Stay focused, Kellyn. The thought swarmed Kellyn's mind, but the closer he and the others approached the Castle, the more negative energy he felt in himself and the atmosphere. While there were no apparent signs of corruption like the Luminous Crystal, he guessed that it would change in and just outside the Castle.
As the sunset overlooked Ice Lake and Hia Valley, Kellyn moved faster, but not so fast that he would lose the others, or worse, Ash or Pikachu.
"Hold on tight, Ash!" Kellyn said as the first row of ice blocks appeared.
"Empol!" His Empoleon ducked its head and broke right through the ice.
"Whoa!" Ash laughed behind Kellyn. At least he enjoyed himself and wasn't scared. That was why he deserved the Vatonage power instead.
"Blue-Bird!" Blu called from ahead. Lightning flickered from his feathers, and he added, "Whirlpool!"
Sure enough, a whirlpool was before Kellyn, but he hugged Empoleon's sides, and it leaped out of the water, sailing over it and landing on the other side.
Kellyn glanced over his shoulder. The others remained close behind, and they nodded at him.
Dawn closed her eyes and squeezed Wendy as if her life depended on it, while Brock looked like he was talking to his and Sven's Empoleon. Brock had a way with Pokémon, didn't he?
A new batch of ice blocks appeared, and Kellyn broke through them, too. "Good job, Empoleon," he said.
"This is so awesome!" Ash cheered, and his Pikachu lifted his tail.
"Pika!"
"Get me off this thing!" Dawn shouted from her and Wendy's ride.
"We're almost there, Dawn," Kellyn called back to her. Blu's feathers flickered again, so he prepared himself and sailed over the incoming whirlpool like before.
Okay, so far, so good, but Ice Lake was only the beginning.
After navigating a few more ice blocks and whirlpools, the team reached the other side of the lake and stopped their Empoleon. There it was—Almia Castle. It was across another snowfield and, like Hia Valley, was surrounded by occasional clusters of trees, but mainly ice and snow. The castle's icicle-shaped towers pierced the sky, and snow gently fell in the area. J, Team Rocket, and the Gem Guardian were right there, and the negative energy…
"Blue-Bird!" Blu hovered before Kellyn and lifted his legs. "Balance."
Brock looked at Kellyn. "Do you feel the corruption, Kellyn?"
He nodded.
"It's almost over," Wendy encouraged him.
Not quite. There were two Gem Guardians left, and then Parity, but the Almia Castle hassle… Yes.
"There's Staraptor," Wendy said, pointing at the darkening sky. "It looks like she found a few more."
Her Staraptor swooped down and landed by the lake, with three more following behind her.
The Empoleon escorted the team to the beach, waiting until they dismounted before hopping out themselves.
Still good so far.
Wendy and Sven mounted Wendy's Staraptor, and Wendy told the others, "Wish us luck."
"Good luck," they responded.
Sven furrowed his brows. "And wait for the signal."
The signal—right. Kellyn studied his Capture Styler.
Wendy waited until Sven was comfortable, then they both lifted off the ground. With a flick of her wrist, Wendy urged Staraptor forward, and she and Sven soared toward Almia Castle.
Left behind, Kellyn faced Ash, Brock, and Dawn, becoming serious. "Now, we wait," he said.
***
Sven and Wendy flew in a wide circle and approached Almia Castle from behind. It may have stood silently in the snow, but somewhere inside was a corrupted Gem Guardian.
Wendy placed her finger to Sven's nose when he nearly sneezed again, stopping him. She gently kicked Staraptor, and she landed on one of the Castle's broken towers, above a balcony.
As they expected, two of J's henchmen paced on the balcony with their backs to the Rangers. Bundled up, they blew on their hands and rubbed them.
Wendy and Sven quietly slipped into a hole in the tower and came to rest behind the balcony, out of sight. They were in the wrecked library of the Castle, with old books and scrolls scattered around.
Wendy's Staraptor hid behind a bookshelf, and she and Sven tiptoed toward the guards. They stopped and nodded at each other.
