Chapter 235: Hoopa's Past! Free Hoopa!

In a pavilion built with wide stone pillars,

Everyone sat on the pavilion's long bench,

May explained to Ash and the others why they had come to Desert City.

"I came to Desert City to bring Hoopa to buy some snacks, and also planned to check out Desert Tower."

"Desert Tower?"

"We also really want to go see it!"

"Then let's go together!"

"Desert Tower is at the other end of the city; if we want to go there, using the halo would be faster."

"Good idea!"

Hoopa's eyes lit up at the words, and he casually took off the golden ring on his head.

The ring expanded,

At its center, it began to burst with dazzling blue light,

Pikachu rushed in first, and Dedenne and Yurie closely followed, stepping through one after another.

When it was Serena's turn, she first extended her arms, then her head, and finally looked left and right to check the surroundings before stepping through the portal.

In the eyes of Ash, who was waiting in line behind,

it was Serena constantly sticking out her butt, as if the upper half of her body were stuck inside.

Fortunately, this process didn't last long,

Accompanied by Serena lifting her booted feet, her black‑stockinged beautiful legs rose, and she finally passed through the portal.

"Hoopa wants to go too!"

Hoopa eagerly jumped ahead of Ash, wanting to go through the portal,

but the portal, which everyone else passed through easily,

when Hoopa went through, it was as if he were a stretched slingshot,

even though Hoopa's body had already passed through the portal,

the blue energy on the portal still lingered around him,

like the strap on a slingshot, it pulled Hoopa and shot him back at high speed, causing him to fall flat on the ground.

May, standing in the back, helplessly rubbed her temples,

"Honestly, Hoopa, have you forgotten? You can't go through the portal."

"Ah, what's going on?"

On the other side, after waiting a while for the others to arrive, Serena and Yurie exchanged a glance,

and quickly brought Pikachu and Dedenne back to this side of the portal.

"What's wrong?"

As everyone returned,

May also began, seeing Hoopa's dejected expression,

to explain the setting that Hoopa, because he is sealed, currently cannot pass through his own portal.

At the same time,

In the sky, the Meowth hot air balloon arrived at Desert City.

"We've spotted the Team Rocket grunts!"

"Hey, Musashi, Kojiro, look over there, meow!"

Following Meowth's pointed finger,

Musashi and Kojiro saw about twenty or thirty helicopters.

"Good heavens! What are all these helicopters for?"

"Is there going to be a battle?"

"Or are they here to capture us…"

I imagined it myself.

Junsha stood near the helicopter hatch, holding a loudspeaker and shouting at them, 'Rocket Team, drop your Pokemon and surrender immediately!' the scene,

The trio broke out in a cold sweat all at once.

"This is terrible!"

"But this is actually a perfect chance to prove we're not with the Team Rocket grunts, right, meow?"

Upon hearing that, Musashi and Kojiro's eyes also flashed with determination,

"Exactly! Better to be blasted away by the Team Rocket grunts than to be caught by Junsha!"

"Alright! Decision made!"

"Let's immediately execute the Pikachu capture plan!"

"Exactly, meow!"

"Sonas!"

The ardent fighting spirit burned in the Rocket Team's hearts, tm ignited!

But just as the Rocket Team was about to act,

a Braviary swooped in from the desert at greater speed.

On the Braviary's back,

stood a man wearing a red robe, white long garments, and a red hat.

In his hand he also held a water‑jug sculpture whose colors were somewhat similar to Hoopa's.

As the brave eagle landed,

In an instant, it immediately drew May's attention,

"Ah! Brother! Could it be…"

Thinking of a possibility, May immediately hurried out of the stone corridor and came to the brave eagle's side.

During this process, the red-capped man jumped off the bird's back.

May also finally managed to see the sculpture in the other person's hand.

"Sure enough, it's the Punishment Jar! Great, brother, you found it."

What she didn't notice was,

His brother's eyes were now blood-red, and he showed no response to her address,

Hoopa also unusually did not follow her forward, but instead fearfully hid behind the stone pillar.

Just then, he spaced out for a moment,

The Team Rocket trio also finally, as the helicopter approached, saw clearly that these were the TV station's airplanes.

