"Hikaru, the lake guardians did an excellent job."
"Once I saw that you had a Red Chain, I figured you must have caught the three lake guardians. But Giratina was the one who guided you to them, wasn't it?"
Dawn smiled. "That's right. Giratina is very considerate. It told me about journeying among the lakes and linking the worlds."
[Hmph. It was merely a contingency plan.]
Giratina tilted its head, its body still sprawled across the ground.
"The great deities of Sinnoh are always being affected by outside energies and driven into abnormal frenzies," Hikaru said. "They're creatures exceptionally susceptible to such influence. See? That's another conclusion produced through academic research."
"And that is why the world has so many different ways to deal with them."
"Now, please listen. No—all of you, listen. Hear the heavenly melody that can calm the fury of gods, stabilize time and space, separate overlapping universes, nullify Pokémon Abilities, and return all things to where they came from!"
Hikaru looked toward the lake guardians.
"I want you to carry the heavenly music that will soon ring out from Alamos Town across the whole of Sinnoh."
"But before that, we have to restrain the great deities before us—right here!"
"I need confirmation!"
"Are the preparations to perform Oración complete?"
Uxie replied, [We will relay everything to you in real time.]
Mesprit added, [As soon as the Space-Time Towers are ready...]
Azelf finished, [The performance will begin immediately!]
Giratina's expression froze for a moment.
Then the three lake guardians began to glow. They floated in midair, evidently very satisfied with Giratina's future performance, before turning solemn gazes upon the two frenzied deities before them.
Dialga and Palkia had not regained their full divine power. However, the tremendous energy flooding their bodies still made them forces that could not be underestimated, even though they had not assumed their Origin Formes.
And once this battle ended, would they have to fight one another again in the age of Hisui?
None of this would end until that heavenly melody began to play!
"Cynthia, protect the machines and the professors," Hikaru said. "Team Galactic's machinery is extremely important. It is valuable Sinnoh property."
"As our support Trainer, use Ground-type moves at the critical moment to deal them a devastating blow."
"Listen carefully. We don't have to defeat them. We only have to suppress them. Just one moment will be enough. Once we confirm that the song has started playing, all the rage and suffering in this world will disappear!"
"You want me to provide support?" Cynthia asked. "And Dawn, don't tell me you intend to fight again in that battered condition..."
"Cynthia..." Dawn said. "I have to finish this final battle. The two beings of matter have already manifested in this world."
"There is an old Sinnoh legend."
"Once, there were three Pokémon. Holding their breath, they plunged into the lakes. Though they suffered greatly, they continued descending. They reached the lakebeds and retrieved something precious. That, it is said, was the power needed to create the land."
Now was the moment to create a new world!
Cynthia heard Dawn's voice—and the other person she had mentioned.
If a girl just like you once lived in the past...
Then could your feelings now cross time and space, spanning a hundred and fifty years of history and changing lands, to reach her heart?
Perhaps such a miracle truly could happen here in Sinnoh!
Cynthia understood. She immediately issued an order to Garchomp.
"Dragon Cheer!"
A draconic cry raised their morale, greatly increasing the chance that their attacks would strike a critical hit!
A lush green tree sprouted upward. Swaying from side to side, Torty rose like nature itself given the form of a Torterra.
Torty gazed at the scene unfolding in the sky. It had never imagined it would one day participate in a battle of this magnitude.
It usually served as the team's support, fighting with Berries...
Had it been brought here as an embodiment of nature and the Continent Pokémon?
The earth was an indispensable part of Sinnoh's creation myths!
A land filled with nature was the original world.
"Dialga, every beat of your heart represents the flow of time!" Hikaru declared. "As an expert intimately familiar with the Steel type, I will be your opponent!"
"Palkia, your steady breathing allows space itself to remain stable!" Dawn declared. "As a master of the Water type, I will fight you!"
The steel dragon and water dragon had charged out of the space-time rift in a blind rage. They had lost all reason. They knew neither where they were going nor where they had come from.
Driven by instinct alone, they surged forward.
