Lu Ye's eye twitched as he watched Wallace plummet from the sky.
He just... dropped him like that!?
"I don't have any Flying-type Pokémon, damn it!" Lu Ye roared at Darkrai.
Darkrai, who had been posturing before the Temporal-Spatial Twin Dragons, froze mid-taunting smirk.
"You didn't say that earlier?!"
The twin dragons gathered energy in their mouths.
One blue, one purple - beams representing the power of time and space surged forth violently.
Lu Ye counted the seconds silently and issued commands instantly, "Altaria, catch your trainer!"
With astonishing speed, Altaria dove from the sky and caught the falling Wallace.
Simultaneously, Darkrai closed its eyes, instinctively following Lu Ye's command.
White mist swirled as darkness engulfed its vision, revealing a faint blue path.
An escape route constructed by the "Power of Aura."
It unfolded before Darkrai!
Darkrai opened its eyes to see the two colossal beasts before it.
In the next instant, its figure vanished completely from before them!
Palkia & Dialga: (⊙ˍ⊙)
"Roar!" (Bro, the Spatial God's attack missed?)
"Roar!!" (Screw you! If you'd just controlled it, I would've hit!)
"Roar?" (What you looking at?)
"Roar??" (Yeah, what about it?)
"Roar!" (Keep looking and see what happens!)
Palkia and Dialga collided bodily, reigniting their battle.
Darkrai flickered into existence, rising slowly from Lu Ye's shadow, confused:
"Why are they fighting each other?"
"No idea." Lu Ye shook his head as he caught Wallace in a princess carry from Altaria's back.
"Ugh..." Wallace groaned, head splitting as he gradually regained consciousness.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Teacher Lu's complicated expression.
"Remember, you owe me your life."
"Ah..." Wallace paused, then nodded after a long moment. "Yeah..."
Setting Wallace down, Lu Ye assigned Milotic and Altaria to care for him.
Recalling the incident... Lu Ye noted Wallace had a rather shapely backside.
"Damn it!" Lu Ye gritted his teeth and shouted, "Let's kick their asses, Darkrai!"
Darkrai waved a hand, panting: "Let them... wear each other out a bit longer."
Lu Ye: "At this rate, your beloved garden will be destroyed too."
Darkrai roared: "Let's kick their asses then!"
With a 'boom', Darkrai unleashed a shockwave and shot toward the twin dragons, dark voids forming in its hands.
"Darkrai, use Dark Void."
"Stop ordering me around!!(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"
Ash was still en route on Dodrio.
"I see Darkrai!" Alice clung to Ash's slender waist, pointing ahead.
"Little Dodo, let's hurry over there too."
Dodrio, leaving dust in its wake, sprinted toward the battlefield with incredible speed.
The shockwaves from the clashing dragons sent Dodrio tumbling, Ash and Alice rolling awkwardly.
Alice: "I thought you... were strong?"
Ash: "Eheh... my Power of Viridian ran out..."
Another shockwave reached the battlefield's edge, whipping Ash's yellow ponytail.
A black figure faced the twin dragons' ultimate moves head-on, roaring furiously.
In that instant, "Subspace Slash" and "Roar of Time" simultaneously struck Darkrai at the center.
Alice's vision was blinded by the radiant light as tears streamed down her face.
The black figure fell from the sky like a broken puppet, the heavens filled with distorted auroras.
Time and space in chaos, though it was dusk, the entire sky shimmered with breathtakingly beautiful auroras.
"Tch." Lu Ye bit his lip.
Even with a trainer's guidance...
Facing the twin dragons' ultimate moves simultaneously was too much...
This time, Darkrai failed to dodge.
Darkrai plummeted from the sky.
Like a kite with its string cut, it fell helplessly outside the battlefield.
"That's... the Pokémon Garden's direction!" Alice begged Ash, "Quick, we need to get there!"
Ash nodded, patting Dodrio's three squabbling heads.
"Enough fighting! We have a mission!"
"Scree~" Dodrio's heads exchanged glances before nodding in unison and standing up to carry Ash and Alice again.
"Alright." Ash looked ahead determinedly. "Destination: Pokémon Garden, move out!"
Dodrio's legs pumped as it charged forward again.
Alice closed her eyes worriedly, praying:
"By Arceus' grace, may Darkrai be safe..."
Tower of Time and Space.
The spiraling Tower of Time and Space had no elevator.
To reach the top and replace the "Oración" record to have the tower play "Oración"...
Without flight, the only option was manual transport.
Ash carried the millstone-shaped record, legs shaking as he climbed the spiral staircase, wiping sweat.
"Tony! Do you... always bring records up this way normally?"
"Normally..." Tony said worriedly, "we use hot air balloons or flying Pokémon, but..."
He stood on the stairs, gazing at the two colossal beasts fighting in the distance.
