As they looked up at the eerie sky, even now Alberto couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Curse you, Darkrai! This is all your fault!"
Ash had the urge to side-eye him. It was almost impressive how he could blame Darkrai for everything. Last time he checked, since when did Darkrai's power set involve anything remotely close to this?
But then Kai turned to the group, "That's not all. Some of us tried to get out of town to get some help, but something's wrong with the bridge."
"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.
"Allegra and Maury tried to go through the fog earlier, but no matter which way they went, they would always end up running back into town," Kai explained, "As far as I can tell, we're trapped in Alamos Town."
Tonio started thinking, trying to find a solution, but Alberto was at his wits' end, "That's it! I've had enough of that Darkrai! I'm going to go and collect every able trainer in this town, then together, we're going to take down Darkrai once and for all!" Alberto stomped his pink foot onto the ground.
His tantrum was so bad that it caused the building to shake. Since he was a Pokémon now, his foot started glowing as he was about to accidentally use [Stomp].
"And once this is all over, I'm going to—" Alberto stopped mid-tantrum as, in front of everyone, he fell forward and landed face-first on the ground, knocked out. As the gang looked at his body and then up at what had done it, they saw Ash with his fist raised.
And he didn't look apologetic about it. He just pulled his hand back and flexed it, "There, he finally shut up," he said dismissively.
"Did you just...attack the Baron?" Alice asked carefully.
Ash looked over his shoulder and smirked, "Nope, I just stopped a rampaging Pokémon~"
As everyone was too stunned to speak, Ash finally turned to the sky. Well, it was about time to put that plan into action. He looked over at Kai, "Other than you and the Allegra and Maury you mentioned, how many trainers do you think are still up and moving?"
Kai blinked and sputtered, "Um, maybe ten, but—"
Ash cut him off, "Good enough. Get the trainers who are available, then go and get the people who are still near the center of town out of there. If anything happens, keep them safe."
Kai blinked, "I-okay, but why the center of town specifically?"
Ash pointed up at the sky and toward the center of town, where a visible little pink dot hung in the sky, "Call me crazy, but I feel like this is all happening because of that."
Kai had no argument against that logic. He nodded and ran out to find the others. Ash then looked over at Tonio, "So, Tonio, now that we have some peace and quiet, how long do you think it'll take to figure out how to fix things?"
"I-um…" Tonio said as he stopped and rubbed his chin, "Not here, but if I can get to my lab, then I'm sure I can find a solution."
Ash nodded, "Right, then go, and take Dawn and Verity with you. They should be strong enough to protect you if you need it."
"Wait, now hold on a second," Verity immediately cut in, "You're trying to get rid of us. Where are you going?"
"Verity, I'm not trying to get rid of you. I'm trying to do my best to keep you all safe," Ash said immediately. This time, he didn't have his usual smile, "I'm stronger than both of you. I can actually take care of myself if something happens. You can't, not yet."
Verity lowered her hand, and Dawn continued, "You didn't answer the question. Where are you going?"
Ash pointed his thumb toward the center of town, "I'm going to investigate. Maybe there's something we missed, or maybe I can see what Darkrai is trying to do."
"Wait, that's crazy! Didn't you hear what they said? Darkrai is doing this, and it just attacked people!" Verity protested.
"Actually, I don't think that's true," Alice finally said, "Well, I don't think Darkrai is evil. As for what Darkrai did, it only started doing things to people after it got attacked, and even then, look at everyone." She gestured toward all the sleeping people, "No one is hurt, just sleeping."
Ash nodded, "I also don't think things are as black and white as Alberto tried to make us think. So, I'm going to find out for myself, and if Darkrai is evil, then I'm actually strong enough to protect myself. Understand?"
Verity wanted to protest, but she couldn't. She just looked down, "I just...never mind." She looked away.
Ash put on his usual grin to help ease her worries, "Hey, cheer up. I'll be fine. Besides…" Ash lightly punched her shoulder and winked, "If you want to come with me next time, then you'd better train hard, alright?"
But then Dawn slowly grabbed his fist and pulled it away from Verity's shoulder, holding it in both her hands, "But still, Ash, I know you're strong, but please, be safe."
