Gold couldn't be described as a sore loser. He returned his Pokémon, shook Selene's hand, and then went off to prepare for the closing ceremony. Yet, everyone knew he was devastated.

Silver tried to comfort his friend. "Gold, don't take it too hard. You guys were amazing. Plus, this just means you've got all the more to plan for next year."

Gold sat back in his bed. Only a few hours until the awards would be given out. "Who cares. L-listen, Silver. I'm fine. I just got a bit blindsided, I'll see you tonight at the ceremony." His friend wanted to say something else but just left his room.

Gold picked up his Pokégear as he got a call from his mom about the tournament and picked out his outfit. He tried his best to pay attention to the conversation but he couldn't stop thinking about the match.

His own hubris had taken him down. And now his winning streak was gone. It was only a matter of time before a trainer would dethrone him and he'd no longer be the Champion.

It was all over now. But that was ridiculous. He had only lost one battle. And what a battle it had been. Gold hadn't had that much fun in ages. So why did he feel so miserable?

All 32 competitors reported to the stadium later that night in presentable outfits. Selene was wearing a beautiful gown and in the center of the stadium. Andy was giving some speech about the tournament and recapping the events to the crowd while holding a golden trophy with a Poké Ball on the top.

Andy finished his speech and handed Selene the trophy. Tears glistened in the young trainer's eyes and Gold couldn't help but feel happy for her. She'd come so far compared to last time, and she deserved the victory.

But it should have been him.

The conclusion came and all the trainers filed out of the stadium and started walking back for the final celebration dinner. "I figured Andy would've at least gotten us cars for today." May mused.

Selene nodded. "This outfit wasn't exactly designed for walking." There was some idle chatter within the group as they all walked. Something felt... off, however. The temperature was plummeting and all the lights in the area were off. There didn't seem to be anyone around.

It felt as cold as it did one of the nights Gold and Silver were walking home. "Does something feel off to you guys?"

The other trainers were about to speak up when they heard a low growl. The group turned around to see a quadruped surrounded by dark mist staring at them.

Its two eyes had a golden glow to them and a green gem was imbued in its chest. Gold immediately recognized the Pokémon as an Entei despite its fur being darkened. "What in the name of Arceus is that?" The beast roared into the sky and portals started to open all over the sky.

"Ultra Wormholes!" Selene gasped and she looked over to Elio. "We need to get Nebby!" Clouds of purple mist oozed from the portals and had strange green gems in the center of them. "Shadows? What's going on here?"

Gold noticed the Entei was charging a fireblast and he sent out Electabuzz. "Use Thunder!" Electabuzz countered the incoming projectile fire with his electricity and managed to stop the attack. Poké Balls started to burst open all around Gold as trainers prepared to battle.

Electabuzz was thrown away and Entei was suddenly hit in the head by Wally's Gallade. Gold looked around and saw that the strange clouds were trying to get close to trainers and their Pokémon. Gold also noticed a familiar substance in the sky.

From some of the portals, Corruption was escaping. "That's Corruption! Is MissingNo back again?" Not sure! Red replied. The trainer and his Charizard glared at the portal. Is this what Andy was warning people about? I'm glad I told Blue and Yellow to get out of here...

Gold was about to react to this new information when he saw Selene was leading a party back to the hotel. He yelled at Electabuzz to follow him and hurried after them. "Selene! Any idea what's happening?"

Selene shook her head as they ran through the chaotic streets. "Nope! There are Ultra Wormholes opening and Shadows though, so nothing good!"

Wally and Gallade were now also running up to the group with the dark Entei tailing them. "I-I think we made him angry!" Entei started to charge another fireball and unleashed it on the group.

A new trainer jumped down from above and a Decidueye at his side deflected the attack with a Leaf Blade. "Is that a Shadow Entei?" He wondered.

Elio whipped around to face the newcomer. "Ralph? How did you get here?"

Ralph shrugged. "There was a portal right in front of the Xern Tree and I saw Shadows. I jumped in and now I'm here."

"I have a lot of questions, but maybe we shouldn't ask them all here!" May yelled. Her Blaziken kicked down a bunch of the Shadows and then backed away.

The group turned to run the last leg to the hotel when Gold heard the Shadow Entei jumping up. Its fangs were bared and it seemed to be ready to bite Wally's head off.

Gold was about to cry out for Electabuzz to attack when a dark blur slammed into the Entei and flung it away into a building. The Entei looked at its attacker and Gold saw a mysterious Pokémon with a humanoid figure and with strange mist pooling around it now floating in the air.

