{With the Gym Leaders}
Brock and the other Gym Leaders were finally done as the last clone fell. They were exhausted after everything.
Brock's Tyranitar fell over, breathing heavily. It looked over and gave a thumbs-up to Brock, who just waved him off and returned him to the Poké Ball.
Whitney collapsed onto her butt and sighed into the air. "I'm sooooo tired, I've got nothing left to give."
"Tell me about it," Morty muttered. "But at least it's over. Hey, Sabrina, think you can give us a lift back?"
Sabrina looked like she was in the middle of using her powers to search for someone. She opened one eye at Morty. "No. My Pokémon are too tired, and I'm not faring much better."
"Ah, great. Looks like we're walking," Bugsy sighed.
"Hey, look on the bright side, at least—mph!" Jasmine started to say something, but Whitney jumped up and covered her mouth.
"No, please don't jinx us, I beg you. Just don't say anything about this! In fact, oh wow, it's over already, why didn't we get more? If only there was more!" Whitney screamed into the sky.
"Um… sorry, what are you doing?" Erika asked.
"Like a reverse jinx! If we tell the universe we want to fight more, we won't get it. Genius!" Whitney said, putting her hands on her hips proudly.
"That's… not, I don't think—" Erika started, but Jasmine shook her head to stop her.
"Just let her have this one. If it makes her feel better…"
In the background, Whitney was still yelling into the sky: "Wow, I really wish we got to fight more! And more!"
Brock looked at her and sighed as he stood up, stretching his back. "Alright, let's try to get back to everyone. Looks like the train isn't gonna work, so yeah, like Bugsy said, we're going on foot."
Morty sighed. "Well, not thrilled, but we can't really do anything about it. Maybe there's a town close by where we can rent a car."
"Doubt it…" Brock muttered as they started walking.
—
{In the Time Stream}
Pryce had one last contingency plan. He had lost almost everything, his Pokémon were knocked out, and he couldn't even make another ice clone body since Swinub wasn't with him. He only had his Lapras, and he would not be sending it out. But he still had one last plan.
The ball pulsed, spilling light into the collapsing timestream as they chased Pryce through time on their legendary Pokémon.
Pryce raised the GS Ball and started using Celebi's power again. "Haha! Then if I can't beat you, I'll just make sure you never existed!"
As the ball glowed, the first thing they noticed was the color of Pryce's hair turning black again, and his skin becoming clear and smooth, losing its sagging form. Then his leg twitched, then moved. He had rewound time on himself, restoring him to his prime.
But before they realized it, it was affecting them, too. Their legendaries were fine, they had existed for millennia before their trainers were born, but everyone else started shrinking.
They went from eleven or twelve years old back down to around seven. Pikachu and Chuchu reverted into Pichu, while Vee felt himself regress further, back to before the experiments had been done on him. In that moment, Vee lost his ability to evolve. The only reason they didn't de-age even more was because of the feathers protecting them.
"W-what's happening?!" Ethan shouted, his voice cracking higher as his body shrank. His hands were small again, the sleeves of his jacket hanging loose.
"My clothes, no, my arms! I'm smaller?!" Lyra yelped, clutching at herself as her hat slipped down over her face.
Over on Articuno, Pikachu and Chuchu sparked in confusion before suddenly flashing with white light, reverting into tiny Pichu that squeaked in panic.
"No…! Pikachu!" Ash cried out, reaching for his partner as the little mouse tumbled in midair. Ash's own arms were shorter, thinner, he was barely seven again, while Yellow became even smaller, holding onto her straw hat to stop it from falling off her head.
Vee whimpered, his body glowing faintly. His fur lost the strange sheen it had since the experiments. He was… normal. He couldn't evolve anymore.
Silver's voice cracked as he gritted his teeth, his hands shrinking on the reins of Entei's mane. "Damn it, he's… undoing us!"
"You don't say!" Gary called out.
Pryce smirked as he lifted the GS Ball higher. "Children again… that suits you. No matter how strong you pretend to be, you'll always be helpless before me!"
"Don't underestimate us just 'cause we're smaller!" Ethan snapped back. "We might be small, but we can still beat you!"
"Really? Then let's see how you like this!" Pryce exclaimed as multiple portals opened around them, blasting attacks in every direction.
This one was simple, it created a rift in time at the moment a Pokémon used a move, catching it and redirecting it back out to attack the gang, firing [Hydro Pumps], [Fire Blasts], [Hyper Beams] all around them.
