Chapter Summaries

Li Wei and the others watched the first episode of Behind the Truth: Pokémon Appraisals, which used scientific experiments, historical accounts, and Blue’s evaluation to challenge the belief that Absol caused disasters. The episode ended successfully, and Li Wei expected the program to earn a good reputation.

• Li Wei and his companions watched Professor Rowan’s experiment show Absol sensing simulated disasters while the control Pokémon failed to react.
• Professor Rowan concluded that Absol was a sensitive disaster warning system, not a cause of calamities.
• Professor Oak shared historical accounts of people who heeded Absol’s warnings and survived disasters.
• Blue praised Absol’s useful senses and combat strengths, and four Absol approached him during the interview.
• Yuka concluded the Absol feature by urging viewers to understand and protect the Pokémon, then announced the next episode would feature Li Wei.
• Lorelei praised the program, and Li Wei thought it would earn a good reputation even if it was not a huge hit.

Dawn won the Aqua Ribbon, and she, Ash, and Brock set off for Alamos Town. Meanwhile, Li Wei’s Pokémon appraisal show became a hit, and he rescued a poached Deino in Oreburgh City; Nurse Joy declared Deino healthy, leaving Li Wei ready to bring it to the Dragon Exhibition Hall.

• Dawn won Wallace’s Aqua Ribbon after competing in the Wallace Cup, while Ruby’s absence removed a strong rival.
• Ash defeated Crasher Wake at the Pastoria Gym and earned the Fen Badge, then Brock suggested they travel to Alamos Town for a Contest at the Time Tower.
• Li Wei’s first Pokémon appraisal episode about Absol became popular, and he prepared to release a second episode about Froslass with Lorelei, Professor Rowan, and Professor Oak.
• Li Wei used a rare Pokémon clue to locate a Deino in Oreburgh City, where he and his Pokémon defeated a group of poachers and rescued it.
• Nurse Joy examined Deino and told Li Wei it was healthy, allowing him to take it to the Dragon Exhibition Hall.

After Nurse Joy confirmed Deino had recovered, Li Wei brought it from the Pokémon Center to the Dragon Exhibition Hall to settle into a new home. Deino stayed close to Li Wei as it met the park’s Dragon Pokémon.

• Nurse Joy examined Deino and confirmed that Li Wei’s treatment had left it with no serious injuries.
• Deino recognized Li Wei by scent, rushed to him, and showed its affection by licking him.
• Li Wei walked Deino to the Dragon Exhibition Hall while Lucario and Zeraora soothed its nerves.
• Li Wei greeted Officer Jenny and passed through a staff-only entrance into the exhibition hall with Deino.
• Dragapult and Dragonair gathered around Li Wei, and he told Deino that the hall would be its new home.

Li Wei brought Deino to the Dragon Exhibition Hall and introduced it to the Pokémon living in the Dragon’s Cave. Deino gradually relaxed as the Noibat and Gible welcomed it with food, leaving it with its first new friend.

• Li Wei arrived at the Dragon Exhibition Hall with Zeraora, Lucario, and Deino, and Dragonair and Dragapult welcomed them.
• Dragapult led Li Wei and Deino into the Dragon’s Cave, where the nervous Deino met the resident Noibat and Gible.
• Li Wei reassured Deino and explained to the Noibat and Gible that it was shy and unable to see.
• Li Wei shared Pokéblocks with Deino, the Noibat, and the Gible, helping them grow comfortable together.
• A bold Gible offered Deino its Pokéblock, and Deino answered softly.

Li Wei helped Deino settle in with the Gible and Noibat in Dragon's Cave, then left Dragapult and Dragonair to guide and protect it. He left Dayou to discipline fighting Mankey and Chimchar before receiving a morning call from Steven.

• Li Wei introduced Deino to the Dragon Exhibition Hall staff and brought it to meet the Gible and Noibat in Dragon's Cave.
• Gible shared a Pokéblock with Deino, and the young Pokémon welcomed Deino until it began bonding with them.
• Li Wei asked Dragapult to introduce Deino to the other Pokémon and Dragonair to rescue it if it fell into the lake.
• Li Wei found Dayou scolding Mankey and Chimchar after they fought, and left Dayou to handle the dispute.
• On the morning of August 21, Li Wei received a phone call from Steven.

Li Wei arrived in Alamos Town after Steven warned him that dangerous spatial instability there was spreading toward Jubilife City. Knowing the Time Tower was Darkrai’s home and that Dialga and Palkia might become involved, Li Wei went to meet Steven, Ash, Dawn, and Brock.

