Music recommended to listen to for the following segments...
Cresselia Explains Herself - Welcome to the World of Pokémon! (PMD: Explorers games)
It's Okay For Us To Live! - 15 Years Ago (Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)
We Have to Stop Darkrai! - Briefing 3 (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)
Cresselia Briefs Team Go-Getters - LRSSG Briefing IV (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown), or Silent (final mission briefing theme) (Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies)
Exploring Dark Crater - Hush (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown), or Avalon (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)
I Know You All Too Well... - In The Future (PMD: Explorers games)
How Odd Was That Accident? - Time Gear Remix (PMD: Explorers games)
Darkrai's Evil Wish, Leon Discovers How He Turned Into A Piplup... - Hidden Highland (PMD: Explorers games)
Join Me... - Planet's Paralysis (PMD: Explorers games)
I Refuse to Join You!, Trapped!, The True Final Battle, Darkrai's Attempted Escape - Lost But Won (Rush 2013 film), or Zero (final boss theme) (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)
The Heroes Return, Thanks For Always Being With Me! - A Wish For Peace (PMD: Explorers games)
Chapter 8
The One Behind It All
Broad daylight was at the main square of Treasure Town, as Team Poképals was finally back from Spacial Rift. Team Go-Getters, along with most of the guild members, were also present there, relieved that Leon and Blaze came back unharmed, as Azurill had finally awoken from his nightmare that he had been having for a while. He tearfully ran up to his big brother Marill to give him a hug, crying out his name in the process.
"I'm so glad you're back with us, Azurill!" Marill cried. "You woke up from your nightmare!"
"Yup!" the little brother said.
They wiped the tears off their eyes as they turned to Cresselia to thank her.
"You did it, Miss Cresselia!" Marill said. "Thank you so much!"
Azurill turned to Drowzee to thank him also.
"Mr. Drowzee, we have to thank you too!"
Everyone turned to the hypnosis pokémon.
"Huh?! Me?!"
"Yes!" Azurill answered.
"You stayed to take care of my little brother this whole time," Marill said, "so thank you very much!"
Drowzee seemed to be a little embarrassed, but he indeed felt touched by the thanks.
"Well...shucks, it's the least I could do."
Blaze turned to Cresselia.
"Cresselia, what happened to Palkia?" he questioned.
Everybody turned to her to listen to what she had to say.
"He is immersed within Spacial Rift...where he's attempting to take care of the distortion of space. As the being that governs space itself, he is staking his pride on success. Given that duty, I would not expect to see him manifest here again."
"That's remarkable!" Chatot replied with a big smile. "It's quite truly marvelous indeed, Cresselia~! We'd heard of your power to dispel darkness, but only in rumor. However, it was all true~! I must say, this is completely marvelous!"
"I understand it now," Leon said, paying attention to Cresselia. "You used your power when we were in Palkia's nightmare. That was how you pulled him and us out of the nightmare."
"Indeed," the lunar pokémon replied. "I do have the power to dispel darkness. It lets me dispel nightmares and awaken those in deepest sleep. Darkrai stands as an opposite to my being. He has the power to enshroud those who sleep in nightmare. Now, Leon and Blaze, do both of you recall where you met my impostor? What I mean by that is...the first Cresselia that you met. Those encounters were always within dreams, weren't they?"
"That's true!" Blaze exclaimed.
"The first time was in a dream," Leon said, backing up his little brother's claim. "Then later on, come to think of it...the second was in Azurill's nightmare. That time I wasn't obviously dreaming, so I guess it never occurred to me then...but I realized that was within Azurill's nightmare. So in other words, it was still in a dream. Then the next time we met, it was in Palkia's nightmare. We only encountered the fake Cresselia only in those dreams!"
"That's correct," Cresselia replied. "Darkrai has the power to create realistic illusions. What he was doing...was using his illusions to make you think you were seeing me. It was all an elaborate ruse to get at both of you, Leon and Blaze, so that your whole existences could be eliminated."
Everyone else was in utter shock by this idea.
"What?!" they said.
"Darkrai was planning to eliminate Leon and Blaze from this world?!" Chatot exclaimed.
