The other side of the portal deposits the group into Nemex's throne room. Nemex sits atop its giant throne. Next to it is Celeste, still imprisoned in the shadow bubble.

Upon seeing them, Celeste shouts, "Ash, no!"

Ash looks to Celeste and gives her a slight nod and a grin. Her eyes widen in surprise, but only briefly.

Ash looks up to Nemex and says, "Long time no see, Nemex."

Nemex stares down at Ash. "Sol Champion. When last we met, you drove me from your world. But things will be going quite differently this time. For, you see, last time was only my most basic of attempts. This time you will have to contend with my full master plan."

"You don't scare me."

"I should." Nemex looks to the others. "And then there's the newly chosen Luna and Terra Champions. Never before have I done battle against all three champions. But it will make no difference. You won't even have a chance to call upon the Legendary Pokémon you champion for help."

While Nemex was speaking, Arun went by each member of Ash's group and bound their hands behind their back with rope.

Nemex looks down to Celeste and throws several shards of dark purple crystal to the floor beneath her bubble. "Now, girl, I have possession of all four Celestial Cornerstones. You build for me what I have demanded of you."

Celeste shouts insolently, "Never!"

Nemex holds up a hand and gathers energy in it. "We shall see about that."

Ash suddenly shouts, "Now, Ninjitsu!"

"Ninjit!" A massive Smokescreen fills the room and obscures all vision. In several swift movements, Ninjitsu uses its blades to slice through the ropes binding Ash and the others.

Arun demands, "What is this!?" But as he shouts, Ninjitsu suddenly appears in front of him and grabs the Sol Staff right out from his hands. "No!"

Ninjitsu tosses the staff at Ash, who catches it and thrusts the bottom of it into the ground. The Sol Gem atop the staff glows a golden light so powerful it pierces the smokescreen. Brock and Brenda also pull out their Terra and Luna Gems and hold them up. There's a great flash of light even brighter than that of the Sol Gem's.

When the light and smoke both fade, Ash, Brock, and Brenda are riding atop Heliosol, Terratlas, and Seluna.

Ash asks, "You ready for this, Heliosol?"

Heliosol, in its Regular Form, cracks its knuckles. "Nemex didn't learn its lesson last time. It's time for another beatdown."

Brenda says, "I'm counting on you, Seluna!"

Seluna declares, "I will not allow Nemex to claim another world!"

Brock adds, "We're up too, Terratlas."

Terratlas announces, "I take any threat against the Earth personally."

Together, Ash, Brock, and Brenda all declare, "Go!"

The three Legendary Pokémon lunge forward together.

Heliosol gathers intense plasma around its arm and flings it. "Coronal Storm!"

Seluna crosses its arms, then pushes them out to create a shockwave of shadows as it shouts, "Tidal Power!"

And Terratlas thrusts its arms forward to create a pulse of water, ice, and ground. "Force of Nature!"

The three attacks are aimed at Nemex, who seems rather unworried. "Pathetic." The Pokémon waves an arm, summoning an invisible force to stop all three attacks in their tracks, then dispersing them. Then Nemex snaps its fingers and suddenly Heliosol, Terratlas, and Seluna are surrounded by a shadowy field. That field implodes inwards on them.

They may have been knocked back, but the Sun, Earth, and Moon Pokémon are quick to recover. Ash shouts, "Heliosol, time to ascend!" He thrusts the bottom of the Sol Staff onto Heliosol, causing a great flash of light. When it subsides, Heliosol has transformed into its serpentine Ascended Form.

"Here we go, runt!"

Brock shouts, "We'll cover you!"

Brenda adds, "Us too!"

From either side of Heliosol, Terratlas and Seluna attack with Blizzard and Lunar Beam respectively. Just as before, Nemex stops the attacks cold with simple arm motion.

However, just as the attacks are dissipating, Heliosol bursts through them with an arm outstretched. It grabs ahold of Nemex by the face and shouts, "Artificial Genesis!" A great golden light builds up around Heliosol's entire body. That energy is channeled into Heliosol's outstretched arm, and then explodes directly on Nemex's face with a blinding flare of gold and silver.

The attack flings Nemex back and causes it to crash into the wall behind it so hard that the wall crumbles.

Heliosol watches with satisfaction and reverts back to its Regular Form.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda shout together, "Hit it again!"

"Coronal Storm!"

"Tidal Power!"

"Force of Nature!"

