Author's Note: Point-of-View Change

Misty's Point-of-View

"PokéCamp is a trap."

Ash's words echoed in my ears. Around me, everyone stood stock-still.

I remembered when I'd received the invitation to PokéCamp. That one piece of paper turned a dull day at Cerulean Gym into a flurry of butterflies in my stomach at the prospect at seeing Ash again. Then I'd come here to meet an Ash that didn't remember me. And now I knew the same force that'd given me hope to see him again was the one that'd hurt him in the first place. It was disturbingly cruel.

Stinking Team Rocket. When I finished with them they would have nightmares of mallets for the rest of their lives.

I could see my anger reflected in many of my friends' eyes. Even Brock, who was maybe the most levelheaded person I knew, had his fists clenched.

Dawn was hugging her elbows to her body anxiously. "But why spring a plan this big so suddenly? I get that they're trying to steal the power of the best trainers in the world, but isn't this incredibly risky for them?"

I could see where she was coming from. "Yeah, I get what you mean. If a plan of this scale fails, it's curtains for Team Rocket. They must be pretty confident."

"That they are." I turned sharply at the sound of a voice I didn't recognize. I saw that it was Detective Looker, who'd apparently regained consciousness just now. He sat up groggily.

Brock knelt down next to him. "Hey, Detective. You've been through a lot. Don't push yourself."

Looker clasped a hand on Brock's shoulder and coughed a bit before shaking off his grogginess. Realizing the man wouldn't stay down, Brock stood up and reached a hand out to him. Looker took it and jumped up with surprising spryness.

He looked around at us and introduced himself to those of us whom he didn't know. We brought him up to speed quickly on Ash's condition and the details of what'd gone on at Pallet and PokéCamp.

"Well, that's quite something. A lot's gone on outside the range of the International Police's radar." Looker narrowed his eyes and put his thumb and index finger to his chin in thought.

Ash seemed to be in a hurry, though. "Excuse me, Detective, but what did you mean before? When you agreed with Misty about Team Rocket being confident?"

I looked at Looker curiously. He looked back, nodding. "Oh, that. Yes, young lady, confident is the best way to describe them. The truth is that the International Police was doing an investigation into Team Rocket before all this happened. Now that you all have informed me of the nature of PokéCamp, I realize exactly what the scope of Team Rocket's plan is."

Looker turned to Brock and Dawn abruptly. "Do you remember Team Galactic?"

I thought back, remembering the group from a news report. At the time I hadn't thought much of them; I'd just found it incredibly funny that another group of villains had been done in by Ash.

Dawn and Brock nodded sharply. Dawn tightened her hold on her elbows, almost shivering. "Of course. They were the first ones to use the Red Chain to control Dialga and Palkia. But after we took them down at Spear Pillar they were disbanded and the three Commanders were arrested, right?"

Looker nodded slowly. "Yeah. You're right that three Commanders were arrested, but the truth is that there was a fourth Commander. His name was Charon, an older guy in charge of the technical aspects of Team Galactic's plans."

"And he wasn't arrested?" Brock asked, alarmed.

"No," Looker said regretfully, "he slipped away before we could get him."

"Don't tell me…" Dawn's face paled as she trailed off. I blinked ignorantly. What? What did that mean?

Looker nodded solemnly. "The research on the Red Chain was all conducted by Team Galactic; when Charon escaped he took the research with him. And then he cut a deal with Team Rocket to sell the information to them."

"Which is how Team Rocket got their hands on it." Brock finished.

"Yes," Looker said, "and they likely extended that research to produce the mechanism behind this PokéGear you told me about."

I gulped silently. To think Team Rocket's terrible plans had their origins in something just as awful…

"But that's not all." Looker continued. "The reason I say Team Rocket's so confident is because I believe I know what their endgame is."

I swallowed once more. But really, it's not like it could get much worse, right?

