Isn't this a bit too outrageous?!
Just casually creating the strongest being out of thin air?!
They were all jealous out of their minds!
Although this reward came with heavy restrictions, at their level—
Who could guarantee they wouldn't have an exceptionally talented descendant in the future?
Once you had this reward—
The stronger your descendants became, the stronger you became.
And if your descendants' descendants were strong?
Then you'd become absurdly powerful!
One person—an entire clan!
[Red: What a pity. My mom doesn't even have Pokémon—no idea whether this talent can actually be used.]
[Hanako: Oh, come on. Don't you know me? If you found a girlfriend, I'd be happier than with any reward.]
[Red: ...]
Can we drop this topic already?!
Girlfriends aren't half as fun as Pokémon!
[Bruno: Waaaah! That reward was just one step away from me! And now it's gone! My heart hurts!]
[Lorelei: Serves you right. Who told you to be so selfish? Share the good stuff already!]
At this moment, everyone suddenly remembered—
Someone here seemed to have a secret weapon.
So—
[Lance: Bruno, send me your location. I'll bring you some local specialties from the kitchen.]
[Bruno: ...]
Do I look stupid?!
No matter how much they pressed him, no one could get Bruno to talk.
At the same time—
Orre Region.
...
On screen—
Watching Tobias's retreating back, Ash let out a long breath.
His grudge with Tobias was finally settled.
Now—
There was only one person left.
Alain!
The man who had once cut off his path to the championship.
Ash recalled what had been said before.
It seemed Alain was also challenging for a seat among the Masters Eight—
Which meant it wouldn't be long before they met again!
And when that time came—
I'll cut you down myself!
And repay that debt from back then!
The evening sun was just beginning to rise.
Golden light spilled down.
Ash opened his mouth to yawn.
He had been focusing his mental energy all night long—
To the point that now, Ash felt overwhelmingly sleepy.
With Dawn's support, the exhausted Trainer headed toward the Pokémon Center.
Using their Trainer IDs, the two successfully booked a room.
After handing over their Poké Balls to Nurse Joy for treatment,
Ash returned to the room and went straight to sleep.
This sleep—
Lasted all the way until the next evening.
That night had drained far too much of his stamina and mental strength.
"Dawn! Let's go out for a walk!"
Ash jumped out of bed eagerly.
It was rare to have such a free day.
He wanted to enjoy it!
However—
Before Ash could even step outside,
A strange sensation suddenly enveloped him.
The room vanished.
Replaced by an unknown space.
The land was in ruins.
The sky was shrouded in darkness.
The entire world was broken and desolate.
No plants.
No animals.
Not even Pokémon.
Silence dominated everything.
Ash looked around in confusion, calling out Pikachu's name—
But there was no response.
As if sensing something, Ash looked up.
A massive blue figure swept across the sky above him.
That silhouette—
"Was I brought here by Dialga?"
Ash froze.
Seeing Dialga in Sinnoh wasn't exactly strange—
But before he could process it,
Another figure flashed past him, glowing with a brilliant magenta light.
"This one's Palkia!"
Ash was completely lost now.
What was happening was far beyond his understanding.
Then—
Boom!
The entire space seemed to be struck by something!
Countless Unown surged in from all directions!
In an instant, Ash was completely swallowed!
It felt as if his throat had been seized—
He couldn't breathe at all!
The intense suffocating sensation crushed him.
"Hey, Ash—what's wrong with you?"
A familiar voice echoed by his ear.
Ash was like a drowning man grabbing hold of a lifeline.
He snapped his eyes open—
And gasped for air.
"Just now… I almost died!"
"Pika!"
"Ash, are you okay?"
Seeing his condition, Pikachu and Dawn hurriedly asked.
Ash waved his hand.
He didn't even know how to explain what had just happened.
A dream?
Definitely not.
So why had he seen such a scene?
Clearly—
Something was trying to warn him.
It took a full three minutes before Ash fully recovered from the suffocation.
Being able to breathe freely again felt incredible.
"Are you really okay?" Dawn asked worriedly.
"You looked really bad just now. Should we have Nurse Joy check you again?"
Ash's condition earlier had been genuinely frightening.
Dawn's heart still hadn't fully settled.
"It's fine," Ash said, waving it off.
"I think I just had a weird dream."
For now, the truth clearly couldn't be figured out.
Was that reality—or had some Pokémon dragged him into an illusion?
There was no way to tell yet.
"Let's go to the park," Ash said.
"Such nice weather—it'd be a waste not to enjoy the sun."
Once his energy returned,
Ash scooped up Pikachu and grabbed Dawn's hand as they left the Pokémon Center.
The sudden movement made Dawn blush—
But she subconsciously tightened her grip on Ash's hand.
Just like that,
Under the surprised gazes of passersby,
Ash and Dawn arrived at the town park.
Breathing in the fresh air.
Feeling the morning sunlight.
Ash felt like he'd finally come back to life.
"Dawn, I'm going to buy some drinks. Want anything?"
"Lemonade—no ice," Dawn said, holding up one finger.
Piplup raised its flipper as well.
Seeing this, Ash laughed and nodded.
"Don't worry, Piplup—I'll get one for you too."
With that, Ash left the park with Pikachu in his arms and headed to a nearby shop.
Dawn's eyes stayed fixed on his departing figure.
After so long apart,
She felt Ash now carried an even more special aura.
That sunshine hadn't changed—
But there was something more to him now.
Something intoxicating.
Watching Dawn lost in thought,
Piplup shook its head helplessly.
Its Trainer was really a bit love-brained.
It hopped off the bench—
And began playing with other Pokémon in the park.