The beast turned and fled the scene. The new Pokémon was about to pursue it, but a Zangoose came running over and gestured at the crowd. "G-Gizzit? What are you doing here?" Gold's mind was sufficiently blown when the Pokémon spoke to his Electabuzz in a language the trainer could understand.

Electabuzz titled his head and then the Zangoose pointed over at Selene and Elio. A dark vortex was swirling behind them and two giant shadowy fangs reached out to grab Selene.

Elio noticed and sprung into action, pushing his girlfriend out of the way and being grabbed by the beast. "ELIO!" Selene screamed as the boy was pulled into the vortex and vanished.

Selene forced herself up and raced to the hotel in spite of the outfit she was wearing. The rest of the group hurried after her and inside of the sanctuary. Gold noticed that the two Pokémon were now following them all as well.

The doors shut and Gold could finally begin to process everything that had happened. Their party was made up of Selene, Cynthia, Brendan, May, Lisia, Emerald, Wally, Silver, Red, Gold, Ralph, and the two Pokémon.

"What just happened?" Gold asked nobody in particular.

Selene was currently at the PC, likely getting out her Solgaleo. "Don't know. But something took Elio. So I'm getting him back and stopping all these Shadows."

The Pokémon perked up. "You know of Shadows?" The group were all shocked to find the Pokémon could speak. "Humans, I am Marshadow. My friend and I come from another realm. We were hunting Shadow Entei after he escaped our home realm and arrived during this strange event."

"Marshadow," Selene gasped. "Marshadow is one of the Legendary Pokémon part of Alola's history."

He nodded. "I ruled the Shadow Realm for many centuries, though if I'm not mistaken the people of Alola are quite connected to Ultra Space."

"Sure am," Selene sent out her Solgaleo for emphasis.

"Hold on," Ralph cut in. "The Shadow Realm? Those things have a realm? How come they've been roaming the multiverse freely?"

Marshadow raised an eyebrow. "They have been? Necrozma's Light should have eradicated any who attempted to escape."

Ralph sighed. "Yeah, about that. Necrozma was out of commission for a while and there were plenty of realms that didn't get any of its light."

The Zangoose said something unintelligible to Marshadow and he gasped. "I've always wondered why Shadows were able to escape into your realm... that explains so much!"

The door flew open and Andy came running in with a few other trainers trailing behind him such as Bill and Daisy. "WOW! I was not expecting that tonight! Honestly hoped it was a fluke! What's good heroes? Ready to stop all this?" Everyone glared at Andy.

"So hold on, can someone run us through why all these portals are opening?" May asked.

Solgaleo opened a portal and two people in strange bodysuits emerged. "I believe we can," One of them said. "I am Captain Phyco of the Ultra Recon Squad. Thanks for opening this portal, Selene. We picked up on extreme disturbances in your realm and were about to head over."

The other human, a small child, ran up and hugged Selene. "Ms. Selene! It's so great to see you again! Where's Mr. Elio?"

Selene frowned. "I wish I knew. Some kind of Shadow Pokémon grabbed him in the chaos."

Phyco scratched his chin. "Odd. It seems as though there's some sort of cosmic interference causing portals from certain realms to open en masse. Specifically the realm of MissingNo, realms with high remaining Shadow populations, and also realms that some people here originate from such as his." Phyco pointed at Andy who raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Maybe all my many friends are coming to help then." Andy responded.

Marshadow drifted up to Phyco and Solgaleo. "The only Pokémon I know that could do something like this would be Arceus itself. Even the mighty Solgaleo wouldn't be able to manage what's being pulled off."

Selene grabbed Phyco's arm. "But what took Elio? And where?"

The man checked his devices and took a step back. "It appears there was one portal opened recently from the Distortion World... but it couldn't be."

"It is." Cynthia spoke up. "I've seen Giratina before, and now I know for sure. It was Giratina who grabbed Elio."

"Giratina?" Gold confirmed. "What would Giratina have to do with any of this? Nobody here upset it, did they?"

"None of us did," Marshadow confirmed. "But Arceus did. Giratina's Realm is, like MissingNo's Realm and the Shadow Realm, a byproduct of the God's haste and a flawed solution to a problem. Necrozma was created as a bandaid for the Shadow Realm which was itself a bandaid for containing evil souls. Neither were foolproof ways of carrying out their functions.

