My Idea for an alternation Reborn route
I put this as a spoiler in case people are new to the game
I'm a longtime fan of Pokemon Reborn. I played it after an old run of Pokemon Rejuvenation years ago and after getting a new computer, I played through Reborn again. Personally, I preferred the R-Determination route because it was the only route to revive Taka in postgame but keep Lin alive at the end. (Plus I'm not a real fan of the Anna postgame in Anna Smiles).
However, I always wondered about a third route besides Zekrom and Reshiram routes that not only was a "true" route but had the Lin and Anna smiles postgames combined in a way. After days of thinking, I came up with a sort of secret third route idea that will not ever happen since the game is completed, but seemed like a cool idea. So permit me a chance to layout what I think a great third route for Reborn would be if I could make one.
Essentially, the third route's goal is to achieve the "true" ending of Pokemon Reborn and I felt that the only way to do that was by having the protagonist gain some sort of ability to prevent or alter certain events. I think the prerequisite for this route would require two completed save files in Pokemon Reborn's folder, being a Zekrom/Lin route and an Anna Smiles route. Having these routes completed will unlock a password the player can enter on the home screen to access the third route and instead of speak to Ame at the start on the train, the player would speak with an unknown duo of characters who tell them a way to achieve the best outcome for Reborn - a Jade and ivory gauntlet with empty stone holds in it. As specific story events are complete, the player will be granted four special stones/keys (Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald obviously) to go into the gauntlet. To ensure that the player stays on track, anytime they either deviate from a potential event change or need a clue, they would be told by one of these characters a warning or a way to continue on the path.
Some story events that would be altered is Belrose Manse and Taka's role in the game. In Yureyu - if the player has continued on the third route successfully - they'll get a third choice to split up from Cain. Cain will free Heather from Sigmund and the player will battle Sirius alone to save Anna. In Belrose Manse, the player would have to stay downstairs with Sigmund to trigger the Saphira cutscene where she normally gets captured, but the player will not choose "Stop Sigmund" but choose "Stop Seviper" to save Saphria, but get kidnapped themselves. This completely changes Tanzan as the player is kidnapped and saved by Charlotte with Laura and Saphira looking for her in the mountain. Completing the rest of Tanzan Mountain will grant the player a stone key for the gauntlet - probably a Sapphire one I would guess.
Now for Taka. I personally disliked that Taka's only way to live via battling him at the WTC left him without an eye and still pretty developmentally weak as a character, but that the route with the best development killed him and kept him dead unless you beat Solaris at Pyrous and he didn't even get revived until mid postgame! In the WTC, the player will not choose to answer Taka's choice by not choosing an option for thirty seconds. This lets Ace come in to battle the player and changes Ace's original death at Devon Corp as Taka will witness Ace's death and escape, but only with his Chatot. This leads to the desert where the player travels with Taka, but to complete the true route, they have to explore the major desert areas with Taka before going to the trainyard and continuing the story. New story events will happen that allows Taka to rebuild a new team. In the trainyard, the player will be prompted to rest in the traincar with Taka and have a premonition of Taka's death. Instead of traveling to Titania's gym alone, the player will take Taka with them as to prevent Taka from being kidnapped by Lin.
The dragon fight in the Dragon's Den will be a double battle with Taka as a partner and Taka essentially won't be killed at all. (That's the intention). Taka will witness the gym battle between Titania and the player and ask to train with Titania to be better. Titania was the one who kinda told him to choose a side, and I think Taka's desire to be like the player (as explored in the Void if Solaris was beaten) and his capability to be stronger (if revived in reshiram route) would be part of this arc. He would show up later in Agate with Titania and a better team. He would also be in Labradorra and during the tournament, things would change around so that Taka would be the player's partner. After the tournament, Solaris would be killed by Lin, but Taka would be there as his father is in his last moments. This would technically be the last of Taka in the main game as he would be aiding his father and trying to save him but failing to do so.
The end of the game is another major change. It would be similar to the Anna Smiles route with three Lin battles, but Lin would not die. The player would use the gauntlet to save themselves and Lin from Pulse Arc while Anna still uses her wish. I also want to mention here that for the purposes of this route, I imagine that Anna would be the only one that knows the player is altering events away from what she wants so she'll be very cold towards the player because they aren't playing the game correctly. In the postgame, Anna would still be the main antagonist and stuck in New World Asylum, but Lin would still be alive and be the Player's travel buddy for a majority of the quests and go through her own development arc. The game would end with Lin and Anna making up and the player being thanked by the two characters for achieving proper peace.
These two characters would be the protagonists of YOUR Zekrom and Anna Smiles routes in the other save files, using their Arceus to break space time and form a new route.
I have other things I didn't mention from my google doc and list but this is kinda my idea dump. Again I really love Pokemon Reborn and love the characters a ton and thanks for bearing with me for this very long idea post. 😄