When we last met with our heroes, they were making their way through the most difficult part of Ralia: Unumia Desert. There, they encountered Chris and Professor Acacia, who were on the hunt for a Legendary Pokémon: the Pokémon of Unity, Unulurok. Remembering this as the same Pokémon who saved them from Team Shade, our heroes agreed to help find Unulurok. They managed to meet it on top of its long resting place, Unumia Rock. However, Unulurok summoned a Celebi, who seems to have taken our heroes back in time!
Back in the present day, Chris and Professor Acacia were string confused at what they had just seen. Ash, Serena, Vernon, Pikachu, and RotomDex had just disappeared with a Celebi in a big flash of light. Then they saw Unulurok, who had just sent three people flying into the sky. And now, it was staring right back at them.
"What did you do with our friends?" said Chris.
Unulurok did not respond, but then, a big shadow appeared in the sky. It was a serpent-like figure, with small hands. And then, it spoke in a booming voice.
"You needn't worry about your friends. They are alright. But we have an important mission for them in the past. They have an important role to play there."
And then, all of a sudden, the figure and Unulurok suddenly disappeared before Chris and Acacia could even realize what happened.
"An important mission?" said Acacia. "What is that thing talking about?"
Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Vernon, and RotomDex looked around the landscape in shock. It was like they were still in Unumia Desert, but it was different. There were plants out in there in the once barren desert, and there seemed to be more Pokémon out there. But now, there seemed to be two even bigger Pokémon out there. Whatever they were, they were getting close.
"What are those things?" said Serena.
Celebi flew in front of them, and it tried to usher them down the rock. "Bree, bree!" it said.
"What's it saying, Rotom?" said Ash.
"I think it's saying, 'You guys need to come with me.'" said RotomDex.
"You cannot just take us back in time and expect us to do whatever you say!" said Vernon.
"Well, Vernon, the alternative is to take our chances with those giant creatures," said Serena.
The group could see the two giant creatures getting closer, so they reluctantly started following after Celebi.
The group slowly made their way down the rock, but then, the creatures arrived. The heroes hid behind some rocks and were able to see what they looked like. One of them was a butterfly-like Pokémon, colored red, with pink crystalline wings. It had sharp antennae and floated with legs made of garnet. The other one looked like a giant thylacine, but its body was smooth and jade-colored. it had a blade-shaped tail, and dark-blue eyes. They two seemed to be looking around, trying to find something.
"What are they?" said Serena. Celebi tried to show them the way to escape, and they all tried to keep their heads low. Eventually, it seemed like the giant Pokémon had left, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
"Alright," said Ash, looking at Celebi. "I think it's time you gave us some answers, okay?"
Celebi smiled and said, "Bree, bree, bree!"
"It's trying to tell us," said RotomDex, "'I brought you guys here to the past on behalf of the great Pokémon, Ophidarca."
"Ophidarca?!" Ash almost screamed out.
"Bree, bree, bree!"
RotomDex translated, "It says, 'You guys were supposed to arrive here in order to save the future of the Ralia region.'"
"Us?" said Serena. "Why us? Why would Ophidarca want us?"
"Bree, bree!"
"'Because Ophidarca remembered meeting you guys hear all these years ago.'" RotomDex translated.
"We... were here?" said Vernon. "In the past? And we met Ophidarca?"
Celebi nodded, but then, the group heard rumbling. Before they could even react, the two Pokémon from before landed in front of them.
"What? How did they find us?" said Ash.
"Bree!" Celebi flew forward, ready to face them, but they simply roared in its face, preparing some devestating attacks. The garnet Pokémon gathered some pink light in front its chest, and the jade Pokémon prepared some blue energy within its eyes.
Thinking quickly, Celebi flew back over to the group, and emitted a bright light of its own. Unfortunately, the other Pokémon moved just a bit faster. The garnet Pokémon fired a laser of pink light, while the jade Pokémon fired beans of blue rings from its eyes. Before our heroes could see what was happening, they disappeared into the light.
This Pokémon can store energy in its large dewlap. It unleashed this energy all at once to blow away its enemies.
