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Kai looked up. "We're travelers passing through. Is there anywhere we can eat or stay?"
The woman's eyes widened as she recognized him. "Wait— you're the one who won the Silver Conference yesterday! I saw you on TV!" She smiled warmly. "We don't have inns here, but… if you don't mind, you can stay at my house."
Kai exchanged looks with Erika, Ash, Misty, and Brock. Everyone nodded.
They climbed the wooden stairs connected to the treetop house.
The woman looked about twenty-six or twenty-seven, with long light-green hair tied in twin ponytails, wearing a pink tank top and jeans a stark contrast to the village's rustic feel. Around her neck hung a necklace of three shining gold coins.
"Welcome to Arborville Village," she said kindly. "I'm Miku."
"I'm Kai," he replied.
"I'm Ash!"
"I'm Misty!"
Brock suddenly dropped to one knee in front of Miku, his eyes sparkling. "My name is Brock. I never imagined someone so beautiful could live in such a peaceful village—"
BONK!
Misty smacked him on the head, ending the awkward moment.
Inside the treetop house, an elderly woman waited. She looked at the group curiously.
"Miku, who are these people?"
"Grandma," Miku explained, "this is Kai, the Champion of the Silver Conference. They're passing through and needed a place to stay, so I brought them here."
She introduced the elder, "This is my grandmother, Eien. She's the Guardian of the Forest Entrance."
"Guardian of the Forest Entrance?" the group echoed, intrigued.
Eien examined them carefully a young man, a woman, two kids, and a darker-skinned boy. From their faces alone, she could tell they meant no harm.
"You're welcome to stay," she said. "But remember — if you enter the forest tomorrow and hear the forest's voice, do not move. No matter what."
She wore traditional robes, a headscarf, and carried a wooden staff. Unlike Miku's necklace of three coins, Eien's had five coins, clearly marking her higher status.
"What forest?" Erika asked. "We didn't hear anything on the way here."
"I'm not talking about the regular forest," Eien said, turning to the window. "I'm talking about that one."
Through the window lay a much larger, denser forest.
"The Mysterious Forest," Miku explained. "It's an old village tradition. But seriously—if you don't want to get lost, you'd better listen to my grandmother."
Ash's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Mysterious Forest? Sounds like there might be some rare Pokémon in there!"
Eien: "…"
Miku: "…"
The adults exchanged a helpless look.
That night, Eien and Miku served them a local feast a delicious mushroom and vegetable stew, so flavorful that Erika whispered to Kai, "I should bring these seeds home."
Kai agreed completely.
Though they tried to offer payment, Miku just smiled and shook her head.
"Travelers are always welcome here. It's our tradition."
Later, everyone was given a simple room in an empty treehouse. Kai lay between Erika on his left, already asleep against the wall, and Misty on his right clearly too excited to sleep, rolling restlessly.
Across from them, Ash and Brock were out cold. Brock was snoring loudly.
Moonlight spilled across Kai's face.
During dinner, he had finally remembered where they were.
This was the exact same village from the Celebi movie the place where Ash and young Professor Oak had met Celebi.
That meant…
He glanced at his bag, pulled out the GS Ball, and held it in his hand.
Hearing the rustle, Misty turned and noticed the Poké Ball. Her eyes widened.
"Wait— Kai, isn't that the GS Ball? Why is it with you?"
"It was entrusted to me," Kai said softly. "Funny, isn't it? After everything… this ball ended up in my hands. And I have a feeling… it's almost time to use it."
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The next morning, after finishing breakfast, the group filled their water supplies, said goodbye to Eien and Miku, and headed toward the Mysterious Forest.
The entrance to the forest was quite unique. It was formed from a massive ancient tree that had fallen long ago, and at its center, a large hollow tunnel had been carved out.
The tunnel stretched at least twenty meters, making everyone wonder what kind of majestic sight this tree must've been before it fell.
This fallen tree separated the village from the forest. And though it was only a short walk, the moment the group stepped into the forest, they all felt the air around them change even the atmosphere was different.
Wild Pokémon could be seen everywhere: Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Butterfree flew overhead; Hoothoot, Spinarak, and Heracross clung to the trees; Rattata, Sentret, and Nidoran scurried on the ground.
Just a few steps in, they had already spotted a huge variety of Pokémon. The density of Pokémon here was incredible.
Perhaps because this place rarely saw outsiders, the wild Pokémon weren't afraid. They simply tilted their heads curiously at the trainers passing through.
"There are so many Pokémon here!" Misty shivered as she spotted several Weedle crawling on the ground and quickly moved closer to Kai.
Kai, knowing Misty's fear of Bug-type Pokémon, shielded her with a small smile. Then he turned to Erika and Ash.
"Yeah, the population density is huge. But this is a good opportunity. If any of you want to catch something, now's the time."
Erika and Ash both shook their heads their teams were already full.
About half an hour later, as they ventured deeper, an endless surge of green light swept toward them, covering the forest canopy.
