“…And then Audrey’s Unfezant found us, and she led us to the town,” Jason finished. “By the way, what is this town’s name, anyway?”
“Maresburg,” Audrey replied. “It was a silver mining town a long time ago, apparently. The Silverdust family are the only ones who didn’t leave after the mines ran out of ore, and their descendants are the family letting us stay here.”
“Oh! That’s right!” Jason exclaimed, startling his family as he suddenly stood up. “I was supposed to talk with them! Later Mom! Later Dad! Take care, Sis!”
And he was suddenly gone, on his bicycle riding towards the house at the opposite end of the town where the Silverdust family lived.
“As full of energy as always,” Bethany giggled. “Even becoming Champion didn’t change our son one bit.”
“No it didn’t,” Arthur replied, laughing alongside his wife.
“Mom! Dad! I was Champion, too, you know!” Audrey huffed, able to understand her parents because Bontor’s Psychic translator was still in effect.
“Jason and his team defeated you, though,” her mother reminded her.
“You were such a good sport about it then,” her father added. “Why are you suddenly pouting now?”
“I’m not pouting,” Audrey sighed. “It’s just that you two were so proud of Jason, but I barely got a mention, even though I became Champion before he did!”
Her parents looked to each other, then took their daughter in a group hug, being careful not to crush her, especially since they were still a pair of physically-strong Pokémon while their daughter had returned to being a small eight-year-old human girl.
“Audrey, I’m sorry we didn’t pay attention to your accomplishment,” her father said. “There’s no excuse. You’re my daughter, and I love you. Can you forgive me?”
“I’m sorry, too,” her mother added. “Can you forgive both of us for being so foolish?”
“Of course, Mom, Dad,” Audrey said with a warm smile. “Now, I think it’s time my team and I got some proper Trainer/team bonding in for the first time since we ended up here.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Maresburg…
Jason made a hard turn and put out a foot as his bike skidded to a stop in front of the Silverdust family’s house.
After folding his bike back up and returning it to his bag, he knocked on the door once, and it was engulfed in a cyan aura and pulled open. The aura matched the color of light emanating from Dusty Dune’s horn.
A large group of ponies started to surround Jason after he stepped inside. Some were small enough to hold in his hand, others looked about half-grown, having longer legs and larger builds, but still looking young, a group of four fully-grown couples were also there, and finally, there was Dusty Dune and Sunny Skies, both looking far older than the rest.
“Sakes alive, ev’rypony!” Dusty exclaimed as Jason found the large group crowding him. “Ah doubt he likes the whole scad of ya smotherin’ him like that! Back off!”
The large group of ponies backed away and took seats all over the room, all of them looking at Jason.
“Sorry fer our family, there,” Sunny sighed. “They can get really excited sometimes.”
“It’s fine, ma’am,” Jason replied with a smile. “Thank you for letting everyone from my hometown stay here, by the way.”
“T’wern’t nuthin’,” the old mare chuckled. “They were quite sore ‘bout wut happened to ‘em, though.”
“I can understand that,” Jason sighed. “Glitterwings is really mad about Arceus’ actions, herself.
“If I ever get back to full power, I’ll storm the Hall of Legends myself!” Glitterwings’ voice screamed from her Net Ball. “But not until I have a large number of Trainers restored first! Arceus may be able to beat me one-on-one, but with enough combined power, he can be beaten! Taking him down a peg or two should knock some sense into that old loon and tell him to get with the times! Maybe I’ll even use one of Jason’s Master Balls on the old Gogoat! That’d show him! The most powerful Pokémon in existence, in a habitat that’s been compressed to fit in a capsule the size of a baseball! Of course, he’d immediately use the internal trigger to open it from the inside, but it’d teach him some humility, at least!”
“Glitterwings!” Jason snapped, pulling her Net Ball from his belt and holding it up to his face. “Don’t use my Pokéballs as weapons!”
“I make no promises, but for you, I’ll try to hold in my temper, Jason,” Glitterwings replied.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Jason returned the Ball to his belt and noticed that every single pony in the room was staring at him, their mouths agape.
