Ace fell into a chaotic space where three transparent ice surfaces floated in mid-air.
He focused his gaze and saw the three Legendary Beasts behind the ice, their eyes filled with urgency.
"So this is it. In that case, the mission is complete."
Ace smiled faintly, feeling this task was surprisingly easy.
He raised his hand, and Ninetales instantly shot out three bursts of Flamethrower, striking the three ice surfaces.
These three ice surfaces were special ice created by Pryce using the power of time. When sealed behind the ice, the time of the sealed person would be suspended. Therefore, no matter how the sealed person attacked the ice, they couldn't destroy it.
Unless, you have the power to break the completed time.
However, breaking the ice was simple. As long as the attack came from the future, from someone who had experienced the passage of time, even a newborn baby's casual tap could shatter it.
The three bursts of Flamethrower hit the ice surfaces, which instantly shattered. The three Legendary Beasts leaped out and regained their freedom.
"Thank you."
Among the three, Suicune stood in the middle, its forehead crystal glowing as it communicated with Ace telepathically, "Thanks to you, the curse has been broken, and the door to the outside world can now open."
With that, the three Legendary Beasts looked up in the direction Ace had come from. They let out a roar, leaped, and rushed out of the space.
"Side quest (Three Legendary Beasts) complete. Mission rating: S. Mission reward: 10,000 gold coins, 50 quest points."
"The gift package has been stored for you and can be claimed at any time."
Ace nodded to himself, patted the head of Ninetales beside him, and said, "Alright, the matter is settled. Let's go."
Ninetales nodded and followed Ace forward.
But the next moment, Ace stopped.
Ninetales looked back in confusion.
Ace also looked at his chest in confusion. There, a piece of broken ice blocked his path, adhering to his chest.
Even more troubling, Ace could sense that if he continued to move forward, this piece of ice wouldn't stop the rest of his body. However, it would hinder the part of his body within its range.
To put it plainly, if Ace kept walking, the part of his body in that area would be left behind and wouldn't move with him!
"Ninetales."
Ace immediately looked at Ninetales, who instantly understood. A small ball of fire shot over and shattered the ice.
The ice block broke, and Ace breathed a sigh of relief. But then, an extremely powerful force erupted, simultaneously affecting both Ace and Ninetales.
"Thump!"
The powerful force slammed into Ace, almost knocking the wind out of him.
Everything went black, and Ace was sent flying by the impact, disappearing from the space in an instant.
Ninetales met the same fate. A force hit it before it could react, sending it flying. Everything went black, and it too disappeared from the space.
Only after Ace and Ninetales left did the chaotic space gradually fall apart and vanish into the endless river of time.
The cause of all this was none other than the three Legendary Beasts.
They had been trapped there for who knows how long, constantly attacking the ice to break free. Every attack that hit the ice left some residual force within it.
However, since time was frozen at that one moment, the force had no way to dissipate.
Over a long period, this force accumulated within the ice. When the ice shattered, the massive amount of stored energy was released, causing the situation.
When the three Legendary Beasts broke the seal, they immediately sensed this and absorbed their own attacks, which is why Ace and Ninetales were not harmed at first.
But some power was still gathered in the shattered fragments. Ace was not one of the Legendary Beasts, so when Ninetales helped him shatter the ice, the power inside was released, knocking Ace and Ninetales away.
Thankfully, the Legendary Beasts had already absorbed most of the power, so the energy in the fragments was insufficient. Otherwise, if the long-accumulated power had erupted fully, it would have been more than just knocking them away—it would have blasted a hole right through Ace's chest!
...
Faintly, Ninetales sensed a small figure appear beside it. Before it could react, a powerful tug came, and Ninetales felt its body was about to be torn apart.
But soon, a gentle force neutralized the tearing sensation, followed by a dizzying feeling. Ninetales regained consciousness.
The next moment, what greeted its eyes was a lava lake!
Ninetales was shocked and immediately used its psychic power to float itself up.
Then, a small, green, elf-like creature appeared beside Ninetales.
"It's a good thing I found you, otherwise, you probably would have ended up in who knows where."
If Ace had been there, he would have instantly recognized the Pokémon.
That's right, the Pokémon in front of Ninetales was the one Pryce had been longing for: the Time Travel Pokémon, Celebi!
"Where is this? Where's my master?!"
Ninetales was a little panicked. Being separated from Ace was something it couldn't easily accept.
"You can't go back for now."
Celebi explained to Ninetales, "Although I forcibly pulled you back, you should have actually been scattered about a hundred years ago."
"What are you saying?! How do I leave this place?!"
Ninetales was frantic. It desperately wanted to return to Ace's side; only then could it feel at ease.
"Calm down."
A gentle psychic force enveloped Ninetales, soothing its panic.
"I've already told you, pulling you back was my limit. I really can't send you back to that specific time period."
Celebi said helplessly, "The power of those three guys is not so easy to deal with. You must wait here. Wait until time returns to its original period, and then you can go back. Otherwise, it will cause a time paradox, leading to a series of unbearable consequences!"
Ninetales was a bit bewildered; it couldn't quite understand what Celebi was saying.
Seeing this, Celebi had no choice but to patiently explain everything to Ninetales bit by bit.
In short, Ninetales was currently entangled with the power of the three Legendary Beasts, and Celebi had done its best to rescue it.
However, as a consequence, Ninetales could no longer time travel and return to its original time period.
Furthermore, there was a gap of more than a decade between the current time and its original time. During this time, the original Ninetales already existed, so Ninetales couldn't go out. It could only stay put and wait for time to reach its original period before it could appear in the original timeline.
Ninetales considered resisting, but after some "friendly education" from Celebi, Ninetales behaved itself. It could only stay in the lava lake, silently waiting for the passage of time...