Looker's face was dark. "After collecting the aura of the strongest Pokémon in the world through PokéCamp, Team Rocket will likely use another Red Chain to resummon Dialga and Palkia, and have them be the vanguard of their path of destruction as they use the power they amassed here to finally achieve their ultimate goal: taking over the world."

Ok, it could get much worse.

Ash's face had gone deathly grim at Looker's proclamation. The same could be said for most of the others.

I, for one, was thinking frantically. We had to prevent this from happening, after all. Of course, Ash's memory was still on the table, but I knew he would be the first to say that came second to this. The problem was, what could we do?

I was all for using brute force to knock Team Rocket's lights out, but I'm possibly being overconfident in my fighting skills considering they had the power of the strongest Pokémon in the world on their side.

I nearly jumped as I was jarred out of my thoughts by a loud roar from above. I looked up to see the Pokémon Dawn had identified as Giratina.

"Why is it roaring?" I asked the others.

As if to answer my question, two bright lights appeared in the sky beside Giratina. One was a dark blue, the other a deep purple.

"W-What's going on?" Max asked in awe.

The lights increased in intensity and size and then suddenly began swirling in the sky. I held my breath in anticipation. When the lights reached a high enough intensity, I shielded my eyes momentarily.

When I uncovered them, I looked up and felt my jaw drop of its own accord. There, floating in the sky next to Giratina, were two more Pokémon. From the blue light had emerged a four-legged, blue and white Pokémon with a body of jagged edges like those on diamonds. Where the purple light had been now stood a bipedal, purple and white Pokémon with what looked like smooth pearls embedded in its shoulders.

I'd never seen them before, but they carried with them the poise and power of legendary Pokémon. My gut said they were the other two of the 'creation trio' of Sinnoh that Brock had talked about.

"Dialga… and Palkia…" Dawn said in awe, confirming my guess.

May placed a hand on Max's shoulder protectively, obviously unsure of the intentions of the two legendaries. I didn't blame her... It may have been under Team Rocket's control, but the thought that these two had nearly obliterated Pallet was frightening.

Before anyone could make a move though, a voice suddenly seemed to speak inside my head.

"Hello, heroes."I clutched at my ears in surprise, but the voice really was telepathic, because I could still hear it. "I am Dialga. My friend Palkia here and I require your assistance."

My jaw dropped again. It wasn't every day you had legendaries speaking to you via telepathy. At least not since I'd last travelled with Ash.

But I had a feeling we could trust them. Dialga had called me a hero, after all, which was spot on. Well, called us heroes. But don't sweat the details.

"Who said I needed help? Speak for yourself. And who're you calling your friend?" A voice I assumed was Palkia's cut through my head.

"This isn't the time to act like you're invincible, you moron," Dialga boomed.

"Who're you calling a moron, you dimwit?" Palkia returned.

"You, obviously! Can't even figure that out, you nimrod?"

I could practically feel myself sweatdrop. So much for the godly coolness of legendaries.

Ash spoke up. "You said you needed our help, Dialga?"

"Well, I'm going to need it, too, actually," came Palkia.

"You just said you didn't!" Dialga said, obviously annoyed.

"No… I said I didn't appreciate you saying it for me. Now I said it for myself." I swear, if legendary Pokémon had facial expressions like humans, Palkia would be sticking its tongue out right now.

And if they had other bodily responses like humans, Dialga would likely be wielding a mallet at this point. "You immature little –"

Ash coughed loudly. I held back a giggle out of respect for the two legendaries. Or at least out of respect for their nuclear-bomb-level power.

"Ehem," Dialga attempted to regain its composure. "Yes, hero, we do indeed need your help."

"The truth is," Palkia followed, "we are currently being summoned against our will by the same force that summoned us and forced us to attack this town before."

I froze. Team Rocket. They were already starting their endgame?

"And I fear this time," Dialga said solemnly, "our power will be used to inflict far more destruction. More than Giratina can possibly cover for."

"Our old chum here," Palkia motioned to Giratina, "let us know the lot of heroes that helped us out before was gathered here. So we thought we might drop in and ask for another save, if you don't mind."

