Celebi: Voice of the Forest [Pokemon 4Ever Novel] 20th anniversary book

Last Life

Ash's friends gathered at the lake's edge to wait for the boys to reappear from the lake. Suicune followed after them. They looked around for the two boys and then they saw Ash, Pikachu and Sam, alive. They swam out of the lake and onto the shore. Everyone was relieved that they had survived.

"Oh, Ash is all right!" cried Misty, happily.

"Yeah, and so is Sam," Brock agreed.

"They've got Celebi, too," Towa added.

Their happy mood quickly quietened as Ash, Pikachu and Sam walked out of the lake, carrying a very still Celebi. She wasn't breathing. She lay there shriveled in Ash's arms. She was no longer glowing green, the glow was ash gray. Her skin had wilted into a brownish hue with wrinkles appearing all over her face like a rotting mushroom, her wings limp and lifeless. All of this because she had been in the Dark Ball's control for too long. Everyone was horrified.

"What's wrong?" Misty uttered.

"I don't know. Something bad," Ash said, softly.

"The water," Brock cried. "Get her into the water!"

Ash bent down and covered Celebi in the lake water, but nothing happened.

"It's not working," he said, worriedly.

"But why not?" Misty whimpered.

"The forest is hurt. Because she destroyed the forest, the Lake of Life is also dying," Towa said, shaking her head sadly.

"But then... Wait a second," Diana turned her head to Suicune. "Suicune has the power to make the water clean again."

"Suicune," Sam told the legendary Pokemon, "if you clean the water, we can save Celebi."

Suicune took to the air and flew back and forth across the water. She touched down again and again across the surface of the lake. Every time her hoof touched, a circle of bright blue life spread out across the water. But no longer did Suicune return to shore when the bright blue waters went normal. Everyone was amazed.

"The legend's true," White said.

"The north wind saved the lake," Diana said in awe.

Sam and Ash are relieved. Maybe the Lake of Life will save Celebi if she can wake up and regain her kind memories again. Ash lowered Celebi to the water again. "Celebi, the water's clean again."

But Celebi didn't respond.

"It isn't working," Towa said in a hushed voice as everyone became very worried. So the Lake of Life didn't revive the small fairy. Then they need to try something else.

"All right, then. We'll keep trying," Ash said, desperately, lifting Celebi out of the water. He begins to sit on the shore's edge and places Celebi on his lap and pulls red berries from his pockets. "See? These are those berries we found in the forest. Here you go." He put the berry into her mouth, but it slipped off his hands and fell into the water. It landed with a tiny splash and sank into the water. Ash hesitated before he laughed nervously before picking another one. "That's okay." The berry slipped off again. He tried a few more berries. "Uh, Celebi?"

Ash tried, but there was no sign of life. It seems that Celebi, the one they all loved, has died. Finally, Ash can't take it anymore.

"CELEBI," he suddenly shouted, "YOU CAN'T DIE!"

Ash's tears begin to fall from his eyes, dropping the berries into the water. Everyone begins to cry as well, believing that Celebi had been under control from that Evil Masked Marauder for too long and lost her last life. Sam struggled not to cry as he looked at Celebi's lifeless body.

"It's not Celebi's fault... She didn't do anything wrong," he choked out. "It was a human being who forced her to destroy the forest. Celebi never even had a choice. And now... it can't have a choice. Now it's too late to choose 'cause Celebi is gonna die!"

Finally, Sam then started sobbing, releasing all of his anger and sadness. Pikachu looked at Ash with a sad look and then at Celebi's corpse. A great wail rose up from the forest as the Pokemon heard Sam's voice. Suicune lifted her proud head and roared with anguish that filled the forest.

As the sadness swallowed the forest, the sky began to radiate with a pulsing white light. The light grew into a circle as bright as the sun. Everyone stopped crying and saw what was going on. Something big was happening. But what?

"Grandma," Diana whispered.

"I know that sound," Towa recognized. "The Voice of the Forest."

As everyone looked toward the sky, which turned into a golden light, it filled with Celebi spirits, flown across time to collect their dead sister. Hundreds of spirits flew notelessly down from the light. They gently lifted Celebi's corpse off of Ash's lap and flew back toward the light. The band of spirits surrounded the lifeless fairy and circled around her, the sweet sound of their song filled the air. Their forms begin to glow white as Ash and Sam watched as their friend Celebi was about to disappear. But then, the brownish hue started to turn green again. The wrinkles started to disappear, reviving her smooth soft skin. Her crooked weakened wings started to turn bright again and sparkling. The memories started to come back and the evil within her dead body was dying. Its voice grew stronger as the forest began to radiate with good forces.

Ash and the others can't believe their eyes. The spirits are reviving their sister.

"The spirits of the future and the past can travel through time as well..." Towa spoke, softly. "And so they've all come."

"They must've sensed that their friend was in trouble," Sam said.

"And now they're here to help," Ash replied, hopeful.

The others looked up again as Celebi's eyes began to move. Her eyes were blue again, finally out of the Iron Mask Marauder's control. She let out a small trilling call. Celebi pulled upright before the spirits surrounded. She squeak and trilled happily, thanking them for reviving her.  The spirits disappeared into the light as Celebi flittered back and forth across the lake. Ash and his friends cheered in celebration. Celebi flew inches above the water as she came straight toward Sam. Celebi was back.