The Legendary Beasts

"Have you forgotten something?"

Towa spoke to the two of them as they finished packing and prepared to leave.

"Yes. It's all right."

"It was fun. Having you here really livened things up."

"You looked after me, too. You stayed by my side and helped me so much. Thank you."

"It's all right. Kaim's cooking was delicious, and I got to talk about all sorts of things with Cynthia."

Cynthia and Kaim shook hands with Towa and thanked one another.

"Once you return to your own time, will you come visit again?"

"Of course. Will you be all right, Towa?"

"It's only forty years, isn't it? Time devours everything, but I can't die until I see you again!"

Cynthia handed a photograph to the beaming Towa.

It was a picture taken the previous night, when they had gathered around the table to celebrate Celebi's recovery and Cynthia's departure.

"This..."

"I'm a scientist, so I carry a camera that can develop pictures quickly."

"I'm so happy! There's a camera in this village, but I'm not very good at using it. I'm glad to have something like this, proof that you were here. Thank you."

Though their time together had been short, Towa had taken good care of her. Cynthia wanted to repay that kindness somehow, so she had decided to leave a photograph behind. At the previous night's party, Towa had said, "It's a little sad to become friends when the only proof that person ever existed will be our own memories."

"We weren't here long, but you still took care of us. Thank you so much."

"Well, goodbye. You too, Kaim."

"Of course."

"Ah, we'll come again."

The two of them then entered the forest with Celebi.

"Forty years."

Left behind, Towa looked down the path they had taken and murmured those words.

Their retreating figures were no longer visible.

Celebi led them to the first stone monument, where they had awakened upon arriving in this era. Apparently, it was easy to gather the energy of passing time here.

"You're staying in this era, Celebi?"

Celebi nodded at Kaim's question. Celebi had not originally existed in this era, but with a hunter pursuing Celebi, returning to the original era would be dangerous. Traveling through time was not particularly difficult for Celebi alone. Celebi could always go back.

"All right. Then go to Towa in that village. You like Towa too, don't you?"

Seeing Celebi nod, Kaim's expression softened.

"Well, staying any longer doesn't seem wise. Let's get started."

"Yes. Celebi, could you do us a favor?"

Celebi nodded and floated up to the stone monument. Then the same light that had surrounded them when they traveled through time in Ubam Forest began to envelop them.

The light grew brighter and brighter, until they could barely keep their eyes open.

"Cynthia."

"Yes."

They held hands so they would not be separated. Kaim's firm hand covered Cynthia's slender one.

"What a dependable hand."

"That's because I train."

"Don't let go."

"Yeah."

Their eyes met Celebi's through the light. Now, all they had to do was touch it, and they would travel through time back to their own era.

"This was fun. Thank you, Celebi."

"Goodbye."

Their words brought a smile to Celebi's face.

Seeing that, the two nodded and touched the light.

Light filled their vision, leaving them unable to see anything.

"Yes."

When Kaim awoke, Cynthia's face was before him.

"Did we return to our own time?"

When he sat up, a familiar shrine came into view. Checking his smartphone, he found that they were back in the same circumstances as before. However, it was well past noon, and the sky was now dark. The time did not match exactly, but a discrepancy of this magnitude was probably just a margin of error.

"Have we made it back, at least?"

"Yes..."

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Saiki, did you come back?"

"Yeah."

Cynthia stood, brushing off the dirt as she looked around.

"Yes, we're back."

"The time is slightly off, but a difference this small is within the margin of error."

"Yes."

Ubam Forest was fairly large. With visibility poor at night, moving around was not a good idea for Cynthia and the others, who were unfamiliar with the area. They knew which direction the city lay in and could simply head that way, but it would be dangerous.

"For now, let's stay here until morning."

"Thanks. I'll find somewhere to build a campfire."

"Please do."

The crackle of burning branches reached their ears.

Cynthia and the others watched the flickering flames as they waited for dawn. There was enough space around the shrine, so they arranged stones in a circle and lit a campfire, keeping a close watch to prevent the flames from spreading.

"What will you do once the night is over?"

"Well, for now, I'd like to visit the Johto Region."

"I see."

Kaim answered, taking Celebi out of his pocket.

He tried to peer through the crystal he had obtained from the fire.

"It really is beautiful."

"Yeah."

Silence lingered for a while.

Then Cynthia broke it.

"How long are you going to stay there? Why don't you come out?"

Cynthia spoke without taking her eyes off the campfire.

A sound came from nearby, and a man emerged. He was middle-aged, wearing a hat and a coat. His gaze was sharp, his expression stern.

"I never expected to find the Sinnoh Region's Champion in a place like this."

"Are you the hunter who was chasing Celebi?"

Cynthia's words were icy, and her anger was plain to see.

"No. I hired him."

"In other words, you're the one responsible."

"Don't be like that."

