Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 450: The Ruined Lake of Life (BONUS)

Passing through the "Forest Entrance" and following the winding woodland path, Johan walked under the watchful gazes of countless wild Pokémon until he arrived at a stone shrine-like formation deep within the forest, covered in thick moss.

Dragonite and Gengar had already landed there.

Buzzz—

Suddenly, a mysterious power rippled outward from the stone shrine, accompanied by a faint, melodic hum.

"Bii—"

In that instant, Johan felt the world around him flash and shift—as if countless seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter had passed in mere seconds.

Yep.

Seeing this, Johan's last shred of hope died completely.

He turned his gaze toward the stone shrine.

Sure enough.

Along with the mysterious sound, a young man in his early teens appeared out of thin air.

Beside him was a small, fairy-like Pokémon—its body light green, adorned with a pair of white, translucent wings.

Its eyes were tightly shut, its body trembling with exhaustion, and as it tried to stand, it stumbled and fell off the shrine.

"Bii..."

Even so, it struggled to flap its wings, trying desperately to escape.

"Ka-kaah?"

Gengar tilted its head, eyes filled with curiosity as it observed the tiny Pokémon.

This light green, forest spirit-like Pokémon was none other than the Mythical Pokémon—Celebi.

"It's Celebi, Rotom!"

Rotom's Pokédex hovered nearby, displaying rare, limited information about Celebi.

The young man beside Celebi?

That was none other than Professor Oak... in his younger days.

Due to Celebi's powers, he had traveled through time from forty years in the past to the present.

"Bii!"

Noticing Johan and Gengar approaching, Celebi's body instantly radiated an overwhelming burst of psychic energy.

Sensing its hostility, both Gengar and Dragonite immediately stepped in front of Johan.

Gengar rubbed its hands together, summoning a dark, pulsating Shadow Ball to counter Celebi's telekinetic force.

But Celebi's panic only deepened.

Before arriving in this era, it had been fleeing from a Pokémon Hunter.

Having narrowly escaped capture, Celebi did not trust humans.

Now, seeing Johan alongside powerful Pokémon like Gengar and Dragonite, Celebi assumed they were enemies too.

Boom!!

A violent collision of power erupted, sending shockwaves through the area.

Johan immediately spread his arms wide.

Aura... reside within me!

Buzzz—

His Aura powers expanded outward.

"Celebi," Johan attempted to communicate with it through his Aura, trying to project feelings of peace.

"Gengar, Dragonite, it's okay."

He reassured them while taking two steps forward, directly facing the weakened Celebi.

"Bii!!"

With a panicked cry, vibrant green vines suddenly burst from the ground, lashing toward Johan.

"Are you hungry, Celebi?" Johan tried to communicate once more using Aura.

But Celebi's fear of humans and exhaustion made it impossible for Johan's Aura to properly convey his intentions.

However—

When Johan pulled out two shimmering, crystal-clear Pokéblocks, Celebi's attack slowed.

Its eyes fluttered open slightly.

"Bii?"

Those big, sapphire-blue eyes still held fear.

But when Celebi saw Johan's gentle smile, its resistance weakened significantly.

And finally—

Johan's Aura successfully delivered his good intentions.

As Johan's hand softly reached out and touched Celebi—

Celebi finally understood.

This human... wasn't a Pokémon Hunter.

"Bii..."

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Johan lifted the little creature into his arms.

It was small, soft, and cool to the touch.

He gently fed it a Pokéblock, and Celebi, after chewing slowly twice, completely relaxed.

"Bii..."

It let out a faint cry before falling into a deep sleep.

"Ka-kaah?"

"Draaa?"

Gengar and Dragonite, who had been standing on full alert, cautiously leaned in to examine the now-sleeping Celebi.

Their eyes were filled with curiosity.

Johan knocked Gengar lightly on the head.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar clutched its head, laughing sheepishly.

"Alright, explain. Why is Celebi here?"

Normally, Celebi was supposed to bring Professor Oak's younger self to the present only when Ash arrived here.

But clearly, Gengar and Dragonite had done something.

"Ka... Ka-kaah..."

Gengar fidgeted, tracing circles in the air with its fingers.

Here's what happened—

When Gengar had approached this area, it had faintly sensed a distortion in time.

And, acting purely on "academic curiosity," it decided to take out the Adamant Orb.

All it wanted was to study time and space a little.

