As time passed, a rich aroma filled the air.
Plate after plate of dishes was brought to the table.
Garlic fish fillets, salt and pepper shrimp, sweet and sour pork ribs, dry-pot potatoes, stir-fried lotus root slices...
Before long, the entire table was full, and in the very center sat a large basin piled high with rice.
Lucario took off its apron and looked at the table full of fragrant food, finding it hard to believe it had actually participated in the cooking.
Although its participation had been only a small part.
Ange untied his apron as he walked over to Lucario and asked, "How does it feel to have helped cook a table full of food yourself?"
Luca~ Luca~
Lucario felt a great sense of accomplishment. Perhaps it had actually started to like cooking.
"Alright, everyone, let's eat!"
Upon hearing this, the Pokémon cheered and gathered around the table.
In the night, the Salamence soaring in the sky watched Ange's group eating lively below, its drool practically flowing down three thousand feet.
Awoo~ Awoo~ Finally, it couldn't hold back and dived down.
Z2, sitting on its back, was startled by the movement.
"Salamence, what are you doing?" Z2 shouted.
Awoo~ Awoo~ "I want to eat something delicious!" Salamence cried out eagerly.
"Stop, stop! You must stop!" Z2 said angrily. It could not let that human discover it was following him!
However, Salamence did not listen to it.
Ange, who was eating, suddenly looked up. He glanced around twice and then asked, "Did you all hear a sound?"
Diancie looked up in confusion, "Did we?"
Just as its voice fell, a black shadow descended from the sky, slamming into the ground with a bang, splashing up a large cloud of sand.
Awoo~~ Salamence let out a roar to the sky.
Salamence's movement was so sudden that Z2 was jolted right off its back and, quite coincidentally, landed on the table in front of Ange.
Plat~~ Face-planted. Z2 felt it had never been this humiliated in its life. After falling in front of Ange, it just lay motionless, playing dead.
"Zygarde?" Ange said in surprise, "Why are you here?"
Z2 lay on the ground, lifeless, and did not react to Ange's inquiry.
Zygarde? Who is that? I don't know them. I am just an unknown wild Pokémon, do not disturb.
Ange was already used to Zygarde's indifferent attitude.
Although he didn't know why it was here, he figured it had nothing to do with him.
"I really liked the Dragon Scale you gave me last time. Thank you."
Z2 just lay there, motionless.
So, Ange extended an invitation: "Would you like to eat together?"
Upon hearing this, Z2's rear wiggled.
Seeing this, Ange laughed, "Looks like it wants to eat."
Ange went to get a plate, scooped a full basin of rice for Z2, and added plenty of dishes for it.
"Eat up."
Z2 wiggled its rear and silently buried its head into the meal.
Then, Ange looked at the Salamence not far away, gazing longingly at them.
"Salamence over there, are you with Zygarde? Would you like to eat something too?"
Awoo~~ Salamence had been waiting for these words. It immediately flapped its wings, wagged its tail, and quickly ran to Ange's side.
Seeing how eager it was, Ange thought: It must be starving.
"I'll scoop some for you right now."
He then took out a large basin, filled it with rice, and added a portion of every dish.
He then moved the basin to Salamence's side and said, "Here, eat quickly. You must be famished."
Awoo~~ Salamence nodded vigorously and lowered its head to feast.
The moment the rice and dishes entered its mouth, Salamence felt it had no regrets in this life. It even regretted not coming down sooner.
This food was even more delicious than it had imagined. Luckily, it hadn't listened to Zygarde; otherwise, it would have regretted missing out on such gourmet food for the rest of its life!
The sudden visit of the Zygarde Core and Salamence caused a minor ripple, but the dinner continued happily.
After dinner, the desert temperature dropped sharply, so Ange put on the shirt Diancie had knitted for him and huddled back into the tent with his Pokémon.
Before entering, Ange invited Z2 once more.
This time, Z2 did not refuse.
The human before it had already seen more humiliating states, so it might as well let go of all pride.
Besides, it was truly cold in the desert at night, and as a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ice, it was genuinely afraid of the cold.
Thus, Zygarde and Salamence entered Ange's tent together.
In the small tent, the massive Salamence folded its wings and curled its body into an open U-shape.
Ange and the others huddled inside the U-shape wrapped in blankets, while Goodra and the two Sliggoo curled up on the opposite side.
While feeling warm themselves, they also provided warmth for the Salamence.
Like Zygarde, Salamence had a 4x weakness to Ice. Following Zygarde to camp out in the desert at night these past two days had frozen it quite badly.
Z2 could hide under its wings to keep warm, but it had no such way to stay cozy.
Today, it could finally warm up a bit.
Because it was so comfortable, Salamence soon began to feel drowsy.
Tonight, Ange continued to tell everyone stories of the mythical Pokémon he had adapted.
Once Ange finished, everyone fell asleep one after another.
Waking up the next morning, Ange expected Zygarde to have left, but to his surprise, it hadn't.
So, after everyone had breakfast, they continued toward Desert City. While Ange's group was rushing back to Desert City, Ash and his friends had also traveled near the city.
