This is the fourth of four chapters today.


A globe of crackling energy blossomed out from Celebi. It engulfed her, Vicious, the entire construct, a saucer-shaped portion of the Lake of Life, Ash, Sammy, Pikachu, Togekiss, Keldeo and Suicune.

And then vanished with a thunderclap.


Suicune's steps slowed, as she and all the rest of them looked around at what had abruptly replaced the shoreline of the Lake of Life.

In all directions, swirling white nothingness was all that could be seen. The water they were stood on or floating over extended about forty metres behind them, and seemed to be in a rough circle around the construct. Aside from that, there was very little else.

"What just-" Ash began, then stopped – unable to find the words.

"This is like when Celebi brought me forwards," Sammy said, looking around. "But that only took a couple of seconds."

"Ash?" Suicune asked. "Is Sammy right – is he the young Professor Oak?"

"Yes, he is," Ash confirmed.

"Then I think we just came unstuck in time. Celebi, and all of us. There were too many contradictions – for one, I know I was not your Pokémon the previous time, and the difference postdates Sammy's original time."

"Right." Ash nodded. "I guess that makes as much sense as anything."

"What does?" Sammy asked. "I couldn't understand what Suicune said-"

The world shifted.

Suddenly, rather than swirling white energy, there was something else. A time and a place.

The stump of a burned tower, crackling with the remnants of the fire which had destroyed it.

Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokémon, hunched over the ruins – feathers glowing, as he poured energy into the ruins.

Suicune gaped. "That is... where I was born."

As she said that, three shapes – blue, yellow and red – walked slowly out of the ruins and stood before Ho-Oh.

Then the scene dissolved, going back to the swirling white.

"That was where and when you were created?" Ash repeated. "A hundred years ago?"

Suicune nodded.

The sound of shifting plant material reminded them where they were, and both Water-types jumped aside in different directions before Celebi's attack hit.

"Climb onto the plants!" Ash instructed. "She can't hit us there so easily – then we can try to reach Celebi!"

As he said that, there was a flash of something else outside. Just for a moment, Ash saw himself – lifting a trophy he'd never seen before.

Pikachu had seen it too. "Was that the future?"

"I have no idea," Ash confided, clinging on as Suicune sprinted towards the plant construct and then jumped on board.

Vines came crackling out of the woody leg, trying to ensnare her with a Grass Knot, and she avoided them with difficulty.

"I'll help," Pikachu said, taking a deep breath. He jumped down, landing next to Suicune, and used Iron Tail to hack at the reaching vines.

Just as he did, there was another flicker in the walls of the bubble. A Pichu, flashing white and evolving to Pikachu.


Sammy clung on to Suicune, trying to get his head around all the shocks that had happened today.

He would become a Pokémon professor?

This boy – Ash – had known him as a grown-up?

Then there were all the Pokémon Ash had. Sammy knew vaguely what a Suicune was, but had never even heard of this Keldeo – and he knew a Pikachu, or a Pichu, wasn't the normal starter, so that was unusual too.

The thought of starters brought a sudden stab of fear. Charmeleon!

Where was his starter? He'd gone off to fight the Scizor, but hadn't appeared again – was he okay?

After a moment, Sammy realized that was probably not the issue here. Charmeleon could look after himself, especially against a Scizor.

Suicune blasted ahead of them with a Bubblebeam, knocking some kind of construct-thorn down. Glancing across at the other leg, Sammy also saw the white flying Pokémon – Togekiss? – helping Keldeo scale that one.

The wall shimmered again, and another image appeared. A young brown-haired man – Sammy wasn't sure of his age – triumphantly lifting the Indigo League trophy, with a Dragonair and an Arcanine either side of him.

The image was gone in a flash, and Sammy tried to work out what it meant.


"Ha! Take that!"

Keldeo's sword flashed, cutting away roots and branches which impaired his progress, and he took a single precious step forwards before they became too thick again.

Next to him, Togekiss frowned, exerting Extrasensory on the vines below and behind him to make sure they didn't grow back.

This was taking a long time, but they were still managing it. They'd make it to the top, it would only be a matter of time!

Then Togekiss gasped.

"What?" Keldeo asked, sweeping his horn and its blade along the surface of the leg they were climbing to cut away at new growth.

He looked, and blinked.

Two Togetic were tending the eggs in their nest, and then an earthquake struck. It produced an avalanche of rock and dirt, knocking one of the eggs free, and carrying it down the cliff side.

As it bounced and rolled, an Aerodactyl swooped down to try and grab it. Before it did, though, one of the rocks hit it and stunned it.