"It's obviously shocking that he wanted to get rid of both of 'em," Drowzee spoke next, "but why would he plot something this complicated? Why go to all the trouble of using a Cresselia impostor? Wouldn't it be faster to confront those two directly in battle?"
"I would guess," Cresselia began, "that it was all out of fear of Leon and Blaze."
"Darkrai was afraid of us?" questioned Leon.
The lunar pokémon focused her attention back Team Poképals.
"Yes, because both of you saved the world once before. It was when you prevented the collapse of Temporal Tower. But...who was really the one that put the ruin of the tower in motion? Who was it that really sought to put the planet into paralysis? It was none other...than Darkrai himself."
"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
"Darkrai was behind the crisis at Temporal Tower?!" Blaze said.
"That is correct," Cresselia answered. "He intends to enshroud the world in darkness. He failed to do that with the prevented destruction of Temporal Tower, so after that, he turned his attention to the distortion of space itself. If it were to grow, Darkrai's power to create nightmares would also grow. What he sought to do was envelop all pokémon within a nightmare. It was all his doing...to make the distortion of space expand."
"Darkrai was doing that?" Leon questioned.
Cresselia simply nodded in agreement.
"I thought it was our existence that was expanding the distortion of space, though!" Blaze insisted.
"It is true that your existence is causing space distortion," Cresselia replied, "but the distortion you cause is extremely small. Furthermore, it won't expand on its own."
"Th-then..." Leon responded, with tears threatening to pour from his eyes, along with Blaze.
"That's right. The expanding distortion of space has nothing to do with you. It was blamed on you, however, so that both of you would be eliminated. It was all part of Darkrai's elaborate deception."
Team Poképals turned to each other, who were overjoyed and relieved by hearing the good news. Both of them, though still smiling, now had tears streaming down their face, as Blaze hugged Leon.
"Leon! I'm so, so glad that we're not beings that must not exist!" the chimchar said in between sobs. "It's all right to live in this world after all...we're not unwanted!"
"I'm also glad we never gave up, too!" Leon replied. "We just needed to keep going so we could live! Thanks for never giving up, Blaze!"
"I don't know what both of you, Leon and Blaze, went through," Wigglytuff spoke up, as the piplup and the chimchar, still holding on to each other, turned to him, "but it's just not possible...for either of you, to be unwanted in this world. If one or both of you went away...it would make me very sad. I think everyone at the guild would be sad too if that happened, so it makes us happy that you're still with us, Leon and Blaze~! That's reason enough...to keep existing!"
"Th-thanks for saying that, Wigglytuff," replied Leon.
"It's not just both of you...everyone here, and every other pokémon in the world...has a precious life that's worth living for! Never think that you're not wanted ever again...and always stay positive!"
Blaze sniffed as he spoke.
"Thank you so much, Wigglytuff."
He and Leon looked back to each other as they patted themselves softly to relieve the pain that they endured on being accused of the space distortions by Darkrai himself. After a few moments, they separated from their hug, wiped their tears off, and settled down. Corphish was the first to speak after a while, as he appeared to be angry.
"Hey, hey! Darkrai's nothing but a dirty and dishonest pokémon! What he tried to do with those poor kids is simply unforgivable!"
"He never comes out in the open," Cresselia replied, as everyone turned to her again. "He does his nefarious work from the shadows. If you confront him, he will always flee. That, is how Darkrai has always operated. But now, he's doing something very unlike him right now...by inviting Leon and Blaze to confront him."
"That's right," the piplup announced. "Darkrai told us back at Spacial Rift before he left that he would be waiting for us at the Dark Crater."
"Cresselia, do you believe that he demanded Blaze and Leon to come to him for a reason?" questioned Wigglytuff.
The lunar pokémon nodded in agreement, as the guildmaster spoke again.
"Do you believe it's a trap?"
"Yes. It is without a doubt, a trap."
Leon and Blaze turned to each other with determined looks.
"You know what to do, Blaze!" the piplup began.
"Right with you, big bro!"
They turned back to Cresselia once more.
"Hey, it doesn't matter if it's a trap or not!" announced Blaze.