They were currently resting temporarily at a Pokémon Center located in the desert.
There was a swimming pool in the backyard of the Pokémon Center, so Ash took Pikachu for a swim.
At this time, Serena brought over the doughnuts she had made to the poolside and called out to everyone:
"Doughnuts are here! Come over and eat!"
"Coming! Coming!" Ash quickly swam back to shore with Pikachu.
Bonnie's Dedenne, Clemont's Chespin, and Serena's Pancham cheered and gathered around.
"There's enough for everyone!" Serena said, smiling as she handed out the treats to the Pokémon.
Chespi~ Chespi~ Chespin picked up a doughnut, took a big bite, and narrowed its eyes in happiness.
The other Pokémon were also eating with gusto.
Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie sat around the table and started eating together.
Ash and Pikachu each picked up a doughnut, took a bite in perfect synchronization, and shouted in unison:
"Delicious!"
Pika~ Delicious!
Seeing this, Serena asked, "Is it good?"
Ash and Pikachu nodded repeatedly.
"Delicious! Delicious!"
Pika~ Pika~
"Then do you want to eat more doughnuts?" Serena asked.
Upon hearing this, Bonnie was the first to give her opinion, "I want to eat!"
Serena then pulled out her navigation device mysteriously.
"Look at this!"
The navigation screen showed a city full of high-rise buildings.
"Where is this?" Clemont asked in confusion.
Serena answered, "This is Desert City. It's not far from here, and the local specialty there is doughnuts! If we go there, we can eat even more and even better doughnuts."
"Not only that, this city has sightseeing spots related to Mythical Pokémon too~~"
"Mythical Pokémon?" Ash perked up as soon as he heard this. He asked excitedly, "Are they the same kind of Mythical Pokémon as Diancie and Magearna at Ange's place?"
Serena shook her head and said, "I don't know about that."
Just as they were talking excitedly, a golden ring quietly appeared above the doughnuts. Then, a small hand reached out from within and quickly snatched the doughnuts away.
At the same time, Chespin, who was happily eating its doughnut, didn't notice the last piece it had left being quietly stolen by another ring that appeared suddenly.
In its place, a Tanga Berry was left in the food bowl.
After finishing its doughnut, Chespin grabbed the Tanga Berry without looking and shoved it into its mouth, immediately spitting fire in reaction to the spice.
Chespi~ Chespi~~
Chespin's scream caught the attention of Ash and the others.
"Chespin, what's wrong?" Clemont asked anxiously.
"Chespin used Flamethrower," Bonnie exclaimed in surprise.
"That's impossible," Clemont countered.
Serena keenly noticed the half-eaten Tanga Berry lying on the ground.
"It's a Tanga Berry!" She immediately poured a glass of water for Chespin.
Chespin gulped down the water until not a drop was left, which finally made it feel a bit better.
At this moment, another ring appeared above the table behind Ash and his friends. A small hand reached out again, intending to steal more doughnuts.
The sharp Pikachu sensed the movement. It jumped onto the table and grabbed the thieving little hand.
Pika~ Pika~
Hearing Pikachu's cry for help, Ash turned around just in time to see Pikachu and the hand tugging at each other.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, quickly grabbing Pikachu to pull it back.
However, the hand was too strong and dragged both Pikachu and Ash straight into the ring.
Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, and the Pokémon stared dumbfounded at the spot where Ash, Pikachu, and the ring had vanished.
The creator of the ring was originally happy about getting more doughnuts, but it didn't expect Pikachu and Ash to come tumbling out of the ring along with them.
It was stunned too.
But soon, it recovered from its shock.
"Where is this?" Ash stared blankly at the golden ring that had brought him here. At this moment, the light in the ring had faded, and the passage connecting him back to where he came from had vanished as well.
The owner of the ring suddenly appeared in front of Ash.
"Were you scared? Hehehe~~" It covered its mouth and giggled.
"Whoa~~"
Pika~
Ash and Pikachu were startled by the sudden face.
"You scared me," Ash said.
Appearing before Ash was a genie-like Pokémon with horns and a scorpion tail. It held a golden ring, had pink braided hair, and was floating in the air, swaying back and forth. It looked very cute.
"Who are you?" Ash asked.
The Pokémon introduced itself proudly: "Hoopa!"
"Hoopa?" Ash was a bit confused. "Is that a Pokémon?"
At this moment, Pikachu tugged on Ash's ear in shock. Ash realized he had actually arrived at the place Serena had shown him earlier—near Desert City.
He ran to Hoopa's side in shock, pointed at its golden ring, and asked, "Did this thing bring us here?"
"That's right!" Hoopa patted its chest proudly, "Is Hoopa amazing?"
Ash nodded, "Amazing!"
"Hoopa, amazing! Hoopa, amazing!" Hearing this, Hoopa floated around in the air excitedly.
During the conversation between Ash and Hoopa, Hoopa's companion arrived—a black-haired girl wearing strange white attire.
She identified herself as Mary, Hoopa's caretaker. She had grown up with Hoopa and was currently traveling with it.
After getting acquainted with Ash and Pikachu, Hoopa used its golden ring to teleport Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie, who were still back at the desert Pokémon Center, to their location as well.