A soft, ethereal sound echoed through the air.
"What's going on?" Ash looked around nervously. But after a few moments, he realized the green light wasn't hurting him, and relaxed.
"This must be the forest's 'voice' that Eien mentioned yesterday," Kai said calmly, pointing toward where the light came from. "It's coming from that way. Let's check it out."
He strode forward confidently. Ash and Misty followed. Erika hesitated for a second Eien had clearly said not to move when the voice appears — but she sighed. These were Pokémon Trainers. Curiosity always won out.
She caught up with them.
They crossed a stream, climbed a small hill, and soon arrived at an ancient moss-covered altar. It was little more than a pile of stacked stones with a small stele on top.
Then, in a flash of dazzling light, a boy clutching a small Pokémon appeared out of thin air, landing right in front of the altar.
The mysterious Pokémon immediately wriggled free and flew off into the forest, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Kai's sharp eyes caught its silhouette.
Celebi.
Exactly as he expected. This was the Celebi time-travel arc.
The boy on the ground was clearly the one who had traveled here from the past.
Ash and the others rushed over. "Hey! Wake up! Are you okay?"
The boy was unconscious. Erika checked his breathing. "He's alive but hurt. We need to get him back to the village."
Kai called out Tyranitar to carry the boy, and the group hurried back to the Village.
When Eien and Miku saw them return so soon, they were stunned.
"What happened?"
"We found an unconscious boy in the forest," Ash explained quickly.
Miku fetched a first aid kit. By the time they returned, the boy was waking up. But the moment he opened his eyes and saw Ash's face, he panicked and shoved him backward.
"I won't let you take Celebi!"
"What the—!?" Ash landed hard on the floor, stunned.
Brock and Misty quickly pulled the two apart.
The boy slowly came to his senses and looked around, confused. "W-Where am I…?"
When Eien saw the boy's face, she gasped.
"It's you… after all these years…"
Miku blinked. "Grandma… you know this boy?"
Eien's expression softened, but her voice trembled.
"Do you remember the boy I told you about… the one who disappeared in this forest 40 years ago?"
Miku's eyes widened. "Wait— you mean… this is him?"
Eien nodded firmly. "Yes. I'd recognize that face anywhere."
The boy stared at her in shock. "You're… the lady who gave me bread that day…"
Their half-finished conversation confused everyone except Kai who already knew this was the moment when Young Professor Oak appeared.
Inside Eien's treehouse, the boy was handed an old, worn notebook wrapped in thick cloth.
"This… is yours, isn't it?" Eien said softly.
He unwrapped it slowly, his eyes widening. "This is… my notebook. But… how…? It looks like it's been here for decades."
Eien sighed gently. "That's because… you traveled through time."
Her words shocked everyone.
Ash tilted his head blankly. "Uh… what does that mean exactly?"
Miku set down tea for everyone and explained, "This boy has traveled through 40 years of time. The way he looks now is exactly how my grandmother saw him four decades ago."
Ash nearly fell off his chair. "No way…!"
The boy suddenly remembered something. He sat up in a panic. "Celebi! Where's Celebi?!"
They shook their heads — they hadn't seen it.
"Celebi," Eien said solemnly, "is a mythical Pokémon… the Guardian of the Forest. It gives life to these woods and has the power to travel through time."
Brock nodded slowly. "So… you came here through Celebi's power?"
"Yes," Eien replied.
"Then the green light earlier must have been Celebi," Misty murmured.
Eien frowned. "Celebi lives deep within the forest, near the Lake of Life. But no one has ever seen it travel through time before. Why now?"
"It's because Celebi was hurt," the boy said urgently. "Someone was chasing it! I have to save it!"
Ash slammed his hands on the table. "Then I'm coming too!"
"Me too!" Misty added. "We can't just ignore something like that."
The boy smiled faintly. "Thank you… My name's Sam."
"I'm Ash," Ash grinned. "Future Pokémon Master. And this is my partner, Pikachu!"
"I'm Brock — former Gym Leader and top-tier Pokémon Breeder."
"I'm Misty — world-class beautiful girl," she added with a dramatic twirl.
Kai downed his tea, stood up, and introduced himself. "I'm Kai, a Pokémon Trainer. And this is Erika, my partner."
After quick introductions, they left the treehouse together. Sam had recovered his fainting had been caused by shock and the side effects of time travel.
Ash and the others didn't know it, but Kai did.
Sam Oak — the young Professor Oak.
Of course, he didn't say a word. Time travel was dangerous.
The group crossed the massive fallen tree again and re-entered the Mysterious Forest.
This was their second time entering today, but no one was bored. Their hearts raced with excitement at the thought of seeing the mythical Celebi.
Pikachu suddenly perked up, ears twitching, and dashed into the bushes.
They followed quickly and soon reached an open clearing where two massive tree trunks lay crossed. A group of wild Pokémon had gathered around a tree hollow, doing something.
And thus, the Celebi arc truly began.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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