"Then Celebi can go into the Heal Ball for treatment."
Ash carefully handed the tiny Mythical Pokémon over to Gary, his expression unusually gentle. Even after everything that had happened, even after the chaos, the chase, the danger, and the collapse of time itself around them, Celebi still looked fragile in his hands—small, trembling, and exhausted, like a leaf caught in the aftermath of a storm.
Gary took the Heal Ball without hesitation.
The smooth shell clicked softly in his palm as he angled it toward Celebi. A red beam enveloped the little green Pokémon, and Celebi disappeared inside with a faint cry.
"Labi…"
The Heal Ball shook once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then it went still.
At that exact moment, the familiar mechanical prompt rang through Gary's mind.
[Ding! Mission triggered: Capture the Time Travel Pokémon Celebi.
Reward: Master Rare Candy ×3, Gold Bottle Cap ×1, Ability Enhancement Stone ×1, Ability Expansion Stone ×1.]
[Ding! Celebi successfully captured. Rewards have been distributed to System Storage.]
Gary's lips curved into a satisfied smile.
Three Legendary-tier or Mythical-tier Pokémon in one operation.
That alone made all the planning, all the maneuvering, and all the risk worth it.
Without wasting time, he activated the Heal Ball's recovery function. Soft green light pulsed from the device, and a few moments later, the button clicked again. Gary opened it.
A flash of emerald burst into the air.
"Labi!"
Celebi shot out of the Heal Ball like a streak of spring itself. Its body glowed with fresh life, the exhaustion from before washed clean. It hovered in front of everyone for only a heartbeat before turning toward the unstable time ripple still hanging in the air.
The vortex had once radiated a dark, ominous violet. Now, as Celebi approached it, the entire distortion shifted into a luminous green. Ring after ring of energy spread outward like ripples across a lake.
And wherever that power touched, life bloomed.
Grass pushed through cracked stone.
Vines curled around shattered masonry.
Flowers erupted in clusters from the damaged coastline, petals opening all at once in the sea breeze. The salty scent of the ocean was quickly overtaken by the clean fragrance of leaves, damp earth, and wild blossoms. Even the air seemed lighter, sweeter, easier to breathe.
The ruined atmosphere of battle was erased in an instant, replaced by the vivid pulse of a living forest.
"Labi… Labi!"
Celebi's voice rang through the air, bright and pure. The sound almost seemed to carry birdsong and rustling leaves within it, as if the forest itself were singing through the little Pokémon.
Rowena looked up and said softly, "Celebi is getting ready to travel through time and space."
Ash raised his hand immediately. "Celebi! We'll always be friends!"
"So will we!" Brock added with a grin.
"Take care of yourself!" Dawn called.
Everyone's expressions softened as they waved goodbye.
Gary folded his arms, watching Celebi for a moment before speaking in his usual flat tone.
"Celebi, you're still too weak. Train properly. If you run into criminals again and can't deal with them yourself, you'll just end up being used all over again."
Celebi froze in midair.
"Labi…?" It tilted its head, eyes wide, clearly stunned.
Ash and the others all turned to Gary at the same time.
"…"
For a brief second, the emotional farewell atmosphere shattered completely.
Ash's mouth twitched. "Gary, could you not say something like that right now?"
Gary shrugged. "Am I wrong?"
No one could answer that.
Because he wasn't.
If Celebi had been stronger, it never would have fallen into Grings Kodai's hands. The catastrophe that had nearly consumed Crown City—both twenty years ago and now—might never have happened at all.
Celebi stared at Gary for another second, puffed up slightly in visible offense… and then, strangely, seemed to think about it.
"…Labi."
Its tiny expression hardened with determination.
Gary gave a small nod. "Good."
That was enough for him.
The next moment, Celebi spun once in the air, releasing another radiant wave of green light, and then plunged into the time ripple.
The distortion trembled.
The green rings contracted inward.
Then, with a soft, bell-like hum, the entire rift vanished.
Silence fell over the coast.
Only the sound of the ocean remained.
And with that, the matter of Celebi was over.
What remained… was Grings Kodai.
Although Kodai had already been apprehended, catching him was only the beginning. If they wanted him properly convicted, they needed evidence—real evidence, enough to ensure there would be no room for him to escape punishment through money, influence, or legal maneuvering.