"I see."

Cynthia did not look away from the campfire. As Kaim glanced at the man, he recognized something about him.

"You're..."

"Oh, you noticed? Though given my current circumstances, isn't that rather strange?"

"May I call you the former Viridian Gym Leader?"

"No. Call me the former boss of Team Rocket."

"I never expected to encounter a wanted criminal here, Giovanni."

Several years earlier, an organization called Team Rocket had run rampant throughout the Kanto Region, only to be destroyed by a boy. Its former boss, Giovanni, now stood before him.

"So? What are you doing here?"

"The hunters seem to have lost Celebi's trail. They've been searching everywhere I can think of. That's all."

"I see. Unfortunately, Celebi isn't here."

"So it seems. I'll look elsewhere. You're in the way."

"You're welcome to look, but at least you'll never find the one you're pursuing."

"What?"

Giovanni fixed Cynthia with a piercing stare.

"Did you protect Celebi?"

"Yes. At least, Celebi is somewhere you'll never be able to reach."

"Across time?"

"Oh, so you're not just a mob boss after all? You can use your brain a little."

Cynthia's words were cutting. She loved Pokémon, and Giovanni, who treated them as tools and oppressed them, was unforgivable to her.

"Why are you hunting Celebi?"

"Do you think I need to tell you?"

"No. Even if I heard your reasons, I wouldn't agree."

"Then I have nothing to say."

Giovanni adjusted his hat and looked at Kaim.

"Young man, what's your name?"

"Kaim."

"Is that so, Kaim? Would you like to travel the world with me?"

"Could you stop putting foolish ideas into my student's head?"

An immense pressure radiated from Cynthia. It could almost have been called murderous intent.

So this is the Champion who's undefeated in official matches? This much, at such a young age?

Cold sweat ran down Giovanni's back. His Pokémon were exhausted; they had not visited a Pokémon Center since their defeat a few days earlier at the hands of a boy in a black-and-yellow hat. He had no chance of winning a battle now. Even if his Pokémon were in perfect condition, he did not think they could defeat Cynthia as she was now.

"What pressure."

"Giovanni."

"What is it, Kaim?"

"Why did you create Team Rocket?"

To Kaim, Pokémon were beings he cherished. Like Cynthia, they were the objects of his affection. That was why he asked Giovanni, whose views were completely opposed to his own. Cynthia thought those were things he would not want to know, but Kaim wanted to understand.

"Do you have a reason for asking that?"

"Oh, you have no reason to tell me. But I want to understand someone whose ideas are the complete opposite of mine. And beyond that, I want to refute you."

"Hm."

Kaim seemed familiar to Giovanni.

There was a red-haired boy, his son. Kaim's eyes looked very much like those of that son, who had once wanted to understand him better as a father. That was what Giovanni thought.

"You want to understand me?"

"Yeah."

"Kaim?!"

"I'll never follow you."

"Hmph. Fine. This is why I created Team Rocket."

Giovanni began to speak. He wanted to create a stronger organization and conquer the world. An organization could combine many sources of power and thereby produce an even greater power. He explained that he had created Team Rocket to use the strength he had built to make the world his own.

"Power is justice. If you aren't strong, you can't accomplish anything."

Kaim said nothing. He simply listened to Giovanni.

"Team Rocket was destroyed because I failed to manage my subordinates' strength properly. I learned from that failure, so I intend to use Celebi's time travel to return to the past and put those lessons to use. This time, I'll take the world into my own hands."

"Conquer the world?"

"That's right. A world under my rule-that is Team Rocket's mission."

"That's impossible."

Kaim rejected Giovanni's words.

"Hm?"

"Suppose Celebi takes you back to the past and lets you start over. Suppose you use what you've learned to rule the world. Do you think the world you rule will last?"

"What do you mean?"

"Terror doesn't last long. Anyone who has studied history understands that force is the simplest and strongest form of power. But it doesn't last. Do you know why?"

"It's simple. Because you can't rule any other way."

"!"

"The only reason to rule through force is that the ruler lacks the power of 'dialogue.' In my view, that would last much longer."

"Go on. Interesting."

"Anything with a physical form will disappear someday. So society can't continue to exist in the same form forever. The world you control will disappear someday, too. After all, you'll die eventually. What happens to the world after that? There may be people who worship you."

"In a world that oppresses Pokémon and people, rebellion will bring it all to an end. If the Elite Four or a Champion stopped holding back and tried to wipe you out, it wouldn't matter how many mobsters you had. They'd be destroyed in an instant." In fact, a Champion from Shirong Plateau had already wiped him out, and that had been nothing more than a frontal assault.

Cynthia said nothing. Kaim had said everything he wanted to say, but she did not want to hear Giovanni's story, because she valued Pokémon so deeply.

Yet after hearing Giovanni's ideals, Kaim dismissed his story. I did not reject it outright, but chose to listen and refute it.

