Chapter 72 Separated, Lost in the Ancient Era
"It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?" Pryce murmured to himself as he stopped at a certain point in time, watching his two Lapras perish on the icy plain. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
When Ron and the young Celebi caught up, this was the scene they witnessed. Ron sighed and said, "Senior Pryce, why do you have to do this? You already exist in that timeline, and a single timeline can't allow two of you to exist simultaneously. If you forcefully enter, only one can survive when the current and past versions of yourself meet, and as the intruder, you'll simply disappear. This is the rule of time."
Ron had previously asked Celebi about the rules of time, hoping there might be a way to help Pryce. But upon understanding the rule, he knew Pryce couldn't accomplish this on his own. Forcefully capturing Celebi would only end in tragedy.
"I can help you," Ron said. "I don't exist in that timeline; I can lend you a hand."
Pryce excitedly grabbed Ron's shoulders and said, "You're really willing to help me? Thank you, thank you!"
Seeing the elderly man holding him, sobbing uncontrollably, Ron couldn't bring himself to refuse. Sighing, he said, "Celebi, let's go in."
Celebi shook its head, softly protesting a few times. It knew that if they entered another timeline, returning accurately to their original timeline would inevitably have some deviations. This deviation might be as small as one second or as big as several years; it didn't want Ron to take this risk.
"Wait. These are the two Lapras Poké Balls; it'll be quicker this way," Pryce removed his mask and handed over two Poké Balls.
"Celebi, let's try," Ron said as he took the Poké Balls.
Celebi frantically shook its head, refusing to let Ron take the risk.
"Use this then. I'm counting on you," Pryce handed the GS Ball to Ron, then fell into the time tunnel himself, disappearing from sight.
"Is it worth it?" Ron muttered. Holding tightly onto the GS Ball, Ron's eyes grew determined as he whispered, "For Pryce's sincere love for Pokémon, let's give it a shot!"
Ignoring the protests of the young Celebi, Ron charged into the past timeline. Soon after, he found himself on an icy plain. In the distance, he saw the younger Pryce and two Lapras struggling desperately on the ice.
"I hope I'm not too late!" Ron increased his speed, sprinting across the ice. Seeing he was close enough, he pressed the Poké Ball buttons, recalling both Lapras just as they were about to fall into the icy crevasse.
He tossed the two Poké Balls towards the stunned younger Pryce, but then found he couldn't stop his momentum and slid straight toward the icy crevasse himself.
"Watch out!" the younger Pryce shouted. Ron helplessly realized he couldn't control himself and fell directly into the crevasse.
"Everything depends on this!" Ron immediately broke open the GS Ball, releasing Celebi.
Just before Ron hit the ground, a time tunnel formed beneath him, and Ron plunged straight into it.
Once inside the time tunnel, Ron discovered he still couldn't control his movement and continued hurtling backward uncontrollably. Celebi telepathically said, "This is bad. Your intervention in history has caused a time disruption. We don't know what era we're being dragged into!"
"Seriously? This can happen too?" Ron couldn't help but complain.
Then, an overwhelming pressure surged toward him. Ron decisively passed out, his unconscious body tossed chaotically through the turbulent flow of time.
In an ancient land, one human and two Pokémon fell from the sky onto the back of a gigantic Pokémon. The enormous impact immediately awakened Ron, who spat out a mouthful of blood before fainting once again.
The giant Pokémon scratched its back, picked up Ron and the two Celebi, and observed them curiously. What kind of creature was this? It recognized Celebi, who governed time and protected forests. Though their relationship wasn't very good, it wouldn't harm them.
But what was this other creature? Could it be a human from another era? It seemed a bit different from the current humans, the Pokémon thought. But seeing the blood at Ron's mouth, it knew he was injured and decided to treat him.
The giant Pokémon placed Ron and the two Celebi onto a large rock, then went off to find medicinal herbs. If Ron had been awake, he probably would have screamed out—because this Pokémon wasn't just any Pokémon; it was Groudon! Moreover, it was Primal Groudon!
Although, strictly speaking, it shouldn't be called "Primal" Groudon, since it was the ancient era, and this was its original form.
Groudon soon returned with medicinal herbs and also brought back a small, bowl-shaped rock. It placed Ron and the two Celebi into the stone bowl and squeezed the herbs forcefully. The medicinal juice filled the bowl, giving them a healing bath.
Groudon didn't waste the remaining herbs either, chewing and swallowing them directly.
At this moment, Ron, still unconscious, couldn't hear the system notification. Otherwise, he would've been ecstatic.
"Ding. Absorbable body-strengthening energy detected, commencing absorption."
"Ding. Constitution +1, Strength +1, Constitution +1, Strength +1, Constitution +1, Strength +1..."
The physical strength Ron had painstakingly trained was now rapidly increasing. These were medicinal herbs Groudon used to heal itself when injured. Considering Groudon's enormous size—standing five meters tall and weighing 999.7 kg—one herb was sufficient to heal it. For Ron, it was an enormous supplement!
Ron slowly opened his eyes, somewhat dazed. He saw two worried Celebi looking at him. He was about to greet them, but an enormous head suddenly blocked his entire view. A loud roar nearly made Ron faint again.
After a long recovery, Ron finally came to his senses and said, "Sorry for making you worried."
"Kid, we've landed in the ancient era. Let's not run around; we should wait for rescue patiently," the older Celebi said telepathically.
The young Celebi angrily pounded Ron's head with its tiny hands and feet, scolding him, probably calling him an idiot.
Ron scratched his head in embarrassment, then noticed the other gigantic Pokémon and instantly opened his mouth wide in shock. "Groudon! And it's Primal Groudon! Wait, no. This is the ancient era, so it shouldn't be called Primal Groudon. This should be its regular form."
Ron then noticed his entire body was covered in sticky green liquid, and even his hair was greenish. Confused, he finally noticed the system notification. Seeing that his constitution and strength had skyrocketed into the seventies, Ron excitedly jumped up, only to discover his leap reached over three meters high.
Instinctively trying the Six Powers technique from the system, he surprisingly managed to create a small explosive sound mid-air, pushing himself slightly higher. Ron laughed out loud in excitement, only to fall back down onto the rock painfully.
Rubbing his aching chest, Ron confirmed he had become incredibly stronger and could now barely use the Six Powers technique.
"Thank you, Groudon," Ron learned from Celebi that Groudon had saved him and sincerely expressed his gratitude.
Groudon nodded with narrowed eyes, giving a somewhat terrifying smile.
There was no helping it. For such powerful and intimidating Pokémon, acting cute or adorable was impossible; simply not frightening someone to death was already fortunate.