After Darkrai’s appearance, the timeline progressed as per the storyline, with the Mythical Pokemon ignoring Red Sun when the Contestant didn’t show any intention of interference.

That included Darkrai attacking Ash with Dark Void Move, making the character experience a nightmare. In the nightmare, Ash saw the vision of the imminent future, a shadowy silhouette of Palkia terrifying the living breath out of him.

The dreadful dream ended with Pikachu’s electric shock, Ash waking up directly at the Pokemon Center.

That’s where Tonio and Red Sun parted ways with Alice, Ash, and others, returning to the lab.

"What are you trying to find?" Red Sun asked, seeing Tonio fumble with his great-grandfather Godey’s diary again.

"I think..." Tonio mumbled, hurriedly flipping the pages. "I think I read something about a nightmare in the diary..."

Suddenly, a picture slid out of the diary, landing on Tonio’s lap.

It showed an old man and a small girl seated on a bench.

"That’s my great-grandfather!" Tonio exclaimed.

"Whoa..." Red Sun exclaimed, looming over Tonio’s shoulders. "They really let him marry someone so young?"

"..."

Tonio looked at Red Sun’s face, aghast. "... No!" he said. "That’s Alicia, whom I mentioned—Alice’s grandmother."

"Oh... Haha... Was just joking..." Red Sun laughed wryly.

Tonio shook his head as if he was both puzzled and sick. "Anyway... Listen..." he said, putting the photo away.

The diary mentioned how Godey one day chanced upon Alicia playing a song using a leaf, calming every Pokemon nearby. Surprisingly, Darkrai was there too, and was so influenced by Alicia’s song that he began living in the garden.

"Hey..." Red Sun interrupted. "Do you think it’s the same Darkrai?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Tonio’s brows rose. "It... could be," he nodded. "Some Pokemon live much longer than others."

He flipped the page and was instantly taken aback by a very detailed architectural drawing of the Space-Time Towers, with a note next to it.

"It turns out, the nightmare told me exactly what I needed to do," Tonio read the note. "For the future, I needed to leave Oracion for the world... Oracion? What could it be?"

Red Sun shrugged. "Definitely not music, I guess," he said.

"..." Beelzemon.

"..." ShineGreymon.

As Tonio narrowed his eyes and kept reading the diary, Red Sun yawned, waiting for the day to end.

Tomorrow, if the storyline events were progressing at the original pace, then Palkia would arrive at Alamos Town in the afternoon, injured. To heal safely, the Space Pokemon would confine the entire town within a spherical spatial boundary before sending the entire town to a different dimension.

Once that happened, Red Sun could take a breath of relief, as, from then onwards, he could begin the real Mission assigned to him by the Captain without fearing any external interference.

Till then, the less he stood out in Darkrai’s senses, the better.

So, yawning once more, Red Sun sat down on a chair behind Tonio, threw his legs up on the table, and... fell asleep.

...

Later that night,

Baron Mansion,

Alamos Town

Baron Alberto looked over his shoulder. "TV People, huh?"

Team Rocket, disguised as media personnel, nodded heavily at the man.

"We heard that the great Baron will be fighting the evil Darkrai," Jessie said. "It will be a massive haul reporting such a feat, especially when conducted by me, the lovely Jasselina!"

"Directed by yours truly, Jameson," James added. "And edited by..."

"Meowth!" Meowth said.

Alberto smirked. "Very well," he said, dismissing the reporters with a wave of his hand. "People do have a right to know, I suppose."

Sharing a victorious giggle among themselves, Team Rocket left the grand chamber, shutting the door behind them.

However, not even minutes had passed when the door opened once again.

"No more reporters, please," Baron Alberto said, annoyed, without looking behind. "Send them away."

To his surprise, the butler didn’t reply, making him frown.

The door slammed shut, but... steps rang behind him, suggesting the butler had entered the hall without his permission.

As the frown on his face became a scowl, Alberto turned around. "How dare you..."

But the person who had walked in was not the Mansion’s Butler, but... someone else entirely, leaving the Baron too shocked to complete his words.

It was a very tall man, wearing a pristine, long white greatcoat over a white shirt, pants, and shoes, with a white top hat over his head. Under the hat, the man wore a white mask with no holes for seeing or breathing. The mask did have a symbol on it, though, which resembled the number zero, but looked too archaic and mystical in nature, black-red flashes coursing through it now and then.

"Who are you?" Alberto asked, bringing authority in his voice. "What are you doing at..."

The man paused and faced him, making Alberto take a step back involuntarily.

"So..." the intruder said. "You are disposable indeed..."

"Huh?!" Baron Alberto exclaimed, puzzled and a touch... terrified... by the man’s eerie voice and choice of words.

Taking precaution, he took out his Pokeball, hoping to use his Lickilicky against the intruder.

What happened next happened in the blink of an eye, making no noise.

And when the noise did enter Alberto’s ear, it was the sound of his intestines getting ruptured with a bloody squelch!

Baron Alberto hung midair with blood pouring out of his mouth, a blackish-red, fleshly sword running right through his stomach—a sword which was once the intruder’s right arm.

The man in white stepped toward the Baron, lifting him even higher, blood pooling on the floor. With his every step, the zero on his mask kept pulsating brighter and brighter, faster and faster, gaining a more vile, demonic appearance.

Baron Alberto lifted his right arm, the Pokeball shaking in his hand.

The murderer twisted his sword arm.

With another cringey squelch, thousands of thorns and tendrils shot through Alberto’s body, mutilating him from the inside.

In the very next moment, those thorns and tendrils absorbed the storyline character’s entire body, the Pokeball falling into the pooled blood on the floor with a muffled tink.

As his arm regained its normal appearance, the Contestant breathed deeply, his entire body squirming under the clothes.

The squirming ended as soon as it had begun.

Slowly, the Contestant took off the mask, revealing the face; a face.

It was none other than Baron Alberto...

... his eyes carrying a strange blackish-red glow, a small smile plastered on his face!

****************

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