"That's the Pokémon that was speaking to me!" Adaman gasped as the group stared up at the Legendary Pokemon that had appeared before them. Dialga kept his gaze locked on all of them, yet no one but Ash could place the expression on his face. Ash knew Dialga well enough to know that he was asking for their help.

"Alright Dialga…help us out!" he yelled as he sent the Red Chain towards the Temporal Pokemon. The Red Chain flew to Dialga and encircled him. The chain spun faster and faster as it began to close in around Dialga. However before the chain could touch him, Dialga suddenly reared his head back and then swung it forward, using a burst of his own energy to completely shatter the chain, shocking everyone. The entire team was stunned into silence as the broken shards were scattered at their kept his gaze on Ash and the trainer slowly turned his head from the remains at his feet, back to Dialga. Once again, Dialga's wishes were clear. "...Alright. I'll battle you."

"What?!" May gasped as she turned to Ash in utter shock.

"Ash are you crazy?!" Akari echoed May's distress.

"You can't expect to win against a beast like that!" Kamado agreed.

"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Ash fired back as he grabbed and threw out one of his pokeballs. Out came his Decidueye who was clearly ready for a fight. "Stand back everyone!"

"Ash-" May tried again but Ash cut her off.

"Please have faith in me May!" his words stunned her into silence. She was still clearly afraid, yet something about his words seemed to reassure her. Somehow, she knew he was right. Slowly, she backed off with everyone else, leaving Ash to face Dialga as he requested.

"Dial!" Dialga roared before he fired a Roar of Time right at Decidueye.

"Dodge it then use Triple Arrow!" Ash called out. Heeding the command, Decidueye took flight from the ground and was able to fly over the Roar of Time attack safely. With Dialga unable to move after such a powerful attack, Decidueye was able to form his bow with his wings, and then fire off a Triple Arrow attack that landed and caused Dialga big damage. Dialga roared in pain and Ash was quick to follow up. "Now Aura Sphere!"

"Ueye!" Decidueye squawked as he formed and then fired an Aura Sphere from his beak, hoping to land another big hit on Dialga. However, the Dragon-type Pokemon had recovered from his earlier attack and then launched Flash Cannon to counter. The two attacks collided mid-air and exploded, canceling each other out. Dialga didn't wait for the smoke to clear and instead launched another Flash Cannon, which cut through the leftover smoke and hit Decidueye hard, knocking him away and into one of the temple's pillars. Dialga roared out loudly, clearly annoyed with the lack of fight Ash and his Pokemon seemed to be putting up. Ash grit his teeth as he tried to think quickly and his friends watched from the side.

"Ash come back! It's just too dangerous!" Akari begged, but Ash only shook his head in response.

"No way!" he argued.

"Ash please-" Akari tried again, but this time it was May who stopped her, putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder and shaking her head.

"He knows what he's doing…" she whispered, stunning Akari with her calm attitude. Everything in Akari told her to run in and help Ash, but the look on May's face made her stop. Somehow this girl knew what Ash wanted, and even though she was just as worried as Akari was about him, she wasn't going to let that interfere with what Ash had to do. What kind of strength did it take to do that? And what kind of bond did they have that could foster such strength?

"Alga!" Dialga roared and fires another Roar of Time, this time aiming directly for Ash. He barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack, giving Decidueye just enough time to get up from the rubble of the pillar and back into the battle.

"Quick use Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded, prompting Decidueye to fire Aura Sphere at Dialga before the Legendary Pokemon even knew he was back in the fight. Dialga roared in pain and stumbled back, again taking massive damage from Decidueye's attack. Seeing his opportunity, Ash took out a pokéball from his bag and then threw it with all the strength that he had. The ball hit Dialga in the chest and sent him inside. It clamped shut and dropped to the ground, shaking a few times before it sent a firework into the sky, signaling a successful catch. "Alright!"

"We did it!" Pikachu cheered. Ash ran over and picked up the pokeball that now contained Dialga as May sighed in relief and everyone else let out a mixture of cheer and relief for Ash's successful battle.

"An amazing feat to be sure Ash. Well done." Kamado smiled with a congratulatory nod.

"Ash are you ok after all that...?" Akari asked, approaching him with May following right behind.

"I'm alight Akari. Just glad I caught Dialga." he assured them both with his trademark smile. Both girls were happy to return his smile as a sense of calm swept through the group.

