"It seems the situation has stabilized. Dialga and Palkia aren't even close to being Mega Rayquaza and Giratina's match."
From a distant hillside, Green gazed at the battlefield far away, pouting slightly as she spoke.
The Dragon of Time and the Dragon of Space—both were undeniably powerful. But to compete against Lucas's team? Not a chance.
Mega Rayquaza alone could suppress one of the two Space-Time Gods in a one-on-one battle.
And now that Giratina had joined the fray as well…
Although no one really knew why Giratina had suddenly targeted Palkia, at least for now, it seemed to be standing on their side.
"Phew~ that's a relief."
Sheena exhaled deeply and patted her chest in relief.
Although Dialga and Palkia were her friends, she really didn't want to see them fighting recklessly like that.
It was better for them to calm down before things got worse.
"Lucas's calling us over."
Marnie glanced down at her phone—there was a message from Lucas asking them to head to the battlefield.
The three girls, trusting Lucas completely, didn't hesitate and immediately made their way there.
Meanwhile, on Lucas's side—once he saw that the situation had finally stabilized, he had Reshiram carry him through the air toward the battlefield.
"Have you calmed down now, Dialga?"
As Reshiram landed beside Mega Rayquaza, Lucas looked at the heavily panting Dialga and asked with a calm smile.
The battle had been going on for quite some time. Dialga had taken more than a few heavy blows, and even with its immense stamina, exhaustion had begun to set in.
Even a legendary wasn't an infinite source of power or endurance.
And after fighting for so long, the blazing rage that had clouded Dialga's mind had finally started to fade, replaced by reluctant calm.
Well… it had been beaten soundly, after all.
"I've been calm all along, human."
But as the Dragon of Time, Dialga still had its pride. Its low, resonant telepathic voice echoed, insisting that it could never lose its rationality.
Giratina, watching silently nearby, shot a frigid glance its way. In its eerie golden eyes flickered a faint gleam—you really have the guts to say that with a straight face, huh?
But it didn't speak out. Instead, it continued to stare silently at both Dialga and Palkia, waiting to see what those two would say next.
"That's good to hear. Then why did you two start fighting in the first place?"
Lucas looked curiously at Dialga. Calm? Yeah right. Was chasing Palkia halfway across the sky your definition of calm?
"That shameless bastard invaded my time dimension!"
At Lucas's question, flames of anger reignited in Dialga's eyes as it glared furiously at the freshly battered Palkia.
It had been quietly patrolling its timeline when, suddenly, the entire dimension of time had trembled violently—as though an earthquake had shaken the very fabric of reality.
Dialga nearly jumped out of its scales in shock.
Time was everything to it. If even the slightest disturbance occurred within the time dimension, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So of course, it had immediately assumed Palkia was the culprit. In this world, there might be other legends with strength rivaling its own—but the only one capable of disrupting its temporal flow was that space-dragon idiot.
As for Arceus?
The Original One was still recovering from its wounds. There was no way it would have nothing better to do than mess with Dialga's realm.
And even if it weren't injured, Arceus would never tamper with time itself.
That much, Dialga was certain of.
So, its fury toward Palkia was entirely justified—this pink lizard had nearly thrown time itself into chaos! Unforgivable!
"You're talking crap! It was you who invaded my space dimension! Don't you have any shame left?"
Palkia instantly exploded in fury. If there was anyone full of grievances right now, it was definitely it.
It had already been smashed around inside the dimensional rift by Dialga, then pummeled by Mega Rayquaza, and finally beaten again by Giratina while it was still half-dazed!
And now Dialga had the audacity to twist the story around?
"You're unbelievable! You actually have the nerve to—"
"Hmph, you know exactly what you did." Dialga's cold laugh was filled with disdain.
"Oh yeah? You think I'd lie about this, you overgrown tin can?!" Palkia snapped back, its telepathic tone sharp as knives.
"Do you want to fight again, sore loser?" Dialga's eyes glowed with murderous blue light.
"Afraid of you? As if, overgrown lizard!" Palkia's body flared with a pink divine radiance.
The atmosphere tensed once again—these so-called "brothers" were ready to throw hands all over again.
Lucas's eye twitched violently. He could now confirm without a doubt that these two time-space dragons had tempers every bit as bad as Groudon and Kyogre.
Neither Mega Rayquaza nor Reshiram said a word. In fact, Rayquaza looked quite entertained, watching the show with obvious amusement.
How interesting.
