-:[Chapter Two]:-

The minute I stepped foot outside of my house, I could sense that something wasn’t right. Despite being mid-morning, it was dark outside and the hustle and bustle that usually filled Sunyshore was gone. The darkness was a big problem for Sunyshore because it ran on solar power. The solar panel walkways we’re the key attraction, and power source, for the city, and the fact that they weren’t running meant that citizens of Sunyshore wouldn’t have any electricity.

It didn’t take me too long to piece together what was happening; time in Sinnoh had been slowing down. What should have normally been the middle of the morning was still night time. I knocked on the door of an acquaintances house. I didn’t know her all that well, but I knew her well enough to justify knocking on her door in the middle of the night – err – morning. Her name was Melanie, and surprisingly she herself answered the door.

“Stella?” she asked? She was still in her pajamas, but that didn’t seem to bother her.

“Err, yeah, hey,” I started. “Come outside for a sec.” She seemed too tired to argue, and willingly followed me outside.

“Does your house have power?” Melanie asked, before taking in the darkness of Sunyshore.

“I didn’t even notice, but I’m guessing no. I’m also guessing that nowhere in Sunyshore has power either,” I explained. “Are you aware that Sinnoh is breaking down?”

“Breaking down? Are you sure? I mean, things have seemed a little off for the past few years, and even more so recently, but are you sure you’re calling it breaking down?” she questioned.

“Yeah, breaking down. A trainer caught Giratina, the one from the old legends, some time ago, and ever since then, Sinnoh has been slowly crumbling. The Distortion World is shrinking because of Giratina’s absence,” I said. I did the best I could to explain it, but Melanie still seemed a little hazy over the whole idea.

“Wait! I remember my parents telling me stories about Team Galactic, and how their leader Cyrus tried to capture Dialga and Palkia to create his own world, without considering the consequences,” Melanie told me. She could tell my expression changed when she said Cyrus.

“You okay?” she asked me.

“Yeah, it’s just – never mind,” I said.

“Well okay. But why are you telling me all of this?”

“You’re a smart girl Melanie. I need you to help me restore balance to Sinnoh,” I requested. Restoring balance to Sinnoh was only half of it; I wanted so badly to see Dad.

“Restore balance to Sinnoh? Sounds like a lofty goal for just a couple of fifteen year olds,” said Melanie.

“That might be so, but I think it can be done. Can you help me by helping restore power to Sunyshore as soon as possible? I know you like to use Electric-type Pokemon,” I asked.
“Uhh, sure. I’ll do what I can,” she said.

“Great! I’m going to try and track down Giratina. We’ll need its power to restore Sinnoh,” I explained.

“Okay, good luck!” she encouraged. Melanie was surprisingly friendly about the whole thing. I guess we were better friends then I thought. She invited me inside and upstairs to her room, where she put on regular clothes. When she was done changing and freshening up, she asked:

“Okay, what do I do now?”

“Find the place where the solar power is converted into electricity, and then have your Electric-types power it up until it becomes daytime again,” I instructed.

“All right! Luxio, Magnemite, let’s do this!” she said excitedly as she grabbed two Pokeballs.

“Good luck!” I told her, as we left her house and started going our separate ways.

“You too!” she called back. I was quite satisfied with the outcome of that little get together. I headed toward Route 222, when I spotted a man in a brown trench coat muttering to himself.

“The power is out in Sunyshore! Gah! What will happen next? I have to report back to International Police Headquarters…” he muttered. He headed toward Route 222 as well, but he didn’t notice me.

Route 222 was shrouded in darkness as well, and the swimmers and fisherman that usually populated the route were nowhere to be seen. I wondered when it would become daytime. I hoped it would be soon, because it was quite hard to see in the dark. Surprisingly, despite being well aware that Sinnoh was breaking down, I didn’t anticipate a time situation like this one. I was unprepared for the dark, because I figured I could use my saved up Pokemon Dollars to find placed to stay at night.

I spent some time while walking along Route 222 thinking about how much other people were aware that Sinnoh was breaking down. I mean, there were some obvious things, like this whole darkness incident, and times where it has been noticeably harder to walk. Every couple of weeks you would notice that your clock was hours ahead of the time of day it really was. So far, I haven’t noticed as many issues with space as I have with time. Hopefully that meant nothing more than sheer chance.

Just then, there was a flash of light from behind me, followed by another flash. I looked back, and a bunch of lights in Sunyshore had been just turned on. Melanie had done it; she restored power. I wanted to hug her, but obviously I could do that at the moment.

I had an uneventful walk along Route 222 from there on out, until I saw a man and a woman, each with teal, bowl-cut hair. They wore outfits that reminded me an awful lot like Dad wore in that one picture, but these outfits seemed a lot more aged.

“Wait, you heard the professor say the lake is gone?” exclaimed the man.

To be continued...