Yveltal had been caught.
Dylan turned the Ultra Ball over in his hand, an unconscious smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
No matter how you looked at it, capturing Yveltal was a pretty satisfying accomplishment.
Of course, catching it was only the first step—earning its recognition and getting it to actually obey was the real challenge.
But Dylan had confidence. After all, subduing Yveltal wasn't exactly hard for him.
"Congrats on the catch, Dylan~!"
Seeing the successful capture, Confined Hoopa floated over cheerfully to congratulate him.
"Thanks."
Dylan smiled in return.
He didn't rush to communicate with Yveltal. Instead, he called Officer Jenny. When he'd lured Team Flare out, he had already contacted Diantha and explained their plan.
Now that Flare's leader Lysandre had been captured, it was time to send them off to face justice.
That part wasn't difficult.
Once Officer Jenny arrived and took Lysandre and the others into custody, Dylan's group returned to Desert City.
"Dylan~ are you guys leaving already?"
After having dinner with Meray and Baraz, Confined Hoopa looked at Dylan with wide, expectant eyes.
"Ah, yeah. Our trip to Kalos has been more than fulfilling. It's about time we head back to Kanto."
Dylan smiled. His main goal in Kalos had been to find Hoopa—and, as a bonus, experience a legendary-scale battle.
That goal had been achieved perfectly. After a couple more days of sightseeing, it was time to go.
"Eh? Can't you stay just a little longer?" Hoopa pouted.
It really liked Dylan—and thought being with him was a lot of fun.
"You've got your space rings, Hoopa. If you want to visit, just pop over whenever," Leaf said, tilting her head.
"Emmm…"
Hoopa scratched its head awkwardly.
"Hoopa was placed under punishment by Grandpa. It still can't travel through its own rings," Meray explained, helplessly.
Even though it had regained its powers, Hoopa's punishment still remained. While it could use its rings to summon others, it couldn't pass through them itself.
"Ah?"
Leaf and the others blinked, realizing that they'd never actually seen Hoopa teleport itself before.
"Well then," Dylan said with a gentle smile, "you'd better work hard to break that restriction. I know you can do it, Hoopa."
The punishment wasn't impossible to remove. Hoopa was kind-hearted now—still mischievous, sure, but nothing serious.
In the movie, Hoopa had broken its seal out of desperation to stop the collapsing space. But here, it had all the time it needed.
"Mm-hmm! I can do it!" Hoopa's eyes lit up with determination.
Once it could pass through rings freely, it could go see Dylan anytime!
"Good luck."
Dylan gave it an encouraging nod, then exchanged a look and a smile with Baraz.
He hadn't tried to capture Hoopa—and didn't plan to. Just like Ash in the movie, he knew that Meray and Baraz were the ones Hoopa cared about most.
Asking Hoopa to leave the Valley of Creation and follow him? That would just be awkward.
Besides, once Hoopa could use its rings freely, it wouldn't matter if it stayed or left.
And with the kind of bond Dylan had already built with Hoopa, asking it for help was as easy as making a call.
They'd already exchanged contact info—so if anything came up, he could just message Meray or Baraz and have Hoopa hop over.
After dinner, the group—including the giggling little prankster god—went for a walk through Desert City at night.
The oasis city was beautiful after dark, nestled in the desert.
Ring ring~
"Hello? Chairman, what's up?"
Dylan answered the call. It was Goodshow.
"How's Kalos treating you?" Goodshow's voice was as warm and calm as ever. He sounded like he was in a good mood.
"Pretty great. We just wrapped up something interesting today. What's the call about?"
"It's about the Johto League. We've decided to make Johto fully independent."
He didn't beat around the bush.
"I'm planning to appoint Lance as the Champion. Lorelei, Bruno, and Agatha as the Four Elite—but we're still missing one. That trainer you mentioned before—the girl from New Bark?"
The timing was right with the World Championship Series starting soon, so they were pushing ahead with forming the independent Johto League.
"Got it. I'll get in touch with her."