If any enemy dared obstruct their battle, then no matter who it was, they would be reduced to ashes!
Five finlike spikes rose from the scale-shaped structure on Dialga's back, swelling dramatically whenever it wielded the power of time.
Palkia's arms resembled the armored gauntlets of a knight, while the pearls on its shoulders represented the breathing of the world. Whenever it wielded the power of space, those pearls erupted with light.
And so—
The combined attack of these two champions would be even more powerful and astonishing than those unleashed by the Legendary Pokémon of the Pokémon Adventures universe!
The beings before them were not merely the creations and tools of the Creator.
They truly were great entities born as its avatars and children!
Dawn raised a hand. Behind her, her Pokémon did the same.
Pray.
Pray to the sky, to the gods, and to the farthest reaches of the world!
"Uxie! Mesprit! Azelf!"
Dawn tossed three fruits into the air. Each was crimson like a pomegranate—a Haban Berry.
The three legendary Pokémon of the lakes caught them in their hands.
First appearing in Generation IV, the Haban Berry was intimately connected to the Dragon type. It was a precious fruit found only in the vast Great Marsh. Although famous for its bitterness, simmering it for a long time would make it sweet and easy to eat.
The three lake guardians then adopted the same prayerful posture.
Pray.
What descended upon them was a torrential downpour!
"In ancient times, people used Berries—food born from nature itself—as offerings to the heavens."
The lake guardians gathered their energy and raised the Berries toward the sky.
"Senior," Dawn said. "Would you tell me that passage?"
"Old Verse Four," Hikaru replied.
"[People came to the battlefields and laid out vessels of tribute, repaying the Pokémon for all they had done.]"
"[Freshly gathered food and pure, clear water—symbols of gratitude without end.]"
The Berries transformed into power.
It was life's expression of gratitude!
At the same moment, Dawn issued her first command.
Thunder and lightning erupted across the sky!
A prayer descended from the heavens!
And what granted life to this world was—
"Thunder!"
The frenzied avatar called down a bolt of divine wrath!
Then came the second command!
"Natural Gift!"
The power of Sinnoh's boundless natural world gathered within the Berries, transforming into energy that blasted toward Palkia!
"I understand now!" Dawn exclaimed.
"The land capable of bearing Berries..."
"It symbolizes the vastness of space bestowed upon us by Palkia!"
When held, a Haban Berry activated when its bearer was struck by a super-effective Dragon-type move.
It halved the damage of that Dragon-type attack once—and changed Natural Gift into a Dragon-type move!
Torterra roared toward the sky!
Streams of light within the space-time rift suddenly converged at astonishing speed.
Before Dialga could react, countless blazing meteors filled the sky!
"The held item—the Space Globe," Hikaru said. "It doubles the power of every move without exception."
"Nature Power!"
Only here, during a battle at Spear Pillar—
If a Pokémon capable of using Nature Power called upon nature itself...
The move would become—
"Draco Meteor!"
"This ancient ruin has carried the thoughts and prayers of humanity directly into the highest heavens since antiquity," Hikaru said.
"It symbolizes the endless flow of time bestowed upon us by Dialga!"
According to the legends of Sinnoh—
The first thing to be born was Mount Coronet, formed during the great explosion.
Ferocious eruptions followed, and volcanoes emerged one after another throughout Sinnoh.
Then the three lake guardians plunged into the depths of their respective lakes.
No matter how agonizing it became, they had to retrieve the power capable of creating the land!
Cynthia's Garchomp had already been waiting for this opportunity.
It performed Swords Dance again and again, while the faint sound of passionate, stirring music seemed to rise around it.
The sword dance began.
Its physical Attack rose sharply.
Then sharply again!
This was their chance!
"Thunder, meteors, and the power of nature—they're all coming down now!" Cynthia shouted. "And the final force is—"
"The motion of the planet."
"The creation of the world!"
Here, three Champion-level Trainers issued their commands at the same moment, using the power of several Pokémon to guide the attack.
Their voices rang out in unison!
Hikaru, Dawn, and Cynthia shouted together—
"Torterra/Giratina/Garchomp!"