Using the golden rings for teleportation was Hoopa's special ability.
After learning about Hoopa and its powers, Clemont and the others were also shocked.
There was such a miraculous Pokémon in the world.
When they learned that Ash and his friends were also heading to Desert City, Mary said in surprise, "What a coincidence? We are too."
"Then let's travel together," Serena suggested.
"That would be great!" Mary agreed readily.
Bonnie said excitedly, "Then let's go through Hoopa's rings! That way we won't have to walk so far."
Although Desert City was in sight, there was still some distance to cover.
"No problem, leave it to Hoopa!" Hoopa agreed happily and opened a spatial passage leading to Desert City with a golden ring.
Serena, Bonnie, and the others, with their Pokémon, passed through the ring one by one and arrived at a plaza in Desert City.
However, when it was Hoopa's turn, it could not pass through the spatial passage it had constructed no matter what.
Only then did Mary slap her forehead and say, "How did I forget the key thing? Hoopa itself cannot pass through its own rings."
"Eh? How can that be?" Bonnie cried out in disappointment.
Serena and the others returned through the ring, laughing as they comforted Hoopa, "In that case, let's just walk there!"
Just as everyone decided to hike to Desert City, Hoopa suddenly seemed to sense something, and its expression became terrified.
At the same time, Ange was riding his Espathra, galloping fast toward Ash and his group's location.
Mary and the others were originally in a pavilion. While Hoopa felt uneasy, a cry rang out in the sky.
Mary seemed to realize something; she quickly walked outside the pavilion and looked up at the sky.
A Braviary was descending rapidly, and on the back of the Braviary rode a man.
If Ange had been there at that moment, he would have recognized him as Baraz, whom he had met in the desert.
However, Baraz seemed a bit "off" at this moment; his eyes flashed with an eerie red light, and his gaze was dull.
Seeing Baraz get off the Braviary, Mary shouted in surprise and joy:
"Brother, you're back! Did you find the Prison Bottle?"
However, Baraz didn't answer Mary's question. Instead, he raised his right hand, holding exactly what Mary had called the Prison Bottle.
The moment it saw the Prison Bottle, Hoopa screamed in terror.
"Too scary! Too scary!!! Hoopa is going to be eaten!"
Mary said in confusion, "Hoopa, what are you talking about? Didn't we come out to find the Prison Bottle to help you regain your power?"
However, Hoopa kept shaking its head, "No, Hoopa don't want to, it's too scary!"
Yet, just as Mary was talking to Hoopa, Baraz had already aimed the Prison Bottle at Hoopa.
The lid of the Prison Bottle resembled Hoopa's head. When it was aimed at Hoopa, the eyes on that head flashed with red light, and Hoopa suddenly found itself unable to move.
"No! No!"
In Hoopa's terrified gaze, Baraz opened the Prison Bottle. Immediately, a ball of black-red mist drifted out from the bottle, floated straight toward Hoopa, and enveloped it.
A look of struggle flashed across Hoopa's face, but then it was controlled by that power, and its expression turned fierce.
Immediately, in the eyes of everyone's horror, Hoopa's body size increased rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it took on a different form.
Not only that, its temperament changed drastically as well.
"Hoopa! Hoopa has become stronger! This is the power! Hoopa is strong!"
The transformed Hoopa roared as if venting.
Clemont stared blankly at the giant Hoopa flying in the air and said, "Is this evolution?"
Mary hadn't realized the severity of the situation yet; she was happy that Hoopa had returned to its original form.
"This isn't evolution, this is Hoopa's original form!"
"Original form?" Ash and his friends looked surprised.
"It really does seem strong!" Bonnie said.
At the same time, Ange, who was on his way, suddenly received a system prompt. He opened the system and found a new mission on the mission list.
[Emergency Mission] Help Desert City survive the crisis caused by Hoopa's liberation — Pending.
It turned out Hoopa had two forms.
One was the cute appearance it had when it first met Ash and the others, known as the Confined form, which was the form it took after being sealed for doing something wrong.
The other was the Unbound form, which was the form it took when its power was released from the Prison Bottle, and it was its true original form.
Hoopa was indeed the Pokémon Ange had guessed it was—the one that had brought wealth to Desert City a hundred years ago, and had also brought disaster upon it.
It had been sealed because of this, and its power had been stored in the Prison Bottle.
Hoopa's original power had been sealed in the Prison Bottle for a hundred years, which generated feelings of resentment. It controlled Baraz, who had gone to find it, and led by Baraz, it had found the Confined Hoopa.
Its goal now was to replace the Confined Hoopa and become the true Hoopa.
Hoopa had been sealed originally because of its mischievous behavior; now that it had regained its freedom fueled by resentment, it went without saying that it would undoubtedly trigger an even greater catastrophe.
Ange was baffled by this sudden mission. How could Hoopa just appear and start making trouble?
Helpless, he could only say to Espathra: "Espathra, speed up."
Espa~
Espathra responded, then suddenly accelerated, instantly turning into a shooting star and charging forward.
"Ahhh~~~"
Ange was a mess in the wind.