Mount Coronet, Spear Pillar.
In the myths and legends, Dialga and Palkia rule over time and space.
Right now, the temporal and spatial dragons' eyes are gleaming with a faint, terrifying red light.
The blood‑red Red Chain is wrapped tight around their bodies, binding them and controlling them.
If they're going to regain their senses, those Red Chains have to be shattered.
"Kyogre, Blizzard!"
Damian looks up at Dialga and Palkia.
He has to admit, their divine pressure really is overwhelming.
He's not sure if it's just psychological, or if it's really because of their rank.
But even compared to Unova's Kyurem and his own black Mega Shiny Rayquaza, the pressure coming off Dialga and Palkia feels heavier.
Of course, pressure is pressure, and combat power is combat power.
Those are two different things.
Primal Kyogre lets out a deep, ancient rumble that fills the sky.
Dark rain clouds instantly blanket the heavens.
Primordial Sea.
The Primordial Sea's torrential rain pours down and shrouds the entire Mount Coronet region.
A heartbeat later, whiteout Blizzard erupts, covering the sky as it roars straight toward Dialga and Palkia.
"Dialga!"
Dialga lets out a deep draconic bellow.
A strange light flickers in its eyes.
Right in front of everyone's eyes, the once‑raging Blizzard suddenly "slows down."
Yeah.
Actually slows down.
The whole Blizzard crawls forward like a turtle.
A blizzard that would've hit Dialga and Palkia in two seconds now looks like it'll take ten or more to even reach them.
The bizarre sight makes Damian's brows twitch.
"That's… Dialga's power over time?"
Cynthia and Caitlin both jolt.
It can do that?
According to legend, the world only got "time" after Dialga was born.
The myths say that when Dialga's heart beats, time begins to flow.
It has the power to distort time.
It can twist time—speed it up, slow it down, even stop it.
But slowing down the time on someone else's attack?
That's ridiculous.
"No. It didn't slow Blizzard down itself. It slowed the time in the area Blizzard is passing through. That's why it looks slower."
Damian narrows his eyes, confirming it.
"Hahahaha~! You see that? That's the power of the time dragon! And with Dialga in my hands, I'm the god of time and space!"
Charon laughs like a madman.
"Palkia!"
Palkia keeps bellowing.
It raises its right arm.
Pink energy gathers and condenses along its arm‑blade.
The hum of warped space doesn't stop.
It almost sounds like a wail.
In the next instant, Palkia swings its arm down hard.
A massive, crescent‑shaped pink blade of light tears through the air.
Palkia's signature move—Dragon‑type Spacial Rend.
An attack strong enough to rip space itself apart.
Spacial Rend rockets forward and clashes with Primal Kyogre's Blizzard.
And, unsurprisingly—
The razor‑sharp Spacial Rend slices through the onrushing Blizzard and keeps pushing forward.
"Protect."
Damian gives the command at once.
Primal Kyogre drops Blizzard.
A green Protect barrier starts to form.
But Dialga's eyes flash strangely again.
The time in that slowed zone suddenly accelerates.
Spacial Rend becomes a streak of blinding light and instantly appears right in front of Primal Kyogre.
Boom!
The violent explosion rocks the air.
Primal Kyogre lets out a pained cry and is knocked back slightly by the impact.
Dialga's "speed‑up" made that Spacial Rend hit far too fast.
Primal Kyogre hadn't even finished forming Protect before the blow landed.
"Tsk~ so they can coordinate, huh."
Damian clicks his tongue and glances at Dialga.
He has to admit—Dialga's time‑control as support is insanely practical.
"Your skills really are beyond what I expected. But did you see it? Dialga and Palkia are invincible!"
Charon is riding high.
He has no idea who this young man is or where he came from.
It doesn't matter.
There's no way he could be a threat.
"Really? You seem pretty pleased with yourself."
Damian lets out a faint snort.
He glances at Charon's feet.
A sinister black shadow is already spreading there.
Charon still hasn't noticed a thing.
"You little—!"
Charon's expression darkens in an instant.
This kid really infuriates him.
"Looks like you still don't get it. In that case, Dialga—"
Charon's already made up his mind.
He's going to show this brat what true despair looks like.
But before he can finish—
A smear of black flashes across his vision.
He glances down.
His pupils blow wide.
At some point, a black, ominous aura has already swallowed the entire center of Spear Pillar.
What the hell is that?
A powerful sense of danger slams into Charon.
He starts stumbling backward fast.
The black substance is thick and viscous, like wet cement, dripping and pooling as Charon retreats.
Two blood‑red, terrifying eyes flare to life inside the black shadow.
"Is that…?!"
The sight is so nightmarish that Cynthia feels like her heart skips a beat.
"The master of the Distortion World. Giratina's here."
Damian's voice is low.
Yeah.
There's no doubt.
This is Giratina.
The black, mercury‑like "liquid shadow" starts flowing.
A monstrous head slowly rises out of the ink‑black mass, its red eyes ice‑cold and full of brutality.
The sight is so viscerally shocking that Cynthia and Caitlin both flinch.
Not to mention Charon, who's standing closest to this thing.
"Dialga! Palkia!"
Charon's face twists from pure terror.