Fortunately, Karl had already secured exactly that.
During the incident, he had used the Crown City control network to record the energy fluctuations around the time ripple, including the entire process of Kodai manipulating Celebi's power and exploiting the temporal distortion. More importantly, in the chaos that followed, Kodai had effectively confessed to the crimes he'd committed twenty years earlier.
That alone was devastating.
By the time the footage was broadcast through Crown City's television network, the situation had already spiraled beyond any possibility of damage control.
Every station in the city picked it up.
Then every station across Sinnoh.
Screens lit up across living rooms, train stations, cafés, Pokémon Centers, hotel lobbies, and city squares. Grings Kodai's polished public image was ripped apart in a single afternoon.
There was no recovery from that.
When Officer Jenny arrived at the TV station with her unit, there was no need for further drama. Kodai had already lost.
She personally oversaw his arrest.
As for Zoroark and its young one, Karl and his companions would escort them safely back to their home in the Unova region. After everything they had endured—being hunted, manipulated, and dragged into a decades-old tragedy—they deserved peace more than anyone.
Gary, Ash, and the others still had to provide statements, of course.
Officer Jenny questioned them in detail about everything that had happened in Crown City.
The timeline distortions.
The pursuit.
The battle.
The involvement of the Legendary Beasts.
The destruction to the coast.
That last part earned them all some very long looks.
Still, in the end, the damage was surprisingly manageable.
A section of the shoreline had been battered and partially broken during the clash with Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, but there had been no catastrophic civilian losses, no city-wide collapse, and no irreversible disaster.
Compared to what could have happened, Crown City had escaped with a miracle.
And all liability, naturally, would fall on Kodai.
Which was fortunate.
Because Kodai was rich enough to pay for every shattered slab of coastline three times over.
Three days later, after all testimony had been completed and every loose end had finally been tied off, the group gathered at the harbor to say their final goodbyes.
The cruise ship that would take Zoroark and its child away cut slowly across the bright blue water, its white hull glinting in the afternoon sun.
Ash stood at the dock with his hands in his pockets, watching it disappear into the distance.
For a long while, no one said anything.
Then he inhaled deeply, squared his shoulders, and grinned.
"Alright! Next stop—the Lily of the Valley Conference!"
He turned sharply toward Gary, eyes burning with familiar competitive fire.
"Gary, are you entering, right?"
Gary, who had been staring out at the ocean, glanced sideways at him.
"It depends."
Ash's face immediately soured. "What do you mean it depends? Can't you just give a straight answer for once?"
He had wanted this battle for a long time.
No—longer than that.
He had wanted to defeat Gary on the biggest stage possible.
And now that he had finally collected all eight Sinnoh Gym Badges, the thought that Gary might not even show up was almost unbearable.
Gary, however, looked utterly unmoved.
"We'll talk about it later."
Then, as if that settled everything, he reached for a Poké Ball.
"Come out, Garchomp."
A flash of light exploded beside him.
"Garrrchomp!"
The massive dragon landed heavily on the dock, folding its wings as wind whipped outward in a burst. Its crimson eyes swept the harbor with calm confidence, and several nearby Wingull scattered immediately.
Ash's eyes widened. "Wait—hey! Don't just leave in the middle of the conversation!"
Too late.
Gary vaulted onto Garchomp's back in one smooth motion.
"I'm heading to Sunyshore City."
"Gary!"
"Gar!"
With one powerful beat of its wings, Garchomp launched skyward.
The force of takeoff sent Ash staggering back half a step, jacket snapping in the gust. By the time he regained his footing, Gary was already a rapidly shrinking figure against the horizon.
"Unbelievable…" Ash muttered through gritted teeth.
Brock crossed his arms. "That's Gary for you."
Dawn sighed. "He really knows how to irritate people."
Ash clenched a fist and looked up at the sky. "Fine. Then I'll just beat him at the Conference anyway."
But far above them, Gary couldn't hear a word.
And honestly, he didn't care.
Because the reason he hadn't answered clearly had nothing to do with Ash.
It was the system.
That was what bothered him.
Normally, by the time he had collected enough Gym Badges to qualify for a regional League, the system would have already released a corresponding mission—something tied to participation, ranking, or outright victory.
