Chapter 135:The Altered Future, Complex Time Causality

“This Celebi has a really nice personality.”

Natsume said to Gardevoir beside him, “It looks just like a domesticated Pokémon.”

“Celebi~”

Celebi looked at Natsume and Gardevoir, offering a sweet smile.

Gardevoir looked at Celebi with confusion.

Gardevoir felt that there was something off about this Celebi.

It seemed quite familiar with everyone, and the emotions it displayed were quite special.

“What happened next?”

Yuki asked her father, “What happened after that?”

“Why did Celebi end up like this?”

Yuuji clenched his fist: “Because I took Celebi with me to Hikari-jō.”

“On the second day after I met Celebi, on July 7, 2014, a space-time distortion suddenly struck Hikari-jō.”

“The secret realm within the space was an active volcano that was erupting.”

“Given the situation at the time, the power of the volcano’s eruption would definitely affect the entire Hikari-jō through the unstable secret realm space.”

“At that time, Hikari-jō would be directly submerged by the volcano and become what history remembers as the sunken city of Pompeii.”

Pompeii, an ancient city swallowed by a volcano.

It has been buried in the annals of history.

Yuuji continued, “But fortunately, the space did not shatter.”

“However, since then, the land around Hikari-jō has completely died.”

“Not a single tree, flower, or even the vibrant wild grass could grow in Hikari-jō.”

“People thought it was just Hikari-jō's disaster.”

“But that’s not the initial outcome.”

Yuki interjected, “So this is the future that has been altered by Celebi, right?”

“Exactly!”

Yuuji looked up at Natsume and Yuki and said, “The land of Hikari-jō sacrificed its own life along with Celebi to save all the people and Pokémon of Hikari-jō.”

“If Celebi hadn’t traveled through time and space, today’s Hikari-jō would just be a dead city.”

Hearing this, Natsume understood what had really happened.

Hikari-jō was supposed to be destroyed in the secret realm. 

Both people and the city would have disappeared.

But because Celebi traveled through time, changing the past and future, Hikari-jō still exists today.

Yuuji continued reminiscing about his past.

Ten years ago, at the ranger base near Towada Lake.

“Everyone, this is a video that was captured after someone ran out of the secret realm.”

The person in charge of the Towada Lake base said to all the rangers below with a heavy expression, “This is a disaster.”

Yuuji sat in the meeting room.

He watched the scenes in the video alongside his colleagues.

As he watched the disaster unfold in the video, he unconsciously stood up, his eyes filled with helplessness and despair.

It was dusk, and the city lights had just turned on.

People moved through the bustling streets.

Hikari-jō was a vibrant city for travelers, crowded with people and beautiful scenery.

Blooming flowers could be seen everywhere on the streets.

A singer with his guitar and a Pokémon drummer were playing music in the park.

A maiden in a dress, holding a bouquet, walked arm in arm with someone through the city streets.

On the Pokémon lane, you could occasionally see Pokémon flying taxis taking off or landing.

Everywhere, there were people carrying cameras, capturing moments with models.

It was lively, yet peaceful.

Boom!

A sudden clap of thunder shattered the calm of the city.

People looked up at the sky.

The once red sky, illuminated by the sunset, began to crack like a mirror.

The space was breaking!

From the cracks, countless flashes of lightning could be seen, and a storm howled.

What was even more shocking was the silhouette of a raging volcano, partially visible within the distorted space.

“What is that? It looks magnificent.”

Someone who didn’t understand what was happening asked in awe.

“Is this an illusion?”

~Bang~

An advertisement board on the street suddenly exploded and fell onto the road.

“Ah.”

Pedestrians were startled and quickly stepped back.

Some looked at their phones in confusion: “Why is there no signal?”

“Mine too.”

“Strange, what on earth is happening?”

“This, this is the arrival of the secret realm!”

No one knew who reacted first.

He shouted with a trembling voice, “Run, run for your lives!”

The sky grew dark quickly.

The sunset was obscured.

Boom!

The heavens and earth shook together.

The space began to shatter.

What should have been formless space was breaking apart, as if it had turned into shards of glass.

These fragments of space fell to the ground, scattering with the wind, dissipating into points of light that vanished into the air.

The ghostly image of the volcano quickly solidified.

This volcano emerged from the secret realm into the real world.

It was roaring!

The once prosperous city was instantly plunged into endless fear and deep despair under the roar of the volcano!

The volcano's crater resembled a massive black eye.

It loomed high over the city, casting an eerie gaze on all the creatures within.

Boiling lava stirred restlessly inside the volcano.