The group slowly opened their eyes, and saw that they were in the same place. Same desert at the bottom of Unumia Rock. But now, those giant Pokémon were gone.
"That was weird," said Ash. "What happened?"
"I think I know," said RotomDex. "I think Celebi used its powers to send us through time again."
"Send us through time?" said Ash.
"Yep," said RotomDex. "I think it sent just a little bit forward in time in order to get us away from those giant Pokémon. It sent us to a point where they would be gone."
"Oh, I get it," said Vernon. "Guess Celebi really saved our necks back there." But then, he noticed something. "Wait, where is Celebi?"
"Um, guys?" came Serena's voice. The guys looked and were horrified to see her cradling Celebi's injured body.
"Celebi!" they cried out. They all gathered around it, trying to see if it was okay.
"It must have been hurt by those attacks from the giant Pokémon as it was sending us forward."
Celebi managed to weakly open its eyes, and saw the group looking over it concerned. "B-breeee..."
"It said, 'I was just trying to protect you guys..." said RotomDex.
As Celebi's eyes closed again, the group started to panic.
"Not good! We gotta find it some help! And fast!" said Ash.
Seeing that no one was around, the group made a mad dash through the desert, desperate to find something or someone that could help them.
Hours later, the group was still looking. The desert sun was beating down on them, but that was barely slowing them down anymore. All they cared about was saving Celebi.
Serena looked at Celebi in her arms. It wasn't moving, but it was still breathing steadily, at least.
"Hang in there, Celebi," she said.
"Say, guys? I just had a theory," said Vernon.
"Huh? What do you mean?" said Ash.
"Those giant Pokémon," said Vernon, "I think they were the Pokémon from that legend Heidi told us about."
"The legend?" said Serena.
"Remember? She told us about how three different Pokémon were created by Ophidarca to help the people of this region in the ancient past. And one of them was Unulurok."
"Wait, you mean..." said Serena. "...those Pokémon, they're the Pokémon of Emotion and Logic?"
"I think so," said Vernon. "But they're rampaging. So you know what that means, right?"
"We're in... the time if the legend!" Ash realized.
"Do you think... we're actually a part of the legend?" said Vernon.
Ash thought about that for a second. Was it true? Were they supposed to be a part of the legend? But what did that even mean? What were they supposed to do?
Suddenly, though, the group saw something in the distance. It looked like another Pokémon, but it was a little guy. It looked like an echidna, with big eyes, claws, spines, and a long muzzle.
"Who's that Pokémon, Rotom?" said Ash.
RotomDex scanned it and said, "Echidnimal. The Spiny Anteater Pokémon. A Normal Type. They move their noses along the ground to find small bug Pokémon to eat with the 2000 electrosensors in its snout. Does not evolve."
"Echinimal? Where'd you go came a voice." The group saw a young girl running through the desert in the distance, until she saw the Echidnimal and ran up to it. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run off?"
"Uh, excuse me?" Ash said, running up to the girl, who looked at him in surprise.
"Who are you all?" the girl said. "Don't you know it's dangerous out here? Those giant Pokémon are waiting for all of us out there!"
"Yeah, we know," said Serena running up to her and revealing Celebi in her arms. "Look what they did to our friend here."
"Oh, my!" said the girl. "What happened to it?"
"Those giant Pokémon you were talking about?" said Vernon. "They attacked us and hurt Celebi."
"Not good," the girl said, quickly picking Celebi up in her own arms. "I'll have to get it back to my people to help it."
She suddenly turned to leave, but Ash called out to her. "Hey! Wait for us! We wanna help Celebi too!"
The girl looked back at the group suspiciously. They couldn't what she was thinking, but she seemed to be thinking about just who they were.
"Your clothes... just where do you all come from?" she said.
"Never mind that," said Ash. "We just wanna help Celebi. At this rate, it might not make it, and you're only hope to heal it!"
The girl still looked suspicious, but then said, "Fine. Just come with me."
As they walked, Ash noticed that this girl was wearing tribal clothes. He could have sworn there was something familiar about her...
"Sorry, would you mind if we asked your name?" he said.
"Aster."
It's Mabosstiff!
