It seemed that only his thoughts could move now—his body remained completely paralyzed.
After a while, the surrounding subspace flickered again, and Lucius and Gardevoir materialized in the seawater.
This time, however, there was no longer that sacred yet terrifying flame chasing them...
Now that they were safe, Lucius saw no need to remain hidden underwater. He teleported alongside Celebi to a nearby forest.
"Anabel?" Lucius could sense that the small body of this Celebi had been entirely infected by the virus—down to the very last cell.
Celebi nodded weakly, its expression filled with exhaustion. Its hovering form trembled uncontrollably.
It was clear that freezing them in subspace had taken a tremendous toll on her.
"You saved me?" Lucius was puzzled. If there was anyone in the world who wished for his death, Anabel was certainly among the top three contenders. Yet, she had just rescued him.
At that moment, Anabel barely had the strength to keep herself afloat and plummeted toward the ground.
Lucius reached out, catching her before she hit the forest floor.
She had lost consciousness...
Lucius scanned his surroundings. They were deep in a jungle, though the trees were not overly dense. The sky had turned a shade of amber—sunset was approaching.
"Gardevoir, see if there's a town nearby," Lucius instructed.
Gardevoir glanced at Anabel before rising into the air, surveying the area. In moments, it returned and teleported them again.
With a flicker of space, Lucius found himself in a small town.
His communicator had been damaged in the water, so he casually purchased a new one.
This was Cherrygrove City—a small settlement west of New Bark Town in the Johto region. It lacked an official Pokémon League Gym, with only a few minor training dojos present.
"Cherrygrove City..." Lucius recalled this place. In the original Pokémon Gold and Silver, this was the first town the protagonist reached after leaving New Bark Town, where an old man gifted them a pair of Running Shoes.
He booked a hotel room and began to sense the status of other infected individuals.
To his surprise, it had already been two days since he was attacked on the ship...
This meant that the flow of time in subspace was completely different from reality.
Many things had transpired in these two days. Firstly, under Pierce's command, Hive had fully absorbed Team Rocket's operations in Kanto. Effectively, Hive had taken over all of Team Rocket's facilities, though business had yet to resume.
Now, they were simply waiting for Lucius's command to officially restart operations under Hive's name.
At the same time, Giovanni had released a public video statement, admitting his identity as Team Rocket's leader and announcing the expulsion of Pierce and Proton. He also issued a bounty on them.
At the end of the video, he extended an invitation to all remaining Team Rocket members in Kanto, reassuring them that Team Rocket was still their home, and welcoming them to Johto.
Meanwhile, from Ophelia's reports, Silph Co.'s Vice President, Andreas, had been taken into League custody for investigation. Other executives, including Ophelia herself, were also under scrutiny.
However, due to her deep connections within Shadow Ops, Ophelia remained unconcerned. Instead, Devon Corporation had taken advantage of Silph Co.'s plummeting stock value, aggressively acquiring shares and replacing key personnel in several major projects. Their intentions were obvious.
Two days ago, a mysterious force had suddenly appeared over the southern seas of Kanto. A blazing white firestorm erupted over an area spanning more than five hundred miles, nearly consuming the Sevii Islands.
A ship traveling from Slateport City in Hoenn to Vermilion City in Kanto was struck by this unknown force and vanished within the inferno.
The Pokémon League did not deny the emergence of a strange virus across multiple regions, urging anyone experiencing symptoms—or affected Pokémon—to seek immediate medical attention.
...
Clearly, much had transpired in just two days.
Handing full control of Team Rocket's operations to Hive was inevitable. The infected needed food and supplies. Running a massive organization with nothing to sustain it was impossible. Without Silph Co., they had to keep the machinery running.
As for Devon's acquisition of Silph Co.? That was of little concern. The priority now was Anabel and Lugia's plan.
Glancing at the unconscious Anabel, Lucius instructed Gardevoir to use Heal Pulse on her.
With the healing power of a Pokémon at the King level, Anabel's energy was quickly restored.
She opened her eyes and saw Volkner sitting on the couch beside her.
"Awake? Want something to eat?" Lucius asked, offering her a bag of Pokémon food from the hotel.
"..." Anabel's brow twitched, and after a brief pause, she softly replied, "No need."
"Hahaha." Amused by her reaction, Lucius chuckled. "So, you've mastered Celebi's ability to travel through time?"
Previously, this cloned Celebi had not demonstrated such an ability to manipulate time within subspace.
"Even though this Celebi is a clone, it still possesses the ability to traverse time. It simply hadn't learned how to before," Anabel explained quietly.
"Impressive. You became a Champion-level leader at twenty—quite the prodigy." Lucius smirked before adding, "So, does this mean you're joining us? If not, I'm rather curious as to why you saved me."
"Because Ho-Oh cannot be allowed to kill you," Anabel stated grimly.
Through Anabel's brief explanation, Lucius finally understood why she had suddenly appeared to rescue him.
A few days ago, during her psychic training, she had gained initial control over her ability to traverse time. Out of curiosity, she traveled a few days into the future to see whether she would ultimately side with Lugia.
However, what she saw instead was a world engulfed in chaos.
Ho-Oh had pursued the virus's source from the ocean all the way to Johto's mainland, burning everything in its path with its Sacred Flames. The entire Sevii Islands and large portions of southern Johto had been completely reduced to ashes, claiming countless lives—both human and Pokémon.
After Ho-Oh destroyed the virus's origin, every infected human and Pokémon across the world suddenly lost control, mutating into horrifying monsters—including several Elite Four members and numerous high-ranking, even legendary-class, Pokémon.
With no restraints, these mutated Pokémon wreaked havoc across Kanto and Hoenn, devastating entire cities. Anyone they attacked—humans and Pokémon alike—were transformed into monsters, turning the regions into living nightmares.
She had no idea how the rest of the world, or the Mythical Pokémon, would respond, but she knew one thing for certain—
She could not accept such a future.
To prevent this horrifying reality from unfolding, the virus's origin could not be allowed to die at Ho-Oh's hands.
Thus, she had entered subspace, intercepting Lucius and Gardevoir, freezing time in that small area, and hiding the virus's source within it.
Only after Ho-Oh sensed that the evil presence had disappeared, ceased its Sacred Flames, and left the area, did she allow time to flow once more, returning them to reality.
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