"If we don't stop Darkrai," Leon said, "he'll smother the whole world with darkness!"
"We're going to the Dark Crater!" they both proclaimed.
"Okay then," Cresselia responded, "I respect your decision. I will accompany you. I have long been aware of Darkrai's scheme...and have pursued him for a long time to thwart his plan. But every time I caught up to him, he would elude me. This time...he will be waiting for us. I, too, would like to settle this once and for all."
Everyone else, including Team Go-Getters, also tried to pitch in to help in the capture of Darkrai.
"Everybody," Cresselia announced, as they quieted down, "I'm delighted by your offer to help, but I'm afraid that Darkrai would be scared off if too many of us were to go. This is a rare chance to corner him and stop his nefarious scheme. Please be content with just the three of us going."
The crowd groaned in disappointment, but they understood the situation. Team Poképals turned to reassure them.
"Don't worry, everybody!" Leon announced. "We'll be sure to defeat Darkrai and come back!"
They spoke out and cheered for the duo.
"Yes! You do that!"
"If anyone can, it's you!"
"All of you take care out there!"
"Thanks for the support, guys!" Blaze replied.
He and Leon, along with Team Go-Getters, followed Cresselia to Sharpedo Bluff.
They all arrived at the top of the bluff, Cresselia told where the Dark Crater was located. It was northwest of here, situated on a land of volcanic terrain. She told Leon and Blaze to go back to Treasure Town to prepare carefully. While they went there, Cresselia turned to Team Go-Getters.
"I see that three of you still want to help Team Poképals." she began.
"You bet!" Ian replied.
"Listen carefully, then…"
The three pokémon began to listen closely to Cresselia.
"You will come with us to the Dark Crater, where you three will all initially wait outside. When Leon, Blaze, and I arrive around the halfway mark of the dungeon of Dark Crater, I will signify, using my telepathy, that we did so and all of you will enter next. When the three of you get there halfway, wait there until we get into the deepest part of the dungeon. That is when I'll signify to you once more, so that you can get to us as quick as you can. Try to arrive at just the right pace so that we can corner Darkrai at the opportune time. He may have minions that are under his control, so be prepared to battle alongside us. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Cresselia!" Ian, Charmander, and Chikorita answered.
"Good. I will tell Team Poképals about this and let them know that you're willing to help."
They waited for a few more moments for Leon and Blaze to arrive. When they did, Cresselia told them all about their plan, and that Team Go-Getters would join them on their journey to the Dark Crater. When they understood this, they all made their over to the volcanic land where Darkrai awaited them.
The two teams, along with Cresselia, arrived at the entrance to the Dark Crater. As instructed by the lunar pokémon herself, Team Go-Getters waited outside, while Team Poképals and Cresselia went into the dungeon.
The dungeon of Dark Crater had close to thirty floors of fire-type pokémon, mixed in with a few ground-types. Although Leon benefited from the fact that he had no negative effect to fire-types, and he overpowered both them and the ground-types, Blaze would suffer from the defensive advantage against the ground-type pokémon. Knowing this, both Leon and Cresselia had to protect him from those pokémon.
Around halfway at the dungeon of Dark Crater, Team Poképals told Cresselia to use her telepathy to Team Go-Getters to remind them of their current position.
Meanwhile at the entrance to Dark Crater…
"We're at the halfway point now," Cresselia told Ian. "Your team may proceed inside Dark Crater."
The squirtle turned to his teammates.
"Okay, guys. Cresselia told us to go inside now, so let's get a move on!"
They followed Ian and made their way inside.
"Don't worry, Chikorita!" Charmander said to the grass-type. "We'll protect you in there!"
"I'm glad to hear that!"
Eventually, Team Poképals and Cresselia arrived at the pit of Dark Crater. Before they got to the middle of the room, the lunar pokémon quietly told the duo to stop for a moment.
"Okay, Leon and Blaze. Give me a moment to tell Team Go-Getters that we arrived at the deepest part of Dark Crater."
"Gotcha, Cresselia!" whispered Leon.
The lunar pokémon closed her eyes, and using her telepathy, she told the three pokémon outside to continue venturing deep within Dark Crater. When she was done, Leon, Blaze, and Cresselia all made their way into the middle of the room, as the light in the area got dark.