By now it was dark out. Aster led the group to a little crater in the desert. The crater was filled with many native people, who were bustling about with each other. The group looked around, but the native people didn't even seem to notice them as they walked through.
Aster made her way to a tall, old man who seemed to be looking out at the night sky. "Father?" said Aster. The man turned to look at her, and she said, "I've got a Pokémon here in need of care!"
"You do?" said the man. However, then he looked behind Aster and saw our heroes, and he growled. "Aster, don't tell me that you brought some of those settlers here?"
"What?" said Aster. "Father, please, these people just need our help to save Celebi."
Aster's father looked down at Celebi in Aster's arms, and he grumbled and picked it up. But then he looked back at our heroes and said, "You three. I will heal Celebi, but I am ordering you to leave now."
"We're not going anywhere!" said Ash. "Celebi is our friend, and we're not leaving without it!"
Aster's father growled, but Aster said, "Father, please. I can deal with them. Just heal Celebi." Her father looked unconvinced but nodded and walked away.
The heroes were relieved, but then Aster turned back to them and said, "Now then. I want to know who you are and where you come from."
"Huh?' said Ash, Serena, and Vernon.
"I need to know, are you with the settlers?" said Aster. "The settlers are not welcome around here!"
"Uh, sorry, but we don't know what you're talking about," said Serena. "Please, we don't want any trouble."
"Well, if you're not with the settlers, then where did you come from?" said Aster. "Those clothes, you're not one of us."
The group looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Could they even tell her the truth?
"Look, we ended up here purely by mistake, okay?" said Vernon. "We were... well, we were brought here by a mysterious Pokémon. We're not sure why, but we aren't planning to stick around."
Aster raised an eyebrow, but sighed and said, "Well, I'd curse whatever that Pokémon brought you here. This region, it's been getting devastated for a long time now."
"Because of those Pokémon you were telling us about, right?" said Serena.
"Exactly," said Aster. She suddenly looked up to the sky and began remembering. "To think, Entomotus was supposed to protect us, but instead, it turned against us and teamed up with the enemy."
"Entomotus?" said Ash.
"That's one of the Pokémon. The garnet-colored one. It was the Pokémon of Emotion."
"The Pokémon of Emotion?" said Ash. "Um, can you tell us more?"
"Well, it was a long time ago, but this region was our home once, until those settlers showed up. They tried to take our own home from us, so we had to seek help. We sought the help of the Rainbow Serpent Pokémon, Ophidarca. It gave us a scale that we used to turn an ordinary bug Pokémon into the Emotion Pokémon, Entomotus. It was a Bug and Fairy Type, and when we created it, we instilled the power of our emotion into it. We wanted it to share our emotions so it would understand the importance of saving our home. But then, Ophidarca betrayed us. It helped those settlers make a Pokémon of their own to fight for them. We tried to have Entomotus take that other Pokémon down, but then it, for some reason, it turned against us and teamed up with that other Pokémon, trying to destroy us."
The group looked at each other. Did Aster really not understand why Entomotus turned on her people?
Suddenly, they heard a voice. "Hey, you!" They turned to see Aster's father. "Celebi will be alright, but we will need time to fully heal it."
"Huh? How long?" said Vernon.
"It could be days," said Aster's father.
"Days?!" said Ash. This wasn't good. They needed Celebi to get back home.
Suddenly, there was a big crash. Everyone looked up and gasped in horror to see none other than the garnet-colored Pokémon from before, Entomotus, flying above them.
"No, it found us!" Aster said.
Enomotus screeched and prepared some pink light in front of its chest.
"Look out! That's its Soul Beam!" said Aster. The beam was fired, but everyone scattered.
"Ugh, what do we do?" said Ash.
"We're the ones Entomotus wants," said Aster. "You guys... just run."
"No way!" said Serena. "Look, we can help you guys escape! Just let us distract it! Then you guys can flee!"
"Huh?" said Aster. Before she could even question anything, our heroes were running up to face Entomotus.
"Hey, you big bully!" said Ash, "why don't you pick on someone your own size!"