“Eheh… Sorry about that,” Jason chuckled in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.
“No harm done,” Dusty chuckled good-naturedly. “Now, It looks like ye’re under a lotta stress, son. We’ll introduce ev’rypony by name later. Fer now, we’ll jus’ show ya how many are in our family.”
“Firs’, we have our two sons an’ their wives,” Sunny said, nodding towards two stallions: one, a pegasus, the other, a unicorn. The pegasus had an Earth Pony mare with him, while the unicorn was apparently married to a pegasus.
“Next, our two daughters, an’ their husbands,” Dusty added, nodding towards two mares, both Earth Ponies. One was married to a unicorn, the other to a pegasus.
“Now, we have a lot of grandchildren,” Dusty chuckled, motioning to the smaller ponies all around the room. “The youngest is five, an’ the oldest is thirteen. There’s twenty of ‘em in all. All of our children each have five of their own.”
“Now, we’d ask ya t’ stay fer dinner, an’ even invite yer family, but yer looking really fidgety right now,” Sunny noted.
“Yeah,” Jason said with a nod, trying to keep his feet still as he felt a huge urge to tap his feet. “I think I’d better leave for now.”
“Well, come back soon, y’hear?” Dusty called after Jason as he left the house.
“Sure thing!” Jason replied as he got on his bike and started to cycle back to his family.
However, he didn’t make it all the way to where they were staying, for his sister met him halfway on her own bicycle, the two of them skidding to a halt to avoid a collision.
“Jason, I really need to ask you something,” Audrey said, her voice steely.
“What is it sis?” Jason inquired, confused by his sister’s unusually serious attitude.
“My friends and I want a rematch,” Audrey replied. “Bontor used his Psychic translator so I could understand him and the others, and they want to rematch you. It doesn’t matter if you put your title on the line or not. They all heard what Glitterwings was screaming, and they want to help. They don’t care if we don’t win. They just want to be sure they have enough strength to be able to help Glitterwings out.”
“Sis, I—” Jason began, but Audrey cut him off.
“Jason, if you won’t accept my offer for a friendly battle, you’ll force me to challenge you for your title,” she said firmly. “You know that a League Champion isn’t allowed to turn down a challenge from a Trainer with all eight badges.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her Trainer Card case, opened it, and revealed that her eight Salintra League badges had also been restored. “Either way, we’re battling so my friends can prove themselves. Please don’t make me force your hand. Every former Trainer from Salintra who got brought to this world will see you as a beacon of hope, but if they learn you lost your title, they won’t be as inclined to put their faith in you. Please Jason! A friendly battle?”
Jason sighed and shook his head sadly. “Audrey, I wish we could, but Glitterwings—”
“I’m fine, Jason,” Glitterwings’ voice suddenly cut in, coming from her Net Ball. “I may be recharging my Legendary powers, but my battle strength is unchanged. Besides, the energy from you two functioning as Trainers in battle will speed up my recharging process. Humans are an even greater power source when they are fulfilling their part of the Trainer/Pokémon relationship. Battle her, Jason. Do it.”
Jason nodded, then smiled at his sister, causing her to grin, too. “A friendly battle it is, then,” Jason said as he got off his bike.
Audrey did the same, and after the two siblings put away their modes of transportation, they nodded to each other and walked to opposite sides of the street to provide plenty of room.
Pokémon—both former humans and those who had been Pokémon all their lives— started to pour into the dusty streets to watch the battle. Even the Silverdust family left their house and spread out so they could all watch, for they’d never seen a Pokémon battle before.
“Single, Double, Triple or Rotation?” Jason asked as a slight wind picked up. “Your choice, sis.”
“Single,” Audrey replied after thinking for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes grew huge as a realization hit her. “Wait! How will the loser revive their team? There’s no Pokémon Centers or healing machines here!”
Professor Maple stepped out of the crowd right then and said, “One of my lab assistants got turned into a Blissey. She can help whoever loses.”