Myoken floats forward as well. "I'll help too! Lightray Pulse!" It adds a powerful pulse of golden light to the mix.

Once again, the attacks of the Legendary Pokémon are aimed at Nemex, who has yet to reemerge from the hole in the wall.

As the attacks continues, Brenda cheers, "Yeah! That had to do it!"

Brock agrees, "Not even Nemex could withstand all that!"

Ash grins. "Great job, Heliosol!"

Myoken questions, "Did we find a way…?"

But Celeste shouts in warning, "Look out!"

Everyone squints past the bright light of the attacks to see Nemex stepping out from the destroyed wall. It holds an arm out in front of it, in front of which a purple barrier is being used to block all four attacks.

Nemex laughs menacingly. "Is this really the best the three champions of the Cosmic Architect's treasured creations can muster? I am disappointed, but not surprised. This ends now." With the hand that isn't generating the barrier, Nemex snaps its fingers once more. This time everyone else in the room, save Arun, is trapped in a separate purple energy bubble like Celeste's. This separates the champions from their Legendary partners and halts the attacks.

Celeste shouts, "Oh no!"

Heliosol, Terratlas, Seluna, and Myoken all attempt to break free of their bubble, but their effort has absolutely no effect.

Nemex announces, "You may have thought you were clever with your plan of letting Arun capture you to bring you to me, but you were foolish. I don't even need to take the Celestial Cornerstones from you three. Simply having the energy of all four of them in close proximity is enough for my plan." It turns to Celeste and points to the crystal shards that still sit in front of her bubble. "Now child, build! Build what I demand of you so that I can end this cycle of stagnation!"

Celeste shouts, "I already told you! Never!"

"And I already told you that we shall see about that." With a wave of its hand, Ash's bubble floats close to Nemex.

Already guessing what Nemex has planned, Ash shouts, "Don't give Nemex what it wants, Celeste! No matter what it threatens to do!"

Nemex shakes its head in disapproval. "Do it, girl." It begins to slowly close a fist. As it does, Ash's bubble begins to shrink at a similar rate. Quickly, Ash is forced to crouch to avoid being crushed.

Celeste shouts, "Ash, no!"

Ash looks completely calmly at Celeste, despite the closing walls of the bubble, and asserts, "I'll be okay, Celeste. There's no need to help me." But then he cries out in pain as the bubble begins to push him more than he can comfortably bend.

Tears begin to fall from Celeste's eyes as she tries to figure out what to do. She remembers her conversation with Ash from earlier, "Thank you for saving me."

Ash responded, "No need for thanks. I trust that you would do the same for me if you could."

But Celeste said to herself, "That's the thing. I wouldn't…"

Ash's shouts of discomfort pull Celeste back to the present. "Ash!" She looks up to Nemex and shouts, "Okay! Okay! I'll build what you want! Just don't hurt Ash anymore!"

Ash's bubble suddenly grows back to its original size. Nemex nods. "As I told you would happen. Now, do it."

Ash shouts, "Celeste, don't—!" But he's knocked backwards by an unseen force courtesy of Nemex.

Celeste takes a deep breath in and closes her eyes. She holds out her hands. The dark purple crystal shards in front of her become cloaked in a gold and silver glow as they begin to float into the air in front of Celeste. Piece by piece, Celeste puts them together like a puzzle. There's a flash of light, and when it subsides, the crystals have been combined together into a single form. Now floating in front of Celeste is a single dark purple gemstone with jagged spikes on all sides.

Nemex announces, "Yes. At long last. The fifth Celestial Cornerstone. The Ruin Gem. Take it, Arun."

Arun slowly approaches the floating gem. He savors its sight. "At long last, the power to enact actual change will be mine." He reaches forward and touches the gem, but the moment he does, he screams in pain. The shadowy aura of Nemex's powers that already floated about him are amplified tenfold. Beams of red light shoot from his eyes as he screams. His skin somehow grows even more pale. Then everything calms back to the way it was before. He declares, "Yes! I feel the power! I am the Ruin Champion!"

Nemex declares, "And now, witness my full power. The power that the Cosmic Architect stole from me. Witness the untamed power of pure annihilation and calamity!"

Arun thrusts the Ruin Gem into the air as it begins to glow even brighter. A cloak of shadows envelops Nemex, obscuring it from view. Moments later, the shadows explode away to reveal that Nemex has taken on a new form.