Going limp, the Aerodactyl fell into the stream of rock alongside the egg.

After a surprisingly short length of time, the avalanche crashed into the sea below. It buried a couple of Omastar and Kabutops, and then subsided – egg, Aerodactyl, Kabutops and Omastar all gone under the pile of rock.

Then the whole scene vanished again.

"What was-" Keldeo began, then felt the vines on his hooves. "Gah!"

He pulled his left forehoof up to his horn and used the shimmering blade to cut the vines attempting to gain purchase.

For her part, Togekiss was somewhat subdued. "I think... that was my egg, Keldeo. Back when it got buried."

Keldeo frowned. "You'd know more than I-"

Another flash of other-time. This time, it was-

"That's me!" Keldeo gaped. "Me fighting Kyurem!"

And, in the distance, there were the other Swords of Justice, frozen in ice.

But... how could that...


"Who's that?" Ash asked, seeing Suicune fighting a young man wearing dirt-stained overalls. As he watched, Suicune summoned a wave of water to knock a Ferrothorn backwards, and the man promptly released a Tropius which took to the sky.

"That's Malcom!" Sammy said, jaw dropping. "He's the newest member of the Elite Four!"

"This is giving me a headache," Ash said, as Suicune forced herself forwards another step. "Is Celebi directing this?"

"I don't think anyone is," Suicune replied. "If Celebi were controlling it, then it would have already dropped us somewhere we would be at a grave disadvantage."


Vicious snarled, stumbling slightly as the construct shook.

Celebi had done... something, and now they were... somewhere.

He hated not knowing. Not being in control.

"Celebi!" he shouted. "Stop this!"

Celebi responded, but it didn't seem to help. The white-grey surrounds swirled once more, and then shifted – showing a young boy starting out on his Pokémon journey.

Vicious blinked. Expensive shirt, well shined shoes, five empty Ultra Balls on his belt... and a Meowth, walking alongside him.

Was that-

Then the image vanished, snatched away by the swirling timestream, and there was a sound of audible sharpness as the equine Pokémon hit something with that horn of his.

The Marauder wondered briefly if he could un-key one of his four remaining useless Dark Balls and then capture the Suicune, or this other Pokémon... or perhaps Pikachu again.

Actually – how long would that take? Not very long.

He was about to begin, when the mists of time parted again and revealed a very familiar scene.

A young boy who Vicious recognized, training his Croconaw by a riverside.

"Stupid oaf!" the boy shouted, kicking the Water-type. "What good are you?"

Vicious' mouth moved along with the words as he remembered.

"If I tell you to use Surf, you do it! Fainting isn't an option! You cost us that gym badge!"

Croconaw growled something, flinching back, then – pushed beyond endurance – dove into the river and swam away.

"No!" the young trainer shouted. "Come back! I'm Victor, your trainer! I order you to come back!"

As he reached for the Pokéball, a beam of ice hit it. The Pokéball bounced to the ground and smashed.

Turning over on his front once the Ice Beam had connected, the Croconaw swam downstream – free.

"Celebi!" Vicious shouted, as the scene disappeared. "Why did you do that? Why remind me of it?"

Celebi gave no reply.

Irritated, he got to work on the Dark balls – unkeying them from the Pokémon he'd stolen from Team Rocket.


In the workroom of Kurt, Pokéball maker for over fifty years, a shelf shook.

The gold-and-silver GS ball trembled, then fell off the shelf and vanished before it hit the floor.


Ash wobbled, nearly thrown off Suicune's back. "Suicune – can you get much further?"

She growled, biting at the latest vines twining around her legs.

"I might be stuck," she said, after spitting that one out. "I'm too big – the vines are getting too dense. Go and make sure Celebi's okay, the two of you!"

"Sammy," Ash said, turning to the boy. "Celebi knows you. You need to go and make sure she's safe – that she remembers you."

"What about you?" Sammy asked.

"I'm going after Vicious," Ash replied. He tugged on his gloves, and Aura skirled around them for a moment. "People don't hurt my friends."

"Are you going to be okay, Ash?" Pikachu asked.

"I'll be fine-" Ash began.

The background twisted, images and places swirling, and then stabilized – Pallet town.

"Look!" Pikachu called, pointing. "That's Molly! This must be – well, just about now!"

As he spoke, Molly frowned and looked up. She said something, and her Eevee nodded, then came running towards them.

There was a confusing moment of discontinuity, and then Pallet Town vanished again.

