Eventually, they all came over to the Pokemon Center.
"Oh, these poor Pokemon..." Nurse Joy frowned.
"They're all asleep." Cherry said.
"I better get to work and fast." Nurse Joy decided.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Estelle replied.
"Don't mention it." Nurse Joy smiled.
Estelle smiled back and soon, all of the Pokemon were given a special exam by the Pokemon Nurse.
"This is interesting." Cherry said.
Felicity frowned as she hugged her mother's arm.
"Nurse Joy, I think I could use an exam too." Brock whimpered.
"Kid, you are so desperate for-" Cherry glared before doing a double take as she saw a transparent Buziel flying around. "What the what?"
"It's these hallucinations!" Brock cried out.
"Uh, Brock, you're not the only one seeing this." Vincent said.
"Yes, I see them too." Nurse Joy added.
Chansey soon rushed over with Alice and Tonio also coming.
"This is worse than Wonderland!" Dinah frowned.
"You said it." Estelle said.
Alice and Tonio soon set down a Pidgey and a Murkrow.
"Oh, no..." Piplup frowned to his fellow Bird Pokemon.
"Darkrai is really going overboard with this Dark Void attack." Akito said.
"I can't say it's the hardest thing of my life... I've faced Trigon!" Cherry replied.
"Guys, we've got a problem!" Ash called out as he came with Alberto.
"We've got a problem here too." Dawn replied to him.
"Really? Well, excuse me, people, but you don't even know the meaning of the word problem!" Alberto glared as he came back in his new form which confused the others who didn't see what had happened to him.
"Oh, you're fine." Cherry rolled her eyes at Alberto.
"But the truth is, I didn't save Alice that day," Older Tonio narrated to tell the others about what he was thinking in present day. "Now I'm sure of it. It was Darkrai who saved you that day."
"Oh, Tonio." Alice replied, feeling touched as Akito and Estelle were brought back from the flashback.
"Godey's diary also says that it was your grandmother Alicia who opened up Darkrai's heart," Tonio told the blonde girl. "I don't believe that Darkrai is evil either."
"So then there must be a reason why he's using Dark Void like a way to show us something that we don't know." Estelle said.
"That actually does sound possible." Cherry had to admit.
"Tonio, are there any surveillance cameras here?" Akito asked.
"Um, I don't know about that, but my computer tracks just about everything." Tonio replied.
"That'll do." Cherry said.
"I don't have all the answers yet, but for now, we just hang on." Tonio replied.
"Fair enough," Cherry said. "I just hope it doesn't last too long."
"Same here." Vincent said.
Raticate continued to film the others while Cassidy pretended to be an anchorwoman.
"That's Team Rocket, isn't it?" Emi asked in deadpan.
"Yep." Estelle replied.
"So then that camera guy must be Hutch, right?" Vincent smirked before counting from 3.
"MY NAME IS BUTCH!" Butch yelled out.
This made the others smirked.
"Uh, I mean, I don't know what you're talking about, kid." Butch smiled nervously.
"We know it's you guys." Emi told them.
"You don't know ANYTHING, YOU BUNCH OF SNOT-NOSED TWERPS!" Butch, Cassidy, and Raticate snarled.
"We know it is you, Équipe Fusée." Felicity frowned.
"Pipe down!" Cassidy glared, shoving her aside.
Cherry happened to see that and soon looked steely-eyed, but her eyes slowly turned red as her maternal instincts were kicking in.
"Uh-oh..." The Fudo siblings gulped and they ran and hid.
"Did you just hurt my daughter?" Cherry asked, frighteningly stoic.
"Pfft! She's fine." Cassidy scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, really?" Mismagius asked.
Felicity rubbed her head as her cousins surrounded her. "I'll be fine..." she told them.
Akito soon held out his hand for Felicity and she took it and stood up next to him.
"You touched my daughter." Cherry told Cassidy in a hauntingly stoic tone which startled the Fudo siblings.
"Yeah, what of it?" Cassidy huffed.
"Oh, you're in for it now." Akito told Cassidy.
"Why did you hurt my daughter?" Cherry asked softly.
"Look, I barely even touched her," Cassidy snorted. "Not my fault she's so sensitive."