Ash looked at her as his grin softened into a gentle smile, "I promise. I've made it this far, don't worry. Besides, how can I leave my personal cheerleader?" Ash winked.
Dawn blushed slightly and huffed, "Fine, you promised, so you'd better not break it!" She turned away and crossed her arms.
Ash let out a small laugh, then stepped back, "Alright, let's move." Everyone nodded, so Ash took off running, with Pikachu and Vee quickly following him, while the others ran to Tonio's lab.
—
Tonio led Alice, Dawn, and Verity into his underground lab. Once he reached his actual workspace, he quickly sat down and pulled up the data, "Let's thoroughly reexamine the observational data. We might be able to figure out the cause behind this abnormality."
Alice had been down here before, but Dawn and Verity looked around since they didn't have anything else to do at the moment.
"There sure is a lot of machinery here…" Verity muttered.
Dawn's eyes wandered over to some disk-shaped objects, "What are these…?" she asked as she picked one up to examine it.
Alice walked over and smiled, "Those are music discs."
Verity raised an eyebrow as she looked at the thick metal disc in Dawn's hand, "What kind of discs are these?"
Tonio spoke up while still working at the computer, "If those are for the device at the top of the Space-Time Tower, then putting them in the room on the top floor generates sound."
"The Space-Time Tower is basically the world's largest musical instrument," Alice explained helpfully.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Dawn said as she turned the disc one more time, then put it back. This wasn't the time for that.
Tonio kept working, and the room fell into an awkward silence until Verity finally asked, "So, did you find anything?"
"Not yet, but I still find it strange. Yes, Darkrai went on a rampage, but Darkrai doesn't have the power to manipulate space like this," he muttered as he looked at the readings, "Something else is happening here, and we need to find out what if we want any chance of stopping this."
—
{Back in town}
Ash walked casually down the street, looking around. He reached the center of town where the battle had taken place earlier, and as he did, he looked up at the sky again.
But then, without turning around, he called out behind him, "You might as well come out. You can't hide from me."
After a moment, Darkrai slowly flew out of the shadows and appeared in front of Ash. Then it looked at the sky and shouted, "Leave now!"
Ash finally turned to Darkrai, "You're not talking to me, or anyone else, are you?"
Darkrai didn't respond, but that was all Ash needed to confirm what he already knew. He turned to Darkrai and looked it in the eyes, "Listen, you and I want the same thing, and if we want to get through this, we're going to need to work together. Understand?"
Darkrai didn't say anything, but its eyes finally moved down to look at Ash.
Ash continued, "Based on the fact that you haven't run away or yelled at me, I'm going to assume you agree. So, I have a plan, and you're going to need to work with me," Ash said as he pulled a Poké Ball from his belt, "Ready? I'm only going to explain this once."
—
{Back in the underground lab}
Tonio was looking through every note he had from when the town was created, searching for any information that might be useful.
Meanwhile, Dawn, Verity, and Alice were watching a screen displaying footage from an outside camera.
Then suddenly, the sky flickered, as if the sky itself were glitching. Darkrai appeared from the ground and flew toward the sky, charging up an orb in its hands. Then it fired the ball of darkness toward the purple orb in the sky.
But as the orb got closer, the object in the sky suddenly flickered again before changing into a Pokémon. The colossal Pokémon possessed gray, armor-like plating marked with purplish-black patterns. Disc-shaped structures adorned its shoulders, each embedded with a shining pearl on either side. It was Palkia.
As the [Dark Pulse] flew toward Palkia, Palkia opened its mouth and fired a blue beam of pure Dragon-type energy, colliding head-on with the incoming [Dark Pulse] and causing both attacks to explode.
In the lab, they all watched in shock. As far as they knew, Palkia was considered a god in the Pokémon world, so they were all familiar with the legends about it. But now, they were seeing it with their own eyes.
And that's when it clicked for Tonio, "I get it now! The strange incidents around the city were signs of Palkia's imminent arrival! The Garden being ransacked, the Pokémon's dreams becoming reality, and not being able to leave this city, they were all caused by Palkia's power to warp space!"