But a green shape did not. It phased briefly into the water at the bottom of the time bubble, then reached the leg of the construct, and became a green-brown blur which ran up the leg in seconds.

Molly's Leafeon slowed as it reached them. "Ash!"

Ash blinked. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know!" Leafeon replied. "But Molly told me to help you, and pointed – so I came here!"

Her tail glowed a bright green and flicked back and forth, and the vines constricting Suicune fell apart – though a moment later more began to replace them.

"Go with Ash!" Suicune told her, mouth glowing with a charging Ice Beam. "Keep him and Pikachu safe!"

Leafeon nodded, and ran around to in front of Ash. With a brief flare of light, she switched to brown-and-yellow Flareon, and burned a path through the vines.

"Come on!" she called.


"Celebi's just through there," Ash said, pointing.

"Right," Sammy replied, looking nervous. "Uh... good luck, I guess, Ash."

"Thanks, Sammy," Ash said. "You too."

That said, he jumped, and caught some of the relatively thick vines. Flareon switched to Espeon, using her psychic powers to help pull herself up, and Pikachu grabbed onto the vines himself.

It wasn't actually a very hard climb – not for the fit Ash, anyway. There were so many vines that there was always a handhold right where it would be most convenient, and it seemed like Celebi's active plant manipulation was still focused on the two Water legendaries.

Grunting, Ash hauled himself up another body length, then looked around as the world changed again.

This time, it was-

Ash recognized him instantly. Sir Aaron! Talking to Lucario, then sealing him in the staff, and walking slowly towards the Tree of Beginning.

The sight filled Ash with determination. Sir Aaron had given up his life for his beliefs, and still found a way to help others.


Espeon staggered in the air as the construct moved, smashing into her and throwing her some distance away.

With difficulty, she levitated back to the side of the construct, and decided to shift forms.

Several were an option, but she went Jolteon on instinct. Speed was important here.

Jolteon landed on the curving side of the construct, digging her claws in for grip, and clambered up to Ash and Pikachu as they approached the top.

At that point, there was another of those time-distortions.

She saw a damaged Pokémon stadium floor – indoors with no stands, so probably a gym – and Ash and a Riolu standing over Pikachu, doing something to him.

A tiny spark leaped off Pikachu, passed into the time bubble, and crackled home in her green fur.

Huh.

Not entirely sure what had just happened, she resumed her upwards climb.

In the gym, Pikachu's cheeks flickered between orange and red, then settled on red.


Sammy clambered through the browned, intertwined roots and branches, heading for Celebi.

This close to the core, they were mostly dried and inactive – making it less difficult for him to get through, as they weren't trying to grab hold of him.

"Celebi!" he called, as he caught sight of her – then blinked, seeing what was past Celebi in the open air of the... time bubble, he guessed.

The same young man who'd won the Indigo League, in the earlier flash. Now several years older, coming down to land with a Dragonite.

As he swung off its back, a man in surgical clothes came out of the building he was landing next to, holding a white cloth-wrapped bundle.

The unknown champion took the bundle, cradling it in his hands, and smiled warmly.

"See, Dragonite?" Sammy heard, very faintly. "Isn't he such a lovely little boy?"

Then the image vanished again.


"Wait – was that Professor Oak?" Togekiss asked, then returned her attention to the construct. An Air Slash cleared some roots from around Keldeo's feet, and he nodded his thanks before advancing another step and slicing with his Sacred Sword.

"I don't know what he looks like, not very well," Keldeo replied. "I only met him once – and he looked different. Older."

He caught sight of the next scene as it appeared, and stopped dead.

"What..." he whispered, jaw dropping.

Togekiss followed his gaze, and saw-

A very young Keldeo, cantering along behind Terrakion. Virizion running behind him, pushing him when he slowed or stumbled.

Cobalion, sword drawn, covering their retreat.

Two older Keldeo, some distance away and the other side of a hill, charging forwards against an enormous white shape shrouded in incandescent fire.

One of the older Keldeo flashed orange, shifting to Resolute Form, and his horn erupted with light. "Secret Sword!"

Then a blaze of eye-hurtingly intense blue fire erupted from the white shape, and at that moment the image vanished.

"Mom... Dad..." Keldeo whispered. He shook his head, and stamped a hoof. "I won't forget you!"

Then he turned his attention back to the vines, and began chopping through them with a new determination.


Ash gaped. "Okay, when the heck did that happen?"

He saw a grassy field, with the three Sinnoh Dragons standing in close formation at the far end of it.