Giratina growled, perhaps at being called 'old chum.'

I, for one, was balking at how casually we were being asked for a 'save.'

"What do you need?" Ash asked. I grumbled inwardly at how easily he'd accepted their request. Ash was Ash, I guess.

That said, saving the world was probably in everyone's best interest.

"Break their hold on us," Dialga said.

"Smash that abominable Red Chain to pieces," Palkia elaborated, "and they won't be able to control us."

"We'll do our best," Ash replied. Easier said than done, in my opinion.

May seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Isn't there another legendary Pokémon you can call on for help? We obviously want to help, but Team Rocket is more powerful and ruthless than ever. It'd be nice to have some legendary backup…" May finished by looking down and squeezing Max's shoulder.

I smiled at her softly. I could tell she was sensitive to the danger because she was afraid for Max. If only my big sisters were so openly affectionate…

Dialga… snorted. "As if. If that were the case, legendary Pokémon – or perhaps no Pokémon at all – would ever have trouble with humans."

Palkia spoke with a completely solemn voice for the first time. "Legendary Pokémon possess incredible power, as you probably know. As such, we are bound by certain ancient edicts which we cannot violate under any circumstance. One of these is to never interfere with humans who are not directly threatening us of our own accord. When I say these edicts are absolute, I do not jest. Even Father Arceus is helpless before these laws."

Palkia continued, looking sidelong at Giratina. "I am admittedly surprised that Giratina here could intervene to save this town Dialga and I nearly destroyed. I suppose it is a special case with Giratina since in a way the three of us are one; Giratina can be considered our inverse, and so Giratina's summoning was implicit with ours, though the force we were summoned by may not have been designed to control our old chum here. As for Giratina being able to bring you to this world just now, I am told that he was quite seriously threatened by this Pikachu to do so when the little guy sensed grave danger to you." Pikachu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Otherwise it quite frankly would not have been possible."

"Among legendaries and Pokémon the world over, you are well known, Hero Ash." Dialga boomed. "But it is because of this restrictive edict that we cannot repay our debts to you in your times of need. We can only ever hope that your own power is enough to get you through your hardships; and then we can only hope it is also enough to save those of us threatened by humans. It is pitiable, in my opinion, but the law is the law."

I smiled a little at that. I may not have been by Ash's side throughout all his journeys, but I was by his side when he started out. Even in his earliest days, he went out of his way to help any Pokémon – normal and legendary alike – who found themselves threatened. Even if he couldn't be rewarded or repaid as he deserved, it was good to know he was appreciated and thought of often by the Pokémon he'd saved.

Ash bowed his head. "I'm afraid I'm not the person you praise so highly, but –"

"WHAT?" I held my head as the two legendaries lost all composure and yelled.

We quickly got Dialga and Palkia up to speed on Ash's memory loss. Ash then assured the two he would still do everything in his power to help them.

Palkia grunted. "A perfect example of how our laws render us useless to help those who've helped us. I am sorry, Hero."

Ash opened his mouth to respond, but Brock cut in. I noticed he was sweating lightly, and looked quite troubled.

"It's been bothering me since we got to the Reverse World, but I was hoping it was nothing." Brock started. He then looked at Dialga and Palkia head-on and raised his voice. "But after what you said, I'm having my doubts. Are you telling me, then, that Pallet Town cannot be restored to its original state of Giratina's own accord?"

I took a sudden breath involuntarily. If these edicts were so absolute…

"That is correct," Dialga said in a voice softer than usual. It was little consolation. "Unless Giratina is somehow endangered by this town or some kind of related third party, it is physically impossible to return this town to its old state. I am sorry."

Palkia continued without giving us a chance for the shock to sink in. "And we also cannot do anything about the Pokémon whose Aura you say has been stolen by this 'PokéGear.'" Palkia motioned with its head to the machine behind me that'd been transported along with us to the Reverse World. "I'm afraid once the Aura of a being is dissociated from its physical shell, restoring it is impossible for us. Humans might be able to come up with an alternative using their science, but we can't do anything ourselves."