• Li Wei entered Alamos Town with his Pokémon, warning them to stay together while Metagross sensed an abnormal magnetic field.
• Li Wei recalled that Alamos Town was home to Gaudí’s Time Tower and the courtyard where Darkrai lived.
• Steven had traced spatial instability near Floaroma Town to Alamos Town and warned Li Wei that it could spread to Jubilife City.
• Li Wei learned that Lance and Cynthia were unavailable, while Cynthia was returning to Sinnoh and Steven was investigating with Metagross.
• Li Wei called Steven and learned that he was with Ash and the others in Gaudí’s Courtyard behind the Time Tower.

Li Wei arrived in Alamos Town and met Steven, Ash, Dawn, Alice, and Tonio at Gaudí's Courtyard as they investigated the town's nightmares and unstable magnetic field. Lucario sensed a powerful presence inside the courtyard, where Darkrai lived.

• Li Wei entered Alamos Town with Diancie, Lucario, and Zeraora and saw the towering Time Tower as townspeople worried about nightmares blamed on Darkrai.
• Li Wei headed to Gaudí's Courtyard, where Steven, Ash, Dawn, and Brock welcomed him.
• Brock introduced Alice, who had guided his group to Alamos Town, and Alice introduced Tonio, the courtyard's owner and a scientist.
• Li Wei and Steven confirmed that their Metagross had sensed an extremely unstable magnetic field that could weaken or enrage Metagross.
• Lucario alerted Li Wei to a powerful presence inside the courtyard, and Li Wei signaled that it was not a threat before they entered.

Li Wei and his companions visited Gaudí's Courtyard in Alamos Town, where they discovered that Darkrai was hiding underground and protecting the area. Tonio described strange energy fluctuations, and Gallade led the group toward the basement as Darkrai watched the sky and shouted for something to get out.

• Li Wei arrived in Alamos Town with his Pokémon and detected Darkrai hiding beneath Gaudí's Courtyard.
• Darkrai emerged briefly in the courtyard and shouted at something in the sky above Alamos Town.
• Alice showed Li Wei, Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Steven around the courtyard while their Pokémon played with its residents.
• Steven explained that he had followed unusual energy readings to the courtyard, and Tonio reported that his laboratory had recorded abnormal fluctuations.
• Gallade appeared and led Li Wei and the others to the stairs descending into the basement.

Li Wei, Steven, and Tonio investigated the strangely twisted pillars in Gaudí's Courtyard, and Steven warned that Alamos Town might need to evacuate. Baron Albert blamed Darkrai for the damage, but a fresh shock wave interrupted the investigation.

• Gallade led Li Wei, Steven, and Tonio to the damaged stone pillars, whose unnatural twisting triggered Steven's Energy Detector.
• Steven recommended evacuating Gaudí's Courtyard and possibly all of Alamos Town because the damage suggested a dangerous threat.
• Baron Albert emerged from the basement and claimed Darkrai had destroyed the pillars, while Steven withheld judgment and Li Wei explained what Darkrai was.
• Pikachu sensed a disturbance, and an invisible shock wave passed through the area as Tonio's laptop and Steven's detector sounded warnings.

Li Wei and Steven refused Baron Albert’s demand to drive Darkrai out, while Dialga and Palkia’s battle continued to distort Alamos Town. Darkrai emerged in Gaudí’s Courtyard and warned everyone to stay away.

• Baron Albert urged Li Wei and Steven to help drive Darkrai out, but both refused.
• Li Wei explained that they would speak with Darkrai about the town’s nightmares and seek another solution if needed.
• Dialga and Palkia continued fighting after their separate dimensions began to overlap, and their attacks shook Alamos Town.
• A shadow appeared in Gaudí’s Courtyard, and Lucario, Zeraora, Diancie, and the Dragapult prepared to protect Li Wei and the others.
• Darkrai rose from the shadow and used Telepathy to tell everyone to stay away.

Darkrai appeared in Gaudí's garden and warned Li Wei and the others to leave, while Li Wei recognized its extraordinary strength and realized it was angry and confused. After Darkrai decided their help might be useful against the Space-Time Deities, Baron Albert attacked it, prompting Li Wei and Steven to intervene.

• Darkrai emerged from the shadows, warned the group away, and spread its Bad Dreams aura, which the Lunar Wing resisted.
• Li Wei appraised Darkrai as a Battle Legend and recognized that it was angry about Dialga and Palkia threatening its home.
• Darkrai sensed the unusual powers carried by Li Wei and Steven and decided their help might let it drive away the Space-Time Deities.
• Baron Albert sent out Lickilicky, which fired Hyper Beam at Darkrai as it rushed through the shadows.
• Li Wei and Steven ordered Darkrai stopped, and Zeraora, Lucario, and Metagross blocked its Dark Void with their attacks.

