"Is there really no way for Hoopa to get its power back?" Serena asked, concern clear in her voice.
Baraz shook his head slowly, eyes distant as he recalled the past. "After Hoopa was sealed long ago, our great-grandfather brought it to his homeland… what is now called the Arche Valley."
"Though he's passed on, he left behind one final message. Until Hoopa understands the true meaning of punishment, it can't reclaim its full power, or pass through its own aura."
"Punishment…?" Ash repeated, latching onto the word. "Then how do we help Hoopa understand it?"
Everyone turned to look at Hoopa.
But the mischievous Pokémon only tilted its head in confusion.
"Hoopa doesn't know…" it said softly, clearly troubled.
Without that understanding, Hoopa would remain in its current form, cheerful, but forever incomplete. While this wouldn't harm it physically, Meray, who had grown up alongside Hoopa, couldn't bear to see her friend held back by fear and uncertainty.
Her gaze shifted toward the quiet figure across the table—Naoki, sipping his tea calmly.
Like their great-grandfather, he shared a connection with Arceus, the Original One. If anyone could offer guidance now, it was him.
"Mr. Naoki," she asked gently, "do you know what we should do?"
Naoki set his cup down, his voice even. "If Hoopa wants to reclaim its full strength, it must first understand the meaning of punishment… and choose to accept the power sealed inside the Prison Bottle of its own will."
Upon hearing that, Hoopa immediately flinched in fear.
"No! Hoopa will disappear! Hoopa won't be Hoopa anymore!"
Naoki looked at it carefully. "That power has been sealed in the Prison Bottle for a hundred years. It was originally a part of you, but the long isolation twisted it into something else. It became angry. If you try to absorb it without reconciling, its rage could overwhelm you, and take over."
Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment.
Ash was the first to speak. "Wait… so you're saying that power is Hoopa too?"
"You could put it that way," Naoki replied, glancing at Meray and Baraz. "I can think of a few possible approaches. But in the end, it depends on you, and Hoopa."
"Please, tell us!" Meray said without hesitation.
Thanks to Naoki's intervention earlier, the Prison Bottle hadn't been shattered by Team Rocket like in the original timeline. That meant they had more options to resolve this peacefully.
Naoki nodded and continued. "The first method is to help Hoopa understand what punishment truly means, and to share its memories, its experiences, with the part of itself that's sealed in the bottle."
He paused briefly.
"The second method… is to forcibly defeat the shadow within the bottle. But doing so could deepen its hatred. If that happens…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but Meray and Baraz already understood the implication.
Force might work in the short term, but it would only feed the shadow's rage. It could plant seeds of disaster for the future… and Hoopa might lose itself completely.
That left them with only one real choice.
"But does Hoopa understand punishment yet?" Naoki asked quietly.
Hoopa lowered its head again. "Hoopa… still doesn't know…"
Ash scratched his head, puzzled. "But if they're both Hoopa, why can't they just get along?"
Hoopa looked up, still shaken, but something in its heart stirred.
Naoki had said the shadow Hoopa had been sealed away, alone and angry, for a hundred years.
It was lonely.
And Hoopa understood loneliness.
"I… I want to get along with Shadow too," Hoopa murmured. "Hoopa wants to be friends…"
Baraz stood up with conviction. "Then let's help you! Let's talk to your shadow, and help it understand your heart!"
Meray nodded. "Yes. We'll do this together."
"We're in too!" Ash added with a grin. "Let's help Hoopa find its true self!"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu cheered, tail raised high.
Mew, Bear Baby, and Victini flew up as well.
"Mew!"
"Teddi!"
"Vii!" Victini added with a cheerful flip.
Hoopa looked around at everyone who had gathered to help him. His eyes shimmered with emotion.
"Everyone…"
Seeing this heartwarming scene, Naoki gave a small smile.
"It's a good decision," he said, "but we can't carry out this plan in the middle of the city."
"Huh?" Ash tilted his head in surprise.
But Clemont had already figured it out. "Shadow Hoopa's power is way too strong. If it appears in the city again, it could cause serious damage!"
Just like earlier, even though Shadow Hoopa only appeared briefly, a building had been destroyed, traffic had gone into chaos, and Officer Jenny had rushed over to investigate.
Fortunately, it had clearly been unintentional, so Officer Jenny had let them off with just a warning.
"In that case," Baraz said firmly, "we'll move the plan to the uninhabited desert. There's nothing out there, so it'll be safe."
"Alright!" Serena raised her hand in agreement. "Let's go help Hoopa!"
Naoki chuckled to himself. Since he was already involved this far, he might as well see it through to the end.
The group quickly packed up and prepared to leave for the desert.