"So...is it over now?" May asked. Ash thought about her question as he looks up at the rift. Nothing about it seemed to have changed as a result of his battle. The gaping hole in the sky still seemed to be sparking and sending out the blood-red sky. Something still wasn't right. As if he was reading Ash's mind, Adaman suddenly held his head again and groaned.

"Adaman?" Irida asked, a worried look crossing her face.

"Wait…it's happening again! I can hear Almighty Sinnoh... No! No, it's called Dialga! Mighty Dialga's speaking to me in my mind!" he announced, drawing everyone's attention back to him. Ash clutched Dialga's pokeball a bit tighter and took a deep breath.

"What's he saying Adaman?"

"Space-Time is torn...Awful power spills forth...The frenzied one...comes to fight! Now, human! Fight him with me!" Adaman interpreted for them.

"What in the world does that mean?" Kamado wondered aloud. Ash, however, could guess exactly what that meant. He looked back at the alter just as another portal began to form.

"Incoming!" Ash yelled, drawing everyone's attention to another Pokemon that was entering their dimension. Out of the portal came another large Pokemon, this one more pink and white in color. He stood on two legs and had large pink pearls embedded in his shoulders. He landed on the altar and roared in a powerful voice.

"What is that thing?!" Irida gasped.

"That's Palkia!" Ask informed them. Palkia turned his gaze toward the group and unlike Dialga before him, his gaze was the same crazed one that was etched onto each of the Lords that Ash and Akari had fought. It didn't take Ash long to realize that somehow, the same energy coming from the rift had now infected Palkia as well. Palkia roared loudly with such power that everyone in the group was pushed back a bit by the soundwaves. Ash actually had to hold his arm up and shield his face from the force of the roar. The power emanating from Palkia started to actually break up and damage the temple structure around them, stunning those who knew so little about Palkia.

"Oh my gosh…" May mumbled under her breath.

"The distortions are getting worse!" Akari yelped as she moved away from a crack opening in the floor below them.

"We have to get out of here!" Commander Kamado ordered them all. Ash grit his teeth as he looked at Palkia, completely unable to read Palkia's expression in his current state. There was no doubt in his mind that Palkia was in no rational state of mind. And they needed a new plan to stop him.

"He's right! Let's move!" Ash yelled. Taking the Commander and Ash agreeing as a good sign that it was the right course of action, the entire group of people took off running from the temple, heading back down the mountain as fast as their legs would carry them.

Soon enough, Ash's team arrived back at the Summit Camp, panting and trying to catch their breath now that they were a safe distance away from the temple. It was Akari who first regained enough of her voice to speak up.

"What was...that Pokémon...we saw back there...?" she asked. Upon hearing her question, everyone's attention turned toward Ash. It seemed they all knew by now that Ash had answers to these kinds of unusual questions. And at this point, no one really cared why he did. Sighing, Ash took a deep breath and tried to explain as best he could.

"His name is Palkia...the one that the Pearl Clan...believes is Almighty Sinnoh…" he explained, stunning everyone, especially Irida.

"What...?!"

"But I can tell you that the Pokemon you caught before…Dialga…I know he's Almighty Sinnoh…" Adaman said, trying to rationalize all this information. "So are you saying there's...two Almighty Sinnohs then...?"

"That's incredible…" May said breathlessly as the reality of this sunk in with everyone.

"I can't believe there really were two almighty Sinnoh, after all. Guess that means neither of our clans was really wrong, huh?" Adaman chuckled, flashing Irida an apologetic smile, which she returned.

"But then…what do we do now...?" Akari asked.

"I don't know...the Red Chain was shattered by Dialga…even if it could still help we don't have the pieces anymore…" the Commander reminded the group, catching Irida's attention.

"Actually…I gathered them up before we ran…" she announced, showing everyone the broken red shards in her hands.

"Without more information, they look pretty useless…" May commented, seeming to spark something within Adaman.

"Hold on…Mighty Dialga said something to me as we were running...it's possible that's the information we need that could help us figure out what to do." he suggested, catching Ash's attention.

"What was it? What did he tell you?" Adaman took a deep breath and closed his eyes, recounting the words Diagla has spoken to him.

