Yancy had to keep her eyes on Dialga's every move while simultaneously directing her two Pokémon to dodge those unpredictable attacks.
There were moments when she thought she'd evaded a move, only for time to suddenly accelerate and the attack to materialize right in front of her, landing a direct hit.
"Time Stop is coming! Everyone scatter!"
The screen flashed to gray, and Dialga vanished from its position. Seconds later, it reappeared behind Blastoise and drove a crushing blow into its back.
"Blastoise!"
Fortunately, Blastoise's defense was extraordinary. It endured the hit, but was left clinging to the barest sliver of HP.
"Use a potion! Dragonite, put Dragon Pulse on it to break through its defenses!"
The comment section was going absolutely wild, with viewers flooding the chat with suggestions.
"Rewind is on a fifteen-second cooldown! Five seconds left!"
"That dark-mist tendril on the left is about to sweep over!"
"Streamer, find an opening to use Quiver Dance or your damage won't be enough!"
Even so, Yancy failed again and again, but each time she fell short, she threw herself back into the fight without a moment's hesitation.
Just as she'd said before: they had reached the final moment, so there was nothing left to be afraid of. She was going to finish this, even if her opponent happened to be a god of time.
Fine beads of sweat had broken out across Yancy's forehead, and her fingers ached from the relentless inputs, but the light in her eyes only grew brighter. Through battle after battle, she had gradually pieced together Dialga's patterns.
"Now!"
She watched Dialga emerge from the brief frozen state that followed one of its Roar of Time attacks, and in that instant, she made her move.
"All-out offense! Hold nothing back!"
Volcarona, primed and ready, erupted in golden flames. It was the sun's power pushed to its absolute limit.
Dragonite became a bolt of gold lightning. In its Outrage state, its attack had reached its peak.
Blastoise leveled both cannons, the barrels filling with terrifying torrents of water, and fired off a full-power Hydro Pump.
The three forces converged into a single pillar of light that tore through heaven and earth and slammed into Dialga's chest.
BOOM!
With a piercing wail, Dialga's massive body crashed to the ground. The dark mist clinging to it shattered and burst apart in an instant.
[Dark Dialga has been defeated!]
The moment the system chime sounded, the live stream chat erupted.
"We won! We won!"
"Insane! Streamer is insane! That execution was absolutely on point!"
"My palms are completely soaked. What a rush!"
Yancy slumped back in her chair, gasping for breath, her heart still hammering in her chest.
---
On screen, Dialga, its mind restored, rose slowly to its feet. The red glow faded from its eyes, replaced by a deep and ancient intelligence. It gazed at the three small figures standing before it and spoke in a low, commanding voice.
"You... actually did it?"
It turned and pointed to the massive dark-mist core still slowly rotating behind it, radiating an ominous presence.
"Quickly. Destroy it. That is the source of all this."
Yancy gave a nod and was guiding Volcarona forward when two figures suddenly darted out from the side, blocking the group's path. It was Grovyle and Mew.
"I didn't think you'd actually pull it off. Impressive," Grovyle said, looking at Yancy with something complex in its tone.
Yancy blinked. "You two?"
Grovyle drew a slow breath and finally revealed the truth.
"Mew and I are both from a future timeline." Its voice grew heavy. "In the future we came from, time has been completely swallowed by this dark mist. The entire world was destroyed. We used the power of time that Celebi granted us to travel back to this point in the timeline, before the mist had consumed everything."
"What? They're from the future? The plot just flipped on us!"
"I knew this Grovyle had been acting way too mysterious. It's a time traveler!"
Blastoise looked at them in confusion. "Even so, isn't it possible to dispel all the dark mist now? As long as we destroy that core..."
"It's not that simple." Grovyle shook its head. "Changing history comes at a cost. Those who alter the future are rejected and erased by the laws of time. So this task falls to me. I have to be the one to do it."
Before anyone could react, Grovyle didn't wait for a response. It drew its leaf-blades, a resolute power surging through its entire body, and charged straight at the core.
"Wait!"
Yancy reached out to stop it, but it was already too late.
Thud.
Grovyle's strike landed squarely on the core. But what followed was a devastating sight.
The core flickered violently several times, then instantly reformed, as if nothing had happened at all.
"How... how is this possible?" Grovyle stared at its own hands in disbelief.
Dialga sighed quietly beside them and spoke.
"You come from a destroyed future. Your very existence is a paradox within this timeline. The laws of time do not recognize you, and so you cannot destroy it."
Grovyle stood motionless, its eyes filled with despair.
"Then... is there no way?" Dragonite asked urgently.
Dialga was silent for a moment. Its gaze moved slowly across each of them before finally settling on Yancy.
"You arrived here through Grovyle's invitation. You are also, in essence, part of that future, which is why none of you can change what has happened."
"Only someone from the past can change the future."
A silence like death fell over the group.
From the past?
Everyone here belonged to this world. Who among them was from the past?
Then, all at once, something lurched in Yancy's chest.
She looked at her small character on the screen, the one everyone had always treated as their leader, the one surrounded by so many unanswered mysteries.
"Someone who doesn't belong to this world at all..."
Yancy whispered to herself.
And then she understood.
Why she had ended up here.
Why the Pokémon of this world felt both familiar and foreign to her.
Why she had always felt like she didn't belong.
Yancy took a slow, deep breath and guided Volcarona gently forward.
"Let me try."
Her voice was quiet, but it carried a resolve unlike anything before it.
"Yancy? What are you doing?" Blastoise cried out in a panic.
Yancy didn't answer. She simply guided Volcarona, and let the most blazing fire she had ever summoned rise around it. This was no ordinary flame. It was forged from everything she had carried with her along the way: all her conviction, all her courage, all her love.
"Goodbye... everyone."
CRASH!
The flame struck the dark core like a falling star.
This time, it did not reform.
In the next instant, boundless light burst from the top of the tower, pure and warm, flooding the entire world in a single breath.
Every trace of dark mist it touched dissolved and vanished.
The frenzied Pokémon throughout the labyrinth regained their senses. The tower crumbled apart in the light and was gone.
When everyone opened their eyes again, they were standing in a field of pure white flowers stretching as far as they could see.
A gentle breeze passed through. The fragrance was everywhere.
"We... did it?" Dragonite looked at the beauty surrounding them, unable to quite believe it.
Blastoise rushed forward and threw its arms around Yancy. "We saved the world! Captain! We actually did it!"
But in that moment of celebration, the music changed.
The triumphant victory theme cut off abruptly. In its place came a sad, ethereal piano melody.
The chat fell completely silent.
"...?"
"What's happening?"
---
Then the game's CG cutscene began to play.
In the field of white flowers, Volcarona stood quietly. Its body had begun to glow, growing faintly translucent. Blastoise seemed to sense something. It let go and looked at Yancy, its voice trembling with panic.
"Yancy, what... what's wrong with you?"
Yancy spoke.
"I'm sorry. I never told you."
"I think... I'm going to disappear."
Blastoise froze, as if it couldn't trust what it was hearing. "What? What are you saying? Disappear? Didn't we just save the world? Didn't we promise we'd be an exploration team together forever?"
Volcarona looked at Blastoise and continued.
"I think I finally understand. History has been corrected. The version of me that belongs to another world is subject to the laws of time. Grovyle said as much — changing this timeline comes at a price."
"Now... I think I'm being sent back."
Dragonite rushed over from the side, urgent. "Captain, what do you mean?"
Volcarona turned to look at its two closest companions and smiled.
"The truth is, I'm a human. I'm not sure why I ended up here. I'm sorry I kept it from you all this time, but every moment I spent with you was truly happy. I'll remember you both forever."
"Getting to meet you, forming the exploration team together, pushing through all those dungeons side by side... thank you. Thank you for giving me so many memories."
By now, Volcarona's form had faded until it was barely visible.
Blastoise finally understood. It broke down completely and cried out, tears streaming down its face.
"No... I don't want you to disappear... Dialga! You have to have a way, don't you? Save him! Please!"
Dragonite wanted to step forward but realized there was nothing it could do. It could only stand and watch.
Dialga's voice resonated, low and sorrowful.
"I'm sorry. The laws of time cannot be defied. His existence was never part of this restored present, nor of this world."
The light around Volcarona grew brighter and brighter. Its body grew more and more transparent.
It looked at Blastoise and said softly.
"Blastoise... you've become incredibly strong now. From here on, the exploration team is yours to lead. Everyone needs you."
"Remember: no matter where I am, I'll always be watching over you. Never... forget our promise."
It turned to Dragonite.
"And Dragonite, goodbye. I'm so glad I got to meet you. You've always been exactly as reliable and strong as I knew you were. I couldn't have made it this far without you."
Blastoise stretched out a desperate hand, trying to hold onto those fading points of light, but grasped nothing but empty air.
"No!"
"What's the point of becoming stronger without you?! Come back... please come back!"
Volcarona left behind one final smile. Its voice faded with the light, carried away on the wind.
"Goodbye."
The image held on Blastoise, crumpled in the flower field, shoulders heaving with every sob.
"Why... why?! We won... so why did they have to take you away from me... I don't want this... I really don't want this!"
Dragonite stood in silence nearby, two quiet tears tracing down its face.
Grovyle and Mew stood at a distance, neither knowing what to say.
The entire live stream had gone utterly still. The only sound was Yancy's muffled crying coming through her earphones.
"How could it end like this?"
"What the hell, how can it end like this? You can't just stab us in the heart like this!!"
"I'm already dead from crying. Does the person who wrote this game not have a heart?"
"Suddenly feeling like I don't want to load up my own save file... I really can't handle this..."
---
The screen slowly dimmed. Two lines of white text appeared.
[Thanks to the efforts of the legendary rescue team, the world has been restored to peace.]
[But the most important person of all could never come back.]
A soft, mournful ending theme began to play.
The screen began showing scenes from Yancy's journey, from the moment she first met Squirtle and Dragonair onward.
Battles, growth, adventures, quiet conversations, daily life... every detail vivid and present, as if silently speaking of a time that could never be returned to.
The comment section completely fell apart. Crying emojis and knife emoticons filled the screen from edge to edge.
But then, just at that moment.
The music and visuals stopped cold.
---
The screen went dark. A softly glowing message box appeared.
[???: That child did something truly extraordinary. Celebi, help them, just this once.]
[???: Yes, that is only right. And this soul itself is telling me it does not want to leave.]
In the next instant, the screen lit up again.
---
The scene returned to the beach where Yancy and Squirtle had first met.
The sky was blazing with sunset, the sea painted gold.
Blastoise sat alone at the water's edge, gazing at the sun as it sank toward the horizon. Its silhouette looked impossibly lonely.
After a long moment, it sighed. It gently set a flower down on the ground, then began to turn and walk away.
But in that very next instant.
A familiar, warm radiance bloomed behind it.
And then came a voice that could only belong to Yancy.
"Partner."
"I'm back."
The game ended there.
After a brief silence, the entire live stream erupted into an absolute frenzy.
"A masterpiece!!"
"A MASTERPIECE!!"
---
At the same moment, Kairos sat back from his desk and stretched out in one long, satisfying arc.
The interface on his computer screen had just finished refreshing. "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew" had been successfully released across several worlds. He watched the various metrics climbing steadily in the back end, and the weight that had been sitting in his chest for days finally settled.
All the late nights he'd put in rushing to finish the game had truly worn him out.
He was just about to get up and pour himself a glass of water when a familiar chime rang out in his mind.
[Ding! A new mission has been issued. Host is requested to film a live-action Pokémon theatrical movie!]