Everyone listened as Baraz and Meray told the story of their past life with Hoopa. Since the tale was long, the group moved to the second-floor balcony of the Pokémon Center to continue talking.
Steven gently stroked his Metagross's head, spoke to it quietly for a moment, and then returned to his seat.
"What should we do with that Prison Bottle?" Clemont asked curiously, glancing at the bottle sitting on the table.
Baraz sighed. "We'll take it back to the Valley."
"The Prison Bottle wants to get rid of Hoopa!"
Little Hoopa hid behind Baraz, eyeing the bottle with fear.
"That's exactly why I need to find out why this happened," Baraz said with a small, bitter smile, placing a hand on Hoopa's head. "If we don't understand it, Hoopa may never be able to change back."
Hearing this, Little Hoopa ducked into Meray's arms and cried, "Then Hoopa won't change back at all!"
"Honestly, I think Hoopa is just fine the way he is now," Steven suddenly spoke up.
When Meray and Baraz both turned to look at him, Steven continued, "Doesn't the current Hoopa already have a family and friends who care about him? There's nothing better about changing back. He's much cuter like this."
Little Hoopa looked up at Steven and nodded eagerly. "Exactly! Exactly! Hoopa is very happy now. Hoopa doesn't want power anymore!"
Steven chuckled softly as he watched Little Hoopa. Hoopa had just watched the battle between himself and Ash, and it seemed the memory had stirred up his old hunger for power. Yet when the controlled Baraz offered him Hoopa Unbound's strength, Little Hoopa had felt joy at first, only to grow afraid of the force trying to erase who he truly was.
Baraz and Meray traded a glance and smiled.
"Since—"
"Metagross!"
An Iron Claw shot down from the sky. Just before it struck the Prison Bottle, Metagross caught it in midair with Psychic.
Steven frowned and looked up.
Just as he suspected — a Meowth-shaped hot air balloon floated above them, one side of its balloon patched with crude stitching.
"Team Rocket!" Ash and the others said together, all too familiar with the trio.
Steven studied the man, the woman, and the Meowth riding the balloon. He rather liked Team Rocket, but business was business.
"Ugh, Meowth!"
"I told you Metagross looked like trouble," James said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. He hadn't wanted to get involved in the first place, but Jessie and Meowth had insisted on chasing after the Prison Bottle. They had been there earlier when Baraz used it to restore Little Hoopa's original power, and they'd mistaken it for some kind of device that makes Pokémon grow gigantic.
"In that case, we'll just have to take action ourselves!" Jessie declared, gripping her Poké Ball.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet popped out on its own, saluting proudly.
"Metagross, use Flash Cannon on the balloon," Steven said calmly.
"Metagross!"
Metagross raised its arms toward the balloon, and two silver-white beams shot out. Since Steven had told it beforehand to hold back, Metagross didn't use its full strength — the Flash Cannon merely punched a hole through the balloon.
As the balloon deflated, it carried the Team Rocket trio off to land wherever the wind took them. Steven relaxed, though he felt a small pang of disappointment — he hadn't gotten to hear their famous "blasting off again" line.
"Mr. Steven reacted so fast!" Miette laughed.
"Yes, if not for Mr. Steven, who knows what else Team Rocket might have tried," Serena added.
Clemont pushed up his glasses. "Is this what it means to have the instincts of a Champion?"
Steven laughed and waved a hand. "It's nothing much. It's always best to stay alert. After everything that happened today, some people with less honest intentions might come looking for trouble."
The small disturbance didn't break the group's mood for long. Steven glanced at the Prison Bottle on the table, then sat back down, relieved. With the bottle secured, he should be able to keep Hoopa Unbound from awakening and setting off a battle between Legendary Pokémon — or so he hoped.
"Ash, why are you so quiet?" Serena asked, looking over at him.
Ash had seemed strange ever since earlier. Steven turned his attention toward them at Serena's question. Ash's expression was stiff, and his hands were pressed against something in his pocket.
"No way," Steven murmured, realization dawning on him. "Serena, tap Ash on the shoulder."
"Huh?" Serena blinked, but did as Steven asked and patted Ash beside her.
"Huh? What is it?" Ash blinked back to attention, noticing everyone staring at him.
"You looked like you were spacing out," Serena said.
"Oh — I just got caught up watching all those Legendary Pokémon battle earlier," Ash said, scratching his cheek with a sheepish laugh. "Guess I got a little too into it."
That's it, we're finished. That was the only thought running through Steven's mind.
"Huh?" Ash said in surprise, pulling a dusty stone from his pocket. The moment he took it out, the stone began glowing with a soft pink light, and its gray outer layer started flaking away.
"That's—" Steven frowned at the stone in Ash's hand. He'd never seen anything quite like it before. No — wait, he had seen something similar. As the gray coating fell away, a blue-pink core was revealed beneath it.
It looked just like the Lustrous Orb he had once seen at Cynthia's house.
"A memento of Palkia's?" Steven murmured to himself.
But this stone wasn't smooth and round like the Lustrous Orb. It looked more like a broken shard, curved slightly but lined with sharp edges.
Buzz!
The stone let out rippling waves of energy.
"Oh no," Steven gasped, but it was already too late.
Clemont's "Fully Automatic Prison Bottle Transporter" suddenly malfunctioned. The Prison Bottle, which had been floating in midair, dropped to the ground. Its lid popped loose, and thick black mist poured out.
Steven didn't even have time to wonder why the lid hadn't been sealed properly. He could only silently curse Palkia. Did it really want to end up under Hoopa's control again? What a strange thing to wish for.
In an instant, the black mist surged into Little Hoopa's body.
"Ah!" Little Hoopa let out a pained cry. He was already weak and hadn't fully recovered his strength, and now, being consumed by the black mist, he wailed in agony.
"Hoopa!" Baraz and Meray reached out toward him at once. The light rings on their chests began to glow faintly, sending golden light surging toward Little Hoopa.
"Hoopa, hold on!" Meray shouted through clenched teeth. "Don't let it win!"
"Isn't this the very same power Hoopa had a hundred years ago?" Clemont asked anxiously.
No one in the group could stay calm. They couldn't bear to watch Little Hoopa suffer, but there was nothing left to do except cheer him on.
"Yes, but right now, this power is clearly trying to..." Baraz said gravely.
"...devour Hoopa!"