Wendy counted down from three with her hand. At "one", she and Sven dove for the guards and covered their mouths, dragging them into the library.
The guards squirmed, but Sven and Wendy pulled rags from their coat pockets and gagged them. They lugged them into a small reading area behind a bookshelf, then grabbed some rope hanging from their belts and tied them a smidgen on the tight side.
Wendy's Staraptor appeared and guarded the room.
"Nice," Wendy whispered, dusting snow off her hands.
Sven collected the guards' pokéballs and lifted his Styler, pressing the Voicemail button.
***
Where Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Kellyn waited near Ice Lake, they each sat on one of the Staraptor Wendy's had brought, the Empoleon under them.
Kellyn's Voicemail button on his Styler beeped, and he jumped. Everything felt so real now. Vatonage had to cooperate with him so he could activate Blu's Rainbow Forme in the Castle.
"We got the signal," he told Ash and his friends. "This is it, guys." He gestured with his head. "Follow me."
With Blu beside them, Kellyn and the Sinnoh trio's Staraptor headed toward Almia Castle.
The Empoleon dropped onto their bellies and slid after them, breaking snow mounds and more ice.
Ash, Brock, and Dawn each drew a pokéball and narrowed their eyes.
As soon as Almia Castle became clearer, as well as a group of figures standing before the entrance, Ash chucked his pokéball and announced, "Staravia, I choose you! Use Whirlwind!"
His Staravia appeared and called, "Staravia!" flapping its wings.
"You, too, Blu," Kellyn said, looking at him.
"Blue-Bird!" Blu also released a gust of wind.
"What the—?" J's henchmen asked before the Whirlwinds knocked them back.
The Sinnoh trio landed, but Kellyn quickly shot into the Castle while the guards were stunned.
The Empoleon soon reached the Castle, too, and one of them hurried into it after Kellyn.
The first Pokémon Hunter to recover from the Whirlwind ripped a radio off his belt and said, "J, they're here. The Ranger just entered the Castle."
"Fight them off," J ordered on the radio's other line. "I'll take care of him."
"Sir!"
J's henchmen stood and threw their pokéballs, releasing Crobat, Golbat, Golem, Rhyhorn, and Tyranitar.
Grinning, Ash said, "I've been waiting for this all day!" and released the rest of his Pokémon: Aipom, Turtwig, and Buizel. "Let's kill it, guys!"
"I need everyone's help!" Dawn said, sending out her Piplup, Buneary, and Pachirisu.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you," Brock calmly said, releasing his Croagunk, Happiny, and Sudowoodo.
The Pokémon charged at each other, but shortly after the battle started, Dawn nervously looked around and asked Ash, "Ash, where's Team Rocket?"
Ash also surveyed the battlefield. "They may already be inside. Let's hope that Sven and Wendy can make it to Kellyn."
"Just follow the plan, guys," Brock ordered, extending his hand to Croagunk. "Croagunk, use Brick Break!"
"Croagunk!" Croagunk's hand glowed as it struck a Rhyhorn on the head, knocking it down.
In Almia Castle, the first room Kellyn entered was the iced-over dining hall. Inside, three large doors leading to each wing of the Castle surrounded him.
He dismounted Staraptor, gasping when he heard, "Ha! Ha!" and saw Team Rocket emerge from the North Wing, where he was supposed to go.
"Team Rocket!" Kellyn said, clenching his fists, but he soon clutched his arm.
"It's Payback time, Ranger!" Jessie threatened, tossing two pokéballs forward. A snake-like Pokémon, Seviper, and her Wobbuffet appeared, soon followed by a Mime Jr. and a Carnivine, a Venus flytrap-like Pokémon, from James.
If only Kellyn had another Skuntank. He wouldn't waste Blu's Rainbow Forme on these nincompoops, though.
"Empol!" he soon heard behind him. One of the Ice Lake Empoleon appeared at the Castle's entrance and jumped onto the long dining room table, running toward Kellyn. "Empol!" It hopped off it and launched an Ice Beam at Team Rocket.
"Eee!" they shouted, ducking behind Wobbuffet.