"Idiots."
Giratina muttered coldly, its eerie eyes glimmering faintly.
It seemed like it really would have to drag the both of them into the Reverse World for a few days of "discipline."
"Both of you, calm down. Doesn't it strike you as strange?"
Lucas sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead. Were their brains fried from living too long? Couldn't they see that something was clearly off here?
Both of them believed the other had invaded their realm—if neither was lying, then clearly someone else had interfered with both time and space simultaneously.
But perhaps it was because they both assumed the other was lying that they hadn't stopped to think about it.
"Human, what are you trying to say?"
At his words, both dragons glared at each other before shifting their gaze toward Lucas.
Dialga's eyes rippled faintly with light as it spoke telepathically again.
It wasn't the first time it had met Lucas, and it held considerable respect for him—the human who had promised to help them face Arceus.
And his strength…
Dialga's gaze flicked toward Mega Rayquaza and Reshiram. In just half a year, this human had already earned the loyalty of two more legends.
It was reason enough to hear him out.
"If neither of you is lying, then that means both your realms—time and space—were affected simultaneously. So, who could possibly influence both at once?"
Lucas shrugged lightly. "And more importantly—why would either of you invade the other's realm in the first place?"
That much should've been obvious.
Even if the relationships among the Sinnoh trio weren't exactly warm, they weren't that hostile either.
Both Dialga and Palkia understood the importance of their respective dimensions. No sane being would risk destabilizing the fabric of reality by intruding into the other's domain.
After all, time and space reflected directly onto the real world. If one was disturbed, so too would reality itself be thrown into disarray.
There was absolutely no benefit to doing so.
"You're implying… Father?"
Dialga's tone faltered. If it had eyebrows, they would've furrowed tightly.
Lucas's words were straightforward—but the more it thought about them, the more sense they made.
"This guy probably just wanted to disgust me."
Palkia grumbled darkly, though its tone lacked conviction.
Even if this had been a misunderstanding… Dialga had still cracked its beloved pearl! That fact wasn't going away anytime soon!
"You dare slander me, Palkia?" Dialga growled, eyes blazing.
"Who knows?" Palkia replied flatly, its expression unreadable.
"Arceus is awakening," Lucas said finally. "The disturbance in your realms was caused by the ripples of its impending revival. You should both return to your dimensions and keep watch."
He waved dismissively—he was done playing mediator. Besides, today had been a huge success. Rayquaza had learned Dragon Ascent. That alone made the day worth it.
"Father… huh…"
At his words, both Dialga and Palkia instantly stopped arguing, their expressions darkening.
The prelude to Arceus's awakening… was not good news.
Because Arceus would awaken in fury. None of them could possibly be happy about that.
Even now, the shockwaves of its imminent return were strong enough to disrupt both time and space. That alone spoke of its overwhelming power.
But then, Palkia suddenly raised a claw, frowning.
"Wait a second… then what about him?"
It pointed at Giratina, who was still hovering silently nearby, its shadowy eyes gleaming.
It could understand why Mega Rayquaza had intervened—it was defending Alamos Town and trying to stop them from destroying everything.
But Giratina?
Why had it attacked? Since when did Giratina crawl out of the Reverse World just to help humans?
Moments ago, it had nearly dragged Palkia into that distorted dimension!
Lucas froze for a second. As he turned toward Giratina—whose gaze was once again glowing faintly with menace—he was momentarily speechless.
Good grief. Didn't Palkia realize the reason Giratina attacked?
"You two wrecked my Reverse World while fighting in the dimensional rift."
Giratina's eerie, chilling voice echoed telepathically through the air. Both Dialga and Palkia froze instantly.
"...I'll, uh, head back to my realm now," Dialga said quickly. "Human, I'll… come find you sometime."
The Dragon of Time reacted first—without a moment's hesitation, it turned and soared upward. A spiraling time vortex opened in the air, and Dialga dove straight in.
Gone.
Lucas: "…"
That was one fast retreat.
"Uh… then I'll just… be going too."
Palkia finally came to its senses, opening a crack of space behind it. It was just about to slip through when—
Suddenly, it froze mid-step.
Because Giratina had silently appeared beside it, jaws clamped firmly around its shoulder, eyes glowing with a faint, sinister light.
"Bro… I was wrong…"
Palkia's pitiful voice rang out, full of despair.
Why… why was it the only one being chased and punished?!
Go after that damned lizard too! He was part of it as well!
(End of Chapter)