Before it realized it,
Piplup had wandered to the edge of the park.
At that moment—
A figure flashed past from the forest beside the park.
Piplup's sharp eyes immediately caught it.
It froze and turned to look.
But when it saw that figure—
The entire Pokémon went stiff.
D-Dawn?!
"Pip… lup?"
Piplup felt like its CPU was overheating.
What was going on?
Wasn't Dawn sitting on the bench waiting?
Why was she suddenly here?!
It turned its head—
And sure enough, there was still a figure sitting on the park bench.
Even from far away, Piplup could tell—
That was definitely its Trainer, Dawn.
So then—
Who was the one in front of it?
Piplup looked again.
No matter how it looked—
That person was Dawn.
Rubbing its eyes, Piplup checked again.
After careful observation, it came to a conclusion.
It really was Dawn.
So Piplup didn't hesitate anymore.
It jogged over—
And waved cheerfully.
"Pip-lup~!"
The Dawn in front of it turned around.
When she saw Piplup at her feet,
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
"Piplup… I missed you so much."
The sudden reaction left Piplup completely confused.
Didn't we just see each other earlier?!
But before it could respond—
Another voice came from the forest's edge.
"Piplup, where did you go?"
The same voice.
From the same person.
What?!
Were there two Dawns?!
As Piplup was still trying to process this—
The noise from the forest also caught the attention of the Dawn in the park.
She hurried over.
But when she pushed aside the branches—
The sight before her left her stunned.
A girl who looked exactly like her—
Holding Piplup—
Slowly vanished into thin air.
What… just happened?
Aside from the different clothing patterns,
That person looked identical to her.
No—
Exactly identical.
What was going on?!
And most importantly—
The way that Piplup looked at her just now—
That intelligent gaze…
Could it be—
That the one being held wasn't Piplup—
But her?
In an instant, Dawn's mind completely short-circuited.
And not just Dawn—
The viewers were just as confused.
No one understood what was happening.
Why were there two Dawns?
And what exactly had Ash seen earlier?
[Cynthia: If I'm not mistaken, this should all be the aftermath of Dialga and Palkia's actions.]
[Steven: That's not even a guess. Only Sinnoh's two gods can cause this kind of spacetime disturbance. Even Celebi can only carry people through time.]
[Professor Rowan: This is very bad. It's similar to what happened in Alamos Town—spacetime turbulence caused by the clash of the two gods.]
[Professor Oak: But for now, we can't determine what's changed. Where did this other Dawn come from? A parallel world?]
[Professor Rowan: Very possible. Her world might be almost identical to ours. From her reaction to Piplup, she likely mistook it for her own.]
[Dawn: Then… will my Piplup come back?]
[Brock: This is troublesome. Unlike Alamos Town, there's no fixed location. From Dialga and Palkia's state, they seem to be in an abandoned space. We don't even know if it intersects with reality.]
[Ash: There won't be any problems! As long as I'm here, I'll fix everything!]
[Diantha: Ash, you really are an angel. But this kind of mess should be left to Cynthia—she is Sinnoh's Champion.]
Seeing Ash try to shoulder everything again,
Diantha couldn't help sighing.
Why was it always Ash saving the world?
Was it really okay to let a kid barely in his teens bear all this?
And Cynthia—
Aren't you slacking off a bit too much?!
If you can't protect Ash,
Then I'll take over.
I genuinely like that boy, after all.
[Cynthia: I never said I wouldn't deal with this.
What happens in Sinnoh will naturally be resolved by me, the Sinnoh Champion. You can rest assured.]
The words themselves were calm—
But every viewer felt a chill run down their spine.
The title Iceberg Champion wasn't a joke.
Cynthia wasn't cold—
But she wasn't someone just anyone dared approach.
And with that perpetually expressionless face—
Everyone felt like they were witnessing an angry Champion.
[Steven: For some reason, seeing Sinnoh's gods makes me think Hoenn's two idiots are kind of cute.
At most they cause some destruction—and Rayquaza comes in to break it up.
Sinnoh really goes straight for world-ending disasters.]
[Diantha: In Kalos, we have the gods of life and death, but they never cause trouble. Very peaceful.]
[Alder: Seems like only Hoenn and Sinnoh's gods come out to cause chaos now and then.]
Sinnoh & Hoenn:
…Excuse you?!
...
On screen—
What Dawn had just witnessed shocked her to the core.
Unable to make sense of it, she returned numbly to the bench.
Just then—
Ash hurried back.
He handed her two drinks—
Then looked around in surprise.
"Dawn, where did Piplup go?"
Hearing the question,
Tears welled up in Dawn's eyes.
"Piplup… was taken away by someone who looks exactly like me."
Ash slowly typed a question mark in his head.
What are you talking about?
Someone who looks exactly like you?
Team Rocket in disguise?
Instantly on guard, Ash scanned the surroundings.
But there was nothing suspicious.
"Pika!"
Pikachu was on alert too—
It even climbed onto Ash's head to look around.
But the familiar trio was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe Piplup just ran off to play," Ash said gently.
"How about you stay here, Dawn? Pikachu and I will go look around."
But Dawn couldn't bring herself to cheer up.
She couldn't imagine life without Piplup.
At that moment—
Ash's Rotom Phone suddenly rang.
"Beep beep! Incoming call from Professor Oak!"
Ash quickly answered.
"Professor Oak? What's wrong?"
On the other end, Oak's expression was unusually serious.
"Ash… can you contact Red?"
"He disappeared shortly after entering Sinnoh."
Ash froze.
"Red… disappeared?! When did this happen?!"
His voice instantly rose—
The weight of that news hitting him like a thunderbolt.
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