Celestic Town.
Inside the police station.
Because the Lustrous Orb had been stolen, everyone gathered here to exchange information and discuss how to pursue Team Galactic and stop their plan before it escalated further.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy.
Professor Carolina stood near the table, her brows tightly furrowed.
"It is already certain," she said slowly, "that Team Galactic knows far more than we do. They clearly understand Dialga and Palkia, and even the meteorite from Veilstone City. But what exactly are they trying to do?"
Her analysis was brief but sharp.
Based on everything that had happened so far, Team Galactic's understanding of the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb far exceeded that of ordinary researchers—even those who had studied Sinnoh's myths for decades. Yet Professor Carolina still couldn't grasp their ultimate objective.
Even if Dialga and Palkia were summoned, what then?
Those two Pokémon had existed since ancient times. They were embodiments of time and space themselves. Even if Team Galactic had ulterior motives, Dialga and Palkia, with their awareness and authority over time and space, would never obediently follow human commands.
That was the core contradiction.
As Professor Carolina thought deeper, another terrifying possibility surfaced in her mind.
Manipulating time and space was never something that could be done lightly.
If things went wrong, it wouldn't just be a failed experiment—it could lead to the collapse of time and space itself.
Once time and space collapsed, even Arceus might not be able to stop it.
Arceus did possess the power to stabilize time and space. However, its true divine body could not descend into this universe freely. If it did, the universe itself would collapse under the pressure of Arceus's existence.
Because of this, Arceus could only act through avatars scattered across the multiverse. Yet those avatars were limited. Even something like a massive meteor impact could severely injure an avatar of Arceus.
With such limited power, Arceus could only temporarily suppress a collapse of time and space. It could not completely reverse it.
If time and space truly collapsed, the damage would be irreversible.
Cyrus knew this.
That was precisely why he had never intended to force Dialga or Palkia directly.
Instead, he had turned his attention to something recorded in ancient texts—the Red Chain.
The Red Chain was a tool designed to restrain the bodies of Dialga and Palkia. According to legend, it was created using a special meteorite. That meteorite contained an extremely rare form of cosmic energy—energy that resonated directly with time and space.
This same energy was capable of harming Arceus's avatar.
Naturally, if it could harm Arceus, it could also interfere with Dialga and Palkia.
In addition, the three Lake Guardians—Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf—together could communicate with Arceus's origin power.
Dialga and Palkia were creations of Arceus. Through the combined power of the Lake Guardians and the Red Chain, it was theoretically possible to influence them against their will.
That was Cyrus's true plan.
As the room fell silent under the weight of these thoughts, Gary finally spoke.
"Maybe… they want to go to a new world."
The words were calm, but they hit like a stone dropped into still water.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Even Cyrus's eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
Gary had just spoken Cyrus's true desire out loud.
"A new world?" Cynthia asked carefully. "Can you explain that more clearly?"
Gary nodded.
"According to ancient records, this world was created by the creation god Arceus. But there's no reason to believe Arceus created only one world. Other worlds—parallel worlds—must also exist."
He paused briefly, then continued.
"I think Team Galactic wants to abandon this world and move to a brand-new one. A world less polluted by humans… and then dominate it."
"What?!" Dawn exclaimed.
She stared at Gary in shock.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" she asked, genuinely confused. "Isn't our world already good enough?"
Dawn had grown up in a relatively peaceful environment. She hadn't experienced war or extreme injustice. To her, society still felt mostly fair.
Gary waved his hand dismissively.
"Of course it's about power," he said. "Otherwise, who would risk their lives doing something this dangerous?"
Cyrus frowned and immediately retorted, "How can you be so sure it's about power? Isn't it possible that they simply hate this world and want to leave it behind?"
"There's no such possibility," Gary replied without hesitation.
"If someone truly wanted to escape the world, they could just live alone somewhere remote—an uninhabited island, for example. Why go through all the trouble of opening the gates of time and space to reach another world?"
He looked around the room, his tone growing heavier.
"Opening the door to time and space is extremely dangerous. If the powers of time and space collide violently, it can cause a collapse of time and space."
"A small, localized collapse might be survivable," Gary continued. "But if a large-scale collapse occurs, the entire Sinnoh Region could be erased into nothingness. And if it spreads further…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Everyone understood.
"The entire planet could be destroyed."
Gary's expression was grim. He wasn't exaggerating.
Alamos Town had nearly vanished during a time-space collapse. If Palkia hadn't intervened by shifting parts of the town into a separate space-time dimension, the damage would have been catastrophic.
"Can time and space really collapse like that?" Professor Carolina asked slowly, doubt evident in her voice.
Many researchers had theorized about it, but no one had truly witnessed such a phenomenon directly. With current human technology, even attempting to verify it was impossible.
"I've seen the reports," Gary replied. "The disappearance of Alamos Town was most likely caused by a localized time-space collapse."
The room fell silent.
Ash, Dawn, and Brock stiffened.
They had been involved in the Alamos Town incident. They had personally witnessed the aftermath. Entire areas had turned into nothingness, as if reality itself had been erased.
"Gary… how do you know this?" Cynthia asked.
Cynthia had personally investigated the Alamos Town incident. From eyewitness accounts and League records, she understood what had happened—but the mechanism behind it remained unclear.
Gary shrugged lightly.
"You can figure it out just by analyzing the footage," he said. "A lot of Pokémon Professors already know this."
Sinnoh had countless ancient myths about the origin of the world. In those myths, there were even humans blessed with special powers—supernatural abilities granted by Arceus itself and passed down through bloodlines.
Those powers alone hinted at how deeply intertwined humans, Pokémon, and time-space phenomena truly were.
Cynthia looked at Gary with a complicated expression.
"It really seems like you've inherited Professor Oak's talent," she said. "You're extremely suited to becoming a Pokémon researcher. Have you ever thought about that?"
"Maybe," Gary replied. "We'll talk about it later."
Gary loved Pokémon deeply. In his heart, he already knew that after achieving his goals as a Trainer—after standing at the peak—he would most likely walk the same path as his grandfather.
Professor Carolina didn't press the issue. The conclusions Gary had just presented were terrifying enough, and they had far more urgent matters to deal with.
Officer Jenny sighed helplessly.
"If only… if only you had destroyed the other meteorite earlier," she muttered.
Gary twitched slightly.
"…."
Who was it that had issued the restriction order in the first place? Who had forbidden him from leaving the Sinnoh Region?
If he had deliberately destroyed the meteorite back then, he would probably be sitting in prison right now.