Rumble!
The thunderclouds summoned by Raikou continued to rage. Terrifying snakes of electricity churned in the sky, accompanied by deafening peals of thunder.
"Raikou, Pikachu, use Thunder!"
Under the thunderclouds, the power of the move was amplified, and its accuracy was nearly perfect. It was a true hammer of a thunder god, falling from the heavens like divine punishment. The bolt struck the plant monster directly on the head. Like a spear of light, it pierced through the monster's skull and struck Celebi within.
The wooden titan finally ceased its movement. Celebi, the core, had been paralyzed!
"Suicune, now!"
Sam didn't hesitate. With Suicune's help, he climbed the giant monster again and reached Celebi. "Celebi, wake up! You aren't the kind of Pokémon that would do these things!"
Vicious panicked as he saw his monster stop. "How is this possible?! How can you be this strong?!"
Ash, his eyes still red, turned his gaze toward him. His fury was enough to swallow the man whole. "Vicious, I will never forgive you for what you've done!"
"Now, Tyranitar is down, and Celebi is paralyzed. What else do you have left?"
Ash lunged forward and grabbed Vicious by his collar! Before, the wooden monster had shielded the man, making him untouchable. But in this brief moment of Celebi's paralysis, Ash could do a great many things.
"Celebi, I believe in you! You are the Voice of the Forest! You can do this!" Sam continued to call out, desperately trying to bring Celebi back to its senses.
His voice seemed to finally reach it. Celebi began to remember the brief time it had spent with Ash and Sam. Its dark-ringed eyes began to show a flicker of light. In that instant, the power of a divine beast began to fight back against the corruption of the Dark Ball. The Dark Ball on Vicious's belt began to spark with purple electricity.
Ash's eyes lit up. "So, this is Celebi's Poké Ball?"
"What are you doing?!" Vicious realized Ash was about to do something terrifying and felt a wave of horror.
Ash gave a cold smile. "Take a guess!"
He snatched the ball away and released a burst of Aura. The Dark BallTeam Rocket's cutting-edge technology designed to forcibly capture and corrupt Pokémonwas crushed in his hand.
BOOM!
A massive explosion occurred right in front of Vicious. His face swelled, and his mask shattered, revealing a greasy, mustachioed face.
With the Dark Ball destroyed, Celebi instantly regained its sanity. The gargantuan plant monster crumbled apart. Sam began to fall, but Celebi caught him with its Confusion and lowered him gently back to Misty and Brock's side.
"Awesome! Big brother Ash saved Celebi!" Molly cheered and danced on the blimp.
Diana and Towa shared a smile. They looked at Ash, standing tall with Raikou and Suicune at his side. The boy was truly dazzling.
"I'll take these other Dark Balls too!" Ash seized the five remaining balls from Vicious. He had six in total: four had been used, and two were empty. Ash planned to give them to Professor Oak for study.
"Now, be a good boy and pick out the balls for Tyranitar and the others."
Ash didn't mind using a little "harsh interrogation" on a man like Vicious. Ash's fists were strong enough to beat a Charizard! Facing Ash, Vicious's bravado vanished. He watched submissively as Ash crushed the three Dark Balls containing his Pokémon one by one.
Who is this kid? Is he some kind of human Pokémon?
"Ash, leave this villain to us," Towa said as she walked over. The other forest Pokémon began to surround them as well.
They tied Vicious up securely. Without his Dark Balls, the man was a complete coward.
"You'll be spending a long time behind bars with Officer Jenny. Congratulations," Ash remarked before handing him over to Towa and heading toward Sam.
Brock, Misty, and Molly joined them. However, a desperate sight met them. Celebi, having been drained by the evil energy and forced to expend power far beyond its limits, was now at death's door. Its body was shriveled and withered.
The Lake of Life, which had helped Celebi recover its injuries before, was now polluted. Combined with the destruction of the forest, the lake had lost its healing power.
"Ash, Celebi... he's..." Sam looked to Ash for help, his voice trembling.
"Suicune?" Diana suddenly remembered something and looked at the beast standing behind Ash. "Doesn't Suicune have the power to purify polluted water?"
Ash shook his head, but he still looked at Suicune. "Suicune, please, give it your best shot."
The problem was that Celebi wasn't just injured; its life force was completely exhausted. Purifying the lake might not be enough.
As expected, even after Suicune purified the waterand even after the water healed Ash's minor scrapes and cleared his bloodshot eyesit did nothing for Celebi.
Looking at the pitiful, dying Celebi, Ash felt helpless. The forest animals began to wail, mourning the passing of their guardian. Raikou and Suicune let out long, sorrowful howls toward the sky.
Ash couldn't accept it. "Don't cry! You can't give up until the very end! We absolutely cannot give up!"
Suddenly, Ash's backpack began to glow!
"Big brother Ash!" Molly cried out, tears in her eyes as she hugged Ash's leg.
Ash quickly opened his backpack and found three items glowing inside: the GS Ball, the Rainbow Wing, and the Silver Wing! Ash pulled them all out, placing the ball in the middle with the two feathers on either side.
Towa gasped in shock. Those were the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugiaactual feathers from divine beasts! What kind of incredible fortune did this boy possess?
The two feathers began to release divine energy, funneling it into the GS Ball. Kurt had once said the ball had a mysterious lock he couldn't open. How could he have known it required the combined power of Ho-Oh and Lugia?
Hum!
A melodic chime rang out. The ball floated into the air and began to emit a brilliant white light that spread through the forest. It was a light Ash and his friends had seen beforethe same white light that had appeared when they first met Sam.
"Time travel! That's the sound of a journey through time!"
Empowered by the feathers, the GS Ball opened a rift through time and space. Within the white light, dozens of Celebi appeared simultaneously. They flew in a circle above Ash's head before gently lifting the dying Celebi from Sam's arms.
Within that warm glow, the group of Celebi danced around their fallen companion. The guardians of the forest, givers of life, travelers of time... it was a miracle of life itself. The withered Celebi was restored, its energy renewed. It chirped its thanks to its counterparts.
The other Celebi circled Ash once more before disappearing back into the white light. Only the recovered Celebi remained.
But it still had one thing left to do.
It flew a joyful loop through the air, savoring its new life, then stopped in front of Sam. It began to emit that same warm, white light of time travel.
"Sam, it's time for you to go back," Ash said with a gentle smile.
Sam froze. He felt the joy of going home, but also the deep sadness of leaving his new friends.
Ash shook his head. "We'll see each other again."
Many years later, a boy named Ash from Pallet Town would wake up late and receive a disobedient Pikachu from a certain Professor Samuel Oak, thus beginning his journey to become a Pokémon Master.
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/kleinmoretti to access 100+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).