I felt like they had hit me twice, hard. No matter what we did, Pallet couldn't go back to its former state. The Pokémon who had their Aura stolen by Team Rocket's machinations couldn't definitively be restored.

And that was the best case scenario, assuming we ended up saving the rest of the world from a Team Rocket takeover.

Delia and the people of Pallet who'd gathered looked deathly solemn. Dawn had fallen to her knees, a film of tears over her eyes. May had her head down, eyes obscured. I noticed I'd subconsciously started biting my lip at some point; I could now taste a few drops of blood.

Brock apparently wasn't finished. He had a look of despair on his face that I understood as he continued to speak. "When Delia told me about Ash's physically induced trauma, I was grim but hopeful. I know that the problem with this type of trauma is that the trigger to restore the person's memories is random and unknowable. Modern medicine can't possibly help. I was hoping there would be a legendary Pokémon who would help after everything Ash did for them, but are you saying… are you saying…" Brock was trembling.

And so was I. That meant that we never had any idea when or if Ash would be restored. It would be a complete and utter uncertainty, without a single thing we could do about it.

"I'm sorry..." Palkia trailed off. Sadness was audible in the voice but it was lost on me. The nerve –

"Sorry? What do you mean 'sorry'? He saves you guys –" Dawn's fury was cut short by Dialga.

"You do not need to remind us of what he did for us. Know that this infuriates us as well. But power comes with limits, and this is one of ours. There is simply nothing we can do."

This didn't satisfy anyone. I could see Dawn and even May preparing to retort. I was a little dazed, and apparently very desperate, because my next words made their way out of their own accord.

"Then please, just turn back the clock! Make it so it never happened. Please!" I croaked.

My friends all turned to look at me. My voice must've been in worse shape than I thought, and I realized suddenly that I was crying. Dawn stood up and made her way over to me, putting an arm around my shoulders weakly. Ash, I noticed, was looking down with his fists clenched. I could tell he was put off by how badly everyone was taking this. I wished I could be strong for him, but the idea of a future without certainty of Ash coming back was one that shattered me to pieces.

"Although that is theoretically within the scope of our powers, I'm afraid –"

Dialga was cut off by Palkia. "The girl has a point, actually. Think about it, Dialga. What if they caught us and made us their Pokémon? The laws are much less stringent when our powers are applied outside of our control. Heck, that's why those villains can use our power to harm towns and people we're not involved with – it's outside our control."

I didn't even consider hoping. It would be too much if it was taken away. But after a long pause, Dialga spoke up. "You are technically correct, Palkia. If they were to make us their own, they could apply our powers at will." Dialga now addressed us. "It's almost unheard of because even if legendaries want to be caught by humans, they cannot appear before the humans by whom they wish to be caught of their own accord. But since we are being summoned anyway, it opens up an opportunity here for you to catch us while we appear in your world."

I felt Dawn's arm squeeze more tightly around me in hope and I dried my tears hastily. "So if we catch you, we can use your powers however we want? We can fix this whole mess?"

Dialga responded once again. "Although Palkia has the power to manipulate space, Giratina can move things from your world to the Reverse World, and I have the power to manipulate time, we do not have the power to selectively restore memories per se. In other words, even if you do catch us, you have only one option: to turn back the clock to before this happened. That is the only way to restore Hero Ash as well as achieve all the other goals you hope for."

I almost laughed aloud. There was a way! Sure, drastic. But there was a way! I saw some light come into the faces of my friends and the people of Pallet.

Surprisingly enough, Ash was the only one who still looked grim. He spoke slowly. "But if you restore everything to exactly how it was before everything happened, won't it just happen all over again?"

…

I felt like hitting myself with my own mallet.