"That's not the point... You HURT MY CHILD!" Cherry soon turned sharply with beady red eyes, looking rather violent, almost in a way that could rival Frollo from Notre Dame before grabbing a hold of Cassidy. "YOU HEARTLESS WITCH! YOU DO NOT TOUCH MY CHILDREN!"
Cassidy began to look terrified.
"I... Uh... I didn't mean... She was just..." she soon stammered.
"THINK, GIRL!" Cherry glared firmly. "Think of the innocent, hurt child..."
"I'm sorry..." Cassidy nearly whimpered.
Butch and Raticate began to look terrified.
"What're you going to do?" Cassidy asked.
Cherry soon flung Cassidy towards Butch and Raticate, knocking them all down.
"Strike!" The Fudo siblings cheered.
Felicity sighed as she felt bad.
"Aw, Felicity, Aunt Cherry cares about you." Estelle frowned.
"I know... "But I'll never be like her... Never..." Felicity pouted. "Never live up to the deeds that she did~..."
"Felicity, you don't have to live up to her deeds; you are your own person." Vincent said.
Felicity looked back with a small sigh.
"I used to feel that way with Dad when I was younger..." Akito told her. "Listen, Aunt Cherry can be scary sometimes, but I know that she really cares about you for being yourself."
"That's right." Estelle said.
"I suppose..." Felicity looked away.
"Felicity, are you hurt?" Cherry asked, kneeling in front of her daughter with her hands on her shoulders. "Your father told me you bruise easily."
"I-I'm okay, Maman... It hurt a little..." Felicity replied.
"Oh, thank goodness." Cherry sighed.
"What are we going to do, Maman?" Felicity asked.
"As much as I don't want to, we better follow the crowd and see what's going on." Cherry told her.
"Okay." Felicity said.
"Come along." Cherry told the kids and they went to go off.
Eventually, they came back to the Pokemon Center.
"All right, Tonio, what do you know?" Cherry demanded to find out.
"Look at this," Tonio replied as he used his computer, showing something on screen.
"Hey, that's the same thing from my dream!" Ash cried out.
"Mine too!" Emi added.
"I'll digitally enhance the image." Tonio decided before doing so.
The image was soon a lot clearer than it was before.
"Oh, my..." Alice whispered.
"Palkia, isn't it?" Brock added.
"Yes," Tonio nodded. "It is said that Palkia lives between dimensions and rules space, a Pokemon that's been called a deity."
"But why is it here?" Estelle asked. "And if so, then why has it trapped us all in this town?!"
"All I can say is, when the garden was turned into a wasteland, it was a sign of Palkia's appearance," Tonio replied. "Darkrai sensed what was about to happen. It was at the moment that the sky lit up that Palkia burst into the city."
"So then, we just have to convince everyone that it's actually Palkia's doing." Akito said.
"Then... Darkrai was telling Palkia to go away in our dream!" Ash realized, referring to himself and Emi.
"Only, where is Palkia?" Brock wondered.
"I felt like I could sense someone around when I was wandering around last night." Cherry replied.
"There's only one place big enough for a Pokemon like Palkia to hide, and that's in between the two towers." Akito said.
"That's probably where my sense was..." Cherry replied. "I was mostly annoyed about trying to pass through the fog only to get back where I started. I tried to help you, kids, I really did."
"The question is why is Palkia even here?" Vincent asked.
"Pissing me off, that's what." Cherry said.
Felicity gasped. "Maman!"
"We better get to the towers." Tonio suggested.
"And even if it is unwise, we'll have to attack in between the towers to make Palkia show itself." Akito said.
"You better know what you're doing." Cherry told him.
"I'm sure." Akito replied.
They soon rushed out of the Pokemon Center to get to the Space-Time Towers, and they saw Darkrai flying towards the towers.
"Looks like he knew where Palkia was all along." Estelle said.
Darkrai soon hit the invisible void and landed hard on the ground.
"Darkrai, no!" Ash gasped.
Emi soon rushed over to Darkrai.
"Little girl, come back here!" Cherry called out.
