Under the guidance of Meray and Barza, Yuga explored every corner of the Arche Valley that was open to visitors. In truth, the place wasn't much different from an ordinary village in the outside world. The people here lived peacefully and quietly, rising with the sun and resting with its setting.
After touring the valley, Yuga stayed another night at Meray's home, awaiting the next day when Ghris was supposed to help him lift the seal on his Chimecho.
However, the following day, no matter how long Yuga waited, Ghris never showed up. Left with no choice, he eventually asked Meray and Barza about it.
Barza, looking full of apology, said to Yuga, "Mr. Shimizu, I'm really sorry. Great-Grandfather has encountered some issues on his end and can't get away at the moment. Could you please wait just a bit longer?"
What else could Yuga do? He could only keep waiting—he couldn't exactly pressure them into rushing things.
And so, one day turned into the next, with still no word from Ghris. Yuga spent each day touring the valley with Meray and Barza, but the Arche Valley wasn't large. After a few tours, everything started to look the same.
Yuga could tell that Barza and Meray seemed distracted the entire time, as if deeply worried about Ghris. One night, he even noticed that the lights in their rooms stayed on until dawn, and the next day, both of them had dark circles under their eyes.
Yuga wanted to ask about it, but the siblings always appeared evasive and unwilling to speak, so he dropped the matter.
His waiting dragged on until the fifth day of his stay in the Arche Valley.
That day, neither Barza nor Meray came to see him, almost as if it had been coordinated. Not wanting to wander around the valley alone, Yuga stayed inside his room.
Then suddenly, the light in the room dimmed drastically, as though time had jumped from morning to dusk in an instant.
Alarmed, Yuga rushed out of the room and looked up at the sky, only to see a black hole slowly expanding above. In no time, it had engulfed the entire sky.
Rather than saying the black hole had blocked the sky above the valley, it would be more accurate to say it had merged with the very space where the Arche Valley existed.
Other residents of the valley also ran out of their homes just like Yuga . Unlike Yuga—who had been through quite a few crises and managed to remain calm—the locals were thrown into a state of panic by this sudden, bizarre event.
Due to an unbroken line of heritage, the valley was indeed home to a number of powerful Trainers, but the majority of the people in the Arche Valley were ordinary people with no such experience.
Fortunately, the leaders of the Arche Valley reacted swiftly. As soon as the black hole appeared, they began organizing efforts to maintain order—calming the residents while seemingly preparing an evacuation from the valley.
Just as Yuga was about to look for someone to ask what was going on, Meray came running over with a flustered expression.
"Mr. Shimizu, quickly! Come with me—I'll take you out of here."
But Yuga didn't move. "What's happening? What's going on with that black hole?"
Meray grabbed Yuga's arm anxiously. "There's no time to explain. Please, just come with me! The Arche Valley is about to vanish. If you stay here, your life will be in danger!"
Yuga hadn't expected the situation to be this serious. Yet he stood firm and asked, "What about Chief Ghris? What about my Chimecho?"
Tears welled up in Meray's eyes. "The Chief… something's happened to him. He won't be able to help you anymore…"
Their parents had only recently met with tragedy, which was the reason she and Barza had been summoned back to the valley. Now, their great-grandfather had also encountered misfortune—and they were powerless to do anything about it.
Yuga pulled his hand free from Meray's grip. "I'm not leaving until I see Chief Ghris!"
He couldn't just leave his Chimecho sealed inside that ceramic jar forever. Chief Ghris was the only one who could help.
Hearing Yuga's words, Meray grew even more frantic. "Why won't you listen? The Arche Valley is about to disappear! If you stay, you'll be in mortal danger!"
Just then, Barza arrived with a grave expression on his face. "Meray, get ready. You'll be leaving with Mr. Shimizu shortly."
Meray stared at Barza in astonishment. "Then what about you, Brother?"
Barza replied firmly, "Father, Mother, and Great-Grandfather are all here. I can't leave them behind!"
Meray's voice trembled, nearly on the verge of tears. "Then I won't leave either!"
"Meray!"
Barza barked her name sharply. But just as the words left his mouth, a deafening roar erupted from the sky. In the next instant, two Pokémon burst forth from the dark vortex in the heavens, one following the other.
"Dialga! Palkia!" Yuga gasped, unable to comprehend why the two legendary Pokémon had suddenly appeared here.
"Woooo—!"
"Raaaar—!"