A [Flamethrower] burst from one rift, forcing Kris and Lyra to duck low against Suicune's back. From another, a massive [Hydro Pump] nearly blasted Silver off Entei, only for the beast of fire to leap aside at the last second.
And the worst part was, they couldn't get close enough. Since Pryce controlled time, he could rewind them if they got too close, and they couldn't really afford to get much younger.
Things may have looked bad, but as always, Ash had a plan. He actually had one ready, well, not for the turning-younger part, that was unexpected, but he did have one for dealing with Pryce.
"Guys, I'm about to do something stupid, idiotic, and completely unnecessary."
"Say no more, you had me at stupid!" Green said with a smirk.
Ethan smiled. "Stupid plans are the best ones!"
"I-I'll trust you too, Ash," Yellow nodded.
Gary sighed. "You're not going to tell us what it is… fine, let's do this. Not like we have a choice."
Ash nodded and looked back. "What about you guys?"
"If we can win, then go ahead," Lyra said, holding onto her hat so it wouldn't fall off
"Ok then, guys, cover me. And Articuno, [Blizzard]!" Ash commanded.
Articuno nodded and flapped its wings, creating a snowstorm that covered the area. As it did, Ash made his move, the sound of a Poké Ball opening echoed in the snow, but no one could see what or who it was.
Then, before Pryce could react, a [Fire Blast] from Moltres cut through the snow toward him.
He narrowed his eyes as a rift in time appeared in front of him and absorbed the attack. But when the rift closed, he saw Ethan and Raikou dashing toward him, dangerously close, just a hair's breadth away. Before they could reach him, he reversed their time and pushed them back.
"How useless. Fine… I suppose I'll get rid of you like this," Pryce said as he raised his arm and pointed at Suicune and Moltres.
From one portal, a [Solar Beam] burst out, slicing through the storm and forcing Suicune to leap aside. From another, a barrage of [Thunderbolts] rained down on Moltres, who screeched as it tried to barrel roll, protecting Green on its back.
"Watch it! I don't have much support here, these little arms are weak!" Green complained, looking at her tiny hands that couldn't grip Moltres as well as before.
"Foolish. That's the plan," Pryce said, creating a [Hurricane] from a portal that whipped around them and knocked Green and Lyra off their Pokémon.
"Lyra! No!" Kris shouted as she turned Suicune back, racing to catch her. Moltres also dove to catch Green, but Pryce was ready. Beneath them, another portal opened. As they fell, it swallowed them and spat them back into their original time. They were still small, and worse of all, they couldn't get back in.
"No!" Yellow exclaimed, looking around as she clung to Articuno. Shockingly, Ash wasn't with her, only Pichu, Chuchu, and Vee.
"Yes. I'll get rid of you one way or another," Pryce said with a smile.
Another portal tore open. This time, it spat out a blazing [Overheat], surging straight for Silver and Entei. Entei roared, throwing up a wall of flames to counter, but Silver's smaller body couldn't handle the recoil. He was flung off, barely managing to cling to Entei's fur with his tiny hands.
"Damn it! Hold, hold still!" Silver grunted, his voice shrill from his younger throat. Entei growled, trying to steady him, but Pryce only laughed.
"Pathetic. Even your pride can't save you now."
A second rift spiraled open above Yellow and Articuno, unleashing a storm of [Rock Slides]. Boulders tumbled from the void, crashing toward them. Articuno darted and spun, but with Yellow's smaller frame, she struggled to hold on. Her straw hat flew away into the vortex.
"Ah-no, no! Articuno, higher!" Yellow squeaked, clutching Vee to her chest.
As they tried to dodge, Silver and Yellow both lost their balance, tumbling off. Entei and Articuno dove after them, but another rift opened and kicked them back into their own time.
Gary gritted his teeth as he held onto Zapdos. "Dang it…" He looked up, seeing Pryce smirking down at them.
"Useless. Only two of you left."
"Don't underestimate us!" Ethan shouted into the void, scanning the timestream for something, anything.
Pryce laughed. "No matter. It's so close… and with this, I'm invincible!" He raised the GS Ball high.
But then a voice called out to him: "Oh really? Who decided that?"
Pryce froze. Before he could react, Charizard burst from a rift, with Ash leaping off its back. Ash tackled Pryce, grabbing his wrist.
Pryce grunted, shoving against Ash's small head, knocking his cap into the timestream. But Ash didn't let go, even as he took a blow to the face. It wasn't the first time.