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to face her big brother again, pulled the first Pokéball from her waist and cried, “Go! Unfezant! I know you can do it!”
The bird Pokémon emerged from her Pokéball and said, “Well? Who you gonna send out, Jason? We’re ready for anyone you have on your belt!”
“Go! Burst!” Jason cried as he threw the Ultra Ball. “You’ve got this, buddy!”
The large, if somewhat disarmingly cute dragon emerged from his Ball, and gave the Unfezant huge puppydog eyes.
“Please don’t be too hard on me, okay?” he pleaded.
“Ugh! You know that that only worked the first time, Burst!” the Unfezant groaned. “We all know how dangerous you Nukrensts really are by now! Give it a rest!”
“Fine,” Burst sighed. “Let’s get to it then, shall we? Jason! What should we kick it off with?”
“Take her out with one shot!” Jason suggested. “You know the move.”
“Oh, yes I do,” Burst chuckled. “Sorry Unfezant, but this is going to be the Champion match all over again. Thousand Volts!”
Burst’s entire body glowed yellow as it crackled with electric energy, and he placed his claws together before launching a beam of highly condensed electricity from his claws at the bird.
“Oh dear,” was all she managed to get out before the blast connected. However, she dropped to the ground, dug in her talons, and fought to endure the most powerful Electric move, in spite of it having the strength of Hyper Beam.
Burst was panting for breath, a triumphant look on his face, which quickly faded when he saw the Unfezant take back to the air, panting just as hard, looking like she could drop out of the air at any second.
Jason shook his head in disbelief. “Wait, you’ve been using Pokémon Amie?”
“Yep!” Audrey chirped. “It helped you beat me, so I decided that besides just battling with my friends, I should play with them, too! And just look how it paid off! Great job, Unfezant! Now get him with U-Turn!”
“On it!” the bird panted before flying straight for Burst, who was too exhausted to dodge. The move he’d used had drained him quite a bit.
“Gaahh!” Burst cried out as one of his few weaknesses struck him, the bird flying back to her Trainer, who returned her to her Ball before throwing out another.
“Go! Dratic! You can do it!” Audrey shouted as she threw the Ball, which opened to reveal a forward-leaning bipedal insect-like dragon with a blue exoskeleton, four long and thin orange spikes at the end of her tail, black and red arms and legs ending in claws, eyes with orange irises, a sharp and long yellow horn jutting straight forward from the top of her head, somewhat tall triangular ears, and a pair of violet-topped wings with green membranes.
“Heya, Burst!” the Bug/Dragon-type said, waving a claw in greeting. “Boy, you look tired!”
“Not you again…” Burst groaned.
“Aww… That’s no way to greet an old friend!” the Dratic said sadly. “If you want mercy, you gotta be nicer than that!”
“Do your worst,” Burst sighed.
“Audrey?” the Dratic asked, looking over her shoulder at her Trainer.
“Well, he said to do your worst,” Audrey giggled. “So give him your worst!”
“Yes, ma’am!” she replied with a nod and a salute. “Sorry dear. Outrage!”
The insect-like dragon rushed for Burst, striking him hard with his greatest weakness, eliciting a cry of pain that echoed through the town and caused the ponies to cringe and the Pokémon to all watch with baited breath.
“Ugh… Is… Is that the best you’ve got?” Burst coughed as he got back up, also having used his bond with his Trainer to gain the willpower to barely hang on.
“Jason! Quick! It’s Adorakill’s turn!” Burst shouted.
Jason nodded and said, “Burst, get back! You did well!” Once Burst was back in his Ultra Ball, Jason detached a Dive Ball from his belt and threw it, shouting, “Adorakill! You got this!”
The Ball opened to reveal the Dragbloo, who didn’t waste time trying to use his cute facade to disarm his opponent. He didn’t need to. The Dratic knew she was screwed.
“Hey there,” was all Adorakill said before the Bug/Dragon-type gulped, her rampage stopped by Adorakill being part Fairy. “We’ve been here before,” Adorakill chuckled. “And you know what’s coming. Just say the word, Jason!”
