If he had a choice, Lucas wouldn't be playing the "talk-no-jutsu" route either.
But, judging by the events of the Crystal Tower incident orchestrated by the King of the Crystal Tower,
If you didn't talk, the key problem simply couldn't be solved. Even if you forced a resolution by brute strength, you'd just leave behind a huge mess and lingering issues that might grow worse over time.
Right now, Lucas was using his own "force" to forcibly enlighten Entei and, through Entei, guide Molly.
At its core, the fundamental cause of this entire event was Molly's "loneliness" awakening the Unown sealed in the wooden tiles. Just like Molly's heart, closed off because of her father's disappearance, those Unown created this massive Crystal Tower as a symbol of her thick, towering "wall of the heart."
Those crystal flower petals tightly shut in the outside world represented Molly's closed heart.
The moment Molly truly wished to leave this place, those crystal petals would naturally bloom.
As long as Entei could leave this place together with Molly, everything would be resolved.
Looking at the Entei with its head lowered, a tear slid down Molly's cheek. She clutched its fur, throwing a tantrum like a child being willful.
"I don't care, Molly wants to leave with Papa!"
Those earlier words from Lucas hadn't just shattered Entei's emotional defenses; they had also stirred up Molly's own desires. After meeting Misty, Brock, and Ash, she'd come to understand how wonderful the outside world was.
If she could go outside with Papa, make lots of friends, and fight many battles together, that would be so great.
Entei was born from Molly's dream world; naturally, Molly's wishes were transmitted directly to its heart.
Once its repairs were complete, Entei got up slowly. The previous majestic, domineering aura faded away completely, and it bowed its proud head toward Lucas.
"Molly's wish is what I myself desire."
"But I am a being born from the power of the Unown. If I leave them, I cannot maintain my form."
"Since you rebuked me so harshly, you must have the power to change all this. Please, help us."
"Of course."
Lucas nodded slightly. He'd come precisely to indulge this heartfelt wish.
At that moment, Delia also crouched down, gently extending her hand toward Molly. "Come leave this place with everyone, Molly."
"Mm…"
Molly glanced around timidly, her reply as soft as a mosquito's buzz, then took Delia's outstretched hand and pressed her cheek against it.
"So warm…"
Having grown up with her parents divorced, Molly savored the feeling of a mother's hand with a hint of longing.
In that moment, the wall in her heart—built from the pain of her father's disappearance and her parents' divorce—completely melted away.
The entire Crystal Tower shuddered faintly, and the crystal petals began to slowly move, like a flower blooming.
Jessie, James, and Meowth exchanged looks and, for once, didn't cause trouble. Instead, they sighed together in unison. "So heartwarming…"
At that very instant, something went terribly wrong.
Sharp crystal spires suddenly jutted out from the ground, and the crystallization phenomenon began to spread like a rampage.
Crystal spikes rose on either side of the Team Rocket trio, making them feel like they were a hair's breadth from death. They let out screams of terror.
Delia hurriedly pulled Molly into her arms. Ash and his now-rested Charizard stood alert, watching their surroundings.
"What's happening!?"
Misty shouted, on the verge of breaking down.
Entei seemed to sense something. It cast a glance toward the void and said firmly, "It seems to have something to do with the Unown!"
At the same time, Professor Oak's voice came from the communicator Ash was carrying.
"They've been pouring out energy at full power for too long. The Unown can't control their strength anymore—even they themselves can't stop it now!"
Then the distorted voice of Professor Hale's assistant sounded.
"The crystallization phenomenon that had been stabilizing is now rapidly spreading outward. If this keeps up, even this Pokémon Center will be affected soon!"
"What!?"
Hearing the transmission, Ash and the others were shocked.
"Rooaar!"
Entei breathed flames from its mouth, shattering clusters of crystal to keep them from threatening Molly's safety.
Recalling Raging Bolt—whose large size and limited agility made it easy to be injured by dense attacks—Lucas mounted Arcanine again and shouted, pointing toward the passage he'd used to enter the Crystal Tower, "There's an exit over here!"
As he spoke, Arcanine, boosted by Victini, let loose a terrifying pillar of fire that burned away a huge swath of crystal blocking the path.
That was one of the changes Lucas had made.
Unlike in the movie, where they could only go through the inner corridors of the crystallized Hale Mansion and exit through the front door—only to be blocked by the Unown crowding there—
Arcanine's Overheat had created a new escape route, one that should allow Ash and the others to get out.
Under Lucas's direction, everyone sprinted toward the exit. Whenever crystal structures appeared to block the way, they didn't even need Charizard or Entei—an emerald-lit blur flashed past, shattering the obstacles and keeping the path open at all times.
Carrying Molly on its back, Charizard cast a deep look at that nearly invisible, lightning-fast figure and renewed its resolve to dominate the Charizard Valley, advance together with Ash, and become the world's number-one Charizard!
With Victini's blessings, Arcanine rampaged like a dump truck from hell that crushed everything in its path, constantly dashing about with Extreme Speed and never worrying about the severe stamina drain the move should have caused.
Delibird continuously used Blizzard to freeze the surrounding area, slowing the frequency at which crystals emerged.
