Chapter 0765: Celebi Appears! Traveling Through Time(Two-in-One)

The Prison Bottle stood silently on the ground.

"So… is this what counts as a successful Imprisonment?"

Gold tapped the Prison Bottle twice with his pool cue.

Baraz’s face turned pale. “Please be careful.”

If the Prison Bottle cracked, there would be no way left to restrain Freeing Hoopa!

"Relax, I’m a pro! Haha!"

Gold wiped his nose and put the pool cue away.

When it came to reckless behavior, Gold the Fifth was indeed a professional.

Recalling the previous scene, Meray gazed at Natsume with awe.

This Messenger of Arceus could even channel the power of the Pixie Plate...

If he hadn’t been here, Freeing Hoopa would have already been on a rampage!

"What was that just now?"

Silver asked Baraz, “Why was that energy so frenzied?”

"That was... Hoopa’s negative feelings, Imprisoned in the Prison Bottle. Great-grandfather called them its 'shadow.'"

Baraz spoke gloomily. “I tried to strengthen the seal, but the shadow took over…”

"It’s not entirely your fault."

Natsume steadied his breath, put away the Pixie Plate, and said, “What matters now is how we make sure the shadow doesn’t return.”

"Hoopa~" Hoopa shrank down on Natsume’s shoulder, face pale.

"The shadow tries to consume Hoopa, to gain a more complete and powerful strength," Baraz said. “Though it is back in the Prison Bottle, the seal is on the verge of failure, and the shadow will certainly re-emerge.”

“So…”

Baraz glanced at the cracked Prison Bottle, gaze grave.

"We need to make a new Prison Bottle!"

"A new one? That thing can be remade?" Gold asked, astonished.

Meray nodded. “Our great-grandfather, Ghris, borrowed Arceus’s water, fire, and earth energy, and used The Power of One at the disc atop the Desert Spire to create the Prison Bottle.”

"To this day, the Desert Spire still preserves the primordial sources of water, fire, and earth energy needed to make the Prison Bottle, but..."

"But the method for making it has been lost," Baraz said bitterly.

"Lost?" everyone asked at once.

"That’s right," Baraz muttered. “Great-grandfather meant to teach me, but I hadn’t mastered the training yet, and then… in his last days, he became forgetful, and finally passed away.”

Natsume was taken aback.

Such a critical technique... lost?

No wonder you fell under Freeing Hoopa’s control—your training is clearly lacking!

“So, we have to acquire the method for creating the Prison Bottle.”

Meray said, “The way is for my brother and me to return to the past, and seek advice from our great-grandfather himself!”

"Wait, that’s... absurd—time travel to the past..."

Gold paused.

Wait, come to think of it, Natsume and I do this kind of thing often...

Meray: “Hoopa’s portals can call on Time-traveling Pokémon, so going to the past isn’t out of reach.”

Baraz: “No, Meray, you should stay here, and watch over Hoopa and the Prison Bottle.”

"Brother, it should be me—"

"Enough."

Natsume cut in, rather headache-stricken, “Let the professionals handle this.”

These siblings were way too unreliable—sending them to the past was a terrible idea. He’d have to do it himself.

The siblings both looked at Natsume-sensei in surprise.

"You two stay here, look after the Prison Bottle,” Natsume said, “Hoopa will come with me.”

"I’ll go seek out Ghris myself and ask him how to make the Prison Bottle!"

"But… you don’t even know him—"

"I can recognize him with The Power of One," Natsume said.

Well, and some vague scenes from the movie—I mostly knew what Ghris looked like.

Baraz and Meray exchanged glances.

After seeing Natsume-sensei’s Power of One just now, they had nothing but faith.

Maybe letting him go really was the safest bet...

"What about me? I’ll go with you!" Gold volunteered eagerly.

Natsume: "You stay here. Help Baraz guard the Prison Bottle."

“Don’t cause any trouble,” Natsume warned. “If the Prison Bottle breaks, I’ll hold you responsible.”

Gold: ?

Why is it always me who gets blamed?

"Hoopa, I’m counting on you."

Natsume turned and looked at the trembling Hoopa, speaking earnestly:

"Summon a time-traveling Pokémon… Hoopa, I know you can do it!"

"But... Hoopa will disappear..." Hoopa’s voice was reedy, as if it had caught a cold.

"You won’t."

Natsume took Hoopa’s little hand, channeling a gentle Aura of Ripple.

“Trust me,” Natsume said, voice deep and resolute. “We will make it through this safely!”

Hoopa opened its squinting eyes and sized Natsume up.