Nemex's form is now an absolute horror. Its face is now mostly dominated by a wide-open maw filled with serrated teeth. There are no eyes on its face. Instead, it has giant bat-like wings, each with a massive red eyeball on it. The planet-like object that was once its torso has been shattered and a hundred different planetary fragments float about each other. Instead of two legs and a tail, the horrifying Pokémon now stands on three tentacles. Its hands now feature what looks more like extra long and skinny claws, rather than fingers. The creature shrieks a hideous and ear-piercing wail.

Arun looks upon what he has created with a combination of awe and terror.

Nemex declares in a deeper and more coarse voice, "The time has come. With this new power granted to me, the Cosmic Architect can no longer keep me away from Earth. No longer will I act from a distance. This will be the last day of humanity!"

Ash shouts, "Nemex!" But Nemex ignores him and both it and Arun are suddenly gone.

Aries declares morbidly, "And that's it. The world as we know it is over. This is the end of all things…"

Celeste breaks down sobbing as she collapses to her knees.

In the skies above Kanaveral City, Nemex and Arun appear. Arun floats aside the world-ending Pokémon. Nemex announces in a voice that echoes across the city, "People of Earth, rejoice, for the end of your stagnation is here! This era ends now in a great wave of all-consuming fire!"

Down below, people look up at the Pokémon with fear and horror. No one knows exactly what to make of it, but everyone, as if on an instinctual level, knows that they're looking upon their doom.

Nemex thrusts an arm outwards and creates a colossal wave of shadowy energy that instantly obliterates a nearby skyscraper to rubble that rains down on the streets below, causing even more panic and terror. Nemex laughs as it savors the hysteria it has wrought. It moves on to destroy another building.

Nearby is Team Planetary Headquarters. And on its top floor, Cosmo watches the destruction from his office. He presses a button on an intercom and says, "It's as we feared. The Calamity has returned. And this time it's worse. Prepare the weapon for immediate launch."

Ash shouts, "This can't be it! Nemex

can't have won! There has to be something we can do!"

Heliosol says, "Ash, we could barely hold our own against Nemex as it was. And now it has gained power that is beyond even my comprehension. I hate to admit it, but we've been beat…"

Terratlas declares, "Even as we speak, I can sense the destruction of Earth has begun. I worked so hard to build the perfect planet, and now Nemex will destroy it in less than a day."

Seluna laments, "I have always watched the people of Earth fondly from above. And now…"

Ash asserts, "No! We can't give up! We have to come up with a plan! We can still do this!" It sounds more like he's trying to convince himself than the others.

Brock says glumly, "Ash…not only are we still trapped in Nemex's barriers, but we are also stuck on the far end of the Solar System. Even if we did have a plan, we have no way back to Earth…"

Celeste continues to sob. "I've doomed us all… There's no one who can help us now…"

Jessie, James, and Meowth run through the halls of Nemex's castle. Jessie holds the Cosmic Gem up triumphantly.

Meowth declares, "I'm going to buy myself the world's biggest scratching post made of pure gold! Nothing but the finest for my claws!"

Jessies shouts, "I'll put together a wardrobe that's so expensive it will define fashion itself!"

James adds, "And I'll buy a vacuum cleaner robot!"

Jessie and Meowth skid to a stop and look back at James. They ask critically, "A vacuum cleaner robot?"

James nods excitedly. "Yeah. You know. Like one of those round disk things that vacuum your home for you. I've always wanted one."

Jessie questions, "James…don't you think you're thinking a little…small?"

Meowth adds, "Not to mention, you don't have a home to vacuum."

James nods. "Hmm… Good points. Okay then. I'll buy a house, so I have something to use the vacuum robot on!"

Jessie and Meowth groan. Meowth comments, "Jimmy, I think you have your priorities a little backwards. But sure. We'll get you a fleet of vacuum robots with your cut of the dough we'll make from this thing."

James claps. "Oh goodie!"

Jessie urges them forward. "Now come on, let's find our way out of this accursed castle already."

They get ready to run again, but they fail to notice the rubble on the floor in front of them. It looks to be from a broken wall. It's the other side of the wall that Nemex crashed through earlier. All three of them trip over the ruble and fall through the hole in the wall.

Jessie drops the Cosmic Gem, and it rolls away from her, landing in front of the crying Celeste.

The Cosmic Gem begins to pulsate slowly. The voice of Celeste's patron announces softly, "My child, with my power you can escape and save your world. Accept my help, my child."

Celeste gulps as she tries to force herself to stop crying. "Accept…help…" She takes a deep breath in and uses her sleeve to wipe the last of her tears from her face. Then she announces, "I accept your help!"

