Chapter 150

Author Note:

Thank you so much for the understanding on Tuesday. Taking a step back let me avoid a mistake I didn’t realize I was about to make.

This should be the last time in this arc that I’m including an author note to hide the beginning of the chapter. Most of the biggest twists should now be out on Royal Road.

For now, enjoy the chapter! I hope you have a great day!

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Sure, Sam and Richard might have been the only people nearby in the woods, but Richard didn’t seem willing to talk. The silence was awkward to the point that Sam felt as though he could cut it with a knife.

He wasn’t sure what was going through Richard’s head. The other boy clutched his fainted Jolteon’s Pokéball and kept sending Sam strange, confused looks. Sam resisted speaking up for any small talk, however. A small voice constantly whispered in the back of his head.

If he’s my grandfather, and if I say the wrong thing, won’t I prevent my own birth?

At least Sam didn’t need to think too much, given the need to follow Haunter. He just kept to the front, eyes straight ahead, pretending to search for a way forward but really just searching for signs left by his Pokémon.

In the silence, Haunter brought them through the woods. While he was unable to find Ash or anyone else, he was at least able to guide them toward what he felt to be a place of safety.

Slowly, the trees grew denser around them. Slowly, a strange mist built.

It soon became as if the world was shrouded in an omni-present fog, but Haunter didn’t slow in any way to denote concern. With how much of that mist blocked his vision, Sam was only barely able to follow his Pokémon, but he kept at it, and Richard kept close. The trees of the forest became nothing more than looming silhouettes, but then, they were suddenly out of it. The fog was gone, and they stood just past a final line of trees.

An impossibly clear lake stretched out before them.

The day had lasted long enough that the sun had moved far across the sky. However, it wasn’t quite sunset. Rays of light bounced across the lake’s surface to make the water gleam.

Close to the shore, soft waves lapped at a small ledge where the grass cut off. For a moment, Sam could have sworn the lake was sealed by a layer of crystal, but no, its surface was just that clear.

I can count the stones on the bottom.

Towards its center, where the gleam blocked his vision, he could see the occasional shadow of a swimming Water Type.

No river or stream flowed into this lake. It was completely isolated, but it wasn’t stagnant. There was something about it that made Haunter confident they’d remain safe as long as they stayed here.

With that feeling subtly shared with Sam from the shadows, his decision came easily.

“We’ll camp here for now,” Sam said, breaking everyone out of their initial surprise. “We don’t know where anyone else is, so it doesn’t make sense to keep pushing through the night and risk getting ambushed while we’re effectively blind.”

Richard nodded slowly.

“Alright. Then... give me a minute. I need to treat Jolteon.”

His eyes briefly flicked over to Sam, lingering on him, but Richard just shook his head and moved to sit behind one of the forest’s large trees. Sam could hear the sound of a Pokéball going off to release what was inside it, but Richard seemed to want some privacy as he treated his injured team member.

Sam wasn’t going to fight against the other boy’s desire to be alone for a bit, but it wasn’t like he had any supplies on him to make camp right now. Strapped for options, he sat at the water’s edge. The slow waves were peaceful, and he watched the faint movements of Water Pokémon from the lake’s shore.

Genuinely, after everything else, stumbling upon this place felt like a blessing. It was hard to think about just how compacted everything had been recently. Sure, he’d spent a few days traveling with Misdreavus through the forest, but then he met his grandfather. Got thrown through time. Fought a poacher.

Saw a Legendary Pokémon.

...All of that in a single day. Right now, Sam was just happy to have this chance to rest.

Leaning back, he closed his eyes to focus on the feeling of the grass beneath him. When he opened them back up, Misdreavus floated at his side, but she moved down to lean against him comfortably.

“When I was with my team,” Sam started quietly, “the reason we came out here was for training. Both for them and for myself.”

Misdreavus looked up.

“A problem I kept having was that I overrelied on pre-made plans. I wanted to train myself to fight a bit more instinctually. Like the best trainers tend to do.