“Get her!” Jason said excitedly.
“Say no more!” Adorakill laughed. “Shimmering Swipe!”
His front “fins” glowed a brilliant pink before he raked them across the Dratic’s stomach, producing a loud hiss of pain as the Fairy move struck extra hard.
“Sorry, but I’m not powerless against you like I used to be!” the Dratic said, her voice shaky. “Audrey? Do we switch, or do I attack?”
“Let’s have someone else take over for now,” Audrey replied before returning her to the safety of her Pokéball and throwing out another, shouting, “Steelix! You can do it!”
The Ball opened to reveal the named Steel/Ground type, who took one look at her opponent and laughed.
“A Dragbloo? Is this some kind of joke?” she scoffed. “There’s nothing a Dragbloo can do to me!”
“Jason?” Adorakill whimpered. “She’s right. My Brick Break won’t be enough to get through her defenses before she wrecks me!”
“I understand,” Jason replied. “Get back, Adorakill!” The Dragbloo was returned to his Dive Ball, and then Jason threw out a Pokéball, shouting, “Wanda! You can do this! I believe in you!”
The named Floodrine emerged from her Ball and chuckled. “So, you ready to get schooled?”
“I won’t lose to you again!” the Steelix shot back, electricity crackling from her jaws. “I’ve learned some new tricks since last time!”
“Yeah, whatever,” Wanda sighed, waving a paw like it didn’t matter and sounding extremely bored. “I’ll Mega Evolve, and you’ll get crushed, just like last time.”
“My Sturdy ability’s all I’ll need to change your tune!” the Steelix shot back. “Just watch!”
“Oh, really?” Wanda giggled. “Now this I gotta see. Jason! I’m ready for Mega Evolution!”
“On it!” Jason responded before touching his Keystone and shouting, “Mega Band, activate!”
“Woohoo!” Wanda cheered as she once again took on her ultimate form. “Now, let’s see if you can handle this! Prismatic Blast!”
“Shoot! A Light attack!” the Steelix exclaimed before the multicolored laser connected and dealt incredible damage to the Steel-type, reducing her all the way down to just barely conscious, hanging on due to her Sturdy ability.
“Well, here we go!” the Steelix announced after Audrey gave her a nod and a thumbs up. “Thunder Fang!”
“Crap!” Wanda exclaimed right before the metal snake’s jaws clamped down on her, leaving behind the obvious signs of paralysis.
“Awesome! Now we have more time!” Audrey cheered. “Jason’s gonna have to heal that, so…” Audrey reached into her bag and pulled out a Full Restore. “Here you go, Steelix!” she said as she sprayed the massive snake with the spray, producing a sigh of relief. “Good as new!”
Jason grimaced, but did the same for Wanda, spraying her with a Full Restore and rubbing her shoulders before sending her back into the fight.
“Thanks, Jason!” Wanda called over her shoulder.
“No problem!” Jason replied with a thumbs up of his own. “Now, let’s do it again!”
“Sure thing!” Wanda replied. “Prismatic Blast!”
“Steelix! Great job!” Audrey said as she returned Wanda’s intended target to her Ball and pulled out another one. “Time to meet your best with my best! Go! Bontor! I trust you all the way!”
The Fire/Psychic raptor Pokémon from earlier emerged from his Ball and snickered as the multi-hued laser connected, but did no damage at all.
“So sorry, missy,” he chuckled. “Looks like ya’ve gotta face meh ag’in! An’ this time, Ah ain’t losin’!” Looking back at Audrey, he chuckled, “Let’s show ‘em wut Ah kin do! Jus’ ta remind em!”
“Mega Band, activate!” Audrey shouted as she touched the Keystone on her own Mega Band, enveloping her own first Pokémon with pink light, which exploded outwards, revealing his own ultimate form: He now had tubes connected to his skull, running from one part to another, all around his brain. In addition, the flames on his body burned solid white, and he was coated in a violet aura, emanating immense Psychic power. He’d become a Mega Bontor.