"Then you shall receive it."

The Cosmic Gem begins to glow a gentle, yet bright light. It floats into the air in front of Celeste's bubble.

Ash notices first. "Woah, what's going on, Celeste!?"

Celeste declares, "I'm getting help, so I can help you." Celeste's entire body becomes wrapped in the same glow as the gem. Her feet lift off the floor of the bubble as she begins to float. She closes her eyes and concentrates. She shouts as she thrusts her arms forward, creating a pulse of energy that not only rips through and destroys her bubble, but all the other bubbles as well, freeing everyone.

Ash gasps. "Woah! Celeste, where'd you learn to do that?"

Celeste opens her eyes and looks at her own hand. "I'm not really sure. My patron granted me this power through the Cosmic Gem."

Brenda says, "Well, that's one of our problems solved, but how do we get back to Earth?"

Celeste grins. "I can handle that too." She throws a hand into the air and creates another field of energy that surrounds everyone.

At this moment, Team Rocket lunge for the Cosmic Gem shouting, "Give that back!" They become enveloped in energy too as everyone teleports away.

They reappear atop a skyscraper in Kanaveral City. Team Rocket, continuing their lunge, leap right over the side of the skyscraper. They shout together, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting down again!" They disappear from sight with a twinkle as they fall.

The city is already in shambles. Buildings everywhere have been completely destroyed. Many of the ones still standing are on fire. In the streets below, people run about in panic as they try to find safety.

Brock gasps. "This is terrible!"

Brenda points to the sky above them. "Look! What's going on!?"

In the sky above, Nemex is battling against a colossal robot. But not just any robot. It's Team Planetary's Ultimate Weapon.

Ash gasps. "It's Cosmo! He's trying to stop Nemex!"

Inside the mech's cockpit, Cosmo is strapped in. He shouts, "Calamity! This weapon was created for the sole purpose of protecting this planet from you! It may not be fully powered, but it still packs a punch! Go! Planetary Laser!"

The dynamo core of the Ultimate Weapon glows intensely for a moment before firing a titanic beam of blue energy at Nemex.

But Nemex, with a simple flick of its hand, redirects the beam so that it destroys a nearby building instead.

Cosmo gasps. "Impossible…"

Nemex declares, "The power of humans pales in comparison to the might I now wield. Your weapon might have been able to defeat the envoy of destruction I sent to this world in my place, but I far surpass it in power. To me, your so-called Ultimate Weapon is nothing but something else to destroy. Witness true power." Nemex flaps its wings and holds an arm forward to generate successive pulses of darkness which hit the Ultimate Weapon and tear it to shreds.

Seemingly just in time, Cosmo launches out of the massive mech in an escape pod, which lands somewhere below. Pieces of the Ultimate Weapon rain down onto the destroyed streets below.

Ash gasps. "But that thing was so powerful…"

Celeste declares, "But I am now more powerful. I can stop Nemex. I can feel it."

Ash questions, "How?"

"Because I am the Cosmic Champion." She floats into the air again and closes her eyes as the aura once again envelops her. Her hair begins to float in all directions, and she holds her arms out.

Somehow, Nemex senses her. Its head snaps to look at her. "No!" It flies at her at incredible speeds.

But before it can make it to her, something massive has appeared behind Celeste. Celeste raises an arm, as does the body that appeared behind her. A blue barrier is erected in front of her. Nemex crashes into the shield and bounces back.

Upon seeing what has appeared, Heliosol, Terratlas, Seluna, and Myoken all bow in reverence.

Ash, Brock, Brenda, Aries, and Pleiades are all dumbfounded by the appearance. Brenda questions, "What…is it…?"

Behind Celeste is a gigantic Pokémon. It's the same as the silhouette from her dreams, except now fully formed. It's a serpentine dragon Pokémon with a white and gold body. Its upper body is a ring, inside which is a miniature Sun orbited by a miniature Earth and Moon. Below the upper body ring, a long serpent tail extends. Two disconnected arms float on either side of the ring. Behind it are two wings made of disconnected segments of light. Its head is topped with a panel that shows the starry expanses of the cosmos, giving the Pokémon an incomprehensible look. Notably, the Pokémon looks vaguely like Heliosol in its Ascended Form and very similar to Team Planetary's Ultimate Weapon.

Aries gasps. "Im-impossible… It's…the Cosmic Architect…"

Ash gasps. "The Cosmic Architect is a Pokémon!?"

