A week passed.
Northeast Unova, west of Humilau City.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the canyon known as Giant Chasm.
The outsider making these footsteps was none other than Lance, who had traveled all the way from Kanto to Unova last week in search of becoming a true hero.
It was strange for him to appear in Giant Chasm, located in northeastern Unova.
After all, the old matriarch had told him that the resting place of the black and white dragons, the Dragonspiral Tower, was in northeast Unova.
But this was the exact opposite direction.
The reason was simple.
Three days ago, Lance had already visited Dragonspiral Tower and made a passionate speech at the top.
He declared his lofty ideals of wanting to create a new world where Pokémon could live happily.
However, all that responded to him was the howling wind at the top of the tower.
Lance's face had looked terrible at the time.
Even with his lack of social skills, he could guess that Reshiram hadn't chosen him.
Lance was furious.
He couldn't understand why the Dragon of Truth wouldn't choose him.
He was the world's strongest Dragon-type trainer and aspired to create a world where all Pokémon could live happily.
Shouldn't he be the ideal partner for the true hero?
So why didn't Reshiram choose him?!
Lance, losing his composure, shouted his questions.
Still, the only response was the endless clouds and roaring wind.
The outcome was set—even if Lance was unwilling, he had to accept it.
But as soon as he left Dragonspiral Tower, Lance remembered—there are three dragons in Unova!
He had one last option!
...
So, after being rejected by Reshiram, Lance returned to the Village of Dragons.
The old matriarch told him that the strongest of the three dragons, Kyurem, resided in the Giant Chasm next to Humilau City in the northeast.
However, even after giving Lance this intel, the old matriarch didn't think Kyurem would follow him.
Everyone in Unova knew Kyurem lived in Giant Chasm.
But why did no one dare to approach it?
Simple—Kyurem was too powerful, impossible to capture!
A few fools had attempted to capture Kyurem in the past.
None ever returned.
Rumors even spread that Kyurem eats people.
Over time, for nearly a century, no one dared enter Giant Chasm.
...
As Lance was about to reach the deepest part of the canyon, a freezing wind surged out, making the dragons in his Pokéballs shudder, and sending his red hair and cape flying.
Countless native Unovan Ice-type Pokémon like Cryogonal and Vanilluxe burst out, crowding the sky above Lance.
Their vigilant eyes clearly said: "Don't move!"
"I have business with your master," Lance said fearlessly to the Ice-types.
[GET LOST!]
An aged voice echoed in Lance and his dragons' ears.
Looking up, a massive and asymmetrical ice dragon strode out from the cave deep within the canyon—Kyurem.
Lance swallowed hard.
This overwhelming pressure... this was the strongest dragon he sought!
He spread his arms wide. Across a distance of over a hundred meters, his eyes burned with passion: "Kyurem! I have come for you! I am the world's strongest Dragon-type trainer and your most suitable partner!"
[GET LOST!]
Still agitated after losing to evil Hoopa, Kyurem stomped the ground.
Ice more intense than Aokiji's Ice Age instantly turned the ground silver, rapidly spreading towards Lance.
In a flash, his massive Dragonite leaped out of its Pokéball.
A Fire Punch smashed into the ground, and a wall of flames briefly halted the freezing breath.
"If you have a wish, tell me! I'll do whatever I can to help you fulfill it!" Lance shouted, taking advantage of the gap his Dragonite created.
Kyurem's typing countered Lance's dragon team. Even Lance doubted he could win in a head-on fight.
Even with brute force, if Kyurem didn't truly submit, it couldn't be a match for Giovanni.
Lance needed not just Kyurem's obedience, but his loyalty.
Kyurem's eyes flickered strangely.
Normally, he'd already have transformed to deal with Lance.
But right now, he truly did have a wish...
...
...
A month later, after being tormented half to death by a makeshift Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Cynthia and Aste sat in the arena's dining area, wolfing down food in silence.
Stephen turned on the TV and saw the Unova channel reporting on Team Plasma.
Over the past few years, Team Plasma has promoted the idea of liberating Pokémon.
In other words, urging people to abandon Pokéballs or release their Pokémon.
Supposedly, this would separate humans and Pokémon, returning true freedom to Pokémon.
But in reality, it was about making people give up Pokémon's power, leaving it only for Team Plasma's use.
Surprisingly, many in Unova believed it.