But this time?
Nothing.
No task.
No prompt.
No reward objective.
Nothing at all.
That was strange.
And when the system was strange, it was rarely meaningless.
If there's no mission, then there's no point.
Gary narrowed his eyes as the wind rushed past his face.
He had already won three consecutive regional League championships.
Three.
At this point, entering another League without any reward or deeper purpose would feel less like ambition and more like bullying.
He still remembered Scott's expression the last time.
The man had laughed on the surface, but his meaning had been crystal clear: Three is enough. Leave some hope for the younger generation.
And honestly… Gary agreed.
After all, only the champion of a regional League could advance to the World Championships.
If he kept taking titles, that meant one less Trainer every year got the chance to climb higher.
Winning once proved dominance.
Winning three times in a row was already excessive.
Winning again for no reason?
That would just be obnoxious.
Still, he wasn't going to decide blindly.
I'll challenge Sunyshore Gym first, Gary thought. Then I'll head to Lily of the Valley and test whether registration triggers the mission. If it still doesn't… I'm out.
That was the most efficient path.
No reward meant no interest.
He'd rather spend his time challenging powerful Gym Leaders, capturing Legendary-tier Pokémon, or clearing system missions with actual returns.
Simple.
The flight to Sunyshore City took less than twenty minutes.
Crown City and Sunyshore weren't especially far apart to begin with, and Garchomp's speed in the air was outrageous. The coastline below streaked past in a blur of glittering ocean, white surf, and jagged stone.
Soon, the modern silhouette of Sunyshore City came into view.
The city's solar-panel walkways gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting brilliant sheets of gold and blue. Elevated paths connected buildings like veins of light, and the sea wind carried the distant hum of turbines and generators.
At the center of it all stood Sunyshore Gym.
Garchomp descended sharply and landed just outside the entrance.
Gary hopped down, looked up at the familiar building, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This makes three visits."
The first had been reconnaissance.
The second had been business.
And now…
This one was for a Gym battle.
By all logic, Volkner should have already regained his motivation by now. Ash had gathered all eight Sinnoh Gym Badges, which meant Sunyshore Gym had to be functioning properly again and accepting challengers under official League conditions.
Gary stepped forward.
The instant he reached the entrance, a mechanical voice rang out from the gym's automated access system.
"Welcome. Please state your purpose."
Gary paused for half a second, then replied calmly, "I'm here to challenge Sunyshore Gym."
There was a brief electronic hum.
Then the voice returned.
"Challenge request acknowledged. Sunyshore Gym challenge restrictions are currently active. Trainers must possess at least five Sinnoh Gym Badges to qualify. Please present your Badge case for verification."
Gary raised an eyebrow.
So they upgraded the AI at the entrance.
Interesting.
Without comment, he took out his Badge case and flipped it open.
Inside, nine Badges gleamed under the overhead light.
The scanner emitted a slightly longer pause this time.
Then the mechanical voice spoke again, and for the first time, it almost sounded… confused.
"Verification complete. Guest has collected eight or more official Gym Badges."
A beat passed.
Then:
"Notice: Trainers with eight Gym Badges are already qualified to enter the Sinnoh League. Are you certain you still wish to challenge Sunyshore Gym?"
Gary's expression didn't change.
"Of course."
The machine remained silent for a second.
Then:
"Confirmed. Additional Gym challenges are permitted under League regulations."
Gary smirked faintly.
Exactly.
Collecting eight Badges only granted eligibility for the Sinnoh League Conference. It didn't mean a Trainer was forbidden from challenging other Gyms afterward. As long as a region had more official Gyms—or as long as a Gym was still willing to accept battles—there was no rule preventing him from continuing.
The system voice resumed.
"Please wait. Notification is being sent to the Gym Leader and internal staff."
Gary slipped the Badge case away and stood quietly in front of the doors.
A few minutes later, the AI spoke once more.
"Notification complete. The Gym Leader is currently in transit. Please enter and rest inside while awaiting battle arrangements."
With a low hydraulic hiss, the massive gym doors slowly opened.
Cool indoor air flowed outward to meet him.
Gary looked into the dimly lit entrance hall beyond, then stepped forward without hesitation.