The two Legendary Pokemon were clearly not in their normal states. The moment they emerged from the black hole, they clashed violently.
Palkia swung its arm and unleashed a Spatial Rend. Dialga swiftly evaded and countered with a Roar of Time.
Wherever their attacks landed, the fabric of space distorted, giving rise to miniature black holes that mirrored the one in the sky.
The entire space of the Arche Valley became dangerously unstable. No wonder Meray had said the valley was on the brink of vanishing. If Dialga and Palkia continued their rampage, it was only a matter of time before the valley ceased to exist.
Not long after, more than a dozen people on Pokémon mounts flew out of the massive black hole in the sky. They wore the distinctive garments of the Transcendence Clan and immediately began issuing commands to their Pokémon in an attempt to halt the conflict between Dialga and Palkia. Among them was Max, though there was still no sign of Gulith.
These were the elders of the Transcendence Clan, each one at Champion level or beyond—two of them had even reached Master level.
The battle between Dialga and Palkia grew increasingly intense. Their power was overwhelming. A Champion level elder who had just entered the fray was instantly caught in the shockwaves of the battle.
Suddenly, a strange spatial cage formed, trapping the elder and his Pokémon inside. Time within the cage seemed to stop altogether—both trainer and Pokémon frozen like statues, unable to move even slightly.
This spatial cage was the result of the intersecting temporal laws governed by Dialga and the spatial laws controlled by Palkia.
The more than a dozen elders continued to fight with all their might, trying to contain Dialga and Palkia to buy time for their clanspeople to escape the Arche Valley. But as time passed, three or four more elders fell victim to the same fate, trapped within the distorted prison of time and space.
Yuga watched the fierce battle in the sky, unsure of what to do. To prevent the backlash from the godly clash from reaching him, he had already released Latias and Latios to shield himself, Meray, and Barza.
At that moment, one of Dialga's Roars of Time was knocked off course by Palkia and flew straight toward Max, who, preoccupied with rescuing others, hadn't noticed the incoming danger.
"Grandpa Max!" Meray and Barza shouted in unison.
At the same time, Yuga yelled, "Latias, Latios—Dragon Pulse!"
The two Pokémon immediately understood. They launched twin beams of dragon-shaped energy, which merged into a powerful wave and collided head-on with Dialga's Roar of Time.
Boom—
With a deafening explosion, the Roar of Time was successfully intercepted just in time. Max, realizing it was Yuga who had saved him, cast a grateful glance in his direction.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Shimizu!" Meray and Barza said, their voices filled with gratitude.
Yuga thought for a moment and then said to the siblings, "You two should leave this place now. If you get caught up in the battle, things could turn disastrous."
"But what about you?" Meray asked.
Yuga responded, "I'm going to find Chief Ghris!" Without another word, he climbed onto Latios's back and flew off toward Max.
"But…" Meray wanted to tell Yuga that her great-grandfather was trapped inside the space-time cage, but before she could even speak, Yuga had already vanished from her sight.
Yuga rode Latios, with Latias following closely behind, and approached Max. "Mr. Max, where is Chief Ghris?" he asked.
Max pointed toward the enormous black hole overhead. "The Chief is trapped in there!" Not just the Chief—Meray and Barza's parents, as well as several elders of the Transcendence Clan, were all imprisoned inside.
As the gatekeeper of the Arche Valley, Max rarely returned home. Though he had heard the Transcendence Clan was in danger, he believed that with the Chief present, there would be no serious issue. To him, the Chief had always been the strongest person he knew.
But upon returning this time…
The Transcendence Clan were guardians of the Creator, Arceus. The Arche Valley, where they resided, was directly connected to the space where Arceus resided. If something happened here, Arceus would undoubtedly be affected.
More than a thousand years ago, for reasons unknown, Arceus had suddenly fallen into a deep slumber. He had only recently awakened and then quickly returned to sleep again. If he were disturbed, who knew what consequences might follow?
(Note: Arceus's slumber over a thousand years ago was due to giving his Plates to Damos, the ancestor of the Temple Clan. He awoke recently to reclaim the Plates according to a promise and went back to rest afterward, needing to recuperate after regaining all the Plates.)
After hearing Max's explanation, Yuga fell into deep thought. If Chief Ghris was also trapped in the space-time cage, then there was truly nothing Yuga could do to rescue him—unless…
His gaze instinctively shifted to Dialga and Palkia, who were still locked in fierce combat.
