The sudden disturbance sent Steven and Pearl rushing toward the spatial rift together, while Lian stayed behind to watch over Kleavor.
The rift lasted only a moment before the sky settled back to normal — a clear azure blue with pristine white clouds drifting past, as calm and peaceful as if nothing had happened at all.
Steven rode on Metagross, and since Pearl had no mount of her own, he had Skarmory carry her alongside him.
"Pearl, any idea what that was?"
"Probably another spatial rift." Pearl shook her head — it was only a guess.
"Could there be another Lord nearby?" Steven asked, curious. Was a second battle about to begin?
"No, we're still well within the Obsidian Fieldlands. Kleavor is the only Noble here," Pearl said. "Though that spot does fall within the range Wyrdeer roams."
"Wyrdeer? You mean the mount?" Steven asked, puzzled.
Pearl nodded and explained. "Long ago, an ancient hero and ten Pokémon companions earned the blessing of the Sinnoh Grandeur. They gathered its tokens, sought it out, and challenged it directly. To honor those ten Pokémon afterward, people offered tributes on the old battlefield and carved their likenesses into statues at the Temple of Sinnoh, on the slopes near the peak of Mt. Coronet."
"Back when Hisui first began, Jubilife Village stood there too, home to the Celestica people. But for reasons no one truly knows, the village vanished, and its people scattered."
"Five of those ten Pokémon became known as our Lords and Ladies — the Forest King, the Mountain Path Queen, the Island King, the Cave King, and the Snowpoint King. The other five are the mounts: Wyrdeer, Ursaluna, Basculegion, Sneasler, and Braviary."
"Our ancestors — the Pearl Clan and the Diamond Clan both — were the Celestica people. The Diamond Clan believes the Sinnoh Grandeur shaped time; we believe it shaped space. It's an old disagreement between our two clans. But we do agree on one thing: we both honor the descendants of those ten blessed Pokémon, the ones we call our Kings and Queens."
Pearl had said a great deal, but Steven caught the important part well enough — Wyrdeer was one of the ten Pokémon blessed by the Sinnoh Grandeur, and the Sinnoh Grandeur each clan worshipped was, in truth, Dialga and Palkia respectively. Each clan quietly believed the other's god was the false one.
But as for the real Sinnoh Grandeur, Steven was fairly certain it could only be Arceus.
"I see…" he said, nodding.
Before long, the two of them reached the ground beneath where the rift had appeared. The area was unusually still — even wild Pokémon were nowhere to be seen.
"Master, look ahead!" Metagross suddenly called out in warning.
Steven turned his gaze forward and spotted a girl in a white T-shirt and shorts, lying motionless in the grass.
"Is that—?!"
Pearl had noticed her too. The two of them landed and hurried over. The girl lay unconscious, her hair long and dark blue, her face soft and youthful — she looked no older than thirteen or fourteen. Judging by her clothes, she seemed to be another "transmigrator," someone displaced from another world entirely.
"What strange clothing," Pearl remarked, studying her.
Steven picked up the phone lying beside the girl — gold and white, its decorations oddly familiar. Was that meant to be Arceus's halo? Some kind of herald from beyond?
"She might have fallen out of the same rift," Steven said. He crouched down and checked for breath beneath her nose — steady and even. She seemed completely unharmed.
He glanced up at the sky. Falling from that height without so much as a scratch? Looking at the markings on her phone, he found it hard to believe anyone but Arceus could have sent her here. He just didn't know whether she'd come from the same era he had.
"Pearl, I'll bring her to Jubilife Village first," Steven said, rising to his feet.
"All right," Pearl said with a small nod, raising no objection. For someone of such unknown origin, she could offer basic care to keep the girl from dying out in the wild — but she wouldn't be welcomed into the Pearl Clan. Only the Celestica people's descendants belonged there. Whether that still held true for a stranger like this, though, Pearl couldn't say for certain.
"And you…?"
Pearl gave a light laugh. "Don't worry about me. There's a Wyrdeer close by. It's tended by the Diamond Clan, but they won't make a fuss over something this small."
"All right then. Until next time," Steven said, recalling Skarmory and Diancie. He lifted the unconscious girl from the ground and rode off on Metagross, back toward Jubilife Village.
Pearl watched him go, her brow furrowed slightly. To her, Steven was every bit as much a mystery as the girl who'd fallen from the rift. Her gratitude toward him was genuine — but so was her wariness. No one earns complete trust from a single meeting. She called out Glaceon and made her way toward where the Diamond Clan kept watch over their Wyrdeer.
…
Steven arrived back at Jubilife Village with the girl still in his arms. Before he'd even climbed down from Metagross, she stirred awake.
Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a handsome young man — holding her.
Her face went red instantly, and she scrambled to pull free from his grip. Steven noticed and quickly hopped off Metagross, setting her down on her feet. The moment she was free, she staggered back several steps, putting what she hoped was a safe distance between them.
"Who are you?!" she demanded, eyeing him warily. Then she looked around at her surroundings. "Where am I?!"
Oh no. Had she been kidnapped and dragged off to some remote village?!
Steven looked at the panicked girl and offered a gentle smile. "I found you passed out in the wild, so I brought you back here. This is Jubilife Village."
The girl blinked, staring at his calm, easy expression, thoroughly confused. However she looked at him, he really didn't seem like a bad person…
No! She smacked her own cheek, hard, forcing herself to focus. What if he only seemed kind on the outside, while something far worse lurked underneath? She was in a strange place — she had to stay on guard. Besides, she distinctly remembered falling asleep somewhere else entirely. So how had she ended up out here in the wild? Someone must have done this to her!
Steven watched the girl slap herself the moment she woke up and felt more than a little lost. Maybe her head just wasn't clear yet.
He smiled kindly and asked, "Are you feeling all right? A bit disoriented, maybe?"
The girl only stared back at him, speechless.
…