"Quick, Wobbuffet!" Jessie shouted. "Light Screen!"
"Wobbu!" A bright light surrounded Wobbuffet, and Empoleon's Ice Beam bounced off it, but ended up hitting Jessie's Seviper and freezing it.
"You good-for-nothing—!" Jessie bopped Wobbuffet's head.
Well, that was easy, but Kellyn wouldn't relax because he knew J was waiting ahead.
He, Blu, Staraptor, and Empoleon passed Team Rocket, and Jessie yelled, "Hey! We're not finished yet!"
Just before they could attack Kellyn with Mime Jr. and Carnivine, Sven and Wendy rushed onto the scene from the Castle's West Wing, with Wendy's Staraptor, a few Gengar, and Glalie following behind.
"Kellyn!" Sven called, tightening his fist and looking at one of the Gengar. "Gengar, use Shadow Ball."
"Gar!" The fully evolved Ghost Pokémon cupped its hands, and a shadowy blob crashed into Team Rocket's Mime Jr. and Carnivine, chucking them into their Trainers.
Kellyn turned to look at Sven and Wendy, who waved him on. "Ri-Right," he said, glancing at his Empoleon. "Stay behind, Empoleon, and watch my back."
"Empol!" Empoleon saluted him and spun around, bending its knees.
Kellyn remounted his Staraptor, and he and Blu took off, soon reaching a room with a line of ice blocks. He followed them outside to a damaged part of the Castle, recalling the last time he was at Almia Castle. The ice blocks showed he was heading in the right direction. He especially knew he was almost at the throne room when his head exploded with searing pain from the corruption.
"Fight, Kellyn," Blu chirped at him. "Do this, do this."
Kellyn thought to himself, Don't give in to negative emotions. He needed balance to succeed. Darkrai was right about everything.
With that in mind, Kellyn hurried toward another tower of the Castle—the one that contained the throne room.
Back out at the Castle's main entrance, Ash, Dawn, and Brock's Pokémon attacked J's henchmen all at once.
Pikachu and Dawn's Pachirisu shocked the Golbat and Crobat, and then Ash commanded Pikachu, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack and then Iron Tail!"
"Pika!" Pikachu dodged a Hyper Beam from a Golem and struck it with his tail.
To Happiny, Brock said, "Metronome, Happiny."
"Happiny, Happiny!" the little Pokémon playfully said, moving its little hands back and forth. A lightning bolt escaped them, striking three Golbat simultaneously.
Dawn, panting, told Piplup and Buneary, "Just a little more, Piplup and Buneary. Use Bubble Beam, Piplup, and Ice Beam, Buneary."
Her Pokémon launched their attacks at a few Golem and Tyranitar, but they kicked up a Sandstorm and tossed them back.
Right when that happened, a flash lit up the sky, and something dropped in front of Ash, Brock, and Dawn.
The Sandstorm subsided, and the Sinnoh trio's jaws dropped.
"Darkrai!" Ash yelled.
Sure enough, Darkrai stood before them, towering like a king. Wind gusted through his plumage, and he seemed to clench his fists.
Now, J's henchmen gasped.
Darkrai raised his black, claw-like hands and declared, "You will not hurt them or the Prince! Dark Void!" Shadowy blobs escaped his hands and trapped J's henchmen's Pokémon in bubbles.
Their eyes widened when Darkrai released them, but the Pokémon were fast asleep, twitching from Darkrai's nightmares. "What? No!" they belted out.
"Wow!" Ash said, eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Darkrai."
Darkrai nodded and lifted off the ground, flying toward Almia Castle, the Sinnoh trio chasing after him. "My kingdom, my heir," he told them. "No distractions. We need to help him."
"Just lead the way, Darkrai," Ash said. "We're ready for anything."
"Balance," Darkrai explained, entering Almia Castle with Ash and his friends. "It's the only way we'll succeed."
Realization soon crossed Brock's face, and he punched his palm. "Of course! The only way for Kellyn to successfully purify the Gem Guardian is if he has all of us. Right, Darkrai?"
"Right," Darkrai responded, "and we need to move before it's too late."