Pokemon Ranger: The Hero of Oblivia

Back to the Past!

As soon as the light died down, I saw the familiar faces of Tanvir, Kira, and Ravio. "Celebi, where did you run off to?" Ravio demanded immediately.

Instead of responding, Celebi pushed me towards the temple doors.

"Celebi?" Tanvir said, looking from Celebi to me. "Is there a reason you keep bringing Summer to our time?"

Celebi gave Tanvir an uncharacteristic glare before pushing me towards the doors again.

"I think... That she wants me to check on the temple." I croaked.

Celebi nodded enthusiastically at me.

The doors to the temple swung open and a burly man covered in metal armor stepped out with Piplup who gave everyone a glare, though it was empty and distant, as if it was glaring through us.

"Oracle, why have you closed the temple doors?" Kira demanded. "What have you been doing?"

"I will not answer your questions." The man said in a calm, yet intimidating voice.

Kira sputtered, flabberghasted that the Oracle would say something like that.

"W-What are you saying?" Tanvir asked.

"We are the ones that control the world. You are the ones to be controlled." The man said cryptically.

I raised an eyebrow, though I wasn't going to comment yet. This wasn't my battle to fight, especially in this time where anything that I could do could hypothetically restructure everything in the future.

"We come from the same region! Aren't we friends?" Kira asked. "Stop making these terrible jokes!"

"The Steelhead can use this mysterious armor to use a Pokemon's power any way we like." The man said. "Those with no such power... must bow down to us!"

The Steelhead used a gloved hand to motion at us, which prompted the Piplup to attack us. Not bothering to think about the consequences, I looped my Stylus around the Piplup.

Though his face was not visible, you could practically hear the glare in his voice. "You simpletons... You will later regret defeating me here." Then he slowly clanked back into the temple.

"Celebi," Ravio started. "You've been worried about the Pokemon in the temples, right? You've been warning us all this time, haven't you?"

Celebi nodded in response, relieved that they finally were aware of her intentions.

"I had no idea. I'm sorry, Celebi." Kira apologized, looking more embarrassed than the others, since she hadn't believed that Celebi had better intentions than just fooling around.

"Thank you, Summer." Ravio said with a smile. "Celebi must've known what you're capable of!"

I smiled back.

"That oracle... looked as if he was under a spell or something." Tanvir spoke up.

"Controlling the world and mistreating Pokemon... Those cannot be the words of the temple oracles." Kira agreed. "Now I'm worried about the Pokemon inside of the temples, too."

Ravio looked around and gave a nod, as if he decided something. "I'm going with Celebi to rescue them!"

"Calm down, Ravio." Tanvir said. "The temples will be full of danger. The Pokemon may attack you while they are under the spell."

Kira turned to me, looking at my Styler in admiraton. "Summer, that twirlng thing you did to help the Piplup snap out of it with your 'Styler' and 'Capture Disk'... That's what the 'Pokemon Rangers' call a 'Capture' in your time, right?"

I gave Ravio a shocked look. "Ravio!" Did he not know that this could cause a paradox bigger than he could ever imagine?

Ravio gave me a sheepish look. "It was relevant..."

I raised an eyebrow. "When would that subject come up in a conversation?"

Ravio coughed. "'How was your day?'"

I nodded in understanding. "Point taken."

Kira brushed off our argument. "With that thing, maybe Summer can investigate the temples!"

"We shouldn't rely on somebody from another time. We should be the ones to solve our problems." Tanvir said stubbornly. Wow, he was like Barlow with that stubborness. Tanvir gave a resigned sigh. "Unfortunately, we aren't strong enough. We're going to have to ask for your help."

"Pip-pip lup!" The Piplup added.

We all turned to face the Pokemon that we hadn't known was there.

I bent down to rub its head. "Are you saying that you'll help us?"

Piplup chirped in agreement.

"Piplup seems to like you." Kira remarked. "You look more reliable than Tanvir, Summer."

"H-Hey!" Tanvir said, taking a blow to his ego. "But I guess that you're right... It hurts my pride, though."

"Anyway, come visit us again whenever you are ready. I'm sure that Piplup will be waiting for you, too, Summer." Kira said with a smile. She turned to Celebi.

"Celebi, it's time for you to send Summer home." Ravio told the green Pokemon.

The Pokemon gladly did so, happy that we finally figured out what she was trying to do in the first place.

Then a bright light surrounded the area and I felt my feet lift off the ground. I heard a chorus of goodbyes before I knew that we were no longer in that time.

When I realized where I was, Jet was growling menacingly at Celebi, who stuck her tongue out at Jet in response before teleporting back in time. Evelyn looked relieved. Yuka jumped on me and clutched on to me, determined that I wasn't going anywhere without her. I laughed at them.

"I can assure you, everyone. I'm not going anywhere." I told them with a smile. I hoped that I could keep my promise, although promises seemed to get hollower and hollower nowadays.