Ripples

After reuniting with Zinnian and the others, Zaden anxiously paced back and forth, waiting for Yuga to return, but there was no sign of him.

"Senior Zinnian, do you think Gym Leader Shimizu will be okay?" Zaden asked.

"It should be fine. After all, Gym Leader Shimizu is an Elite level Trainer," Zinnian reassured Zaden.

She had been working in the Petalburg Forest for years and had no idea that a terrifying Onix was sleeping in that canyon. It was fortunate that Yuga was with them on this journey; otherwise, they might not have been able to handle the Onix that Zaden had described.

"But that Onix was incredibly strong. I felt weak just looking at it," Zaden recalled, still shaken by the memory.

"Now, let's wait here patiently. If the Gym Leader Shimizu can't handle the Onix, even if we go back, it won't help. We might even get in his way, or else he wouldn't have let you leave first," Roxanne said.

Zaden thought about it carefully and realized that it made sense. So, he reluctantly agreed.

After about half an hour, the five of them finally saw Yuga returning unharmed, with the chattering Chatot still perched on his shoulder.

"Gym Leader Shimizu, you're back! I was so worried!" Zaden breathed a sigh of relief at Yuga's safe return.

"I'm sorry for making you worry," Yuga said apologetically.

He and the Onix had spent some time restoring the canyon's terrain, and he hadn't expected Zaden and the others to be so concerned.

"I should thank you too. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to leave," Zaden scratched the back of his head, feeling embarrassed.

"You're making a fuss over nothing. What could happen to us?" Chatot looked at Zaden disdainfully, completely forgetting that it had been knocked out by the Onix's tail.

Zaden didn't mind Chatot's words. After spending a few days together, he had figured out that the bird was just talkative.

However, Yuga gave Chatot a smack on the beak, silencing it.

After the six of them reunited, they each reported on their respective situations and then went their separate ways. The forest rangers returned to their own areas, while the Gym Leader returned to his Gym.

Originally, Zaden had planned to accompany Yuga back to Verdanturf Town, but Yuga refused. He wanted to explore the Petalburg Forest a bit more and see if he could capture some good potrnyial Wurmole, Silcoon, or Cascoon.

After understanding the situation, Zaden agreed, and he returned to his own area alone.

And so, Yuga wandered through the Petalburg Forest with Chatot.

According to the forest rangers, there were still many Wurmple left behind. However, it was already this season, and the forest was vast, so even though there were many Wurmple, they were not easy to find.

After spending another day in the forest, Yuga managed to capture a few Wurmple, but only one of them had a green potential.

Afterward, Yuga prepared to return. However, just as he took a few steps, he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation in the forest. Before his eyes, a transparent ripple appeared, and four people and four Pokémon were thrown out of it.

Right after that, another Celebi leaped out of the ripples.

This Celebi also gave Yuga a quick glance before swiftly diving back into the ripples and disappearing.

With just that one glance, Yuga felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. This was the Celebi that had blessed him and Florges!

Yuga's inner certainty surged at that moment.

Although the Celebi disappeared, the four individuals and their four Pokémon who were thrown out of the Celebi's time ripples remained in place.

Once ejected, the four individuals were briefly disoriented but then quickly split into two groups.

Among them, two individuals were dressed in all black, each accompanied by a Gliscor and an Aggron, giving them the appearance of typical antagonists from novels and TV shows.

The other two individuals were a young man and a boy, dressed elegantly, and each accompanied by a Dusknoir and a Sceptile.

The Gliscor and Aggron with the individuals in black were both pseudo-Elite level.

While the Dusknoir with the young man was at the pseudo-Elite level, the Sceptile with the boy was almost approaching pseudo-Elite level.

At this moment, Yuga and the boy's eyes met, and they both showed surprised expressions because they felt a familiar power emanating from each other.

However, this eye contact was interrupted within just two or three seconds.

This interruption happened because the boy and the young man came under attack from the Gliscor and Aggron on the opposing side.

Both the young man and the Dusknoir and the boy and the Sceptile were injured at this point and were no match for the individuals in black.

But this was when Yuga decided to intervene!

He released his Onix, and with a sweep of its massive tail, sent the Gliscor and Aggron flying.

The Gliscor and Aggron, although not small Pokémon, were no match for Onix.

The reason Yuga chose to help the young man and the boy was that he felt a special power in the boy, a power derived from the Celebi's Blessing.

The boy's body didn't just carry Celebi's blessing; it already harbored an awakened special power.

Yuga believed that anyone chosen by Celebi wouldn't be a bad person.

Even if the boy were a bad person, with this power within him, Yuga felt it necessary to find out.

Moreover, he thought that Celebi had sent this boy with a special ability to him for a reason.

After seeing their Gliscor and Aggron being sent flying, the two individuals in black looked bewildered as they faced Yuga and his Giant Onix.

"＃＊～·＃..."

The two individuals in black muttered incomprehensibly to Yuga, who couldn't understand a word.

What was going on? What language was this?

Aren't the languages in the Pokémon world supposed to be standardized? Where were these two from?

Yuga was just as puzzled.

Meanwhile, the Onix, irritated by the arrogance of the two individuals, swung its tail without hesitation. Yuga didn't even have time to stop it.

The two individuals in black didn't have the strong defenses of Gliscor and Aggron and were sent flying by the Onix's tail, spraying blood.

This Onix had been dormant for a long time and was untamed, which Yuga hadn't expected, resulting in the sudden violent attack.

However, the young man with the Dusknoir reacted swiftly. The Dusknoir materialized directly beside the two individuals in black and delivered a Flamethrower to each, obliterating them.

The Gliscor and Aggron not far away saw their trainers turn into piles of flesh right in front of them and charged at the furious Onix.

The Onix showed no mercy to these two Pokémon either, and with another sweep of its tail, sent them flying. The two severely injured Pokémon soon met their end at the hands of the young man's Dusknoir.

While Yuga had intended to rescue the boy and the young man, he hadn't expected the young man with the Dusknoir to be so decisive, directly taking the lives of the two individuals in black.

Yuga wasn't particularly concerned about the fate of those two individuals, but he hadn't yet figured out the identities of the four newcomers.