Palkai was soon shown in the sky which surprised them all a bit. Emi soon hoped and prayed that her idea would work as she concentrated to make a Pokemon move come out of her right hand so it would hit Palkia so it would let them go. Nothing seemed to happen at first until a glow came at the palm of her hand like an energy ball. Cherry was about to stop Emi, but Akito shook his head at his aunt to make her stop. And where the energy ball soon hit Palkia, breaking its concentration on trying to stay hidden.
"What... In the absolute-" Cherry muttered.
"Don't finish that sentence." Vincent said.
Cherry narrowed her eyes slightly.
"GO AWAY!" Darkrai growled as he came out to face Palkai.
"Yeah!" Vincent added.
Palkai soon seemed to snarl which made the sky even darker with lightning all around, looking quite horrific. Felicity shivered and whimpered from that out of distress.
"He seems angry." Emi said.
"Well, you pissed him off." Cherry muttered.
Felicity sniffled and shivered from her fears. Cherry began to comfort her daughter. Felicity looked up to her mother and nuzzled against her.
"We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise." Cherry coaxed.
Felicity smiled up at her mother, happy to hear that.
"That's easy for you to say, lady!" Alberto glared.
"Since when can Lickilicky talk?!" Dawn flipped out with her Piplup.
"That's because that isn't Lickilicky." Cherry said.
"She's right!" Alberto added. "I am the Baron Alberto!"
"No way!" Dawn gasped.
"Alberto?" Piplup whispered.
"Quick, Tonio, turn me back at once!" Alberto demanded.
"You act like Alberto..." Alice muttered, but still in disbelief.
"But how is this possible?" Estelle asked.
"It's a plot hole." Cherry smirked.
"Aunt Cherry..." Estelle muttered to that.
"He turned into Lickilcky right in front of us!" Ash told the others.
"It's true!" Pikachu added.
Butch, Cassidy, and Raticate were soon shown seeing trying to lift up Lickilicky, though struggled because of how big the Pokemon was. Akito soon helped them with Lickilicky.
"The Real World is merging with The Dream World." Tonio told the others as he scanned on his computer.
"What are you talking about?" Alice asked him.
"All of these Pokemon are dreaming that they're being chased by something frightening." Tonio informed.
"That doesn't explain why Alberto is Lickilicky." Estelle said.
"I guess Lickilicky must be dreaming it turned into Alberto." Tonio guessed.
"Say what?!" Alberto asked.
"The space around our city is being acted on by a powerful force, creating a space-time anomaly, resulting in all of the strange things we've been witnessing." Tonio informed.
"Whoa." Akito said.
"But why?" Estelle frowned.
"I don't know." Tonio sighed.
"It's that Darkrai!" Alberto glared. "When it appears, strange things happen! Don't you see?!"
"We don't even know why these things are happening when he appears!" Estelle told him.
"I know how to solve this," Alberto glared before coming to his knocked out Pokemon. "Lickilicky, you must wake up this instant and go destroy Darkrai!"
"I don't think that's gonna work." Cherry muttered.
"Alberto, you realize you're Lickilicky right now, right?" Vincent asked.
"Well, I'm not going to stop Darkrai!" Alberto glared.
The kids' new friends soon rushed over.
"Listen people, we're stuck." Allegra replied.
"It's the craziest thing!" Maury added.
"We're trapped in town and we can't leave!" Kai added.
"What are you talking about?" Akito asked.
"Come on," Allegra frowned. "We'll show you."
They were soon outside. They saw the town as it looked muggy and was foggy, almost like it was a wasteland.
"Maman..." Felicity whispered, clinging to her mother.
Cherry patted her on the head as an Owl Pokemon was soon let out.
"Now Honchkrow, defog!" Allegra told her Pokemon.
Hunchcrow soon did the attack she ordered, but nothing happened.
"Well, that's quite haunting..." Cherry commented.
"Defog didn't do a thing!" Brock yelped.
"No matter which way we try to escape, we always end up where we started!" Kai frowned.
"That's so strange." Cherry said.
"I'll be back!" Ash told the others before running towards the fog.
"And in 3... 2... 1." Vincent said.
Pikachu soon followed after Ash.
"So, anyone see a good movie lately?" Cherry asked before glancing over. "Oh, they're behind us now."
"But... I know we ran straight..." Ash frowned with Pikachu.
"What's going on?" Pikachu wondered.
"That was strange." Estelle said.
