"Tonight is the night of the Millennium Comet. This is a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity; there must be no room for error."
"Darren, double the security. Ensure no one with ill intent sets foot in the inner palace. Sol, Luna, Nova, Furukawa—you will guard the perimeter alongside the Captain."
The Pope's voice was steady but laced with a fanatical intensity. "The comet is arriving. It will remain in our sky for only one night. In that time, Jirachi will absorb enough celestial energy to grant my ultimate wish. Once I unify the world under my rule, I shall appoint the four of you as my High Priests. You will be second only to me—beings of absolute power."
The massive doors of the Great Temple creaked open, and the Pope waved them away. Feng Che and the others withdrew, and the heavy iron-bound doors slammed shut behind them with a resonant boom.
At that exact moment, a gargantuan comet streaked across the firmament. Its silver radiance was so intense it effectively erased the light of the surrounding stars. It hung in the sky like a second, cold sun, casting long, stark shadows over the land. Across the Pokémon world, ancient ruins began to hum, their stones接引 (conducting) the comet's brilliance.
In distant forests, elderly Alakazam sat in meditation, absorbing the starlight. A single night of cultivation under the Millennium Comet was equivalent to a decade of grueling training.
The floating Great Temple erupted with light. On Jirachi's abdomen, the True Eye suddenly snapped open. It darted left and right, taking in the shimmering heavens. A pillar of concentrated starlight descended from the comet, striking the True Eye directly. The black pupil within the golden eye began to shift into a deep, cosmic blue.
Jirachi could grant only three wishes before returning to its thousand-year slumber. After the third wish, it would shed its tags and wait for the next passing of the comet.
Suddenly, a thick, cloying black smoke began to swirl around the exterior of the floating palace. The smoke coalesced into High Priest Shaka and a legion of Pure Heaven Sect cultists.
"Intruders! Enemy attack!"
Alarms blared throughout the temple grounds, their shrieks echoing off the mountain peaks.
"How noisy," Shaka remarked, snapping his fingers.
A swarm of Murkrow descended like a living shadow, their beaks and talons sharpened by dark energy. The Temple's Bronzong and Bronzor attempted to push them back with Psychic, but the Murkrow countered with a coordinated barrage of Shadow Balls. Smoke trailed from the metallic Pokémon as they plummeted into the temple's ornamental lake with series of heavy splashes.
"Use the Temple lances! Drive them back!" Captain Darren roared. He parried a Murkrow with his spear and clicked a switch on the haft. Golden arcs of electricity surged from the tip, grounding the avian attackers with high-voltage discharges.
Inside the hall, the Pope's face darkened with irritation. "I knew the rats would crawl out of the woodwork at the final hour."
He raised his staff toward the ceiling. A glassy radiance erupted from the tip, and the sixteen stone plates descended from the rafters.
"These sixteen plates were crafted by the first Lorekeeper, Damos, in the image of the Creator's own Life Plates," the Pope whispered. "They are designed to simulate Arceus's Judgment. This is the final legacy of our ancestors. You forced my hand; I did not wish for a mutual destruction, but I will not be denied."
The Pope began to chant in an ancient, forgotten tongue. Golden runes flared on the surface of the imitation plates.
Outside, Feng Che was monitoring everything through Mewtwo's psychic link. Imitation Life Plates? Even if they are just copies, they are incredible artifacts. Not quite Legendary-tier resources, but close.
Suddenly, Feng Che felt a violent squirming beneath his skin. The Ditto transformed into his disguise was rippling uncontrollably.
Ditto: Inside... there is something good inside. I want it.
"The plates are made of a divinely resonant material," Mewtwo's voice echoed in Feng Che's mind. "It's acting like a magnet for Ditto's cellular structure. I'm using my psychic power to dampen its senses, but I can't hold it for long. Its cells are starting to undergo autophagy out of sheer primal hunger for that material."
Meanwhile, Sol, Luna, and Nova released their aces. A Pyroar unleashed a massive Fire Blast, incinerating swaths of Murkrow. A Luxray raced across the ramparts, its fur standing on end as it discharged a field of electricity that cleared the sky. A Sigilyph beat its wings, summoning a Hurricane that sucked the remaining cultists into a chaotic vortex.
"Elemental Priests, hold the line," Shaka's voice drifted through the air as he dissolved back into smoke. "I'm going to have a chat with the Pope."
The black mist seeped through the cracks in the Great Hall's doors, re-forming into Shaka's skeletal frame.
"Pope, it has been a long time. Seventy years, if I recall," Shaka said with a mocking bow. "I see you've restored your youth as well. It seems the Jewel of Life has treated you kindly. It appears we two old fossils are destined to cross paths again."
"Shaka," the Pope hissed, his staff glowing. "You are not welcome here."