Vicious stared at the man before him, his heart filled with hatred.
He held Celebi in one hand and reached for the Dark Balls on his vest with the other, but his fingers found only empty slots.
He then remembered: in the battle, his Dark Tyranitar, Dark Sneasel, and Dark Scizor hadn't been recalled. Their Poké Balls were lost.
Cursing silently, he fumbled for the balls on the other side of his vest, pulling out the last two from the bottom.
The Pokémon in these two balls were just ordinary Pokémon he had caught casually. Even enhanced by dark energy, they couldn't compare to his Sneasel or Scizor, let alone Tyranitar.
But now, they were the only two Pokémon he had left to fight with. He had no choice.
At least they can buy me some time!
He threw the two Dark Balls. In the next second, a Poliwhirl and a Graveler, both wrapped in black light, appeared before Natsui.
Natsui didn't use Dragonite. Instead, he took two Poké Balls from his pouch.
"Go, Gardevoir, Jolteon!"
With flashes of blue light, Gardevoir and Jolteon stood opposite the Dark Poliwhirl and Dark Graveler. From Natsui's choice, it was clear he wasn't holding back this time; he was truly using his first-string lineup, showing how seriously he was taking Vicious.
However, the moment the battle started, things took an unexpected turn.
As the four Pokémon moved, Vicious didn't hesitate for a second. He turned and fled, disappearing behind a large tree. And just as the battle began, the Dark Poliwhirl and Dark Graveler were knocked down by Gardevoir and Jolteon.
Natsui then understood: Vicious was at his wit's end, completely out of options.
Without hesitating, Natsui and his Pokémon gave chase. But as they passed the two fallen Dark Pokémon and rounded the tree where Vicious had disappeared, a Dark Ball flew straight at them.
Vicious knew he couldn't escape Natsui on foot, so he had set up an ambush, hoping to catch any one of Natsui's Pokémon to cause him trouble.
But Natsui knew Vicious was desperate and had been expecting this.
As the Dark Ball flew towards him, a thought crossed his mind. In the next second, a nearby rock lifted off the ground and smashed into the Dark Ball.
Clack!
The Dark Ball wasn't shattered, but its trajectory was altered. It fell to the ground, failing to activate its black light.
This was a move Natsui had just learned from Ash. While he couldn't counter the Dark Ball's beam, he could at least change its direction with an object before it opened.
And the only one who could do this so quickly without verbal commands was his telepathic Gardevoir.
The ambush failed. Vicious was once again cornered by Natsui's Pokémon, and this time, he truly had no way to fight back.
Just then, Natsui heard footsteps. Ash and Sammy ran up, panting.
Their speed was impressive, but it helped that Natsui hadn't gone too far.
In fact, Natsui had noticed the shiny Noctowl following him from the air, so he wasn't surprised by their arrival.
But their appearance completely dashed Vicious's last hopes of escape.
"You... you... guy!" Ash said, bending over and gasping for air as he looked at Vicious and the Celebi in his hand. "Let... Celebi... go!"
"You brats..." Vicious shouted bitterly. "I already had Celebi! I was so close! I could have left Team Rocket and become... It's all your fault!"
Leave Team Rocket?
Natsui raised an eyebrow, surprised.
He hadn't expected Vicious to harbor such ambitions. But thinking about it, it was understandable. The executives within Team Rocket were not good people. For a Pokémon Hunter like Vicious, if he acquired world-changing power, he certainly wouldn't be content serving under someone else.
But his ambition was doomed to fail.
"Stop struggling. Hand over Celebi," Natsui said. "I promise I'll hand you over to the police safely."
Vicious laughed maniacally. When he stopped, he said savagely, "Do you really think you've won?"
Seeing his crazed look, Natsui wondered what other tricks he had. But to avoid any more delays or complications, he couldn't wait. He commanded his Pokémon to charge, and he himself took a few steps closer.
Vicious slowly took the last Dark Ball from his vest.
This action made Natsui, Ash, and Sammy focus all their attention on it. They all knew this must be Vicious's final, desperate move. They just didn't know how he would use it. Would he release one last powerful Dark Pokémon, or try to capture one of theirs?
However, Vicious did neither. He pressed the Dark Ball against Celebi's head.
This is bad!
Numerous thoughts flashed through Natsui's mind, and he instantly understood Vicious's intention.
He's trying to control Celebi again and use its power to travel to another time period!
If Vicious succeeded, all their efforts would be wasted, and they would never find him again if he escaped this timeline.
He must not succeed!
Natsui shouted, ordering his Pokémon to attack, and he himself ran towards Vicious.
At the same time, Sammy also moved.
Unlike Ash, who hadn't yet grasped the situation, the intelligent Sammy had also guessed Vicious's plan the moment the Dark Ball neared Celebi.
Panicked, Sammy also ran towards Vicious.
Everyone's heart pounded. In that instant, time seemed to slow down.
Vicious's elbow was already raised, his finger about to press the Dark Ball's switch. Natsui and Sammy were rushing towards him, Sammy's face etched with desperation.
But judging by the distance, it seemed they wouldn't make it in time.
However, everyone on the field, had forgotten one person.
The most critical person, or rather, the most critical Pokémon.
Celebi.
Whether they were trying to catch it or save it, Celebi, at the center of the incident, also saw the Dark Ball moving closer.
Its mind flashed back to the moment it was controlled.
Because it had experienced that pain, it would absolutely not let it happen again!
I will not be controlled again!