Luckily, the Unova League had some smart people. Once Team Plasma's actions became uncontrollable, they promptly sent top forces to arrest them.
But in the League's current weakened state, who could defeat N with Zekrom?
"Will the Unova League call for reinforcements?" Will, with a black eye, asked.
"A region won't ask for outside help unless it's in a desperate crisis. Otherwise, it looks incompetent," Stephen shook his head.
"In that case, the Unova League can only hope for the Dragon of Truth," Karen recalled the region's legend.
The black and white dragons had always been rivals.
Now that Zekrom had chosen a criminal, surely Reshiram would side with the League?
Stephen subconsciously thought of the two Unova girls he'd met at Professor Oak's lab two years ago.
If the original story played out, Reshiram should choose one of them.
But now, the plot was completely changed by Stephen's butterfly effect.
Across the original storylines, the regions' Leagues performed the worst in Kalos and Unova when facing criminal organizations.
In both, the League was overrun, relying on the protagonist to save the day.
For Kalos, it was because the League was too weak. For Unova, the enemy was too strong.
If Stephen were to rank the criminal organizations, Team Rocket and Team Plasma would be top tier.
Galactic Team (with Cyrus) and Team Flare (with Lysandre) would be the second tier.
The rest weren't worth mentioning.
Team Plasma had three Champion-level members: N, Ghetsis, and Colress.
And two of them had Legendary Pokémon.
With the Unova League in a weak era, losing was normal.
But Rosa and Hilda were only about nine years old this year.
They didn't meet the minimum age to be official trainers—would Reshiram choose them?
Stephen chewed his steamed egg, not dwelling on the matter.
No point thinking about it.
If the League really couldn't hold out, he'd have Hoopa open a portal and help.
He wiped his mouth and got a call from Professor Oak.
Oak said that because the Indigo League was interrupted by Carr and others, Red and Blue hadn't settled their rivalry, so they planned to travel to a new region and settle it at the next tournament.
Today, they'd set their second-year journey in Alola.
Simple reason: with their current Elite Four-level strength, no other region posed a challenge.
Alola was different—there were several Champion-level Kahunas.
Now that was interesting!
Oak's words reminded Stephen that the first Alola League Manalo Conference was about to begin.
...
A week later, disaster struck Unova.
Stephen and his family were having dinner watching TV when the news suddenly interrupted, the beautiful anchor on TV looked frightened:
"Breaking news! League Champion Alder was defeated at Twist Mountain by S-Class fugitive and Team Plasma's King, N!"
Cynthia's spoon froze in mid-air.
After she, the former Sinnoh Champion, lost, now the current Unova Champion lost too?
Were criminal organizations this rampant now?
"Let's go help!" Cynthia, the only champion of justice at the table, stood up angrily.
"Should we go as League officials or Team Rocket?" Karen looked at Stephen.
Cynthia's righteous expression froze.
She'd forgotten these people were criminals.
Stephen thought for a moment: "Let's go openly, and have Uncle Giovanni investigate Team Plasma secretly. I heard there's a wanted criminal in Unova's underworld called the Dark Scientist, perfect to fill the gap left by Blaine and Fuji since Xerosic is dead."
The Dark Scientist, Colress, is an S-Class fugitive on the League's list.
Anyone researching forbidden weapons or illegally modifying Pokémon is a serious criminal.
He is Champion-level.
In the games, Colress joins Team Plasma after N leaves.
Stephen wasn't sure if he'd joined at this point.
But with Team Rocket aiming to control all the underworld, they needed people.
They couldn't let such talent go.
Cynthia's eyes widened.
Did she just hear something crazy?
Blaine? The Indigo League's No. 2 Gym Leader?
No—since Giovanni's identity was exposed, Blaine was now the top Gym Leader.
He was with Team Rocket too?
Cynthia nearly stumbled, but Mary caught her.
"I'll contact Meray," said Mary, taking out her phone.
Hoopa was still Meray's Pokémon—Stephen just borrowed her sometimes.
Since they were going openly, they couldn't have evil Hoopa open a portal, so they needed the regular Hoopa.
Meray lived in Hau'oli City on Melemele Island, so it would take her at least half an hour to get there.
But...
"Hmph!"
Two minutes later, evil Hoopa snorted, and Meray and Hoopa stepped out of a giant gold ring.
