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After parting ways with Misty, Kai, and Ash charged up the endless crystalline stairway leading to the top of the Petal Tower.
It didn't take a genius to figure it out at each level, Molly was deliberately holding one person back. It was the classic "one per floor" setup. And it wasn't out of malice. No… it was because she wanted to play.
A lonely little girl, granted godlike power, just wanted people to stay and keep her company. To her, Pokémon battles were the only way she knew how.
That, combined with the influence of the Unown and Entei's whispers, had made her desires run wild selfish, erratic, and powerful.
Their footsteps echoed in rhythm with their breath harsh, ragged, but determined.
Explosions shook the floor beneath them. Misty and Molly were now locked in battle down below, Starmie clashing against the illusion's dreamlike Pokémon. But Kai and Ash pushed forward, the ocean sky dissolving into crystal nerves and arteries once again.
After several grueling minutes of climbing, legs aching and lungs burning, they finally reached the tower's summit.
They were exhausted and soaked in sweat, not because they were out of shape, but because this wasn't just any staircase.
It was a spatial anomaly. Somehow, the height they had scaled far exceeded the tower's exterior. An entire labyrinth of distorted space and illusions built atop reality.
At last, they emerged from a petal-shaped opening into what was unmistakably a bedroom.
Molly's bedroom.
It was surreal eerily warm, oddly comforting, but still tinged with the unnatural sheen of crystal. A giant canopy bed dominated the center of the room.
And sitting atop it was Delia.
"Mom!" Ash cried and sprinted across the room toward her.
Kai remained at the edge, scanning. This wasn't over yet.
Delia sat upright, calm, and conscious. There were no chains, no visible injuries nothing that suggested harm. If anything, it looked like she had just woken from a nap.
But lying across her lap… was a small girl.
Even without a name, her identity was obvious. The same face from the old photo. The same girl they'd seen in the video.
Molly Hale.
Ash hesitated at the sight, then slowed to a stop. "Is she… okay?" he asked softly.
Delia nodded and answered just as quietly. "She's fine. Fast asleep. You boys shouldn't have come."
Ash blinked. "What do you mean?"
"This wasn't your job. You should've let the police or the League handle this."
Delia still saw Ash as her little boy, not someone who had stood toe-to-toe with legendary Pokémon, battled Team Rocket dozens of times, and crossed regions on foot. In her mind, he was still the child who left home with a Pikachu and a backpack.
But to Ash, this wasn't just another mission.
"I couldn't just sit back and do nothing," he said. "I'm your son. I had to come."
He glanced down at the sleeping girl. "That's Molly?"
Delia nodded. "She's been here this whole time. Entei left a few minutes ago."
Ash crouched beside them, whispering, "The Unown made all of this…"
Kai stepped forward. "This isn't the time for a reunion. We need to get out of here now."
But fate had other plans.
Just as Delia started to rise, Molly's eyes snapped open.
"No one's taking my mommy away!" she cried, voice trembling with emotion.
Then she turned to Delia. "You promised you'd stay with me! Please, don't leave me!"
Delia gently placed a hand on Molly's back. "Sweetheart… I'm not your mommy. My name is Delia. I'm Ash's mother. Don't you remember? You visited Pallet Town with your parents a few years ago—"
"No!" Molly shouted. "I don't want to remember! I don't care! You're my mommy now!"
Her tears shimmered and then the entire room shook.
Jagged crystals erupted from the floor, stabbing upward like spears. They radiated outward from Molly in a violent wave, slicing the room into fragments of safe and unsafe ground.
Kai rolled and dodged expertly, but when the assault stopped, he realized what had happened:
The group had been separated.
He and Ash were now trapped on different sections of the floor, unable to regroup.
A flash of light and Entei reappeared, landing protectively beside Molly.
"Daddy!" she called out, eyes still filled with tears. "They're trying to take Mommy away!"
Daddy!?
Ash staggered. 'That… thing… was her father!?'
Entei glared at them with burning eyes. The heat of his presence was suffocating.
"Leave the woman and go. This is not your place."
Ash narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Delia. "Over my dead body."
There was no more room for talk.
This wasn't a debate. It was a battle.
Entei and Molly wanted Delia to stay.
Ash and Kai had come to bring her home.
Only strength would decide the outcome now.
Kai scanned the battlefield, then called out across the crystal barrier. "Ash! We'll split up. You protect your mom I'll find the Unown and shut this all down!"
Ash nodded. "Got it! Good luck, Kai!"
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