“Now it’s Mega vs Mega!” the opposing Mega snickered. “Ah kept tellin’ ya Ah’d bust ya up good one of these days, an’ that day’ll be today, missy!”
“Wanda—” Jason said nervously, preparing to return her to her Ball.
“Jason, I can do this!” Wanda snapped. “We’re weak to each other, but he’s built for power and speed, while I’m built to be balanced! I can take him! Don’t force me out of this battle! If I can beat Nancy’s Seqursine in his Mega form, I can beat Audrey’s Bontor, too!”
“Okay then, just remember he’s faster,” Jason replied, still nervous.
“I’ve never forgotten,” Wanda chuckled. “And his speed isn't gonna stop me now!”
“Are ya sure missy?” the other Mega chuckled. “Cuz Ah’m gonna nail ya in one hit! Psychic!”
Wanda screeched in pain from the assault on her mind, but managed to endure the attack just enough where she could have enough energy to set up for a big combo.
“Memory Spiral!” she shouted before the copper field appeared and she added Protect to her arsenal.
“Now ta finish ya! Psychic!” the Mega Bontor laughed as he launched another assault on Wanda’s mind.
“Not gonna work!” Wanda giggled. “Protect!”
“Not this ag’in!” her opponent groaned. “Ya always do that! Ev’ry time!”
“If it works, why bother changing how I battle?” Wanda replied before shouting, “Memory Spiral!”
The copper field appeared again, along with the echo of Protect. As she returned the knowledge of Aqua Ring to her arsenal, she felt the mental assault of Psychic and grunted from the pain. Though the attack was weakened by the echo, it still hurt. In fact, she didn’t have enough energy for using Aqua Ring without getting knocked out.
“Jason! I need a Max Potion!” Wanda called over her shoulder to her Trainer, who immediately pulled one out and sprayed her with it. “Thanks for the assist!”
Jason smiled and nodded, but Wanda immediately returned her focus to the battle at paw when her opponent shouted, “Jus’ go down already! Psychic!”
The attack struck hard, but Wanda still had a little bit above half of her energy remaining, meaning she could take the risk of attempting Aqua Ring.
“Psychic!” the Mega Bontor shouted, trying to finish her off, but only succeeded in forcing her to her knees as she had barely any energy left.
“Aqua Ring!” Wanda choked out as a ring of healing water surrounded her, restoring some of her energy.
“Now, ya stop that this instant, missy!” her opponent growled. “Ah’m not lettin’ ya pull this trick ag’in! Not after what ya did with it in the Champion battle! Half the team fainted cuz of ya!”
“Then you’d better stop me now,” Wanda chuckled before saying, “Jason! Another Max Potion, if you please!”
“On it!” Jason replied, spraying her whole body with the soothing medicine, healing her to full again.
“Ah know he’s got deep pockets,” the Mega Bontor scoffed. “But ya can’t keep it up forever! Psychic!”
Wanda groaned as she once again was struck by a powerful move she was weak to, but she held her ground.
“Yer goin’ down!” her opponent chuckled. “Psychic!”
“Protect!” Wanda said as she threw up the bubble shield again.
“Dadgumit! Stop doin’ that!” her opponent growled. “Ah’m almost outta energy fer Psychic!”
“No,” Wanda replied. “If you didn’t have any PP Ups or PP Maxes used on you, that’s your problem, not mine. Memory Spiral!”
This time, Wanda grabbed the final piece of the combo: Substitute.
Once again, her opponent struck her with Psychic, but it was once again weakened, giving her the opening she needed.
“Substitute!” Wanda cried, expending some of her energy to develop an energy clone of herself to use as a shield.
“No! She pulled it off ag’in!” the opposing Mega groaned. “Ah’m done fer, now! She’ll jus’ keep usin’ Hydro Cannon from behind her little shield!”
“Exactly!” Wanda giggled. “Sorry, but it’s over for you! Hydro Cannon!”
“Bontor! Get back!” Audrey exclaimed as she quickly returned her starter to the safety of his portable home. “Go! Drenchuku! You can take her!”