Immediately between them and the time-distortion bubble, though, were three Mewtwo. One who looked like the one he'd met in Unova, one the familiar Mewtwo he knew, and another who looked different entirely – almost as much Fighting type as Psychic.

Ash was fairly sure he'd have heard about this if it happened. Did that mean it was from the future?

Then there was a flash, and Giratina went from Altered to Origin Form. All three Dragons began to charge their attacks.

Jolteon gaped. "We're about to be hit!"

She stepped forwards on the uncertain terrain, stopping in between Ash and the battle, and flashed over to Sylveon. Her blue-white tendrils spread, trying to cover both Ash and Pikachu.

"No, we'll be fine," Ash told her, confused. "None of the others have-"

"But I'm sure-"

Dialga and Palkia fired their signature attacks at the same time.

Sylveon's fur ruffled as if in a high wind, as the attacks blasted over their Mewtwo targets and violently glowing backscatter slammed into her.

Only her. Not the construct, not the water, not even Ash and Pikachu standing within feet of her. And, despite that, it did her no damage at all.

Then the bizarre battle scene vanished as if it had never been.

"But-" Ash pointed. "How does that make sense?"

Something dropped into his pocket.

He reached in on instinct, and felt the cool metal of a Pokéball. On examination, it turned out to be the GS ball.

Ash held it up to Pikachu, who shrugged – no wiser.


Vicious grinned in triumph. At last!

Three down, one to go. That meant he could catch all but one of the interlopers, and he started working on that last ball to let him do that as well.

Then there was an earth-shaking concussion that drew his head up despite himself.

A four-legged white Pokémon – was that Arceus? The Pokémon said to be the creator? - stood on a barren, rocky surface striated by veins of magma.

Before him knelt three Pokémon – one two-legged, the Dragon of Space. One four-legged, the Dragon of Time. And one six-legged, the Dragon of Symmetry.

THIS WORLD EXISTS, the Creator said, his words like granite imposing themselves on reality. NOW LET THERE BE THE ELEMENTS TO CRAFT AND SHAPE IT.

Light began to stream towards him from all directions – above, below, every compass point – and solidify into oblong disks which fairly oozed solidity.

DRAGON. ICE. ELECTRICITY. FIRE. WATER.

Vicious then noticed that there was one place light was not coming from. Here. The time bubble.

Except... there was a sparkling stream of bright pink light, coming from one shoulder of his fortress.

One by one, the Plates formed.

Almost all the light had coalesced, and Arceus began to descend back towards the floor of the barren world, when the stream of pink energy arrived.

HM? Arceus sounded confused, as the pink energy began to solidify. THIS, I DID NOT PLAN. BUT – VERY WELL. FAIRY.

That was the last word Vicious heard, before the time barrier became opaque once more.


"What the heck just happened?" Ash asked, staring at Sylveon. "The Plates are types, right? So what's Fairy type?"

Sylveon looked down at herself, then shrugged. "I'm as lost as you are."

"There you are!"

Ash's head snapped around.

Vicious threw a Dark ball. "Take this, brat!"

The staff came off Ash's back in a single, fluid motion. It hummed, flashing blue and then white with visible Aura in the fraction of a second the swing took, and then blew the incoming Dark Ball into shrapnel several feet short of Sylveon.

Ash's grip on the staff shifted slightly. "You're not going to hurt anyone else, Vicious."


Suicune bit and struggled at the vines, which had been getting worse and worse as she fought higher on the construct. Freezing them helped, but she had to keep using Ice Beam and it wasn't very efficient.

Growling, she tore at a particularly strong one with her hind legs, and managed to break something inside it.

Her streamers flapped in the breeze, calling an Air Slash, and it helped as well – but fatigue burned in her muscles, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up.

Then the vines seemed to slow all of a sudden, becoming less directed.

A high cry of "Biiiiiii!" - no words, just pain – suggested why, but Suicune had no time to spare for thoughts of that. Pressing her advantage, she smashed her way through the latest Grass Knots and leaped clear.

Once more, the mists of time parted. She saw a man of about thirty, maybe a little older, standing on a pier at Pacifidlog in Hoenn.

His hands glowed with Aura, and he looked at them a little desperately – as if this was new to him – but then his stance firmed, and he looked to the horizon.

Suicune did so as well, and saw a wave coming. Rising up as it approached, shoaling and becoming higher and more powerful. A tidal wave, breaking, and about to overrun the floating town.

The man's hands blazed brighter, and then too bright to look at as the wave came in. There was an explosion-

And it rained seawater.