"The chain of red, the stone of universe's creation, and the vessel of humankind's intervention. Combined together they will quell the frenzied one." he recited. Everyone stood quiet for a moment as they absorbed the instructions, thinking about the listed items.

"So we still need the Red Chain…but what in the world are the other two items?" Kamado wondered. Suddenly Akari got an idea and she turned towards Ash.

"The vessel of humankind's intervention…Ash could it be a pokeball?" she suggested. Ash's eyes widened as he nodded.

"Akari that has to be it…we need to use the other two items to create a pokeball that can catch Palkia!" Ash realized, prompting Akari to smile proudly.

"That still leaves us with one question though." May spoke up. "Where do we find this so-called "stone of universe's creation"?

"Maybe Warden Lian will know something." Irida suggested.

"Good idea. From what I've heard that boy knows his stones and ores." Adaman agreed.

"Good. We'll go fetch him and then we'll figure this mess out together." Kamado announced, earning nods of agreement from everyone.

"I'll be back with Lian as soon as I can." Irida announced, quickly leaving the camp to go and get Lian. Everyone else spread out around the camp to rest and recover from the events atop the mountain. May sat down in the tent and took a deep breath to steady her nerves, which Ash took notice of. He walked over and sat down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah...I guess it just got pretty scary up there…" she answered.

"It sure did...but the important thing is everyone is ok." he reminded her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"...Are you sure you're ok...?" she asked, looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"I am May. Promise." he assured her, flashing her a loving smile. His smile made her blush and a comfortable silence passed between them. Taking another deep breath, May then spoke again.

"...I don't remember you Ash...but I remember how hard it is to worry about you…" she commented, wrapping him in a tight hug. Ash blushed deeply but he still hugged her back, holding each other close as their partner Pokemon both smiled at them, happy to see the two growing ever closer again. Pikachu even hopped into May's lap and snuggled in, earning a smile from Glaceon. But Ash and May's embrace was also being watched by Akari, who had anything but a smile on her face.

After what must have been several hours worth of waiting, Irida finally returned to the camp, this time with Lian in tow. Their return drew everyone's attention and they all gathered around.

"Good you're both back." Kamado nodded in approval.

"I understand from Irida that y'all are looking for a special kind of ore?" Lian asked, obviously hinting for more clarification.

"Yeah. Dialga said it was called the "stone of universe's creation", but he didn't say what it was or where we could find it." Ash explained.

"Well, that doesn't give us much to go on. But I know of a small cavern at the base of this mountain. Inside I've heard some rumors of strange rocks. I was going to investigate the rumors on my own, but then Kleavor went into a frenzy and I had to stay with him." Lian explained.

"That sounds like the right track to me. Can you take us to it?" Ash followed up.

"Surely can." Lian nodded. "We just gotta head down the mountain from here."

"That's a long climb back down…" May commented, glancing over at the cliff that would take them down to the base of the mountain. Sensing her hesitation, Akari jumped on an idea.

"Ash and I can get down there in no time on his Braviary. We'll go with Lian." she announced, surprising Ash and May.

"Can't we all go…?" May asked, but before Ash could answer, Akari again stepped in.

"Braviary has only ever carried two people. It's best that we don't overwhelm him. Besides we need someone to stay here and watch for any changes in the temple." Akari explained.

"Oh...alright…" May said, a sad look in her eye as she held Pikachu a little closer to her chest. Ash looked at them both worriedly, but he knew Akari well enough to know that when she was like that, there was no changing her mind. Adaman, Irida, and Lian had already begun climbing down the mountain so he had to go quickly. And as much as he didn't want to leave May's side right now, he also knew that he had to stop this crisis, as well as talk to Akari about their situation. Taking a deep breath he turned his attention back to May.

"It'll be ok May. I'll be back before you know it. Pikachu take care of her ok?" he asked his partner.

"I will." he nodded, Glaceon echoing his commitment. Satisfied with that, Ash turned back to Akari and they both headed to the clifface. Ash brought out Braviary and they both attached themselves to the glider.

"Ready?" Akari asked as she smiled at him, obviously happy to be alone with him again.

"I am." he nodded, trying his best to ignore her obvious play for him. With that confirmation, they both jumped off the cliff and Braviary flew down the mountain, leaving May at the site with Kamado and the Pokemon. She sat down sadly in the tent as Pikachu and Glaceon looked at her with a hint of concern.

"...Why does it hurt to see them go off together...?"