The next Pokéball opened, revealing a large ball of seaweed with a mouth, eyes, arms and legs.
The attack connected, but though it was incredibly powerful, the new opponent’s Grass/Water typing made the damage easily handleable.
“Sorry, honey, but you know you can’t beat me,” the Drenchuku giggled, a huge grin on her face. “And now you have to recharge, too. What a pity.”
Wanda ground her teeth in frustration as she continued to hide behind her energy clone shield. As with most moves of that caliber, it expended a lot of energy to use it.
“I have no such problems, though!” the Drenchuku laughed. “That shield’s as good as gone! Energy Ball!”
A ball of green energy struck Wanda’s duplicate, destroying it in one shot.
“Wanda, I know you want to continue, but you and I both know you can’t beat her!” Jason said firmly. “Please listen to reason and let me recall you! I don’t want you to get hurt!”
“No!” Wanda snapped. “Jason, another Max Potion, and I should be fine!”
“Wanda, we have to conserve our medicines at some point,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “The portal may still be open, but I don’t think Earth’s in a very good state right now. We can’t simply return there to shop, you know.”
Wanda sighed, then nodded. “Okay Jason, send her out.”
Jason nodded, then returned Wanda to her Pokéball, then grabbed the Net Ball at his waist, then threw it into the battle, shouting, “Glitterwings! It’s your time to shine! You can do it!”
The massive moth emerged from her Ball and immediately took to the air. Color had already started to seep back into her wings, but the normal brilliant rainbow of colors that made her one of the most beautiful Pokémon of all were washed out and faded.
“Well, Jason, I’m ready,” Glitterwings announced. “Give me a command.”
“Oh no,” the Drenchuku gulped as she stared up at the Legendary. “Audrey, don’t call me back. I’m going to take one for the team. We know she isn’t faster than me, so I can get in one shot. We need whoever takes over for me to come in at full strength.”
“But…!” Audrey began to protest, but her Pokémon turned to her and smiled, cutting her off.
“Steelix can handle this,” the Grass/Water-type told her Trainer. “She’s got Thunder Fang and Stone Edge. But Glitterwings is a beast. It’ll take more than one of us to take her down. I’m willing to take one for the team.”
Audrey nodded, tears in her eyes, and said, “Okay, hit her with the best you can throw at her!”
“On it!” her Pokémon replied before putting both hands in front of her and crying, “Blizzard!”
“Gah!” Glitterwings grunted as she took a heavy hit from the Ice-type attack. It didn’t help that the move hit her where it hurts most, dealing extra damage.
But before Glitterwings countered, her Stress Morph kicked in, turning her wings into neon oranges and sky blues. Still washed out, but it was obvious that she had just taken one of her strongest modes: Eternity Mode, which imitated Serene Grace.
“Sorry Sweetie Pie,” Glitterwings said before shouting, “Scale Storm!”
Flapping her wings with incredible force, Glitterwings whipped up a gust of wind filled with silvery scales. But unlike Silver Wind, the gusts intensified, turning into a scale-filled tornado, which struck her opponent with incredible force, knocking her out.
“Drenchuku!” Audrey gasped as she returned the fallen Pokémon to her Pokéball. “Steelix! Don’t let us down! Drenchuku said to put our faith in you!”
A Pokéball from before was thrown out again, revealing Audrey’s Steelix once more.
“Don’t worry, Audrey,” the Steelix assured her Trainer. “I got this. Just continue to support me, and I can take her down.”
But just as Audrey started to smile at that, Glitterwings took on a silvery glow for a few seconds, and it became obvious to all that she had become twice as strong in all categories.
“Well, this just got harder,” Steelix muttered. “But I’ll still beat her!”
“We’ll see about that!” Glitterwings shouted, her wings regaining a little more color with every passing minute. “Prismatic Blast!”
“Drat, forgot she also has the exact same Light move as Wanda,” Steelix groaned right before the move connected, then screamed, “Why did they make that move a TM?”
Steelix lay on the ground, breathing hard, but thanks to Sturdy, she was still in the fight. “You’re going down first, big shot! Stone Edge!”