"Use Earthquake!"
The shockwave tore across Mount Coronet, colliding with and crushing the pillar of fire that seemed capable of drilling through the entire world.
Amid the flames, a little Victini raised one finger.
Heroes always revealed themselves at precisely the right moment.
Then they delivered glorious victory to the Trainers they favored!
Limitless power slammed into the great deities of time and space.
At last, the two beings affected by the rampaging energy visibly faltered.
"The Red Chain, the stone from the beginning of the universe, and an artificial vessel."
Origin Ore—the stone from which the universe began—was made of almost the same substance as the Plates.
"Combine all three, and the chaotic time and space can be pacified."
"However, modern Sinnoh possesses nothing of the sort."
The two Red Chains created by Hikaru were also counterfeits forged from meteorites.
What distinguished them from Team Galactic's chains was that Hikaru's had been painstakingly crafted by hand and therefore possessed the spirit of true artisanship.
Team Galactic's chains, meanwhile, were soulless technological products!
Of course, that was only a joke.
Fundamentally, there was no meaningful difference between the quality of the two counterfeits. In the Pokémon world, both science and ruthless ingenuity were indispensable.
For that reason, these two chains were likewise incapable of truly restraining the two battling deities.
The two "pseudo-Almighty Sinnoh," their bodies flooded with power, would immediately shatter even those exceptionally sturdy chains.
The number three bestowed upon spirit.
The number two bestowed upon matter.
Just as the ancient myths described!
Two shockwaves cut across the entire mountain, only to be intercepted by the Wide Guard projected by ten Probopass.
The impact continued gathering and compressing before gradually rebounding upon Dialga and Palkia!
"So this is how the worlds are connected..." Dawn murmured. "Yes, we've restrained them. As long as Senior is here—"
"At some point, I started believing that as long as Senior was behind me, there was nothing to worry about... This feeling..."
There was no need for worry.
No need for fear.
Nothing to dread.
He was sturdier than any fortress wall, weightier than any mountain, and broader than the sky itself!
She trusted him with all her heart.
At that moment, the hands of time entered eternity, while the boundless expanse of space became white and silent.
"Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf," Hikaru said. "Those who travel with these three Pokémon are granted wisdom, emotion, and willpower."
"Dawn."
Hikaru looked at Hikari beside him.
"As your friend, it makes me happy to have your unconditional trust."
"And just as you believe..."
"I will never disappoint my friends."
"This world will not disappear. Every closely connected Pokémon and human was born beneath the watchful gaze of the world."
"Especially you, Dawn."
"[The world has always been waiting for your birth.]"
The power of the three Pokémon brought time and space to a temporary halt!
"This is the moment."
Hikaru took out the Red Chain.
He did not know how many times the chain could be used.
Once?
Twice?
That would already be enough!
"In the name of Almighty Sinnoh, I command you!"
The counterfeit Red Chain, already on the verge of breaking, emerged.
The bodies of the two colossal beasts instantly stiffened!
Though unconscious, they received his command, and their bodies moved involuntarily—
Then they roared!
Still trying to tear each other apart, they shot into the sky from the trembling earth, accompanied by raging torrents of time and space!
The will of the three lake guardians reached them.
[The melody that can soothe grief and pain is ready!]
"Then take them with you!" Hikaru commanded. "Carry them to a new world without conflict or rage!"
"Go to Alamos Town!"
Dong—
In distant Alamos Town, the professors assigned to this location had followed Hikaru's instructions and arrived at the Space-Time Towers.
The Time Tower housed an enormous pendulum, while the Space Tower contained orbiting spheres. Long, narrow spiral stairways wound around the space between the two towers, leading to their summit.
A huge machine stood there. By inserting a special disk into its center and pulling the machine's lever, it could produce music.
The instrument functioned much like a piano, though its steel strings were arranged inside cylindrical columns.
The Space-Time Towers were the largest musical instrument in the world!
A century ago, an architect named Godey came here from a distant region and designed the towers after experiencing a nightmare.
The Darkrai living in Alamos Town was the one who had shown Godey that nightmare.