Entomotus turned to face them, and it prepared to attack. Ash sent out Platide and told it to use Scald. Serena sent out Braixen and told it to use Flamethrower. Vernon Sent out Jelloater and told it to use Venoshock. Of course, Entomotus easily dodged all these moves and fired another Soul Beam. Our heroes were only narrowly able to dodge, but they wouldn't give up. They attacked again, doing whatever it took to stop Entomotus. Eventually though, a Soul Beam hit, and the group was sent crashing.
Entomotus seemed pleased with its work before turning back to the crater, but was shocked to see that it was empty. It growled as it realized it had lost its quarry and began to fly away. Along the way, it flew above the heroes. The heroes got anxious as it glared at them, but fortunately, it flew away.
"I guess it really was after the natives," said Vernon. He looked back at the crater and walked over to it. Looking inside, he could see some tunnel entrances lining the sides. "They must have retreated into there."
"I hope they're okay," said Ash. "And Celebi too."
Suddenly, they could hear someone coughing. They looked over, and in the moonlight, they could see a silhouetted figure in the distance.
"Huh?" said Ash. "Who is that?" Without thinking, he ran over, forcing everyone to follow after him.
Eventually, they met with the figure, and he seemed to a young man dressed in an old-timey suit. He didn't seem to notice them, he was just rubbing his forehead.
"Um, excuse me?" said Ash.
The young man looked up at them, and said, "Oh, hello." He looked our heroes over and looked confused, but then grinned. "Well, I guess it's nice to see some of my fellow settlers."
"Settlers?" said Vernon. "Uh, sorry, we're not settlers, pal."
"You're not?" said the young man. "Well, that's no good. My little buddy and I have been lost and running out here in the desert for way to long."
From behind the man's feet came a small Pokémon. It was black-colored, and it looked like a tiny lizard, with sharp teeth and claws on all four of its feet and white on its face like a skull.
RotomDex quickly scanned it and said, "Skullizard. The Little Lizard Pokémon. A Dark Type. Living in dark places, this Pokémon has survived since ancient times, and has hardly changed since then. Evolves into Baskullisk at level 30 and into Komegado at level 45."
"What? What is that thing?!" said the man, shocked at the sight of RotomDex.
"Ooh, er, that's just a Pokémon of ours," Ash said. "It's... a special breed." The man looked at him unconvinced, but Ash said, "Never mind him. Look, who are you? And what are you doing out here?"
"Oh, um, you can call me Thomas. This is my friend, Skullizard. And well, I got separated from my people after an attack from... that Putacine. I've been lost in the desert for hours."
"Putacine?" said Vernon.
"It's that blasted Pokémon," Thomas said. "That thing betrayed us, and now all it wants to do is destroy us."
The group looked at each other, slowly dawning with realization. "Thomas, are you with a group of settlers who came to this region?" said Serena.
"Huh? How did you know that?" said Thomas.
"We've learned a few things about this place since we got here," said Vernon. "So, this Putacine, can you tell us more about it?"
"Oh, uh, I suppose," said Thomas. "You see, my people came to this region to escape from a land of tyranny. We tried to make a new home for ourselves here, but the natives, they suddenly showed up one day with a giant Pokémon, and tried to drive us away."
"Okay," said Serena. "So what did you guys do then?"
"Well, we discovered the legend of the Pokémon, Ophidarca. We learned it had the power to bring new life into the world. We tried to ask it for help, so it agreed to give us one of its scales to us to create a protector of our people. We dug up a fossil of an ancient Pokémon and we used the scale to turn it into Putacine. We made it as an Electric and Psychic Type, as the Logic Pokémon, Putacine. We wanted it to share our desire to make progress in the world, to think with logic."
"But then you pit it against the natives' Pokémon, didn't you?" said Serena.
"Huh? How'd you know that?" said Thomas.
"Hey, guys!" came a voice. Everyone turned to see Aster running up to them. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay. I thought-" She stopped the moment she saw Thomas. "Who is this?" She didn't even give our heroes a chance to respond as she said, "I knew it! You are with the settlers, aren't you!?"
"You guys are with a native?" said Thomas. He growled and said, "Oh, so that's how you know everything. You're with them, aren't you?"
"Whoa, you guys, calm down!" said Vernon. "Um, Thomas, meet Aster, Aster, Thomas."