The Steel-Type summoned sharpened stones and threw them at Glitterwings, eliciting a groan of pain as they dealt heavy damage in spite of the moth’s bolstered defenses.
“Enough, both of you,” Glitterwings panted. “This battle doesn’t need to continue any longer. Audrey has proven her strength. It may have looked like her team was getting demolished, but that’s not the point. She stood strong and didn’t let their pain drive her to surrender, nor did she not care for them. She is everything a Trainer should be. I’m declaring this battle a draw.”
“What?” both siblings and most of the town exclaimed.
“I absorbed quite a bit of power from Audrey during that battle, just as much as I did from Jason,” Glitterwings explained. “There was no need for all of their Pokémon to take part in that battle. “Oh, and to the both of you, a gift: I’ll personally heal all of your Pokémon, myself included, with some of my regained Legendary powers. it’ll set my recharge back by about half an hour, but it’ll be well worth it. That way, Professor Maple’s assistant won’t have to figure out how to act as a Blissey.”
More rainbow light covered the area, causing Glitterwings’ wings to fade a little as they also returned to a faded version of their normal color scheme.
“Now that that’s done,” Glitterwings sighed tiredly. “I’m going to put up my translation field. I’ll also be taking a nap out here, so if any of you need to talk to me, you’ll easily find me.
Another wave of rainbow energy washed over the area, and Glitterwings settled down on the flat roof of an abandoned hotel to rest, leaving the bewildered town to puzzle out her reasoning for ending the battle right in the middle on their own.
Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Legends…
“Yes, I think I’ve got it,” Donalyra mused as he continued to glow a brilliant white. “So that’s how magic fits into everything!”
“Hey, you two, how’s Donny coming along?” a voice asked from outside the room. The two looked to see the one Legendary besides Arceus who was allowed to call Donalyra ‘Donny’: Voiral, the Keeper of the Time-Space Continuum, servant of both Palkia and Dialga, as well as the father of the guardian trio.
Well, “see” isn’t the best word for it, they more “sensed” him, and saw his sparkling golden aura in the area. He was apparently monitoring the space-time continuum at the moment, placing him in a parallel plane of existence for the time being.
“Hey, Dad,” Cosmaraid replied, waving in the general direction of where the Continuum Pokémon’s voice was coming from. “Donalyra’s almost ready to take up his new protection role, as well as…”
“As well as what?” Voiral’s voice asked, his tone clearly indicating that he wouldn’t take “it’s nothing” for an answer.
“Well, y’see…” Cosmaraid chuckled nervously. “Donalyra thought that sis might come around, so he left a portal for her…”
“You WHAT?” Voiral’s voice exclaimed. “She may be your sister, but she’s also my daughter! If she came through—”
“She did,” the two brothers sighed.
“You two imbeciles!” their father snapped. “Unless she has a change of heart, Lord Arceus will destroy her! Or worse! I won’t let that happen to my daughter, no matter how rebellious she’s being right now!”
“That’s why we’re trying to find her,” Donalyra explained. “Without Lord Arceus knowing. If we can’t persuade her to our side, we’ll send her back to Earth. Please don’t let any non-Salintran Legendaries find out, Dad! They’ll take the news right to Lord Arceus! The Legendaries from Salintra can keep a secret if one of us tells them to, but the others would tell Lord Arceus, and he’d send as many Legendaries as possible to subdue her!”
“I know, my sons, I know,” Voiral replied. “I’d come out of the continuum right now to help you search, but the entrance is in my room, and it’d take a while to get there. But once I’m done with my patrol, I’ll join the two of you in your hunt for Giganoth. Just don’t do anything rash.”
“Yes, Dad,” the two brothers said in unison as their father’s aura left, moving to another part of the continuum.
“If Dad finds out that she’s restoring humans, it’ll get even worse,” Cosmaraid noted. “Don’t let it slip, brother.”
“I didn’t intend to,” Donalyra huffed. “Now, I just need a few more minutes to get properly in tune with the magic of this world, and I’ll be ready.”