@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 8: The Swanna's Song and the Prayer

[Here's the footage you asked for, Master.] a Drifblim smiled as it delivered a video camera to Tonio. [It doesn't look good.]

The group gathered around, piqued in the footage of the townspeople looking for Darkrai. In one scene, Maury spotted Darkrai before the camera zoomed in to discover Palkia.

"That's Palkia..." Dawn mused.

The footage cut to a scene of a huge group of Pokémon attacking Darkrai, but it withstood almost all the attacks. The group gasped as Darkrai used Dark Pulse followed by Dark Void on all of the Pokémon.

Ash tried oh so hard not to laugh as he saw another scene of Baron Alberto trying to join the fray, but Darkrai sent him flying.

A gust of wind and a crash outside spurred Ash to hurry to a window. A thought dawned on him as he watched Darkrai attempt to use Dark Void on another portal. Could it be...Darkrai was trying to warn me about Palkia and Dialga in that nightmare before?

"If we are going to save the world, we need to get to the tower, and quickly!" Tonio snapped him back to reality.

"Coming!" Ash motioned for Tintri to follow him as he dashed out into the street.

As he ran, Ash saw Palkia conjure a flash of magenta light, transporting the town to its own dimension. "What happened...I'm human again!" Baron Alberto gasped as he saw he was back to normal.

"No time for questions, just get the Pokemon to safety!" Alice called as she watched Dialga corner Palkia and Darkrai.

The group watched in horror as Palkia charged a magenta moon-shaped blade of energy. "That's Spacial Rend..." Tonio gasped. "Palkia's signature move."

Dialga then took a deep breath, and unleashed a loud scream-like cry that created a rainbow shockwave. "And that was Roar of Time, Dialga's signature move." Tonio began.

The group dove for cover as the two attacks collided, causing an explosion that sent strong shock waves through the town, speeding up the rate that the edges were pixelating.

"Dialga, Palkia, please!" Alice pleaded. "Why are you fighting like this? What have we done to earn your anger?"

[You have forgotten Lord Arceus' command to take care of this world, and for that, you will all be judged!] Dialga replied.

[That isn't true!] Palkia protested. [It is true that some mortals have not followed Lord Arceus' command, but that doesn't mean you all have to die!]

Dialga lunged at Alice, but Alice did not expect Darkrai to fly before her and use Dark Pulse to send them backwards. "Darkrai saved Alice?" Brock gasped.

The group watched as Darkrai took both Dialga and Palkia's attacks, sending it flying through the trees. "Darkrai!" Dawn yelped as the group and Alice approached the patch of blue grass where Darkrai landed.

[Ungghh...] Darkrai grunted as he came to. [Alicia? Is that you?] he asked as his eyes flickered open.

"No...I am Alice, her granddaughter." Alice replied.

"Darkrai...I guess we all owe you an apology for not believing you." Ash began as he knelt before Darkrai.

"Will you ever forgive us?" Dawn asked.

Darkrai nodded. [Yeah...I'm not as bad all the human tales say I am.]

He hovered up before Ash. [You guys do what you can, I'm gonna go find our twin warring dragons.] With that, he disappeared in a burst of black.

Ash balked when he saw buildings beginning to disappear. "The town's fading away!"

"The whole town will eventually disappear if Dialga and Palkia keep at it like this." Tonio cautioned. "The only way to prevent the end of the world is to play the Oración. If I recall correctly, Grandad mentioned that the music machine could play it if needed."

---------

In Tonio's office, the group dug through the boxes of discs for the music machine. "<i>Abuela</i> said that the disc for the Oración looked different from all the others..." Alice explained. "She even wrote down some of the notch pattern so we would remember it."

Brock noticed a pattern of dashes on the back of the old picture of Alicia and Godey. "Then this must be the pattern we're looking for."

After a few tense minutes, Dawn triumphantly held up a gold disc with the same notch pattern. "I got it!"

Brock motioned for Ash and Dawn to gather around. "Ash, Dawn, can I trust you guys to put the Oración disc in the music machine?"

"Yeah!" Ash replied.

"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked.

"I'm going to go help Alice, Tonio, and Nurse Joy evacuate the townsfolk." Brock replied. "We'll hold off Dialga and Palkia for as long as we can."

He looked over at Ash "If you have to, it's okay to use your Swanna Song."

"Okay." Ash nervously embraced his friend, then followed Dawn out to the long stairwell leading to the music machine.

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"Diddy, Gaia, I need you guys!" Ash heaved two Poke Balls skyward. "Think you guys can shield me from whatever attacks come this way?"

[You got it] Gaia replied as she whacked away an errant energy ball with a vine.

Both Ash and Dawn hurried up the stairs as fast as they could, aware of the disappearing buildings and the crumbling stairs around them. "We need to do something before the stairs start disappearing faster than we can go." Ash called as Diddy deflected an attack.

Dawn heaved two Poke Balls skyward. "Satomi, channel Lola's Ice Beam to make new stairs! Quickly!"

On the ground, Tonio watched in horror as the buildings pixelated into nothing. "Dialga's and Palkia's attacks would destroy the town if they were to connect..."

[I'll save you!] Darkrai called as he warped in between the two dragon Pokemon.