"It's useless. You can't stop me, not while I have the GS Ball and Celebi!" Pryce snarled, shoving Ash's face away. Ash held on, trembling but unrelenting.
"Yeah, well… too bad you forgot about one thing." Ash smirked, raising his other hand to reveal what looked almost like a button. "Kurt sends his regards." He pressed it.
The moment he did, a strange sound screeched through the void, unnatural, almost alive. The GS Ball shook violently, then cracked open. Celebi's eyes flared, and with a burst of light, it broke free.
Now, you probably want a little bit of context here. Well, you see, since Pryce went after Kurt and stole the plans for the GS Ball, Kurt knew it couldn't be good. So, when Ash asked for a counter, Kurt knew exactly what to make.
What Ash pressed was… well, it's kinda complicated. But in simple terms, it was like a signal that worked specifically on Poké Balls made with Kurt's designs. Most of the balls he makes have one for one reason or another. It works by disrupting the net mechanism and deactivating the lock that keeps the Pokémon inside.
Now, as for why it broke, that wasn't part of Kurt's design. And that's also why Ash didn't use this before. If he did, Pryce could have just re-caught Celebi. No, Ash had to wait. And that all relied on the fact that the Rainbow Wing and Silver Wing were not the real ones, they were replica clones. And that meant they were unstable.
The constant use of Celebi's powers was already wearing on the feathers, and this last push was all it needed. The final key was Celebi itself, because only Celebi could break the GS Ball. And that's what it did.
As for how Ash and Charizard were even around without a feather, well, Ash was the Rainbow Hero, wasn't he? He already had Ho-Oh's blessing.
As the ball was destroyed, Celebi let out a cry. A pulse spread out, sending Ash and Pryce one way, and Ethan and Gary another. But this time, Celebi opened a bigger rift behind them, and kept it open.
When Ethan and Gary fell out, with Zapdos and Raikou, they felt their bodies beginning to grow back. Looking up, they saw everyone else also starting to grow older again. The ice around them began to fade away, everything was going back to normal. Pikachu, Chuchu, and Vee also returned to normal.
As the ice fell away, they saw Lance, Cynthia, and Giovanni in the distance. Misty, Surge, and Blaine were farther back in the forest, worse off but still trying to help the Pokémon that had been trapped in the ice.
Lance, Cynthia, and Giovanni were the first to run up now that the ice was melting. They had spent a long time holding back its spread, and now that it had stopped, they saw the kids along with the Legendaries on the ground. Naturally, they had questions.
"Everyone!" Lance called out first, Cynthia and Giovanni at his side.
"You stopped it." Cynthia's voice was steady as she walked up, looking over them. "The time distortion… you really did it."
Giovanni, however, walked up and looked at Silver for a moment, giving him a small nod before turning back to business. "Tell me, what happened in there? What was Pryce planning?"
Kris shifted uncomfortably, Suicune padding beside her. "He-he wanted to rewrite everything. All this destruction… just to bring back his Lapras."
"That old fool," Giovanni muttered under his breath, stepping closer. His gaze locked with Silver's. "And you… you faced him directly, didn't you?"
Silver looked at him and took a breath. The first time he was speaking to his father, and this was how it was happening. Not ideal, but he wasn't going to back down. "Yeah, we did. We fought him directly and we stopped him."
Giovanni studied him for a few seconds, then nodded. "And how did you stop him?"
Gary ran a hand through his hair, his voice heavy. "Ash. He had a plan, he—" but he was interrupted.
"Wait… where's Ash?" Yellow asked, glancing at the rift. It hadn't closed yet, it was only slowly shrinking, but Ash was nowhere to be seen.
"No…" Green's hands trembled as she clutched Moltres' feathers, eyes darting around the field. "No, no, no! Don't tell me he's still—"
–
The silence that followed was deafening. Only the crackling of melting ice and the soft cries of the exhausted Legendaries filled the air.
Pikachu's ears drooped, his little voice trembling. "Pika… pika…" He looked toward the sky where the rift had been, eyes shining with worry.
Lance's jaw clenched. "You mean to tell me… Ash is still inside the collapsing timestream? With Pryce?"
Kris shook her head. "But Celebi freed itself, didn't it? Can't it bring him back too?"
Before anyone could answer, Celebi itself flew out of the rift, looking exhausted. Why wouldn't it be? Its power had just been abused again and again, its glow flickering unstable. It let out a mournful cry as it looked at them with guilt and said something.
Yellow was the only one who understood. "It's saying… it's sorry that it can't do more. It's too tired. It can only hold it open for a little while longer."