Alice stared at the screen, watching Darkrai continue to battle the Legendary Pokémon. After a moment, she slowly spoke up, "Could it be that Darkrai...might be trying to protect Alamos Town?"
Verity turned toward her and crossed her arms in thought, "I don't know about that! Look at what's happening! Darkrai is fighting Palkia, and everyone in town is getting caught up in it!"
"But—" Alice started.
"Plus, remember what Darkrai did to all those people?" Verity continued, gesturing toward the screen, "It put them all to sleep! How are we supposed to know whether it's actually trying to help us or if it's just making everything worse?"
Alice lowered her gaze. She didn't have a good argument, other than the fact that her gut was telling her Darkrai was trying to protect them.
Dawn watched the screen for a few more seconds before looking down, her hands clasped together, "I...I think I agree with Verity. I don't know if I can see things the way you do, Alice. Maybe Darkrai is just trying to drive Palkia out of its territory, and we're all getting caught in the middle of it."
Then, while they were talking, a red-and-blue Pokémon suddenly moved behind Darkrai so fast that it was just a blur. As Palkia opened its mouth to fire another blast, the blur stopped for a fraction of a second, revealing that it was Deoxys in its Speed Forme.
Palkia's eyes widened, but Deoxys remained emotionless. It created a [Shadow Ball] and threw it into Palkia's mouth, then flickered away in the same microsecond, all within 0.0001 seconds.
The orb exploded in Palkia's mouth, causing it to cough in pain. When it opened its eyes, Darkrai was in front of it and fired another [Dark Pulse].
Palkia quickly raised a shield, but it was barely too slow to block the attack. The [Dark Pulse] hit, making Palkia fly back a little before it shook its head and narrowed its eyes.
In the lab, the gang was shocked by what they were seeing. How was Darkrai fighting one of the main deities of their world? As far as they knew, Palkia should have an ability where it could look at you and turn you into minced meat if it wanted to, yet that attack had actually hurt it.
But when Tonio enhanced the image, they all saw that one of the pearls on Palkia's shoulder was cracked.
"Palkia's pearl…" Dawn muttered, "Did Darkrai do that?"
"It doesn't look like it. Darkrai didn't attack Palkia's shoulder, so it must have been damaged before. No wonder Palkia seemed so weak. In that case, maybe we have a chance," Tonio explained, "If we—"
But before he could finish, it suddenly looked as though a shower of stars were falling from the sky. Palkia and Darkrai both reacted, but they couldn't dodge, and both were hit by one. The other stars continued falling, landing in the town and exploding one after another.
Flying down from the sky was none other than Dialga, glaring at Palkia as it let out a low sound.
"Is that?!" Verity exclaimed in shock.
"It can't be!" Dawn continued.
Alice looked on in shock, "That's the one who controls time!"
"The other Pokémon with godlike power, Dialga!" Tonio finished.
Tonio looked down and gulped, "I-it's all happening exactly as it's written in Gooey's Diary! 'Those whose meeting should be an impossibility confront each other through a rift in the space-time continuum. Time and space collide, engulfing the city in a great wrath, and then...everything begins to crumble!'"
"W-wait, we can stop this, right?" Verity asked, looking back at him, "You said we might have a chance, so there has to be something, r-right?"
"Yeah, Tonio, you can think of something! You always do!" Alice exclaimed.
Tonio looked at the three of them, all staring at him. He took a step back until his back hit the wall, and his hands shook, "I-I don't know."
As he said that, the two large Pokémon continued their battle on the screen, firing beams from their mouths that clashed against each other. As they fought, the ground began to shake. No, that wasn't it. The ground wasn't shaking; reality around them was shaking because of Palkia.
At the same time, the hands of the little clock on Tonio's desk, which he had gotten after his hourglass broke, began spinning back and forth because of Dialga.
Tonio looked at it, "Most likely, Dialga and Palkia began fighting, then Palkia got injured, so it ran to hide in the town. But Dialga followed it, and now they're destroying everything." He gulped, "The events predicted in Gooey's Diary are coming true. If this doesn't stop, Alamos Town will disappear into the nether dimensions!"