After nearly five minutes of running, Ash and the others finally saw the huge opening Lucas and Arcanine had blasted out.
Just as Lucas had expected, there were no Unown guarding the gap.
Team Rocket, true masters of running away, were the first ones to bolt through the opening.
Seeing those three guinea pigs get out safely with no Unown stopping them, and under Lucas's urging, Ash, Brock, Misty, and Pikachu all left one after another. Next came Charizard carrying Molly, and Delia.
Seeing Entei still standing where it was, unmoving, Molly suddenly realized something. She stretched out her hand and cried, "Papa… don't go!"
Entei looked at Molly, whom Delia had just lifted down from Charizard's back, its face full of complex emotions. Even if it wanted to comfort her with some sort of promise, the words stuck in its throat. It just couldn't say them.
Unlike earlier, when it could leave the Crystal Tower with the Unown's power to kidnap Delia, now the Unown's power was in a berserk state, and it could feel its own source of energy gradually fading.
If it left the Crystal Tower's range, it would disappear completely.
As a father, it didn't want to lie to Molly or make promises it wasn't sure it could keep.
At this moment, Lucas—who had no intention of leaving—patted Entei's broad back, casually fluffing its thick fur, then walked over to Molly, who was struggling in Delia's arms. He crouched down, his face gentle.
"Can you trust me? I'll bring your dad back to your side in one piece."
"For now, go with Aunty Delia. As long as you're somewhere safe, your dad can use his power without any worries."
Molly stared blankly into Lucas's eyes for a moment, then turned to Entei. With large eyes misted with tears, she asked, "Really?"
Entei was silent for a second, then gave a small nod.
"As long as it's what you wish for, Molly—no matter what stands in my way, I will overcome all hardships and return to your side."
Molly was a very good child. Since Entei said so, she would believe him and wait with hope in her heart.
"I'll be waiting for you outside, Papa… And big brother, I believe in you too."
Molly stopped struggling and let Delia carry her out of the Crystal Tower's range.
Before leaving, Delia shot Lucas a worried glance. "You two, please don't push yourselves too hard."
Watching Delia and Molly's figures recede into the distance, escorted by Ash and his friends, along with Delibird and Arcanine that Lucas had specially sent to protect them, Entei withdrew its gaze and turned to Lucas, who was leisurely feeding Victini to restore its strength, waiting patiently for him to speak.
It wanted to know what method this mysterious, powerful man—who had appeared out of nowhere—had to make everything he spoke of come true.
"Vii~"
Once Victini finished eating and had mostly restored the energy it had expended—
Lucas told it to rest for the moment on his head, then turned to the quietly waiting Entei with a hint of apology. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I don't mind."
Entei shook its head, gathered flames in its mouth, and blasted apart the crystals rushing toward it and Lucas, continuing to defy common sense as it spoke human language.
"I want to leave this place and live with Molly forever."
"I know." Lucas nodded. "That wish is something I drew out of you. So, I'll be responsible for solving your problem."
"Let's go find the Unown. They're the source of your existence. If we want you to remain for a long time, they're indispensable."
"Still, this place was ultimately created by the Unown to help Molly forget the pain of her parents' disappearance. Now that she's leaving, their irregularities may worsen. To prevent unforeseen incidents, we'd better hurry."
With no one else around, Lucas couldn't be bothered to keep up an act. He just laid it out, making it obvious he even knew how Entei had come into being.
Entei looked at Lucas deeply, but in the end said nothing. It simply crouched down, indicating that Lucas should climb on.
It knew where the Unown were.
After Lucas settled on its back and Entei reminded him softly to hold on tight, it darted forward with remarkable agility, charging into the depths of the Crystal Tower.
Entei brought Lucas to the origin of everything—the place where the Crystal Tower incident had first begun.
The central hall of Hale Mansion.
This was the source of the crystallization phenomenon, and so the degree of crystallization here was the greatest. Everything had turned into crystal structures of various shapes, making one feel as if they'd stepped into another world altogether.
A vast number of Unown were circling in the air at the center of the hall. An invisible force field shrouded them, and mysterious energy flowed among them. No one knew exactly what kind of power that energy contained.
Looking at these Unown, Entei's expression was very complicated.
Lucas slid off Entei's broad back to stand on the crystal floor and called softly, "Mimikyu."
Under Entei's stunned gaze, two ominous shadowy claws stretched out of Lucas's shadow. Then Mimikyu crawled out from the darkness at his feet.
He didn't have Victini power-up Mimikyu right away. As if wanting to test something, Lucas pointed at the area where the Unown were clustered and ordered, "Aim for the center. Shadow Claw!"
The moment Lucas finished speaking, Mimikyu shot up like an arrow loosed from a bow. Those shadowy claws that made Entei's eyelids twitch slammed down hard against the barrier that had automatically formed as the Unown sensed danger.
The next instant—
BOOM——!
Amid a violent explosion, Mimikyu broke through the smoke and returned to Lucas's side, but its "head" was now tilted awkwardly to the right—its Disguise had clearly been broken.
The Unown hadn't gotten off easy either.