"You've kept me waiting," announced Darkrai.
He appeared in front of them, as the light returned. Leon and Blaze stepped back.
"It's time to settle this, Darkrai!" the piplup announced with a determined expression on his face.
"I was waiting for you to say that, Leon. I know you all too well..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"When you first came to this world with Grovyle...both of you were caught up in an accident."
"An accident?" Leon remembered something from what he said. "Wait, that's right! Grovyle once explained it to me! He and I had an accident while we traveled back in time to gather the Time Gears!"
"Correct," Darkrai replied. "You became separated as a result of it. You were also transformed from a human into a pokémon...and you lost your memory as well. Has it not occurred to you as to how odd that accident was?"
"How...odd?"
"Yes. Think of how the accident occurred...precisely when you and Grovyle were traveling through time. Does that fail to strike you as odd?"
Leon thought about it carefully, but he couldn't dig deep enough in his memory to come up with an answer.
"Darkrai, you know something about this?" questioned Blaze.
"Naturally," the pitch-black pokémon answered. "That very accident was caused by none other...than myself."
Team Poképals was shocked by the discovery.
"What?!"
"What did you say?!" exclaimed Blaze.
Ignoring what the chimchar said, Darkrai continued on.
"My wish is to engulf this world in darkness. I first set my sights on Dialga's Temporal Tower because of its tie to time...so I sabotaged it. That would have eventually led to the destruction of time...and ultimately, the planet's paralysis. However, you, Leon, and Grovyle, decided to meddle. I learned of your impending arrival from the future, and thus, I attacked both of you as you traveled in time...so that I would be rid of you. But an unforeseen event made it impossible to be rid of either of you. It should have been enough...especially for Grovyle."
"What exactly are you saying, Darkrai?" demanded Leon.
"Good question, Leon. Do you know how you came to be a pokémon?"
"Nope. I still don't know yet...so how?"
"During the accident...you shielded Grovyle from my attack."
Leon was in utter shock and disbelief at finding out the truth.
"I shielded him?!"
"Yes," Darkrai answered. "you absorbed the brunt of the attack that I'd intended for Grovyle. It appears that your fierce will to protect him became entangled with the many dimensions during your time travel. As a result, you were transformed into a piplup."
"I...did that?" Leon slowly questioned.
Darkrai nodded in agreement as he spoke again.
"I assumed what I did was sufficient. I thought that I'd rendered you incapable of preventing the planet's paralysis. However...I underestimated your resourcefulness. You met with Blaze here...and both of you managed to stop the destruction of Temporal Tower. Since I'd underestimated and disregarded how much you would meddle...my original plan ended in failure."
"That's why you decided to get rid of Leon and Blaze first this time," Cresselia announced, "so they wouldn't be an impediment to your scheming! You even tried to break their spirit...by using an impostor of me!"
Darkrai ignored Cresselia, as she continued to speak.
"Even now...you lured us here...so that you could destroy us all in one fell swoop!"
"Exactly," Darkrai replied. "I did indeed intend to do just what you say. But now...I've had a change of heart."
The three pokémon before him were alarmed by what he said. He spoke on.
"So...Leon and Blaze. Both of you are brave, and you've shown great initiative. It would be such a tragedy to be rid of you forever. Since both of you have shown so much promise...will you join me?"
"What?" Leon and Blaze said, stunned by the request.
"Join me in ruling a world full of darkness!" Darkrai announced.
"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed a bewildered Leon.
"It is entirely possible if we three band together. So...will you join me?"
Cresselia turned to Team Poképals to urge them not to join Darkrai.
"Leon and Blaze...don't believe his lies!"
The chimchar appeared to lose hope, as he had a somber look on his face. Cresselia noticed this, as Leon turned to his best friend.
"Are you listening, Blaze?!" the lunar pokémon said in alarm.
"...Maybe Darkrai...is right," the chimchar responded.
"Blaze, no!" Leon and Cresselia exclaimed in disbelief.
"Who are we kidding? We don't stand a chance against him anyway! It's pointless to resist! Joining Darkrai...may be the best thing to do now."
