Chapter 649 - 646

The birth of a new world and the dawn of a new age would erase every wall and divide between human hearts.

Professor Rowan slammed both hands against the podium. "What is this man talking about?! Wait... Could the person speaking be the one who recently disappeared...?!"

Cynthia shot to her feet.

"That voice... It’s Cyrus!"

"I heard him at public presentations held by the Cosmic Development Corporation and Galactic Electrics. There’s no mistaking the voice of one of Sinnoh’s most famous entrepreneurs!"

The research hall erupted into chaos as the trembling and violent shaking gradually subsided.

"Team Galactic... At least the explosion didn’t happen at any of the three lakes! But if it didn’t, then where was it?"

Cynthia pulled out her Pokétch and began contacting someone while explaining the situation to Hikaru.

"I told you before that they recently disappeared without a trace, almost as if they’d vanished from the Sinnoh region. We previously planted a spy inside Team Galactic—Miss Mars, whom you ’persuaded’ to cooperate with us."

"However, it’s difficult to determine where her loyalties lie now. The last intelligence we received said Team Galactic had undergone a massive internal purge. Several Commanders were reassigned to different posts and forbidden from communicating with one another."

"The incident at Valley Windworks and the increased security around the three lakes were probably the main reasons Cyrus could no longer proceed according to his original plan."

"Just as we planned, we prevented them from stealing electricity from Valley Windworks and strengthened Sunyshore City’s defenses. We went through with the increased security despite all of Volkner’s protests."

"There is only one Galactic Bomb, so they couldn’t afford to perform a test detonation. All their technology and effort had to be poured into that single bomb. We conducted limited investigations and surveillance of the Galactic Warehouse and Team Galactic’s headquarters in Veilstone City, but no matter how I look at it..."

"There’s no possible way the bomb could have been transported out of either location. In other words... it must have been built somewhere else without our knowledge."

"Mars was responsible for the operations of the Veilstone headquarters, and she was confined there. She had no way of knowing what the other Commanders were doing. Even so, we have reason to suspect that either Saturn or Charon was responsible for everything. Although according to some reports, Charon was caught up in the earlier internal purge and has likewise gone missing."

"All that intelligence came from Mars," Hikaru said. "It seems Miss Mars really was worried about Cyrus’s safety. At least she kept her word. But abandoning his own Commanders... Well, that’s something else."

Wasn’t that supposed to happen only after Spear Pillar, during the postgame story of Pokémon Platinum?

Cyrus disappeared into the Distortion World, leaving Team Galactic behind as an enormous mess. Saturn took over its subsequent operations, but despite causing an incident on that scale, the company somehow continued functioning as usual and even proposed, Why don’t we start seriously developing cosmic energy?

Meanwhile, Mars and Jupiter traveled to the Battle Zone in search of clues concerning Cyrus’s whereabouts. When they failed to find anything, they angrily quit Team Galactic.

And that was it?

Only Charon and his remaining followers were arrested by the International Police.

When it came to actually doing their jobs, the Sinnoh League’s members were unbelievably lazy whenever nobody was supervising them. How could they allow a villainous corporation like that to continue operating instead of ordering it to suspend all activity, disband, and submit to an investigation?

Sinnoh might have had a Champion and four members of the Elite Four, but only two of those five people ever seemed to do any real work.

The International Police weren’t much better. Their attitude was almost, As long as we arrest one of the ringleaders, we can call the case closed. Then again, Looker wasn’t particularly strong in battle. Capturing Charon and his remaining followers was probably already the best he could manage.

"The Sinnoh region is only so large. If they aren’t somewhere on the mainland..."

"If the Pokémon of the three lakes don’t appear, the seal around Spear Pillar won’t open. So even if Team Galactic no longer considers the lakes important and has abandoned the Red Chain, they should theoretically still need to find the lake guardians if they intend to reach Spear Pillar."

The lake guardians had sealed away Spear Pillar because the events of 150 years ago had gone far too overboard. They had hidden the path leading to the original temple to prevent another troublemaker from attempting something similar.

Unfortunately, where there was a will, there was a way.

If someone was truly determined to pull an outrageous stunt, a seal like that wouldn’t be enough to stop them. Cyrus’s solution was simple: if you couldn’t solve the problem, eliminate the ones who had created it.

The results spoke for themselves. His method had succeeded.

But now, every step of that process had gone wrong, yet Cyrus had somehow still reached the correct result?

No sooner had Hikaru finished speaking than Cyrus’s voice once again emerged from the news broadcast.

His voice was impassioned and inspiring, filled with genuine joy from the bottom of his heart.