"It's that Darkrai!" Alberto glared. "No doubt up to one of its evil tricks. And nothing's going to change until we destroy the nasty demon."
"Listen Kirby, if it bothers you that much, I suggest you do something about it." Cherry replied in annoyance.
Gangar nodded in agreement.
"It's nice to see Baron Lickilicky back up to speed." Cassidy smiled.
"Baron Alberto!" Alberto glared as he corrected her before violently licking her.
"You just used Lick Attack." Akito told him.
"Seriously, why is that a thing that can happen?" Cherry muttered.
"Fine, I'll do something," Alberto glared. "Pokemon Trainers, lend me your ears! Your strength and expertise! We must destroy this evil and loathsome Darkrai! And now, follow me into the fray!"
'Something isn't right about this.' Estelle thought to herself.
The others soon began to follow after Alberto.
"What do ya think?" Allegra asked Kai.
"They need us." Kai replied.
"Yeah!" Maury agreed and they soon joined the crowd.
"This reminds me of that one angry mob in your story, Maman." Felicity frowned.
"I was thinking the same thing, dear." Cherry agreed.
"There must be a reason Darkrai is attacking," Emi said. "I mean he's not evil; my Pokemon Princess instincts would tell me."
"He's not evil?" Akito asked.
"Believe me, I would know," Emi replied. "I just wish I knew why he was doing this."
"Hmm... Maybe he knows about this fog and what those strange gusts of winds were." Vincent said.
"I suppose that's possible, but would he even listen to us?" Estelle wondered.
"I feel like he might not... There's just gotta be someway to talk to him," Akito said. "There's just gotta!"
The group began to wonder this themselves.
"Well... Maybe it's someone else." Alice said.
Everyone soon looked at her.
"The truth is, I don't think Darkrai is behind any of this." Alice replied.
"He can't be because our Pokedexes don't have any info on him able to do anything like what we've seen or experienced around here, except for the dark voice and going into the shadows." Akito said.
"And I had a nightmare about him." Felicity sulked, still bothered by her bad dream since Darkrai was real and not a figment of her imagination.
"Well, it's a bit too early to be certain," Tonio informed as he stepped in. "You see, back when I was a boy, Alice and I were playing together in the garden..." he then began to reminisce.
'Flashback time.' Estelle thought to herself.
Of course, there was a flashback shown of a much younger Tonio and Alice.
Flashback
"Tonio! Yoo-hoo, I'm up here!" Alice called out from the top while he was down low on the ground. "Come up here and play with me!" she told him before running off.
Akito and Estelle were the only ones that saw this since their vision powers showed them things from the past and at times things that would happen in the near future.
"Alice looks younger... I think this might be before we met her." Akito guessed.
"Yeah, I think so too." Estelle agreed.
"It's dangerous up there!" Tonio told Alice. "Look where you're going!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Alice smiled as she ran off, but yelped as she cracked a ledge which began to fall with her.
"I'm guessing Darkrai comes in this one." Akito said.
"Surprised you didn't feel the need to save Alice like Superman saving Lois Lane from dropping to the ground." Estelle smirked, crossing her arms.
"If I did I would have just flown right through her." Akito said.
"But still." Estelle replied.
"Logic, Sis! LOGIC!" Akito replied back.
"ALICE!" Tonio cried out as he ran to help his friend, but something else soon grabbed and took Alice.
"And I was right." Akito said.
"Do you always have to be right?" Estelle smirked.
"Why, yes," Akito smirked back. "Yes, I think I do."
Whoever caught Alice soon set her down on the ground and disappeared as soon as Tonio got there, and where to Alice, she would think he was the one that saved her.
"Did you see that?" Estelle asked her twin brother.
"Uh... A little..." Akito admitted.
Tonio was relieved that Alice was still alive and not hurt, but he soon tried to wake her up after seeing an ominous shadow. "Alice, are you okay?" he soon asked her. "Say something! ALICE!"
"Tonio? Oh, you saved my life, Tonio!" Alice smiled as she woke up and suddenly hugged him. "Tonio, I love you!"
"She thinks Tonio saved her life, but it was actually Darkrai." Akito said.
"The town is flowing in another dimension!" Tonio told the others urgently.