"Wh-why, Blaze?!" demanded Leon.
Ignoring his best friend, the chimchar went up beside Darkrai to join his side. Blaze turned back to face Cresselia and Leon, as Darkrai had an evil laugh.
"You chose wisely, Blaze," he praised. "Very practical of you."
The pitch-black pokémon turned his attention to the piplup…
"Now, Leon...what will you do? When you are one of us...our first order of business will be Cresselia here, where we will get rid of her together."
The lunar pokémon turned to Darkrai in alarm.
"What did you say?!" she replied.
Darkrai ignored her as he talked to Leon again.
"Come join us now, Leon."
Cresselia turned to the piplup.
"Leon...whatever you do, don't leave my side!"
"Don't listen to her, pal," insisted Blaze. "Please come here with us. If you won't join us...Darkrai surely won't want just me...he'll destroy me."
Feeling understandably conflicted, Leon gave it a careful thought for a few moments before he made this difficult decision. He went in front of Darkrai, who laughed evilly, acknowledging that the piplup would join his side as well.
"It appears that you will join us after all, Leon..."
"The world of darkness is going to be wonderful, pal..." Blaze replied with an ominous tone.
"You see?" responded Darkrai. "Your trusted partner here has seen the truth. By joining us...you will reign as lord in the world of darkness."
Leon still seemed unsure about all of this, as Darkrai noticed.
"It seems that you still have not decided yet, Leon. This is your last chance...will you join Blaze and I in ruling the world together?"
The piplup closed his eyes as he thought to himself.
I refuse to join! This is all...a nightmare!
He opened his eyes up and attacked Darkrai with a fierce peck from his beak! He flipped backwards from the villain and saw that Cresselia, and more importantly Blaze, were right beside him where he landed.
I was right all along! Leon thought again. I was being deceived! Darkrai was showing me an illusion! That was close!
Darkrai grunted in frustration as he got back up from the painful peck he took from Leon.
"C-curses! I was on the verge of success!" the pitch-black pokémon bellowed. "Is that your answer, Leon?!"
"Of course!" the piplup furiously replied, "My best pal Blaze would never consider turning his back on me! I'll never join you, Darkrai! Not on my life! I'll never let a world of darkness come true!"
Darkrai simply grunted in response.
"So be it. You've made the wrong choice. I will annihilate all of you now."
He rose his claws up in the air as the area went dark again. After a second or two, his minions appeared, surrounding Team Poképals and Cresselia! They noticed that minions had red eyes, indicating that they were under the control of Darkrai himself.
"We're surrounded!" exclaimed an alarmed Blaze.
"I knew this would happen!" Cresselia said. "I knew that your minions would be lying in wait!"
"Like it or not, Darkrai...we brought backup too!" Leon announced.
On cue, Team Go-Getters arrived in the room, as the trio got into their battle stances, along with their allies caught in the middle.
"Don't count us out!" Ian said.
Noticing this, Darkrai responded with a laugh, as he spoke once more.
"It doesn't matter. Backup or not...this is where I will finally destroy all of you meddlers. When everything's said and done, I will seize control of the darkened world...as its king."
He looked at his minions.
"My fellow minions...attack!"
The true final battle between good and evil had begun!
Thanks to Team Go-Getters arriving in time for the much anticipated battle, Team Poképals and Cresselia found it less difficult to battle Darkrai's minions. Since he would use some of his moves in an attempt to make one of the opposing pokémon fall asleep to damage them using his Bad Dreams ability, the two teams all took Chesto Berries to prevent that from happening. Once one minion was defeated by a pokémon, he or she teamed up with another in order to make defeating the next a little more easier. This trend would continue, until Darkrai himself remained. He was surrounded by the six pokémon.
"Drat! All of my minions fell!" the pitch-black pokémon bellowed.
"That just leaves you and me now, villain," Leon announced.
"Leon, are you sure you want to take him on alone?" questioned Blaze, as he turned to the piplup.
"Of course, pal. After all, he's the one that caused so much pain to both me and you, and tried to attack Grovyle when we traveled back in time here. I wouldn't let that happen, of course...and not to anyone else for that matter."