"Perhaps."

"Hmph, you wouldn't listen to what a little monk like that says, would you?"

"Of course. One day, I will revive Team Rocket."

"...Do what you want."

"You still have a chance. What do you think? Come with me-"

Cynthia's bloodlust flared again, cutting Giovanni off.

"Say that again. I'll beat you up right here and hand you over to the police."

We had been together for several years, but this was the first time Cynthia had shown such fury. To Cynthia, trying to lead Kaim down an evil path was intolerable.

"Get lost. I'll still let you leave for now."

"Ugh, a woman protecting something precious really is terrifying."

With those parting words, Giovanni vanished into the darkness.

"I didn't expect things to fall apart like that."

Kaim said this after Giovanni left.

"Unbelievable. Not only did you do terrible things to Pokémon, you even tried to make Kaim one of your kind."

Cynthia spoke with her lips pursed.

"Don't go there."

"But listen to me."

"Understanding and being persuaded are two different things. I understand Giovanni's thinking, but I neither agree with nor approve of it. That's why I couldn't stand joining a group that oppresses both Pokémon and humans."

"Yes. There's nothing to worry about."

Cynthia had no reason to worry. Kaim was human, just like Cynthia. So there was no need to worry about him following Giovanni. Instead, I reflected on how rude I had been to Kaim.

"Yes."

"⁈"

But she was too embarrassed to admit it honestly, so Cynthia rested her head on Kaim's lap.

"That doesn't apply."

"That's right."

"It's nothing. That's just how things are."

Kaim sighed helplessly and stroked Cynthia's blond hair.

"Could you stroke my hair some more?"

"Yes, yes."

Seeing Cynthia looking so pleased with herself, Kaim wore an annoyed expression, but he was not upset about it. Rather, he seemed somewhat relieved to have someone important to him by his side.

The crystal of Celebi's power in his hand glittered in the firelight.

More than a week had passed since the few days of time travel with Celebi, but because of that journey, only a day had actually passed in Hateno Forest. The two traveled around the Johto Region by car.

"The next town will be our last in the Johto Region, too."

"Did we end up staying in Alto Mare the longest?"

"Have you forgotten Hateno Forest?"

"Either one took about a week."

Kaim spoke as he drove.

Shirona and the others had visited the various towns of the Johto Region, but in the end, Alto Mare and Hateno Forest were still the places where they had stayed the longest. I also visited other cities and learned about their history and culture. Along the way, I stopped by the Ruins of Alph and did some research.

And the pair's journey through the Johto Region would end in the next city.

"Is Ecruteak City the last stop?"

"Yes. That town had a strong influence on the Johto Region's image of 'harmony.'"

"Did you want to save the fun for last?"

"Yes."

Although this had been a sudden trip, and her stay in the Johto Region had been unexpectedly long, Cynthia had not only finished her duties as Champion before the trip but also submitted her paper. There was nothing particularly pressing about her work. Kaim was also a gym trainer, but his main job was being Cynthia's assistant. With the relatively large number of trainers at the Veilstone Gym, taking time off like this was easy.

"There's a huge tower in Ecruteak City, isn't there?"

"You remembered well. Yes, the Tin Tower. It's a tower dedicated to Ho-Oh, a Legendary Pokémon from the Johto Region."

"It has a distinctive shape."

"As a history student, I'm curious about it. Oh, but there's another tower in Ecruteak City besides the Tin Tower."

"A tower that burned down, right?"

The Burned Tower. Legend had it that the tower had burned down after being struck by lightning. It was said that a Pokémon with a Silver Wing had once been enshrined there.

"It seems Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, known as the Johto Region's 'sacred beasts,' were born in this Burned Tower."

"Suicune? We met in Hateno Forest."

"Yes, there was something sacred about that encounter."

I had only seen him briefly, but I thought I was lucky to have met him.

"I've booked a hotel for now. There was only one room available."

"Thank you."

"Are you an assistant?"

"You saved me."

"Really."

Kaim smiled faintly, and Cynthia smiled along with him.

They arrived in Ecruteak City and headed for the inn.

The inn was one of the larger ones in Ecruteak City, so it was easy to find.

"Lady Cynthia, Lord Kaim, I've been expecting you."

When they reached the inn, the proprietress greeted them in a kimono.

"I'll show you to your room. This way, please."

The proprietress led me to the room.

The inn's interior evoked a Japanese style and had a peaceful atmosphere.

"Where are you two from?"

"The Sinnoh Region."

"Oh, you've come from far away, then. Please make yourselves comfortable."

After showing them to their room, the proprietress left.

It was a Japanese-style room, and reasonably spacious.

"What a lovely room."

"No."

"It's nice to relax like this, but even if it's evening, let's hurry out for a walk."

"Ah."

"Did you go out?"