The town was unharmed. Of the man, however, nothing was to be seen.


Ash feinted forwards with his staff, then kicked out, and Vicious suppressed a yell of pain as Ash's foot crashed into his knee.

"Damn it," he said, walking backwards up the slope towards the construct-head. "You're a tough one."

Ash didn't respond to that, simply advancing – always wary, ready to counter whatever Vicious did.

It was a little scary. Vicious was used to being a figure of dread – it was the reason for his mask, and not a little of why he had created his Dark Balls – and to being in control under all circumstances.

That reminder of his youth had shaken him, though, and the implacable advance of this Aura adept wasn't helping.

Vicious glanced to his side, and saw that the strange equine Pokémon had also made it onto the head.

Away from the boy.

"You'll do!" Vicious snarled. "Dark ball, go!"

A bolt of electricity wider than his hand slammed across his vision. It hit the Dark Ball mid-flight, blowing that one to smithereens too.

Then the staff hit his shins, and Vicious barely avoided going over backwards.

Stumbling, Vicious' eyes flicked to his feet – where Celebi was.

"Celebi!" he ordered. "Kill-"

His command went unheard. Everything went unheard.

Outside their bubble of displaced time was an incredible cacophony of explosions and rain and fire.

The rain drummed on every exposed surface, solid or liquid, and was so intense it was like the sea was falling from the sky all at once.

The sun shone from overhead, cutting through the clouds, and was bright enough that looking at a reflective surface was near-blinding.

The wind howled like a million angry ghosts, punishing the ears.

Volcanoes erupted all around, a constant succession of explosions that caused visible shockwaves through the air.

The sea churned, made to do so by the explosions and by the heat – it was boiling even as it rained – and the wind whipped it to a froth.

In the centre of it all, two Pokémon roared and slammed into one another.

One a huge, red-black monster with a spiked tail and gigantic claws, with yellow-glowing armour beneath which magma seethed. In a circle around it, the rock it stood on was melting, though this seemed not to hamper it.

The other a great blue-purple sea creature with wide clawed arms and a four-fluked tail, and patterns of glowing energy across its body. It swam in a sphere of water, which hissed and bubbled at the point closest to its opponent.

The red one roared something incomprehensible, and rock towers burst from the ground and fell towards the blue one. The blue one endured the blow, and then replied with beams of deep, brilliant blue light which split and resplit until they were beyond number.

Then there was yet another roar.

The seething weather parted, and a serpentine monster of green and black burst through the gap. It swam through the air, streams of bright orange-yellow energy following it, and began to glow with an incandescent green aura.

It slammed into the battling duo, and then the bubble mercifully closed up again.


Sammy took his hands off his ears, now that the sound had died down.

Celebi was curled into a ball, whimpering.

"It's okay, Celebi!" he said, squirming closer and taking her in his arms. "You'll be fine. I promise."

Celebi's eyes opened for a moment, full of confusion, and then dark energy crackled around her again.


Back up on the head, Ash was the first to recover. He brought the staff down with a crack on another Dark Ball – one which had fallen from Vicious' collar – and then knocked one out of his hand as he reached for it. Togekiss stooped after it, and blew it to pieces with Sacred Fire.

"Give up!" Ash said.

"Never!" Vicious cleared his throat, and gave the order again. "Celebi! Kill them!"

Nothing happened.

The final Dark Ball Vicious had left started to crackle, rocking back and forth in its holder.

"No!" he said, grabbing at it. "Why is this happening!"

There was a rush of air, and Suicune landed next to them.

"Because that's not how you catch or train Pokémon," Keldeo said firmly. "You earn their trust, and treat them well."

"And they'll never let you down," Ash finished.

Behind them, Vicious saw a battle on a beach. The boy – directing two Grass-types, his Pikachu and his Lucario. Against Suicune.

As Vicious watched, disbelieving, Suicune defeated them one at a time – but clearly had to put a great deal of effort in. Just as clearly, she was having the time of her life.

Then, at the last, Ash pulled out his Quilava – and caught Suicune.

Just as the Fast Ball clicked, the glimpse of the past ended.

And Celebi's Dark Ball exploded.


Misty's eyes widened. "Where did they-"

With another thunderclap of displaced air, the construct reappeared – much closer. Several thousand tonnes of water splashed back into the Lake of Life, along with the disintegrating construct, and several humans and Pokémon came off it as it fell.

