Chapter 246: Llama! Arceus!

Is there really nothing we can do?

In Huo La's vision, a series of bizarre life fragments flickered—smiling faces of his Kanto companions, the morning smoke of Xi Cui Zhu Qing Cun, Cyndaquil's first brush of warmth against his palm, and Eevee's soft whimper.

Having died once, he knows this feeling all too well; it's a dying‑to‑death lantern of memories, and he named this moment of looking back on a life "Grace".

Watching the scenes before him, his nerves, stretched to the limit, inexplicably relaxed.

Death, it seems, isn't that frightening.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink completely, an extreme silence surged beside him.

It was a void so hollow it seemed able to devour everything, yet it carried a faint, inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Open your eyes, Huo La, I am Arceus."

The steady, ancient voice resonated deep within his consciousness, again and again, bearing an irresistible force.

"Open your eyes, Huo La, I am Arceus."

"It's so noisy! Why didn't you say you were Shafulin!" Huo La rolled his eyes, snarking aloud, while his body honestly struggled to open his eyes.

What he saw was an endless blackness, no sky, no ground, only a tightly condensed soft glow floating before him.

Within the light, a faint silhouette of a llama‑like Pokemon could be seen, its body surrounded by a glow encircling a Thousand Cosmos Wrist set with four green gems, holy and majestic.

"Damn—Arceus!" Huo La startled, then quickly recovered, instinctively feeling his own body, "I'm not dead?"

"You can only say... you're not dead yet." Arceus's voice was calm and unruffled, its green eyes quietly gazing at him, "But it's coming soon."

"You gods..." Huo La habitually began to snark, but stopped mid‑sentence, raising his voice sharply, "What do you mean I'm about to die?!"

"You are now in Consciousness Space, which I Sheer Force pulled your consciousness into," Arceus said slowly, "Your body remains within Deoxys's tentacles; at its current rate of energy consumption, in at most one minute your consciousness will completely dissipate."

"Then why did you pull me in?! Beat it! Save me!" Huo La erupted like a thunderstorm.

Since learning that Arceus had brought him to this world, he harbored no reverence for the Creator God, but was utterly casual—if he was tossed here, there must be a task, and he couldn't just watch him die with his eyes open.

Arceus's deep green eyes stared at him for a moment, then slowly shook its head: "Cannot save."

"Sss—" Huo La inhaled a cold breath, "Aren't you the Creator God? Isn't Deoxys formed from your sweat when you created?"

"You should know that the Pokemon World is not limited to the one you now occupy," Arceus's voice remained calm, "What exists here is merely a Clone Projection of me. If this place weren't the Sinnoh Temple, a shrine to me with a fragment of my primordial power, I wouldn't even have the chance to pull your consciousness in."

Huo La fell silent instantly.

Together with this Creator God, am I just a "clone" here?

"Then what do we do?" he said with a slack face, his tone full of despair, "If you don't come I'm dead; if you come I'm still dead, so isn't your trip pointless?"

"I came to tell you how to save yourself," Arceus shifted tone, saying word by word, "And, incidentally, how to return to the original timeline."

"Timeline!" Huo La's eyes lit up instantly, catching the keyword.

Arceus ignored his excitement and continued, "Yes, timeline. This Hisui is two thousand years before the timeline you originally occupied."

"You used a system to send me here?" Huo La asked, a doubt he had hidden in his heart for a long time.

Arceus's gaze locked onto him, but it gave no answer, only its tone suddenly became urgent: "Our time is short. Any questions, ask them next time we meet. Now, listen carefully!"

Huo La immediately held his breath.

"Soon I will send your consciousness back to your body," Arceus's voice carried an undeniable authority, "Under the blessing of the Sinnoh Temple, my will can, in an instant, Sheer Force suppress Deoxys for ten seconds. You must seize those ten seconds, and with the Master Ball in your hand, capture it!"

"???" Huo La looked bewildered, "Can the Master Ball be used?"

He hadn't failed to consider using a Master Ball on Deoxys, but the problem was that all the Pokeballs he brought through the time slip had become useless; the Master Ball, also a future artifact, should logically be a piece of scrap metal.

"The Time-Space Dual Gods have awakened, and their power is affecting this world's rules," Arceus explained, "I can temporarily borrow their power, opening a tiny breach from the future, allowing your Master Ball to regain its effect temporarily."

"Can't you just open the breach and send me back directly?!" Huo La couldn't help snarking.

Arceus did not answer, as if tacitly acknowledging an unspeakable detail, but spoke even faster: "Remember, three seconds, only three seconds! After you capture Deoxys, I will merge this Clone Projection into the Master Ball, temporarily suppressing its power—otherwise, a Master Ball that cannot connect to the Pokemon Network cannot contain Deoxys at all."

"Next, you must gather my Eighteen Stone Tablets scattered across this world," Arceus's figure began to become transparent, evidently even the power maintaining Consciousness Space was nearly exhausted, "When you have collected them all and return to this Sinnoh Temple, I will tell you how to go back!"

"Huh?"

"No more!" Arceus's voice suddenly rose, "You're about to die! Prepare yourself!"

The moment the words fell, Huo La felt a massive force surge, and the blackness and light before his eyes shattered instantly.

His vision snapped clear; he was back atop the ruins of the Sinnoh Temple, Deoxys's eerie blue‑green face within arm's reach.

At that moment, Deoxys's expression turned extremely ferocious, its whole body pulsing with Cosmic Energy, and the tentacles restraining Huo La suddenly loosened!

Arceus's voice exploded in his mind: "Now!"

Huo La, almost instinctively, thrust his right hand out, pulling the Master Ball he always carried, and with all his strength slammed it onto Deoxys's arm!

Red Light burst, a powerful suction erupted instantly.

Deoxys couldn't react in time, and was seized by the Red Light, forcibly pulled into the Master Ball.

Huo La lost his support, crashing heavily to the ground, his whole body drained.

The captured Deoxys clearly refused to be taken, the Master Ball hit the ground and thrashed wildly, sharp screeches constantly emanating from within, hurting the eardrums.

At that moment, a gentle white light suddenly glowed from deep within the temple, and Arceus's Clone Projection slowly materialized.

It hesitated not a moment, flying straight toward the violently shaking Master Ball, turning into a streak of light that fully merged into the ball.

Buzz—

The Master Ball quivered lightly, then fell completely silent, its indicator light slowly glowing, flashing a steady red light.

Huo La lay on the ground, watching the now‑quiet Master Ball, panting heavily, cold sweat soaking his clothes.

The gratitude of surviving the calamity instantly swept over his whole body.

He turned his head toward the nearby spot, Cyndaquil and Eevee still lying on the ground, motionless.

"Cyndaquil... Eevee..." Huo La struggled to crawl over, but found his whole body limp, unable to move even a single finger.