Steven looked up at the spatial rift that had opened in the sky.
Two beams of light came down from it.
They split apart and slowly took physical shape.
Dialga and Palkia!
These were not the illusions that Hoopa Unbound had once summoned.
These were their true, real selves!
More than twenty glowing stones flew into the bodies of Dialga and Palkia, and their forms began to change.
Dialga's body turned a dark shade of blue, and its neck became shaped like a hammer. The fan-like plates on its back now had five silver spikes.
A sharp point appeared on each front leg joint, and its front legs had three silver claws, while its back legs had none. A ring of spikes circled its whole body.
Palkia's shape changed too. It now looked like a centaur, with a tail like a horse's and very thick back legs. Its head looked like a knight's helmet. The purple ring around its waist moved as if it were alive, and the disc shapes on its shoulders connected to the wings on its back.
This was their Origin Forme!
It looked a little like Arceus.
Maybe this was what they had always truly looked like.
Only now did Steven understand.
The "tokens" that Dialga wanted him to gather were really pieces of the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb.
For some reason, both great Orbs had broken apart long ago.
The Adamant Orb and Lustrous Orb that Cynthia had once shown Steven were probably the biggest pieces left from those two Orbs.
Using the power of these Orb fragments, Dialga and Palkia had briefly changed into their Origin Formes.
The two huge dragon-like Pokémon lowered their heads and looked down at everyone below.
Then, bright light burst from their bodies.
It was as blinding as staring straight at the sun.
Rayquaza curled its long body around the group, shielding them from the light.
Lugia spread its wings wide, trying its best to block the glow as well.
The light did not fade for a long time — almost two or three minutes.
When it finally disappeared, everything grew calm again.
The strange energy from the spatial rift was gone.
It was as if Dialga and Palkia had never been there at all.
The sky turned blue again, and white clouds drifted by peacefully.
Only the ruins of Desert City remained as a reminder of what had happened.
Aya picked up the Orb fragments and let out a relieved sigh.
Buzz—
The Prison Bottle suddenly began to shake, and its lid popped open on its own.
A cloud of blue energy shot out and rushed into Little Hoopa's body!
Everyone was startled by this sudden change.
Little Hoopa's body grew larger and larger, until it changed into its Hoopa Unbound form!
"Don't worry, everyone!" Baraz called out quickly, trying to calm the group.
Aya walked forward and looked up at the giant Hoopa Unbound.
"This power has become pure now," she said.
"This is Hoopa's true power!" Hoopa laughed with joy.
"But why did the Prison Bottle open by itself?" Serena asked, puzzled.
"Because..." Aya smiled softly and looked up at the largest cloud in the sky.
Everyone followed her gaze.
The white clouds parted, and a golden light shone through.
The figure inside the golden light looked holy and pure, and the golden ring around it seemed to confirm exactly who it was.
It gave Hoopa one long, deep look, then turned and flew toward the clouds, vanishing into the sky.
"Arceus?" Ash whispered, completely stunned.
"Yes," Aya said with a gentle nod.
"But not the true one, not exactly."
"Just like the old myths about it, all we ever see are its copies, or maybe just illusions of it," Aya explained.
"No one has ever truly seen the real Arceus."
Steven agreed with her words.
Getting hurt while blocking a falling meteor? That seemed far too unlikely for a Pokémon like Arceus.
"Did I scare you?" Hoopa's body shrank back down to its small Confined form, and it grinned at everyone.
"Now we can finally go back to Arche Valley," Meray said happily.
"No!" Little Hoopa shook its head.
The look Arceus had given it reminded Hoopa of something its great-grandfather once said.
Maybe that look had also been a kind of warning.
"I want to stay here and help rebuild Desert City!"
Everyone turned to look at the ruined city.
That made sense.
With Hoopa's rings, moving building materials from place to place would be very easy.
"Okay, now let's send everyone home!" Little Hoopa giggled and tossed out two glowing rings.
White Kyurem and Kyogre stepped through them, one after another.
When it was Groudon's turn, it paused and looked up at the sky for a moment before finally stepping into the ring.
Was it sighing about something?
"See you again sometime, Rayquaza," Steven said with a small laugh, looking at the black Rayquaza.
Rayquaza glanced at Steven, gave a small nod, and dove into the ring of light.
Lugia waved kindly at everyone before flying into its own ring.
"Ash, could you set me down?" Steven asked quietly.
"Sure thing."
Steven sat down cross-legged on the ground. He suddenly felt dizzy.
Bang—
"Metagross!"
Metagross burst out of its Poké Ball and offered an arm for Steven to lean against.
"Mr. Steven, here is your Pupitar." Clemont held out a Poké Ball toward him.
"Thanks." Steven nodded and took the Poké Ball holding his Pupitar.
"Mr. Steven, will you go back to your own timeline now?" Ash asked curiously.
Steven waved his hand and laughed softly. "No, if it's possible, I'd like to meet the version of myself who lives in this timeline."
"Oh, then a battle between the two Mr. Stevens would be something to see!"
Steven blinked in surprise — Ash's words had reminded him of something.
He really could challenge the Steven of this timeline to a battle.
"But you should wait until your wounds heal first," Aya said, walking over with a soft laugh.
"Right." Steven nodded gently and smiled back at her.
Then Serena asked a question. "Um... this lady looks so much like Mr. Steven. Are you two brother and sister?"
Aya's smile widened. Being called "this lady" by Serena had touched her heart in a quiet way.
"No, I'm nearly forty years old."
"Forty?!"
Everyone except Steven looked shocked.
"Yes, I'm this Steven's mother," Aya said, pointing at Steven, who was still sitting on the ground, and laughing gently.
"Steven showing up here might even be because of me."
Everyone suddenly understood, and quietly stepped back to give Aya and Steven some time alone.
Aya knelt down and rested her hand on Steven's head.
Steven could feel warm Aura energy flowing into him, and slowly, he began to feel much better.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to do this a long time ago," Aya said, her eyes full of love as she gently stroked his hair.
She had always dreamed of touching her child's head just like this.
Now, at last, it had happened.
"It's alright," Steven said, smiling faintly.
He wasn't sure what Aya meant by "I'm sorry."
Was she sorry for touching his head without asking? Or was she sorry for not being able to act as his mother for all those years?
Either way, Steven's answer would always be the same.
It's alright.
"You've grown taller again."
"Again?" Steven caught the strange word right away.
Aya's eyes flickered for a moment before she explained, "I come to see you and Joseph from time to time."
"But I can never speak with you, or let you know I'm there."
Steven's whole body went still at her words.
That meant...
"The last time I saw you was the day you became Champion of the Hoenn region," Aya said with a light laugh.
"Lucky for you, you take after me."
"You wouldn't believe how wild Joseph looked when he was young!"
Steven watched Aya as she kept talking about the past, and a small, warm smile spread across his face.
...