IV: Girl of the Twilight World
September 22, 2012
7:19 AM: It’s morning now here in Eterna City. And what I found when I woke up… well… I’ll get to that in a moment. First I think I should wrap up my story. I’ve already told of what happened that night, but that’s not the end of it. In fact it might be more accurate to say that it was just the beginning.
I had gotten very little sleep when I had returned home after my bizarre adventure. As a result I could barely pull myself out of bed the following morning. It didn’t help that my parents were morning people that were usually up by the crack of dawn. Fortunately the day was uneventful. I did attend the Summer End Festival, and saw the lanterns that were traditionally released on the water to guide the spirits of the dead back home. Of course I knew of one spirit that didn’t need those lanterns. Shinji had already come home, and he and his maiden Nadeshiko had already crossed over to another plain where they could spend the rest of eternity together.
After the festival, the Peak had settled into its usual routine. Life more or less went on at a normal pace. But the events of that night stayed with me. During high school I did my own little research into the occult and the paranormal. I also looked to find out more about Dusk’s Pokemon, Giratina. As it turned out, Giratina is one of three mythical dragons from the Sinnoh Region that is said to rule over a realm as the Distortion World. At least that’s what that dimension was called in the paper I read on the subject. How Dusk got a hold on such a Pokemon I don’t know. That’s just part of her mystery I guess.
When I finally graduated I became a traveling reporter for a world news service. It was around that time I think when I saw the picture of Dawn Berlitz and was shocked to see that she looked exactly like Dusk, except for the eyes of course. Her eyes were all wrong. Dawn’s eyes were not the haunted crazed eyes that had seen beyond the veil into the worlds beyond our own. But Dawn’s face was identical to Dusk’s, and I remembered Dusk saying that she had sisters. So being the reporter that I was I decided to do a little digging.
As it turned out, Dawn Berlitz was the daughter of one of the Sinnoh Region’s top Pokemon Coordinators, Johanna Berlitz, as well as one of three identical triplets. I couldn’t find out much about Dawn’s sisters. All I found out about one sister, Diane, was that she was a fairly brilliant and up-and-coming Pokemon Researcher. As for Dusk, I could find no information. The first chance I got I paid Johanna a visit, gave her some cock-and-bull story about doing an article on her daughter Dawn. She wouldn’t say too much about Dusk, only that she had disappeared for a week when she was three.
Johanna did also admit that Dusk wasn’t quite right after coming back that time. Apparently the doctors that had examined Dusk said that her claims about the things she could see and hear and her story about where she was that week were a sort of fantasy her mind created to deal with the trauma of what really happened to her. The fools. If only those doctors knew the truth. But then I guess I can’t really blame them for thinking that about Dusk. If I hadn’t seen the things I did that night I’d find it all hard to believe too. Anyway, Mrs. Berlitz told me that she couldn’t stand the thought of Dusk being locked away in some mental institution. So she and Diane had been looking after her. At least that’s how it was until Dusk disappeared some years later when she was with Diane on a trip to the Johto Region to investigate some old ruins.
That’s all I could learn from Johanna Berlitz. But my investigation went on. Not long after speaking to Mrs. Berlitz I did some digging into what might’ve happened that caused poor Dusk to be hurled to the Distortion World. As it turned out, an eccentric scientist named Elliot Marston was toying with some new invention that would let him see into other dimensions around the same time Dusk dropped off the face of the earth when she was three. Apparently the gizmo had literally blown up in his face.
Some time after that I tracked down Diane Berlitz. She was quite nice when I met her, though perhaps a little too involved in her work. But when I asked about what happened when Dusk ran off on her she threw me out on my face. That’s all I could learn about Dusk’s past. Since then I’ve been checking out spots known to have paranormal activity in hopes of running into Dusk again. That’s why I volunteered to take this news story here in Eterna City, so I could check out this supposedly haunted mansion in Eterna Forest called the Old Chateau.
I guess it’s strange that I’d be chasing after Dusk all this time. But the truth is that talking Gastly was right when she called Dusk a bewitching beauty. Because as haunted as I am of her I’m just as captivated. There are times when I can’t get her out of my thoughts. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever encountered, a girl who’s of a world that exists in the twilight of our own. She frolics in the graveyards and talks with those who have passed on yet not crossed over, offering them comfort and aid however she can.
There’s one more part of this story that I guess I should tell, a part that I guess I’ve been avoiding. But there’s no sense in avoiding it any longer, especially not after what I found here in my motel room this morning sitting on the table next to this very manuscript. The thing I think I’ve seen Dusk again since that time. Though I’m not entirely sure. It could be just some sort of madness or delusion, though I pray that it’s not.
The first time was about a year after that night. It was late and I woke up to use the bathroom. When I passed by the hallway mirror on my way there I stopped. In the mirror I could see Dusk’s haunted eyes staring back at me. It seemed like only a second though, and at the time I simply brushed it off. But every year around the time of the Summer End Festival at the Peak I’ve seen those eyes. Usually it’d be in the mirror, and at times there’d be a great looming shadow with them.
It seems like Dusk has been paying me a visit every year since that time. Our own sort of anniversary I suppose. And today is the day of the festival at the Peak. I saw the eyes again last night, but it was different from all the other times. For this time I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Dusk’s face only inches away from mine as if she was lying next to me on the bed. It was only for a moment though. And when I awoke this morning I felt sure it was a dream. That was until I found a handwritten note next to this manuscript. I’m going to transcribe what it said.
Hello Ben. It sure is nice to see you again. I saw this little thing you’ve been writing about our adventure and couldn’t resist taking a look. I had a lot of fun that night. No need to worry about those soldiers anymore. I helped them all pass on years ago. And I made a friend in the process. Her name’s Helen, she’s a Yamask. Anyway, I was just at the Old Chateau yesterday. I ran into my sister Dawn. I also made a couple more friends, living ones. Their names are Ash and Misty, and they’ve been to the Distortion World too. I’ll get going now. See you later.
~Dusk
Well, I guess this at least proves somewhat that I’m not going mad. It also seems like there’s no longer any point in going to the Old Chateau. Dusk is probably long gone by now. But it does seem like I have a few new leads to follow up. I’m going to try and have a word with Dawn, and try and track down this Ash and Misty. It shouldn’t be too hard. I know it does seem crazy to follow after Dusk like I have been. But I just can’t resist. The world of the supernatural has a point of no return. And I think I may have crossed it long ago.
END?
