Chapter 136. The Mysterious Garden's Celebi (Time)
Bang!
A Primeape went flying.
"Pika!"
Nicely done, Ash!
Seeing Ash punch Primeape away, Zapdos froze for a beat.
Its whole body jiggled, and it screeched at Ash, signaling for a proper Pokémon battle.
"Alright, go, Bulbasaur!"
Ash stepped back and sent out Bulbasaur.
The sound of vines lashing, like slapping raw pork, rang out, and Zapdos yowled under the whipping.
Without its feathers, even venting electricity outwards wasn't smooth, and its defense and agility were basically gone.
Before long, as if it couldn't take it anymore, the bald chicken's eyes turned red, tears spilled on the spot, and it bolted away to the back at full speed.
"Mmm—"
Drowzee handed Ash a Berry.
It remembered that between humans, after a fight, you were supposed to give something.
"Mm, thanks."
Ash was a little surprised; this Drowzee seemed quite familiar with human society.
"Purin—"
From the little basket Drowzee carried, a sleeping Jigglypuff popped out.
"Wow, so cuuuute."
Misty, holding a fake tongue prop between her teeth, mumbled unclearly.
"Purin~"
Jigglypuff pulled out a tiny microphone.
"Jiggly—puff— jiggly—puff—"
A laid-back song drifted out, and Natsume paused.
Something's off.
Thud—
Ash took the hit first and toppled to the ground.
"Natsume—"
Honora drifted closer.
"Isn't Sing's accuracy really low…"
Saying that, Honora nodded off.
[Ding! Special individual discovered—Sing hits at one hundred percent. B-rank task released.]
A new task popped up from the system, apparently about this Jigglypuff.
"Mmm…"
Drowzee's head tilted, and it too fell asleep.
Natsume tried to seal off his hearing with telekinesis.
Sure enough, he didn't fall asleep.
"Pika—pi—"
The center-parted walked over to Jigglypuff and placed a hand on its head.
In an instant, an incomparable drowsiness surged in, and the world before Natsume blurred.
In that blur, he seemed to see center-parted sneaking a grin.
Very good, still hiding your hand?
At the instant of entering the dream, Natsume dragged center-parted into his dreamscape.
The center-parted felt the surroundings turn white in a flash.
Rumble!
A roar came from behind.
The center-parted glanced back and saw four heavy trucks barreling toward it.
"Pi?"
"It's sleep time anyway—don't waste it.
Training," came Natsume's devilish voice.
When everyone woke up, they found scary faces doodled all over their cheeks.
Drowzee and Jigglypuff were gone as well.
"Hey, center-parted, how come you're fine?"
Misty pointed at center-parted as she spoke.
Not only did it have no doodles, there was even a lipstick kiss mark on its cheek, as if something had smacked it with a kiss.
"Pika—pi?"
The center-parted swayed in a daze.
It knew nothing and didn't want to say anything.
Its eyes rolled up, and it flopped over to sleep.
Its Trainer's telekinesis was getting stronger and stronger, and it needed a good nap to soothe its wounded heart.
"Maybe it's the only one who listened to the whole song," Natsume said as he scooped center-parted up.
"Natsume, come quick!"
Off to the side, Ash shouted in surprise, pointing at Bulbasaur.
"My Bulbasaur has been glowing nonstop since it woke up!"
"It's going to evolve, right?"
Brock took one look.
Contrary to expectation, the light of evolution on Bulbasaur abruptly vanished, as if it had been forcibly suppressed.
"It doesn't want to evolve?"
Misty leaned in.
"Bulba, bulba!"
Bulbasaur nodded.
"Why don't you want to evolve?"
Ash asked, curious.
By the roadside, countless little flowers were blooming, and Ash pointed at them.
"These little grasses had to store up their strength for a long time before they could bloom."
"Bulba—bulba—"
Bulbasaur shook its head.
"Um… it seems like…"
Misty trailed off.
"It says the little grasses have their own little-grass happiness," Natsume walked over and said.
"I see."
Ash rubbed Bulbasaur's head, and the next second a stone appeared in his hand.
"This is an Everstone," Honora said with a smile.