He believed the spirit to be an incomplete and imperfect thing, yet he could still feel happiness at the realization of his ideals. That contradiction was the sole meaning behind everything Cyrus had done until now.

[A great wave will soon strike the coast. A second and even more powerful shock wave is approaching the Sinnoh mainland!]

[The tremendous energy emanating from the direction of the Battle Zone... This is the answer we have reached after all our efforts.]

[Without the electricity from Valley Windworks, our plan was temporarily brought to a standstill. However, it was then that we remembered the tremendous source of energy that exists within the Sinnoh region—a vast and natural reservoir of power that has accompanied this land since ancient times!]

[We have extracted the energy from Stark Mountain... and brought its volcanic activity to a halt!]

[We accomplished this using the geothermal power-generation technology developed in the Hoenn region! At the same time, we successfully recovered the technology once used in Hoenn to cause a similar disaster at Mt. Chimney—the technology capable of either halting volcanic activity or triggering an eruption.]

[Volcanoes hold tremendous significance for the Sinnoh region. Legend tells us that long ago, volcanic and geological activity created Sinnoh’s three great lakes. What we are doing now is nothing less than recreating the ancient history of this land.]

[Through our examination of ancient records, we discovered the name of Mount Coronet’s hidden passage: the Stone Portal! Passing through the Stone Portal allows one to reach Spear Pillar, which has remained sealed until this very day!]

[We used the Galactic Bomb to strike the Stone Portal, concentrating the entirety of Stark Mountain’s energy into a single blow and detonating it at the summit of Mount Coronet. The two simultaneous impacts successfully reopened that sacred domain of the gods, sealed away since ancient times!]

[Mount Coronet is the place where the entire world—where this very planet—first came into existence. Here, one can feel the birth of the world itself. It is therefore here that a new world shall also be born.]

[Stark Mountain, however, is different.]

[Do you know how Stark Mountain came into existence? Legend speaks of a Pokémon born in the aftermath of a battle between time and space, existing as a fragment of spacetime itself. Its birth caused the volcano to tremble and may even have led to the formation of Sinnoh’s three great lakes. That Legendary Pokémon now resides within Stark Mountain!]

[Ancient records state that a certain object exists to maintain the world’s balance. When that balance is disrupted, multiple universes begin to overlap. Under the influence of tremendous energy, their power reaches saturation—"When the reverse side of the world descends into chaos, a space-time rift shall emerge!"]

[However, if the reverse side remains stable, then supplying tremendous power from our side should allow us to achieve the same result. At least... that is what I believe! I have given this process a more precise name—]

[The "Cosmic Creation Experiment."]

[A bomb constructed using the full extent of Stark Mountain’s volcanic energy will be detonated atop Mount Coronet, the mountain that stretches across Sinnoh from south to north and rises to the very limits of the heavens.]

[However, please rest assured. We will not attack anyone in the Sinnoh region. Conflict is wrong. Conflict is meaningless. War only causes everyone to lose everything. No one will be harmed. Every bomb has been placed in an area devoid of human life. By the time you begin your next thought, you will already be living within the perfect, spiritless world I have created.]

[Scholars of humanity, ascend the towering Mount Coronet! We have opened the road leading to the origin of the world. Witness the moment a new age is born—if you are still capable of witnessing it!]

"Ancient records and the Battle Zone!" Cynthia’s expression turned grave. "I understand now. He was hiding in the Battle Zone! No wonder we couldn’t find Cyrus or Team Galactic’s main forces anywhere on the Sinnoh mainland. He purged Team Galactic and reorganized its members into an entirely new force. And he extracted all the energy from Stark Mountain?!"

"Something similar happened in the Hoenn region. Mt. Chimney’s volcanic activity was brought to a halt, triggering abnormal natural phenomena and disrupting the balance between the land and sea—"

"He disrupted the balance!"

"Ancient records..." Hikaru murmured. "So this is where the divergence happened. Our excessive vigilance and pursuit forced Cyrus to place greater importance on searching ancient records while keeping himself hidden."

"Come to think of it..."

"Although Mr. Cyrus’s family home is in Sunyshore City, doesn’t his highly educated grandfather live in the Battle Zone?"

"Did he find [Cyllene’s Survey Notes]?"

During the events of Pokémon Platinum, Cyrus himself had no idea that his ancestor was Captain Cyllene. If he had been forced to seek refuge with his grandfather this time, it was perfectly reasonable for him to uncover information connected to her.

Mythological research had never been Cyrus’s specialty. He was an expert in science and engineering. He had only begun researching mythology after deciding he wanted to reboot the entire world with everyone still inside it.

