[By the time you and Zoroark return home, night has fully fallen.]
[After a long day, fatigue settles in.]
[You eat a quick meal, go over the day's events, and then gradually drift off to sleep under Zoroark's illusion.]
By the edge of the futon, Zoroark watched Elias sleep, a subtle smile curling at her lips.
Life lately—aside from Elias overworking himself, which irked her a little—had been pretty good.
She didn't even feel that old burning urge to become Sinnoh's Grand Lord quite as strongly anymore.
But Zoroark knew… if she wanted Elias to truly relax, and for the two of them to live together without obstacles, she still had to achieve that dream.
There was just no longer any need to rush it.
With that in mind, she laid her head on Elias's arm, curling her tail around his legs.
After wriggling until she found a comfortable spot, she too drifted off.
Incidentally, Lucario had been borrowed by Cynthia for special training with her Garchomp tonight.
Which meant Zoroark could indulge a bit more than usual.
Before she knew it, she'd fallen completely asleep, half-tangled around Elias.
In the next instant, the mirror—carefully covered before—suddenly split with a faint crack.
A shadow flashed quickly across its surface.
A pair of crimson eyes appeared in the glass.
Surveying the room, Giratina let out a quiet sigh of relief.
It had followed them all the way here, waiting for this exact moment.
Tonight… it had to confirm whether its earlier suspicion was correct.
At the thought, Giratina—rare for it—felt a flicker of excitement.
But the pain in its body brought a measure of calm.
As expected, traveling from the Distortion World to the real world was becoming harder and harder.
Even with a mirror as a gateway, it hadn't managed to cross over tonight.
If it couldn't get its hands on the Plates soon, it really might be left to wander the Distortion World alone for eternity.
Luckily, what it needed to do tonight… didn't actually require setting foot in the real world.
With that, Giratina's form shimmered and faded from the mirror.
...
Morning.
"Elias!"
Zoroark jolted awake, scrambling upright.
Her bloodshot eyes said it all—she hadn't slept well at all.
Only when she saw Elias still quietly lying beside her did she finally breathe easy.
But the vividness of that dream still left her shaken.
As a Pokémon with powerful psychic abilities, Zoroark rarely dreamed at all.
Yet last night, she'd had a rare, vivid nightmare.
In it, her attitude was just like now—calmly, methodically working toward her plan to become Sinnoh's Grand Lord.
Life was still beautiful. Every day, she could stay by Elias's side, basking in his care.
But one day—
For reasons unknown, Elias's reputation among the three factions suddenly teetered on the brink.
Tribespeople—one after another, as if possessed—rushed to challenge him.
No matter how hard she and Lucario fought, the endless waves of foes wore them down.
And by then, it was already too late to pursue her Grand Lord ambitions.
All she could do was watch helplessly as Elias was swallowed up by the crowd, vanishing further and further from her reach.
Even after waking, the dream felt riddled with holes.
First off, with all the Pokémon and humans in the three factions combined, she and Lucario wouldn't be easily overwhelmed—not like that.
And besides, no matter what happened, Cynthia and Cogita would surely come to help Elias too.
What's more, the odds of Elias ever losing his standing were next to none.
No matter how she looked at it, it was just a nightmare, plain and simple.
Yet the reality of that dream, the way it felt, still sent chills down her spine.
But what if…
That kind of despair was something she never wanted to experience again.
She had to become Sinnoh's Grand Lord as soon as possible!
"Had a nightmare?"
Just then, Elias's voice sounded beside her.
He'd just opened his eyes, only to find Zoroark looking utterly lost and shaken.
He could easily guess what had happened.
"Yeah."
As soon as she saw Elias awake, Zoroark dove into his arms, breathing in his comforting scent.
After her nerves settled, she told him about her dream.
Of course, she left out the part about her attempt to become Sinnoh's Grand Lord.
After all… Elias had strictly forbidden that.
When she finished, Elias sighed and pinched her cheeks.
"No matter what happens, just stay by my side, okay?"
"I'll never let what happened in your dream come true."
Just as Zoroark herself had said, the whole thing was full of holes—just a simple nightmare.
"I… I know."
Zoroark nodded obediently, replying softly.
"Don't you dare tell Lucario," she added in a whisper, now a bit embarrassed.
It was lucky Lucario wasn't here today—otherwise, she'd never hear the end of it.
"All right."
---
[Once you've comforted Zoroark, you prepare to bring her over to Cynthia's place.]
As Elias and Zoroark left the room, Giratina's shadow reappeared in the mirror.
Right now, it felt very much like it'd been played for a fool.
Just as it suspected, that little fox's ambitions were far bolder than it had realized.
It finally understood why, no matter how it tried to tempt her before, she never reacted.
Now it was clear: Zoroark didn't care about revenge on the Hisui humans.
She wanted to use it as a tool—a stepping stone, to build the prestige she needed to become Sinnoh's Grand Lord.
If it kept waiting around like a fool, and that Professor Laventon really managed to make Poké Balls from [Origin Ore]…
Then it—the so-called ruler of the Distortion World, the legendary Renegade Dragon—really might end up caught.
"Despicable fox!"
The curse slipped from Giratina's lips.
But… the fox had gotten careless too.
Yesterday, after leaving Jubilife Village, she'd talked about the ruin fragments with that human—without any precautions at all.
Now that Giratina had caught wind of that, it would be so much easier to interfere.
With a new plan forming, Giratina spun and vanished back into the mirror.
She wanted to catch it, did she?
Then it would… take the bait itself.