"Hmm?"
Hearing Lance's question, Elias froze for a mont, caught off guard.
Looking at Lance, who clearly thought he had figured out the truth, Elias suddenly realized—rather than trying to convince him of sothing as ridiculous as a simulator, wasn't Celebi a much easier explanation?
"You could… say that," Elias replied stiffly.
Technically, he wasn't lying. After all, in so ways, the simulator did resemble ti travel.
Manifesting it as Celebi's power just made things simpler.
Besides, aside from occasionally granting rewards, that useless system wasn't even as convenient as Celebi.
On the other hand, seeing Elias admit it, Lance couldn't help but look smug. He had guessed right!
But at the sa ti, he felt a twinge of jealousy.
Elias had apparently gotten to relive a joyful childhood thanks to Celebi, while he had spent his youth buried under mountains of paperwork in the League office.
Unfair. Completely unfair!
As Lance and Elias chatted, w, who had been curled up asleep in the latter's arms, slowly opened her eyes.
Unlike Lance, who only had a vague understanding of the world, w, as a Mythical Pokémon, knew that Elias wasn't telling the truth.
For one, she had personally searched for Celebi before, and Celebi had explicitly told her it had never found anyone like Elias.
And even if Elias had been soone Celebi could find, there was no way to replicate his experience.
Celebi could perform basic ti-space transfers, yes.
But rewinding an entire life, even altering a person's appearance?
That was beyond Celebi's abilities—it wouldn't work even if it drained itself completely dry.
w had been thinking about this all day. Now, watching Elias hesitating over his words, a reasonable conclusion took shape in her mind.
A power that could evade detection from Celebi, Ho-Oh, and other Legendary Pokémon…
A force that allowed Elias to travel between different points in ti, yet one he dared not even ntion by na…
There was only one possibility.
—Arceus!
w lifted her gaze toward the star-filled night sky, her sharp eyes seeming to pierce through the darkness.
What did the Original One want with Elias?
She had no idea.
But there was one thing she did know—she would do everything in her power to protect him.
Even if it ant standing against Arceus itself, she would not back down.
Just as w was lost in thought, a fork holding a bite of strawberry cake suddenly appeared near her mouth.
"Want so?"
Elias offered the treat to w, who was currently in her Eevee form.
Originally, she had wanted to take on the form of a Gardevoir, but after a long and thorough lecture from Elias, she had obediently reverted to an Eevee.
For all her heavy thoughts, the mont the scent of strawberry cake hit her nose, w was utterly captivated.
"Mmm~"
She took a big bite off the fork, her eyes narrowing in sheer bliss.
Back when Gardevoir was still around, she never had the chance to enjoy Elias's full-service hand-feeding.
Seeing Eevee's satisfied expression, Gengar, who had been sitting nearby, darkened in color.
It swallowed its own piece of cake in one gulp—yet its heart was still filled with despair.
Gardevoir… big sis… if you don't co back soon, our ho is going to be gone!
...
After they had eaten their fill, Lance finally rembered the real reason he had co to Pewter City.
"Sorry, Elias. I actually have other business here."
"One of Professor Oak's students managed to capture a high-ranking Rocket Executive—I need to head over and handle the handover process."
Earlier, he had been so excited about reuniting with Elias that he had completely forgotten about this.
Now that he rembered, he slapped his forehead in frustration.
No doubt that person—soone nad Sumrs—was already getting impatient from waiting.
Being this late on their first eting… not exactly a great first impression.
As Lance fretted over how to apologize, he suddenly noticed Elias looking at him with a rather odd expression.
"What's wrong…? Wait."
Mid-sentence, Lance realized sothing was off.
"You're not saying—"
"I am Sumrs."
Before Lance could finish his thought, Elias pulled out his phone and opened their chat logs, showing them to him.
Lance: …
For the first ti in a long while, Lance realized he might be an idiot.
---
Bound with her hands behind her back, Sird wriggled and struggled, trying to escape the room.
However, she had barely moved half a ter when she was hit with a wave of despair.
Right in front of her stood an invisible barrier of pure psychic energy.
Without her Pokémon on hand, breaking through this wall was nothing more than a pipe dream.
"Tch. Figures the League wouldn't make such a rookie mistake."
Accepting the futility of escape, Sird slumped sideways onto the floor, her expression grim.
She still couldn't understand why w had betrayed her.
She had spent years carefully currying its favor, yet in the end, w had turned around and helped a complete stranger instead.
The realization stung.
Just as she was wallowing in these thoughts, a blue light suddenly flashed through the room.
When the glow faded, a red-haired boy appeared.
"You're… with the Masked Man?"
Sird froze for a mont at the unexpected visitor but quickly recognized him.
She wasn't unfamiliar with the Masked Man's organization.
After all, Team Galactic had longstanding ties with them—so much so that her assignnt to monitor w had co directly from them.
Now, seeing one of their mbers here, Sird's eyes lit up.
She instinctively assud he was here to rescue her.
Noticing the sudden enthusiasm in Sird's gaze, Silver frowned slightly.
But rembering his mission, he still took out a notepad and pen, standing just outside the psychic barrier.
"How did you get caught?"
Hearing his cold, detached tone, Sird hesitated for a mont, confused by his attitude.
Silver's frown deepened at her silence, and he added,
"Who captured you? How did it happen? Every detail—tell everything."
"Ah."
Now she understood.
Without hesitation, she spilled everything—her encounter with Elias, their battle, and w's sudden betrayal.
"I don't know his exact identity, but I'm certain he's with the League. He also seems to have a good relationship with Lance."
"Also, his Gengar… it's strong. Really strong."
Finishing her report, Sird suddenly realized how dry her throat was. She hadn't had a sip of water all day.
But no matter.
She should be getting out of here soon.
Watching Silver, who was diligently writing everything down, Sird felt a flicker of hope.
anwhile, as Silver continued taking notes, a nagging sense of familiarity crept in.
Sothing about the description of this person… felt oddly recognizable.
After a brief mont of recollection, he suddenly realized—
It matched soone he had encountered years ago.
Their savior.
Elias.
But… was that even possible?
For the first ti, a ripple of emotion crossed Silver's otherwise calm face.
After a long mont of thought, he shook his head, deciding to leave the matter be for now.
It wasn't his problem to solve.
How this information was handled would depend on Gardevoir's reaction when she saw it.
---
T/N: Lance... It took you this long?
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