Suicune had Sammy, cradling the greying Celebi in his arms with great care. Keldeo had Ash on his back, with Pikachu riding on his hat and clinging like he never wanted to let go, and Molly's Vaporeon came swimming between them

And Togekiss, an expression of distaste on her face, was levitating the Iron Masked Marauder alongside.

Keldeo reached the shore, and Ash swung off his back. The grateful Colt Pokémon wobbled a bit, and sat down quite firmly on the shoreline.

Suicune's run slowed as she approached the shore – more and more as she got closer. The exhausted Pokémon made it up onto the beach, but then stumbled to a stop, flanks heaving. "Pokémon... centre... please?" she asked, trying to inject a little humour into the moment.

Togekiss unceremoniously dropped her burden on the grass – upside down. Brock and Stantler quickly moved in to secure him, tying his hands behind his back.

"Celebi!" Sammy said, on seeing her condition – not good. "Please be okay?"

Celebi gasped, every breath seeming to be a struggle, and then sighed and stopped.

"What do we do?" Sammy asked, looking around frantically. "The lake – it healed her before, can it-"

Suicune shook her head. "It is too polluted," she said. Turning to the lake, she took a breath. "I may be able to purify it, though – not much. It is very dirty, and I am exhausted."

Sammy gaped. "But – we have to do something! She can't die!"

"I think she already did."

Ash tore his gaze from Celebi. "Wha – Meganium? You evolved?"

"I did," Meganium confirmed. Beside her, Sammy's Charmeleon walked over to his trainer and put a clawed hand on his shoulder.

Meganium took a deep breath. "Please let this work."

She bent down towards Celebi, and exhaled.

"Wait," Brock said, eyes widening. "I heard about this-"

Celebi stirred, and some colour came back into her skin.

"They can revive dead plants," Brock finished. "Meganium, that's amazing!"

Wordlessly, Suicune stepped forwards into the lake. She focused her powers, and a small area of the water went from dirty and impure to crystal clear.

Sammy wasted no time. He crouched down, immersing Celebi in the water as much as possible.

Everyone waited with bated breath.

A green glow began to build on Celebi's skin. It started at the tips of her fingers, then spread, flowing into her head and body with increasing brightness until it coloured the whole clear area of the lake.

Then, with an intense flash of light, she soared upwards into the sky – leaving a plume of water behind her.

Dozens of flickering white orbs appeared in the sky, vanishing in a heartbeat after they appeared, and heralded the arrival of dozens upon dozens of Celebi.

They began to dance in the sky, making an intricate pattern, and the Celebi the friends had just helped save joined the dance.

The pattern repeated four times, each time with a slight difference. Then the Celebi broke apart, swirled around, and reformed the pattern.

This cycle continued a total of four times, taking around a minute and a half in all.

Then the Celebi halted, and formed a single circle. There was a pulse of light which ran around the entire circle, and most of them vanished.

Two remained.

They floated gently down to the friends, the glows fading until they appeared no different from normal Celebi.

Congratulations, one broadcast – with a different tone to the one they had fought to save. You broke time. That's actually quite unusual. But – well, least said soonest mended, I think we can paper over most of the cracks.

Ash winced. "Uh – sorry, I guess..."

Oh, don't worry. It was for a good cause. The Celebi shot a vicious look at Vicious, then smiled at the rest of them. And, like I say, we're working on it as I speak. Well, not as I speak... but in a similar sidereal timeframe.

She waved. Don't worry about it, it takes degree courses to follow all of this.

"What happened?" Misty asked.

You should get your personal histories edited slightly shortly. No major discrepancies – we're good at avoiding those. But – well, Togekiss in particular will have an interesting time of it.

"Why?" Togekiss blinked.

Well, you are a Fairy now. Fitting in a whole new Type will be difficult – but don't worry, we'll put it all together. It's our job.

Smiling, the Celebi turned her attention to Sammy Oak. I'm afraid that not all of this will seem very clear. Oh, you'll remember most of the important bits, but the details might be a bit... jumbled. That's rather unavoidable, I'm afraid.

Sammy frowned. "That doesn't seem-"

We'll do the best we can, she assured him. But you might need to learn how to be as discreet as possible – you know a lot of the future, and it'll be hard to make that a stable time loop.

The Celebi giggled, and jerked her thumb at Ash. Just don't tell him too much.

She did a backflip. Anyway, I've got timelines to fix, Pokémon to see... the youngster can take you home, Sammy. Don't forget your Charmeleon.

Winking, the older Celebi nodded to him. And remember – I'm still quite young. Thank you for saving me from the poacher!

With that, she vanished.

