"Thanks for watching my back, guys." I turned around with my brown ponytail to look at them with my hazel eyes and a smile.
"Sure thing," Natsu grinned. "There's no way we wouldn't."
I nodded. "I'm just shocked that a friend guild would do something like that to them."
"We were shocked as much as you," Lucy replied. "I would have expected better from them." She lowered her head. "I mean, I understand that Pokémon have magic powers too, but they would have been no match for them for how strong Sabertooth is."
"I wouldn't be so sure," I put a finger up with a serious face. "Remember when I explained to you about levels?"
"Yeah," Gray said.
"Remember that based on what level they are, they are that strength. That Kangaskhan was in the forties as far as I could tell. Which meant that it had pretty strong moves."
"Then wouldn't they have been having trouble with keeping them calm?" Juvia asked. "The way you say it they would have been attacking them in fright and done some major damage."
"Well..." I put a finger on my chin in wonder. Maybe I was too rough on Sabertooth. "When you put it that way, you might be right." I lowered my head in shame. "Which means I shouldn't have been so hard on them..."
"I would have done the same thing," Natsu clarified. I focused on him. "If Happy ever got hurt that badly, I would have done way more than you did."
"Yeah, making sure their guild hall was destroyed." Lucy commented with sarcasm.
Natsu gave her an annoyed look. "No I wouldn't!"
"Natsu, you've no control with what you do with your fists! It makes it worse how fire adds to it!"
"What's so wrong about fire?!"
I started to chuckle, and it grew into a laugh. "You guys make me feel better every second of the day! I really missed it a lot!"
"Missed what exactly?" Gray asked.
"The fact that they always fight of course!" Happy said. "It means they're in looove." He covered his mouth with his paws in sarcasm.
"Shut up, stupid cat!" Lucy grabbed her while as her face turned bright red, and Happy immediately flew behind Natsu.
"Don't call him stupid!" Natsu was now clenching his fists.
"Okay, that's enough!" I gave them an Erza glare, and they cowered against each other in fear. "Remember we have guests here. No more child stuff."
"Yes ma'am!" They said in unison.
Magnolia was sitting right in the valley in front of us, and I smiled as the breeze went through my brown hair. "Let's head to the guild and see how many Pokémon we've rescued so far."
~~~
"How was it, guys?" I asked the Pokémon trainers as they sat at a table in the hall. Mira gave them all a snack for free, and they were munching away when we came in.
"Great!" Ash spoke up. "The guild was very kind in showing us where they were. They were well taken care of, too."
"None of them were hurt or anything?" I asked in concern.
"No, but they were caught without any battling."
"Same with me and Clemont," Serena put in. "They all were just fine."
I turned away then in sadness. Why did Sabertooth do it then?
"What's wrong?" I heard Ash ask. Lucy answered for me.
"We found the Pokémon all locked up in prison cells," she said. They all gasped. "Every single one had been hurt by them. I mean, I know Pokémon can be dangerous. But that's only because they were scared..."
"I didn't even have to tell them to cooperate for how weak they were. Even a newborn Kangaskhan baby..." I felt the anger rising again, and my fists clenched.
"And you didn't do anything to them for it?" Ash sounded angry himself.
"We didn't want to make it worse." Lucy continued. "Sabertooth was supposed to be a good guild..."
I then thought about what Yukino said back at their guild hall. It would make sense why Sabertooth would be scared of them for how powerful they can be. And with what I've seen back in Kalos with police work, Pokémon can do some dangerous things when they get scared. "I hate to say this..." I turned around to look back at my friends. "But I can't blame Sabertooth for what they did."
"What are you saying?!" Serena exclaimed.
"Listen, I'm not saying I'm okay with it!" I countered. "But think about it. Sabertooth has never seen Pokémon before, right? And they were attacking them in fear of being hurt. That's why Sabertooth tried to protect their town, because of what Pokémon are able to do."
They all stopped arguing and Ash crossed his arms in frustration. "Well, when you put it that way..."
"Yeah..." Clemont put in. "I guess we really can't blame them."
"But we can't let it happen again," Lucy said. "If something like that happened to my spirits, I don't know how I would react."
I smiled. "Thanks, Lucy. That makes me feel a little better. Also, I think they know not to mess with them anymore. Everyone made sure to let them know that." I remembered when Natsu talked to Sting at the end of the rescue. I was glad he said that to him because it meant that they wouldn't hurt them anymore.
"You're right," Lucy said. "Which means there won't be a fight between the guilds either."
"Yeah, that would have been bad," I said in concern.
"Ellie!" Levy rushed up to me.
"What's up, Levy?"
"There's a town being attacked by a Pokémon! It's been going on for a couple hours!"
"What?!" I widened my eyes in fear. If that Pokémon hurts anyone...any guild would take them in like Sabertooth did. "Do you have a picture?"
"Yeah." Levy pulled out a small photo from her book. "Here."
I looked at it, and a wave of fear coursed through me. I turned my head to look at Ash and the others. "We have to go now!" I showed them the picture when they came up to me in worry.