"Okay, big bro! I believe in you! Go get him!"
Blaze, along with Cresselia and Team Go-Getters, stepped aside so Leon could battle Darkrai alone. They cheered him on, as the pitch-black pokémon spoke.
"You really are a young fool to think you could take me on alone," the villain insisted. "You will regret not having friends beside you for trying to defeat me."
"I've grown much, much stronger thanks to my handy Joy Ribbon I have on right now," replied Leon. "You will feel just how awesome I am right now."
The cheering pokémon smiled at his comment, admiring his bravery.
"Very well, Leon." Darkrai announced. "Let our duel begin!"
He and the piplup charged at each other, with Leon using Drill Peck, and Darkrai using Quick Attack. As the two moves clashed, Leon had the advantage as he hit Darkrai multiple times with the move, sending him a few feet backwards into the ground. He rose back up, as he grunted in frustration and resumed the battle.
The two pokémon would clash with each other, with one move making occasional contact with the other. Leon, of course, had outside assistance. He had Blaze and Team Go-Getters tossing various healing items to him whenever he was in trouble.
After a few moments, Leon used Fury Attack on the weakened Darkrai, as he got hit five times in succession from the flurry of pecks that the piplup laid on him. He held his head as he got dazed. Realizing that Darkrai was about to lose the battle, Leon prepared a combo of moves to finish the villain off.
"Here it goes! Whirlpool!"
He shot a swirl of water from his beak to surround Darkrai into a vertical whirlpool that spun him around for a few moments, damaging him from the contact he took from the occasional waves of water. Leon charged up his second move while this happened. When the whirlpool disappeared, Darkrai flew down to the ground, as Leon's move had almost completed charging.
"This is for Blaze, Grovyle, Azurill, and for everyone else in the world!" the piplup announced. "Hydro...PUMP!"
He shot out a powerful beam of water that hit Darkrai dead on at the right time, sending him a few feet back and onto the ground. Once the dust settled, he lay on the ground for a few moments, until he rose up slowly, while being in immense pain.
"He did it!" Blaze cried to the cheering pokémon beside him.
He and the others stepped forward to Leon, with Cresselia approaching Darkrai.
"It's over, Darkrai!" she announced. "You have lost! Your world of darkness will never come true now!"
The villain let out a weak evil laugh as he spoke.
"D-don't you remember, Cresselia? You can never catch me!"
His blue eyes glowed bright for a couple of seconds, as a familiar portal appeared behind him!
"It's a dimensional hole!" Leon announced. "That coward's trying to escape once more!"
"This portal may take me to the future...or the past," Darkrai said, "I don't know where it will take me...but I will simply plunge the world into darkness in another time!"
"Don't you dare escape, Darkrai!" ordered Blaze.
"You're not getting away again!" bellowed Cresselia.
Darkrai got closer to the dimensional hole, as the six pokémon could only watch helplessly.
"Too bad for all of you," he said. "I can slip away through time with just one step. You will never catch me."
Everyone grunted in frustration, as Darkrai laughed evilly and spoke again.
"Finally, in the end of it all...it ends in my ultimate victory!"
"I will not allow that!" a voice suddenly rang out.
Everybody wondered whose voice it was, when suddenly, the ground shook. A blinding light covered the area for a few seconds, and when it cleared, Palkia appeared to the right of Darkrai! He looked furious as he focused on the pitch-black pokémon.
"It's Palkia!" Leon announced.
"You will pay a grave price for expanding the distortion of space, Darkrai!" the spacial pokémon bellowed. "This is a strike for justice! Take this!"
He roared as he charged up something from his mouth, shaking the area again. Darkrai, being in absolute fear, went into the dimensional hole in an attempt to escape from this time period!
"There is no escape!" announced Palkia.
He shot out an orb at the portal, as Darkrai screamed in immense pain from the attack! The dimensional hole turned gray, as it shattered into oblivion.
"The portal completely shattered while Darkrai was still inside it!" Leon exclaimed in shock.
"I...heard him scream," a concerned Blaze said. "Is he gone forever?"
Palkia turned to him and the group to answer.
