ray turned to look at the young man standing quietly behind the others. "And who might this gentleman be?"
Naoki gave a polite nod. "Hello. I'm Naoki."
"He's a good friend of w!" Hoopa interjected proudly, floating between them.
ray blinked, surprised. "A good friend? Then… are you the Trainer of w and the Teddiursa?"
"I suppose you could say that," Naoki replied with a small smile.
His gaze then drifted to Hoopa. There was sothing off. He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "This child's aura… it feels incomplete."
ray was taken aback by the comnt.
"What do you an, Hoopa's power is incomplete?" Ash asked, confused.
Turning to Hoopa, then back to the group, ray let out a soft sigh. Seeing everyone's concerned expressions, she decided not to hide the truth.
"That's because Hoopa's true power has been sealed away."
"Sealed?!" Ash, Serena, and Clemont echoed in surprise.
ray nodded. "A long ti ago, before Dahara City beca the bustling place it is now, it was just a quiet desert town. Everything changed when Hoopa appeared."
"At first, it was harmless. It borrowed so food… but in return, it brought treasure beyond imagination. The town flourished, and the people began to revere Hoopa."
"One day, the townspeople asked Hoopa to show them its strength. So, it began battling other Pokémon, and won, again and again."
"To prove its might, Hoopa even summoned legendary Pokémon… but in doing so, it lost control."
Naoki listened silently, already guessing what was coming next.
ray continued. "It was then that our great-grandfather used the Prison Bottle, also called the Pot of Punishnt, to seal away Hoopa's overwhelming power. That's why Hoopa is in this state today."
"My older brother Baraz is searching for the bottle now. Once he returns with it, we'll be able to restore Hoopa's strength."
She turned to look at Hoopa. "You're not scared… are you?"
Hoopa rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Hehe… maybe just a little…"
Ash and his friends stood there in stunned silence, taking it all in.
"It's just as I thought," Naoki said quietly.
Everyone turned toward him.
"If I'm not mistaken… the sealing power used on Hoopa ca from Arceus, didn't it?" he asked.
"Arceus?!" Clemont exclaid, adjusting his glasses. "Isn't that… the Pokémon said to have created the world?"
ray hesitated for a mont, then slowly nodded. "Our ancestors shared a telepathic bond with Arceus. Because of that, He entrusted them with divine power. Our great-grandfather could wield that power freely… but sadly, neither my brother nor I have reached that level yet."
She paused, frowning slightly. "But… how do you know all this?"
Naoki gave her a calm look. "Because I also share a connection with Arceus."
ray stared at him in disbelief.
Naoki's gaze turned to Hoopa.
"We can't keep going like this," he said seriously. "I can sense it, if Hoopa's sealed power is released all at once, it won't reintegrate. It'll turn on Hoopa instead. That fury... it'll consu everything, even Hoopa itself."
"But…" ray's face paled. She looked uncertain and overwheld.
Just then, Hoopa's expression shifted. It suddenly felt sothing, an ominous presence.
Its eyes widened, scanning its surroundings nervously.
A sharp screech pierced the sky.
Everyone looked up.
"That's Braviary!" ray exclaid in joy. "My brother's back!"
She ran toward the square up ahead, her eyes locked on the figure descending from the clouds.
The mighty Braviary landed with a thud, and Baraz jumped down from its back, holding the Prison Bottle in his hands.
"You found it!" ray bead. "The Prison Bottle!"
"Wait!" Naoki's expression turned grim. "Sothing's wrong!"
Before anyone could react, Baraz, his expression vacant, uncorked the bottle and aid it directly at Hoopa.
A surge of black and purple energy burst forth, instantly wrapping around Hoopa like chains.
"Ahhh!" Hoopa scread in pain as its body convulsed and twisted.
"What's going on?!" Serena gasped, watching in horror.
Hoopa's body began to swell and distort under the dark energy. In seconds, it had transford into a massive figure—its alternate form.
The Liberated Hoopa.
Baraz suddenly staggered, clutching his head as if waking from a trance.
The control over him had vanished, but the chaos had only begun.
Dark energy pulsed violently from the monstrous Hoopa. Its eyes glowed an eerie red, and with a roar, it raised one of its enormous hands and reached for Baraz, the one who had held the Prison Bottle.
Just then, a wave of blue light surged from the bottle, forming a protective barrier around the group.
But the threat didn't end there.
Hoopa's floating rings, the golden portals it controlled, rose into the air. It reached into one, pulled out a crumbling building from elsewhere in the city, and hurled it straight at the group.
"w! Psychic Shield!" Naoki barked.
w launched a powerful psychic wave, smashing into the flying rubble. The resulting explosion sent a shockwave through the square.
"Ms. ray!" Naoki shouted urgently. "Use the Prison Bottle now! Seal that energy before it overwhelms Hoopa again!"
"Y-Yes!" ray snapped out of her daze. She raised the bottle high, aiming at the rampaging Hoopa.
A swirling vortex opened inside it. The vacuum began to suck the excess power out of Liberated Hoopa, bit by bit.
Ti seed to slow as the terrible energy was steadily drained. The once-monstrous form shrank and dimd until Hoopa returned to its smaller, sealed state.
Exhausted and powerless, Hoopa collapsed in the air, falling toward the ground.
Before it hit, w caught it gently with its psychic powers, cradling the weakened Pokémon in midair.
But Hoopa's struggle had dislodged the bottle from ray's grip. It flew out of her hand and landed nearby.
Naoki saw her instinctively reach for it, and imdiately shouted, "Don't touch it! The Prison Bottle can take over your mind!"
ray froze, withdrawing her hand just in ti.
She looked back and forth between the bottle, the mysterious young man before her, and the weakened Hoopa resting in w's care. Her face was etched with concern and confusion.
"Mr. Naoki… what's really going on?"
...
Inside a quiet restaurant in Dahara City, the warm glow of the setting sun filtered through the windows.
Naoki sat across the table from Ash and his friends, joined by the siblings ray and Baraz. Plates of untouched food lay between them, forgotten amidst the heavy atmosphere.
"I could feel it clearly," Naoki said, his voice calm but serious. "The anger sealed inside the Prison Bottle, it isn't just energy. It's resentnt. That power belonged to Hoopa, but after being locked away for a hundred years, it twisted into sothing darker. That rage… it's what controls anyone who touches the bottle."
Baraz nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the ancient container now held securely by Clemont's chanical arm. "So I wasn't imagining it…" he murmured. "When I first found the bottle buried in the desert, I only ant to bring it ho. But the mont I touched it, sothing took over . I couldn't stop myself…"
He clenched his fists under the table, still haunted by how helpless he'd been.
Hoopa, floating nearby, shivered at the mory.
"Hoopa felt it too…" it said quietly, voice trembling. "It felt like... like Hoopa was being erased. Hoopa doesn't want to be freed like that. It was scary...really scary!"
ray reached out, gently patting Hoopa on the head, her expression filled with concern.
"It's okay, Hoopa."
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