The girl who had formed a bond with Darkrai and made a promise with it was named Alicia.
The song she once played, the image of her blowing upon a leaf whistle, and the peaceful Pokémon surrounding her had deeply moved Godey. He carved Alicia and the Pokémon into a relief that remained in the great hall of the Space-Time Towers.
The song's name came from the Spanish word for "prayer."
The Space-Time Towers also shared their architectural inspiration with Naranja Academy, the eight-hundred-year-old institution of the Paldea region.
"Godey's diary..." Tonio muttered. "But how did you people learn about my great-grandfather's diary? I don't really understand what's going on, but the abnormal events occurring across Sinnoh are exactly what my great-grandfather described here."
Godey's descendant, Tonio, was responsible for managing the Space-Time Towers.
He was also a scientist. When he saw so many leading figures from the research community arriving at once, his first reaction had been delight. That delight had quickly transformed into flustered bewilderment.
Standing beside him, as always, was his childhood friend, Alice.
Her name did not share the same origin as the name of Iris from Opelucid City.
Iris—the girl who understands the hearts of dragons—was named for the iris flower.
Alice—the girl who played the song—was named for Alice in Wonderland, evoking something noble and archetypal.
"So the Darkrai living in Alamos Town already foresaw all of this?" Tonio muttered. "Then..."
He recalled something from his childhood.
So that was what had happened.
"When Alice fell from the cliff as a child, Darkrai was the one who saved her."
"Huh? Is that really what happened?" the blonde woman asked, her face filled with surprise.
The person beside Tonio was, naturally, Alice, who was rarely ever apart from him.
Obtaining the sound of Oración required Alice's presence.
"That's what my great-grandfather wrote in his diary."
"[Darkrai, hated by everyone, opened its heart to Alicia and settled in the garden. The nightmare showed me what must be done. I must leave something behind for the future.]"
"[Two beings that should never have met encountered one another within the gap between time and space. Time and space collided. Rage swallowed the town. Then everything began to collapse.]"
"That is exactly what's happening before our eyes."
Tonio opened the book.
Inside was a black-and-white photograph of his great-grandfather Godey and a young Alicia standing together in the garden.
On the back of the photograph...
"This is it—the sheet music for Oración!"
Alice took the black-and-white photograph and turned it over.
"My grandmother told me about this. It's a song played on a leaf whistle."
"Wait... Are the words changing?"
She looked at the book.
The researchers stared as well, watching with their own eyes as the writing twisted and changed.
"[A crimson sky has covered the world!]"
"History is changing," Professor Elm said. "The future that was foreseen in the past can also change. At least, that is what I have heard. A future seen by a psychic is not guaranteed to happen. Sometimes, it can be altered."
"The Oración music disk isn't in my laboratory," Tonio said. "It should be in the main hall. There are eleven circular reliefs where the music disks are stored. Each relief contains between four and nine disks..."
"I remember!" Professor Kukui exclaimed. "It should be this one!"
He pointed to the back of the photograph. Beneath the sheet music was a symbol shaped like a leaf whistle.
"That's it!" Professor Hastings shouted. "Exactly as Hikaru told us, every one of these music disks is engraved with a different symbol, each carrying a unique meaning. We only have to find the relief marked with the leaf-whistle symbol. It should be the largest one in the center of the hall..."
"Yes, it's over there!"
His cane pointed toward the highest section of the hall.
There, unmistakably, was a circular music disk decorated with the image of a leaf whistle!
"Honestly, it was placed in the most conspicuous location possible, but there are so many decorations that it's difficult to notice at first glance. That's an architect for you..."
"If you want to leave something for the future, shouldn't you make it easier to spot? At least display it on its own!"
"If he had done that..." Professor Sycamore said with a helpless smile. "Ahem. Something too conspicuous is easily discovered. It could have been stolen or used for an entirely different purpose."
Yes.
Something too conspicuous would be stolen. It had to remain inconspicuous, yet still be preserved for future generations.
Professor Sycamore did not yet know that his homeland, Kalos, possessed a weapon imbued with the same idea—left behind by ancient people who had thought exactly the same way.