He screams for the only things he thinks can save him.
Bound by the Red Chain, Dialga and Palkia lurch into motion.
Dialga opens its jaws wide.
Palkia raises its right arm.
Diamond and pearl‑like light gathers.
Blue and pink energy flare and surge.
Roar of Time.
Spacial Rend.
The beam and the blade rip through the air, hammering down toward Giratina below.
A deep, brutal roar rips from Giratina's hideous maw.
Its massive, centipede‑like body writhes as it rises fully from the shadows.
Roar of Time and Spacial Rend smash into it—
But Giratina's body turns half‑ethereal in an instant.
The two mighty attacks hit it—
And yet they don't.
Both beams pass straight through Giratina's phantom form.
A moment later, Giratina's body solidifies again.
It opens its massive jaws and lunges for Charon.
"NO! NO!! Dialga! Palkia! Save me!!"
Charon's pupils contract to pinpoints.
His screams are high‑pitched with terror.
He already has Dialga and Palkia.
He's supposed to be this world's god.
How can he die here?
But no matter how he shrieks and begs, it changes nothing.
Giratina's dreadful dragon eyes show no emotion at all.
Its huge, fanged maw snaps shut around Charon in a single gulp.
Then its massive body sinks back into the black shadow, leaving no trace behind.
Watching it happen with her own eyes, Cynthia can't calm her heart for a long time.
"So that's… Giratina?"
"Yeah. The Legendary Pokémon that represents 'antimatter.' Its status is equal to Dialga, Palkia, and the Lake Guardians. All of them are three of the 'Six Spirits' that exist as concepts themselves."
Damian watches the swirling patch of shadow that still hasn't vanished.
That's definitely a main gateway to the Reverse World.
Giratina hasn't left.
And there's no way it's going to leave that easily.
"…."
Cynthia is still rattled.
"Damian, you're kinda giving us too much credit here…"
Mesprit tilts its head.
Who are they to be counted on the same level as Giratina?
"Our gap with Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina is… really, really huge…"
Azelf's clear Telepathy sounds a bit conflicted.
"Don't sell yourselves short. Sure, you're weak as hell in battle. You even got snatched and drained by Team Galactic's grunts."
Damian shrugs.
"But your rank really is on par with Giratina. Try having a little confidence, yeah?"
"And yeah, Dialga and the others are stronger than you. But are any of them as adorable as you three?"
He reaches out and ruffles Azelf's head.
Ever since that "prayer" the Lake Guardians did for him, Damian's affection for these three has skyrocketed.
Uxie: "…"
The "Knowledge" being goes quiet.
It's trying to figure out if Damian's praising them or roasting them.
"Charon's probably done for. What about the Red Chain?"
Damian looks up at Dialga and Palkia, still floating in mid‑air.
Charon got swallowed in one go by Giratina and disappeared into the Reverse World.
With their "controller" out of the picture, Dialga and Palkia both seem to have gone into a kind of "crash" state.
"Even without a controller, the Red Chain will still bind them. Damian, please free them from those shackles."
Uxie turns to him again.
"No problem. But what about Giratina? It hasn't left."
Damian glances down at the roiling shadows and black "liquid."
"It's probably waiting for Dialga and Palkia to be freed from the Red Chain."
Uxie thinks for a moment, then answers.
"Got it. Mewtwo."
Damian nods.
So Giratina's waiting for the Red Chains to break.
That's why it's not just bailing.
"Dark Pulse."
Mega Shadow Mewtwo Y raises its arm.
Black ripples jump and split into two beams, blasting straight toward Dialga and Palkia.
Boom! Boom!
Dark Pulse smashes into the Red Chains wrapped around them.
Crack—
Fractures spider across the surface of the Red Chains.
The red light running along them dims and starts to crumble.
At the same time, the shadows on the ground churn.
Those ominous red eyes flicker back to life.
The Red Chains fall away from Dialga and Palkia.
With the Red Chain's influence gone, their eyes gradually clear.
Both dragons lower their heads.
Dialga looks at Damian.
Emotion ripples faintly in its dragon eyes.
Of course it remembers this human.
"Human, thank you. I—"
Dialga's Telepathy cuts off mid‑sentence.
It's sensed something.
Its head snaps up.
A brutal, deep roar echoes like it's coming from another dimension.
Up in the sky, a jet‑black rift in space‑time snaps open with a sharp crack.
Two black bolts of lightning slam down from the tear, striking Dialga and Palkia dead‑on.
Both dragons roar in pain.
Black lightning crackles furiously over their bodies.
"Yeah. Knew it. That sneaky bastard Giratina was just waiting for this."
Damian isn't surprised at all.
The origin‑form Giratina, like a massive centipede with six ghostly wings, slowly rises out of the Reverse World.
Its cold dragon eyes lock on Dialga and Palkia.
The lightning fades.
Dialga and Palkia explode into frenzied roars.
Their eyes, only just cleared, are once again filled with berserk and bloodlust.
Yeah.
Even without the Red Chains, Giratina's lightning has still driven them berserk.
That's one of Giratina's unique powers.
It can open rifts in space‑time and call down lightning that sends Pokémon into a mad frenzy.
~~
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