“And back there...” Despite everything, Sam gained a slight smile. “We actually did it. You were incredible. I came up with a plan on the spot, you understood me, and all of us... We managed to pull it off.”

He subtly patted the ground next to him, sending quiet thanks to his shadow. Though Haunter stayed hidden within, Sam could feel him wiggle with barely restrained glee.

“We’ve come a long way,” Sam continued. “You especially, Misdreavus. I think, if my team was here, they’d be proud of what you’d achieved. This would be a celebration! Even though that guy is still out there. In just a week, you were able to hone and improve your moves, and then in your second real battle ever, you managed to pull off something like that—”

Misdreavus shook with a furious blush on her face, unable to withstand the compliments any longer. Sam laughed, willing to go along with that.

For now, he pushed back up and continued to stare out over the water. He didn’t have anything else to say. He just wanted to enjoy this moment of peace and quiet.

It lasted for a while, just him and Misdreavus—and Haunter—on that shore.

Then, Sam heard the sound of footsteps over the grass.

Richard spoke up behind him.

“Who are you?”

Sam glanced over his shoulder to see the other boy standing a foot away. Richard stared at him with clenched hands. Behind him, his Jolteon was walking around. It now had a medicated bandage wrapped around where the Sneasel had landed its swipe, and it moved up to curl into a ball at the edge of the shore. It looked ready for a long rest.

“I’m Sam,” Sam answered.

His statement was met with the twitch of an eye.

“That’s not— Ugh! Who are you? Not your name. Not your identity. I mean, who are you in relation to everyone else!” Richard took a step forward and pointed a finger toward Sam. “Tell me. They knew you. How did they know you? And— Just— How did you get here? And how were you able to fight so well if your Misdreavus is as weak as that?”

Misdreavus sent the other boy a sharp glare, and though Richard went quiet, he still stuck out his chin in defiance.

Sam briefly felt the need to stand up and defend his friend, but honestly, what was the point? Both of them knew Richard was wrong. Misdreavus wasn’t weak. Raising his voice would just drop him to Richard’s level, and it wasn’t worth getting himself caught up in an argument like that.

“She’s not weak,” Sam said, his voice calm as he turned back to the water. “She just doesn’t have that much battle experience. I think it says a lot about you if you didn’t notice that. You should know she’s been training all this time.”

Sam heard a bit of stammering as if Richard tried to object, but the other boy stopped himself, biting his tongue. 

Silence then persisted. Sam could practically feel Richard’s expectant gaze.

Eventually, he didn’t have a choice. Sam let out a long sigh and began to talk.

“Misdreavus is Misdreavus,” he said reluctantly. “And me? I don’t know what you’re asking. I’m just Sam. That’s who I am. What else do you want me to say?”

“How did they know you?” Richard repeated, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Not sure,” Sam answered honestly. “Maybe it’s because I’m not from this time?”

He sent another glance over his shoulder, and he realized Richard’s face was bright red. It was hard to see the boy as his grandfather. He had none of that calm wisdom Sam had seen so often while growing up.

“Sorry. I’m not trying to be vague on purpose,” Sam said. “I guess I should have been more specific. I’m not from this time, but I’m not from your time, either. I’m... I’m from two years ago. As in two years ago from right now.”

Misdreavus intently listened in.

“So I’m not from your time period,” Sam admitted reluctantly. “I really don’t know what happened. I was with my team, I was pushed, and then I fell, and then everything happened to have me encounter Misdreavus, and then I met you.

“I know you think there might be something else going on, but there’s not,” Sam continued. “All of this has been an accident—a cruel accident. So, when you asked me who I am, I really meant my answer. I’m not anyone special. I’m a Ghost Specialist. Really, I’m just... I’m Sam.”

Your grandson.

But he could never say that part out loud.

A long moment passed in which Richard just stared. Eventually, he seemed to reach his limit, but instead of yelling, he just collapsed onto the ground.

“So after all of that... You’re really not... Ugh.” He scratched at his head. “So they haven’t actually met you. Not yet, I mean.”