"We have to place the music disk at the summit of the tower and activate the machine," Alice said. "Let's take the hot-air balloon up."
The Space-Time Towers were extraordinarily tall.
Climbing them entirely on foot would consume a tremendous amount of energy. Anyone exhausted by the ascent might not even retain enough strength to pull the machine's lever.
Alice did not understand why it had been designed that way.
Why had the towers been made to seem as though they reached the heavens themselves?
The hot-air balloon rose.
Carrying the music disk, the group continued climbing toward the crimson sky.
Meteors capable of ripping Sinnoh apart roared violently across the firmament. Energy tides produced by the space-time rifts sent continuous tremors throughout the world!
Like researchers trying to recall an instruction manual, the professors reviewed everything Hikaru had told them. They examined the machine and prepared to operate it.
"Place the music disk in the exact center, then press it down."
"Pull the lever."
"If nothing happens, use a tremendous amount of electricity to power it!"
Professor Kukui sent out his Magnezone!
"Leave the power supply to me!"
"Come on, Magnezone!"
Professor Kukui adopted a pose that resembled a dance. The Z-Ring around his wrist erupted with a light too brilliant to look at directly!
"When it comes to maximizing light, you can't possibly leave out Z-Moves! Am I right?"
"Watch carefully! This is our full-power pose, performed with all our hearts! We'll raise that electrical energy to its absolute limit, then unleash every last bit of the massive current we've accumulated!"
"Z-Move!"
"Gigavolt Havoc!"
"Ultimate Volt—Frenzied Thunderbolt!"
Cynthia watched the lake guardians assume their prayerful postures and offer their strength.
"The voices and blessings of the lake guardians from Sinnoh's mythology!"
"That's right," Hikaru replied. "The myths of Sinnoh."
"[Do not surrender to anger. Do not surrender to sorrow. When joy and pleasure become as natural as breathing, that is what we call happiness.]"
"The place where we were born, the time we have spent, and the words we have spoken all weave together to become history."
"[Once, they flew throughout the world. Knowledge spread, bringing us abundance and prosperity. Emotion blossomed, allowing us to experience both joy and sorrow. Willpower arose, teaching us to make decisions and forge ahead.]"
"[From it, three Pokémon were born, and together they linked time and space.]"
"And then there is the explanatory tablet in Eterna."
"[The birth of Dialga granted us time. Whether we laugh or cry, time passes for all of us in equal measure.]"
"[The birth of Palkia created space for us. Whether we live or die, we exist within the same space.]"
"Everything..."
"Was Sinnoh's choice."
"Listen."
The power of the lake guardians temporarily carried Hikaru away from Spear Pillar.
From the highest reaches of the heavens, he traveled to the most important place in the mortal world.
This was the town where time and space converged.
Beneath a sky torn apart by meteors and radiant fissures, while a vortex of chaos churned overhead, the beings once called the "great deities" of Sinnoh in the distant past appeared!
As always, Palkia seemed drawn toward this location.
Perhaps it was being called by something. Perhaps this was the final thought it had possessed before succumbing to madness.
Whatever the reason, its lingering instincts drove it toward Alamos Town, sealing every stretch of sky it crossed within another dimension.
Dialga followed closely behind.
The frenzied steel dragon gathered the power of time in its mouth, dyeing the sky bloodred and destroying the barriers of space!
If the god of space could travel by breaking through space, and the god of time could also move through space, then what was the point of uniquely commanding space in the first place?
With a blue-silver roar, a torrent of time surged like a great river and a towering tsunami toward Palkia!
The great deity of space turned and unleashed a slash.
The two colossal beasts immediately began battling above the town!
Their collision of time and space was far more violent than the battle depicted in the movie. Its effects resembled the cataclysms seen in the animated series and manga.
A new microcosm began to form amid the brutal collision. Countless galaxies were born and extinguished within a single instant!
This was supposed to be a world without conflict.
Yet even after being banished here, time and space continued raging without end.
Hikaru appeared in the plaza and looked up at the great deities tearing apart the sky, time, and space.