"No. That has not happened."
Everybody turned to the spacial pokémon as he continued to speak.
"He has suffered grievous damage...and been banished to some unknown place. But wherever he may be...he lives."
Blaze, understanding what it meant, realized something else in alarm.
"When Darkrai recovers from his injury...won't he go back to his wicked ways?!"
Cresselia turned to Team Poképals.
"That remains to be seen," she answered, as Leon and Blaze turned to her. "Because when Darkrai entered the dimensional hole, he began to time travel. At that precise moment, he was struck with Palkia's attack."
The lunar pokémon focused on the piplup.
"Now, Leon...do you remember what Darkrai said about your arrival from the future?"
He nodded in agreement.
"He attacked you during time travel, and as a result, you got hit with amnesia. So just like you, Leon...it's very certain that Darkrai has lost his memory as well."
"He's lost his memory?!" the piplup exclaimed.
"Yes," answered Cresselia. "He will likely never recover his memory...and will be left to wander lost through the world."
"I see..."
"We are done with Darkrai," Palkia announced. "He will not likely expand the distortion of space ever again."
Everyone turned to him once more.
"I shall now return to Spacial Rift. I foresee no reason to ever return here...so farewell."
The spacial pokémon roared as he transported himself out of the Dark Crater. Cresselia turned back to everyone else once more, as they paid attention to her.
"Well, that is that. Shall we also go back, now?"
"Yeah!" Leon agreed with a smile. "Let's get outta here!"
"I couldn't agree more, Leon!" Blaze happily replied.
"Let's get back home to Treasure Town, guys!" Ian announced.
With that said, everyone made their way out of Dark Crater.
Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters received a hero's welcome once they got back to the main square of Treasure Town. The guild members, including other friends like Spoink, Drowzee, Marill, and Azurill, were all overjoyed as they surrounded the five pokémon to praise them for stopping Darkrai, the pokémon who was the cause of putting the world in danger twice, once and for all. After a few moments of the two teams' heartfelt return, everyone went into Spinda's Café to celebrate further for the rest of the day.
After the party at the café had ended, sunset had arrived, and Team Poképals went to the beach themselves to spend some time alone. They told Team Go-Getters that they would be back at Sharpedo Bluff later on, as Leon and Blaze sat close to each other on the beach, staring out into the ocean and looking at the setting sun. The krabby were blowing bubbles as usual during this time, and the waves of water gently crashed onto the surface. After a few moments, they looked at each other with big smiles on their faces and started a conversation.
"I was so heartfelt at the way everybody was thrilled by our return once we defeated Darkrai," Leon began.
"Yeah," Blaze replied, "he fully fooled us, and we'd believe that neither of us had a place in this world...but when everyone at the main square surrounded us, and were all glad and relieved to us back...that's when we finally thought that it was indeed wonderful to be alive."
"We also saw little Azurill completely healthy and awake since he woke up from his nightmare, and I was very glad to see that everyone was doing just fine."
"It's just like Wigglytuff said to us, Leon...every pokémon in the world exists for a reason."
"You're right, Blaze. Even those that mean harm to others...including Darkrai himself."
Despite Darkrai having caused everyone pain for the two times he threatened to destroy the world, Team Poképals would rest easy, knowing that his memory loss meant that he would no longer cause further harm for the foreseeable future ahead. Leon and Blaze continued their discussion.
"So, Leon," Blaze said, "after all of this, my adventures with you will continue...right?"
"Of course, pal. We'll see many things, and we'll make new discoveries. We may not still be able to evolve at Luminous Spring yet...but it doesn't matter! We can exist here, and we can live here! That alone is something we should be happy and grateful about! That...is what we finally learned."
"Yes! That's exactly it, Leon! Thanks for always being with me to this point!"
Blaze, having said that, gave his best friend and big brother a hug. They closed their eyes, and had bigger, wider smiles from the heartwarming talk they had. They knew that their days of exploration and their unbreakable friendship would last forever.
Leon and Blaze spoke once more, while they continued to hug each other.
"Blaze...you're the bestest pal and little brother I could ever have in my life. Thank you so, so much for sticking with me as well."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, big bro."