The Statue of the Temporal-Spatial Dragon Duo!

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"

"We'll use Aura Sphere too!"

Ash and Riley shouted in unison.

But that only dealt with two of the opponents.

There was still one Aggron remaining—Pikachu stepped in to intercept it, while Anabel moved to block Metang. But before she could act, Dawn boldly stepped forward.

"Swinub, it's your turn! Use Take Down!"

"Gupuu!"

Swinub squealed and responded with determination to Dawn's call.

It charged at the floating Metang with all its might.

Metang countered with a move of its own—Metal Claw.

Its cold, merciless alloy claws slashed directly into Swinub's small body.

"Gupuu…"

Bang!

Swinub was smacked away by Metang's brutal strike, sent flying and crashing into a nearby rock.

"Ah! Swinub…" Dawn cried out in concern, watching her Pokémon take the hit. But surprisingly, Swinub didn't seem afraid at all—it got back on its feet almost immediately.

Its eyes locked onto the floating Metang, fierce and unwavering.

This time, Swinub was the one to take initiative!

Quick Attack!

Metang wasn't about to hold back either. It retaliated by using the same move Swinub had used earlier—Take Down!

"Gupuu…"

Swinub was blasted away once more.

Despite its tiny frame, Swinub refused to give in.

"That's enough, Swinub! Come back!" Dawn's voice trembled with worry and guilt for having sent Swinub to battle such a tough opponent.

But her voice seemed to spark something within Swinub. It let out a cry—and then, its body began to glow brilliantly.

It was…

Evolving!

Swinub's form expanded rapidly before their eyes!

In mere moments, a mighty Piloswine stood where Swinub had been.

"Pshuuu! Pshuuu!"

Now a Piloswine, it pawed the ground fiercely with its hooves, then charged toward Metang for the third time!

Mud Bomb!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A barrage of Mud Bombs exploded against Metang's body.

With Ground-type attacks hitting for double damage, Metang was overwhelmed and knocked out of commission.

Meanwhile, Ash's Lucario and Riley's Lucario had finished off the two Graveler they were fighting.

"Not bad, Dawn! Want to catch that Metang? Now's the perfect time. Metang's really strong—just look at Anabel's Metagross. That's what it evolves into," Ash said with a smile.

"Metang, huh… Lemme think…" Dawn glanced at the fainted Metang. In her mind, she pictured herself riding into a Contest on the back of a gleaming Metang...

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.

"Ah—no, no. I don't think a Pokémon like that suits me, hehe. I'll pass on catching it."

"Piplup pip!" Piplup was clearly daydreaming the same scene just a moment ago.

"That's a shame," Ash said, shaking his head. He still had his sights set on the shiny Metagross in Gale Town.

"Let's hurry to the source of the aura!" Riley urged.

Having trained and lived on this island for quite a while, Riley clearly didn't want anything to happen to it.

But along the way, more and more Pokémon had fallen into frenzied confusion.

Still, they were all quickly handled by Ash and Riley's Lucarios.

Then, suddenly, Riley's Lucario clutched its head in agony and let out a pained groan!

"This is bad! We're too close to the source of the disturbance. My Lucario's Aura can't resist the interference anymore!" Riley's face darkened.

Despite both being Aura users, Riley and his Lucario were the first to falter under the strain.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt Lucario!"

Pikachu blasted Lucario with a powerful Thunderbolt!

Riley gave Ash a grateful nod—he knew Ash was helping Lucario snap out of it.

Sure enough, after the jolt, Lucario's condition improved significantly.

"Look ahead!" Anabel cried out.

Before them lay a massive crater.

And within that crater—stood an enormous ruin!

Its gates were wide open.

Right outside the entrance was a young man with golden-blond hair, tied up and lying on the ground.

It was none other than Barry.

Unlike the original story, this time Barry had been captured and tied up...

Pikachu used Iron Tail to snap the ropes binding Barry.

"What took you guys so long?! I made a world-shaking discovery!" Barry burst out as soon as he was freed.

Dawn and Anabel moved to the side of the ruin's entrance.

On the other side, Riley and his Lucario led the way.

Ash and his Lucario stood in front of a massive mural.

It was carved from cosmic meteorite stone.

Palkia and Dialga.

It was a mural depicting the statues of the Temporal-Spatial Dragon Duo.

"Right, now's not the time to talk about this—Ash, those people said they planted tons of bombs around the island. They're going to blow this place sky-high! We need to run!" Barry shouted, his voice panicked.

"Pikachu!"

Without hesitation, Pikachu blasted a nearby machine to pieces with an Iron Tail. Instantly, the cosmic energy inside the ruins' meteorite core stopped flowing!

The strange waves would no longer be emitted.

With Riley's Lucario back to normal, he immediately commanded it to start searching for the bombs!

"Lucario, you help too! Use Aura to detect the bomb locations!"

The two Lucarios got to work.

Anabel, Dawn, and Barry could only stand by helplessly and watch.

After a grueling search, the two Lucarios finally located and gathered all the buried explosives!

Looking at the pile of bombs, Riley and his Lucario exchanged a glance.

A decision had been made.

Meanwhile!

In the sky above, inside a Galactic Team aircraft—

A woman with fiery red hair held a remote control in her hand.

She was Mars—one of Team Galactic's Four Commanders!

"Commander Mars, we've reached a safe distance. The blast's shockwave won't reach us."

Hearing her subordinate's report, Mars's lips curled into a cold smile.

"Heh… Since you love meddling so much, I'll give you a proper sendoff. The Iron Island Ruins will never fall into your hands!"

She muttered to herself.

Then, without hesitation—she pressed the detonator!

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T/N:

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