After finishing his juice, Cole looked at Gardevoir and asked, "When can we get the Revival Herb?"
Gardevoir looked at him with surprise, "Are you in such a hurry? It's already getting late. Even if you get the Revival Herb now, it wouldn't be wise to leave, would it?"
Hearing this, Cole glanced outside and saw that the sun was indeed beginning to set.
"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Gardevoir suggested, "I'll give you the Revival Herb early tomorrow morning. You can leave then, and that should still be in time."
Cole and Sabrina exchanged glances. Seeing her nod, he turned back to Gardevoir and said, "Alright, we'll be imposing on you!"
Gardevoir chuckled, "Not at all, not at all!"
In the blink of an eye, darkness fell. Cole and Sabrina, under Gardevoir's arrangements, stayed in its wooden cabin.
Gardevoir slept on the bed, while the two made beds on the floor.
The Gardevoir in Viridian Forest seemed unusual, especially its attitude toward Cole, which was somewhat mysterious. He kept thinking about this, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
It wasn't until the early hours that Cole finally dozed off.
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When he opened his eyes, Cole found himself in an unfamiliar place.
It was a square space, and he was floating in midair. Below him was an island suspended in space. The island wasn't very large, just slightly bigger than his Mt. Ascendant.
In the center of the island grew a giant tree. The enormous tree blocked out the sky, its dense canopy covering nearly half the island. Most importantly, the tree was laden with Pecha Berries — it was a Pecha Berry tree!
Cole had never seen such a massive berry tree before and stood momentarily stunned.
Just then, a voice spoke beside him.
"Hello, traveler from another world!"
Hearing the words "traveler from another world", Cole turned around in shock, only to see two Pokémon floating on his right.
One was a Gardevoir, the other a Celebi!
The one who had spoken to Cole was Celebi, though unlike Gardevoir who appeared solid, Celebi was merely a blurry, phantom-like figure.
"Who are you? How do you know I'm a traveler from another world?" Cole eyed the two Pokémon cautiously. Not even his own mother knew he was from another world.
"Hee hee hee~" Celebi giggled as it flew to his side, "Not only do we know you're from another world, but we also know exactly how you crossed over!"
"Who exactly are you?" Cole's brow furrowed deeper.
"Let me introduce ourselves. My name is Ceci. As you can see, I was once a Celebi, but due to special circumstances, I lost my body and now share one with the Gardevoir beside me." Celebi said with a smile, "This Gardevoir is named Garvo. You should have already met it during the day!"
"You said you know why I crossed over. Can you tell me?" Cole asked.
"Of course, but..." Ceci paused, "Are you truly prepared to know the truth?"
"Yes!" Cole nodded firmly.
"Well then!" Celebi flew closer, "It was our master — or rather, our boss — who summoned you!"
"Your master?" Cole exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't expected such powerful Pokémon would answer to anyone.
"That's right, our master is a traveler from another world just like you!" Celebi continued.
"Are there other travelers in this world besides me?" Cole asked incredulously.
Celebi shook its head, "No, it should just be you now! Our master is no longer in this world — or more precisely, no longer in the Pokémon world!"
"What do you mean?" Cole was completely confused.
Celebi began explaining what had happened.
Celebi and Gardevoir's master, like Cole, was a person who had crossed over to the Pokémon world. They had entered different parallel Pokémon worlds — each existing on separate timelines.
While Cole ran an orchard, the other traveler had managed a breeding center.
Initially, this traveler's life was peaceful. Everything changed when Team Rocket, led by Giovanni, became active. This disruption revealed a shocking truth about the world.
The Pokémon world was a derivative world — a two-dimensional world belonging to a lower dimension — while Cole's original world existed in a higher dimension.
{T/N: Pokéworld - Low; Earth - High}
Given enough time, the Pokémon world would naturally evolve into a high-dimensional world, though this process would take an incredibly long time.
Giovanni wasn't willing to wait. After discovering this secret, he began planning to forcibly upgrade his world to a higher dimension. He pursued the power of space and time, attempting to merge all parallel Pokémon worlds into one to facilitate this upgrade.
This process was extremely dangerous. If the upgrade failed, all worlds would shatter as a result.
After learning of Giovanni's plan, Celebi and Gardevoir's master gathered all their strength to stop him but ultimately failed. Giovanni proceeded with his dangerous plan anyway.
In the end, however, that man also failed. The Pokémon world where Celebi and Gardevoir's master lived, along with countless parallel Pokémon worlds, shattered as a result. Only a few parallel worlds survived.
The world where Cole resided was one of these survivors.
Fortunately, the fragments of those shattered Pokémon worlds eventually fell into a high-dimensional world and merged with it. This allowed most of the Pokémon and people from the destroyed worlds to survive.
Of course, falling into a high-dimensional world meant they could never return to their original Pokémon world. Celebi and Gardevoir's master was among those who fell into that high-dimensional world.
But the crisis wasn't over. Giovanni still existed in the surviving Pokémon worlds, and some of these versions still held the same dangerous beliefs as the Giovanni who had destroyed those other worlds.
To prevent the remaining Pokémon worlds from being destroyed, Celebi and Gardevoir's master used his Special Ability to summon Cole from another world before departing!
Following their master's instructions, Celebi and Gardevoir came to Cole's world and had been waiting for him — waiting to reveal this truth. This was the real reason behind their meeting today!
After hearing this story, Cole was stunned into silence. He never imagined his crossing over would involve such a momentous secret.
"So you're saying I'm responsible for stopping Giovanni's plot?"
Celebi shrugged and said, "That depends entirely on your decision. Although our master summoned you, what you actually do is up to you. It's not certain whether the Giovanni in your world will eventually go down that same path!"
However, these words did not comfort Cole. His heart filled with anxiety.
Seeing his furrowed brow, Celebi took his hand and flew toward the island below, "We just talked about something unpleasant. Now let's talk about something more cheerful!"
Cole was pulled along, flying beneath the giant Pecha tree, where he saw an exquisite small building with a medicinal field in front of it filled with legendary Revival Herbs.
Celebi pointed at this square space and asked, "Do you know what this place is?"
Cole shook his head.
"This is a corner of the Reverse World!" Celebi explained, "Not the Reverse World of your world, but a corner from my master's original world.
When the world shattered, my master and Giratina captured a piece of the Reverse World, sealed it into this space, and preserved it.
Because it's separated from the Reverse World and no longer under Giratina's control, this space no longer possesses the characteristics of the Reverse World.
Now it's yours!"
"Mine?" Cole pointed at himself, dumbfounded.
Celebi nodded, "That's right!"
As it spoke, it produced a pendant that slowly floated toward him and settled around his neck.
"This pendant is the key to open this space. I hope the S-class berry tree inside can help you!" Celebi said with emotion.
Cole rubbed the pendant between his fingers, feeling deeply conflicted.
"Well, it's getting late — you should go back to sleep!"
With Celebi's words, Cole suddenly felt his consciousness growing heavy, and then he fell asleep.
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When Cole opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the wooden cabin. Sunlight already streamed through the windows.
"Was it just a dream?" He muttered, reaching for his neck.
The next second he froze — there was indeed a pendant hanging around his neck, identical to the one from his "dream" last night.
Not a dream?
Cole scrambled up from his sleeping bag. Just then, Sabrina walked in with a reproachful look, "How can you sleep so long? We need to hurry back — get ready quickly!"
Cole asked blankly, "Did we already get the Revival Herb?"
"Yes, yes, Gardevoir took me to pick it early this morning." Sabrina said happily, "I didn't expect it would go so smoothly!"
At this moment, Gardevoir also walked in, "Hurry and pack up. I'll take you out of Viridian Forest."
It didn't mention anything about last night, as if everything had really been just a dream.
Cole quickly packed his things. Several times he was about to speak but stopped himself. Gardevoir seemed to have no desire to communicate with him, deliberately avoiding any topic related to the previous night.
"Alright, I'll send you off now!"
Seeing that both were ready, Gardevoir waved its small hand. Cole and Sabrina disappeared from the wooden cabin, reappearing outside Viridian Forest.
"You can go now!" Gardevoir said to them, "From now on, take care of yourselves!"
As it spoke those final words, Gardevoir's gaze fixed meaningfully on Cole.
Sabrina opened her mouth to thank Gardevoir, but the Pokémon had already vanished from sight.
"What an efficient Pokémon." She remarked, unable to hide her surprise.
"Let's go!"
With that, they both released a Dodrio each, mounted them, and galloped away.
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Meanwhile, back in the small wooden cabin deep in the forest, Gardevoir emitted a series of soft, distant cries into the void.
Soon, the forest began to echo with response, and a Celebi slowly emerged from the trees.
A green light flashed across Gardevoir's body, and a shadowy Celebi appeared.
"We're about to leave." It said to the newly arrived Celebi, "From now on, you'll have to protect Viridian Forest by yourself!"
The new Celebi nodded with tears in its eyes. Despite its obvious reluctance, it seemed mentally prepared for this moment.
"Goodbye!"
The shadowy Celebi merged back into Gardevoir's body. Taking one last wistful look at Viridian Forest, its form began to dematerialize until it disappeared without a trace.
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With Dodrio's rapid pace, Cole and Sabrina quickly left Viridian Forest behind.
"Let's part ways here." Cole said after dismounting from his Dodrio.
They had previously agreed that after obtaining the Revival Herb, Sabrina would take it to Lavender alone, while he would return to Pallet Town, which was closer.
Sabrina nodded, "Thank you for your help this time."
Cole shook his head, "It's nothing, just a small favor."
After saying goodbye, he set off alone on his journey back to Pallet.
However, before leaving the area completely, Cole found a secluded spot and began examining the pendant hanging around his neck.
"How do I open that Reverse space with this thing?" He muttered, turning the pendant in his fingers, "Do I need to draw blood to claim ownership?"
As his imagination ran wild, Cole hesitated about whether to cut his finger. Then he remembered his Psychic Powers and tentatively extended his mental energy toward the blue crystal on the pendant.
Sure enough, the moment his mental energy touched the crystal, it emitted a faint light, followed by a blue vortex appearing before him.
Cole hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the vortex. After a brief wave of dizziness, he found himself standing in front of the small building.
"It's real!"
He gazed at the exquisite building before him, the giant Pecha tree behind it, and the medicinal field nearby filled with Revival Herbs. Excitement surged through him.
This was truly a fortune!
But then, thinking about the crisis this world might face, his expression darkened with worry. According to Celebi, his world's timeline was earlier, so he still had time to consider everything carefully, but...
Was this something he could just walk away from? If this world were truly destroyed, could he save only himself? He knew he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
The previously shattered Pokémon world had merged with a high-dimensional world by chance, thus saving most of the Pokémon and humans.
But who knew if his current world would be so lucky?
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