"Damn it, you bastard!"
Ash gritted his teeth hard. If it weren't for Mismagius binding him and Pikachu with Psychic, Kodai would already be finished.
"Is that so? You think nobody will ever find out?" A voice came from above.
"Who?!"
Kodai whipped around in shock.
Ash looked up too. A Gengar was floating down from the sky, and someone was holding onto its feet, descending slowly to the ground.
"Gary!"
"Zorua!"
"Pika!"
Ash recognized Gary immediately. He was surprised to see Zorua with him, though. When had that happened?
Gary looked at Ash and Pikachu, still locked in place by Mismagius's Psychic, and sighed.
"You really went around in circles with this one. You seriously can't deal with a single Mismagius?"
[Lv.49 Mismagius ♀ / Gym]
Kodai's Mismagius wasn't weak exactly, but it had already hit its ceiling. It shouldn't have been Pikachu's opponent at all.
The fact that Pikachu was being held by it was honestly embarrassing.
Gary then looked at the Celebi cradled in Ash's arms.
[Lv.30 Celebi / Legendary]
Gary didn't know what had happened to this Celebi, but a level of only 30 was incredibly low for a Legendary Pokémon. No wonder it hadn't been able to stop Kodai on its own.
"Who are you?" Kodai asked, watching Gary carefully.
He had never seen this person in any of his visions of the future. That alone was enough to put him on edge.
Ever since gaining the ability to see the future, Kodai had grown accustomed to everything unfolding exactly as he expected. Whenever something deviated from his predictions, it made him irritable and anxious.
And the way Gary had spoken from the very first moment made it worse. Kodai had planned everything meticulously this time. There should not have been any mistakes.
"You think you've been fooling everyone," Gary said evenly, "but you have no idea how much of a clown you look like right now. Everything you've done is going to be made public. Just surrender. It's over for you."
"What nonsense," Kodai snapped. "Nothing is over. I already have the Time Ripple. The future is mine."
"That so?" Gary said. "Then take another look around you."
"Around me...?"
Kodai glanced around. At first nothing seemed wrong. But then the scenery started to blur. The illusion peeled away, and everything returned to how it actually looked. They were still in the park. The Time Ripple was still there.
But that wasn't what made Kodai's face change.
"The Time Ripple...!"
"How is that possible? I already..."
He looked down at the phantom bracelet on his wrist. It was cracked.
Damaged.
His mind raced back. Zorua—when it bit him earlier.
That was when the bracelet broke.
"Give up, Kodai," Gary said. "I've already collected all the evidence of your crimes. You can't escape."
Just then, two more people appeared—Karl's grandson and Kodai's own secretary.
Kodai's expression shifted the moment he saw her. He was a smart man. One look at his secretary standing here was enough for him to understand everything.
He had always been somewhat guarded around her, but she still knew far too many of his secrets.
"Eevee, use Shadow Ball on Mismagius," Gary ordered.
"Vee!"
Eevee quickly formed a sphere of dark energy and launched it at Mismagius.
Boom!!
Mismagius couldn't dodge. The Shadow Ball struck it directly, and it went down in one hit.
The moment Mismagius fainted, the Psychic binding Ash and Pikachu disappeared. Both of them could finally move again.
"Damn you all..." Kodai's eyes locked onto Zoroark with pure hatred. If it hadn't been for Zoroark's Illusion, he would already have the Time Ripple secured.
He raised his sleeve. A mechanical claw hidden inside shot out and grabbed Zoroark.
Zoroark was already seriously injured. It didn't have the strength to dodge. The claw latched on, and electricity immediately surged through it.
Gary's expression went cold.
"A mayfly trying to shake a tree," he said quietly. Then, louder: "Stop hiding. Come out."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three figures leaped down from the branches of the large tree overhead.
Suicune, Entei, and Raikou landed around Kodai in an instant.
"Roar!"
Raikou bit down on the extended mechanical claw and crushed it with a single Crunch.
"What?!"
Kodai's eyes went wide. He hadn't expected the Legendary Beasts to show up here of all places.
He looked around frantically, spotted an opening, and bolted.
"Gengar, use Hypnosis," Gary said, not giving him any chance.
"Gengar!"
Gengar rushed after Kodai.
"Shuppet, block it!" Kodai yelled over his shoulder.
A Shuppet appeared and tried to get in the way.
Gengar didn't even slow down. It punched Shuppet aside with a Ghost-type fist—one hit, instant knockout—then caught up to Kodai and used Hypnosis.
Kodai's steps faltered. His eyes glazed over, and he crumpled to the ground.
Gengar caught him and brought him back.
"Ash!"
"Are you okay?"
Brock and Dawn came running over at that point. When they saw Gary, they both stopped short.
"Why is Gary here?" Brock asked, confused.
"No idea," Ash admitted, "but he helped us. Kodai's been caught." He pointed at the unconscious man being held by Gengar.
"Good. The bad guy's taken care of," Gary said. "Now let's deal with the rest."
He pulled three Heal Balls from his bag and walked over to Zoroark.
"Zoroark, these are Heal Balls. They can heal your injuries and Zorua's. Don't resist. Once the healing is done, I'll let you both out. Is that okay?"
"Woah."
Zoroark nodded.
It wasn't familiar with Gary, but it had watched him block the three Legendary Beasts and save Zorua. There was no reason to be hostile.
"Then come in."
Gary used the Heal Balls to draw in both Zoroark and Zorua, activated the healing function, and waited. Once it was finished, he released them.
"Woah!"
Zoroark was surprised. All of its injuries were completely healed. When it had been imprisoned by Kodai, he had never once treated it. Even touching the cage walls slightly would trigger an electric shock.
"Here."
Gary handed the still-sleeping Zorua to Zoroark's arms.
Zoroark immediately took the little one close.
Zorua seemed to sense its mother's scent. It slowly opened its eyes, saw Zoroark, and rubbed its head against her happily.
Everyone watching felt their hearts soften.
"Alright. You're next, Celebi," Gary said, walking over to Ash.
Ash was still holding Celebi in his arms.
Celebi's arm was wrapped in a rough bandage, the injury still unhealed. Because of Kodai's interference, the Pokémon Center in Crown City had been shut down, so nobody had been able to treat it.
"Celebi, do you need treatment?" Gary asked.
Celebi had watched everything unfold. It knew Gary was someone who could be trusted.
"Bi!"
It nodded.