When arriving to the Ilex Forest, Joseph stopped by the sanctuary of the guardian of the forest, and brought a berry as an offer for the guardian.

"Celebi!" Joseph was surprised when the legendary Pokémon, Celebi, appeared out of nowhere and ate the berry.

"That must be the guardian of the forest, Celebi!" SmartRotom said. "Legend says that this Pokémon is capable of travelling through time and bring other people with them"

"Celebi!" Celebi got besides Joseph and a sudden light appeared. Joseph's feet felt lighter, and everything began to spin out of control. Joseph closed his eyes... and he was suddently in Blackthorn City. But it was the old city. Joseph looked around himself and saw a kid around his age running away. He wore an old purple yukata and held a PokéBall made of wood.

"Hey!" Joseph shouted. That kid was surprised and stopped on his tracks. "What are you doing?"

"Who are you?" The kid asked, afraid.

"I'm a friend. My name is Joseph" Joseph introduced himself.

"You... do you come from Mahogany Town?" The kid asked.

"Yeah" Joseph lied. He knew he was somewhere in the past, he just didn't know when.

"And what are you doing here?" The kid asked.

"I'm challenging the Gym Leader, Clair!" Joseph said.

"Who and what now?" The kid asked. "What's even a Gym Leader?"

"They don't even exist now?! Awww jeez!" Joseph was pissed off. "I wanted to go undercover, but, uh, I'm from the future"

"The future?" The kid was excited. "What year?"

"Uhhh... 20XX"

"That's like 80 years from now!" The kid said. "My name is Ryuushi, nice to meet you"

"Ryuushi, eh? What a good name!" Joseph smiled. That name was familiar... where did he hear it before...?

"So, I guess you can now what I'm doing" Ryuushi took out a Pikachu from an old PokéBall. "My father won't allow me to get a Pokémon until I'm, like, 15, and only then it will be only a Dragon type. But this Pikachu and I found each other!"

Joseph and Pikachu's hearts connected instantly. It was a bit weird, as Pikachu wasn't his Pokémon, but still. He noticed how much Pikachu loved Ryuushi, and was satisfied upon seeing such a connection.

"We'll travel together" Ryuushi smiled.

Then, a Sneasel stole the PokéBall.

"Ah!"

"Successor Ryuushi, this is absurd!" An adult man spoke. "You need to let go of that electric rat and devote yourself to the Dragon types!"

"You won't even let me get a Pokémon yet, Patriarch" Ryuushi screamed.

"You're not ready, 11 years old are too little!" The man screamed.

"Leave them alone!" Joseph shouted. "Ryuushi should be able to travel with whoever he wants!"

"Go home, child, the Dragon Clan issues do not concern you!"

"Wait... Dragon Clan?!" Joseph remembered his genealogical books and looked at Ryuushi. "Grandpa?!"

He began to hyperventilate, nervous, out of his mind.

"If I fight against the Patriarch and let you go away... I won't be even born!" He cried. "My cousins, Lance and Clair, they won't be born either! Blackthorn City will be deprived of Dragon Masters, and that will happen if I let you escape"

Ryuushi looked at him.

"But I can't back down" Joseph said, looking at the Pikachu. "Pikachu loves you, and I won't allow someone to separate such a good Trainer and Pokémon bond! As much as it hurts me to sacrifice my life... I will win and you will be free from the Clan! ¡Go, Drago...!

"STOP!" Ryuushi screamed, stopping Joseph on his tracks. "Stop! You should be selfish! You should be selling me off right now, we're talking about your entire family here, OUR family!"

"So now you care about the Clan, boy?" The father asked.

"Shut up, Patriarch. You have never shown me any sign of affection, and I'm only accepting these stupid obligations because Joseph is such a good guy and I won't allow him to sacrifice his life for me!"

"Sneasel, break the PokéBall so he doesn't get any funny ideas" The Patriarch said.

Pikachu tried to get into Ryuushi's shoulder, but he held the Pokémon on his arms.

"Pikachu... I give you to Joseph, so he can be your friend in the future, alright?" Ryuushi smiled.

Joseph took out the PokéBall and caught Pikachu.

"Grandpa, I..." Joseph was sniffing.

"Joseph, I'm proud of myself" Ryuushi said. "Because I'm growing up to raise such an awesome guy!"

Celebi went to Joseph, he felt tingly again.

"I'll come back home, Gramps!" Joseph screamed. "I promise! Pikachu and you... will be together again!"

He arrived at the Ilex Forest. He puffed, too surprised for everything that had transpired.

"Alright, so I guess... this is a stable time loop... like in a movie" Joseph said. "I'm only born because I interrupted my grandpa's attempt to escape from the Dragon Clan, and that interruption couldn't have happened if I hadn't been born..."

"Wow, spooky" Rotom said. "Let's analyze this Pikachu"

The Pikachu was analyzed, and it turned out that this Pikachu was stronger than usual Pikachus. Joseph remembered how Ash Ketchum, who competed in the Masters 8, had a pretty strong Pikachu.

He went on to train, knowing now that he had a pretty strong team.

To be continued

So, time loops. Who doesn't like them? Just a strategy to justify why is Joseph the favourite grandson, and Joseph is a gramps boy as well, so it works!

Joseph's Team:

Dragonair (Male) — Level 38

Delibird (Male) — Level 34

Heracross (Male) (Alpha) — Level 71

Ursaring (Female) — Level 34

Pikachu (Male) — Level 36