Li Wei, Steven, and Tonio investigated the strange spatial distortions while Darkrai escaped Gaudí's Courtyard without a full fight. Steven split the work between assessing an evacuation and checking Darkrai's involvement, while Li Wei and the others headed to Tonio's laboratory for clues.

• Tonio told Li Wei and Steven that a force beyond Darkrai was distorting space, and he hurried off to search his laboratory and Gaudí's diary for clues.
• Darkrai vanished after unleashing another Dark Void, and Li Wei stopped Ash from chasing it, noting that the skies had cleared and warning the group not to assume Darkrai was responsible.
• Steven decided to discuss a possible evacuation with the mayor and Officer Jenny while Li Wei investigated whether Darkrai caused the distortions in Alamos Town and Floaroma Town.
• After Steven departed on Silver Metagross, Li Wei, Ash, Dawn, and Alice set out for Tonio's laboratory in the Time Tower.

Tonio discovered in Gaudí’s diary that Alicia had befriended the injured Darkrai and welcomed it into the courtyard, leading him to doubt that Darkrai caused the space-time anomaly. He found a cryptic clue about Oración in Gaudí’s plans for the Time Tower, then showed Alice a photograph of her grandmother.

• Tonio found a photograph of his great-grandfather Gaudí with young Alicia and realized Alicia was Alice’s grandmother.
• Tonio read Gaudí’s account of how Alicia befriended Darkrai and convinced it to stay in the courtyard, which Darkrai continued to protect after her death.
• Tonio found Gaudí’s note about leaving Oración behind for the future in the Time Tower’s design plans.
• Alice guided Li Wei and the others to Tonio’s laboratory, where they found Tonio asleep on the floor.
• Tonio woke up and explained that he had tried to have a nightmare after finding a clue in Gaudí’s diary, then gave Alice a photograph of her grandmother.

Tonio showed Li Wei, Alice, and the others Gaudí’s diary and a photograph of Gaudí with Alicia, while Li Wei considered what the diary revealed about Darkrai. The group climbed to the top of the Time Tower to use its music disc, where Tonio and Dawn prepared to play a piece as events continued elsewhere in Alamos Town.

• Tonio gave Li Wei Gaudí’s diary and showed Alice a photograph of her grandmother Alicia with Gaudí; Alice discovered sheet music on the photograph’s back.
• Piplup and Pikachu played with a music disc, and Tonio explained that the Time Tower could play music through its enormous structure.
• Li Wei read Gaudí’s diary and found that it said Darkrai had accepted Alicia’s invitation to live in Gaudí’s Courtyard, though he kept the information private.
• Dawn, Ash, and the others struggled up the Time Tower’s long spiral stairs, while Tonio and Alice traveled to the top by hot air balloon and Li Wei used Metagross to help Ash and Pikachu.
• Tonio explained how the Time Tower’s music discs worked, and Dawn fitted a disc into place as Li Wei watched.

Li Wei and his companions played Oración on the Time Tower’s music disc, then met Xiaoxin, Shenghai, and Taige for battles while Tonio monitored the fight between Dialga and Palkia. A dimensional rift appeared above the Time Tower as the battle continued.

• Dawn and Alice played Oración from the Time Tower, but Li Wei suspected the music had failed to resolve the crisis after Steven called to meet him.
• Li Wei agreed to battle Xiaoxin, Shenghai, and Taige, and signed an autograph for Xiaoxin.
• Palkia’s left-arm pearl shattered during its clash with Dialga, and Tonio detected another dimensional rift.
• Pikachu battled Empoleon, Sirfetch’d battled Infernape, and Dratini battled Torterra in the plaza.
• Sirfetch’d defeated Infernape with Meteor Assault as purple light spread across the sky above the Time Tower.

Palkia briefly appeared above Alamos Town, and Li Wei realized the Legendary Pokémon had arrived while pursuing Darkrai. As the group withdrew toward Gaudí's Courtyard, strange spatial distortions began affecting Pokémon, leaving them unsure what was real.

