Cherreads

Chapter 178 - The GS Ball's Secret

In the Black World —

Celebi's eyes brightened when it saw Ash take out the GS Ball, and then it flew directly to Ash, circling around him continuously. Its soft, cute voice sounded in Ash's heart.

Ash, Ash! I sense energy in this thing that can help me improve! What is this!

The GS Ball… it was actually the GS Ball?

Ash hadn't expected this Poké Ball to be useful to Celebi.

Starting from the Orange Islands, Ash had obtained this GS Ball and learned about its components—Lugia and Ho-Oh's feathers. These weren't ordinary feathers, but the Silver Wing and Rainbow Wing, which possessed part of their power.

Someone incredibly powerful had used those two feathers to create this Poké Ball.

This Poké Ball couldn't be used or opened, and there was no way to adjust its function.

Unexpectedly… its purpose was finally discovered here.

Was this a Poké Ball meant for Celebi?

"What do you mean it can boost your energy, Celebi?"

Ash placed the GS Ball on the ground and put away the other displayed Poké Balls.

Just what it means~

Ash: …

This little guy couldn't communicate properly?

Hmm~ The only Pokémon controlling time are me and Dialga, and my time power is one level lower than Dialga's.

That is to say, even if I take you, Ash, through time, I can't let you change the future through the past.

But with this Poké Ball, I can not only change the future through the past, but also keep your present from being changed, Ash!

This might sound a bit difficult to express, but to summarize:

Celebi, with the GS Ball's power, could ensure Ash wouldn't be altered by any factors.

For example, Vicious's earlier idea had been to capture Celebi, then find Dialga.

If this world's Chosen One grew to a point where he was difficult to match, Vicious would use Dialga's power to travel to the past and directly kill the underage Chosen One.

In that way, the Chosen One would also die in the future!

But now, with Celebi's power further enhanced, Ash's present would be locked.

No matter what the other party did to Ash in the past, the current Ash would not be affected.

This could be considered a massive insurance policy for Ash.

"How do you use this GS Ball? We've tried many methods before but failed to open this Poké Ball."

Ash looked at the GS Ball on the ground and asked Celebi.

Celebi didn't answer. Instead, it closed its eyes. A mysterious power emanated from it.

Though he was seeing it for the first time, Ash could roughly guess what kind of power it was—Time Ripple—one of Celebi's abilities!

After coming into contact with the Time Ripple, the GS Ball seemed to respond, instantly opening wide like an abyss!

Immediately afterward, Celebi flew into the GS Ball.

The GS Ball didn't shake at all; it just made a crisp sound.

Celebi had been caught—just like that…

Ash and the others were somewhat stunned. This… this was it? Just subdued like that?

Good grief!

The two professors and the Poké Ball craftsman, Kurt, had been studying this Poké Ball for so long. It turned out it required Time Ripples to activate!

[Professor Oak]: Well, I'll be! This Poké Ball is Celebi's exclusive Poké Ball, isn't it?

[Kurt]: I tried every method I knew and couldn't open this Poké Ball. I never expected it required the power of time to activate… What's the principle behind this?!

[Professor Ivy]: Also, who made this Poké Ball? Even Kurt, the Poké Ball craftsman, might not be able to create something like this. I truly can't think of anyone who could use the power of two Legendary Pokémon to create a GS Ball.

The three experts who had come into contact with the GS Ball couldn't help but sigh.

They had exhausted themselves trying to find how to use the GS Ball, only for Black Ash to accidentally discover the method.

It turned out this Poké Ball wasn't just Celebi's exclusive Ball—it was also a Ball that could enhance its power!

No wonder they had been unable to find the GS Ball's purpose.

After all, the Poké Ball contained the power of Legendary Pokémon. It couldn't be opened by ordinary methods.

If they used force, the GS Ball would likely be damaged. That's why research on the GS Ball had made no progress.

But then again…

[Professor Kukui]: Why can the power of Ho-Oh and Lugia amplify Celebi's time power?

[Ho-Oh]: I don't know either…

[Lugia]: Not sure…

These two Legendary-tier beings still hadn't recovered from the revelation that Arceus in the Black World was merely a clone.

As Legendary Pokémon standing at the world's apex, this was the first time they had encountered such information.

When Professor Kukui asked, they finally shook off their thoughts and denied any knowledge of the GS Ball.

To be honest… they truly didn't know the GS Ball could increase Celebi's power!

Frankly speaking, Ho-Oh and Lugia's powers couldn't be more different.