Ash widened his eyes too. "It's a Lucario!"
I nodded. "They're getting stronger," I said. "We have to move!"
Team Natsu and us trainers rushed to the port of Hargeon. Lucario was using Aura Sphere wherever it could to scare off everyone. They all ran away screaming in fear of their lives, and we stopped 500 feet away. I stood in front of everyone. "Lucario!"
It stopped mid swing of releasing another Aura Sphere. It disappeared, and turned around in shock of me knowing its name. I took another two steps, and it growled at me as it tensed up in defense. I stopped, and crouched down to get to its level. It immediately loosened it's stance again. "Lucario..." I started. "Don't be afraid." I stood up again, and walked towards it. I knew that it was a male then, and stopped right in front of him. I crouched again, taking his paw. "I'm here to take you home."
"Heh?" he said in wonder.
I nodded, and smiled. "I'm from your home, too. That's why I promise to take you back to where you belong." I pulled out a pokéball. "Will you come with us and be home again?"
When he saw the pokéball, he looked at it, then me again. I kept smiling, and he blinked once. Then he smiled, and let out a cry as he nodded. I giggled, then touched the ball gently to his head. He turned into red energy and was absorbed into the ball. It closed, and flashed and shook a couple of times, then beeped in success of the catch.
I stood up again, turning to my friends. "Another Pokémon caught safely."
"Awesome," Ash smiled.
"How did it calm down so quickly?" Erza asked me.
I chuckled in egoism. "Because he was shocked that I knew his name. He knew that he was in a completely different world, which is why he was so scared." I looked down at the pokéball. "Then I gave him hope of getting home again."
"That makes sense," Wendy commented. "So the Pokémon trusted you."
"Right." I frowned then. "But...something still bothers me. Lucario is not a common Pokémon you can find."
"So?" Serena asked.
"That makes me worried that Arceus might be waking up soon..." I decreased the ball, and place Lucario in my bag.
"Really...?" Lucy sounded scared.
"We'll just need to be careful from now on," I answered. "They're not only getting as uncommon, but stronger. I wouldn't even be surprised if we saw a Victini or a Manaphy soon."
Ash lowered his head in worry. He knew exactly what I was talking about. "You're right," he replied. "We need to watch out for them."
That's when my lacrima phone started to vibrate and glow in my pocket. I opened the stone, and Mirajane's face appeared above the lacrimal in a picture. "What's up, Mira?"
"We just got another sighting of a Pokémon not far from where you are," she answered in a serious tone. "I'll send you a picture of what the authorities took." The lacrima picture changed, and sure enough, a Celebi was flying through the forest trying to find out where it was.
"Guys, look at this." I showed the image to Ash and the others, and Ash gasped louder than Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont.
"Celebi!" Ash said.
I nodded. "Just as I expected." I showed Lucy and the others as well.
"Is it...legendary?" Lucy asked.
"Pretty close," I answered. "Celebi has the power to travel through time."
"You're kidding?!" Gray exclaimed.
I shook my head. "Which is why we need to go and find it now, before it moves to a different time and changes the future or history!" Mira came back onto the lacrima. "Mira, did they say where they found it?"
"It's just off of the edge of the forest where Eevee fought that Vulcan, the East Forest. There's been a blue shimmering light on some of the trees, as well. be careful." Mira disappeared then.
"We'll use that to see where exactly Celebi is located. Let's move!"
"YEAH!!" Everyone yelled.
We all rushed to the forest, Ash letting out his Talonflame and Charizard to have them go look for the forest guardian. I also had Espeon and Umbreon help find Celebi too.
"Lucy, are there any spirits you have that can track Celebi?" I asked when I sent off my Pokémon.
"I don't think so..." She answered in shame. "Sorry."
"No prob." I turned to Natsu. "What about you? Can you and Wendy track Celebi through scent?"
"What does it smell like?" Wendy asked.
I crossed my arms, thinking. "Probably like trees and water since it's the forest guardian."
"This whole forest is trees and water!" Natsu whined. "There's no way we would pick it up without smelling our surroundings."
"He's right, Ellie." Erza said.
"Then how else can we find it?" Clemont asked.
I was about to say something when Charizard and Talonflame came swooping down to us. "Charizard, Talonflame!" Ash ran up to them. "Did you find Celebi?" Charizard responded with a growl and Talonflame nodded. "Awesome!"
That's when I saw the trees start to glow about a mile away. "Over there!" Suddenly, a bright light covered our sight, and we all had to shield our eyes. "Hurry!" I yelled.
We all ran towards the light, and Celebi was moving backwards into it while looking around in fear. It cried once, and before we could reach it, the light disappeared along with Celebi.
"NO!!" I screamed.
"What happened?" Gray asked.
"Celebi traveled through time!" I put my hands on my head in worry and fear.
"What do we do, Ellie?!" Happy exclaimed.
"There has to be a way to find it!" Serena chimed in.
I took a deep breath after panting loudly. "There is a way," I said while glaring seriously towards the sky. "We have to talk to Dialga."