Snowflakes drifted over Twinleaf City, and most of the metropolis was frozen solid by the cold front.

Above the ice-sculpted buildings, lights pierced the vast snowy night, and two massive warships hovered over the city like looming domes.

The Plasma Destroyer and the Team Rocket Battleship.

Engines roared, propellers vibrated, a pale-blue warship faced off against a black-and-gold one.

Whether Plasma, Team Rocket, or Interpol, everyone tilted their heads up to the night sky.

“That is—”

The Interpol agent nicknamed Handsome Guy’s brown trench coat was dusted with frost as he exclaimed in shock, “Landorus?!”

The wholly orange Landorus stood like a man, arms crossed over muscle-bound limbs, an air of authority on its face, lips curling beneath a white mustache.

“Calming this storm—is this the cooperation you speak of?” Landorus’s voice thundered. “The land’s… Giovanni.”

Giovanni stuck his hands in his pockets and rasped, “I won’t give myself a second chance to make the same mistake.”

“Whether it concerns something cherished—”

His gaze swept the ground where the mentors stood, where Team Rocket members wiped away tears.

“Or merely insignificant adversaries—”

His eyes passed over astonished Plasma members and the Plasma Destroyer anchored in the falling snow.

Giovanni kept his hands in his pockets as if locking eyes with a single-handed, glasses-adjusting Professor A—Acerola.

A mocking smile tugged at Giovanni’s mouth.

“I will not repeat the same errors.”

Accept defeat, then grow stronger.

A pure villain, far superior to a hypocritical Ghetsis!

(Teacher Lu: Is that why you lost to Red twice in a row?)

“I understand.” Landorus’s voice boomed as it crossed its arms. “Defending Unova’s weather is my duty as well.”

In the next instant, Landorus’s eyes flashed red, and the earth’s power—pale yellow ripples of terrestrial energy—swirled around. Waves emblematic of the ground spread outward, instantly sweeping away the snowflakes around the Team Rocket battleship!

Boom!!

Explosions rippled through the sky;

the blizzard was actually quelled, and the frost spreading across Twinleaf City stilled as if strangled!

“So it’s true that the Unova legend held that Landorus can calm the weather,” Drayden looked up and said.

“Landorus’s power still has limits,” Cynthia said. “If it were weather as extreme as Hoenn’s… no, even a fully awakened Kyurem is not something Landorus can match!”

The two warships continued to face off. Landorus flew toward the Plasma Destroyer and unleashed a blinding Hyper Beam against its hull.

Thunderous flashes erupted above the city.

Ash: “But… Landorus clearly had the upper hand!”

Cynthia frowned. “I worry that that Ice Beam just now wasn’t Kyurem’s full power…”

As the Sinnoh Champion who had faced an Arceus-class god, Cynthia knew how terrifying a level-one god’s power could be—and it was not something Landorus could stand against alone.

If Kyurem fully awakened, the only ones present who could stop it—

Cynthia’s clear gaze tracked Teacher Lu lounging and watching the spectacle, and Sirfetch’d idly tugging a leek from the ground.

“Gah!” Sirfetch’d pulled the leek embedded in the earth like Arthur drawing a sword from a stone, eyes sharp and composed.

Cynthia thought: “With Garchomp and Sirfetch’d teaming up with Lu Ye… maybe they could delay Kyurem for a while!”

Lu Ye said to Sirfetch’d: “Although you look cool when you throw your leek and miss, you still have to pull it out properly.”

“Gah~! (´థ౪థ)σ” (Okay, okay, don’t scold me~!)

**

Boom!!

A blinding flare detonated over Twinleaf City.

With both the mentor and Giovanni—the key players—entering the fray, Team Rocket’s members surged with morale.

Plasma had thrown almost all their forces into the Twinleaf plan and were now steadily being pushed back.

“If Lord N were here, he would surely inspire us…”

“But N was expelled by Ghetsis from Plasma! Our king won’t return!”

“Maybe… this was a mistake from the start…”

Plasma members sighed deeply, raised their hands, and thudded down on their knees in unison.

Handsome Guy faced the large number of criminals with a composed expression;

his brown trench coat fluttered as he spoke into his radio:

“Yes. Thanks to Lu Ye’s meticulous plan—and his personal oversight—this operation is an outright success!”

Inside the Plasma Destroyer.

Acerola glanced at the suddenly appearing Team Rocket battleship and felt a bead of cold sweat across his brow before regaining his composure.

All these variables were caused by two unexpected champions.

Even Teacher Lu and Team Rocket, together with Interpol, were tangled into this mess.

“I should have realized… that champion’s background is far more complicated than I thought…” Acerola murmured, turning to look at Kyurem in its containment vessel. Pressing a button, the container sealed with metal.

Staring at the prototype Kyurem fusion device in his hand, a mad expression flickered across Acerola’s face before he forced a humble smile.

Grabbing his briefcase, he walked toward the escape corridor, his white coat swaying.

“I concede this move…”

Acerola adjusted his glasses with one hand;

the lenses flashed.

“I’ll be able to duel you again soon… Teacher Lu.”

**

A disheveled office worker cradled a heavy Master Ball in his palm and grinned foolishly.

That Master Ball had been given to him by the blue-haired handsome man he’d seen earlier.

It was Jiro’s collection piece;

when he said “I’ll give it to you,” he had sounded reluctant, but then forced a smile.

The office worker murmured, “If I ever meet him again… I’ll properly thank him—and the long-haired dog!”

Rumble!

A violent sound made the office worker look up;

the city’s worldview was shaken for a second time tonight.

“Tw-two galactic warships?!” he blurted.

He rubbed his eyes and verified what he saw.

An orange powerhouse Pokémon spewed a white-light blast at another battleship.

Behind the orange Pokémon, the black-and-gold hull’s R emblem gleamed!

Team Rocket’s Rocket Delivery is even using a galaxy battleship for courier service!?

The office worker swallowed and said in a hoarse voice:

“M-maybe… I should join Rocket Delivery as a side job…”

But his pupils suddenly constricted.

The pale-blue ship—the Plasma Destroyer—erupted in a thunderous explosion.

Boom!

Explosions continued;

amid the spectacular blaze, a small escape pod shot free from the wreckage.

Moments later, black smoke trailed from the blue ship’s rear engine as the hull leaned and began to fall toward the city.

Like an apocalyptic meteor, the massive hull eclipsed the round moon as it plunged—whole districts dimmed as the ship slammed downward!!

“You have to be kidding…” the office worker muttered in a daze.

Giovanni stood at the hatch as Landorus intoned:

“I cannot solve that consequence;

you will have to handle it, Giovanni.”

“No matter.”

With a mentor on the ground, there was nothing to fear.

Giovanni turned his neck and watched the direction the escape pod flew, gaze stern:

“I’m beginning to take an interest in that adversary.”

At the same moment, the massive Plasma Destroyer—like a floating fortress—was falling from the sky!!

Drayden’s eyes widened;

he shoved Alice and Ash behind him, his broad back shielding them.

A burst of red light flared as his dual-axe draconic guardian sprang up to defend him, unleashing a piercing roar against the ice-crusted ground and the plunging destroyer!

Drayden shouted, “Ash! Alice! You must not only forge your own futures—you must bring light to others’ futures!!”

“Grandpa Drayden!” At that instant, Alice’s courage matured rapidly—the seeds of an Unova champion had already been sown.

Lu Ye stood at the base of the exploding, plunging hull and looked at Cynthia:

“It’s the end of the world—what are you going to say?”

“Get behind me!”

Cynthia’s gaze was clear as she yanked Lu Ye to her side;

her golden hair shimmered in the wind and her black cloak snapped dramatically.

“Garchomp—” Cynthia asked calmly, “Ready?”

“Graa!!” Garchomp nodded forcefully, its eyes erupting with crimson light.

Cynthia curled a cold smile, her gray eyes under the gold hair lifting as she commanded:

“Then go—use Dragon Rush!”

She brandished lethal twin scythes;

a pale-purple dragon apparition coalesced for Dragon Rush as Garchomp roared toward the Plasma Destroyer!

But even faster than Garchomp was the blinding white light—Haunter baring a wide grin.

“Haunter, Mega Evolution!!”

Mr. Drayden turned to look at Teacher Lu and Haunter enveloped in light;

his eyes betrayed a hint of brightness.

With Lu Ye and Cynthia working together, they just might resolve this crisis…

Drayden looked up at the tilting warship, his heart pounding.

But could they actually pull it off?

A radiant brilliance spread as Haunter’s forehead sprouted spikes, fists exuded black-red mist, and a yellow single eye opened on its brow.

In a blink, Haunter completed its Mega Evolution!

“Mega Haunter!”

Lu Ye stretched a hand to the sky and called:

“Gravity!!”

“Gengarrr~!”

Mega Haunter floated upward and reached skyward.

An invisible force turned into blue light and spread;

the falling battleship’s descent was slowed!

Everyone in Twinleaf City stared up, stunned.

“Don’t just stand there!” Handsome Guy the Interpol agent bellowed. “Any Pokémon that can set up Dual Screens—get up there, now!!”

Officer Jennys snapped back to attention and looked up at the Mega Haunter with reverence.

No one knew Teacher Lu’s roster better than they did…

That was Lu Ye’s singular Haunter!

The Undella Town Officer Jenny, who had once crossed paths with Lu Ye, felt her chest flutter and tried to hide her blush with a cough: “Dream Dream, use Light Screen, please!”

Plasma members who had been crouched with their heads in their hands stood up and pleaded with the guards:

“We—we can help too!”

For a moment, scattered red lights blossomed around the city. Though they could not stop Twinleaf City’s devastation entirely, perhaps… they could reduce the scale of disaster!

Far above, atop the Dragon Spiral Tower where snowflakes drifted, a green-haired youth wearing a peaked cap climbed the high tower step by step with a dim expression.

At the tower’s pinnacle sat the dark stone that sealed the Ideals Dragon, Zekrom;

only heroes could earn its recognition.

Suddenly he jerked his head and looked back toward the distance.