The serene voice of Celeste's patron announces, "I am Cosmogogue, the Cosmic Architect! For too long I have sat aside and done nothing but watch. Now I act to save the world that I built."

Ash shakes his head in disbelief. "Celeste's patron was the Cosmic Architect all along. I can't believe it…"

Nemex recovers and stares at Cosmogogue with utter hatred. "Cosmogogue! You have refused to take any direct action for millennia, and now you show your face?"

Cosmogogue announces, "I gave you a chance at living a peaceful life, Nemex. I allowed you to stay on your planet so long as you ended your cycle of destruction. Now you have forfeited that chance."

"Stop sounding so high and mighty!" Nemex unleashes an extremely intense beam of shadows at the Cosmic Architect.

Together, Cosmogogue and Celeste, who still floats in front of it, move their arms in perfect unison. As they do, panels of golden light appear and move as directed by their arm motions. Piece by piece, they quickly assemble a golden barrier that completely deflects Nemex's attack.

Cosmogogue looks down to Ash, Brock, Brenda, and their Legendary Pokémon partners and declares, "Stand by me in combat, my creations."

Heliosol, Terratlas, and Seluna, who were still kneeling in reverence to the Cosmic Architect, all stand back up. With their champions atop them, the three Legendary Pokémon float up to encircle Cosmogogue. Though they are all very large Pokémon, Cosmogogue is more than triple their height.

Upon getting close to Cosmogogue, Heliosol automatically transforms into its Ascended Form. It seems pleased by this.

Ash looks to Celeste and asks, "Do you think we can do this?"

Celeste opens her eyes for the first time since summoning Cosmogogue and nods at Ash. "So long as we all work together and help each other, there's nothing we can't do." She repositions herself to ride atop Cosmogogue.

Ash grins. "I like the sound of that."

Nemex shouts in anger, "With my new power, I can take all four of you on!" It charges forward again.

This time, Cosmogogue moves forward as well to meet it. As it darts through the air, Celeste moves her arms about like before to access her building powers. She lifts up debris from all around the ruined city beneath and gives it form. Before Nemex and Cosmogogue collide, Celeste has constructed a massive sword out of the debris, which she causes to swing at the incoming Nemex and bash it towards the ground.

As Nemex plumets, Terratlas and Brock have moved beneath it. With all its might, Terratlas delivers an Earth-shattering punch the Nemex, sending it hurtling straight up.

But Seluna and Brenda have already positioned themselves above Nemex. Seluna attacks from above with a Lunar Beam that explodes on contact, redirecting Nemex's flight laterally.

And there, in its new flight path is Heliosol and Ash. Heliosol unleashes its strongest Solar Flare to bathe Nemex in intense heat and flames. Nemex then crashes into a nearby tower.

With each hit Nemex sustained, the Ruin Gem briefly glowed, as if straining in its power. Despite and even through all the attacks, Nemex gets right back up and looks mostly unharmed. It laughs. "I almost felt that."

Arun, riding atop Nemex, snaps, "Yeah, I almost did too! I can't be your Ruin Champion if I'm hit by such an attack. Remember that."

Nemex retorts, "So long as you are with me, no harm will befall you. That is my power." Nemex returns its attention to the battle. It is now surrounded by its four opponents. "Enough of this!" It swipes its arm outwards, which hurls bubbles of shadows at all four opponents.

Celeste and Cosmogogue assemble another barrier to protect themselves, but the others are unable to do anything against the onslaught. Heliosol, Terratals, Seluna, and their champions are trapped in the shadow bubbles.

Much like before, despite them trying, there is little the Legendary Pokémon can do to escape Nemex's prisons.

Nemex declares, "That just leaves me and you."

Simultaneously, both Cosmogogue and Nemex attack with an intense energy beam. The two beams collide and explode. Out of the explosion, Nemex lunges at Cosmogogue. Cosmogogue creates a pulse of intense golden light that forces Nemex back. Nemex quickly recovers and fires another beam at Cosmogogue. Celeste uses nearby debris from a destroyed building to create a physical shield that blocks the attack. Once the beam ends, Cosmogogue clenches a fist, which causes the shield to suddenly be compressed into a tiny area. With a thrust of its hand, the ultra-dense projectile is sent flying at Nemex, but Nemex disappears into a portal to avoid the projectile altogether. The shot hits a building behind where Nemex floated moments before and easily penetrates straight through and out the other side. Nemex then reappears behind Cosmogogue and summons an intense miasma of shadows that float about it. The miasma is launched as an attack and strikes Cosmogogue from behind. Cosmogogue quickly spins around and repels Nemex from landing any further hits with a golden energy pulse.