"You can do that...?" Cynthia was stunned.
After a year in Alola, she knew Hoopa couldn't use its rings to travel.
But it could travel through evil Hoopa's rings.
What a loophole!
"Alright, let's go," Stephen called as Hoopa opened a portal to Unova.
But as Stephen stepped into the ring, the TV anchor exclaimed excitedly:
"Viewers! Just now, a new update from Twist Mountain! Indigo League Champion Lance has arrived to help—and defeated N!"
This time, even Stephen was stunned.
Lance was stronger than N, sure.
But N had Zekrom!
Well, now Lance had his giant Dragonite, so maybe it wasn't surprising.
But... wasn't this too fast?
Just ten minutes ago, the news said Alder lost. Now they're saying Lance won.
So Lance defeated N and Zekrom in under ten minutes?
...
Five minutes later, atop Twist Mountain in Unova.
Stephen's family walked through the portal.
They saw N handcuffed by Officer Jenny's squad.
But even more eye-catching was the mountaintop.
"Is that... Kyurem?!" Cynthia immediately recognized the dragon beside Lance.
She was well-connected with Unova's female trainers and had heard the legends.
Not to mention, she had witnessed the legendary battle in Lumiose a year ago when evil Hoopa summoned Kyurem.
As for Zekrom, it was lying like a dead dog at Kyurem's feet, clearly defeated.
"Oh... so that's what happened. With Kyurem, no wonder it was an easy win," Stephen realized.
Lance was already a stronger trainer than N, and Kyurem could easily smash Zekrom.
In a double loss, how could N win?
"No, wait, why would Kyurem follow him?" Will asked.
He'd participated in last year's battle of the gods.
Though just a supporter, he knew how cranky that old dragon was.
Did it follow a human?
"Because of that, right?" Karen pointed at Lance.
Lance, with a cold expression, walked up to the unconscious Zekrom, holding a triangular diamond-shaped syringe.
"No! NO!!"
For the first time, N, usually calm, screamed in panic, trying to stop Lance.
But N's battle skills were mediocre—two Officer Jennys holding his shoulders kept him still.
"Become Kyurem's food!" Lance shouted, stabbing the DNA Splicer into Zekrom's neck.
Immediately, tubes on Kyurem's body shot out like plugs, connecting into Zekrom in a terrifying display.
The two dragons shone like Mega Evolution stones, fusing in a dazzling light.
When the glow faded, Zekrom was gone.
Only Lance and Black Kyurem—or rather, True Black Kyurem—remained.
"ROAR!!!"
The furious roar shook all of Twist Mountain.
N, restrained, fell to his knees in deep regret.
"That Kyurem's aura is even stronger than before."
Even Mary, an amateur, could tell.
"So that's why Kyurem was willing to follow Lance," Stephen said, unfazed.
He recognized the spike in Lance's hand—the DNA Splicer.
It was the key item that split the Tao Dragon into three 2500 years ago.
It could also fuse the dragons back together.
Over millennia, the Dark Stone was modified into the DNA Splicer, retaining its power.
In modern times, the Unova League chairman gave it to Drayden, the Opelucid Gym Leader, for safekeeping.
In the games, Team Plasma attacks Opelucid City for this item.
Unexpectedly, Lance got it early.
Given Lance's status, he probably obtained it peacefully.
For Kyurem, regaining its full power was a huge temptation.
So the cranky dragon partnered with Lance.
"You're next, Reshiram!"
At that moment, Lance shouted from the mountaintop.
He still held a grudge about Reshiram not choosing him before.
Once you ignored me, now you can't hope to reach me!
Seeing Lance's crazed declaration, everyone below frowned.
"That guy... something's off..." Karen raised an eyebrow.
Not just Karen—even Cynthia and Mary sensed that Lance's personality seemed different.
Zekrom was N's, a criminal's Pokémon—Kyurem absorbing it made some sense. But Reshiram had done nothing wrong.
"Let's go home," Stephen said, uninterested.
But if Kyurem regained its peak power from 2500 years ago, it deserved close attention.
...
Stephen got a call from Rose, asking when he could come.
Stephen, a bit embarrassed, had completely forgotten about it.
He guessed what Rose wanted, and after hanging up, sent a message to his family group:
[Something is interesting happening in Galar. Want to come to see?]