Chapter 119: Both of You, Stop Fighting!
The video continued playing.
Tiana had already entered the space-time rift.
Swablu rested atop her head, its tiny body curled into a ball while its feathers trembled gently beneath the lingering waves of space-time turbulence.
"Don’t be afraid."
Tiana gently rubbed her cheek against its feathers.
"Daddy said you could protect me from the energy’s corrosive effects. I’ll be responsible for moving forward, and you’ll be responsible for protecting me. All right?"
Swablu lowered its head and looked at her.
"Chiru, chiru."
Tiana smiled.
The next instant, however, the rift swallowed her whole.
When she regained her senses, Tiana discovered that she was standing upon a path paved with countless glowing fragments.
Every fragment resembled a mirror reflecting a different version of herself.
There was three-year-old Tiana riding on Garchomp. There was ten-year-old Tiana directing Salamence’s performance onstage in Canalave City. There was also the Tiana who had raised a Poké Ball toward Cynthia during the Champion challenge only moments ago.
The fragments of space and time streamed past her like a revolving lantern of memories.
"These are all my memories."
Tiana reached out and touched one of the fragments.
The scene within it immediately came alive.
Her younger self lay in front of an incubator, staring at Gible’s Egg, while Cynthia stood behind her with the faintest hint of a smile upon her lips.
Tiana paused before continuing forward.
The fragments beneath her feet gradually changed from pale blue to dark purple.
The scenes contained within them also began to change.
They were no longer familiar moments from her past, but fragments she had never witnessed.
Cynthia sat alone in a conference room, massaging her brow as mountains of documents surrounded her.
Dragonite lay on a reef with several wounds across its body while Asher crouched beside it and sprayed the injuries with Potion.
There was even a scene of Asher and Cynthia standing together before the space-time rift, both of them covered in wounds.
Tiana’s steps faltered.
"Daddy... Mommy..."
She had never seen any of these scenes before.
In her memories, her father had always been gentle and composed. Even when he had guarded the space-time rift at Mount Coronet alone, she had never seen him injured.
Swablu rubbed its head against Tiana’s cheek and chirped softly.
"I’m fine."
Tiana took a deep breath and began walking again.
"These are only illusions created by the space-time turbulence. They aren’t real."
However, her fingers were trembling slightly.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Alder]: The illusions created by space-time turbulence select the most emotionally devastating scenes based on the target’s memories. What Tiana saw may not have truly happened, but they undoubtedly represent what she fears seeing most.
[Sabrina]: Human fear originates from concern for those they cherish. Such fear is not a weakness. It is a source of strength.
[Diantha]: That scene of Cynthia massaging her brow in the conference room looked far too realistic. Is that really what she does after meetings?
[Cynthia]: ...
[Diantha]: All right. Your silence has answered my question.
[Mallow]: Will those illusions affect Tiana?
[Lana]: Of course they will. She’s only ten years old. Who could remain completely calm after seeing the people they cherish most being injured?
[Lillie]: But she’s still moving forward. She hasn’t stopped.
The video continued playing.
Tiana looked down and discovered that the path formed from memory fragments had reached its end.
An endless void stretched before her.
Dialga floated at its very center.
Its body was larger than any depiction she had ever seen in an ancient book. The diamond-shaped core upon its chest pulsed slowly, and with every beat, the surrounding blue radiance contracted inward.
Dialga lowered its head.
Its dark-red eyes gazed at Tiana.
At that moment, the pulling sensation reached its peak.
It was neither a voice nor an image.
It felt more like the passage of time itself was conveying a message to her.
Dialga had been waiting for her.
It had waited for so long that units of time themselves had lost all meaning.
Tiana walked up to Dialga and extended her hand.
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the diamond-shaped core upon its chest, a shrill cry came from the side.
It was not a sound any living creature could produce.
It resembled the anguished scream of space itself being torn apart.
Palkia emerged from the other side of the void.
Its eyes were filled with extreme unease, its pupils contracting violently as though it were struggling against some invisible restraint.
Then it saw Tiana.
Palkia froze for an instant before violently swinging one arm.
A spatial fissure tore open directly before Tiana.
The scene within it was utterly chaotic.
