On the screen—
With Garchomp joining the fight, Palkia's pressure immediately lessened.
Garchomp was agile, after all—its body size was much smaller than Dialga's!
As long as it didn't take Dialga's attacks head-on,
Garchomp held the advantage!
But… that still couldn't change the overall battlefield.
All they could do was stall Dialga,
prevent its attacks from raining down on the townspeople below.
"Ash… I'm counting on you."
The tilting Space-Time Tower made Cynthia's heart sink.
She didn't know the tower's mechanisms,
nor how to play Oración.
Given the tower's current condition,
Cynthia doubted it could even operate properly!
At the same time—
Ash, having reached the spire, struggled to keep his balance,
then staggered toward the pedestal where the music disc belonged.
Thankfully, the equipment inside the tower was sturdy—
even now, it could still function.
He inserted the disc into the player.
Then Ash reached for the activation lever—
But unexpectedly—
No matter how he pulled,
the machine showed no response.
What… was going on!?
In moments like this, staying calm was crucial.
Ash forced himself to recall how Alice had activated the system earlier.
Right!
Electricity!
He had been exhausted at the time,
but he still remembered seeing the mechanism spark to life when Alice powered it.
A surge of electricity triggered the device—
but the gods' battle had cut off Alamos Town's power grid.
Which meant…
That was why the system wouldn't start.
If so—
Ash crouched down and stroked Pikachu's head.
"Pikachu… I'll need your help."
"Pika pi!"
Pikachu pumped its little fists, eager to be useful.
"Okay!"
Ash stood up, pointing at the activation node above.
"Pikachu—Thunderbolt!"
"Pika… CHU!!"
Golden electricity burst from Pikachu's body,
striking the center of the power conduit perfectly.
"Great job, Pikachu! Hold it right there!"
Ash gripped the lever tightly—
Trainer and Pokémon, working in seamless sync.
Moments later,
the system hummed to life.
As power flowed in—
the music device began full operation.
A clear, pure tone like mountain springwater emerged—
cooling, cleansing,
washing over everyone like a refreshing breeze in the heat.
In an instant—
hearts calmed.
The chat scrolled rapidly—
[Wallace: So this is Oración played by the Space-Time Tower… truly soothing.]
[Professor Oak: No wonder Godey preserved it as the ultimate failsafe. It really does dispel malice—I can even feel myself calming.]
[Lenora: Beautiful. Perfect.]
[Alice: My grandmother composed this to soothe Darkrai… I never expected it to hold such power.]
[Diantha: Alicia must have been so gentle… only someone like her could create music this beautiful.]
[Flint: Nobody praising Master Ash? I'll do it!]
[Flint: The tougher the moment, the calmer he gets—figured it out in seconds. Respect.]
[Professor Kukui: Indeed. In the most critical moments—you can always trust Ash.]
Sinnoh, Alamos Town—
Hearing the familiar melody from the light screen,
Darkrai felt a sharp ache.
It thought it had long forgotten—
yet hearing this melody again, Alicia's Oración…
its emotions stirred.
Its gaze lingered on Ash and Pikachu, fighting to keep the system running.
Ash, huh…?
You're gentle… just like Alicia.
Maybe that was why its future self had sacrificed its life—
because it saw in Ash the same warmth Alicia once gave it.
Sorry… I promised Alicia I would protect this garden.
If possible… maybe I would travel with you like Lucario did…
Ash… you really are special.
(Man, I really want to see Ash use his Darkrai to beat the life out of Takuto's Darkrai at the Lily of the Valley Conference!
The scene would be absolutely epic!
Ash: "I can be a mythical-Pokémon guy too, you know!")
On screen—
Oración spread across the entire plaza.
Everyone looked up.
On any other day, they might have danced to this melody—
but today it was a matter of life and death.
Yet even so—
under Oración's influence, fear faded away.
Peace filled their hearts.
Above the plaza—
Dialga stopped attacking.
The divine melody soothed its rage;
its mind calmed.
Even with Palkia—its eternal rival—right in front of it,
Dialga felt no urge to fight.
The crimson glow faded from its eyes;
reason returned.
"Diyaa…"
Dialga shot Palkia one last wary glance—
then turned and departed Alamos Town,
returning to its unknown dimension.
(Serves you right for getting chased down and pummeled by Giratina in the next movie!
You wreck everything and then just walk off—if you don't get beaten up, who should!?)
But Dialga's departure didn't change a key fact—
the spacetime distortion was still swallowing Alamos Town.
The plaza was so packed no one could move.
No one dared touch the distortion.
No one knew what would happen.
After Dialga left,
Palkia finally relaxed—
then truly noticed the ruined Alamos Town.
The enormity of the destruction—
it froze.
Then—
Ash's lingering aura—the wave force containing Ash's emotions—
burst forth inside Palkia.
Gods were not human.
They didn't understand morality.
In ancient Hisui—
Origin Dialga and Origin Palkia were symbols of destruction.
Even Arceus had been forced to intervene to stop them.
They had no emotions—
but not no heart.
From Ash's wave aura,
Palkia felt a burning, beating heart—
and the conviction hidden within it.
Human emotion was incomprehensible.