“I guess?” Sam replied with a casual shrug. “I don’t actually know what’s going on. I’m mostly here due to coincidence, I think.”

That was half a lie. Sam knew he was here due to Mismagius, as she clearly remembered and ensured all of this would happen. Meeting his grandfather had not been intentional on his part, but it was also too much of a coincidence for it to be an accident.

Too much was going on for all of this to have happened on chance alone. It felt as though it had all been planned out, as if everything he was doing was just him going through the steps already planned out for him.

He hated that.

“But I also have a question for you.” Sam turned to look at Richard, and the young version of his grandfather stared up at him from the forest floor. “There’s... one thing that’s sticking with me. You remember when the poacher first appeared?”

“Yeah?” Richard answered cautiously. “You mean when that happened about an hour ago?”

“Yeah,” Sam repeated, speaking with a sigh. “When he showed up, you said his name was the Iron-Masked Marauder. But how did you know that? He’s from the future, and you’re... You’re from the past.”

Silence.

A tense moment came and passed.

Richard opened and closed his mouth as if to speak an excuse, but he just groaned and brought up an arm to cover his mouth and eyes.

“I’m not from here, either,” Richard mumbled, his voice practically a groan. “I’m— I woke up in Celadon. Over in Kanto. I didn’t know anything before that. I just knew... Something would happen here. I made sure to keep traveling with Sammy because I wanted to find Celebi, too.”

Sam didn’t let anything show, but he felt as though his entire body had just been cast in lead.

What?

My grandfather isn’t... He wasn’t originally from the past?

He knew that meant something, but he wasn’t sure what he’d need to ask. There was something his grandfather was still not telling him, but his heart was pounding far too hard in his chest.

Sam was only able to speak a simple question. It ended up as only a single word.

“Why?”

“Why I wanted to meet Celebi? It’s obvious. Because everything about my time period sucks!” 

Much to Sam’s surprise, Richard spoke with genuine rage and suddenly slammed his arm onto the earth. Shocked out of his stupor, Sam watched him. For a different reason now, Richard gritted his teeth.

“I know I can never go home, and I know I never want to go home, but it’s just— I thought I could at least jump ahead and go to the future and have— I thought I could at least have a chance.”

Richard wiped his eyes.

“Pokéballs suck. They work, but using a knob is clunky. Pokémon Centers aren’t that common, and treatment can take days if things get bad. There are barely any proper amenities, but I can at least live with that since I’m mostly spending my time traveling. But I think, more than anything else, I hate the current Gym Challenge. I want to meet and face people who build each other up. I don’t want to encounter people who are more preoccupied with proving themselves to be better than everyone else instead of working to bring everyone else up.”

Sam blinked as Richard breathed in a choking gasp. It took a few seconds for him to settle down.

“...That cold war you mentioned,” Sam said, speaking in a quiet voice. “Everything you mentioned. It’s all due to that stand-off between Kanto and Johto, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Richard managed to sit back up. He pulled his legs toward his chest. “It was a pain to cross over to Johto from Kanto, but I just wanted to leave, and Sammy really wanted to explore a new place. I figured... I figured if all of this was going to happen anyway, I might as well turn it to my advantage. So when he talked about visiting the Ilex Forest, I remembered Celebi existed and agreed.”

Not once did Richard say how he knew this, even though Sam desperately wanted to know.

But Sam couldn’t bring himself to ask. He was more focused on making sure his own feelings didn’t show.

“I... I get it,” Sam ended up saying. “I didn’t exactly come here willingly. I just want to return to my team. And for Misdreavus... More than anything else, I want to make sure she’s happy.”

Misdreavus had been watching this conversation as if it’d been nothing more than a daytime drama. When Sam spoke her name, she blinked in surprise, and then she sent him an embarrassed smile.

Sam did his best to smile back.

“Then...” Richard hesitated. It took him a few seconds to finish his thought. “I guess you should probably know that I know what happens next.”

“What do you mean?”

Sam felt as though he’d been punched.