Honestly, they both possessed Flying-type power.

Other than that, they had nothing in common.

The priesthoods they held had nothing to do with time. So how could Celebi's time power be enhanced?

In the Black World — After capturing Celebi, the GS Ball's function seemed to return to normal. Simply pressing the button in the middle released Celebi, and Celebi could be recalled at any time.

After capturing Celebi, this Poké Ball's function was officially activated.

At this point, what had happened at the Lake of Life had officially come to an end.

Ash was also preparing to say goodbye to Celebi and Suicune.

Now that the GS Ball had captured Celebi, Ash could use the same method he used to contact Mewtwo and Lapras to contact Celebi. If something happened to Celebi, he would know immediately.

But generally speaking, Celebi would most likely be fine.

After all, enhanced time power wasn't just for fighting enemies—it was a first-class tool for escape!

At the same time, if Ash encountered difficulties, Celebi could rush over to help as soon as possible!

Again, with Celebi, you might not necessarily defeat your opponent, but if you wanted to escape, there was absolutely no problem!

Suicune was also preparing to say goodbye to Ash.

As one of the Legendary Beasts, it possessed power close to Sub-Legendary-tier. It hadn't been of much use in this battle.

It had only played a role similar to a microphone.

This made Suicune feel somewhat ashamed…

But now, it would still play the role of a microphone.

It wanted to tell Ho-Oh what had happened here.

Ho-Oh knew many Legendary Pokémon, but not all.

It shouldn't be difficult to have those Legendary Pokémon lend their power in the form of exclusive items.

Similar to the feathers of the Legendary Birds, its scales, the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugia—these could all be considered forms of Legendary power.

It just didn't know if this kind of power counted as the power Red had mentioned—the kind that could be absorbed by Pikachu.

Sigh… Why did he have to leave before finishing his words?

Suicune quickly ran toward the forest, sighing inwardly.

After Celebi repaired the withered trees around him, it also said goodbye to Ash.

Because the GS Ball wasn't registered in the Poké Ball transmission system—mainly because it couldn't be registered…

The GS Ball's material itself couldn't be transmitted. Otherwise, there would be no need for manual transportation.

Therefore, even though the GS Ball had captured Celebi and the number of Poké Balls Ash carried reached eight, none were sent back.

Counting the Dark Lugia that had entered his body,

Ash now carried as many as eight Pokémon!

Even though Dark Lugia didn't eat much, when the total food consumption was tallied… Ash's funds were about to run dry again!

Never would he have imagined that the first step to saving the world… would be being trapped by money.

A-Jing, who had recovered, still chose to stay within Ash's body.

After learning about Rainbow Rocket and Ash's identity as the Chosen One,

A-Jing could no longer let Ash travel alone.

For the sake of her child and the world, she had to protect Ash!

And… it had to be said, Ash truly deserved the title of Chosen One.

Although the information obtained from today's events had been a huge blow to him, the gains he received were equally outrageous.

If he had trained step by step on his own, reaching the peak of Legendary-tier would have taken at least several decades.

His transformation into Dark Lugia only showed he had the possibility of growing to her husband's level.

It didn't mean he could reach Legendary-tier in one step.

So… both emotionally and rationally, choosing to stay by Ash's side made sense.

This incident was now over.

Ash and the others continued marching toward Mahogany Town.

Gyms still had to be challenged. Adventures still had to continue.

Only through the journey could they climb to higher peaks. Doing things behind closed doors… Ash had already tried that before starting his journey.

As a result, after more than two years of training, Pikachu hadn't even crossed the threshold of Elite Four–level.

In less than a year of traveling, Pikachu had reached the peak of Elite Four–level.

Additionally, as the Chosen One, as long as Ash continued traveling, he would always encounter those Legendary Pokémon!

So… all they could do now was move forward!

The final scene on the Black World screen showed the image of four figures walking out of the forest.

At this point, the story of the Black World came to a temporary end.

However, this time when the Black World's images disappeared, the audience felt more of a sense of relief.

They had thought Black Ash's journey was one of unstoppable dominance. They hadn't expected the price of that dominance to be so high!

The White World represented Ash's original, rough growth history.

The Black World represented Ash's unique history of salvation!

If they wanted to describe it: one side was a comedic streamer—fun to watch. The other was a highly skilled gaming streamer—everyone was a fan of that streamer. Winning was fine, but losing… the mood would be indescribably沉重.

Weird analogy added.jpg!

