The Terastal energy surrounding the Crystal Pool slowly faded.
The gathered Terapagos sagged, their crystalline eyes reflecting fatigue.
Professor Sada glanced first at Arven, still clinging to her, then at Naoki and the unfamiliar girl across from her.
She had experienced distortions of time and space before, deep in Area Zero's research. This wasn't entirely unfamiliar to her. And yet… this dimension was drastically different from the one she remembered.
Arven was taller, his features older. Naoki's face carried lines of age. And the girl beside him, Naoki's daughter. Sada remembered when she had been a tiny child. Now, she was nearly grown.
But what caught Sada's eye most of all was the Koraidon standing proudly by the girl's side.
Its gaze burned with recognition and joy.
It was the same, trembling Koraidon she and Turo had risked their lives to shield at the Fourth Research Station.
Everything about this moment confirmed it: they were no longer in the same time, nor the same world they had left.
Sada drew in a steady breath, her composure returning. She looked across at Naoki and asked quietly,
"Tell me… what has happened?"
"Mom." Arven finally spoke, his tears wiped away, though his voice trembled with emotion. A look of shame crossed his face.
Naoki exhaled in relief seeing the professors alive, and silently thanked Juliana for making this possible.
His eyes met hers, and she nodded back. Naoki gave her the faintest smile of recognition before turning to Sada and Turo.
And so, he began to recount everything.
The rampage of the Paradox Pokémon in the Great Crater. The sacrifice of Professors Sada and Turo at the Fourth Station. The battle between two Koraidon, tearing through the time machine.
The near-collapse of Paldea's ecosystem.
Two years had passed since their disappearance, years that had changed everything.
Sada and Turo listened in silence, their expressions tightening as the truth unfolded.
"So, our work… unleashed Paradox Pokémon into the present, wreaking havoc across Paldea?" Turo murmured, disbelief etched in his tone.
Sada's eyes lowered, her voice heavy. "We thought we had control. Our research had proven Paradox Pokémon could survive here, even bond with Trainers…"
Naoki stepped forward. His gaze was steady, his voice calm but firm.
"Maybe your research was flawed from the beginning."
Both professors looked up sharply.
Naoki placed a hand gently on the Koraidon beside him.
"This Koraidon is… different. It's not just a Paradox Pokémon. It's a Cyclizar, my Cyclizar. The one who lived with me for nine years before it fell into the time machine and was transformed."
Sada's eyes widened. "That's impossible."
But her words faltered. Memories stirred. Conversations with Naoki, back when she had theorized that Cyclizar might share a deep ancestral connection to Koraidon.
She herself had once written: If atmospheric conditions and energy flows could be reversed to mimic an ancient ecosystem, modern Pokémon might revert to their ancestral forms.
Her heart trembled. "Were we wrong?"
Their life's work, the study of Paradox Pokémon, had consumed them. To be told, here and now, that it had all been misguided was almost too much to bear.
Naoki sighed softly.
"No, Professor. Your research wasn't wrong. In its own way, it was a success."
Sada and Turo looked up, stunned, searching his eyes for meaning.
Naoki stepped aside, gesturing to the figures behind him, Juliana, standing tall, and the Koraidon.
"This Koraidon is the very one you risked your lives to protect," Naoki explained, his voice calm but firm. "It used the last of its strength to escape Area Zero, where it eventually met Juliana… and became her partner, just like any modern Pokémon."
Professor Sada blinked in surprise.
But her sharp mind quickly pieced together Naoki's meaning.
"So Paradox Pokémon can only truly exist in this world if they form bonds with humans?" she murmured.
Professor Turo frowned, his thoughts racing.
As researchers, both of them knew what it meant when a large number of wild, foreign Pokémon spilled into a region unchecked.
It meant devastation. Entire ecosystems collapsing.
A chill crept across Turo's face as realization dawned.
Had their research been misguided from the very beginning?
"Professor…" Juliana glanced nervously at them, worried by their troubled expressions.
"Enough!"
The sharp cry broke the air like glass.
It was Arven.
Both Professors turned, startled.
Tears of anger and grief streamed down Arven's cheeks, his emotions, buried for two long years, finally exploding to the surface.
His voice trembled, rising into a raw, desperate shout.
"Do you even know how many people were terrified when you were gone?"
"Do you know how those Paradox Pokémon tore through the towns nearby, attacking people and Pokémon alike?"
"Do you know that Mr. Naoki lost his Cyclizar, forever, because he had to fix the mess you left behind?"
"Do you know the Director stayed awake for days without rest, trying to hold the Paldea Line together?"
"You don't know! You don't know anything! All you ever cared about was your research, your Paradox Pokémon! You couldn't even compare to the AI you left behind; at least they cared enough to protect me!"
The words, carried by years of pain, fell like stones into the Crystal Pool.
Arven's small frame trembled violently as his tears struck the ground, rippling through the reflection of the crystal water.
"Arven…"
Professor Sada and Professor Turo could only stare at him in stunned silence.
Never before had they seen their son like this.
Never before had they heard him speak with such anguish.
Each word cut deep, echoing in their hearts like a truth they had long ignored.
Had the dream they pursued… really brought so much suffering to Paldea?
So much harm to others?
Arven bowed his head, his face hidden in shadow, his voice breaking into a sob.
"Do you know what these past two years have been like for me?"
Both Professors froze.
Their son's words struck harder than any data, any evidence.
"Arven…" Turo whispered, his voice heavy with disbelief and guilt.
After a long, heavy silence, Professor Sada slowly stepped forward. Her hands trembled as she wrapped them gently around her son.
"We're so sorry, Arven."