But the moment it took out the orb, it acted like a lightning rod.

It directly pulled in the time-energy, dragging Celebi and Professor Oak's past self into the present.

Johan could only guess—

Celebi must have sensed the energy and mistakenly believed it had found another Celebi.

But instead, it got... Gengar.

Johan sighed and rubbed his temples.

In the end, this all traced back to one thing...

Not the Adamant Orb.

Not Dialga and Palkia.

But Flint.

Flint, I'm adding this to my grudge list.

"Mmm..."

Just then, the young man on the ground stirred and groaned.

"Celebi!!"

With a startled cry, he jumped to his feet.

His eyes immediately locked onto Celebi, still asleep in Johan's arms, and his expression darkened.

"Give Celebi back!!"

He even pulled out an ancient-looking Poké Ball.

Johan froze for a moment.

Wait...

How strong was young Professor Oak at this time?

He shouldn't be at Champion level, right?

"Hold on!" Johan raised a hand.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar suddenly appeared behind him and patted Oak's shoulder.

The young Professor Oak flinched, shivering involuntarily.

Then, his face filled with confusion.

"This Gengar..."

It looked awfully similar to Agatha's mischievous Gengar...

"Ahem. I think you're misunderstanding something." Johan continued.

At this point, young Oak finally calmed down and noticed—

Celebi was sleeping peacefully in Johan's arms.

"S-Sorry... I overreacted. Who... are you?"

Before Johan could answer, Oak introduced himself first.

"I'm Samuel. Samuel Oak!"

"I know."

"Huh?"

"I mean—nice to meet you."

"Oh, thank you! Likewise!"

Then Oak paused.

Wait... he never heard this guy's name.

But Johan smoothly changed the subject.

"Can you explain what happened? You and Celebi."

Hearing this, Oak's expression turned serious, and he nodded.

"Yes. Here's what happened—"

As he earnestly began his story, Johan secretly sighed in relief.

Because he had just realized something important.

If he and Gengar's interference affected Professor Oak's journey...

Would it also impact Ash's future?

Not just Ash.

Johan himself might be affected too.

That's why he had avoided giving his name.

Still...

Pokémon's world was full of parallel universes.

Perhaps...

This young Oak wasn't even from his timeline.

But either way—

Minimizing information exchange was the safest approach.

"...And then, somehow, Celebi and I ended up here."

Professor Oak—well, young Samuel Oak—finished explaining what had happened.

Johan listened intently while holding the now-sleeping Celebi in his arms.

"No matter what," Oak continued, "we need to heal Celebi first."

"Agreed."

If they were anywhere else, healing Celebi would be a major challenge.

But here...

"Dragonite, when you were flying earlier, did you see a lake?" Johan asked.

"Draaa?"

Dragonite thought for a moment before raising a chubby arm and pointing.

"Let's go."

Johan gestured for them to move.

In this Celebi's Forest, there was a special place known as the Lake of Life.

A sacred lake with the power to heal Celebi.

As they walked in the direction Dragonite indicated, Oak looked puzzled.

"...Why aren't we just flying there?"

Johan didn't even look at him.

"If you don't ask that question, we can stay friends."

"...Huh?"

According to the Pokémon 4Ever timeline, around this time, the villain, the Iron Masked Marauder, should have appeared to stop them.

But so far—there was no sign of him.

And strangely, as they neared the Lake of Life, there were fewer and fewer wild Pokémon around.

This shouldn't be happening.

The Lake of Life was the core of the forest.

It should be teeming with Pokémon.

In fact, when Celebi was near, wild Pokémon were supposed to appear and guide them to the lake.

But now?

Nothing.

Something was very wrong.

And when Johan and Oak finally reached the lake, they immediately understood why.

The Lake of Life... was ruined.

Instead of being crystal clear and full of vitality, the lake was now murky and blackened.

The trees around it were withered, lifeless, and decaying.

"...What happened here?"

Oak frowned, visibly upset.

Even though he didn't know the lake's significance, seeing such a beautiful natural place destroyed like this angered him.

Johan was just as shocked.

How did the Lake of Life end up like this?

Floating atop the dark waters were black, oily streaks.

This was clearly caused by humans.

"Bii..."

The sleeping Celebi stirred, weakly opening its eyes.

When it saw the ruined lake, tears welled up in its eyes.

Johan could feel its sorrow.

"Bii—!!"

