"The Garden family? Since when did they harbor a trainer of such caliber? The Temple's intelligence network has absolutely no record of this individual," the Pope muttered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"I haven't seen his true face either; he wore a mask the entire time," Brandon replied. "But I am certain he is from the Garden family. Even Bertha was convinced he is the one truly pulling the strings. He was the one who snatched Jirachi from beneath the Battle Tower... though, in the end, I reclaimed everything."
Brandon's lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk.
"We needn't worry about this mystery man from the Gardens anymore," the Pope dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Once I summon Arceus, erasing them will take but a moment. Brandon, I am leaving you in command of this campaign. I must return to the Great Temple immediately."
"Crush Celestic Town if you can, but if you cannot, do whatever it takes to bring me the Dragon Orb. If I miss the window of the Millennium Comet, I will not live to see another. Do this, and the secret arts to truly command Regigigas will be yours. I know that is why you joined us."
The Pope handed a shimmering, prismatic orb to Brandon.
"I will not fail your trust, Lord Pope," Brandon said, his face flushed with excitement as he took the artifact. The moment his fingers brushed the orb, he felt a profound, direct psychic link with the King of Giants.
With a roar of its thrusters, the Pope's flagship turned and accelerated away from the battlefield, escorted by a full third of the Temple's fleet.
The Puppet Master
Dr. Carolina watched the sudden withdrawal of the flagship with confusion, but she had little time to ponder it. The battlefield outside Celestic Town was a graveyard of smoldering wreckage. Thanks to the Garden family and Shaymin, while many were greivously injured, not a single life had been lost on the Celestic side.
With the Pope gone, Brandon ascended. Hovering in the air atop his Bronzong, he held the prismatic orb aloft.
"Regigigas! Our minds are one! Unleash your true power!"
Regigigas erupted with a prismatic radiance that mirrored the orb in Brandon's hand. Brandon laughed, his expression twisted—but Mewtwo, watching from the shadows, saw the truth.
He thinks he's controlling the King, Mewtwo communicated to Feng Che. But the orb is a lure. Regigigas is using Brandon's mind as a processor to bypass its own slow-start limitations. The trainer has become the puppet.
"Go! Regice! Registeel! Regirock!"
Brandon released his Three Titans, who had previously been incapacitated. Under the prismatic light of the orb, they stood back up, their bodies glowing with an unnatural, forced energy. Regidrago, even in its complete form, began to buckle under the coordinated assault of its creator and its siblings.
"The Ice Titan is a direct counter to Regidrago," Carolina whispered, her anxiety peaking. "If Regidrago falls, the town follows."
The Tactical Split
Feng Che stepped forward, releasing his full team. "Incineroar, Greninja, Corviknight, Venusaur, Sirfetch'd, Gyarados, and the Colossal Steelix!"
"Incineroar, intercept Registeel!" "Gyarados, crush Regirock!" "Steelix, you take Regice!" "The rest of you, aid Regidrago against the King!"
"Mewtwo, use Ally Switch. Separate the King from its pawns. I'll take Regigigas into the valley; the rest of the town handles the fleet!"
In a flash of light, Regigigas, Regidrago, and Feng Che vanished from the town's perimeter. Dr. Carolina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"The greatest threat is gone," she cried, her voice regained its iron authority. "Now, we crush the main army! All forces, advance!"
The Theft in the Shrine
While the world burned outside, a stout man moved through the shadows toward the Dragon God Shrine. A line of Garchomp lay on the ground nearby, deep in a chemically induced slumber.
"Hehe... it worked. This high-grade incense can drop even a Garchomp," the man chuckled. He reached out to poke one of the sleeping dragons, but accidentally sliced his finger on a sharp fin-blade. Blood dripped onto the stone. "Focus. I've been a mole in this town for years... today I pay my dues to the Pope."
"Come out, Zorua! Illusion, now!"
The small fox Pokémon transformed into a perfect replica of a Celestic Garchomp. It limped into the shrine, enduring the oppressive draconic wards that lashed out at its "unauthorized" presence. Gritting its teeth against the pain, the Zorua reached the inner sanctum and snatched the golden Dragon Orb.
The mole quickly recalled his wounded Zorua and mounted a Staraptor, soaring away from the shrine just as the town's inner alarms began to wail.
Miles away on the battlefield, Dr. Carolina's heart skipped a beat. She felt the ancient resonance of the town's dragon energy flicker and dim.
"The Dragon Orb..." she whispered, her face turning ashen. "Something has happened at the Shrine!"