But above, I could swear I saw Palkia's eyes glint. There was definitely mirth in the voice that came through my head. "Wise of you to point out. Yes, it's true that everything would happen the same way over again in your world. But the thing is, the three of us would turn your time back, not ours. It's a little complicated to explain to… well, humans… but essentially although you're being reverted to your old time, that's just a part of our forward-moving timeline."

I wasn't quite sure what that meant. Could someone just tell me if my idea would help Ash or not?

Dialga spoke up. "What Palkia is implying is that, although you cannot remember any of this such that you can prevent it from happening when you go back, wecan. Again, this gets complicated, but although turning back your time will prevent you from keeping us in your physical possession in those ball-things you humans use, because our reality is unaffected by special and temporal shifts, we're technically still your Pokémon. So before we apply the reversion, if you give us a command to do something in your world after the reversion, we are obliged to carry it out if it does not break our laws unduly."

Brock snapped his fingers. "So we can tell you something reasonable to do after our world gets reverted such that this all doesn't happen again?"

Palkia grunted. "That is correct."

I gulped. This was then theoretically a feasible plan, but to turn back time… I shuddered. This was serious business.

"But…" I prayed to this Arceus Pokémon I didn't even know that Dialga wasn't about to suddenly take back his words. "All of that plan assumes you can destroy the Red Chain and capture us and make us your Pokémon. Whether or not we want to help you, we cannot go easy on you in the battle for our capture. And I don't think you need reminding how powerful a legendary Pokémon is."

I smiled to myself. It didn't even matter how hard it would be. All that mattered was that there was a way.

Ash chuckled. It was a laugh different from anything I'd heard from him since his memory loss. It was the closest thing to Ash's old laugh I'd heard. It sent good shivers up my spine and made me feel warm even before he said his next words.

"I have the utmost respect for you, Dialga, Palkia," Ash said once he stopped laughing. "But I have to inform you that the people here," Ash jerked his thumb at us, "have no care for how challenging or impossible the task ahead is. At the risk of sounding spoiled, if a way to save me exists, they will achieve it. And now that you've shown them that way, I guarantee you there's nothing else in their minds. Prepare to be captured."

Ash had never been more right. I watched as the faces of my friends reflected the smile on my face.

There was a way.

That was all that mattered now.

Booming laughs reverberated in my head. Above, Dialga and Palkia were exhibiting the closest thing to smiles legendary Pokémon were capable of.

Palkia's voice cut across first, full of mirth. "Now you're talking. It's been a while since I've looked forward so much to a battle. You and your friends better live up to your words, Hero Ash."

Ash just smiled back. Dialga began to speak, but before I could make out what it was saying there was a grunt and Dialga cut off. I looked up to see Dialga and Palkia both cringing in pain, surrounded by red auras.

Dialga's speech was labored. "It seems the ritual to call us to your world is complete. In a few moments we will be forcibly pulled there. When you are ready, tell Giratina, and a portal will open for you to follow us; try to follow quickly, though, to minimize the damage we will be forced to inflict on your world. When you come through Giratina will follow as well, and then it us up to you to destroy the Red Chain and capture us if you wish to revert your world to how you wish it to be. In Arceus' name –"

"we wish you the best of luck." Dialga and Palkia finished together.

Ash opened his mouth to say something, but before he could the red aura around the two Pokémon intensified, and they were sucked out of the Reverse World.

That meant, of course, that Dialga and Palkia were now in our world ready to wreak havoc thanks to Team Rocket. I gulped but found my throat too dry to swallow.

Tracey, who'd been quiet a while, suddenly spoke up. "I know it's not the way we do things, but instead of all that, couldn't we obtain the Red Chain instead of destroying it, and just force Dialga and Palkia to turn everything back?"

Brock shook his head quickly. "It wouldn't work. It's only possible to have them change the old timeline in order to prevent this one from happening if they're actually captured by us and we give them the command before they turn time back. Otherwise once they revert everything they would have no incentive to change anything because they would be outside of the Chain's control."