Then he heard a furious shout behind him.
["Get out!"]
A pitch-black figure appeared within the gardens of Alamos Town.
Darkrai, the Pokémon that lived here, was enraged beyond measure.
For a hundred years, it had guarded Alamos Town. It would never allow anyone to trample upon this garden.
What unfolded before it appeared to be the exact scene it had witnessed in its nightmare long ago.
Why could a Dark-type Pokémon foresee the future?
Even Darkrai itself did not know.
But Godey had left something behind—the towers.
Darkrai's mission was to wait for the moment when those towers began to play!
Now, it had to protect them!
It had to drive the intruders away!
And so Darkrai prepared to act, even though the universe-shattering energies above could annihilate it in an instant!
But in the next moment—
The already shattered Red Chain suddenly rose into the heavens!
"In the name of Almighty Sinnoh, I command you."
"Do not move."
The chain wound around the great deities, locking both Legendary dragons in place.
The collision of time and space came to a halt!
Hikaru then turned toward the stunned Darkrai.
"You can't leave this place yet. With your power alone, you cannot protect this garden."
"Everything in this world has a corresponding connection."
"In a corner unknown to everyone, the prophecy you gave Godey inspired him to leave something important behind."
"But who composed Oración?"
"It was a girl named Alicia. It was a song she had heard from her mother when she was young..."
"Then where did her mother learn it?"
Darkrai stared at Hikaru.
Then it abruptly looked toward the sky.
When it looked at him for the third time, it heard something both familiar and unfamiliar—a piano-like melody it had not heard for a hundred years.
Darkrai of Alamos Town exclaimed, ["The Space-Time Towers are playing again! How can this be? After a hundred years... Alamos Town—the garden that belongs to everyone!"]
["So that's it... This is the moment! This is the conclusion to the nightmare Godey and I witnessed!"]
["But that song... It's Alicia's! This is the song Alicia once played!"]
"That is the music that can calm the most violent fury in the world," Hikaru said. "It allows all things to pray again—and to be born anew."
"Darkrai, the future you foresaw was not a nightmare."
"This final time, we will reach the perfect world line. No matter how many dreams there may be, there is only one ending."
Beneath the torn sky, the Red Chain snapped apart and transformed into stardust.
Ethereal.
Pure.
Sacred.
Vast.
Majestic.
A uniquely beautiful melody began to play.
Golden streams of light gradually overflowed from the Space-Time Towers.
They spread across the sky and traveled into the distant universe.
No one knew where the song had come from.
No one knew why it had been left behind.
They knew only that the moment it had awaited was now.
Enormous and unbelievable structures opened from the towers like the branches of a great tree.
As the ancient divine song began to play, the towers revealed their true appearance.
They resembled an immense lyre.
Dong—
Golden light completely enveloped the Space-Time Towers.
Their structure began to transform, and as the heavenly music rang out, all of Sinnoh heard its song.
From the distant east—
From Alamos Town, Eterna City, and Oreburgh City...
It crossed Mount Coronet and reached the end of the western coast.
It spread through the Great Marsh and Hearthome City.
It swept over Veilstone Cape, lingered around Sendoff Spring, filled Sunyshore City, and echoed as far away as Ever Grande City.
It traveled north to Snowpoint City and across the frozen tundra, granting peace and rest to humans and spirits alike.
The contraction and collapse of space stopped.
The energy rampage caused by the space-time rifts also came to a halt.
New limbs sprouted from the towers' branches.
Streams of light formed from music gave birth to strange golden flowers. Like bells and chimes, they released radiant golden currents into the air.
The luminous phenomenon expanded farther and farther.
At last, it unfurled completely!
It transformed into a pair of eternally burning golden wings that covered the entire dimension and erased the space-time rifts!
The great deities of Sinnoh descended from the sky, bathing in warm and peaceful currents of light.
The fractures created across their bodies during the battle began to heal. The uncontrollable energy within them gradually subsided.
They stared at one another without a word.
Then they allowed the golden ocean to engulf them both.
(End of Chapter)
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