Sammy blinked. "Wait. I thought... but..."

"I don't understand it very well either," Celebi confided. "But I understand that, if you don't have a headache, you probably don't understand time travel."


Suicune's powers slowly recovered, and after about half an hour she was able to clear the lake as a whole. Once that was done, the cleanup became much easier, as the waters were fully capable of healing those Pokémon who had been knocked out or exhausted – from Sammy's Charmeleon, to James' Arcanine, to Brock's Steelix.

Some minutes into that latter process, a bedraggled and sore-footed Jessie and James emerged from the trees. They had a few choice words for Vicious – still tied to a tree – but then pitched in with the clear-up as much as everyone else.

It was quite a complicated operation. Counting wild Pokémon, something over forty unconscious Pokémon were scattered around the lake and environs, and five of them had been contained in Dark Balls for days or weeks before being knocked out.


"Right," Meowth said, hefting Cubone's arm and lifting her most of the way off the ground. "Let's get ya – eh?"

His foot nudged something.

Conscientiously, he marked the location for investigation, and dragged Cubone over to the now-sparkling Lake of Life. Once she was in, he wandered back over, and after some effort dug the object from the mud.

It was a standard-issue red and white Pokéball. Utterly unremarkable.

"Wonder whose dis is..." he said, as Jessie and James struggled behind him to get Growlie into the healing waters of the lake.

Turning it over, he gave it a sniff.

"Dis smells like Ash... wait a second!"

Rubbing the mud off, he spotted a lightning-flash mark on it.

"...oh, ya gotta be kidding," he said. "Oi! Jessie! James!"

"What is it?" James panted. "On three, Jessie – one, two-"

"Three!" Jessie said, and they threw Growlie into the lake.

Pausing long enough to check his head was above the water, James turned to Meowth. "What is it?"

"I just found dis," Meowth explained.

James examined it. "So?"

Meowth leaned in. "It's Pikachu's," he explained in a whisper.

James blinked. "Wait, he has a Pokéball?"

"Yeah, guess so," Meowth agreed.

"So... what do we do?" Jessie asked.

They exchanged a glance.

Jessie and James started humming. This went on for at least a minute.

Meowth sighed. "Ya know, dere's only one real choice..."

"Quiet!" James said. "We're thinking!"


"Ash?"

Ash looked up. "Yeah?"

Jessie tossed him a Pokéball. "Don't lose it again, okay?"

Ash looked down at the 'ball, puzzled, then did a double take as he realized what it was. "Pikachu's – whoa, yeah, thanks, guys!"

"Don't mention it!" James said. "Seriously, don't mention it to anyone, we need to keep a reputation somehow!"

"Yeah, as da hard-nosed enforcers!" Meowth added. "'cause dat's important!"

Ash grinned. "Your secret's safe with me." With a practised tap, he shrunk the Pokéball and put it back in his bag. "How are you guys, by the way?"

"We've been better," James told him. "Looks like Team Rocket ended up bailing out again..."

Ash chuckled. "Seriously, though, thanks for your help."

"We'll take any thanks we can get!" Meowth quipped. "Dey ain't common in our line of work – well, not sincere anyways..."


"Thank goodness, you're done," Aaron said, walking somewhat gingerly back over the brow of the hill he'd been hiding behind.

"Yep!" Dialga said proudly. "I managed to shout at one Mewtwo so hard he went through a mountain!"

"This!" Giratina added. "This was cool, Dad! More of this kind of thing!"

Silence answered them.

"Dad?" Palkia asked, concern entering his voice. "Are you okay?"

With a somewhat subdued trumpeting sound, the heavens opened, and Arceus descended from the sky in glory surrounded by his Plates.

"What is it?" Sir Aaron asked. "You seem... preoccupied."

I am, a bit, Arceus confirmed. Ever discovered you're missing something? You thought you had, say, sixteen of something, and then found you only had fifteen?

"...occasionally," Sir Aaron admitted. "It is quite worrying, why – wait. Sixteen... Plates? Did you lose a Plate?"

His eyes went to the gently orbiting collection of tablets.

I'm getting there, Arceus said. And have you ever found you had more than you thought?

As he said that, a Plate separated itself from the rest and thumped down in front of Sir Aaron.

Frowning, he picked it up. "What is it?"

The Pixie Plate. The Plate of the Element of Fairy. Which, last I checked, was not a thing – and yet now it always has been.

Arceus sounded a bit miffed. Ransei even got a new bit. It's a halo shape to the north of the head bit.