“Roar~”

A massive red beast opened its eyes in the lava and let out a roar toward the sky.

At the same time, brilliant flames erupted from the volcano's mouth, shooting straight into the clouds!

The volcano had erupted!

A huge column of fire shot up into the sky.

The surrounding space glowed in the light of the flames, as bright as day.

Scorching lava rushed down like a torrent.

The magma shooting into the sky fell toward the city like raindrops.

The city's buildings ignited instantly under the onslaught of lava.

They turned to ash in the flames and magma.

The streets were covered by the searing lava.

People watched in terror as the lava surged toward them.

The lava flowed like red waves, quickly engulfing them.

People fled frantically through the once-bustling streets.

But there was nowhere to escape!

Lava and flames caused all life to wither.

The cries of Pokémon, the desperate screams of people, and thick smoke spread throughout the city.

Some rangers looked on in disbelief at the scenes in the video: “Will anyone still be alive in this city when we pass through?”

The person in charge replied solemnly, “There will definitely be.”

“Right now, there are surely people fighting with all their might against the danger.”

“They are waiting for our assistance.”

“So, in ten minutes, everyone prepare to head to Hikari-jō!”

“Yes!”

Yuuji recalled the scene he had witnessed: “Everyone understood that in such situations, if you didn’t manage to escape the enveloping range of the secret realm space in time, the chance of survival was too low.”

“So, I thought of Celebi.”

“At that time, I thought that if Hikari-jō could be warned in advance about the arrival of the secret realm and evacuate the people, maybe this disaster wouldn’t claim so many lives.”

Natsume asked, “So you went to find Celebi?”

“Exactly.”

Yuuji nodded, “Although I wasn’t sure if Celebi would help me, I had to give it a try.”

“I ran to the place where I first met Celebi and called out its name loudly.”

“Fortunately, it hadn’t left yet.”

“I told Celebi what was happening in Hikari-jō.”

“I hoped it could return before the secret realm arrived and change everything.”

“Celebi is a very kind Pokémon.”

“It immediately agreed to my request.”

Yuuji said as he held his head: “But I forgot what Celebi had once said.”

“Changing time always comes at a cost.”

Yuuji continued recounting his experiences from ten years ago.

After finding Celebi, they both came to Hikari-jō.

Once, Hikari-jō was a tourist paradise, where life moved at a slow pace.

People enjoyed a peaceful life here, carefree.

But now, all Yuuji could see was silence.

Boiling lava flowed on the streets.

In the air lingered the smell of sulfur and burnt city.

These odors blended together, forming an indescribable stench.

In the lava, he could see several Magmar with red eyes roaring.

Yuuji took a deep breath and then looked at Celebi.

“I’m counting on you, Celebi.”

“Celebi~”

Celebi opened a time portal in Hikari-jō.

It disappeared into the time ripple.

As soon as Celebi left, Yuuji immediately felt a sharp pain in his head.

In a daze, everything around him began to rewind.

The space showed double images.

Yuuji shook his head vigorously.

He suddenly froze.

The roaring Magmar ahead was gone.

“Are you okay?”

Under a streetlamp, a middle-aged woman holding a wicker basket looked at Yuuji with concern.

The sudden shift in space left Yuuji bewildered.

“Pikachu?”

From the basket, a Pikachu poked its head out, curiously looking at Yuuji.

“Come catch me!”

A small child wearing a Meowth mask ran up laughing.

He accidentally bumped into Yuuji.

“Sorry, Uncle.”

As he said this, he looked back.

“Meow~”

A Meowth was following behind.

They laughed and ran off into the distance.

Yuuji stared blankly at their retreating figures.

“You look like you’re not feeling well, here, have this.”

The woman in front of Yuuji handed him an apple before walking toward a nearby alley with her basket.

Yuuji looked down the street.

Pokémon Police officers in uniforms were patrolling the area with their Growlithe.

Since the secret realm had just passed, Hikari-jō was now filled with guards.

“Wait a minute, the secret realm just passed?”

Yuuji held his head.

He remembered.

Just not long ago, he was still at Towada Lake.

Then, the base received the notification.

A space-time distortion had arrived at Hikari-jō, and a volcanic silhouette appeared in the sky.

The space was breaking!

But fortunately, Celebi appeared.

Celebi used Nature Power to stitch together the broken space.

The volcanic secret realm was like a ship about to crash into a dock.

It seemed destined for destruction, but suddenly a wave hit, pulling the ship away from the shore.

The volcanic secret realm narrowly avoided colliding with Hikari-jō.

The secret realm disappeared.

