Chapter 110: The Return

Ash blinked, finally being in control of his body once more as Lillie shook him.

"L-Lillie?"

Lillie paused, taking in what he said. There was something different about his voice. Almost as if he recognized her.

"Ash? Are you…are you back?"

After a moment, Ash smiled, and nodded.

"I…I remember! You, Pikachu…Oh man, it's so good to be back! You did it, Lillie."

Tears began to well up in Lillie's eyes before she pulled him into a big kiss, the two of them letting out all of their emotions. At last, they pulled away, but Lillie still kept her grip on Ash firm.

"Please, never do that to me again."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Pika PI!"

Pikachu couldn't help himself, and leapt into Ash, knocking him out of LIllie's grasp and pushing him onto the floor. Ash laughed, and happily returned the hug.

"I'm glad you're alright, buddy! Thanks for taking good care of him, Lillie."

"Of course, Ash."

After a few minutes of happy tears, Pikachu let go of Ash and climbed back onto his shoulder, rubbing against his neck for good measure.

It was only then that the trio turned to Azelf, who was floating over them with a watchful eye.

"I don't get it, though. Why'd he let you go now?"

"He wanted to test your resolve. The point of the challenge wasn't to win, but to prove that you're willing to fight against impossible odds for what you believe in. And you passed."

Azelf nodded, before levitating a fang to them. Lillie took hold of it, and stared at it for a moment.

"Azelf, is this what we need to stop the Space-time rift?"

"Zelf."

Lillie nodded, and clutched it in her hand.

"Thank you, we'll take good care of it."

Azelf nodded, before teleporting them, their Pokemon, and Irida back outside, before vanishing once more. Irida stepped forward to speak.

"We need to get back to the Ancient Retreat. Hopefully, the others were as successful."

"Right!"

Dawn's eyes went wide, but she returned the kiss. After a few moments, Zoey pulled apart, looking at Dawn expectantly. Dawn stared into space for a few moments, before finally speaking.

"Zoey? Where are we?"

Zoey breathed a sigh of relief, before pulling her into another hug.

"You're safe, that's all that matters."

As Dawn returned the hug, everything came back to her.

"Wait a minute, I remember now! I got pulled into a time portal, and hit my head and lost my memories. Lucky I had…PIPLUP! BUNEARY! Oh god, we got into a fight, and…and…"

Mespirit teleported away, only to return a minute later with Dawn's missing Pokemon, who quickly ran into their trainer's embrace as she cried her heart out.

"Oh guys, I'm sorry for what I said! I was confused, disoriented, and I didn't mean any of it! Can you forgive me?"

Piplup and Buneary just shook their heads, forgiving her instantly as she cried her heart out.

"Oh, you guys…You're the best Pokemon a girl could have!"

"Piplup Lup!"

"Buneary!"

Suddenly, Mespirit floated over, levitating over one of it's Plumes for Zoey to take.

"Do you want us to take this?"

"Mespirit."

Afterwards, it teleported the four of them back out to the edge of the Obsidian Fieldlands.

"Thanks, Mespirit! We won't let you down!"

Mespirit nodded, before teleporting back to its cave.

"Alright, let's get back to Cogita!" Rei said.

"You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up," Dawn replied.

"Alright, but don't wait too long."

Laventon and Rei went on ahead, leaving Dawn and Zoey behind to sort things out.

"Dawn, if I've ever made you think…"

"Don't even finish that. You're awesome, and I'm lucky to have you as a rival. And a friend. Although…"

Zoey blushed, remembering what had happened in the cavern.

"Oh…you, uh, you heard that, huh?"

"Was it true, or were you just trying to reach me?"

"...It was true. Every word."

Dawn smiled, and kissed her. Zoey was shocked, but happily returned it. When they pulled away, Dawn had the biggest smile on her face.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to go on a date once this is all over."

"You mean it?"

"Of course! But don't think I'll be doing you any favors during Contests, I have to remain impartial. Even if one of the Coordinators is my awesome girlfriend."

Zoey chuckled.

"Deal! Now come on, we've kept them waiting long enough."

"Yeah. Oh, and by the way..."

Before they left, Dawn took Zoey's hand in her own.

"I love you too."

After a moment, everyone's eyes adjusted to the darkness in the cave. Heatran was nowhere to be seen, leaving only them and their Pokemon.

"Did it work?"

"I guess, there's no way Heatran could've ran past us."

"So…now what?"

Suddenly, a red glow filled the cave as Uxie floated down to them. He nodded to Brock, before floating one of its claws to him.

"I get it, the Heatran was a test, wasn't it? To see if we could solve a seemingly unsolvable problem?"

Uxie nodded, before teleporting them back outside. Brock nodded, and took the claw.

"Thank you, Uxie. Take care."

"Uxie."

The legendary teleported away, leaving the four with their reward.

"Alright, let's get back to Cogita."

"Right!"

Everyone returned to Cogita's retreat, tired but triumphant.

"Brock, Goh, Chloe, Dawn! Man, am I glad to see you guys!"

"Ash, do you remember us?"

"Yep! Azelf did wonders for my memories."

"And I remember everything, too!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Ash and Dawn were back to normal. But their work wasn't done yet, as Cogita stepped forward.

"Excellent, you've brought what we need. Now for the next step."

She led the group to the Crimson Mirelands, where they found the Lake Guardians floating over a stone slab.

"Now, place the three gifts on the tablet."

Ash, Brock, and Dawn did so, and before their very eyes, the three guardians used their psychic powers to meld the three together, creating a huge red chain.

"What is that?"

"A chain so strong it can bind even mighty Lord Sinnoh. Once we have, we can force it to stop this madness."

"Alright, so where do we go next?"

Cogita pointed to Mount Coronet in the distance.

"To the highest peak in Hisui. At the top is a temple where my people used to pray to Lord Sinnoh. He will be waiting, I can feel it."

Everyone took a deep breath, allowing a sense of dread to flow out of them before making their journey. They didn't know what waited for them at the summit, but they knew it wouldn't be good.