Before departing, Naoki walked up to Hoopa and whispered, "Hoopa, could you fish out Koraidon for me?"
"No problem!" Hoopa replied cheerfully. He summoned a glowing golden ring, reached into it, and with a tug, shouted, "Hoopa—pull!"
A flash later, Koraidon popped out of the ring, landing smoothly beside them.
Back at the ranch, Indeedees were still holding down the fort, so Naoki felt confident he could be away for a little while.
With everyone assembled, Naoki looked around and smiled.
"Alright, let's move out!"
"Yeah!"
Since Naoki wasn't familiar with the area, Baraz took the lead.
The group rented several flying taxis from Desert City and soared across the skies, heading toward the barren stretches of the Kalos desert.
After nearly half an hour of flight, a vast, uninhabited expanse came into view.
Even wild Pokémon were rare here.
The landscape was harsh and empty. No natural resources, not even a cactus in sight, just endless dunes and windswept yellow sand.
"Mr. Naoki, how's this spot?" Baraz asked, leaping off his Braviary and landing on a dune.
Naoki surveyed the desolate terrain and nodded. "This will do perfectly."
"Alright then," Clemont said.
He adjusted his glasses with determination. From the robotic backpack strapped to his shoulders, a mechanical arm extended, carefully holding the Prison Bottle.
"Hoopa, are you ready?"
"Hoopa's ready!" the little Trickster Pokémon grinned, raising one hand as she prepared to reach for the Prison Bottle. Just as Naoki had suggested, she planned to share everything she had seen and experienced over the past hundred years with his sealed half.
"Let's begin!"
"You can do it, Hoopa!" Ash, Serena, Bonnie, and the others all cheered with smiles.
"Yeah!" Hoopa nodded with determination.
Then, from Hoopa's small body, a burst of radiant, multicolored light exploded outward. The light danced like threads of memory, wrapping around the Prison Bottle in front of him.
Hoopa closed her eyes.
With gentle focus, she began to share everything she had experienced in the past hundred years, her laughter, her mischief, the warmth of the people around her, with the other part of herself sealed within.
A hundred years ago, it was Ghris who had first taught him to plant seeds by hand.
Later, Ghris grew old, and new lives came into the world: Meray and Baraz.
The three of them grew up side by side. They played games, pulled pranks, and explored the town together. Meray loved to team up with Hoopa for harmless mischief, laughing wildly as they ran through the streets.
Hoopa tried to help the townspeople too.
When old man Dan was begging for rain during a drought, Hoopa got creative, it grabbed a handful of candy from Granny Mela's shop and tossed it skyward, hoping to sweeten the clouds.
When the children needed something heavy to press their dough while baking, Hoopa tried to help again by summoning a rumbling stone… but it ended up smashing the town's decorative statue instead.
They all scrambled to fix it, patching it up together in a flurry of chaos. But Granny Mela, though initially furious, forgave them, and even treated them all to warm, delicious donuts.
"Shadow…" Hoopa whispered, eyes still closed. "Hoopa has experienced so many things over the past hundred years. Let Hoopa share them all with you, little by little."
The radiant light surged in brilliance.
And then,
Silence.
The light faded. The desert fell still. Only the wind stirred the golden sand.
Everyone stared tensely at the now-quiet Prison Bottle.
Did it work?
Baraz stepped forward, his hand hovering above the lid. He hesitated, then slowly opened it.
The next second—
A violent surge of purple energy burst from the bottle and wrapped around Hoopa in a heartbeat.
"AHHH!" Hoopa cried out in pain, her small body convulsing in the grip of the overwhelming force.
"Hoopa!" Meray's heart clenched. She rushed forward, arms outstretched, but the power flung her back with a jolt of force.
"Miss Meray!" Serena ran to catch her.
Baraz stepped in quickly, the pendant of Arceus on his chest glowing brightly.
He raised his hand, and golden light streamed from the pendant, rushing toward Hoopa.
"Time, space, and all things in creation—break!"
As his voice echoed across the desert, the golden light intensified, forming a protective shield.
Meray got to her feet, joined her brother at Hoopa's side, and together they summoned the full strength of the divine power gifted to their ancestors by Arceus.
Baraz could feel the storm of emotions swirling inside the shadow, bitterness, pain, and searing jealousy.
His expression turned grim.
"It's no good!" he shouted. "The shadow is trying to take over Hoopa's body! The rage… it's enormous!"
He clenched his teeth and explained, "The shadow… it's jealous. Hoopa got to run free, laugh, and make friends for a hundred years, while the shadow sat sealed away, alone and forgotten. That pain has festered into hatred!"
"But… isn't the shadow also Hoopa?" Ash's hands balled into fists, voice trembling.
...
Bonus @1.5K