"Giratina and the Distortion World are a similar case. Hastily created as a mirror of this world to serve as a domain for Giratina as it manages the in-betweens of space and time. Making sure Dialga and Palkia are in check and this world doesn't collapse in on itself. A servant of Arceus. Given this, I wouldn't be surprised if it joined with the Shadows and now somehow has Arceus bringing together all of its sins into one place. Perhaps Arceus itself has become possessed by a Shadow. It presumably tried taking you because of you access to Necrozma, who can purge Pokémon from the control of Shadows."

The group took some time to let that all settle in. "Then what do we do?" Gold wondered.

Selene turned back to the PC. "I'm going to get Necrozma. We'll eradicate the Shadows and then free Elio from Giratina. After that, we'll stop Arceus."

"Erm, might I make a request?" Marshadow piped up. "Many of the Shadows are jaded from mistakes I made and are innocent souls. I ask that you give me the opportunity to offer them mercy as I have to other Shadows."

Selene sighed. "And how exactly do we do that?"

Marshadow looked around and racked his brain, his eyes settled on Red. "You... I recognize you. You're the one MissingNo gave a 'voice' to, yes?"

Red tentatively nodded and Marshadow beamed. "Perfect! MissingNo didn't just give you any voice, you can reach any Pokémon with it. I heard it myself when you were in his realm. You can communicate with the Shadows and even Arceus, potentially draw it out. I imagine the Shadow controlling Arceus will be unshakable but your voice will reach the Pokémon within. We'd just have to stop the Black Shadow and I could help amplify your voice to all the Shadows left."

Gold took a step forward. "We also need to erase all that Corruption. Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts can reverse it. I'll get Ho-Oh to come and help us battle!" Finally, he could make himself useful.

"One thing isn't adding up to me," Selene said. "Necrozma's Light reached this realm, so how are the Shadows here?"

Marshadow furrowed his brow. "I believe Necrozma's Light prevents them from creating more Shadows, rather than eliminating the ones already present. A full wave of light would likely eradicate them, but the farther you get from the Prism the more diluted it becomes."

Gold took stock of the group. "We're up against a lot of enemies right now. We're all going to have to work together to free Entei from that Shadows and take them down."

"Plus, I'm going to the Distortion World to stop Giratina." Selene stated. Necrozma burst from a Poké Ball in her hand. "Necrozma will wipe out any Shadows who need to be taken down and free Entei."

Marshadow drifted over to Selene. "I'd like to go with you, if I may. I've experienced Arceus's failings firsthand, so I think I may be able to help persuade Giratina." The Pokémon then turned to the Zangoose. "If it's true portals are opening from all over, hopefully you can get our friends to help us."

The Zangoose said something to him and he nodded. "Alright Zax, best of luck. Human, Zax here will try his best to call in the cavalry. I recommend rallying as many people as possible for the battle ahead. We're up against many powerful foes."

Gold ran up to Selene just as she boarded Solgaleo and it opened a portal. "Selene! I just wanted to say, good luck. And don't take too long, we'll need a trainer like you if we're taking on Pokémon like Arceus."

Selene smiled and looked down at the boy. "Thanks, Gold. Don't underestimate yourself, though. You're not a Champion for nothing." The girl and her Pokémon then leaped into the portal with Marshadow trailing behind them.

May took stock of the group and sighed. "Hopefully, we can find others out in the chaos. Just about everyone I know is already here, at least everyone in Wyndon."

Gold racked his brain trying to think of a way to contact Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts. "I guess we could try calling Morty? He might know what to do."

"Fret not." Phyco said. "Selene is not the only trainer here capable of opening portals. Just tell me who you all want to get in touch with or bring over, and we'll do our best to make it happen."

Before long, a large army of people and Pokémon had amassed in the hotel lobby. Steven Stone, Jess, Morty, Ho-Oh, Suicune, Raikou, Eusine, and at least a dozen Pokémon from the Marshadow's realm were all present.

Red had managed to get a hold of Blue and Yellow and confirmed that the two of them had safely made it out of Wyndon but the conflict was worldwide. Trainers from all across the globe were rising up to fight the invading Pokémon.

The groups all gathered together and prepared to do battle against the insanity before them with renewed confidence. "Alright, Red needs to be uninterrupted so he can broadcast out to the all the Shadows and Arceus." Gold recapped.

"In the meantime, everyone needs to fend off against attackers and fight the Corruption before it consumes everything. Ho-Oh, Raikou, and Suicune will work to reverse it best they can. Once the Shadows have been warned, Necrozma will use its Light to eradicate those who don't turn over a new leaf. Meanwhile, Wally and I are going to focus on Shadow Entei so we can stop it and get rid of that Shadow. Sound good?"

The group seemed to all be in agreement, so they marched outside and began the final battle.