Different spatial coordinates had been randomly stitched together. Snow from Mount Coronet, the streets of Eterna City, and Canalave City’s harbor had all been compressed into a single image like pieces of a shattered mirror.
"Palkia!"
Tiana took half a step backward.
"I’m not here to hurt either of you! I came to help!"
Another spatial fissure tore open behind her, nearly slicing away a lock of her hair.
Tiana bit her lower lip.
Palkia wasn’t attacking out of hostility.
She could sense that its energy was in an extremely unstable state. The twin dragons of time and space had opposed one another within the rift for far too long, and the constant collision between their energies was causing their powers to spiral out of control.
Palkia turned toward Dialga and released an enraged roar.
Dialga responded with a deep snarl.
It was the primordial sound produced when time and space collided within the void.
Tiana’s ears rang from the force of it, and the edges of her vision began to blur.
She didn’t retreat.
Instead, she took another step forward.
"Both of you, stop fighting!!!"
Tiana spread her arms and placed herself between Dialga and Palkia.
"Dialga, you stop first! Palkia, you too! Calm down and listen to me!"
Dialga slowly turned its head and examined Tiana once more with its dark-red eye.
Palkia’s roar gradually faded as the pinkish-purple light surrounding its body slowly receded.
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
A dark-golden shock wave suddenly erupted from the deepest part of the rift’s core.
The shock wave spread outward, reducing every fragment of space and time in its path to dust.
The instant it approached, Palkia swung its arm and tore open a spatial fissure in front of Tiana.
The fissure absorbed most of the shock wave, but its remaining force still grazed Tiana’s shoulder.
"Ugh—!!"
Tiana staggered.
Her sleeve was torn open from the elbow, and droplets of blood emerged from the wound before running down the back of her hand and falling into the void beneath her feet.
"Chiru, chiru!!"
Swablu flew from Tiana’s head.
Its tiny body positioned itself protectively in front of her as it spread its wings with all its strength.
Holding the wound on her arm, Tiana raised her head and looked toward the source of the shock wave.
A shadow was slowly emerging from the depths of the rift’s core.
It had no fixed form.
It resembled a mass of chaotic energy compressed to its absolute limit, its edges constantly twisting and changing. Every distortion produced a new wave of energy.
Tiana’s pupils contracted sharply.
"Is that... the energy Dialga and Palkia left behind?"
The mass of energy continued to expand, spreading toward Dialga and Palkia.
"No! If this continues, both Dialga and Palkia will completely lose control!"
Tiana gritted her teeth and forced herself upright.
"Swablu, can you help me?"
"Chiru, chiru!"
Swablu nodded vigorously.
Then its body began to glow.
Everywhere the light passed, the space-time turbulence was forcibly repelled, as though an invisible shield had formed around Swablu.
Only then did Tiana understand why Asher had given her this particular Swablu.
The bloodline flowing within its body possessed some special power capable of resisting space-time turbulence.
Tiana gently gathered Swablu into her arms before raising her head and looking directly at Dialga and Palkia.
"My daddy and mommy are both waiting for me outside. They believe I can do this."
Tiana’s voice remained exceptionally clear amid the space-time turbulence.
"I won’t betray their trust."
Holding Swablu close, Tiana pushed through the layers of writhing tendrils blocking her path and rushed between Dialga and Palkia.
"Dialga. Palkia."
Tiana extended one hand toward each of the two Legendary Pokémon.
"I know your powers have been colliding with each other all this time. What you need is a point that can bring them together."
She paused.
Iridescent fragments of light continuously spilled from her mismatched eyes.
"I’ll be your anchor."
Tiana closed her eyes and placed one palm against Dialga and the other against Palkia.
Guided by Tiana’s will, Dialga’s power over time and Palkia’s power over space finally ceased colliding for the first time.
Blue and pinkish-purple light intertwined within the void, forming an entirely new power.
The power of space-time.
When Tiana opened her eyes again, golden fragments of light spilled simultaneously from both of her mismatched pupils.
...
TL:
Y/N: STOP FIGHTINGGGG! (falls)
Reiner and Beretoreto: Y/N!! We’ll save you!
Y/N: Whoaa! Oh my god, you’re so strong!