"Look, just relax," said Ash, "we're all friends here."
"Friends?!" said Aster. "People like this guy took everything from my people!"
"Excuse me? Your people were determined to drive mine out of this place!" said Thomas.
"Your people tried to drive us out of our home!" said Aster.
"Your people wouldn't even let us stay in the first place!" said Thomas.
"Enough, you two!" said Vernon. "Look, there's no need to-"
Suddenly, they heard something howl. They turned their heads to see the jade-colored Pokémon from before coming their way.
"Putacine!" said Thomas. "Everybody run!"
The group tried to run, but Vernon suddenly called out, "Guys! There's a place we can hide! Up ahead!" He tried to lead everyone their, but then, Putacine caught up to them and its eyes glowed again.
"It's using Cortex Glare!" said Thomas. "Look out!"
The group only barely dodged the onslaught of rings from Putacine's eyes. Rushing forward, and dodging more explosions from Cortex Glare, the group managed to dive back into the crater. Hiding within the tunnel entrances, Putacine seemed to miss them and just growled to itself since it couldn't find them, and it began walking away.
"Whoo, that was close," said Aster as they came out of the tunnel. Glaring at Thomas, she said, "Thanks a lot for leading it here, you!"
"Hey, I didn't lead it here!" said Thomas. "I just-"
"Thomas!" called out a voice. Thomas looked up, and saw a woman in old-timey clothes looking down into the crater at him.
"Mother!" he cried out, and he ran up out of the crater to hug her. "You found me!"
"Thank goodness you're okay, Thomas," Thomas's mother said. The others began walking up the crater, and were surprised to see a whole group of settlers walking up to the crater.
"I'm so sorry I got lost, Mother," said Thomas.
"Oh, it's okay," his mother said. "We just survived a brush with Putacine ourselves. Seems like getting lost saved you from danger."
"Er, well-" said Thomas.
"What is the meaning of this!?" came a voice. Everyone turned to see the native people, led by Aster's father, coming out of the tunnels. "So, you accursed settlers have come this way? Are you really here to steal the one home we have left?"
"Home? You call this a home?" said Thomas's mother. "You can keep this place. When we're done, our people will actually have a real home."
"You all will leave this place at once," said Aster's father. "You have done enough damage to our people."
"Believe me, we want nothing to do with your people!" said Thomas's mother.
Ash, Serena, and Vernon looked back at Aster and Thomas, who seemed to be staring at each other for some reason. However, they eventually huffed at each other, and began walking away from each other. After that, the settlers turned around and left, refusing to give the natives another glance.
"You three," said Aster's father, pointing at our heroes. "Did you lead these people here?"
"What? No!" said Ash. "They just happened to come by here."
Aster's father growled, but he decided to turn around and go back to the tunnels.
Aster looked at our heroes and said, "You best not mingle with those settlers if you want my father to heal Celebi." She turned and began walking towards the tunnels.
As the natives began moving back into the tunnels, our heroes looked at each other before Vernon spoke up. "Guys, I think I know why we're here."
"You do?" said Ash.
"Yep," said Vernon. "And it all comes down to Thomas and Aster."
"Huh? What do you mean?" said Serena.
"Those two, they look just like those pictures Heidi showed us. Of the settler boy and native girl who united their people."
"Wait, you mean... seriously!?" said Ash. "The settler boy and native girl... that's them?"
"Um, correct me if I'm wrong," said Serena, "but I don't think those two were supposed to hate each other."
"Yeah, are those two really supposed to fall in love?" said Ash.
"Maybe that's what we're here for!" said Vernon. "I think we were sent here to get those two crazy kids together, so that they can unite their people together and put an end to the rampages of Putacine and Entomotus!"
It looks like our heroes have finally figured out their mission. But can they really pull this off? Find out next time...
In the present day, Team Rocket was limping along after their launch. "Well, so much for catching a Legendary Pokémon," said Jessie. "Just what was that thing, anyway?"
"Hey, guys," said Meowth, pointing at something in the distance. James and Jessie looked at where he was pointing. It looked like... Professor Acacia's tent?
As the journey continues!
TO BE CONTINUED...