Though their force field was being repaired at a speed visible to the naked eye, Mimikyu had indeed ripped a huge hole in it with a single Shadow Claw.
"Good work, Mimikyu."
Now having a better grasp of the situation, Lucas patted Mimikyu's head. Only after it slipped back into his shadow did he turn to look at Entei.
At that moment, Entei was still in shock at Mimikyu's overwhelming strength.
Even if it burned every last bit of energy within its current body, Entei estimated it could only just barely smash through this Unown-made force field—
And the price would be its own erasure.
Mimikyu had clearly been holding back, and that Pokémon that only strengthened others—Victini—hadn't even moved.
Entei felt that if Lucas truly wanted to, he could forcibly shatter the Unown's barrier and flip the table, ending everything on his own.
"Ahem."
Lucas coughed lightly, pulling Entei's attention back. Looking at the Unown, whose faces were contorted in pain as their power spiraled out of control, Lucas asked once more:
"You're sure you want to stay by Molly's side, right?"
Entei nodded seriously. "I'm sure."
Lucas nodded slightly, then smiled and addressed the smartphone he'd slipped into his pocket at some unknown point—and which he'd apparently already called from.
"That's the situation. This father really wants to stay by his daughter's side. Are you willing to help him?"
The other end was silent for a breath. Then a voice filled with mild amusement sounded:
"Neigh~."
The next moment—
Riding a jet-black horse, a former king with majesty etched into his expression crossed space itself and appeared beside Lucas.
Calyrex, at your service!
Since he'd decided to help Entei, Lucas had already thought ahead on his way here.
Judging by how strong the Unown's barrier had been in the movie, and given his own strength, Lucas was ten-tenths confident he could break through it without forcing Entei to sacrifice itself.
But the moment the Unown dispersed, Entei—like a castle in the air without its supports—would crumble in an instant.
Sheer power alone could never achieve a perfect ending. So, on the way here, Lucas had reached out by message to Calyrex—who couldn't use telepathy at this time—and asked if there was any way to let Entei remain.
Calyrex had said there was a way.
Perhaps because of Calyrex's appearance, the Unown—feeling tremendous pressure—began to lose control even further. With a buzzing sound, it was as if space itself cracked, and a pitch-black vortex began to expand.
Calyrex narrowed his eyes, seeing through the nature of that thing.
"Spatial Collapse."
As the black vortex continued to grow, Calyrex atop Spectrier didn't retreat in the slightest. Instead, he glanced at Lucas and Entei and said in a low voice:
"In an era long past, before I ruled Galar, I once encountered a strange group of people."
"They had a deep connection with these Pokémon called 'Unown.' Through communication with them, I came to understand some of the Unown's traits."
"Setting aside the innumerable Unown said to dwell within rifts in time and space, the Unown that exist in this world always use some object inscribed with ancient script as their vessel."
"My friend, I believe you understand what I want to say, don't you?"
Lucas's gaze wandered around the crystallized hall and quickly locked onto one crystal.
Sealed within that crystal were about twenty-six carved wooden tiles.
Lucas said firmly, "So we need those wooden tiles. They're the key to letting Entei remain."
"Correct." Calyrex gave Lucas an approving look, then added, "I've already probed its essence with my psychic power. According to my expectations, if three conditions are met, he can stay."
Entei's heart clenched. It hadn't even noticed Calyrex probing it with psychic power…
Tightening his grip on Spectrier's reins, Calyrex gave the final answer.
"First condition: his own intense desire to remain. Unown are influenced by powerful emotions."
"Second condition: we must stop the Unown's rampage. Their runaway power must be calmed."
"Third condition: using the wooden tiles as a foundation, we must return the Unown that originally resided in them, and send all the others that were summoned back to the realm they belong to."
Lucas was a little surprised. According to Calyrex's explanation, solving this incident perfectly would indeed require multiple conditions and a combination of the right time, place, and people.
Taking a deep breath, he patted Victini on the head and said softly, "I'm counting on you."
"Vii-nii~"
Victini flew over to Calyrex's side and pressed its tiny hand to him, infusing him with its all-purpose infinite energy.
Calyrex nodded lightly to it. "I shall end this quickly."
As soon as he spoke, Calyrex's gaze changed.
Amid Spectrier's resounding neigh, Calyrex was wrapped in a whirlpool of formidable psychic energy. Aiming straight at the hundreds of Unown, he clenched his right hand and said coldly:
"Seal."
In an instant, psychic power surged forth under Calyrex's control, violently shattering the Unown's protective force field. Like a massive sphere of psychic energy, it enveloped them, cleanly severing the connections of power between each Unown.
Next, Calyrex blasted a deliberately weakened Astral Barrage-like strike into the void, shattering the already-thinned boundary of time and space that had grown fragile due to the Unown's existence.
"Release."
Following their aura, Calyrex tossed the Unown that belonged to the time-space rift back through.
Now only twenty-six Unown remained, their burdens drastically lightened, each single eye filled with joy and gratitude.
Smiling, Calyrex released the psychic sphere and spoke once more:
"Return."
Sensing the barrier release, the twenty-six Unown happily flew into the wooden tiles that Calyrex had levitated with his psychic power.
Containment complete!