Dylan nodded.
"But Chairman, is Granny Agatha really okay with coming back? I thought she wanted to retire?"
"She does. But we're short on people."
Goodshow sighed.
He'd barely convinced Agatha to agree.
"She'll be a placeholder. Once we find someone better suited, she'll step down."
Dylan wasn't surprised. Not just Agatha—Lorelei probably wanted to retire back to her hometown too.
But maybe the recent events had reignited her fighting spirit—and Goodshow was good at persuasion.
"Honestly, if we just needed strong Trainers, Kanto and Johto have plenty. But, Dylan... you get what I mean, right?"
Goodshow's tone turned a little odd.
"I do. Don't worry—there will definitely be new talent this year."
Dylan chuckled. He understood perfectly.
Goodshow didn't want to settle for just average Elite Four members anymore.
Kanto's Four were all Champion-level. Now Johto's would be too. If they filled the last spot with someone weaker, it'd just feel off.
Even if Johto was technically a new league, it still came from Kanto. It needed prestige.
Besides, the current Johto Four were all former Kanto Elites anyway.
"Alright then, I'll leave that to you."
"Leave it to me."
"Oh, and Dylan—when are you coming back? Lance wants to challenge your gym."
"Huh?"
Dylan blinked. Lance wanted to challenge him again?
"No clue what's going through his head. He says he wants to test his limits."
Goodshow rubbed his forehead, clearly troubled.
"That's what he told me. You'd better reach out to him."
"Understood."
Dylan thought for a moment.
He hadn't spoken with Lance much since the events on Cerise Island. According to Goodshow, Lance had holed himself up in his room ever since, brooding.
That defeat had hit him hard.
But now he was stepping up again—accepting the Champion role for Johto.
Which meant... he'd worked through it?
After ending the call, Dylan looked at his phone, deep in thought.
"Big brother? What is it? You look serious," Lillie asked curiously.
"If I go too hard on him... do you think Lance will shut himself in again?"
Dylan asked solemnly.
"I kinda want to use an Ice-type team or Dragon-type team against him... but I don't want to break his spirit again."
He'd always wanted to face Lance at full power—with Ice or Dragon types, of course.
Fairy-types? Meh. Everyone knew Lance basically used Flying types. Fairy wasn't even that hard a counter.
Lillie: (—)
"I'm sure it'll be fine. He's not that fragile—especially after what he's been through."
Dylan nodded. He agreed. Lance wasn't some glass-hearted kid.
Great! Decision made!
He hoped Lance would enjoy this battle. It was going to be a heartfelt experience—from one junior to his senior.
...
After two more days of sightseeing in Kalos, Dylan decided it was time to head home to Kanto.
It was worth noting—Hoopa had tagged along the entire time, working hard to break its seal.
Progress was visible. At first, it couldn't even poke its head through a ring. Now it could at least stick its head in—though it still hurt.
Still, Hoopa was determined.
This was its own power. How could it be unable to pass through its own rings? Ridiculous!
As for Yveltal—Dylan had actually released it outside the city the night after catching it.
Predictably, it was not happy about being caught. Especially since it definitely remembered that sparkly, rainbow-colored deer sucker-punching it multiple times!
Yveltal was furious. Yveltal was not okay.
So... Dylan had Kyurem "entertain" it for a while. Yveltal calmed down quite a bit after that.
It still didn't want to follow Dylan.
But Dylan was diplomatic. Add in Kyurem's intense Dragon stare, and Yveltal agreed to "consider it."
Dylan accepted that like a gentleman.
He wasn't worried. Since he'd decided to capture Yveltal, Dylan wasn't going to give up.
If it refused once, he'd just try again. No problem. This time was Kyurem. Next time? Mega Rayquaza. Then Eternatus. They'd all take turns convincing it.
Eventually, Yveltal would come around. Dylan was sure of it.
But right now, more than Yveltal, he was looking forward to meeting Lance again—who was already waiting for him in Rota.
(End of Chapter)