Tracey scratched the back of his head. "Ohh, that makes sense. Sorry, I knew it was kind of an evil idea, but…"

Brock shook his head. "Nah, it crossed my mind, too. Honestly it would have been an easier route to take, but it just doesn't work. And I don't think we have to feel guilty, even Dialga and Palkia want what we want – if it'd been possible, they probably would have even asked us to do it."

I could see that. But if anything, Brock and Tracey's exchange highlighted the main point at hand – that the plan we'd outlined with the two legendaries was the one and only way to achieve what we needed.

So Ho-Oh and Arceus both know it's going to happen.

Brock spoke up again. "But do we have some kind of plan? This is going to happen," I smiled to myself at that – even logical Brock wouldn't put a 'maybe' on it, "but it's going to be pretty tough if you take everything into account."

He was right. We had to destroy the Red Chain, battle and capture Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, and all while dealing with the Team Rocket grunts and their super powerful leader.

Ash smiled and looked at all of us. "I do have a plan. Are you guys ready for it?"

Before he could continue though, Professor Oak spoke from the crowd gathered nearby. "Is there anything I can do to help, my boy? Can some of us maybe come with you?"

Ash looked at him meaningfully. "Although taking people from Pallet Town is too dangerous, there is something you can help us with, Professor."

Professor Oak lifted a brow. Ash then explained his plan to everyone. I took in a breath as he outlined my role. It was big, but I could do it.

Under Ash's direction and with Professor Oak's help, the preparation for Ash's plan was completed within a few minutes.

Ash looked at all of us in turn. "Are you guys ready?"

Nobody said anything. We just grinned at him. He grinned back.

After a wave to the people of Pallet, Ash turned his face to the sky.

"Giratina! We are ready!"

A slight red aura surrounded Giratina and I realized it was the special case Palkia had talked about. Although Giratina could not directly involve itself with us or follow our commands, it was technically being summoned by the Red Chain, which is how it opened a portal directly in front of us.

I looked into it and punched my palm with my fist. Time to get down to business.

As we neared the portal I heard Delia's voice shout out from behind us.

"Ash! Take care of yourself! Please… don't get hurt."

Ash didn't turn back.

"Mother, I promise you I will be fine." Ash said confidently. "I'm not promising you because I won't be in danger – I know I will be. And I'm not promising you because I think I can protect myself from all that danger – I know I can't, it's beyond me." I could see Ash's smile because I was standing next to him, but it was apparent even in his voice as he continued.

"But I also know that it's not just me. I know I have these friends who are walking into this beside me. That's why I can promise you: I will be fine."

When I looked back, I saw that for the first time since everything had happened, Delia's face looked peaceful. And I could understand why – Ash had never spoken truer words.

The seven of us stepped through the portal together.

Author's Note

Kind of late on the May 31 update, huh?

In any case, this story is coming back for its final chapters now. I ask that Chapter 25's ending author's note be ignored; this story will still be slightly abbreviated from its original plan, but it will have several chapters before it reaches its conclusion.

Now, as much as I want to continue the old practice of listing the next chapter's update date, I understand that I lack credibility after taking nine months to deliver what I promised in ten days. To hopefully earn some trust back, I will therefore lay out the entire schedule for the rest of this story out now, and ask you all to hold me to it.

Update Schedule

April 23, 9:00 AM UTC: Chapter 27

April 28, 9:00 AM UTC: Chapter 28

May 03, 9:00 AM UTC: Chapter 29

May 08, 6:00 PM UTC: Chapter 30

May 30, 4:00 PM UTC: Final Chapter

All dates are 2015, ehem. Chapter 30 will be the second to last chapter of plot; between it on May 08 and the final chapter on May 30, epilogues will be posted. Epilogues are for individual characters in the story and by reader request: I'll take one request per review, and any number by PM, starting now and on a first-come, first-serve basis.

A big greeting, and thank you to any returning readers who are sticking by this story. Welcome and thank you to new readers who're here. To all, I hope you've enjoyed this story thus far and are ready for an action-packed stretch to come. Hold me to the update schedule, and please give me your feedback! Enjoy!