She didn't know the full story of what he had endured these past two years, but she didn't need to. The pain in his eyes, the weight of his words, told her enough.
Their disappearance had left him all alone.
Two long years of loneliness, grief, and struggle.
Perhaps… they truly had done something terribly wrong.
Sada's chest ached as she looked into her son's tear-stained face. In this moment, she wasn't a professor, nor a researcher, but simply a mother.
"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry, Arven," she whispered, her voice breaking. "You must have suffered so much in these past two years, haven't you?"
Arven couldn't hold it back anymore. With a sob, he threw himself into her arms, clutching her as though afraid she would vanish again.
Professor Turo's heart clenched at the sight. His composure crumbled, and he stepped forward as well, pulling both mother and son into his embrace.
The three of them held each other tightly.
No words. Just the quiet, raw comfort of being together again.
"That's… wonderful."
Juliana brushed at her eyes, trying to hide her tears.
She was truly happy for Arven. If Nemona and Penny had been here to see this, they would have been just as moved.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Naoki," Juliana said softly, bowing her head in gratitude.
But Naoki shook his head gently, his gaze resting on the family before him.
"Don't thank me. You're the one who thought of asking the Terapagos to call the professors through time."
The Professors of 206 had been brought here, directly into the present. Two years had been lost, but it wasn't too late.
Naoki exhaled, his shoulders relaxing. He turned to the circle of weary Terapagos, their crystalline shells still glimmering faintly.
"Thank you for your hard work," he said earnestly.
"Bago-go!" the Terapagos chimed, their voices ringing like crystals in the air.
At last, Arven's sobs subsided. He sniffled, wiped his eyes, and stepped back, his face flushed with embarrassment as he glanced toward Juliana and Naoki.
Professor Sada, still shaken, turned to Naoki.
"We're truly sorry, Naoki," she said quietly.
Her words carried more weight than just an apology. She was thinking of Cyclizar, Naoki's partner, who had fallen into the time machine and transformed into a Koraidon because of their research.
But Naoki only shook his head.
"There's no need to apologize, Professor. Some things are destined to happen. No matter how much we try to fight them, some paths can't be changed."
He smiled faintly, glancing at the Koraidon by his side.
"Cyclizar became Koraidon… and that's alright. Because whether it's Cyclizar or Koraidon, past or present, it's still the same to me. It's my partner. It always will be."
Those words carried the weight of conviction.
Naoki and Koraidon were bound by something deeper than time, a bond that no research, no machine, could ever break.
He looked back to the two Professors.
"Now that the time machine has been shut down, and the Area Zero Research Institute lies in ruins… what will you do?"
Professor Sada lowered her gaze, then shook her head slowly.
"We don't know."
Professor Turo spoke first, his voice calm though tinged with regret.
"Sada and I have already caused enough trouble in Paldea. Even if we tried to return to Area Zero and continue our research, the League would never allow it."
Professor Sada nodded. "So we've decided to abandon our Paradox Pokémon research. We already have the answer, from all of you."
Her gaze fell on Naoki, on the Koraidon standing proudly at his side, then shifted toward Juliana and her own Koraidon.
"Your name is Juliana, correct?" Sada asked gently.
"Yes!" Juliana nodded, straightening.
"If you have time, could you tell us in detail what happened after you met it?" Sada's expression softened, almost motherly.
"Of course!" Juliana said quickly, eager to help.
"Thank you," Sada replied, a rare warmth in her voice.
Then her attention turned back to her son.
"It's been two years since we disappeared," she said quietly. "I'm sure so much has happened in Paldea during that time."
She looked at him with a soft smile. "Arven."
The boy stiffened. "Mom?"
"When we return to Cabo Poco, will you tell us everything? About what's happened these past two years?"
Her smile trembled, filled with both regret and determination. "We've already missed so much. Now that we've been given a second chance… we won't miss it again."
Arven's eyes widened, a mixture of surprise and relief flooding his face. He nodded vigorously. "Yes!"
"Oh dear…" Sada suddenly laughed a little awkwardly. "We've been gone for two years, and now we reappear out of nowhere. I imagine we'll give the Champion and the others quite a scare."
Naoki exhaled slowly, nodding. "I'll explain everything to Geeta. But… are you truly heading back to Cabo Poco?"
"Yes," Sada confirmed.
They needed time to process it all. Even as researchers accustomed to the impossible, so much had happened in a single day that it left them overwhelmed.
"Alright," Naoki said, not pressing them further. "Then when you're ready, you'll always be welcome to visit the ranch again."
Sada's lips curved into a small smile. "We'll come. I promise."
The family began their journey back toward Cabo Poco. Juliana, whose own family lived nearby, chose to accompany them.
Naoki escorted them as far as Emerald Town. There, he said his goodbyes, hugged his daughter tightly, and then mounted Koraidon to return to the ranch.
The first thing Naoki did when he got home was pull out his Rotom Phone and call Geeta.
He told her everything that had happened, about the Crystal Pool, the Terapagos, and, most shocking of all, the return of Professors Sada and Turo.
On the other end, Geeta was stunned.
Her normally composed voice wavered with disbelief.
"So the reason their bodies were never found… is because you and Juliana summoned them forward through time?"
Naoki nodded. "Yes. I've already explained everything that's happened since then. For now, I don't know what they plan to do."
"I see…" Geeta spoke thoughtfully. "But given what's happened, I doubt the Paldea League will allow them anywhere near the Area Zero Reconstruction Project."
"They've already anticipated that," Naoki said quietly. "That's why they chose to return to Cabo Poco,to sort through everything they've missed these last two years."