With Nemex blasted against the floor, both Cosmogogue and Celeste construct shackles from the debris that bind Nemex's arms and legs to the floor. As it struggles to free itself, the two of them begin to build something new. The debris all around is brought to coalesce above Nemex. The mass quickly grows in size and takes on a spherical shape. The larger it gets, the less it looks like random debris and the more it looks like a planet. The two of them then make a throwing motion to hurl the planet-like mass down on the trapped Nemex.

But Nemex is able to rip free of its shackles just in time to portal away from the devastating crushing force of the impact. When it reappears, it is ready to fire another shot at Cosmogogue's side, but Arun suggests, "Perhaps a more strategic target would serve better."

Nemex knows exactly what Arun is suggesting and readjusts its aim. It lashes out with cutting waves of energy not at Cosmogogue, but at Celeste. More specifically, at the Cosmic Gem which still floats in front of her. The gem is struck by the attack and is blasted away.

Celeste shouts, "No!" as she attempts to reach for it, but is unable to.

The Cosmic Gem clatters across the top of a rooftop and slides right to the feet of Aries. Aries' eyes widen. "The Cosmic Gem…" He reaches for it slowly with a shaking hand.

Pleiades shout, "Sir, no! You've moved on! You're stronger than this!"

Aries shakes his head with a tormented face as he continues to reach. "I'm strong enough…Pleiades… I'm not…"

"You are, Aries! I know this because I know you better than anyone else! Because I care for you more than anyone else!"

Aries looks at Pleiades with surprise. "Pleiades…what does that mean…?"

But in his surprise, he fails to notice that Nemex has aimed a second attack at the Cosmic Gem. This time it's an intense beam clearly meant to shatter the crystal.

Pleiades shouts, "Aries!"

Aries looks back to the attack and realizes in horror that he has no time left to get out of the way. But then the attack is blocked by a sturdy Light Screen. Aries gasps as he looks up to see that Myoken has put itself between him and the incoming attack. "You…saved me…"

Myoken, struggling to hold back the force Nemex's attack, still manages to force a grin. "I told you that you're getting a second chance. I'll make sure of it…" Just before it looks like Myoken's barrier would fail, the attack ends. Myoken shouts, "Now get that gem back to Celeste!"

Aries nods. Without any hesitation, he picks up the Cosmic Gem and throws it as hard as he can at Cosmogogue and Celeste. Once close to them, the gem floats back to Celeste of its own accord. Aries says to himself, "Good riddance… May I never see you again…"

Pleiades runs to Aries and hugs him tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Aries!"

Aries raises an eyebrow. "Since when did I stop being 'sir' to you? And a public display of affection? This is unlike the strictly professional Pleiades I know."

With some embarrassment, Pleiades snaps back. "Sorry, sir."

Aries chuckles at her.

As Cosmogogue and Nemex continue to battle, Celeste asks, "Is there any way we can actually beat Nemex? It's able to shrug off everything we send at it."

Cosmogogue responds between attacks, "If Nemex were not in this form, I would have no trouble dispatching it."

"This is all my fault… I built that stupid gem for it…"

"You did what you had to in order to help your friends. No one will blame you."

"If I built it…maybe I could unbuild it…" She thinks for a moment. "Cosmogogue, I have a plan, but I need Ash and the others."

"Then we shall endeavor to free them."

With Nemex chasing after them, Cosmogogue and Celeste make their way towards the bubble containing Ash and Heliosol. They're still trying to break free on their own. As Cosmogogue flies over the bubble, it attacks downwards with a pulse of gold light. The light rips apart the shadows of the bubble, freeing Heliosol and Ash.

Ash shouts, "Free the others! We'll hold off Nemex!"

Heliosol shouts, "Here we go!" It throws a combination of fire and light at the incoming Nemex. This only slightly slows the destruction Pokémon, who is focused entirely on Cosmogogue, but as it flies over Heliosol, Heliosol reaches up and grabs Nemex by one of its leg-tentacles and yanks it down, forcing it to crash into the roof below them.

With this distraction, Cosmogogue is able to quickly free Seluna, Brenda, Terratlas, and Brock. They all reassemble. Celeste points to the smoking heap that used to be the Ultimate Weapon. "Get me closer to that! Then when I launch an attack, everyone else needs to as well!"