Richard didn’t speak immediately, looking over Sam with a furrowed brow. It was as if the boy thought Sam was still a threat, even after everything they’d just discussed.

But the need to say something won out in the end. Sam couldn’t even think of how long he’d kept this secret close to his chest. Richard probably wanted to speak about this with someone, and who else but another person thrown through time?

“You weren’t here originally,” Richard admitted. “And I wasn’t either. The first time around—the intended time around—it was just Sammy and Ash, but there, Sammy went by Sam, and in the... In what I learned, they did their best to rescue Celebi together, but the Iron Masked Marauder—”

Richard paused. His next words were akin to a cough.

“He caught it.”

“Caught what?”

“Celebi.”

A pause.

“How?” Sam hissed.

“He used his Dark Balls,” came Richard’s answer. “The same ones he bragged about earlier. He caught Celebi, forced it to make some kind of plant-like kaiju, and then once they stopped that monster... Celebi, it...”

Richard’s expression was blank.

“Celebi died.”

Sam was silent. Misdreavus looked horrified. For a second, it was as if the entire forest had to breathe in. 

Without speaking, Richard robotically stared out over the lake. Sam joined him.

“But that was only how it originally was,” Sam said. “We’re here now.”

“We are,” Richard said. “I don’t think that was supposed to happen.”

Another moment passed. Sam needed to gather his thoughts.

“In other words... It’s an opportunity. This is our chance. We can step in, stop Celebi’s capture, and we can change the future. Together.”

If Celebi was meant to die, then Sam would stop it. Not because he wanted to help it, but because helping it could give him the chance to help Misdreavus.

He wanted to wring its neck for causing all of this, for causing Misdreavus to spend so long on her own, but with Richard’s knowledge, he had an advantage. This could be the “in” he needed—by saving it, he could trick Celebi into owing him a favor, and then he could use that favor to make it help Misdreavus.

“Okay. Yeah. This is perfect!” Sam said. “You already said it yourself—the real threat isn’t the Iron-Masked Marauder, but it’s actually his Dark Balls. If we can stop him from using those, then we can stop Celebi from being captured and making whatever a kaiju is. And if Celebi is never captured—”

“Then Celebi won’t die,” Richard realized.

For some reason, his gaze flicked to the crystal-clear water of the lake.

“But you know he’s still a threat, right? Even if we stop him from using his Dark Balls, he still has that Sneasel and that Scizor and that—” Richard paused. “And that Tyranitar.”

Sam felt unconcerned. He had Haunter. Only he knew about his trump card.

“Doesn’t matter. I have Misdreavus. Ghost Types are tricky. We’ll be able to pull something off.”

“But he’ll attack us.”

“We outnumber him.”

“He has Tyranitar.”

“We have us.”

“But his Pokémon are frenzied! They’re violent! They have maximized strength!"

Sam smiled.

“That means he’ll be overconfident. We’ll be able to predict how his Pokémon will fight.”

Richard was now standing, staring at Sam in disbelief. He opened his mouth while desperately trying to think of a counter, but nothing came out.

Instead, he simply threw his head back for a single laugh and collapsed onto the ground once more. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, looking significantly more relaxed than he had a mere few seconds before.

“Alright. Fine. I guess you win this time.” Richard said, calming down. “Man. If you’re acting like this, then you really must be more experienced than me.”

“Yup, but that’s all thanks to my team and the Pokémon I’ve trained with. But even then, we have other Pokémon. And time. And with your knowledge, we even have the ability to make a solid plan.”

Sam looked over to Richard, Misdreavus, and even the shadow beneath his feet. Jolteon had walked over, and it was now leaning against its trainer’s side as it listened in.

“There’s something else, too,” Sam added.

“What?” Richard asked.

“The Iron-Masked Marauder is missing something obvious,” Sam said as he leaned back. “He’ll be trying to trap us, but I specialize in the Ghost Type. And what people fail to realize about them is that the Ghost Type can never be trapped.”