Meanwhile, Braviary landed at the base of the mountain and both Ash and Akari hopped off the glider just as the Clan Leaders and Lian arrived as well. Ash recalled Braviar to his pokeball and everyone turned their attention to a small opening in the rockface of the mountain.

"There's the cavern." Akari pointed out.

"Good." Ash nodded as he lead everyone inside. Inside the cave was a glowing orangish-yellow stone that seemed to almost pulse with its own heartbeat. There was no doubt in Ash's mind that this was the stone substance they were looking for.

"Looks like that's the stuff. I call it Origin Ore." Lian announced.

"Now we just need to mine a chunk of it." Ash agreed.

"I'll take care of it." The Warden assured them as he walked towards the nearest vein of ore. However all of a sudden, several smoke bombs were suddenly thrown to the ground and filled the cave with smoke. "What in blazes?!"

"Now what...?!" Ash growled, covering his mouth and nose from the smoke. Everyone else did the same until the smoke finally cleared and they could see again. Now standing between them and the Origin Ore was the Miss Fortune Sisters.

"Hold it right there." Charm announced. Upon seeing them both Clan Leaders gasped as they recognized familiar faces.

"Clover?!" Adaman gasped.

"Coin?!" Irida asked.

"What do you three want?! We're really busy here at the moment!" Ash yelled impatiently.

"Why do you think we're here? We're going to take this ore for ourselves. I bet it's worth a pretty penny to the right people." Charm smirked.

"Not happening! I won't let you put Hisui at risk for your own greed!" Ash asserted.

"Then let's see just how badly you want it." Charm offered as she sent out her Rhydon.

"I've had enough of this!" Ash barked as he brought out his Decidueye. He took a glance around and, seeing Adaman dealing with Clover, and Irida dealing with Coin, he turned his full attention back to Charm.

"Horn Drill!" Charm called her move. In response, Rhydon began to spin his horn and charged at Decidueye with the attack.

"Jump over it then use Aura Sphere!" Ash countered. Listening to Ash's instructions, Decidueye jumped up and over Rhydon at the last moment before firing an Aura Sphere at her back, landing a massive hit that forced Rhydon to stumble backwards. As Rhydon tried to regain his footing, Ash took advantage of the opening he had. "Now use Leaf Blade!"

"Decid!" Decidueye agreed as he took off from the ground again. He flew in close and struck Rhydon with a powerful Leaf Blade that caused massive damage. Rhydon was thrown into the cave wall where he collapsed and fainted. Charm grit her teeth slightly as she recalled Rhydon and then immediately sent out her Gengar.

"Don't think you've won just yet boy." she warned under his breath, Ash returned Decidueye to his pokeball before switching tactics and bringing out his Weavile. "Sludge Bomb now!"

"Gen! Gar!" Gengar snicked as she took a deep breath and launched Sludge Bomb at Weavile.

"Dodge then use Dark Pulse!" Ash countered.

"Wea! Vile!" Weavile called as he jumped to the side, avoiding the Sludge Bomb before firing Dark Pulse at Gengar and scoring a direct hit. Gengar was pushed back by the attack and Ash once again took the opening.

"Now use Night Slash!" he ordered. Weavile ran in towards Gengar with his claws glowing with black-colored energy for his Night Slash. But Charm didn't make the same mistake twice.

"Dodge now!" Gengar heeded her call and disappeared from sight to dodge, leaving Weavile looking around the cave, frantic and confused. "Sludge Bomb!"

"Gen!" Gengar yelled as she appeared behind Weavile and hit him with a powerful Sludge Bomb attack.

"Vile!" Weavile cried out as he skid across the cave floor.

"Weavile!" Ash gasped.

"Wrap it up with Shadow Ball!" Charm called her final move. Gengar launched a Shadow Ball that headed directly for Weavile as he struggled to stand again.

"Use Ice Beam and then Night Slash once more!" Ash countered. Getting back to his feet, Weavile fired an Ice Beam at the Shadow Ball, causing an explosion that blinded Charm and Gengar. Taking the opening, Weavile rushed in and used Night Slash on Gengar, landing a critical hit. Gengar was sent flying from the attack and crashed into the cave wall where she fainted, winning Ash and his team the fight.

"Alright!" he cheered as he recalled Weavile to his pokeball. "Well done!"