Then, just as they felt hopeless, believing there was nothing they could do, Darkrai appeared behind Palkia on the screen and fired a [Dark Pulse] at its back, causing it to drop its attack.
But then, to their surprise, a second Darkrai appeared behind Dialga and fired the same attack. Dialga was caught off guard and was sent flying backward.
As the two Legendaries staggered, two Deoxys appeared above them, both in their Attack Formes. They started firing [Shadow Balls] one after another, forcing the two Legendary Pokémon onto the defensive.
Just as they tried to guard themselves, multiple Pokémon came flying through the smoke and began attacking them: a Dragonite, a Metagross, a Salamence, a Swellow, a Flygon, and a Charizard.
Then, on the ground, Pokémon were deflecting the blasts that were falling toward the town. Slaking, Swampert, Sceptile, Blaziken, Tyranitar, and others were all working to stop the town from being destroyed.
While most of them didn't know who those Pokémon were, Dawn, who had watched Ash's League battles, lit up, "Those are Ash's Pokémon!"
"Wait, what?" Verity exclaimed, looking over at her, "How can you tell?"
Dawn nodded, "Yeah, I recognize them! That means Ash is still out there, and he's still fighting to buy us time…"
Dawn stared at the screen, watching Ash's Pokémon continue to fight against the two Legendary Pokémon. Every time Palkia or Dialga launched an attack toward the town, one of Ash's Pokémon would intercept it or deflect it away from the buildings. They were fighting against creatures that were practically considered gods, yet they refused to back down.
And somewhere out there, Ash was fighting alongside them, doing everything he could to protect the town and the people in it…and them, too.
For the first time since the sky had changed, Dawn felt a small spark of hope. Ash was still out there. He hadn't given up on them, so why should they give up on themselves?
Dawn suddenly slapped both her cheeks, making Verity and Alice jump in surprise. She straightened up, her hands curling into fists as she looked at the others.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Dawn declared, "Ash is out there fighting to protect us, and his Pokémon are risking everything to buy us time! Even if things look hopeless, there has to be something we can do to help!"
Verity looked back at the screen, watching as Dragonite and the others continued their assault on the Legendary Pokémon, "But what can we do? We're not strong enough to fight something like that, and we don't even know how to stop what's happening!"
"I know!" Dawn exclaimed before lowering her voice a little, "But there has to be something. We just need to figure out what it is."
Tonio remained silent, his eyes fixed on the screen. His mind was racing, desperately searching through everything he had learned about Alamos Town, its history, and the strange events surrounding the Space-Time Tower. There has to be something, he thought to himself.
He had spent so long learning as much as he could about these kinds of things. Surely, somewhere in all that information, there had to be an answer. But what?
His gaze drifted toward the old notebook lying on his desk. Slowly, his eyes widened, "Wait…"
The others turned toward him, "Tonio?" Alice asked.
He hurried over to his desk, snatched up the diary, and began flipping through its pages, "No, no, where was it? I know I read it somewhere…"
His fingers moved faster as he searched through his notes, mumbling to himself until he finally stopped on a particular page, "That's it! I remember now!"
He turned the notebook around so the others could see the passage he had written down, "There's a passage in Gooey's Diary that I completely overlooked. It says, 'My nightmares were trying to tell me what I have to do. I must create the Oración for future generations!'"
Tonio looked up, his expression shifting from panic to sudden realization, "That's it! The Oración must be the key!"
Verity blinked at him, "Hold on. What the heck is an Oración?"
"And more importantly," Dawn interrupted, "where is it?"
Tonio didn't have an answer, but Alice spoke up, "I think I know."
She picked up a picture of the Space-Time Tower, then pointed at the very top, "I'm sure the Oración is up there!"
Everyone turned to look at the picture, "The top of the Space-Time Tower?" Dawn asked.
Tonio stared at the photograph, his mind racing as he considered her words.
"The Oración…" he murmured, "Of course! If Gooey created it as part of the tower's design, then it could still be there!"
"If we're sure, then I guess that means our last hope is at the top of that tower." Verity let out a long, tired sigh before looking up, "Alright, let's do this. Let's get to the top of that tower."