Ash, Misty, Pikachu and, especially, Brock, were somewhat stunned by the man showing himself out of nowhere.
"Are you that man who claimed to be one of the employees of Tiloshi's competition building?!" Brock said.
"Do you know him?" Questioned Misty.
"Yea; he was the one I tipped off about the Team Rocket incident." Brock replied.
"I, in turn, called Officer Jenny, warning her of the bad guys." Said Lenny.
"We are grateful." Ash said. "But…why are you here?"
"Because, at the moment, I am the best person to explain about Binastry." replied Lenny. "In the past, he lived in this forest, threatening several travelers who appeared in the region. The situation was so tense that someone came along and managed to lock him in some special kind of box for a long time."
For a few moments, the young people thought about what he had said.
"How did you know all this?" Questioned Misty, in a tone both curious and suspecting.
"This story was passed on to all the inhabitants of the cities surrounding the forest." replied Lenny. "I learned about it from one of the residents of Tiloshi when I went there."
"I see..." Brock said.
"Now that that Pokémon is back, it wants to attack everyone. What shall we do about it?" Ash questioned.
"We must look for the people who opened the box because only they can stop him from bringing chaos." replied Lenny.
"What?" Misty asked.
"For some reason, only those who freed Binastry can bring him back to the box." Said Lenny. "While the idea of doing so is uninviting, it is the only way to avoid catastrophe."
Moments passed before he spoke again:
"I must go. I hope you are lucky in your mission."
As he said this, the man soon disappeared from view.
"Wait!" shouted Ash, but Lenny had already disappeared through the trees.
"I get the impression this guy is omitting part of the story." pondered Misty.
"I think so too, but even so, we need to stop Binastry from bringing chaos to the region." Brock said.
"But how are we going to do that?" Ash asked.
At that moment, they spotted a Celebi, the one who had saved them minutes ago. He was carrying with his psychic attack a small box.
"Beeee!" Said the Pokemon.
When he got close to the group, he soon released the box, which fell next to the group.
"Pika?" Said Pikachu, looking at the mystery box.
"What is it?" pondered Ash, in a curious tone, as he took the object.
"This must be the box that, according to Lenny's story, was used to hold Binastry for a very long time." Brock replied, with an observant look.
"And the artifact that Pokémon carried must be the key that opens it!" stated Misty.
"I remember Lenny mentioning that only those who used the artifact to open the box could handle it again to close it." Ash reflected. "How will we know who did this?"
At the end of his speech, Celebi was soon enthused.
"Beeeee!" Said the green Pokémon, which immediately used its psychic attack to levitate the youngsters.
"Do you know who was responsible?" Ash asked.
"Beee!" Celebi replied in the affirmative, as it began to fly through the forest, taking the young people with it.
••••••••••
Jessie, James, and Meowth were together, sitting on the forest grass, silently pondering about… well, everything.
From their expressions, some could tell that while they were partially afraid of allowing the black and white Pokémon to take revenge on everyone around them, they didn't want to do anything to stop it.
The sun was already rising above the horizon, dramatically brightening the region. Even so, the forest remained silent.
"Time is always flying..." James stated, breaking the silence. "Minutes ago, it was just nightfall, but now the sun is already rising over the horizon."
"You're right, Jim." Meowth said, threatening to yawn. "Not sleeping through the night made me very sleepy."
As she listened to her friends talking to each other, Jessie maintained an impassive expression.
After James' last line, there was a deep silence for a few seconds.
"Aren't you going to say anything, Jessie?" James asked, addressing her.
Her impassive expression partially faded.
"There is nothing to say." was all she said before turning to the side.
Her answer was followed by an intense silence. The group soon resumed the postures of despondent pondering.
Suddenly, the silence was broken again by a familiar voice:
"Team Rocket!"
Moved by both surprise and curiosity, Jessie, James and Meowth turned around. As they did so, they saw Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Celebi heading their way.
"It's the twerps!" exclaimed Meowth.
"What do you want?" Jessie questioned.
"You were the ones who released that black and white Pokémon, weren't you?" Questioned Misty.
"Yes, it was us." replied Jessie, in an angry tone. "Why would that information interest you?"
"That Pokemon will destroy everyone that gets in its way and you are the only ones who can stop it." Ash said.
"Humph, as if we wanted to do that." grumbled Jessie.
"Even when we do something honest, you always treat us like villains." said James, in a neutral tone.
"Exactly what happened yesterday afternoon during that Pokémon contest." Complemented Meowth.
The youngsters soon remembered the events of the previous day.
"This means you guys weren't really helping Cassidy and… her partner to steal Pokémon from spectators." pondered Brock.
"Do you still have doubts?! Humph!" Said Jessie.
"If you don't even trust us about this, why would you trust us to stop that Pokémon?" Questioned James, still in a neutral tone.
"But you must do this!" Ash replied. "Think of all the people and Pokémon that will be hurt if you do nothing!"