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, reading the signs immediately. "So it's unstable. Celebi's power is nearly drained. Holding the distortion apart any longer might be impossible. But what will happen if it closes?"
And that's when Pikachu bolted forward toward the fading light, sparks flaring across his cheeks as he cried out, "Pikapi!"
–
{Meanwhile in the void}
After the explosion Celebi created, Ash finally returned to normal. But unfortunately for Pryce, so did he, rapidly aging back into his frail old self.
Right now, Ash was clutching Charizard's back as they flew, but Pryce clung to Charizard's foot, glaring up at him, "You… how could you? Do you know what you've done? You've doomed us both, you, you—"
But then he stopped, because his Poké Ball shook, opened, and La Glace floated out into the timestream.
It looked at Pryce, then at a certain rift, flapping its little flippers as it swam toward it. Pryce frowned in confusion as he followed its gaze. His eyes widened, "This is… where I lost La Pris and La Prus."
Inside the portal, La Glace swam to its parents, La Pris and La Prus, and hugged them. The three were reunited.
"I—I…" Pryce muttered as he watched. Then, from another rift, a song began to play. He looked over and saw Young Oak, Agatha, Kurt, and the daycare couple, his old friends, the ones he had cut out of his life after the incident.
"I-I know this song…" he whispered. It was the song they had made for him, to cheer him up, to remind him he still had people who cared about him. At the time, he had never truly listened, not really. He had been too bitter, too lost.
But now he saw the montage of his life: his childhood, his adventures with his friends, before he became all of this, before everything changed. And all the while, he listened to the song.
['Just look from there once more
Look from the place that you returned to
Just let the soft, soft waves
heal your heart so tired from sadness
Just begin to dream once more,
to bring back your 'courage'
And from just that dream,
let the passion you once forgot
into your smile and melt your frozen heart
Yes, on that Friday that I saw you
riding on the back of Laplace
Let your emotion overflow
Just like you did back then
Let me see that shine anew
Let me see that shining you
Just like you did back then
Let me see that smile anew
Let me see that smiling you]
And for once, Pryce started to cry. He couldn't remember the last time he shed tears… no, that wasn't true. The last time he cried was when his Lapras died.
He cried as La Glace swam closer, hugging its parents one more time before returning to Pryce. It nuzzled into him before slipping back into its Poké Ball.
Pryce held the ball tightly. "After all this time, maybe… Celebi… you did this, didn't you? Even after everything I did to you… you still let this song into my heart, and let the ice finally melt away, so I could feel the warm sun of spring again," he muttered.
He looked up at Ash. "I truly envy your youth. You still have so much time ahead of you… so much time to spend with your Pokémon… with your friends. Things I should have done…"
He tossed the Poké Ball toward Ash. On instinct, Ash caught La Glace's ball as Pryce smiled faintly, "Save them. They're innocent, not like me. Cherish everything…"
Pryce closed his eyes and let go of Charizard's foot, ready to fall into the timestream, to give Ash the chance to escape. As his body dipped into the distortion, he suddenly stopped, pulled upward.
When Pryce opened his eyes, he saw Ash smirking down at him, gripping his wrist, "How about you save your Pokémon yourself!"
Ash hauled him back up. Charizard flipped and steadied himself, letting Pryce climb onto his back. Immediately, Charizard spread his wings and surged forward. Ash looked back, tossing La Glace's Poké Ball into Pryce's hands.
"W-why? After everything… why are you saving me?" Pryce asked in disbelief. He was still dizzy, overwhelmed by fragments of information flooding into his mind from the timestream he had touched before Ash grabbed him.
"You really gonna ask, or are we getting out of here?!" Ash shot back, shutting him up.
Now, if you think Ash was pulling a stupid 'hero saves everyone, even the villain' move just because it's the right thing to do, you're wrong. Truth was, Ash didn't care. He honestly had wanted to throw Pryce off.
But he needed Pryce, needed answers about the Azure Flute he had summoned, and about the Unown. For that, he needed him, besides, Pryce comes back in the end in the Manga, so its not like he dies
As they flew, the rift in time loomed ahead, slowly closing. Pryce's eyes widened as he shook his head, trying to organize the torrent of new knowledge in his mind. Panic struck him, "We're not going to make it!"
"Yes, we are. We still have cards left to play," Ash said, raising his hands. It was time to use something he had been saving.
His hands began to glow blue with Aura, light so intense it was visible even to non-Aura users. Energy surged, shaping into massive arms made of Aura that shot out in front of them.