Through howling wind and a white world, he watched an exploding warship crash toward the city, its blast lighting up the white glow.

N heard a voice of pain, but a stronger reality and ideal spurred Pokémon and humans alike to unite shoulder to shoulder.

He pressed his lips together;

his trembling pupils caught a faint light.

Lu Ye’s black strands and dark eyes, his resolute gaze, overlapped with N’s own.

Lu Ye looked up.

“Togepi, give me Helping Hand—Autumn Syrup!”

“Chajiduyi~ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ”

Togepi popped from its Poké Ball and waved its tiny fingers cutely;

a blue glow bolstered the speeding Darkrai.

Lu Ye: “Darkrai—”

After Haunter’s Gravity slowed the hull, a rapid white beam sped toward the ship.

Darkrai’s pupils flashed azure, its black band fluttering as its claws gathered surging umbral energy.

Lu Ye shouted in a chilling voice:

“Dark Void!!!”

In an instant, Darkrai’s two claws tore open a ferocious black hole;

it hoisted the gaping void high, gritted its teeth, and held it up as a support, confronting the plummeting warship.

Boom!!!

The black hole began to devour the hull bit by bit, the void expanding like a fissure as it tried to swallow the ship whole.

Yet the battleship still fell, hull after hull exploding as flames painted the night!

Darkrai howled, “Energy Cube!!”

Lu Ye roared in reply, “Maximize!!”

Darkrai: “Ooooooo—!!!”

The collision at the center detonated fiercely, sending out a dazzling halo that rippled outward!!

Boom!!!

Cynthia stared up, stunned;

Giovanni too was shaken by the sight.

A strong gust swept past Landorus’s wide eyes.

Everyone in Twinleaf City raised their heads, ears ringing from the roar, dazed for a long moment.

In the empty night sky, the falling Plasma Destroyer had vanished without trace;

only the bright full moon remained, its surface scoured like an impact crater.

Silver and round, the moon showed Darkrai floating at the center, its black band swaying;

it was battered and bruised, but when it turned slightly its eyes flashed a clear azure.

Twinleaf City trembled.

“Holy—holy—!!”

“We’re saved!!”

“I thought Landorus was unbeatable… whose Darkrai is that?!”

“Gengarrr~” Mega Haunter grinned and put a hand on Darkrai’s shoulder.

Darkrai: “……”

It reflexively reached out to pat the shoulder, expression growing complicated.

Oh no… that gesture felt all too familiar!

In an instant, Twinleaf City erupted in cheers.

“Teacher Lu’s old lineup—just Haunter and Darkrai!”

“The Inspector is unstoppable!”

“My mentor, my mentor!”

“By the way, where did that battleship go? Not a single fragment fell on Twinleaf City!”

Teacher Lu and Darkrai couldn’t have handled the Plasma Destroyer by themselves.

But with certain Pokémon, there would always be a way…

The Reversed World.

Giratina’s crimson eyes beneath its platinum helm stared at the opened black hole as an exploding warship shot out from within.

Giratina blinked, looked up, and slowly formed a question.

Giratina: ???

Don’t just throw garbage around, you guys!!

Peering through the mirror realm, Giratina waved its floating black bands and halted the descending Plasma Destroyer.

Giratina’s face slowly showed a subtle emotion.

So it was Lu Ye, huh—ha ha…

Then it’s fine!

……

As the Plasma Destroyer vanished into the black hole, the Team Rocket battleship slowly steamed away from Twinleaf City’s skies.

The whole city burst into wild cheers, praising the hero who saved Unova—Lu Ye.

Handsome Guy hauled away a clutch of dust-covered Plasma members and headed back to the station to file his report.

Officer Jennys continued to discuss the postures of Haunter and Darkrai.

The office worker trudged home, careful and weary, and when he saw his worried wife and daughter he offered an apologetic, warm smile:

“Sorry… I went and made a decision on my own. I wanted to introduce a Pokémon—a new family member…”

The bright full moon hung over Twinleaf City.

Darkrai maintained an aloof expression as it floated back beside Lu Ye and said in a low voice:

“Don’t forget about the Maximize thing…”

“Of course.” Lu Ye gave a hoarse chuckle.

Mayor Drayden exhaled and bowed deeply to Lu Ye:

“Thank you for the trouble, Champion Lu and Champion Cynthia… I apologize!”

“It’s nothing.” Cynthia smiled faintly. “For him, this is routine.”

Lu Ye: “……”

Damn, there was no rebuttal for that!

Drayden looked intently at the black-haired youth, his eyes reflecting respect and gratitude.

For some reason, a premonition and hope swelled in Drayden’s heart.

Between ideal and reality, perhaps this young man might be recognized by both…

“Mr. Lu Ye… I’d like you to accept this item.”

Lu Ye turned to Drayden, a familiar chill crawling down his spine;

he hurried to interrupt the ceremony:

“You can keep the medal!”

“No… it’s this.”

Drayden removed the pendant from his chest and handed it to Lu Ye, his eyes shining.

“It symbolizes the meeting of ideal and reality…”

“The DNA Splicers!”