When that greenish figure appeared, Steven and Phoebe, who were behind Cain, showed expressions of astonishment.
"Is that...?" Steven couldn't help but speak.
"Celebi?" Phoebe was the one who said the name that Steven had in mind.
Ever since she left Mt. Pyre, Phoebe had received an intensive crash course from Juan on basic world knowledge, which included a dedicated class on legendary Pokémon.
Moreover, due to her nature as a girl, Phoebe felt sympathy toward cute-looking Pokémon, so she recognized Celebi immediately.
"Cele~!" Celebi let out a soft sound, flying toward the three of them.
The green energy flowing through the space resumed its movement.
"It really is Celebi..." Steven also confirmed in amazement.
Cain withdrew his hand from the tree and activated telepathy once more.
"Celebi, how can we leave this space?" Cain asked.
Celebi tilted its head at the question, as if deep in thought.
The three remained silent, not daring to interrupt.
After a moment, Celebi said: "Outside... battle... strong... Cain... you know them?"
It was clearly referring to the fight Drake and Mitchell's group were having outside the space, which had caught Celebi's attention.
It seemed Celebi could sense everything that happened in this space, though perhaps it had been asleep before and that's why it hadn't reacted.
Cain's telepathy was what had awakened it.
Cain nodded and conveyed mentally: "One of them, the strongest, is our superior. The other three are enemies. They want to enter this space. They're probably looking to capture a Pokémon... it might be you."
Upon hearing that, Celebi wrinkled its tiny nose, as if it didn't understand.
But in its way of life, if something didn't make sense, it simply didn't dwell on it.
It looked at Cain with its big blue eyes, shining with curiosity.
"Cain... face... different," it said in broken phrases—perhaps because it wasn't used to communicating, or maybe that was just how it talked.
Cain smiled. Fortunately, this was mental communication, so Steven and Phoebe didn't hear what Celebi was saying.
"It's a kind of disguise," Cain explained.
Celebi nodded, not insisting further on the topic.
It placed a finger on its lips and showed a thoughtful expression again.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, its two green antennae began bouncing in the air, as if detecting something.
Then they stopped. Celebi's eyes lit up and narrowed slightly.
"Cele~!" it let out another soft sound.
A space rift suddenly appeared in front of them.
Just when they thought it was a way out to the outside world, Celebi raised its tiny hand and enveloped Steven in psychic energy.
Without giving him time to react, it hurled him into the rift.
"Steven!" Phoebe shouted in alarm.
Though Cain was also surprised, not as much as Phoebe. Immediately after launching Steven, Celebi covered its mouth with a joyful smile.
Like a child who had found a new playmate and tricked them into playing hide and seek.
So pure and lively...
After countless years of life, having witnessed endless births, growths, and deaths...
That Celebi still retained such a pure heart was truly exceptional.
The rift slowly vanished after Steven's departure.
Then Celebi waved its tiny hand again and created another space rift.
This time Cain managed to glimpse what was on the other side.
He quickly turned to Phoebe and said: "When you go in, don't be scared. Don't panic—just feel with your heart..."
But before he could finish, Phoebe was already enveloped in psychic energy and thrown into the rift.
Celebi smiled even more happily.
"Celebi, are you sending them to places where they can grow stronger?" Cain asked.
Celebi looked at him with its big eyes, spinning like marbles of glass.
"Cain... next... ready," it responded, giving a thumbs-up—or at least something that looked like a thumb.
Before Cain could say anything, Celebi already waved its little hand again and opened a third rift.
This time, it was his turn.
Cain quickly raised his hand to stop Celebi's psychic energy.
"Let me go on my own," he said.
And without waiting any further, he stepped into the rift.
As he approached, he could make out the landscape inside: everything was covered in rocks, endless mountain chains, stone blocks of different sizes and colors.
Under Celebi's eager gaze, Cain entered.
He didn't know why, but despite his usual caution, he fully trusted Celebi.
His internal explanation was: "Maybe because of her purity."
Maybe that was the only somewhat reasonable justification.
After Cain also disappeared into the rift, Celebi flew through the green space like a three-year-old girl, laughing joyfully.
But it didn't take long before she stopped.
Her blue eyes lost their color.
If someone had been there, they would have seen a starry sky reflected in her pupils.
And those stars were evolving at a dizzying speed.
No one knows how much time passed.
When the vision disappeared from her eyes, Celebi's body began to tremble slightly in the space, like a ripple spreading across a water surface.
Her silhouette gradually faded... until vanishing completely from the emerald space.
Only soft echoes remained in the air:
"Cele~"
"Cele~"
"Cele~"
Though it was a single voice, it seemed to play on multiple frequencies.
Cain, however, had no idea what had happened to Celebi.
He had already arrived at the place she sent him to.
An unfamiliar place.
He looked around. There were no signs of human presence, though a few wild Pokémon roamed nearby.
"This is a world of rock... I have no idea where I am. I don't even know if we're still in the same timeline," Cain said with a hint of concern.
Though he trusted that Celebi wouldn't harm them, having passed from one unknown space into another even more uncertain one... now he had to start investigating everything from scratch again.
Observing the nearby rocks and mountain ranges in the distance, Cain had a hunch.
"Rocks... could it be that?"
He pulled out several Poké Balls.
He threw them.
Three Pokémon appeared:
A level 54 Aggron, a level 54 Pupitar, and a level 36 Carbink.
They were the only Rock-type Pokémon Cain had at the time.
It was his guess based on what he had seen just before Phoebe entered the rift.
(End of chapter)