Why… would a human walk toward certain death?
If it were Palkia,
it would have fled immediately.
Suddenly—
Palkia stiffened.
Right.
It had fled Dialga's attack and ended up here—
so why did it later choose to listen to that human?
Was it aura?
Not entirely.
Palkia's mind spiraled in confusion—
a god who didn't understand emotions
yet chose to help a human—
while that human's aura only deepened its confusion.
On Togekiss's back,
Cynthia sensed danger.
Palkia's spatial aura fluctuated wildly.
This was bad—
would Palkia go berserk at the worst possible time!?
Everything they had done would be for nothing!
[Alder: What's wrong with Palkia!? Its state is off!]
[Leon: That energy fluctuation… don't tell me it's about to rampage!?]
[Caitlin: We're doomed! Without Dialga to restrain it—!]
[Brock: Cynthia is so close to it—could she be in danger!?]
[Professor Cara Liss: Oh no! Do you see that? Palkia's shattered pearl is being healed by Oración! It can HEAL too!?]
[Gardenia: We're screwed! Dialga leaves at full HP, now Palkia's full HP too! Scariest episode ever!]
[Jessie: We're not gonna die, right!?]
[James: Impossible. Five years from now we'll still be chasing Pikachu—we HAVE to make it!]
Right—
five years later, everyone lived.
So who would stop Palkia!?
Ash?
But he was still at the tower!
How could he possibly wake Palkia!?
Curiosity peaked across the world.
"Come on, Ash!!"
Countless people prayed for him.
On screen—
"Ding～～"
Oración ended.
But Palkia's turbulence did not.
It worsened—
spacetime energy turned violent again,
accelerating Alamos Town's collapse.
People squeezed together onto the last fragments of solid ground.
Then—
Ash emerged from the spire,
only to see Cynthia and Togekiss waiting.
"No time—get on!"
Cynthia's voice was unusually tense—
no trace of her usual gentle tone.
Confused but trusting,
Ash climbed onto Togekiss.
Once airborne—
he finally saw it.
Palkia—
standing in the center,
magenta energy flaring wildly around its body.
Ash didn't need Cynthia to explain.
His intuition was on overdrive.
"Ash, is there a way to stop it?"
Cynthia asked, voice deep.
"I'll stop it!"
Ash didn't answer directly—
instead he placed Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Pikachu—wait for my signal."
"Pika!"
Togekiss flew even faster than the injured Garchomp—
a Flying-type's advantage.
Time was running out!
Soon—
they were right before Palkia.
Its eyes were pure chaos—
lost.
If so—
Ash would wake it the simplest way.
"Togekiss—closer!"
"Bo～～"
Togekiss glided right in front of Palkia.
Ash crouched—
then—
Another Leap of Faith.
He and Pikachu plunged straight through turbulent spatial energy—
landing firmly atop Palkia's head!
Ash pressed his palms to its body—
Aura—activate!
Blue aura surged into Palkia.
A jolt ran through the deity.
Clarity returned to its eyes—
but faint fog still lingered.
The instability around them told Ash
his aura wasn't enough!
If so—
Ash stood.
Turned to Pikachu.
"Pikachu—use your strongest Thunderbolt!!"
In a moment like this—
Ash chose trust.
"Pika…"
Pikachu leapt off his shoulder.
"PIKA—CHUUUUUU!!!"
Golden lightning shattered the sky—
engulfing Palkia completely.
Would Ash be electrocuted?
Of course not—
this was the boy who once tanked Zeraora's full-power lightning unscathed!
Ash's electric resistance was maxed out!
"Palkia—WAKE UP!!!"
Ash roared—
a shout of life.
Under aura + Thunderbolt + Ash's voice—
the fog in Palkia's eyes vanished.
[Professor Oak: Well done, Ash! Pallet Town is proud!]
[Lillie: LOL I thought something bad would happen!]
[Misty: Thank goodness… I was terrified.]
[Sabrina: If you're ever in danger again, call my name. I'll sense it anywhere.]
[Professor Cara Liss: This should be the end… humans can't rival gods.]
[Gary: No one's gonna talk about how OP Pikachu is!? It just shocked Palkia sane!!]
[Denji: You're missing the point! The point is—how did Ash tank THAT level of electricity!? I suspect he has a Ground typing!]
[Lt. Surge: Ground + Fighting!? Ash is basically a Pokémon!!]
'…I… can… stop… it… now…'
Pikachu's Thunderbolt truly was divine punishment—
it left Palkia tingling!
Thankfully it was Dragon-type—
otherwise Pikachu might've accidentally committed deicide.
"Well done, Pikachu. Stop now."
"Pika…"
Pikachu stopped, exhausted.
It felt something inside—
something had doubled its power during the Thunderbolt.
Without that,
it might've been drained dry.
Ash caught the tired Pikachu and sat atop Palkia's head.
"Please… help Alamos Town!"
He pleaded earnestly.
The distortion had almost swallowed the entire tower.
Regaining clarity,
Palkia did not refuse.
'Thank you… for waking me.
I almost caused disaster again.
Leave the rest to me.
The mistakes I made—I will correct.'
Then—
spatial energy BURST forth!!!
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