Everyone nods in agreement. Ash declares, "Nemex won't stand a chance against a plan designed by the world's greatest architect!"

Celeste blushes slightly at the praise before they all break into action and Nemex once again picks up pursuit of them.

As Cosmogogue get closer to the wreckage, Celeste starts building. With the powers of the Cosmic Architect at her fingertips, she quickly reassembles the entirety of the Ultimate Weapon. She then grabs the Cosmic gem and throws it into one of the empty chambers meant to imprison Terratlas and Seluna as a fuel source for the weapon. The entire robot begins to vibrate violently as the dynamo core spins into overdrive.

Celeste shouts, "Firing Cosmic Planetary Laser!" A beam a hundred times stronger than the one used by Cosmo earlier is fired from the core of the Ultimate Weapon.

Seeing the massive beam forces Nemex to stop and erect a barrier of shadows before it to protect itself. The barrier holds when struck by the laser. The Ruin Gem begins to glow brightly.

Celeste shouts, "Now I need help from all of you!"

Heliosol floats forward and shouts, "Artificial Genesis!"

Terratlas adds, "Force of Nature!"

Then Seluna's, "Tidal Power!"

Like before, Myoken comes in to help as well and adds, "Lightray Pulse!"

And, to top it all off, between the four of them is Cosmogogue, who shouts, "Cosmogenesis!"

All four ultimate attacks are added to the power of the already mighty Planetary Laser, but Nemex's shield still holds.

Arun shouts, "You fools! Not even your combined might is enough to stop the all-consuming destruction of Nemex!"

Celeste shouts, "We don't need to stop Nemex, only its champion!"

This catches Arun by surprise. "Huh?" Then he looks down to notice the Ruin Gem is now glowing intensely and trembling violently. "What's this!?"

Suddenly, the gem explodes in his hands, shattering into even smaller fragments than it began in. With the Ruin Gem gone, first, Nemex's barrier falls, then the attacks all land against it. Nemex is blasted against a nearby building and crashes into it. It's not just any building, it's the Astral Tower, one of the few skyscrapers still standing in the immediate vicinity.

When the dust settles from Nemex's crash, it is revealed that it has reverted back to its original form. Nemex slowly stands back up. "I…will…not…be…beaten!"

Cosmogogue declares, "Nemex, for your crimes against creation, I hereby sentence you to an eternity of imprisonment. You sought to end stagnation, so your punishment will be to experience nothing but stagnation for as long as you live."

Celeste raises an arm. At her command, the kinetic sculpture atop the Astral Tower disassembles itself and flies down to her level. At her commands, the metal constricts itself around both Nemex and Arun. They struggle to break free, but before they can, Celeste swipes her arms apart from each other, causing the entirety of the Astral Tower to dissemble. Then, bringing her arms back together causes the entirety of the disassembled building to reassemble around the two of them in another planet-like spherical mass.

Nemex and Arun both shout, "No!" as they're sealed away.

Despite the incredible mass and size of the object, Cosmogogue picks it up with an arm and throws it into the sky so hard that it leaves Earth entirely and hurtles into outer space.

Ash lets out a breath he had been holding. "Then that's it? We're done? Nemex was defeated?"

Celeste declares, "Nemex was defeated, but we're not done yet. Cosmogogue, will you help me one final time?"

"I will, my child."

Celeste nods. "Then let's do this." Cosmogogue floats high into the air above the ruins of Kanaveral City. The entire city is a complete wreck. What buildings still stand look like they could collapse at any moment. Celeste takes a deep breath as she looks over the city. She floats off of Cosmogogue with her eyes closed as she focuses her thoughts. Then her eyes snap open as she whips her hands outwards. The entire city seems to heave at her command. Then, bit by bit, she goes about rebuilding Kanaveral City. As she raises her hands, entire buildings rise from the ruins. Infrastructure is repaired. Fissures are sealed. Order is restored.

After a minute of work, the whole of the city is repaired. Almost. Notably absent from the skyline is Kanaveral's tallest building, the Astral Tower, as there was nothing left to repair after it was sent into space as Nemex's prison.

Celeste gently lowers back down to the floor. Once her feet are firmly planted on the ground, Ash runs up to her and picks up her up off the ground for a tight hug. "That was amazing, Celeste! And you did it without any help!"