Ash watched as Darkrai created a shadowy shield around him. We only have as much time left as Darkrai can take! he thought as he continued following Dawn up the ice stairs.

He did not expect to step on thin air as the step he needed disappeared! "Whoa!"

Dawn grabbed Ash's hand. "I have you, now don't let go!"

[Brace yourselves--I'm gonna try and get you guys up closer!] Tails called before firing a massive Water Gun. The huge water blast was enough to propel both Ash and Dawn farther up the tower.

"Thanks, Tails!" Ash smiled.

"Yes, thank you." Dawn agreed.

Ash watched in horror from an overlook as Darkrai took both Dialga and Palkia's attacks. "Oh no...no..." he finally stammered as the weakened Darkrai disappeared.

"Look at it this way--Darkrai gave himself so we would make it up here." Dawn assured Ash as the two of them finally reached the music machine.

Thanks, Darkrai. Ash weakly smiled before he noticed the Oración disk was too small to fit into the music machine's cabinet. "Where are we going to put the disk if it doesn't fit in the main cabinet?"

"In here--it has its own player." Dawn explained as she carefully put in the small disc into a smaller hidden cabinet.

A huge explosion startled Dawn. "I have a bad feeling about this..." she stammered as Dialga and Palkia prepared to use Roar of Time and Spacial Rend again.

On the ground, Tonio confirmed the group's worst fears. "If the two attacks connect, the town will be completely destroyed."

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Dawn's heart pounded as she looked for a reason why the music machine was not playing. "The machine does not have enough power!"

"Then I'll give it a power boost!" Ash smiled.

With that, he sang Gatrandis favel, secret, edena...

Emusto ronzen fine el balaziis...
Katoradis favel siicletu edena...

The music machine started to whir to life as Ash sang the song's last line. Emusto koron zen fine, si...

Dialga and Palkia stayed their attacks as a familiar melody started ringing across what remained of the town. [That song...] Dialga gasped.

[It has been many years since I heard the holy Oración...] Palkia replied.

[No...who was it that sang the Swanna Song?] Dialga asked as he watched the town returning to normal. [Was it the pure human you wanted to find?]

As if in response to Dialga's question, a familiar tin whistle joined in with the bells. The majestic bell tower and the tiny silver flute's melody caused the tower to heal and glow a bright gold, sprouting sparkling gold angel wings.

On the ground, Brock recognized the whistle playing with the bells. "Ash! That's Ash playing!"

"He did it!" Maury cried, spurring the crowd to cheer as Ash and Dawn came down from the tower, Ash still playing along with the bells all the while.

Tears welled up in Dialga's eyes. [You were right, Palkia...there are some pure humans left in the world. In my anger, I was blind to reason...will you forgive me?]

[Of course.] Palkia smiled as the bells and the whistle's last note echoed into the sunny sky.

Dialga created a glowing blue portal. [I will return to the holy realm to reflect on what happened here--and how I can prevent my anger from controlling me like it did.]

[A wise choice.] Palkia smiled as Dialga departed.

He then addressed Ash. [Might I know your name, young hero of the whistle?]

"My name is Ash." Ash replied. "I did what I did because I wanted to save this world, and my friends."

Palkia nodded. [I see...your heart shines with the purest light, and your song is blessed with the fires of courage. As thanks for what you did here, I grant you anything you like.]

"All we ask is that this place is restored to how it was, before it was nearly destroyed." Dawn replied.

"Yeah, we have no need for riches and fame." Ash replied. "I'd much rather earn the fame and riches."

[Such wisdom for a young age.] Palkia smiled. [Very well...your wish is granted.]

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Later that evening, Ash played a slow, sad melody that echoed across the lake. "Still thinking about Darkrai?" Brock asked as he and Dawn arrived at the shore, snapping Ash from his song.

"Yeah..." Ash sighed. "While it is a noble thing that he gave his life so we could play the Oración, I never got the chance...to say good bye..."

He did his best to fight back tears as the group started back towards the now healed town. But a mysterious shadow on a cliff face got his attention. Huh?

[Surprise!] Darkrai giggled as he emerged from the shadow. [I wanted to thank you for saving the world.]

"N-No, I should be thanking YOU." Ash stammered. "I thought you'd died after that vicious attack!"

[Relax--when you have a noble cause to fight for, you can't keep a good mon down.] Darkrai grinned.

He flew up to the top of the tower. [I'll be watchin' over you, kid--no one's gonna forget what happened here for a long time.]

Alice and Tonio arrived to join the group. "While Ash did a very brave thing, it's Darkrai that's the real hero, here." Tonio began.

[Aw, it was nothin'!] Darkrai smiled. [Just doing what I had to do to be sure you guys weren't obliterated.]

"Oh, come now...no need to be so modest." Alice smiled as she hugged Darkrai. "Words cannot express my gratitude for all you've done."

"Anytime!" Ash smiled.

"My pleasure." Dawn agreed.

"Not a problem." Brock agreed.

Ash looked over back at Dawn. "Let's get back to town--you still have a contest to get ready for."

"The contest is the least of my worries right now..." Dawn mused. "Win or lose, what happened here pales in comparison!"

The group laughed in agreement, glad that for now, all was well with the world...

THE END

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