Although Hikari-jō was somewhat affected, it only resulted in a few houses being burned down, with no casualties.

What puzzled everyone was that all the plants in Hikari-jō died overnight.

Yuuji received the command to investigate the truth behind the plant deaths.

So, he came to Hikari-jō.

This was Yuuji's memory altered by the future.

“Wait a second.”

Natsume interjected, “Does this mean that the script didn’t play out as you expected?”

“The secret realm still arrived, but Celebi resolved it using its own power?”

Yuuji nodded: “Exactly.”

“Everyone survived, but Celebi vanished!”

Yuuji looked at Celebi inside the treehouse.

At that moment, Celebi was chatting with Jangmo-o.

“Celebi~”

Celebi told Jangmo-o that it would become very powerful in the future.

Jangmo-o looked at Celebi with confusion.

Jangmo-o felt as though this Celebi understood it very well.

Yuuji said, “I don’t know what happened to Hikari-jō before the secret realm arrived.”

“I only remember that Celebi was the one I brought to Hikari-jō.”

“Hikari-jō survived, but Celebi disappeared.”

“I investigated for a long time and found no useful information.”

“This continued until I noticed a person named Makototaka.”

Yuki frowned: “The Makototaka from Future Technology is a Hikari-jō resident, right?”

“Yes.”

Yuuji nodded: “If it were normal history, he should have also perished during the Hikari-jō volcanic incident.”

“But now, everything is completely different.”

“Before the Hikari-jō incident, Makototaka was just an ordinary person.”

“However, after the Hikari-jō incident, he became one of the most legendary entrepreneurs.”

“He is said to have a pair of eyes that can see into the future.”

Yuuji continued: “Of course, I thought that maybe Makototaka was just ordinary before, and no one paid attention to his talent.”

“He might actually be a very capable person; he just didn’t have a platform to showcase it.”

“But as I delved deeper into my investigation, I found that he was just a social outsider who understood nothing.”

“Many people said he was a good investor because of his insight.”

“But if you ask him why he chose to invest in a certain company or person, he can’t describe any characteristics of the businesses he invested in.”

“The more I looked into him, the more I discovered contradictions within him.”

“He’s like a primary school student holding the answers to math problems.”

“He can write down the correct answer but can’t explain the process of how he got there.”

Yuuji said this while looking at Natsume: “So, I came to a conclusion.”

“Makototaka most likely received Celebi’s powers!”

“I once worried that Celebi had been captured by Makototaka.”

“So I’ve been keeping an eye on him all these years.”

“Fortunately, today I finally saw Celebi again.”

“At least that means Celebi hasn’t been taken by Makototaka.”

Natsume then said, “Since Makototaka didn’t obtain Celebi, then what he got was the Time Ripple, right?”

“Exactly.”

Yuuji nodded: “According to legends, if a human absorbs Celebi's Time Ripple, they gain the ability to see the future.”

“This completely explains everything.”

“Wait a minute,” Yuki said, her expression suddenly changing.

“If Makototaka gained the power of the Time Ripple, then wouldn’t that mean the passage for Celebi to travel through time and space has disappeared?”

“How did Celebi come to the present, then?”

“Celebi~”

At that moment, Celebi suddenly spoke up.

Celebi said that although the time ripple in Hikari-jō was gone, there was still one at Towada Lake.

The Time Ripple connects the past and future.

Within it lies Celebi’s power.

Celebi can travel through time and space using the Time Ripple it creates.

Celebi traveled through time and returned to when the disaster struck Hikari-jō.

Even though the Time Ripple here was taken away, as long as Celebi could return to Towada Lake, it could use the Time Ripple it created upon arriving in this era to travel through time once more.

“Wait a second.”

Yuki’s face suddenly changed.

“If Makototaka can see the future, then has he seen that Celebi would appear here?”

“So is that why he suddenly came to our Towada Lake ranger base?”

Yuuji looked at Yuki and said, “You’re not wrong.”

“From what I know about Makototaka, he acts based on seeing results.”

“If I’m correct, we might already be under surveillance.”

Yuki immediately said anxiously, “Do we need to report what’s happening here right now?”

Yuuji replied calmly, “Don’t worry.”

“Let’s not forget, we have someone here who measures up to a Champion.”

As Yuuji said this, he looked at Natsume.

Natsume naturally replied, “I do have something to discuss with him.”

“However, seeing you so calm, it seems you have other preparations?”

Natsume wasn’t worried about whether Makototaka would come by.

He was just a bit curious about Yuuji's preparations.

Yuuji said earnestly, “Of course!”

“This is Towada Lake, a place protected by the deities.”