Sinnoh Arc: Too Late
They reached Mount Coronet and found an arduous path leading up the mountainside. They stayed alert and tried to be as quiet as possible. Then, Mari paused behind a rock when they saw the blue-haired guy again. Saturn. He was talking to someone. "Giratina will try to prevent the capture of Dialga and Palkia. The entrance of the Distortion World cannot be kept under lock and key much longer, Master Saturn. Giratina's will is strong.",
"Just a little more", Saturn replied. "Team Galactic will make it. Inform Cyrus that the plan is as good as complete. Jupiter has located the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb. They will arrive here any moment. Mars has absorbed the power from the crystals of the three fairies and formed red chains from them. These will be strong enough to capture Dialga and Palkia. Then, we can form the new universe and destroy the old one." Jacky had heard enough. She dropped out of cover before Mari or Gardenia could stop her. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Saturn looked to her and frowned. "What are kids doing here? I told you to secure and block off that area!",
"The command didn't leak, sir.",
"What do you mean, 'didn't leak'?! How incompetent are you?!" He sighed irritated. "Go to Cyrus. Now! Inform him that we've tracked down intruders. DO IT!",
"By your command!" They other galactic goons ran off. "And now... to you." Saturn turned to them. "We still have a little time for a game. Jupiter will be here soon and Mars has already arrived. And you guys get the hell out of here!",
"You've got a pretty big mouth.", Mari commented.
"Tch." Saturn pulled out Poké Balls. "Toxicroak, Bronzor, Kadabra! Your turn!"
Leafeon, Gardevoir, and Absol got in the way of the three Pokémon. "Nature Power, Leafeon!" Folipurba reabsorbed energy from the ground and then summoned a Rock Slide above them. Kadabra teleported away, and the other two were hit. "Shockwave, Kadabra!" he commanded. A charge of electricity shot at Guardevoir from the left. But Guardevoir teleported away itself. "Psychic!"
Gardevoir appeared again and locked Toxicroak in place. "Psycho Cut, Absol!" Absol jumped forward and flung the Pokémon away with a powerful slash. "Shadow Ball, Bronzor!" Saturn commanded. "Leaf Blade, Leafeon!" Leafeon jumped in front of Absol and hurled the ball back at Bronzor with a flick of its tail. As Kadabra targeted it with its Psychic and Bronzor retaliated with Gyro Ball, Gardevoir stopped the latter in mid-motion with its own Psychic. Absol jumped out of cover and rammed itself against it with Double Edge. Bronzor backed away. "Shadow Ball at Kadabra, Gardevoir!" Gardevoir attacked, but Kadabra dodged via Teleport. It reappeared next to Gardevoir. Leafeon reacted quickly and shot at it with Razor Leaf. Struck, it backed away. "Recover!" Saturn commanded, and Kadabra healed again before another Shadow Ball from Gardevoir hit it in the chest and hurled it into the air. "Razor Wind, Absol!" Absol jumped off and let blades crash against it. Kadabra screamed out. As Toxicroak joined the fight with Poison Jab and Bronzor supported it with Gyro Ball, Leafeon and Gardevoir joined in defense. Gardevoir lifted Toxicroak into the air with Psychic and Leafeon counterattacked with Leaf Blade. It hit Bronzor and threw it back. "Solar Blade!" Gardenia shouted. It absorbed sunlight. Absol landed on the ground and its Razor Wind now hit Toxicroak. It crashed to the ground, defeated. Leafeon attacked with a sharp blade of concentrated sunlight and smashed it right into Bronzel's face. The Pokémon was unable to save itself. Kadabra was the last one left. Badly battered and unsteady on its feet. "Shockwave!" Kadabra sent out electricity again. Gardevoir stepped in front of Absol and Leafeon and kept the attack at bay with a psychokinetic barrier. "Leaf Blade!" Leafeon jumped over it and attacked, but hit nothing as Kadabra teleported. The grass-type Pokémon landed on the ground. Kadabra reappeared and tried to attack it, but Mari sparked between them. "Redirect the electricity, Gardevoir!" Gardevoir moved its hands and the Shockwave hit Kadabra instead. "Razor Leaf, Leafeon!",
"Psycho Cut, Absol!" Leafeon shot the razor sharp swarm of leaves at Kadabra before Absol charged after it and finished it off. Saturn withdrew his defeated Pokémon. "Hmph! Even I, a commander, can just buy us some time? But it's all right like that. You'll never manage to swim against the tide of time without sinking!" With that, he turned and disappeared. Gardenia folded her arms. "We have to stop them. I don't know who else is fighting along against this organization, but it must be stopped. You kids are strong, I appreciate your support. Come on, let's keep moving." The girls nodded.
