afraid of Koraidon?"
Naoki gently patted Koraidon's head. Seeing the Pokémon's happy reaction, he smiled and began explaining the effects of the poisonous mushroom soup to everyone:
"After drinking the soup, I was able to see another world."
Sister Indeedee's eyes widened. "Ai eh?" 'Another world?'
Naoki nodded. "Yeah, it's the flip side of our real world."
Unfortunately, the Pokémon didn't quite seem to grasp what he meant.
Seeing their confusion, Naoki decided to give an example.
He closed the window, turned on the light, and placed a book under the lamp.
In the bright light, a shadow formed behind the book.
The three Pokémon looked down at the shadow, and Naoki explained:
"It's like this book. In our world, we can only see the object, but not the space behind it."
"Our world, the one we live in now, has a shadow too—just like this book. That shadow is the Reverse World."
"After drinking the poisonous mushroom soup, I could see what we normally can't—the world behind the world, the part hidden in the shadows."
Koraidon and the siblings seemed to understand, but not entirely.
Brother Indeedee pondered for a moment and asked, "Ai eh?" (Is it scary over there?)
Naoki replied, "There's a Pokémon named Giratina who lives there, the ruler of the Shadow World. Humans also call it the Distortion World or the Reverse World."
"I was scared because I saw Giratina. It appeared out of nowhere, and it looked really intimidating."
Hearing that Naoki wasn't afraid of him, Koraidon perked up. It leaped toward him like an overexcited golden retriever, happily licking his face.
"Okay, okay," Naoki laughed, now covered in Koraidon's slobber as he gently pushed the Pokémon aside.
His thoughts wandered back to the waterfall he had seen just before Giratina appeared.
'The Water of the Reverse World. It could give food the effect of reversing the universe.'
Just the name sounded so rare and valuable!
His gut feeling told him that it was something even more precious than a Zapdos feather.
Naoki's curiosity was piqued.
...
A/N: So, I'm currently down with a fever, my head feels like it's doing somersaults, and my nose is running faster than an Olympic sprinter. But hey, I somehow managed to upload this chapter! 🎉 For now, this is all you're getting. If I magically recover, I'll try to drop more soon. If not... well, let's just say the fever won the boss fight. See you on the other side (hopefully)! 😷
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