It felt the Aura surging inside, its courage returning with its strength.

Hoopa smiled, floated up, and took the golden ring off its horn.

"Hehe, watch what Hoopa can do—!"

With a deep breath, the golden ring formed a dazzling portal, and Hoopa shouted loud:

“Hoopa~ let’s fish!!”

In the lush Ilex Forest, the cicadas droned, sunlight dappled through the leaves.

In the fog, a shrine suddenly glowed, startling Pidgey and Hoothoot into flight.

A green, fairy-like Pokémon with firefly wings and a curious face hovered before the portal that appeared.

The portal pulsed with strange space energy.

Receiving the gentle Pulse, Celebi flew in.

When it opened its eyes again, it was on the outskirts of the City of Wastes.

“Celebi?!” Gold was shocked.

“It really… summoned Celebi,” Silver said, eyes shining with awe.

Both had encountered Celebi before.

Old man Pryce had spent his life pursuing Celebi, only to fail.

And now… Hoopa had fished it out effortlessly!?

"Celebi~"

Celebi blinked its dark-ringed eyes and gleefully circled the group.

It was called the ‘Forest Guardian Deity,’ naturally inclined to help humans, and famous for its time-traveling power.

Hoopa looked at everyone’s faces, giggling behind its hand:

“Hehe, did that scare you?!”

Crystal muttered, “This time, I really am scared…”

Natsume stared in wonder—this was his first encounter with Celebi as well.

He’d thought Hoopa would summon the Temporal Dragon, Dialga.

But for time-travel, Celebi was certainly more convenient than Dialga.

“Please help us, Celebi.”

Natsume put his hand to his heart and spoke solemnly: “Take Hoopa and me back to Ghris’s era, so we can save the world from this crisis!”

The Aura of Ripple flooded out in gentle white light toward Celebi in a show of goodwill.

Though Celebi didn’t fully understand, it was only too happy to help humans.

"Celebi~" Celebi smiled, freely flitting in the air.

“Celebi’s asking us for the exact time,” Natsume translated.

“One hundred years ago! That’s the safest date—when our grandfather crafted the Prison Bottle and sealed the shadow!” Baraz yelled.

Natsume nodded and lifted his head: “Let’s go, Celebi!”

"Celebi!"

Celebi raised its little hands, fluttered its wings, and a narrow rift in time appeared before it.

Celebi signaled for Natsume to follow and dove inside.

“Natsume-sensei, please come back safe!” Gold shouted.

Natsume waved, cradled Hoopa, and leaped into the time rift amid everyone’s hopeful gazes.

“Wheee, a slide, a slide!” Hoopa cheered excitedly.

“It’s not a slide, it’s a time tunnel!”

Fragments of time flowed by Natsume: visions of alternate timelines, countless parallel universes flashing before his eyes.

The torrent of time drove Natsume onward like a tiny boat in the ocean, tossed and turned, lost and without direction.

But ahead, Celebi glimmered like the morning star.

Natsume gripped Hoopa tighter, following Celebi’s guidance toward the unknown ages.

……

New Island, Team Rocket Secret Base.

"The super demon god… Hoopa, huh."

Darkness masked the man’s face as he set down his files and spoke in a gravelly voice.

“Yes. Ghris, the guardian of Arche Valley, recently passed, and there are reports of Punishment Hoopa sightings in the City of Wastes,” Matori replied respectfully.

Tap, tap.

Giovanni’s fingers drummed on the sofa’s arm as he massaged his temples, voice hoarse:

“Could Hoopa be made to serve Team Rocket?”

“According to records, one hundred years ago, Freeing Hoopa summoned a sky-darkening metallic giant, battled it fiercely, and demonstrated terrifying power.”

Matori spoke gravely, “Even Regigigas struggled to match Freeing Hoopa… so I believe there’s no need to risk trying to control Hoopa.”

“That was an unawakened Regigigas.”

Giovanni had already seen what awakened Regigigas could do—even Arceus gave it a wide berth. He spoke lightly:

“And then? How did the Freeing Hoopa incident end?”

“One hundred years ago, Arceus’s Messenger, with a local Aura warrior, forged the Prison Bottle and sealed away Freeing Hoopa.”

Matori said, “Now that Ghris is gone, there may be no one left in Arche Valley to control the Prison Bottle’s power.”

Giovanni frowned slightly, decisive as ever:

“Alert Rocket Delivery in the City of Wastes to prepare emergency wartime plans. Dispatch the nearest Executive Member to assist.”

"The nearest Executive Member..."

Matori’s face twitched.

Jessie, James, Meowth…

They had been made the Three Executives, yes.

