"Saturn, Mars, Jupiter—stick to the original plan. We split up here."
Cyrus spoke with cold authority before leading Feng Che and a small group of subordinates into the elevator, descending to the second basement level of the Galactic Building. There, they boarded Cyrus's private shuttle, set for the Spear Pillar ruins on Mt. Coronet.
Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter each boarded separate decoys, heading for different peaks of the mountain range. Their objective was to sow confusion, ensuring the League and the Celestic Clan couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the ritual.
It was a sound tactical maneuver, but it had one fatal flaw: a "traitor" in the ranks.
Feng Che, ever the opportunist, waited until they were airborne to secretly transmit the precise coordinates of the main shuttle to Cynthia.
Shortly after, Cyrus's ship touched down in a secluded, desolate valley high within Mt. Coronet. The landing kicked up a massive cloud of grit and snow. Counting Cyrus himself, only thirty members of Team Galactic had been brought for this final phase.
The bay doors hissed open, and Cyrus stepped onto the ancient stone. Feng Che followed closely behind, clutching the alloy briefcase. He scanned the environment; the valley was a graveyard of pillars and crumbling walls. At the far end stood two massive, weathered statues: Dialga and Palkia.
"This is it," Cyrus murmured, stopping before the effigies. "The entrance to the Spear Pillar as recorded in the ancient texts."
Cyrus pulled two intricately crafted dragon-shaped incense sticks from his storage ring. They were over a meter high, with scales carved in exquisite detail. Next, he produced a glass bell jar containing a flickering, white-hot flame.
He handed the incense to Feng Che. "Light them."
Feng Che used the white flame to ignite the sticks. Immediately, a heavy, sweet fragrance filled the air, accompanied by thick coils of white smoke. Following Cyrus's instructions, Feng Che thrust the incense into the soil beside the statues.
The smoke swirled around the stone figures. Feng Che watched, fascinated, as the statues seemed to shudder into life, their dull stone eyes slowly turning a predatory crimson. Cyrus began to chant in a guttural, archaic tongue, performing a rhythmic ritual dance.
Suddenly, two beams of red light shot from the statues' eyes, striking a point in the empty air above Cyrus. The space began to ripple like water. A small puncture appeared, widening rapidly until it became a swirling spatial tunnel.
"Inside this tunnel lies the legendary Spear Pillar—the site where the ancients worshipped the Lords of Time and Space," Cyrus said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Leave two men to guard the entrance for the others. The rest, move out. The portal won't hold forever."
Cyrus stepped through. The Galactic members followed in a line. Feng Che was the last to enter.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the world shifted. He found himself standing in a long, dimly lit corridor. The others who had entered just seconds before were nowhere to be seen. Torches lined the walls, their orange flames casting long, flickering shadows.
Feng Che, be careful, Mewtwo's voice echoed in his head. That entrance was rigged with random spatial teleports. It scatters intruders to different sections of the ruins.
This is the domain of Time and Space. If you try to Teleport or use Ally Switch here, you might trigger a trap and be cast into a void of shattered reality.
Just then, a harrowing scream tore through the silence. "Aaargh! Help me!"
Feng Che ran toward the sound. He found a Galactic grunt clawing at the floor. As Feng Che watched, the man's body began to age at a visible rate. His hair turned white, his skin shriveled into deep furrows, and within seconds, he collapsed into a pile of bleached bones.
Feng Che looked around; the corridor was littered with skeletons wearing various styles of clothing—remnants of ill-fated explorers from across the centuries.
"A time trap," Mewtwo noted. "In that specific spot, time flows at an accelerated rate."
"Whoa!" Another shout came from a nearby passage. Feng Che peered around the corner to see a grunt shrinking, turning into a toddler, then an infant, before vanishing entirely, leaving only his oversized uniform behind.
Feng Che felt a chill. To his right, the Original Unown on his hand flared with a soft blue light.
"They sense their kin," Mewtwo translated. "The Unown are pointing a safe path forward."
Following the blue light, Feng Che moved into the shadows. Suddenly, dozens of red eyes flickered in the darkness. It was a swarm of Kricketune, their bellies gaunt with hunger. They rubbed their scythe-like claws together, creating a grating, metallic screech before lunging at Feng Che with predatory speed.