Ash grabbed the edges of the rift, straining as he held it open.
He glanced back at Pryce, who was too stunned to speak, "You better hold on. Charizard, max speed!"
Charizard huffed, wings beating with furious strength. With a roar, he launched forward at twice his speed, driving straight toward the rift.
–
Meanwhile, outside the rift, Lance and Cynthia had to physically hold everyone back to stop them from immediately diving in to look for Ash.
"You better let go! I'm not leaving my best friend to fall into nothing!" Gary yelled, tugging against Lance's grip on his arm.
"Yeah! I'm not gonna lose Ash, not after everything!" Green shouted, struggling as Cynthia restrained her.
Yellow sat on the ground, eyes locked on the rift, hoping, praying, that Ash would come out like he always did, smiling and laughing as if nothing had happened. She clutched ChuChu and Celebi tightly. Pikachu and Vee sat in front of the rift, ears drooping, waiting.
Ethan and Silver wanted to jump in too, but Giovanni held them back. Kris and Lyra were also stopped.
Ethan clenched his fists. "So what are we supposed to do? Just let our friend get lost in… whatever the heck that is? After everything he's done!"
"I'm not saying that," Lance said firmly.
"Oh yeah? Then what are you saying?" Gary snapped. "Because it sure looks like, for a Champion, you're doing a whole lot of nothing!"
The Legendaries sat watching silently. Their mission was complete, the world was saved. For them, that was the end… but still, they lingered.
Lance glared at Gary. "You think I don't want to go in there too? You think I don't want to drag him back myself?" His voice cracked with the strain. "But not if it means we all get lost in time. As much as I want to… I can't risk it."
"Perhaps once Celebi regains its power, it can reopen the rift," Cynthia suggested softly. But her words rang hollow, even to her. There was no guarantee. And she too was worried, because she knew Ash.
Before their protests could boil over, the rift shuddered. Suddenly, massive glowing blue hands burst out, grabbing the edges and forcing it wider. The collapsing distortion slowed.
Everyone froze, eyes wide. Then—
"Coming in hot!"
A familiar voice rang out as Charizard spiraled through the rift, the blue hands vanishing just as the portal snapped shut behind them. Two objects tumbled out as well, falling to the ground with a soft plop: a sunhat and a baseball cap, landing on top of each other.
All eyes turned to Charizard. And there, perched on its back, were none other than Ash and Pryce. Ash raised a hand with a grin, "Missed me?"
For a moment, no one knew if they should hug him or deck him.
Ash slid off Charizard, and Gary was the first to move. He marched up, glared, and then socked Ash square in the face. Ash didn't dodge, he took it.
Then, before Ash could react, Gary grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug, "You're an idiot."
"I know," Ash smirked, patting his back. "Takes one to know one."
That was all it took, the rest of the group piled on, half tempted to punch him, half desperate to make sure he was real.
Meanwhile, Pikachu and Vee padded over to the fallen hats. Their eyes widened in recognition. Pikachu picked up the familiar cap, clutching it tightly, before looking up at Yellow.
Yellow picked up Pikachu and walked over. For a moment, she hesitated, nerves tightening in her chest, but then she took a deep breath and cleared her throat, "Um… Ash, here. A-and… I'm happy you're safe."
She held out Pikachu. The little mouse leapt onto Ash's shoulder, placed the cap back on his head, and nuzzled against his cheek. Ash's smile softened, "Yeah… thanks, bud."
The reunion buzzed around them, cheers and laughter filling the air, but Giovanni and Lance's attention shifted. Their eyes locked on Pryce. He didn't have a wheelchair, but his Swinub, exhausted yet awake, had shaped one from ice, carrying him forward.
Lance strode up first, arms crossed, his voice sharp, "Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself, or should we start wi—"
"Stop! We can't waste time!" Pryce's voice cut through, startling even Lance, and Giovanni.
"What did you just say? After everything you've done, you still think you have authority?" Giovanni's tone was cold, heavy with a double meaning.
Pryce met Giovanni's glare but said nothing about… that. Instead, he drew in a ragged breath, "You don't understand. Yes, I know what I did. And yes, I'll turn myself in when this is all over. But there's a problem!"
He turned to the others, voice shaking but urgent, "I saw something. I saw the future, or at least what's coming… soon!"
Cynthia's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? What happened?"
Pryce looked up at her, panic flashing in his tired eyes. His voice dropped low, "This isn't over."