But could they really accomplish anything in the face of Hoopa…?

“What is it?” Giovanni asked.

“Nothing, sir. I’ll see to it at once!” Matori hurried off.

Giovanni stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, the glass reflecting an aging, deeply furrowed man.

In the land of legends, Hoopa could draw on the power of different dimension, even cause parallel universes to meet.

Giovanni’s sharp gaze pierced the clouds, as if meeting the gaze of another self.

What would my parallel self do?

Conquer the league, command Legendary Pokémon, or rule the world...

Giovanni narrowed his eyes, a frosty glint deep within.

Someone will succeed.

Because that person is me—leader of the Evil Organization, Giovanni of the red “R.”

But for now...

He looked down at the pocket-watch in his hand, a photograph of a red-haired youth inside, face cold and distant.

He slowly closed his palm.

Giovanni put on his coat and hat, turned and strode away, the hatch opening and shutting behind him as his silhouette vanished.

I am myself.

The Giovanni of the Earth.

……

“Looks like a storm’s coming.”

Serena looked up at the thickening clouds.

“I wonder where all the pool water went,” Ash said, scratching his head.

“Oh no, don’t tell me we’ll have to pay for it!” Clemont gulped.

“No need to worry about that.”

On the marble balcony of the neighboring beach resort, a graceful blue-haired aristocrat in a suit, champagne in hand, smiled:

“This resort is Devon Corporation property. Make yourselves at home.”

Ash and the others stared in awe.

“Hello there,” Steven smiled, “I saw your travel plans in the group chat.”

“I happened to be near the City of Wastes, so I thought I’d stop by and have a look.” Steven

"Steven!" Ash’s eyes lit up, then he asked, "But how did you end up in the City of Wastes?"

“Well…” Steven considered, “The Guardians of Arche Valley sent rescue requests to several different leagues.”

“I’m representing the Hoenn League for a field investigation—Natsume-sensei has probably already arrived ahead of me.”

“Natsume-sensei is in the City of Wastes too?” Ash asked, surprised.

“It’s just an educated guess—after all, he’s the Champion of the Touran League… Hasn’t he contacted you?”

“No, maybe he didn’t know we came to the City of Wastes on vacation.” Ash scratched his head.

“I see… Ash, want to travel together?”

Steven smiled in invitation: “Let’s go to Arche Valley and see what’s happening.”

“Of course, please lead the way, Steven!” Ash replied enthusiastically.

……

Clouds gathered, wind stirring. In the sky, Team Rocket’s Meowth-shaped hot air balloon drifted.

The trio peered through binoculars, searching:

“Boss Giovanni said the Prison Bottle’s out here, meow…”

“I heard it’s some kind of amazing treasure. If we offer it up to the Executives, they’ll be thrilled,” James said with a grin.

Executives were the trio’s direct superiors. Giving it straight to Boss Giovanni himself… that would break the chain of command.

“Fools, we’re Team Rocket’s Three Executives! If we’re doing it, we go big!” Jessie retorted.

James and Meowth turned to her, waiting.

Jessie huffed, “We’ll wait and watch, then when the so-called Hoopa Pokémon shows up, we’ll nab it and the Prison Bottle both for the Executives!”

“Wobbuffet!”

“Found it, meow!”

In Meowth’s binoculars, a crowd appeared at the center of the plaza.

Gold with his pool cue, Crystal with her backpack, Silver with his Pokédex—all around a red bottle at the center.

Meowth pointed:

“That’s gotta be the Prison Bottle, meow!”

……

One hundred years ago.

The City of Wastes was only a small settlement in the desert.

Sand whipped through the air, yellow dust everywhere.

On a high dune, a narrow space rift suddenly opened.

Celebi, fairy-like, flew out first, then turned back.

Thud!

Natsume tumbled out face-first into the rough sand, spitting grit.

First time traveling with Celebi—guess I’m not so skilled yet!

"Celebi~" Celebi giggled.

"Hoopa’s scared, too!" Hoopa hovered up, wide-eyed at the unfamiliar scene.

Where there should be a city, there was only desert.

“According to this timeline, the City of Wastes hasn’t developed yet… but Freeing Hoopa is already sealed…”

Before he finished, Natsume looked up, his heart stalling.

Far in the direction of the tribe—

A hundred-foot-tall giant demon god, six arms raging with power, black holes carved into its chest, torrents of shadow swirling as it laughed maniacally:

“HOOPA—IS THE STRONGEST!”

Natsume: ?

Wait—I thought this time node was supposed to be safe!

This is literally the most dangerous point possible!