• A purple veil spread over Alamos Town, and Tonio detected powerful spatial fluctuations before briefly spotting a figure he suspected was responsible.
• Li Wei's Advanced Scan identified the figure as Palkia, while his Legendary Pact sensed that it had entered the dimensional rift above the town.
• Darkrai arrived beneath the Time Tower and warned Palkia to leave, while Baron Albert, the Team Rocket Trio, and a group of Trainers pursued Darkrai.
• Li Wei told Lucario and the others not to interfere with Darkrai and led the group toward Gaudí's Courtyard to meet Steven as Tonio hurried to share his findings.
• Baron Albert ordered Lickilicky to attack, but Darkrai's Dark Void put the pursuers and their Pokémon to sleep, allowing Li Wei's group to withdraw under cover from Zeraora, Lucario, and Metagross.
• At Gaudí's Courtyard, a Bibarel drifted through the air, and Ash took Pikachu's Thunderbolt to test whether he was dreaming before a scream rang out.

As Alamos Town vanished beneath unnatural clouds and white fog, Pokémon fell into a deep sleep and dreams began altering reality. Li Wei concluded that Darkrai was not responsible, while the group remained trapped in town.

• Dark clouds and white fog enveloped Alamos Town, and more Pokémon fell into a deep sleep that was difficult to break.
• Li Wei and Nurse Joy examined the sleeping Pokémon and discussed giving them IV fluids if they could not be awakened.
• Baron Albert appeared as a talking Lickilicky, and Tonio suggested that dreams were spilling into reality because of a powerful force above the town.
• Xiaoxin, Shenghai, and their companion reported that nobody could leave Alamos Town, while Defog and Lucario's Aura failed against the fog.
• Ash and Zeraora ran into the fog but emerged behind the group, and Li Wei rejected the Lickilicky Baron's claim that Darkrai was responsible.

Li Wei and Steven suspected Palkia, not Darkrai, had trapped Alamos Town in another dimension, while Albert led a group to hunt Darkrai. Li Wei found Darkrai and proposed they work together to stop the Space-Time Deities’ conflict, and Darkrai agreed to use every available power to protect the town.

• Li Wei and Steven concluded that Palkia was more likely responsible for the dimensional disturbance than Darkrai, but Albert remained convinced Darkrai was guilty and led Trainers after it.
• Li Wei stopped Xiaoxin and the others from joining the hunt, while Tonio explained how Darkrai had saved Alice as a child and said his great-grandfather Gaudí’s notes confirmed Darkrai would not destroy Alamos Town.
• After learning they could not leave Alamos Town, Steven set out to help Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy and find a way to contact the outside world, while Li Wei went to find Darkrai with Ash joining him.
• Li Wei and his Pokémon used Aura and shadow-sensing to locate Darkrai in Gaudí's Courtyard, where Darkrai was watching the sky.
• Li Wei told Darkrai he had seen Palkia in the Dimensional Rift and proposed working together to stop the Space-Time Deities’ fight; Darkrai said it could not escape and agreed to combine their powers to protect Alamos Town.

Li Wei and Darkrai prepared to confront Palkia after Steven’s investigation revealed that Palkia had caused Alamos Town’s spatial distortions. As the anomalies spread, Cynthia learned that Alamos Town had vanished and rushed to the Sinnoh Region.

• Li Wei told Darkrai he was acting to protect what mattered to him, then prepared with Lucario, Zeraora, and Diancie to resolve the crisis before Cynthia arrived.
• Steven, Tonio, Dawn, and Brock traced the physical nightmares and spatial distortions to Palkia’s arrival above the Time Tower.
• Li Wei summoned Steven to the Time Tower, where Darkrai put Baron Lickilicky’s attacking group to sleep and pointed out Palkia above them.
• Cynthia reached the Sinnoh Region and learned from Professor Rowan and Lucian that a vast pit and unexplained white mist had replaced Alamos Town.
• After Steven warned that the spatial anomalies could spread toward Floaroma Town and Jubilife City, Cynthia set out for Alamos Town and vowed to reach Li Wei.

Dialga and Palkia’s battle tore Alamos Town into a spatial dimension, and Darkrai’s attack awakened the injured Palkia above the Time Tower. With the town’s residents restored to normal, Li Wei and Steven prepared to fight Palkia and heal it once it was no longer enraged.

• Dialga and Palkia clashed in the Dimensional Rift, and their attacks sent destructive energy into the sky above Alamos Town.
• Palkia fled into another dimension above the Time Tower, trapping Alamos Town with it while Darkrai alone could sense its presence.
• Darkrai attacked the sky above the Time Tower, awakening Palkia and ending the overlap between dreams and reality, which returned the Pokémon and Trainers to their bodies.
• Tonio realized that Alamos Town was floating above a spatial dimension, and Li Wei gathered his Pokémon to fight Palkia.
• Alice noticed Palkia’s shattered shoulder pearl, and Li Wei agreed he could heal it after they subdued it.
• Steven and Li Wei prepared to battle Palkia and beat it until it could be healed.