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Since Sam didn’t have anything on him, Richard was the one to prepare a meal for everyone, and Sam devoured the offered food. Later, when night fell, Richard loaned him a blanket, and he got the best sleep he’d had in nights.

The area around the crystal-clear lake was peaceful and lacked aggressive Pokémon. Even with the lingering threat of the Iron-Masked Marauder over their heads, Sam found that he was actually able to relax.

He spent a while hashing out plans with Richard, but Sam mostly just sat next to Misdreavus. More than anything else, he wanted to help her. She was his primary motivation. He knew she deserved so much more than this.

In the morning, Sam practically inhaled the dried fruits given to him by Richard, and the other boy made breakfast for his team. If any small pieces of food were snatched away by Haunter, no one noticed and Sam certainly wasn’t going to say anything.

Their goal for today was to meet back up with everyone else, a task they expected to take an unknown amount of time. But, while loitering on that shore after cleaning up after breakfast, a flash of light caught Sam’s eye, and he saw a brief glow flash across the other side of the lake.

“Did you see that?” Sam said, picking up that previously borrowed blanket.

“Huh. I did,” Richard said. “It looked like... light from an Electric Type move?”

Both of them went utterly still, and then they exchanged a look. Wild Electric Types weren’t really a thing in the Ilex Forest, but there was one, specific Electric Type that they knew would be nearby.

Ash had a Pikachu.

“Quick, have your Jolteon use an attack!” Sam shouted.

“Give me a second!”

“Hurry up! We need to make some light!”

Richard hurriedly called his Jolteon over, returning the few other members of his team. As fast as he could, he had his Pokémon send the bright flash of a Thunderbolt up into the sky.

He made sure to have his Jolteon not send it that high up as they didn’t want to alert the Iron-Masked Marauder to their presence. Though the move didn’t go past the top of the trees, it would certainly be visible from the other side of the water.

When the glow of the Thunderbolt’s electricity faded, they waited. For a second, Sam thought nothing would happen, but then they got their response; another flash of lightning came from the opposite shore.

“They’re there,” Sam realized.

“They’re there,” Richard repeated.

Immediately, they hurried to gather everything they could, and even Misdreavus helped clean up their campsite. Richard shoved all of his belongings into his backpack, only putting the barest amount of effort into folding them up. Then, they took off running with Richard’s Jolteon continuing to flash, and even more flashes came from the opposite shore in response, moving closer by the second.

The lake wasn’t too large—it was smaller than the one behind Blackthorn’s Gym—but it was large enough that they had a bit of a trip to meet up halfway. The two sides approached each other in opposite directions of a clock, and the group they were running toward was the group they expected. At first, Sam could only hear the distant sound of buzzing electricity, but then he heard a familiar voice’s shout.

“Rich! Dick! Richard! Are you there?!”

“Sammy!” Richard shouted. “Sam! Samuel! We’re right over here!”

Bursting through the trees, both sides finally laid eyes on one another. Ahead of them, Sammy let out a laugh, and next to Sam, Richard looked as though he wanted to collapse out of relief. 

Ash slowed to a halt beneath the trees, a bright smile on his face, and Brock and Misty fought to catch up behind him. Those two were panting, having to push themselves to give chase so unexpectedly.

“You’re okay,” Richard said, breathing out.

“Of course we are! Was there any doubt?”

Richard met his friend in the center, embracing him in a hug, and they both laughed out of relief for having successfully reunited after everything that had happened yesterday.

But Sam’s eyes were on something else.

As Richard chatted with his friend, Sam found himself staring at a creature above them. It was small, only a bit bigger than Typhlosion’s head, and its green, plant-like body almost reminded him of an unripe onion—that is, if an unripe onion had arms, legs, and a pair of insect-like wings on its back.

The Legendary Pokémon, Celebi, said its name, its voice a mixture of a buzz and a hum. It flitted downward to circle Richard and Sammy, curious about the newcomer talking to its friend.

“That’s the Voice of the Forest,” Sam breathed, whispering to himself.