Max, struck by a sudden idea, turned to Yuga and said, "Mr. Shimizu, please help us. If the Arche Valley can survive this crisis, we will forever remember your kindness."
To be honest, Max had never expected Yuga to be accompanied by the legendary Pokémon Latias and Latios. Their presence was an astonishing surprise—not just for him, but for the entire Valley.
"Alright!" Yuga agreed without hesitation, thinking of Ghris.
He immediately released Florges and helped her onto Latias's back. Then, he summoned Lunala.
Yuga didn't believe that Latias and Latios alone would be enough to handle Dialga and Palkia—two overwhelmingly powerful Legendary Pokemon.
"Florges, Lunala, I'm counting on you!" Yuga called out.
"Florges~"
"Lunala~"
The two Pokémon responded in unison and, together with Latias and Latios, soared toward Dialga and Palkia.
Boom!
Dialga's Roar of Time collided with Palkia's Spacial Rend once again, creating several more black holes. Simultaneously, yet another elder of the Arche Valley was trapped in a space-time prison.
Under Yuga's command, Lunala's Moongeist Beam and Latios's Dragon Pulse struck toward Palkia, while Florges 's Moonblast and Latias's Dragon Pulse simultaneously targeted Dialga.
Boom!
Palkia and Dialga were focused solely on each other, completely disregarding the other Pokémon and humans around them. As a result, the Moongeist Beam and Dragon Pulse struck Palkia directly—one hit its head, the other its shoulder. Meanwhile, Moonblast and another Dragon Pulse landed cleanly on Dialga's neck and waist.
The intense pain finally caught the attention of the two Legendary Pokémon, causing them to momentarily shift their focus away from each other.
It was at that moment that Yuga realized—these two Pokémon had seemingly lost all rationality.
"Roooar!"
Without hesitation, Dialga unleashed a Flash Cannon at Florges and Latias. The silvery beam of light engulfed both Pokémon in an instant.
At the same time, Palkia fired a Hydro Pump at Yuga, Latios, and Lunala. Latios, caught off guard, had no time to react. Fortunately, Lunala's speed was astonishing. With a single teleport, it appeared in front of Yuga and Latios, summoning a massive Dark Burst.
A vast black vortex materialized suddenly, absorbing Palkia's Hydro Pump completely. Yuga and Latios narrowly escaped disaster. But before Yuga could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Florges and Latias still trapped in the blinding light of Dialga's Flash Cannon.
"Latias! Florges!"
Yuga cried out in alarm. As the silver light finally dispersed, the two Pokémon emerged, badly battered and struggling to stay aloft. Yuga immediately tossed restorative energy toward them.
Thanks to Yuga's healing energy and Latias's own Recover ability, her injuries vanished almost instantly.
Florges's condition was worse, but after Latias recovered, she quickly followed up with a Heal Pulse, stabilizing her comrade.
After launching their respective attacks, Dialga and Palkia once again became fixated on each other, ignoring everyone else as though nothing had happened.
They were simply too powerful—unreasonably so. Yuga's group had barely engaged and already suffered heavy blows.
Lunala was the only one with enough power to compete with the two Legendary Pokémon, but having been born so recently, it simply hadn't accumulated the vast experience and strength of these ancient beings. No matter how high its starting point was, it couldn't truly match them. Its impact wasn't as great as Yuga had hoped.
Seeing the situation deteriorate rapidly, Yuga realized that trying to stop the two Legendary Pokémon directly might be impossible. So he turned to Florges, Latias, and Lunala and said: "Do your best to stall them!"
He had to go find help!
Yuga guided Latios to the side and took out his communicator, intending to call home. However, the dimension they were in was completely independent and further disrupted by the clash of the two Legendaries, making it impossible to get a signal.
Gritting his teeth, Yuga looked down at Latios and said, "Latios, let's get out of here!"
And with that, human and Pokémon soared at full speed toward the exit of the Arche Valley.
Due to the emergency evacuation of the Transcendence Clan, the exit to the valley had been left wide open. Yuga and Latios encountered no obstacles as they flew out of the Arche Valley.
At that same moment, far off on a mountain peak overlooking Windrip Ravine, a woman stood alongside a Pokémon, observing the entrance to the Arche Valley.
"Did a Latios just fly out of there?" the woman suddenly asked. She didn't dare get too close, so she hadn't noticed Yuga on Latios's back.
"No wonder they're considered the mightiest of the ancient clans. They actually have a Latios among them!" the woman exclaimed in awe.