As Ash puts her back down, she shakes her head. "No. I couldn't have done that without Cosmogogue. I was helped. And that's okay." She grins and Ash grins back.

Ash nods proudly at Celeste. "I'm glad you were finally able to learn the value of helping. Both accepting and giving it."

Celeste slowly nods. "Yeah, I guess I was. And it's all thanks to your lessons. Thank you for helping me, Ash, even though I wanted nothing of it."

Ash looks up. The four cosmic Legendary Pokémon now surround them. "And what about you guys? What do you do now?"

Heliosol responds, "We'll go back to what we always do, runt. Just because Nemex is gone, doesn't mean we don't still have a solar system to run."

Cosmogogue announces, "I believe that from here on out, I will take a more active role in the protection of my creations. It was my reluctance to interfere that allowed things to become as bad as they did. No more."

Celeste looks up at Cosmogogue. "Cosmogogue…I have a question for you…"

"Of course, my child. You can ask me anything."

"Am I only a good architect because of my connection to you? If you hadn't picked me, would I have just been an ordinary girl?"

Cosmogogue shakes its head. "You misunderstand the nature of our connection. You are my Cosmic Champion because of the innate talent you possess. I did not give you anything which you did not already have."

Celeste looks at her own hand, as if shocked by her own abilities. "That's what I grew up believing, and yet somehow I now find myself surprised to hear you say that…"

Cosmogogue looks across them all. "Our lives are what we choose to build them as. Each day, we further the construction and we draw new blueprints. The foundation and support of that construction is the relationships we build along the way. I am pleased to have met you all, and hope that you all will never forget what you have accomplished together."

Ash grins. "There's no way we will."

Pikachu agrees, "Pika!"

"Then with that in mind, I bid you all farewell." Cosmogogue, Heliosol, Terratlas, and Seluna all lift off the ground and float into the sky until they disappear from sight.

Brock comments, "Too bad about the Astral Tower though." He points to the empty footprint of the building behind them. "Kanaveral's skyline isn't going to be the same without it."

Celeste grins. "No worries. I'll just design a new, bigger tower." She considers something for a moment. "And maybe, if I get some help on that too, I could improve in ways I never would normally think of."

Together, they all stare up at the empty spot and imagine the potential that could one day fill it.

The End

In a montage of scenes, Ash, Brock, and Brenda have boarded a hover boat leaving Kanaveral City. Celeste waves them goodbye from the dock.

That evening, Celeste is hard at work drawing up blueprints for a new version of the Astral Tower. She takes a moment to look proudly at her design.

And sometime later, that design has begun its transformation into reality. Construction on a new tower has begun. Celeste, wearing a hardhat, watches as cranes lower material into place.

Elsewhere, Aries and Pleiades stand facing each other with hands clasped under the night sky. Aries places a ring on Pleiades' finger. Pleiades breaks down sobbing and embraces Aries in a tight hug. For the first time, Aries has a smile on his face.

Above them is a single star shining bright. It's the North Star. And just below the North Star is Myoken, who's sitting atop its Dracosmic friend as they look down and watch the couple from high above.

In Team Planetary Headquarters, Cosmo watches as workers tear apart the reconstructed Ultimate Weapon. He grins, as if reassured that the machine will never be needed again.

In the Meowth balloon, Meowth and Jessie offer James a giftbox. James looks at it with a combination of curiosity and skepticism. Jessie encourages him to open it. He does, to find that inside is a vacuum robot. He breaks down in tears of joy as he gives his friends a tight hug.

In orbit above the Earth, Terratlas floats by. It stops, and looks momentarily down on the Earth in contemplation, before moving on.

On the surface of the Moon, Seluna too looks back towards the Earth, as if wondering about something.

Even as far away as the Sun, Heliosol emerges from its surface to stare at the blue dot that surely is the Earth.

At the outer reaches of the Solar System, Cosmogogue floats above Planet X. With its immense power, it causes the entire planet to shatter away into dust nearly instantaneously. It seems satisfied that the job is at last done. It then begins to build something new out of the ruins.

Hurtling through space is the prison built for Nemex and Arun. Inside of it, the two of them can barely move, but they find a way to shout angrily at each other.

Ash's hover boat approaches its destination at sunrise. Ash and Pikachu squint towards the sunrise in an attempt to see their target. Ahead of them is an island with a massive stadium visible atop it. Ash says something to Pikachu and clenches a fist with determination. Brock and Brenda step up behind him and join in him in watching both the sunrise and their next stop.