[Gary]: Be good now. This kind of topic isn't suitable for a kid your age. Go home and watch Pokémon Horizons—that's more appropriate for you.
[Cynthia]: My relationship with Ash isn't as complicated as you all think. We're just very good friends.
[Diantha]: Heh, "very good friends"? Afraid to admit it? I dare say Ash is my ideal type—do you dare?
[Cynthia]: Don't push it too far!
[Diantha]: Hehe~ Silly woman. You're not beating me.
Kalos — Pokémon UNITE filming set
Diantha gently swirled the red wine in her glass, her expression calm and composed.
"Cynthia, I'll admit that in terms of strength, I might not be your match. But when it comes to emotional intelligence—ten of you still wouldn't compare to me."
She took a small sip of wine.
"Ash… can only be mine."
Her soft laughter echoed across the filming set.
The crew exchanged baffled looks.
What on earth is Champion Diantha doing?
Back on screen—
"I'm fine."
Cradled in Cynthia's arms, Ash looked completely flustered.
Facing Cynthia's anxious expression, his face flushed red all the way from his neck to the tips of his ears.
"That's good."
Only then did Cynthia suddenly realize how intimate their posture looked.
She hurriedly released him.
Earlier, the situation had been too urgent—she hadn't even thought about it before pulling Ash straight into her arms.
Now that she'd reacted—
啪—she let go immediately.
With a thud, Ash fell flat onto the ground.
"Are you okay?!"
Realizing she'd messed up, Cynthia quickly reached out to help him up.
But Ash had already sprung to his feet.
"Miss Cynthia, please help Pikachu and Charizard first!"
That fall wiped away the lingering awkwardness—and reminded Ash of what truly mattered.
Meeting Ash's earnest gaze, Cynthia—her heart still racing—calmly nodded.
She turned around, eyes locking onto the otherworldly Team Rocket trio who were trying to slip away.
"Garchomp. Draco Meteor."
Just those words—
And the three of them broke out in a cold sweat.
"Run, Musashi!"
"Hmph! Don't think this means you've won! I'll be back!"
As orange meteors began exploding across the sky, James instantly cut the power to the capture devices.
He lunged forward, scooped up Meowth, and dragged Musashi straight into the portal behind them.
At the very last moment before the Draco Meteors struck—
The portal snapped shut.
With the interlopers gone, Garchomp strode over to the trapped Charizard and Pikachu.
Dragon claws glowing—
Two clean slashes shattered the powerless electric nets.
At the same time, Ash rushed forward at full speed.
He scooped Pikachu into his arms, then tightly hugged Charizard.
"I'm so glad you're both okay!"
This was pure, unfiltered emotion.
Even Charizard—whose date had been ruined—couldn't bring itself to complain.
It simply endured its Trainer's embrace in silence.
Still…
Charizard was furious.
Those three had actually trapped it with an electric net—and it couldn't break free no matter what it tried.
Absolutely unacceptable.
If it ever ran into them again, it definitely wouldn't hold back.
After comforting each other for a while, Ash finally calmed down.
Cynthia gently patted his back, her voice soft.
"It's okay. Pikachu and Charizard are both fine, aren't they?"
"Mhm!"
Ash nodded vigorously.
At that moment, Dawn hurried over.
Though she had some doubts about the relationship between Ash and Cynthia, her attention wasn't on that right now.
She grabbed Cynthia's hand tightly.
"Champion Cynthia! Do you know what just happened? My Piplup also disappeared through that portal Team Rocket used!"
Her voice was filled with panic.
Ever since Ash mentioned that Cynthia might know what was going on, Dawn had clung to that hope.
Now that she'd finally met Cynthia, it felt like seeing a savior.
Not just her—
Many people in the park had gathered around.
Their eyes carried the same hope as Dawn's.
They all wanted answers about their missing Pokémon.
Faced with so many gazes, Ash instinctively stepped in front of Cynthia.
Not because he feared they'd hurt her—
Cynthia's authority in Sinnoh was unmatched.
It was simply an unconscious act of protection.
Even Ash himself didn't understand why he'd moved like that.
Before he could say anything—
A large hand ruffled his hair.
"Don't worry. They won't hurt me."
Cynthia stepped past Ash and stood before the crowd.
"Everyone, please listen. After our investigations, we've confirmed that all recent Pokémon disappearance cases were caused by unexplained spatial–temporal disturbances.
Your Pokémon haven't vanished—they were transported to a world identical to ours."
She calmly explained everything they'd uncovered.
The crowd immediately began murmuring.
"Another world? Was it Dialga who took our Pokémon?"
"It must be! Dialga is a terrifying god in the legends!"
"Yeah! Probably picked a fight with Palkia again and started pulling these nasty tricks after losing!"
"..."
Sinnoh residents truly had wild imaginations.
Living here, almost everyone had heard legends of the Spatial and Temporal Deities.
They once revered them—
But after the White Tree Town incident, opinions had changed.
Stories from those who experienced it firsthand revealed the truth:
Dialga was a troublemaker.
And Palkia was… a lovable brute.
Using Spatial Rend to tank Roar of Time head-on?
You had to admit—Palkia was something else.
After hearing Cynthia's explanation, the residents surprisingly accepted it.
"Champion Cynthia… will our Pokémon really come back? I'm still waiting for my Chimchar to come home."
A little girl spoke up, tears welling in her big eyes.
Losing her Pokémon had clearly hit her hard.
"Don't worry. I promise I'll bring every missing Pokémon back."
Cynthia's tone was steady as ever—
But everyone could hear the resolve behind it.
"And I will too! I swear I'll help bring everyone's Pokémon back!"