"Hmph…" Charm grumbled as she recalled her fainted Pokémon. Ash checked on the other battles and was happy to see that they were wrapping up as well.

"Leaf Blade Leafeon!" Adaman called. His Leafeon ran at Clover's Abomasnow and slashed him with a Leaf Blade, forcing him to collapse to the ground where he fainted.

"Glaceon use Ice Beam!" Irida ordered. Her Glaceon fired an Ice Beam from her mouth and hit Toxicroak hard, making her faint as well.

"Enough is enough." Ash stated as the other bandits recalled their Pokemon. "It's over. Now get out of our way."

"Hmph. Very well. But we'll see each other again. That I promise you." Charm warned him as she threw down a smoke bomb. Everyone on Ash's team again shielded their eyes and when they looked again, the three women were gone. Ash sighed in relief before turning towards the two clan leaders.

"You know Clover and Coin?" he asked.

"Clover used to be a member of the Diamond Clan." Adaman explained.

"And Coin was a member of the Pearl Clan." Irida added.

"Actually now that I think about it, I think Charm was a member of the Galaxy Team." Akari piped up.

"Guess crazy takes all kinds…" Ash mumbled to himself.

"Anyway." Lian stepped in. "Time for me to finally get that ore. It'll just take Sliggo and me a minute to mine it safely."

"Good." Ash nodded.

"Thank you, Lian." Akari smiled. While Lian carefully began extracting the ore, everyone else took a moment to breathe. Akari sat down on a nearby boulder, but couldn't help but notice the anxiety in Ash's eyes. That level of anxiety she hadn't seen from him in a long time. At least…not since he returned with May.

"You ok Ash?" she asked.

"Yeah…just worried about May. I just…I just want to get this over with." he sighed.

"Oh...well I'm sure we'll be able to fix this. There hasn't been a problem yet the two of us couldn't solve." she said, trying to lighten the mood with a smile.

"Right…" he sighed again. Akari frowned again when he didn't smile back at her. The reality of their situation began to hit her like a truck. She had tried and tried to fight against it, but there was no more running she could do. She'd run into the brick wall.

"...You still love her don't you?" she asked in a quiet voice, finally drawing Ash's full attention. He still didn't want to hurt her, but now was as good a time as any to finally clear the air.

"I always will love her...with all my heart…" he answered, making sure to leave no room for misinterpretation this time.

"...Then there never will be anything between us will there...?" she whispered, tearing up slightly.

"I'm sorry Akari. You've been an amazing help to me on this adventure…and I'm very glad to have met you…but I only see you as a good friend. May…she's everything to me. And I won't ever love anyone the way I love her." he declared, putting the final nail in the coffin. Akari closed her eyes and let tears slide down her cheeks as she tried to come to terms with the reality she now faced.

"...I'm sorry too…" she finally whispered after a long silence.

"You're sorry? For what? I used you and gave you hope when I knew deep down there was none. You have nothing to apologize for." he tried to assure her.

"Oh yes I do…" she countered as she finally looked back at her. "I was trying to force a relationship between us...even when I could tell that you didn't feel that way about me…I wanted to believe there was a chance for us so much that…I even started hoping May really was gone so you'd stay…I'm just as guilty of making this mess as you are…"

"Akari…"

"It's just...hard to accept that we're not meant to be…"

"I'm so sorry...for all of this…"

"It's ok...you can't control how you feel…I'll be ok with time…and I…and I hope you're both happy together…"

"Thank you Akari...and once we get her memories back I'm sure we will…"

"She lost her memories...?" Akari asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah...she doesn't remember anything from before arriving here...apparently Volo found her on Firespit Island and brought her to his Grandmother to recover...it was why I couldn't find her no matter where we went." he explained, drawing Akari's attention further in.

"Really?" she questioned him, causing him to nod in response. "That's odd...I wonder why he didn't tell you earlier...you did ask him to keep an eye out for her didn't you?" Ash's eyes suddenly widened in realization at her question. He had asked Volo to let him know if he heard or saw anything related to May. And both he and Cogita knew May's name by reading her Trainer's Licence. So why…why hadn't he said something about her sooner? Before he could think about it further, Akari's voice snapped him back to reality. "Ash?"

"O-Oh sorry. Yeah, I…I don't know why he didn't tell me sooner…"

To be Continued...