And after researching it to the very end, he discovered that the truth of the world had been sitting inside his own family home.

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Captain Cyllene and Commander Kamado had both learned about the Red Chain from Akari and Cogita.

It was perfectly normal for them to have left behind part of that information, which eventually fell into Cyrus’s hands. Professor Rowan’s complete ignorance of it was somewhat unusual, but it could also be seen as Kamado’s attempt to erase the failed history of the past and allow his descendants to begin new lives from a clean slate.

After all, he had already entrusted the organization to Cyllene. His old companion had also departed, and the village’s development was firmly on the right path. There was nothing left for him to cling to.

"Cyllene..." Cynthia suddenly said. "Wait. Didn’t you mention that name during one of your earlier discussions with the others? Was Cyllene a woman?"

"Cyllene was Cyrus’s ancestor," Hikaru explained. "She was the Galaxy Team’s second leader. But back then, the Galaxy Team symbolized humanity and the stars in the heavens. It wasn’t anything like the modern organization."

"What Cyrus just said proves that he obtained some kind of handwritten record left behind by Cyllene. His grandfather was a very learned man, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to preserve a copy of something like that."

"Cyllene once promised someone that she would ensure the Galaxy Team’s accomplishments were remembered forever."

"Then, as the eras changed and the Galaxy Team completed its mission of helping people establish themselves in Sinnoh, the organization vanished into history and became one with the land. Its members scattered in every direction and became true citizens of Sinnoh."

"Now that I think about it, the reason Cyrus named both his company and organization Team Galactic was probably because his grandfather told him something about their ancestors."

"Cyrus’s office in Team Galactic’s headquarters also contained some of his research into those ancient records."

Cynthia frowned slightly. "Research? No, we didn’t discover anything like that." She shook her head.

Hikaru thought for a moment. "Then it was probably because those files were stored on his laptop."

"So he took them with him." Cynthia sounded exasperated. "Of course he wouldn’t leave his laptop inside the Veilstone headquarters. It makes sense that Mars never saw the files."

"Cyllene and Cyrus... So that’s the connection. The moon and the sun—an ancestor and descendant who followed entirely different paths. How could things have turned out this way...?"

Cynthia paused.

"Although I suppose I’m not exactly qualified to say that."

She remembered Volo, and a strange feeling welled up inside her.

If she had never met him, she probably wouldn’t have felt this way.

"Right," Hikaru said. "Cyrus was the only person who knew about those files. None of the Commanders ever saw them. Let me tell you a little about their contents. As for how I know all this... don’t ask. They’re ancient records, anyway."

"[The Beginning of the Universe], [The Friendly Pokémon], and [The Red Chain]."

"First: [The Beginning of the Universe]."

"’The universe was born from a tremendous explosion. Long ago, some theorized that Sinnoh had also been created by a great explosion. Naturally, that was the power of Pokémon—the power of the mythical Pokémon that people called gods. Simply capturing a god is meaningless. What truly matters is—’"

The passage displayed on the screen ended there.

"A space-time rift..." Hikaru continued. "It’s a phenomenon caused when multiple universes overlap and their combined power reaches saturation. Spacetime shatters, and the tremendous energy throws the reverse side of the world into chaos. Sinnoh’s Legendary Pokémon are driven berserk as a result... and it may even trigger phenomena that transport people across spacetime. That’s roughly how it works."

Cynthia fell into thought. "He intends to use the force of a great explosion to recreate the birth of the universe? What an absurd fantasy! How could he possibly accomplish something like that? In the end, it’s still—"

"So the target of the bombardment was the [Stone Portal]!"

"Whatever else happened, we still forced Team Galactic to alter its original plan. The bomb didn’t detonate at any of the three lakes! We protected the lives and property of Sinnoh’s people and Pokémon!"

"Stark Mountain’s volcanic activity may have been halted, but judging by what happened at Mt. Chimney, that process can be reversed!"

"However, Stark Mountain’s heat profoundly affects the Battle Zone. Given the Battle Zone’s latitude, the moment the volcano becomes inactive, blizzards and cold waves will rapidly begin disrupting people’s lives—just as they once did in Lavaridge Town."

"I have to leave immediately. Hikaru, what about you? What do you intend to do?"

"I’ll follow after I take care of a few things," Hikaru replied. "But don’t be too nervous, Cynthia. The result might be different from what we predicted, but you were right. We still forced Team Galactic to change its plans."

"As everyone knows, Plan B is always an underdeveloped contingency plan. Only Plan A is absolutely flawless. The moment they chose an imperfect alternative, problems became inevitable. This proves that we’ve driven them into a corner."

"If anything, we’re the ones who achieved meaningful results."

"No matter what happens, the Sinnoh region will not disappear. You already know why. We have made preparations to counter this situation, and all that remains is to attack with everything we have. Mr. Cyrus has no intention of harming innocent civilians or participating in any ’meaningless battles.’ Under those circumstances, wouldn’t you say our chances of victory are quite high?"

"All we have left to do is stop Mr. Cyrus from going to extremes and beat some sense into him. Nothing more. As Team Galactic’s central figure, once Mr. Cyrus is defeated, everything else will be resolved."

Cynthia inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled. Her expression grew resolute, and much of the worry clouding her features faded.

"Whew... Hearing you say that puts me at ease."

"No matter how the situation changes, you always seem to know how to handle it. Of course... You trained Dawn for this moment, didn’t you? Your goal wasn’t merely to help her become Champion. She’s the person you chose—the one destined to stand at the center of Sinnoh’s history."

"In that case, perhaps Dawn has already...!"

"Cyrus is the same."

"Then I’ll... go on ahead!"

She swiftly summoned Garchomp. A howling gale swept through the area as Cynthia mounted the Pokémon and soared into the clouds.

"It seems that no matter what kind of technology people invent, someone will always find a way to misuse it," Professor Juniper said. "Geothermal energy is an advanced and environmentally friendly technology. It was supposed to be promoted as a means of generating electricity, yet someone has reversed the process and used it to drain energy from a volcano."

"What exactly is going to happen...?" Professor Burnet murmured. "So that man is the leader of Team Galactic in the Sinnoh region? I couldn’t see his face clearly."

"I’m sorry, everyone!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "It appears we’ll have to suspend the academic conference! This situation is extremely serious!"

"Elaine! Elaine!"

Professor Hastings suddenly sprang from his seat and called toward Elaine, who was sitting at the very back of the audience.

"On behalf of Chairperson Erma, Principal Lamont, and myself, I am issuing an immediate order!"

"Every Pokémon Ranger stationed in the Sinnoh region—whether employed by local branches of the League or dispatched from Ranger Union headquarters—is to assemble at Mount Coronet! Regardless of rank or level, everyone is to mobilize immediately!"

"This is the Ranger Union’s highest-level order! Surround Mount Coronet!"

"Elaine, you’re coming with us! We’re going to the summit to... disarm the bomb!"

"Disarm the bomb?" Elaine’s eyes widened as she pointed at herself.

Who was supposed to dismantle the Galactic Bomb?

Me?

You want a Level 4 small fry like me to take responsibility for dismantling the Galactic Bomb?!

"Wait, Professor Hastings!" Blue called out to him. "Please don’t let your anger cloud your judgment!"

"The professors should remain in Canalave City. This place is far from Mount Coronet and close to the sea. If the situation spirals out of control, everyone can immediately evacuate by ship."

"No, to be safe, we should evacuate all of you immediately!"

"The Ranger Union’s people should also stay away from Mount Coronet. The most important thing now is to evacuate—"

Blue had intended to say they should evacuate the people of the Sinnoh region, but after giving the idea a moment’s thought, he abruptly clenched his fist.

No. There wasn’t enough time!

How could they possibly evacuate everyone living around Mount Coronet in such a short period?

This was a modern society. People’s food, clothing, shelter, and transportation were all dependent on the cities where they lived. Worse still, the explosion at Mount Coronet might happen at any moment.

Relocating everyone from the surrounding cities immediately was completely unrealistic. Most people would simply think, Huh? What happened? Let me take a look, then gather to watch the excitement and get wiped out together.

If some stranger from the Ranger Union suddenly announced that Mount Coronet was about to explode, most people would never believe them.

"No," Professor Hastings declared. "As the leader of an international organization, I must lead from the front in a situation like this. Our organization exists to protect the lives of humans and Pokémon at any cost. Anyone who fears death cannot become a Pokémon Ranger."

"However, Professor Oak’s grandson—Researcher Blue—your other proposal is correct. We should have the researchers who traveled here from distant regions depart by ship in separate groups and return home!"

"It’s unfortunate that we can’t finish the conference... but this is no time to continue holding academic discussions."

"Yes. Samuel is right," Professor Rowan agreed. "The situation is too unstable. And as for Cyrus..."

"Even though the Sinnoh League responded in advance and placed every important location and potential energy source under protection, Cyrus still found another way to obtain the energy he needed and return to Mount Coronet. That means that even without Valley Windworks or Stark Mountain, he would have found a way to do the same thing."

"Such is the strength of human obsession. What sort of psychological trauma could drive someone to such extremes? To become this fixated on Mount Coronet..."

"I heard that in Sunyshore City..."

Professor Rowan had learned part of the story of Cyrus’s childhood in Sunyshore City from Dawn and Cynthia’s reports. He naturally found it deeply painful that such a mechanical genius had traveled so far down this path.

However, until Cyrus had been formally accused, who could have confirmed that the famous entrepreneur was secretly a bomb-obsessed lunatic?

Professor Kukui’s voice rang out.

"Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m afraid it may already be too late to leave by ship. A huge bank of fog has risen over the sea. That’s extremely strange. Weather like this shouldn’t be appearing at this time."

In the Sinnoh region, fog was regarded as a symbol of the boundary separating two worlds.

It appeared only in Alamos Town, around Sendoff Spring, and in Celestic Town.

"Space... Space itself is distorting!"

Sonia was holding the instrument she had previously used in the Crown Tundra. She hadn’t expected it to prove useful a second time. With Professor Burnet providing on-site guidance, both women wore extremely complicated expressions.

"Some kind of power is spreading outward from Mount Coronet’s summit and enveloping the entire Sinnoh region. It’s separating Sinnoh and the surrounding seas from the rest of the world! And then—"

BOOM!

A second deafening thunderclap erupted.

The resulting tremor felt as though the curtain of the sky itself had shattered. The researchers could no longer remain inside the conference hall. The crowd surged outside, with the professors carrying all manner of worries and emotions onto the streets of Canalave City.

Like the confused and frightened residents around them, they stared from afar at the mountain said to be the root of the world.

At the very summit of the sky...

"It looks exactly like..." Professor Rowan whispered. "Like the enormous mural painted inside the Foreign Building in Hearthome City."

"That mountain... Mount Coronet..." Fennel stared into the distance. "The sky above it has split open! Is that another dimension?!"

"What is that thing...?" Briar asked. "Is this the prelude to the great explosion that the man called Cyrus described in the video—the result of the energy from several universes reaching saturation?"

Behind Professor Rowan, streams of computational data appeared in Professor Sada’s eyes.

"I have indeed detected extraordinary energy fluctuations. The intense energy impact is causing [time] and [space] to draw closer together. Their light cones are no longer intersecting. Instead, they are gradually merging."

"Things that should never have met are meeting within the cracks of spacetime. Their light cones are warping, anger is enveloping cities and mountains, and everything is beginning to collapse."

As an AI, she began monitoring conditions across the Sinnoh region in real time without requiring any additional handheld equipment. Even so, she fitted a device resembling a power-level scanner over one eye.

"Acting carelessly within distorted spacetime may produce a fleeting miracle... or it may cause someone to become lost beyond the light cone of another spacetime."

"This city—no, some form of energy radiating from Mount Coronet—is interfering with the entire region. The outer perimeter of Sinnoh has entered an abnormal state. Every disturbance is being caused by the spatial anomaly. The affected area encompasses the entirety of Sinnoh. That result is only natural."

Professor Sada continued murmuring to herself while glancing around at the other professors. However, those who lacked significant knowledge of spacetime research could only understand the broadest parts of her explanation.

"So that’s what a space-time rift looks like," Hikaru said. "But is that something we should be seeing right now?"

The bad news was that the space-time rift from the Hisui era had appeared.

Originally, that had been the result of Volo and Giratina’s actions.

The good news was that Sinnoh happened to have a genuine "expert" on this particular subject.

"Giratina."

If its memories had returned, this sight would undoubtedly look familiar.

After all, Giratina had created the space-time rift, thinking it could secretly manipulate the two dragons from behind the scenes. Instead, Arceus had taken advantage of the opportunity and brought a [DigiDestined] over from another world.

Come to think of it, wasn’t the [Arc Phone] basically a [Digivice]?

So that was it, Arceus. You were Homeostasis all along.

The professors’ expressions shifted constantly as they fiercely debated what to do next.

Professor Hastings turned toward Hikaru, his expression grave.

"Chief Ranger Hikaru, I have the Ranger Union’s highest-level order for you! It is the same order I issued moments ago. Can I entrust this situation to you?"

"Of course," Hikaru replied. "As I told Cynthia, I intend to go. However, Professor, if you put it that way..."

"Naturally, this mission will count as a [meritorious achievement]," Professor Hastings said. "A battlefield where heaven and earth themselves are being transformed—now that is a mission befitting the Chief Ranger, wouldn’t you agree?"

Hikaru smiled. "You’re right. In that case, I’ll take that as a compliment! Rest assured, Professor. This mission will be completed!"

(End of Chapter)

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