Celebi slowly floated out of Johan's arms.

Its small body glowed with a radiant green light.

Rustle, rustle—

All around, the trees responded to Celebi's cry, swaying gently as if answering its call.

A wave of soft green energy spread across the forest.

Tiny, glowing particles of life energy gathered from all directions, converging on Celebi.

It then poured this restorative energy into the lake.

Buzzz—

For a moment—

The water began to clear.

The oily black sludge on the surface slowly dissolved.

The dying trees by the shore sprouted new leaves.

"Ka-kaah?"

Gengar watched, blinking in surprise.

It looked at Celebi—then at its own hands—then back at Celebi.

Wait a second...

This felt awfully similar to how it gathered Ghost-type energy in battle.

However—

Celebi was still too weak.

After using its power for only a moment, its body wavered—

And then, it collapsed midair.

Johan rushed forward and caught it.

As soon as Celebi stopped glowing, the murky water surged back, swallowing the purified section.

Celebi looked devastated.

It trembled, and tears spilled from its eyes.

Johan took out his Poké Balls.

With a flick of his wrist, he released all of his Pokémon.

"Block the polluted water!" he commanded.

His Pokémon immediately understood.

Splash!

Tinkaton and Gengar jumped into the lake.

Urshifu grabbed huge boulders and threw them into the water, helping to build a barrier.

"Oowoo~~"

Ninetales spread its nine tails wide.

It opened its mouth and fired a brilliant blue Ice Beam, freezing parts of the contaminated water.

They didn't freeze the entire lake—

Because if the water was frozen, they wouldn't be able to purify it later.

Instead, the goal was to separate the polluted water from the clean sections.

Rotom transformed into its Wash Form and teamed up with Dragonite, using Hydro Pump to redirect polluted water away.

"Yoji!"

Larvitar stood near Urshifu, stomping its tiny foot on the ground.

A crack split the earth open, revealing a layer of dirt and stones.

Charcadet gathered fallen branches and burned them into charcoal.

Charcoal had high absorbency—

It could soak up toxins from the water.

Dragonite then tossed the charcoal into the lake.

Seeing this, Oak quickly acted.

He pulled out his old-fashioned Poké Balls and released a Charmeleon and a Kangaskhan.

Together, his Pokémon joined in the dam-building effort.

"Bii..."

Celebi watched in awe.

Johan smiled and patted its head.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure the lake is restored."

"Bii~~"

Celebi's eyes shimmered with hope.

And then—

It suddenly wobbled and collapsed into Johan's arms again.

Johan sighed.

"You need to eat this."

He pulled out a Revival Herb and—without waiting—stuffed it into Celebi's mouth.

If the Lake of Life couldn't heal Celebi, then they'd have to do it manually.

Even if it took longer.

"Bii! (>д<)"

Celebi instantly grimaced.

Revival Herbs tasted awful.

As soon as it ate it, Celebi's face twisted in agony.

It looked like it wanted to die all over again.

Johan couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, swallow it. If you don't get better, we won't be able to fix the lake."

"Bii?"

Celebi sniffled and looked up at Johan with pitiful, teary eyes.

Was that really true?

Johan nodded solemnly.

"Of course! Just look—everyone's working hard."

In the lake, with all the Pokémon's efforts, a makeshift dam was taking shape.

While charcoal helped purify some water, the real solution was still Celebi.

Or... Suicune.

"Bii! Bii!"

Determined, Celebi forced itself to keep chewing.

As it swallowed, its tiny fists clenched.

It must not give up!

Even as tears rolled down its cheeks from the bitterness.

A while later—

The mini-dam was finally completed.

Oak wiped the sweat from his forehead, then bowed deeply toward the wild Pokémon.

"Thank you! Thank you, everyone!"

The wild Pokémon smiled back.

The Lake of Life was their home.

If it was restored, it would benefit them all.

And with Celebi here—

They weren't just helping a legendary Pokémon.

They were protecting their forest's guardian.

"Ka-kaah~~"

Gengar stood proudly on the shore, hands on its hips.

It nodded approvingly at their handiwork.

Then, it turned to the wild Pokémon and waved dramatically.

"Alright, scram! From now on, this place is under my protection!"

To complete the look, Gengar pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

With its arms crossed and a smug grin, it truly looked like a mafia boss.

And oddly enough—

A few wild Pokémon actually looked impressed.

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Powerstones?

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