The answer to and source of all of his problems was right there, perfectly healthy, hovering in place only so many feet away.

“Oh, yeah! I can’t believe I almost forgot!” Sammy smacked his forehead. “Richard, this is Celebi. Celebi, this is Richard. And over there, we have Sam, who...”

His voice trailed off.

Celebi glanced over to Sam, and Sam could not look away from the Legendary Pokémon. He knew its powers were what caused all of his troubles in the first place, but he also knew that it had the potential to fix everything in the way he sought.

He took a step forward, remembering the promise he had made.

He then took another step, thinking of everything Misdreavus would have to go through.

Sam knew in his heart that Celebi was the one responsible for all of that, and the thought remained in his mind as he approached, taking another step, and then another, and another after that.

From under his feet, something tugged on the bottom of his pant leg, and Sam pushed on, ignoring that. Behind the group, Ash took on a dark expression, his Pikachu’s cheeks crackling with static, but Sam ignored them, too.

Only Celebi mattered right now, and it just looked on curiously, unfamiliar with Sam but giving him the benefit of the doubt because he had shown up alongside the friend of a friend.

Celebi controls time. We have time. It can help us right now—What’s a single moment to it?

All he needed it to do was a minuscule task. With just a modicum of its Legendary power, Celebi could prevent Misdreavus from suffering through years on her own.

Sam refused to pass up this opportunity. He kept walking forward, knowing the Iron-Masked Marauder was still around but recognizing that was an issue for later. Right now, he just needed to reach Celebi, and everything would finally be fixed.

He got closer, but the tug on his pant leg became more and more fervent with every step. A nervous tension entered the air as everyone seemed to hold their breath as Sam approached, but then Hautner grabbed Sam’s heel and yanked.

He tripped.

“...Are you kidding me, Sam?”

Richard pinched the bridge of his nose, and Sam face-planted into the cold, forest ground.

Grumbling, he would have stood up, but he finally recognized that Haunter was trying to get his attention rather than trying to make him stop.

It was subtle, but every so often, he could feel the earth shake.

“What is that?” Sam said, eyes widening as he felt the ground move under his palm.

“What is what?” Sammy asked.

Everyone started to look around.

Snapped out of his initial mindset, Sam pushed up to his knees to place both of his hands onto the forest’s soil. He could feel it ever so slightly; somewhere in the distance, heavy objects were irregularly hitting the earth.

With the warning shared, people caught onto the noise of a faint rumbling quickly. Soon joining it was a cacophony of wood breaking and branches snapping following it up.

Celebi, who had looked so friendly and curious before, suddenly gained a grief-stricken look on its face.

Before anyone could share any comments, it took off, rushing toward wherever the source of that noise was.

“Celebi! Wait!”

Sammy chased after it, and Ash was quick to follow. Brock and Misty both sighed before running as well, and Sam stood up to exchange a slight look with Richard.

It was sooner than expected, but they were in agreement that this was probably it.

Chasing after everyone else, Sam made sure to send Haunter a quiet thanks. The further he ran into the woods, the louder the noises became. 

This wasn’t just a rumbling; it was the frequent feeling of an explosion followed by the shattering of wood. There was a piercing noise, a massive blast, the shouts of wild Pokémon, and then something heavy fell.

Ahead, Sam could see a point in which the sun shone through the trees, and everyone stood up ahead. He broke through the forest’s edge—an out-of-place forest’s edge. Before him, he was faced with acres of brown and dirt. Ancient trees of all types had fallen, turning into nothing but logs and churning up the earth.

Around them, wild Pokémon fled in all directions, heedless of the group of motionless humans. Sam could see another flash in the distance—not the flash of an Electric Type, but the flash of an extremely powerful move.

It didn’t take him long to put everything together, and Sam was the one to vocalize what was going on.

“That’s Hyper Beam. It’s the Iron-Masked Marauder,” he said. “Since he couldn’t find us, he’s destroying the forest. He’s doing all of this just to lure Celebi out.”

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Author Note:

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Celebi
Jolteon

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