[Lillie]: Wait, why doesn't Black Ash use Celebi to travel back a hundred or even a thousand years, then train there for a while, and come back after mastering everything?!

Lillie felt she had discovered a time exploit!

If they used this method, then Black Ash's time wouldn't be just five years!

Fifty years wouldn't be a problem!

[Professor Oak]: Most likely not… I don't have a thorough understanding of parallel space, but I know that if this crisis could be solved so easily, Red wouldn't have needed to spend his life spying on that glimmer of hope.

Using Celebi or even Dialga's time power to go back to the past, improve in the past, then return after completing the upgrade—

Lillie thought of this method, and Red naturally couldn't have missed it.

Since he didn't have Ash use this method, it meant this method wasn't feasible.

[Cynthia]: After all, Black Ash's world and Rainbow Rocket's world are two different worlds. Their methods of calculating time are definitely different.

[Cynthia]: Suppose Ash traveled back to the past in his world. The current world's timeline might be static, but that doesn't prevent time in Rainbow Rocket's world from flowing!

[Cynthia]: These are two different worlds, not one. We can't simply think with ordinary logic.

[Cynthia]: Additionally, it's impossible to directly summon a future version of Ash.

Lillie stopped mid-typing.

Cynthia seemed clairvoyant, anticipating what she wanted to say next.

Yes, she had wanted to ask: why not just summon the future Black Ash?

Whatever the current Black Ash couldn't handle, just recruit the future Black Ash!

But this question was rejected by Cynthia before she could even ask it.

[Lillie]: Why? This shouldn't have anything to do with parallel spacetime, right?

[Cynthia]: Hmm~ Let me ask you, Lillie: if Black Ash summoned himself from ten years later, what would that prove?

[Lillie]: Prove… that Black Ash survived ten years later?

[Cynthia]: Yes. Being able to survive ten years later means they survived the world-destroying battle. That would mean they were destined to survive this crisis. In that case, what would be the point of summoning the future Black Ash?

[Cynthia]: If Black Ash couldn't summon his future self… then there's no need to elaborate on that situation, right?]

If they couldn't summon their future selves, it meant they lost that crucial battle in the future…

In that case, what difference would knowing their future in advance make?

Lillie fell silent.

At only ten years old, her ideas weren't as sophisticated as Cynthia's. She was still a little disappointed that her proposal had been rejected.

But Cynthia was right.

Both proposals had many loopholes…

[Steven Stone]: Hey, even if we actually had good proposals here, we couldn't transmit them to the Black World anyway!

[Steven Stone]: Speaking of which, I didn't expect something I casually said earlier would actually become reality!

[Wallace]: Huh? What did you say?

[Steven Stone]: When Black Ash first got the GS Ball, I casually said, "This GS Ball couldn't possibly be used to catch a Legendary Pokémon, right?" And what happened? Hey, it really is a tool for catching Legendary Pokémon!

[Lance]: A blind cat caught a dead mouse. Steven, where's your Diancie? Is she back yet?

[Steven Stone]: Heh heh heh! She'll be back in two hours!!! Next time, I will definitely not answer questions casually!

During the ten days he'd lost Diancie, the pain was indescribable!

Now, his Diancie would finally see the light of day again!

[Karen]: Don't be embarrassed. Isn't your Diancie just a crystal statue? If Steven can actually capture Diancie, I might regard him highly. Calling yourself the Hoenn Champion with a crystal statue? What an embarrassment to our Hoenn region!

[Steven Stone]: ?

[Steven Stone]: You can't beat me.

[Karen]: Hey! I don't like hearing that. I'm only slightly worse!

[Steven Stone]: You can't beat me.

[Karen]: Pfft! You're an embarrassment to Hoenn!

[Steven Stone]: You can't beat me.

[Karen]: ? Can you say something else?

[Steven Stone]: I am the Hoenn Champion. You are a Hoenn Elite Four member. I am your boss.

[Karen]: …

What the hell was this!

Karen swore she'd make Steven pay!

Was being a Champion so amazing?

Could Champions do whatever they wanted?

If Steven knew what Karen was thinking, he would definitely reply—

Yes.

Author's Note (PS):

The GS Ball's effect here is based on the Pokémon Adventures manga.

In the special chapter, Blaine used the GS Ball to capture Celebi and slightly changed the past timeline.

PS : Read the complete fic (soon all chapters will be added ), you can check out

my P@treon. -> patreon.com/Sagamaster789

◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇

◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!

◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.

◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789

More Chapters