They reached a cave entrance. Gardenia led the way and Jacky looked around warily. It was dim and dark in here. However, they didn't encounter anyone else. "I guess they're already preparing for the big blow..." Gardenia muttered thoughtfully as her Pokétch flashed up. "Did you get a message?" Mari asked. Gardenia nodded. "Skyla and Elesa have been checking out Spring Path. They discovered a cave entrance at Sendoff Spring... They were taking a closer look there, but they seemed to keep ending up at where they've started... because there is so much fog within the cave, but they managed to get to the center at last. While doing so, they've discovered a strange crack in the center of the cave that seems to be under tension.",
"The entrance to the Distortion World?",
"Quite possibly." Gardenia lowered her arm before continuing. "It would probably be more beneficial for all of us if the crack opens and Giratina breaks out...",
"Yes, probably. Question though..." Jacky started. "I am not all too familiar with Sinnoh's history and all, but... wasn't Giratina the enemy of Dialga and Palkia?",
"The Distortion World is also known as the 'Altered World'. Both worlds, it and ours, exist separately from one another, but are connected anyway. If something in this world goes out of hand, Giratina will feel the repercussions in its own territory. So it will have more than enough reasons to interfere when Team Galactic is trying to manipulate Dialga and Palkia, especially when it is for creating another universe.",
"I see..." She nodded.
"The thing I don't get is..." Mari tapped her chin. "Giratina is the antimatter component of the dimensional trio. Why are they trying to capture Dialga and Palkia instead of Giratina who could literally be able to create another realm from antimatter?",
"I am not sure myself... But it might be because of Arceus.",
"Arceus?" Jacky asked.
"Yes. The god who created the universe in the first place. Dialga and Palkia are its closest... you might as well call them 'servants'. Maybe, their goal is to use the two of them to lure Arceus here...",
"That makes things a lot worse", Mari concluded.
They wandered around inside the mountain for a while until they reached the top. "The Spear Pillar..." Gardenia mumbled. They looked around. "Over there!" Mari shouted, pointing to a woman with pink hair, another with red, and a man with spiky blue hair. "We're ready", the guy with the cactus haircut said. "Call Dialga and Palkia here, Jupiter." The pink-haired woman nodded and placed two strange-looking stones on a pedestal. Then, she stepped back. The orbs began to glow over and over until they each shot a beam skyward. "Oh no, we're too late!" Mari realized. The beams faded and portals opened where they had disappeared into the clouds. Loud roars rang out as figures descended from them. "No, we're not!" Jacky objected, running off. "Hey, stay here!" Mari yelled, aghast, and stormed after her. 'Jeez, usually, she is the one scolding me for being a hothead...'
"STOP THAT NOW!" Jacky screamed. The two women whirled around while the man seemed completely disinterested. His gaze rested only on the two Pokémon who were roaring as they descended to the Spear Pillar. "These must be the invaders Saturn was talking about," the red-haired woman commented. "Let's stop them."
Jupiter nodded. "How right you are, Mars." The two stepped into her path. "Don't take another step forward, little ones." A Purugly and a Skuntank appeared in front of them. Absol growled and stood next to Gardevoir. "We'll see about that!" Jacky commented. Dialga and Palkia landed in front of the blue-haired guy. He grinned and pulled out two red chains. "You will cooperate with me, whether you like it or not." Then, he threw the chains at the two Pokémon. Dialga reared back as the crystal on his chest began to glow red. Palkia hissed as the same thing happened to the pearls on its arms. They shrieked and the entire Spear Pillar shook. They threw their heads around and reared back one last time before going down. "NO!" Jacky screamed. Mari knew that they had taken action far too late. How the hell did it come down to this? Who in this damned region failed their job and was likely to get fired after this?