It wasn't the glorious past they imagined being discovered, which led to their exposure.

Below,

A gleam flashed in Ash's eyes,

Next, it should be Barza, whose mind was controlled by the evil shadow—that is, May's brother—releasing the Hoopa power sealed within the Punishment Jar.

As for Hoopa's movie version,

After all, aside from the photographer Phoenix King, many divine beasts participated in this war of the gods!

It was also the fame-making battle of the Black Rayquaza and the Fruit God!

Ash could be said to be deeply impressed.

……

He clearly remembered some of the settings,

For example, why Hoopa was punished and turned into its current form.

This story has to be told from a long, long time ago,

Back then, the desert city was still just a desert; Hoopa brought rain and money with its teleportation power.

It brought all the hope for people to survive.

Hoopa thus earned people's worship.

But once people are full, they inevitably seek spiritual needs.

Trainer battles became the theme.

Hoopa was inevitably drawn in and became the champion of the arena battles, defeating all trainers.

Hoopa became the object of worship for trainers.

But inevitably, when trainers from other places came to travel, they spread the faith of other divine beasts, describing how powerful they were.

This caused Hoopa to become increasingly extreme,

Opponents also shifted from ordinary trainers' Pokémon and wild Pokémon to divine beasts from around the world.

Fighting to sustain fighting,

Prolonged battle turned Hoopa into a slaughter-star with an extremely heavy killing intent.

People's lives, and even the world's survival, were also affected.

At this point, an old man who wielded the Genesis Power—May's grandfather—stepped forward.

He used the Punishment Jar together with golden Genesis Power to seal Hoopa's immense power, stripping away Hoopa's murderous aura.

This resulted in the Hoopa we see now, who loves pranks and is full of childishness.

Thereafter, he constantly kept it by his side to teach,

Hoping to guide Hoopa toward peace and away from belligerence.

At that time, the old man's thought was,

Since the Punishment Jar would not be opened again, he did not expel the murderous aura sealed together with that power,

Nowadays,

With May's grandfather passing away,

Barza and May then wanted to restore Hoopa's power,

But they did not realize that, once this power returns,

the murderous aura will inevitably return as well,

At that point, whether the current childish Hoopa's consciousness will be dominant, or the murderous aura—evil shadow that wields the power,

Anyone can tell what will happen just by thinking about it.

But due to the information gap,

Barza and May merely thought the Punishment Jar simply sealed part of Hoopa's power,

This situation can only be blamed on poor communication causing trouble.

Turning his head to look at the "Pikachu" on his shoulder,

"Help me stop him from opening the Punishment Jar."

Although Dreamy didn't know why Ash said that, it still complied.

May's brother's body instantly became like a statue, frozen in place.

Ash alone approached the trembling Hoopa.

"Are you scared?!"

"Hoopa isn't scared!"

Facing Ash's gaze, Hoopa stubbornly straightened his back, no longer trembling.

"Really? Then why are you trembling?"

"It's because, it's because..."

"Do you long to regain your freedom, to regain your former power?"

Listening to Ash's narration,

Hoopa froze, and after a long while nodded seriously.

"Hoopa wants to get stronger! But... but Hoopa is really scared!"

Having caused a great disturbance, Hoopa ultimately chose to bear responsibility, torn between a sense of duty and stubbornness.

Ash glanced at him in surprise.

I never expected that Hoopa, with a childish mindset, would have such awareness.

"If that's the case, then enjoy the feeling of getting stronger—rest assured, I've got your back."

Although little Hoopa resisted this power, and might even suffer some harm because of it.

But in order to help Hoopa regain his original power,

These experiences, however, are what he must endure.

As Ash nodded,

Mirage instantly withdrew the psychic restraint,

Everyone watched as May's brother raised high the punishment jar in his hand and pulled out the stopper.

Whoosh!

A purplish shadow, like a bone-eating maggot, burst forth from the jar, bringing a bone-chilling cold that made one shiver.

It rushed toward Hoopa and quickly merged into his body.

Thanks for the picture (*^▽^*)

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