Celebi let out a piercing shriek. Its internal energy exploded. Instantly, the light and sound of time travel reappeared, spreading outwards from its body, enveloping it and Vicious, and continuing to expand!
Vicious was the first to be hit.
Even with his mask, the intense light blinded him. He instinctively turned his head, felt a massive force slam into him, and lost his grip on Celebi as it broke free!
Natsui and Sammy, before they realized what was happening, were also enveloped by the blue-green light...
In the distance, Ash was blinded by the bright light. He turned his head away. When the light subsided and he looked back, Natsui, Sammy, and Celebi were gone.
The forest fell silent. If not for Vicious's two Dark Pokémon still lying unconscious nearby, he would have thought it was all an illusion.
Natsui... Sammy... and Celebi...
Where did you go?
...
Natsui felt dizzy, as if he had lost his gravity.
Before he could realize what happened, he heard a horrible scream.
It wasn't Celebi's voice, but a man's. It sounded very familiar... it was Vicious!
What happened to him?
Surprised, as the light enveloping him faded, Natsui quickly looked ahead. He saw Vicious clutching his eyes, rolling on the ground in agony.
"My eyes! My eyes!"
His terrible screams echoed through the forest, startling a few bird Pokémon in the distance.
Natsui looked around and saw his Pokémon nearby, as well as a stunned-looking Sammy. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't see Ash.
Huh?
Did I travel through time?
The thought had just formed when Natsui saw Celebi, flying away into the distance.
"Celebi, come back!"
Natsui shouted at Celebi. Sammy also called out to it. But no matter how they yelled, Celebi didn't seem to hear, continuing to fly away.
"It must be terrified," Natsui frowned and said to Sammy. "You watch this guy. I'll go get Celebi!"
Without waiting for Sammy's reply, he recalled Gardevoir and Jolteon, mounted Dragonite, and chased after Celebi.
"Wait..."
Sammy took two steps, wanting to say something, but Natsui was already high in the sky. He could only sigh helplessly.
He wasn't unwilling to watch Vicious, but this Pokémon hunter was too strong. His Charmeleon alone couldn't handle him.
He looked over at Vicious. Fortunately, the man seemed to be injured, just rolling on the ground, apparently no longer a threat.
He released his Charmeleon. Forcing down his fear, Sammy walked over, kicked the last remaining Dark Ball away from Vicious's side, and felt a little safer.
...
High in the sky, Natsui on Dragonite followed Celebi closely.
Celebi was frightened and flying erratically, just trying to escape. Its flying speed was very fast, and Dragonite had to go all out to keep up.
Although he didn't know which time period he was in, Natsui knew Celebi was his only hope of returning. He couldn't lose it.
He had been determined to catch this mythical Pokémon before, and now he had another reason to do so.
Fortunately, Celebi seemed to be tired, or perhaps it had calmed down, as it descended into the forest below.
Seeing this, Natsui let out a sigh of relief and commanded Dragonite to follow.
Celebi was clearly hungry. It landed on a berry tree and ate a few berries. Hearing a noise behind it, it turned quickly, but relaxed when it saw Natsui on his Dragonite.
After yesterday's contact, it knew this man wasn't bad. However, it didn't know that Natsui's goal was the same as Vicious's, just his method was different.
What do you call this? Out of the frying pan and into the fire!
But Natsui had no intention of doing anything bad with it. He just liked it and didn't want to regret missing out on this mythical Pokémon.
He said with a friendly smile, "Celebi, where are we? Can you send me back to my original time?"
"Bi~"
Celebi tilted its head, looking at him with shining eyes, and said something, but Natsui couldn't understand.
But that was fine. At times like this, Natsui would always call out his translator, and this time was no exception.
"Gengar, come on out, time for work!"
Gengar immediately appeared, floating out of his shadow. It stretched dramatically, then curiously circled Celebi a few times.
"It says this is its original time. It left from here a few days ago."
Original time?
Natsui understood immediately. This must be the world from before Sammy time-traveled. So, I'm 40 years in the past?
"Can you send me back?"
Celebi nodded lightly. "Bi Bibi"
Gengar translated, "It says yes. But it's asking, isn't it nice here?"
"Of course not," Natsui said, relieved it could send him back. "My friends and my lover are in that time. If I don't go back, I might never see them again, and they'll be worried."
Celebi seemed to understand. To it, one time or another, one forest or another, it was all the same. Time hadn't changed anything.
It raised its hands, about to use its power, but Natsui quickly stopped it.
"Wait," Natsui said, seeing it was about to send him away. "Sammy is still back there waiting for me. I can't just leave him. I should at least go back and say goodbye."
-------------------------------
Unlock 400+ chapters across 7+ different novels on Patreon!
This Pokémon novel alone already has up to chapter 670 available right now on Patreon, so if you want to support the project and enjoy even more exclusive content, I'll be waiting for you on Patreon!
We're currently in one of the most intense and ambitious stages of the Pokémon project — every region, every legendary, every team and every character is finally colliding in one massive storyline.
These days we're aiming to push all the way to chapter 800, so it's the perfect moment to catch up and enjoy the adventure while it grows 👀
And of course — many more projects are already in progress!
There's always something new to read.
If you ever spot a mistake or inconsistency, feel free to drop a comment — your feedback helps me improve the story and polish every chapter!
📌 Also, if you write a review or show support for the novel, it helps me a lot — and I'll keep uploading more chapters for those who do. Your support in any form truly motivates me to continue!