From behind Cynthia, Ash raised his hand and spoke loudly.
The Sinnoh residents didn't know who Ash was.
But they could recognize courage.
Those were the Spatial–Temporal Deities—beings at the pinnacle of all gods.
And yet this boy showed no fear at all.
How could they not admire that kind of spirit?
"Well said, kid! I like you!"
"Yeah! You look like a fine young man—my daughter's about your age, want me to introduce you?"
"Young people should settle down early! Don't listen to him—his daughter isn't even that pretty. Mine's youthful and lovely, a perfect match for you!"
Wait—how did the topic derail this fast?!
All it took was one sentence and they were already trying to marry their daughters to Ash?!
Isn't that a bit much?!
[Professor Rowan]: This matches our predictions. Everything points to Dialga and Palkia. What Ash saw at the very beginning must be the origin of all these incidents.
[Cynthia]: I agree. Dialga and Palkia likely clashed again for some reason.
[Ash]: Miss Cynthia, I don't think so. I believe this might be connected to Team Rocket. Their timing was too perfect, and it looked like they'd already mastered the rules of that spatial passage—and were using it to capture Pokémon from our world.
Whenever Team Rocket was involved—
Ash's IQ skyrocketed.
Just like now.
One glance, and he instinctively concluded that Team Rocket was deeply involved.
[Lance]: That seems unlikely. Even if they're from another world, they're still Team Rocket. Judging from what they've done before, they don't have the capability to orchestrate something like this.
[Matori]: Agreed. If those three had that kind of ability, they'd already be elite units—not scattered around the world on missions.
[Musashi]: You glasses-wearing bird-brain! What gives you the right to say we don't have what it takes?!
[James]: Exactly! You don't understand Pikachu's value—or how terrifying that twerp really is!
[Matori]: In the end, it's still a lack of ability. If you were like your counterparts from another world, you'd have delivered Pikachu to Boss Giovanni long ago.
Musashi, James, Meowth: ...
Damn it.
That actually made way too much sense.
For once, they couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
If they really had the decisiveness and strength of their otherworldly selves—
They probably would have succeeded already.
[Ash]: I really don't want to defend them—but Team Rocket isn't useless. It's just that the opponent they face… is me.
Great explanation.
Next time, you really don't need to explain.
You just made the three of them sound even more useless.
[Professor Rowan]: There's another issue. At the moment, Ash and Cynthia don't know how to open the spatial–temporal passage. How are they supposed to reach the other world?
[Ash]: That's easy. Just have Dialga open a door for us.
Excellent logic.
Next time—please don't say it.
That's Dialga, not a Pikachu on the roadside!
[Professor Juniper]: It won't be that simple. Dialga and Palkia are currently locked in battle—otherwise, they wouldn't have created so many unstable passages.
[Cynthia]: Which raises another problem. Unless they're fighting in the space between worlds, we can't even be sure whether the Dialga and Palkia involved are our Sinnoh deities.
[Professor Rowan]: That… complicates things.
Silence fell over everyone following the situation.
Each world had its own gods.
Cynthia's plan would normally be to take Ash directly to calm Dialga and Palkia.
But if they weren't the same ones—
That approach might not work at all.
No one could guarantee that the other world's Dialga and Palkia would treat Ash the same way.
Everything was unknown.
Back on screen—
Seeing the discussion spiral further off track, Cynthia quickly grabbed Ash and Dawn and led them away from the park.
They ran through the streets without stopping—
Not even speaking—
Until they finally reached the city library.
Only then did Cynthia release their hands.
"All right. Let's rest here for now. I need to look up some information and figure out what to do next."
She frowned slightly.
She didn't want to let everyone down.
Time was precious.
"Miss Cynthia… I have another question."
Ash suddenly interrupted.
Cynthia turned toward him and nodded for him to continue.
"Before this, I got a call from Professor Oak. He said my brother Red disappeared while investigating Pokémon disappearances in Sinnoh.
Do you know where he is?"
As Ash asked this, he was holding onto a faint hope.
Though everything so far suggested the other world was nearly identical to theirs—
That didn't guarantee everything was the same.
Take Team Rocket, for example.
Their otherworldly counterparts were far stronger than the ones Ash knew.
That was exactly what worried him.
If Red had run into something he couldn't handle in that world—
It would be bad.
And there was no guarantee that the other world was perfectly identical.
Hearing this, Cynthia's brow furrowed even deeper.
"Red… I don't believe I've received any information about him. Or rather—after arriving in Sinnoh, he didn't stay at any Pokémon Center."
Ash fell silent.
Then there was only one conclusion.
Red must have accidentally discovered a spatial gate to the other world—and gone straight through.
That fit Ash's image of his brother perfectly.
After all—
Red was the strongest Trainer Ash knew.
There was nothing Red wouldn't dare challenge.
Though Leon held the title of 'Strongest Champion'—
In Ash's heart, his brother was the strongest of all.
Ash wasn't too worried about Red's safety.
What he was worried about was Red doing something reckless.
Ash was already reckless enough.
Red was even worse.
After all, Red once had a record of soloing the entire Team Rocket organization.
At that point, "reckless" didn't even begin to describe it.
It was more like—
An enraged berserker, unstoppable.
Now, there was yet another reason to go to the other world.
Cynthia felt the pressure mounting.
Not only did she have to retrieve the missing Pokémon—
She also had to bring Red back.
"You two rest here for a while. I'm going to check some records."
She led Ash and Dawn to the library's lounge area, then headed into the archive section herself.
Cynthia had a strong feeling—
Things were far more complicated than they appeared.
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