"Right now, the Pokémon are too scared to come out of their Poké Balls."
"And the building storing the balloons... was destroyed earlier..."
Ash wiped sweat, clenching his teeth.
He'd only brought Sinnoh-region Poké Balls.
His Starly had only recently evolved into Staraptor and couldn't carry people yet.
Ash looked up at the towering spire and shouted:
"It'll take at least thirty minutes to climb up there!"
"There's... no other way."
Tony's eyes darkened. "We can only pin our hopes on Teacher Lu and Darkrai..."
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew past as Tony raised an arm to shield himself.
Ash staggered back a step, the "Oración" record on his back rolling down the stairs!
From hundreds of meters high, the record fell straight down as Ash and Tony watched wide-eyed.
Before Tony could react, Ash leaped off the tower!
Wind whipped Ash's ears as he gritted his teeth, reaching for the falling record!
If Lu Ye were here, he'd have his worldview shattered:
"Ash, you little shit defies physics!"
Newton would rise from his grave to challenge Ash with an 'Applin'!
Then, like discus throwing, Ash hurled the record upward.
Hundreds of meters up, the disc flew straight up, caught by Pikachu's "Iron Tail."
Meanwhile, Ash continued falling blankly: "Huh?"
Ash: "Waaaah! Help!!"
A hot air balloon suddenly appeared.
"Musashi, something's falling from the sky."
"Let me see... it's the twerp!! Meowth, catch him quick!"
"Eek! Wobbuffet, catch the twerp now!"
At the critical moment, Jiro sent out Cacnea, using vines to catch Ash.
In crucial moments, you can always count on Jiro!
Musashi and Meowth sighed in relief: "That was close..."
The rescued Ash stared in surprise: "Team Rocket?"
Jiro screamed: "Cacnea, stop hugging my face... ouch ouch ouch!"
After explaining the situation.
Meowth: "So ya need to get to that tower top to play the song, meow?"
Ash: "Yes, Pikachu and Tony are waiting there. We must play 'Oración'..."
Ash glanced back at the clashing dragons and said through gritted teeth:
"To calm their rage!"
Team Rocket trio exchanged glances and nodded together.
"This is part of the boss's plan too, meow~"
"When it comes to hot air balloons, we're professionals."
Reflected Darkrai's falling form.
Lu Ye frowned deeply, looking back at the tower: "Ash still hasn't succeeded yet?"
Lu Ye looked up again at the vast sky's center.
Palkia and Dialga, pearl and diamond shining brilliantly, opened their massive jaws.
Purple and blue, the surging beams collided.
Forming a black hole that swallowed nearly half of White Poplar Town.
Wallace's white hat had long been lost somewhere.
His handsome face was covered in wounds, green hair disheveled as he tried to rise:
"I can still... keep fighting."
"Do all Hoenn Champions prepare to sacrifice themselves?"
Wallace paused, meeting Lu Ye's profound gaze.
After a long moment, Wallace nodded solemnly.
Lu Ye's mind flashed back to the Tree of Beginning, Steven in his suit shielding him.
Who would've thought that mere months later.
He'd be shielding another Hoenn Champion.
Lu Ye frowned slightly, flexing his wrist as he muttered:
"My Elite-level Mega Blastoise should buy us some time..."
"Though not as good as Mega Altaria, it should last until White Poplar Town's complete destruction or Ash plays 'Oración'..."
Wallace stared at Lu Ye, recognizing his resolve.
He said gravely: "Whether Hoenn, Kanto, or Sinnoh's Champion..."
"When one becomes Champion, they're already prepared."
Lu Ye snapped: "Shut up."
Did I... say something wrong?
"Not really..." Wallace rubbed his chin, musing. "It's all true..."
What worried Teacher Lu was precisely this truth.
If the Sinnoh League learned of White Poplar Town's anomaly.
The Champion most likely to appear here would be—
The dragons' colliding attacks caused violent tremors.
Lu Ye raised his eyes to the sky.
Where space-time distortions created constantly shifting, glowing auroras.
Then abruptly, the auroras split open a rift.
The rift expanded, and across that bridge.
Appeared the person Lu Ye least wanted to see now.
Lu Ye's pupils contracted, reflecting a stunning golden-haired beauty.
Cynthia stood atop Garchomp's back, surveying the scene like a queen.
Her eyes were calm, indifferent, filled with unyielding ice.
Her gaze swept over the vanishing town, the clashing dragons, without fluctuation.
When her eyes met Lu Ye's.
In that instant, the ice melted, a gentle smile appearing.
Lu Ye shuddered, spine chilling.
Cynthia pointed at the twin dragons, golden hair billowing, eyes sharpening:
The sky's auroras intertwined with dazzling meteors like fireworks.
Lu Ye's pupils shrank.
Remembering the first gift Cynthia ever gave him.
The brilliant fireworks blooming across the starry sky.