"Please wait just a moment, Guardian of the Seas. Anabel should be arriving shortly," Lance said after a brief pause, breaking the silence.
Since Lugia had already arrived, it wouldn't be appropriate to delay the operation—even if Anabel wasn't here yet. After all, Lance had been appointed by Goodshow to lead this mission.
"It's all right. She won't be long," Lugia replied, calm and composed. "But we'll need a few more allies."
With that, Lugia let out a deep, resonant cry. Rings of shimmering blue energy pulsed outward from its body, rippling through the sky above.
The energy wave seemed to stretch into infinity. Even those standing beside Lugia could see the sky begin to blur, the very air vibrating under the pressure.
Suddenly, on the distant horizon, two spiraling wormholes—one blue, one violet—collapsed inward in spherical bursts. From within them emerged two enormous figures, divine and majestic, rapidly closing the distance.
"They're…" Cynthia stared in awe at the approaching silhouettes, eyes wide with disbelief.
As a lifelong archaeologist and scholar of mythology, she had dedicated her life to uncovering them—the legendary avatars of Arceus: Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon, and Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon.
...
Meanwhile, Drake rode atop his Dragonite, his expression grim as he approached the Pummelo Islands.
His mutated Dragonite had battered, ice-laced wings with visible fractures. The spikes protruding from its body were broken in several places. Despite its battered appearance, its flight speed remained undeterred.
After encountering Zapdos on Lightning Island and being infected, Drake and his team had planned a swift retreat.
But unlike the more reclusive Moltres, Zapdos was relentless in its pursuit, chasing them from island to island—until they reached Ice Island.
Perhaps sensing its territory had been invaded by two Pokémon of King-level power, the island's guardian acted before they even landed. A majestic blue bird Pokémon took to the skies to confront them.
As Drake expected, the ruler of Ice Island was none other than the Legendary Pokémon Articuno.
The three mighty Pokémon quickly clashed midair in a fierce, chaotic battle.
Articuno and Zapdos, seemingly harboring an ancient grudge, locked into a personal duel, almost forgetting Dragonite entirely.
Seizing the moment, Drake dispatched his Gengar to sneak into the heart of the island and successfully steal a glowing blue orb.
With that, Hive's mission was considered complete.
But as Drake turned to leave, Articuno realized the orb was gone—and immediately launched an attack on Dragonite.
With Dragonite's weakness to Ice-type moves, Drake had no choice but to send out all his Pokémon at once.
During the battle, his Venusaur was struck by Articuno's Sheer Cold—and perished instantly. The rest of his team were all injured to various degrees.
Though Articuno was eventually driven off by Zapdos and the combined force of Drake's team, the cost was high.
Thankfully, Dragonite's final Dragon Rush struck true, wounding and infecting Articuno—making the loss somewhat worthwhile.
Even so, the death of a partner Pokémon weighed heavily on Drake.
Damn it... If only I'd trained them better... Maybe Venusaur wouldn't have died...
Determined, Drake vowed that the first thing he'd do upon returning to Pummelo Island was strengthen the rest of his team—like Dragonite had evolved through mutation.
Time passed.
Lucius could feel himself gaining deeper control over the deity before him—Azelf, the Being of Willpower.
It must have been daytime outside by now.
Since this secluded space was surrounded by rock with no natural light, Lucius could only track time via his communicator.
Looking at Azelf, now collapsed to the ground rather than floating, Lucius knew he had successfully infected it.
It had taken over ten hours.
Lucius noted that it was nearly noon.
Ignoring Azelf's look of disbelief, he began to explore its memories.
So this was Lake Valor—the spiritual center of Sinnoh.
This dimension had been formed by Azelf itself, anchored at the heart of the lake as a sanctuary for sleep and solitude.
And through this pocket space, one could connect to the other lakes: Lake Verity, where Mesprit—the Being of Emotion—rested, and Lake Acuity, where Uxie—the Being of Knowledge—slept.
A century ago, Arceus had prophesied that the world would face catastrophic disruption from interdimensional turbulence. Following that, Dialga had issued an order for the lake guardians to assemble powerful Pokémon armies in preparation for the coming war.
All three had obeyed, but due to their nature, they had to undergo ten-year periods of sleep every thirty years to recover their divine energy. Currently, all three were in hibernation.
Azelf had formed its army from the Pokémon inhabiting the Crystal Caves. The others likely left their troops in the care of powerful Pokémon like Gardevoir.
If Lucius could locate Mesprit and Uxie, he could absorb their legions as well.
The guardians had constructed their realms to be interconnected for communication.
In that case… there was no reason not to act now and seize control of all three.
First, they were asleep and weaker than normal. Second, Lucius had the Regi trio and Anabel by his side. If battle broke out, they would hold the upper hand.
With that, Lucius ordered Azelf to connect to Uxie.
Though Azelf had fully awakened during its infection, its power was now bound to Lucius.
How could this be? The Temporal God told me I was crucial to resisting the coming threat... How could I fall under a human's control? That can't be right. Dialga doesn't make mistakes...
Lucius issued the command, and though Azelf knew he intended to replicate the infection process on Uxie, it couldn't resist.
A faint psychic pulse extended from the space around them, reaching far beyond what the eye could see.
Almost immediately, another mind responded.
There!
"Anabel, take us there," Lucius instructed.
Anabel hesitated for a moment. She'd also heard Azelf speak of an oncoming threat. But now, things had gone too far to turn back.
With a wave of Celebi's tiny hand, a space-time wormhole opened in front of them.
Lucius, Brandon, and Anabel recalled the Regi trio and Azelf into their Poké Balls, then stepped into the portal.
The familiar spatial distortion began—glimmering trails of light stretched infinitely around them, twisted and surreal.
But then, the light began to take on a faint purple hue. The space they were passing through started to distort—slipping out of Anabel's control and shifting toward another destination.
It all happened so fast, Anabel didn't even have time to react.
Lucius barely had time to react before a flash of blinding light engulfed his vision. When it faded, he found himself standing atop a snow-covered mountain peak, the frigid wind biting at his coat.
Before him stood a group of humans—and Pokémon.
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