Serena spotted the Prison Bottle lying on the lawn behind them and jogged over to pick it up.
Steven quickly stopped her. "Serena, don't touch it!"
Serena's hand froze in midair, and she turned to look at Steven.
"There is something evil sealed inside that bottle," the man explained, frowning.
Still shaken, Serena pulled her hand back at once.
The man walked forward slowly and explained to everyone, "I was controlled by that power just now."
"If you touch it, your mind will be taken over."
He crouched down, reached his hand toward the Prison Bottle, and closed his eyes.
"Now is the time for science to lead the way into the future!"
Clemont pushed up his glowing glasses, a proud look on his face.
Steven really wanted to ask why his glasses could glow on their own, but remembering that Clemont loved inventing strange gadgets, he decided it wasn't worth questioning.
"Clemont's Special Backpack, activate!"
A mechanical arm shot out from Clemont's backpack and pulled out a long, green, tube-shaped machine.
"I call it the Fully Automatic Transporter!"
"Here he goes again, naming things in the most obvious way possible…" his sister muttered with a sigh.
Clemont, used to the teasing, went right ahead and explained how his "Fully Automatic Transporter" worked.
"This is a masterpiece built using the principles behind the move Electromagnet!"
"Everyone, watch this!"
Clemont grinned as he lifted the Prison Bottle and set it onto the Fully Automatic Transporter.
"The power of science truly is amazing!"
Steven glanced over at Ash, who was cheering Clemont on.
It was a useful invention, sure, but calling it "fully automatic" when you were the one controlling the mechanical arm the whole time seemed like a bit of a stretch.
"My name is Baraz. I'm Meray's older brother."
"I'm sorry for dragging all of you into this," Baraz said apologetically.
"More importantly, let's check on Hoopa first," Ash said, handing the small Hoopa in his arms over to Meray.
Meray took Hoopa, her face full of worry.
Hoopa's eyes opened halfway, and its whole body trembled as it spoke.
"So scary… I'm gonna disappear…"
"Disappear?!" Baraz looked startled.
Hoopa went on, "It was pitch black… so scary…"
"It's going to destroy Hoopa…"
A pained look crossed Hoopa's face.
"That power just now must have hurt Hoopa badly," Steven said, stepping closer and looking at the frightened little Pokémon.
"Let it rest for now. We should head to the Pokémon Center."
Steven then turned to Ash. "Our Pokémon should get looked at by Nurse Joy too."
"Right!" Ash nodded.
Greninja's wounds from the battle weren't serious, so there was no need to rush to the Pokémon Center right away. Steven simply tended to the injuries himself for the time being.
"But if Hoopa loses control again, won't it end up just like a hundred years ago?" Meray turned to look at the house Hoopa had destroyed, clearly worried.
"A hundred years ago?" Ash and the others asked, confused.
Baraz explained simply, "A hundred years ago, Hoopa nearly destroyed this whole city."
As they looked across the river toward the city, Baraz slowly told the story.
"It all happened right over there."
"Desert City used to be a tiny town. That's when Hoopa first arrived and, without asking anyone, ate all the food that belonged to the townspeople."
"To make up for angering everyone, Hoopa brought back mountains of gold, silver, and other treasures."
Meray continued, "Because of that, the city grew and prospered quickly."
"Eventually, the people built Hoopa a home of its own. In return, Hoopa accepted their offerings and granted their wishes."
Steven, Ash, and the others boarded a boat to cross the river toward the Pokémon Center, listening the whole way as Baraz and Meray continued their story.
"But then… someone asked if Hoopa could battle other Pokémon, and Hoopa agreed to show off its strength."
"At first, everyone loved it."
"But then Hoopa kept raising the difficulty, even calling on Legendary Pokémon to battle, and things got more and more out of hand."
Steven nodded slightly. He understood that kind of situation better than most.
Just how strong were these Legendary Pokémon, really?
A single battle between two Legendary Pokémon could be enough to shake the whole world.
But compared to Ash, Steven doubted he had experienced nearly as much.
Ash had crossed paths with almost every Legendary Pokémon imaginable.
"That's when our great-grandfather sealed Hoopa's power away inside the Prison Bottle."
"And that's how Hoopa ended up like this," Meray said, glancing down at the small Pokémon in her arms with a soft laugh.
"Hehe… bet you weren't expecting that," the weakened Hoopa said, still managing a small smile.
Steven took out his phone, but unfortunately, in this world, its search feature didn't work.
Still, if Hoopa was really called the "Djinni of Ancient Ruins," its true power was probably close to that of Legendary Pokémon tied to the laws of nature itself.
Somewhere out there, Groudon had likely become something of a laughingstock, and plenty of Legendary Pokémon had probably lost battles they'd rather forget.
There was even said to be a famous battle where Lugia and Rayquaza together fought off seven challengers at once.
Talk about picking on your own kind to look tough.
…
That evening, at the Pokémon Center restaurant in Desert City, everyone gathered for dinner, still talking about everything that had happened with Hoopa.
Baraz lifted the pendant hanging around his neck. "Look at this. Doesn't the shape seem familiar?"
"I feel like I've seen it somewhere before," Ash said, frowning in thought.
Steven studied the golden ring-shaped pendant in Baraz's hand.
"That's the same shape as the rings around Arceus, the Pokémon said to have created the world," Steven said.
"That's right. It's said our ancestors were once able to communicate with Arceus," Baraz said with a gentle nod.
"You mean like the Chosen One?" Steven asked, curious.
Only a Chosen One should be able to communicate directly with Arceus, right?
It seemed almost unfair that Dialga referred to him as "the Messenger of Time," yet he had never actually been able to speak with Dialga himself.
Maybe Dialga simply didn't feel like answering his "calls."
Then again, maybe this was his chance to finally battle Dialga properly.
The Messenger of Time getting payback on the God of Time itself — the thought almost made him laugh.
Still, the most important thing right now was making sure Hoopa didn't lose control of its power again.
Steven lowered his head, lost in thought.
If he hadn't met Ash and Hoopa here, he might never have remembered any of this.
If his memory served him right, Team Rocket had once gone after the Prison Bottle, and that led to Hoopa Unbound appearing again, didn't it?
He would need to keep Metagross on guard from now on.
He couldn't let anyone release Hoopa Unbound a second time.
Getting a hit in on Dialga earlier had felt satisfying, sure, but the bigger picture mattered more.
Steven had no interest in facing the fully unleashed Djinni of Ancient Ruins, along with every Legendary Pokémon under its control.
Now that he thought about it, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina all seemed a little too easy to overpower.
They had even ended up under Hoopa's control before.
No matter how you looked at it, they served Arceus directly, yet Hoopa had still managed to push them around.
Or maybe every dimension had its own version of Dialga and Palkia?
Each with different levels of strength?
No, that didn't quite add up either.
Dialga and Palkia were each said to reside within their own separate spaces.
They should exist as one true version each, not many.
Then again, every dimension likely carried its own kind of power.
If that were true…
Did that mean the Dialga Hoopa had summoned actually came from this very dimension?