"Wierd," Sir Aaron said. "What's a Fairy when it's at home?"

Apparently, immune to Dragons. Flat immune.

Sir Aaron blinked. "Huh. That is new."

"Awwwww..." all three Creation Dragons said at once.

"That's not fair!" Palkia added. "What are they weak to?"

Arceus frowned. The other Plates rose into the air, and hit the Pixie Plate one by one.

Poison and Steel, Arceus concluded. They are also unable to do much damage to those two types or Fire, are super effective against Dragon, Dark and Fighting, and can resist Bug, Dark and Fighting attacks.

Dialga started doing a happy dance.

"That's hax," Giratina said very quietly.


"Goodbye, Sammy!" Ash said, waving. "By the way, my starter Pokémon was caught chewing on electrical power cables the night before!"

Pikachu gave him a look. "We don't talk about that!"

"He needs to know," Ash pointed out quietly.

"...fine."

Sammy waved back. "Okay – I think! Good luck, Ash!"

"Here goes," Celebi said, spreading her arms. There was a white flash, and boy and Legendary vanished.

"Well, that's that," Ash said.

Less than a second later, Dexter rang.

"Hello?" Ash said.

"Ah, Ash," Professor Oak said. "I understand you have Molly's Eevee with you, and you caught Suicune?"

Ash blinked. "How do you – oh, right. I think I'm getting another time travel headache..."


"This is just bizarre," Gary said, frowning. "Gurrkin is now saying that he was taught about Mega Evolutions by someone else entirely, and that they have a Mawile capable of going Mega. I thought it was only in the last couple of years that Mega Evolutions were doable, but now it's like forty years ago they became known..."

Umbreon shrugged. "I don't understand either... but I don't remember him saying the last couple of years bit."

Gary winced. "That sounds like time travel to me. I... actually seem to remember him saying both."

He looked down at Dee's screen. "And what the heck is a Fairy type, and why is the local Gym one which specializes in them?"

Umbreon blinked. "You... don't know about Fairy types? Then something is wrong, you've got at least two I know of. Mr. Mime and Clefable."

"...Those are Fairy types now?" Gary sighed. "I hate time travel."


Vicious looked up as Giovanni walked in.

"Oh, the boss comes to gloat." He rolled his eyes. "Spare me, I've already been gloated over by the goody-two-shoes brigade and those enforcers of yours."

"I'm not here to gloat, Vicious," Giovanni said, softly. "Or, to give you your proper name, Victor Renfield."

Vicious flinched. "How did you-"

"I have my ways, Victor," Giovanni said, with a thin smile. "But, as I say, I'm not here to gloat."

He reached down and stroked Persian, quieting his growls. "The cameras are off in this room, by the way. Unavoidable maintenance fault. Incidentally, the man maintaining the building owes the Team a favour."

"What-" Vicious whispered. "You're going to – but you can't! They know you're in here with me, you'll be destroyed if you kill me! There isn't a court in the country who wouldn't convict you!"

"Dear me, Victor," Giovanni said, still with that same thin smile. "You're so naïve – I might disagree with you on the front of who might or might not be convicted of what. But that's not the point."

He shrugged. "No, Victor. I'm not going to lay a finger on you. Nor are any of my Pokémon."

Giovanni cleared his throat. "You betrayed my trust, Victor. My organization built you up from nothing, and now this is how you repay me? But – well, I could forgive that."

The look in Giovanni's eyes suggested otherwise.

"But you also tried to capture a Time Travel Pokémon, and use her to supplant me. That might well mean ensuring I never met Persian."

Another growl from the Classy Cat, quieted again by a gesture from the Rocket leader.

"So," Giovanni concluded. "I won't lay a finger on you."

"I'll talk, Giovanni!" Vicious told him. "You have to know that. No matter what you do, Team Rocket is destroyed – and you with it!"

Persian lazily swiped his paw at Vicious.

"I think not. Come along, Persian," Giovanni instructed. "We shouldn't keep Victor from his important stewing."


The next morning, Giovanni read the papers with a smile of satisfaction.

"You always were quite an artist with Shadow Claw, Persian," he said, stroking the purring feline. "Fine work."

He folded the paper back up, and read the headline once more.

'Iron Masked Marauder' suffers stroke before trial – doctors report his condition is incurable.


AN:

Let's do the time warp again.

They go a lot of places, here. Also – this is how I'm adding Fairy types. It's now retroactively done.

Let me know how that went – this film took a lot of effort! It came in at just about twenty thousand words, which is basically a novella, and a lot happened.