"Pika-Pikachu!" Said Pikachu.
"Our lives were hurt from the day of our birth and no one even paid attention!" Jessie said, her voice at once loud and angry and anguished. "Nobody cares about us! Probably no one would mind if we protected the world from devastation!"
"We would care about that!" retorted Misty. "Also, we would encourage that!"
"You would even be recognized as heroes!" Ash said.
"Even with a bad past, it is possible to have good moments in the present." Brock said.
"Pikachu!" Said Pikachu.
"Beee!" Said Celebi, nodding its head.
"That doesn't mean that what happened in the past should be ignored." James said, this time in a pained, desperate tone.
Upon saying that, he soon turned to the opposite direction.
"Let's get out of here, friends." he said, starting to run.
Jessie and Meowth also started running beside him.
"Wait!" shouted Misty as the kids ran after them.
"We know you are still angry about what happened yesterday." shouted Ash. "We can still fix things! Please, forgive us!"
After his last line, Jessie, James and Meowth looked back to retort, slowing their running speed.
Before opening their mouths to speak, they saw a large capture net, which soon pinned Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu to the ground. After that, electricity ran through the grid, shocking them.
"Ahhhh! What's that?" Questioned Misty, in a desperate tone.
Celebi, who hadn't been caught by the net, was visibly worried. He was about to use the psychic attack to lift the net when it suddenly went still, with some kind of purple particle around it.
Before Celebi could react, another capture net, smaller than the previous one, trapped him inside. Similar to the first one, electricity ran through this one, shocking the green Pokémon.
"Beeee!" he said before collapsing, knocked out.
"Celebi, no!" shouted Ash.
Moments later, the electricity stopped. Although the youngsters and Pikachu didn't get seriously injured, the shock had weakened them.
"Okay; who did this?" Brock asked.
From the place where the nets came from, more precisely behind a bush, a man appeared, accompanied by an Alakazam, who soon returned to his Poké Ball. He was exactly the same person who had told them the story of Pokémon Binastry; it was Lenny.
"Why are you doing this?" Asked Ash, in a surprised and angry tone.
"I can't allow you to thwart my plan." replied Lenny.
"What?" Misty asked.
"You are nothing but fools! I was the one who trapped Binastry inside that box five years ago. My initial plan was to find a way to use it to take over the world, but I was forced to abandon the box in a cave because of this Celebi." Said Lenny, pointing to the knocked out Pokémon inside the net. "When I went back to look for the cave, I couldn't find it. It looked like as if it had disappeared, along with the objects I left there."
Upon hearing his story, the young people assumed positions of surprised and disgusted.
"So you were the one who did it!" Ash stated. "And, moreover, for a bad cause!"
"You will not succeed in your plan!" exclaimed Misty.
"Oh?! And who will stop me?" questioned Lenny, taking something out of a pocket. "All I need to do is shoot this Pokémon controlling weapon at that Binastry for my plan to succeed!"
The youths soon began to struggle, in an attempt to get out of the trap.
"You will not be able to get away with impunity!" Ash said.
"Pikachu!" Said Pikachu.
"I don't think so!" Said Lenny, heading to the forest. After a few seconds, he disappeared through the trees.
"We can't let him do what he intends to do!" exclaimed Ash.
"But how are we going to stop it if we are still here in this trap?" Misty asked.
After a few seconds of thinking, Brock seemed to have an idea.
"I got an idea, guys." He said. "Let's use our Pokémon to release these nets."
"Well thought! Chikorita, I choose you!" Said Ash, while picking up one of his Poké Balls, from which Chikorita came out of. "Use your razor leaves to get us out of this net... Just be careful not to hit us."
"Chiko!" Said Chikorita, who immediately threw razor leaves, aiming at the ropes of the net which, when hit by the attack, soon broke free, freeing the group.
Soon after, Chikorita also freed the net in which Celebi, still unconscious, was trapped.
"Good job, Chikorita!" Ash said. "Now, you can return to your Poké Ball to rest."
"Chiko!" Said Chikorita, as it returned to her Poké Ball.
The group soon began to observe the unconscious Pokémon which, at that moment, was already threatening to open its eyes.
"Will he be okay?" pondered Misty.
"Although he received a severe shock, he did not suffer any serious injuries, so he should be fine by the time he wakes up." Brock stated.
At that moment, Celebi had already opened his eyes, looking around.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked, directing the question to the green Pokémon, who immediately looked at the young man.
"Beee!" replied Celebi, starting to fly around the young people.
"That's great!" exclaimed Misty. "Now, we just need to stop Lenny from carrying out his evil plan."
"But what about Team Rocket? Most likely, we will need their help." pondered Brock.
"They have already made it clear that they are not going to help." replied Misty, in a partially angry tone.
"Unfortunately, she is right." Ash said. "We'll have to make do without them."
"Pika..." said Pikachu.
The group soon followed the direction Lenny had gone earlier, probably to Tiloshi City.