"Have a Pokémon that doesn't want to evolve hold it, and it can suppress evolutionary energy."
"Uh, these flowers seem off, right?"
"Thanks, Honora."
Ash nodded his thanks.
"Hey, hey, are you even listening to me!"
Misty couldn't take it anymore and raised her voice.
"The moment we woke up, flowers were blooming everywhere around us.
Don't you think that's suspicious?"
Misty pointed at the wildly spreading flowerbeds around them.
"Oh, is it?"
Ash blinked; he hadn't paid attention to that.
"Maybe Bulbasaur's evolutionary energy overflowed?"
Brock guessed.
"That still wouldn't make flowers grow up the trees, would it?"
Misty pointed at a nearby tree.
Without exception, flowers and grasses were growing all over the trunks.
"Isn't this a boulder?"
Honora stepped closer.
"Eh, how could that be?
This was clearly a big tree just now!"
Misty yelped.
Everyone finally sensed something was wrong.
The environment was changing like crazy—wild grass sprouted and then withered, trees rotted away and disappeared, and in their place a rock appeared.
"What's happening?"
Misty hid behind Ash.
"Natsume—"
Ash turned, wanting to ask Natsume by reflex, only to see him fully focused, blue light blazing brilliantly around him.
"We may have… just been taken to a past time and space."
After a long moment, Natsume finally spoke.
"Past time and space?"
Everyone blinked.
Natsume didn't answer, instead throwing his telekinesis wide to search carefully around them.
The only thing that could take people to the past was Celebi.
It might have brought them here unintentionally.
Those unintentional time slips were very brief, and there was a good chance they would return the next second.
If they took advantage of the moment, maybe they could find Celebi and add some progress to his Divinity cataloging task.
"Natsume, wait for me!"
Seeing Natsume wordlessly dart through the forest, everyone chased after him without a moment's pause.
Soon, a clearing full of flowers appeared.
A dainty green Pokémon flitted through the garden like a butterfly gathering blossoms.
In Honora's arms, center-parted's eyes snapped open, blazing as it stared at that green Pokémon.
"What Pokémon is that?
I've never seen it before."
Ash took out his Pokédex, but it had little to say.
"It seems to be Celebi, who has the power to carry people through time," Honora thought for a moment, faintly recalling a bit of info about it.
"Those Mythical Pokémon are incredibly rare, rarer than Legendary Pokémon—many of them are said to exist as only a single individual."
"The Pokédex generally won't have entries on them; you have to check the League's special archives," Honora explained.
"Ash, go!"
Finding that long-range wouldn't let him record Divinity, Natsume grabbed Ash.
"Natsume, why are you taking off my clothes?"
Ash asked, baffled.
Off to the side, Misty covered her face.
"Go charm it.
Hurry, it's about to leave."
Natsume pointed at Celebi not far away.
"Me?"
Ash was completely lost.
"Yeah, you."
Natsume forced him forward like a duck onto a perch and pushed him out.
The others were hard to say; they might scare Celebi off.
But with Ash's incredible affinity for Legendary Pokémon, he just might have a shot.
Rustle—
There was a stir in the flowers, and a human stood up ramrod straight right in front of it.
"Bii!?"
Celebi was startled, and a blue portal appeared behind it on reflex.
"Uh—hello, I'm Ash, a Trainer from Pallet Town."
Ash spoke up.
"Pika!"
Pikachu waved hello, too.
Celebi didn't step into the blue portal, turning instead to study the pair with curiosity.
Slowly, it drifted closer and also spotted the others crouching in the flowerbeds.
"Hi, I'm Misty."
Misty rose slowly.
"Bii?"
Celebi circled Misty twice.
"I'm Brock."
"I'm Honora."
Brock and Honora stood up in turn, and Celebi regarded them with interest.
"I'm Na—"
"Bii!!!"
Natsume had barely poked his head out when Celebi reacted as if it had seen something terrifying.
Its expression turned visibly horrified.
Its translucent wings beat, and with a whoosh it shot into the blue portal and vanished without a trace.
The scenery around them peeled back, and everyone returned to where they had been.
Natsume: "???"
If he remembered right, this was their first time meeting.
Who told Celebi he was the bad guy!?
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts