"Is this what you are looking for miss?" The burly looking shopkeeper inquired, handing out a curved, light green feather, similar to the shape of the crescent moon. The feather was tied to a thread and a small bright star was attached to the tip of the feather for decoration purpose.
Cynthia held the feather in her palm, checking out the feather with a great amount of concentration. It was indeed the genuine item she was looking for as it matched with the description of the feather given in books and research documents about the Lunar Duo.
"Yes this is what I needed." Cynthia nodded. "But how did you find a Lunar Feather in this place?"
A Lunar Feather isn't an item that is commonly found anywhere. It belonged to the Mythical Pokémon of dreams, Cresselia, also called as the Pokémon who grants sweet dreams and is the complete opposing force to Darkrai. Just mere sighting of Cresselia is a rare and once in a lifetime occurrence.
"Well there is saying that wherever there is a Darkrai, there shall be sightings of Cresselia too given how she is an opposing force to the Nightmare Pokémon" The shopkeeper explained scratching the back of his head. "We even got a shrine made for Cresselia at the outskirts of the town just to keep the nightmares away. You know people and their beliefs."
"But surprisingly Cresselia did pay a visit some years back and dropped few of her feathers near the temple premises." The shopkeeper added. "That's how we got our hands on them."
"Does the Darkrai cause problems for the residents daily?" Cynthia asked.
"You would be surprised to know....it doesn't at all." The shopkeeper answered. "It hardly shows itself in the open. All we have known since we were little kids that there is a Darkrai residing in Godey's Garden but we hardly saw it. Another reason why the garden is open to tourists since we are convinced that the Darkrai won't be appearing in front of them."
Cynthia silently processed the information after having paid the money for the Lunar Feather. If the Darkrai never bothered to appear before the residents before then why did it bother to show itself openly now. Why cause destruction to ancient structures in the garden to gain more attention? The Pokémon graded as Mythical have always been fickle-minded beings with most of their actions being outside the realm of common sense.
'Should I ask him what kind of nightmare he saw?' The champion questioned herself, gripping the Feather tightly. The image of Xavier making unpleasant facial expressions was still fresh on her mind so she debated on asking him about the nightmare he was shown. 'Though I don't think that is a good idea.'
Her eyes then traveled to the feather she held in her hands. Maybe just giving it to him for now will suffice. The mysterious powers bestowed upon this feather by Cresselia will be enough to dispel anymore nightmares for the time being and help him get better quicker. If Xavier actually feels like opening up, he will do so himself. She will just have to give him some time for that.
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"A power that can distort even space?" Professor Rowan asked, not even bothering to hide the surprise in his tone. "You are claiming that the strange happenings in the town are related to something that has the power distort space and not Darkrai."
Tonio nodded before showing the readings of disturbances he had been recording for the past few days ever since the unusual tremors starting occurring. Despite countless investigations there were no traces of how and where the tremors originated from. The only proof Tonio got his hands on was the manner in which the structure in Godey's Garden was destroyed.
"And what makes you think Darkrai is not at fault here?" Carolina inquired with a sharp gaze. The ruckus caused by the Pitch Black Pokémon in the morning doesn't exactly show how it is not related to everything that has been happening.
"This.." Tonio knew this question would have thrown at him sooner or later, the moment he makes the claim of Darkrai's innocence so he was ready with suitable proof. He handed Carolina a black-and-white photograph and a diary kept together by threads, indicating how old the transcript is. "This is great-grandfather's diary and a photograph of his and Alice's grandmother Alicia."
Tonio took a short pause letting both the professors check the photograph and read through the contents of the diary. "In there he mentions that Alicia had befriended Darkrai."
An expected look of shock crossed both their features when they came upon the said line that Tonio mentioned just now.
"It also says he was plagued by nightmares of the future which made him construct the Space-Time Towers." Professor Carolina read out loud. "What is this even supposed to mean?"
"And there's this line." Professor Rowan added. "Preserve the Oracion.."
"What I believe is that great-grandfather Godey build the Space-Time Towers after seeing visions of some indefinite future through his nightmares." Tonio explained, showing a blueprint of the Space-Time towers. "It says that it is a big musical instrument."
"Visions of the future through nightmares.." Professor Carolina muttered. "As absurd as it sounds, it isn't hard to believe at all. When it comes to Pokémon and the mysterious powers they wield, miracles are bound to happen every now and then."
"You are saying Darkrai showed him these visions?" Tonio inquired with a surprised tone. Then the Dark-type must have an idea what's going on and the reason behind the disturbances.
"Not necessarily." The history professor shook her head. "What I am saying is that Darkrai's powers may have simply triggered the visions. It is just my assumption though."
"Only one way to know that." Professor Rowan commented, keeping the diary on the table. "We need to ask what was Xavier shown in his nightmare."
Xavier's nightmare was the only clue in their hands that would aid them in further understanding of the matter. If those nightmares can actually show visions of future then the Kanto native must have seen something. It would be a gamble to bet on as there is no guarantee that what happened once with Godey will be happening again. But it never hurts to try. If they have some sort of clue on what's going to happen then they can take measures against it.
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Xavier was discharged the very next day, appearing refreshed from whatever he went through yesterday. He feared that the effects of Darkrai's attack would linger when he would be falling asleep but nothing of that sort happened and he was able to get a plentiful of sleep in the night, rejuvenating him for the next day. Having left the Pokécenter, he met up with Lucas, Dawn and Alice who were making their way to the Space-Time towers.
"How are you feeling?" Lucas asked in genuine concern.
"Good as new.." The Kanto native responded. "I guess the attack doesn't have any long lasting effects. I was able to have a good night sleep without anymore nightmares."
While he did claim to have a good sleep and it was indeed the truth, his mind still wondered about what he saw in his nightmare. The silhouette of a pinkish goliath didn't feel like a dream. It felt more like a vision that Darkrai was trying to show him. He couldn't put his finger on what it was supposed to be.
If Darkrai is a Pokémon that rules over nightmares, then isn't it supposed to show only the worst nightmares of the people it targets. Showing a strange vision that is far from a nightmare or a dream isn't how things are supposed to be..
'Is there some kind of hidden ability granted with that attack?' Xavier silently wondered.
"Now that we all are here, shall we get moving?" Alice inquired.
"Isn't Champion Cynthia going to join us?" Dawn asked, looking out for the blonde.
"There you are!" As if on cue to that, Cynthia made way towards the group, holding something in her hand. "I didn't knew you left the Pokécenter already."
"Well I was feeling good enough so I found no point in staying there anymore." Xavier replied, scratching the back of his head. "Why were you looking for me though?"
"To give you this." Cynthia replied, handing over the Lunar Feather to the black-haired trainer. "It's called the Lunar Feather that helps against Darkrai's nightmares."
"This?" Xavier questioned, scanning the Feather necklace in his arms with a curious expression. The feather must be some kind of item that has a repelling effect against Darkrai's powers. That's the only explanation to her claim. Then again, he wouldn't doubt Cynthia with her vast knowledge on subjects related to Pokémon and their powers.
Shaking his head, he wore it around his neck before tucking the feather underneath his shirt. "Thanks.."
The group soon made their way to the Space-Time Towers which also housed the Contest Hall for the upcoming Contest to be held the next day. In the center of the towers, there was a mural depicting a girl sitting on the branch of a tree and a great number of wild Pokémon gathered under the tree, hearing the song being played by the girl.
"Ain't this similar to what we saw yesterday?" Dawn commented, her eyes fixated on the mural.
"What do you mean?" Lucas inquired, trying to put strain on his memory to find what part of this mural they saw yesterday, when and where.
"It's similar to what Alice did to calm all those arguing Pokémon." The aspiring Coordinator clarified.
"Indeed, the mural here seems to depict that very scene.." Cynthia added.
"You sure you weren't born 100 something years ago or is that you are a time traveler.." Xavier commented with a shudder.
"That...was a very bad joke.." Alice sighed before looking up at the mural. "I don't know anything about this scene and you all can stop giving me those looks. I am no time traveler.."
"We were just messing around." Lucas raised his arms up in defense. "No way would time traveling be possible. If it were, existing laws of science would be turning upside down."
"Never hurts to believe in possibilities though." Dawn added.
Alice then guided them to the Space Tower where several pink-colored spheres rotated in orbits. In contrast to it, in the Time Tower, there were large blue-colored pendulums swinging back and forth depicting time. The top of the Space Tower from outside had round sculptures resembling some sort of pearl while the top of Time Tower had angular sculptures, resembling some sort of diamond.
"Dialga and Palkia.." Cynthia commented out of nowhere, having been silently observing the interior structures of both the towers.
"Who?"
"In ancient Sinnoh myths, they were worshipped as the Ruler of Time and Ruler of Space respectively." Cynthia explained. "I believe the Space-Time Towers are build with respect to them. Dialga oversees the Time and Palkia oversees Space."
"I don't know anything about that but from what I was told, this Tower is a musical instrument." Alice informed. "One can easily claim that this is the largest musical instrument in the world."
"Woah! How does it work?" Dawn asked, awe evident in her voice and facial expressions.
"There are records kept in the basement and on the top portion that connects these two towers is a musical instrument that plays the records." Alice pointed upwards. "The music can be heard all over the town."
"How about we try one out?!" Dawn suddenly asked in excitement. "Please?"
"Sure why not.." Alice nodded. "Tonio's lab is also in the basement and he knows how to operate the instrument."
With everyone agreeing to it and also being curious about how the instrument functions, they began descending down towards the basement.
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The pink goliath floated through the endless vacuum at full speeds as if it's life depended on it. It narrowly dodged a bright and powerful attack launched by its nemesis. The oddly shaped being chased the pink goliath in a pattern of their own.
The blue crystal on the blue goliath's chest glowed with a shining blue aura as it charged an indigo-colored sphere in between it's jaws. The fins on the goliath's back grew larger as it charged the attack. Having fully charged it's attack, it fired off a powerful indigo beam towards its adversary.
The pink goliath glanced behind at the incoming attack, increasing its own speed even more. It knew more better than anyone that this attack is a lethal one and if it gets hit, it will be done for. There is no way to dodge it either so the only way to avoid it is getting out from this realm. Concentrating its spatial powers with which it was gifted with, the pink goliath opened up a portal out of nowhere.
In the portal, a town-like structure could be seen. Beggars can't be choosers so it just dived in it, leaving its foe behind as the portal closed right after it entered in.
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