Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

“If the internal factional struggles within Hoenn and Larus are like this, imagine how they are dealing with external threats.” Naki sighed and patted Rukia’s shoulder. “I’m not speaking up for Ash, but you really should thank him… He didn’t publicly challenge Wallace because he was thinking of you and your family!”

Mikkuri is now the flag of Hoenn, but this flag is only raised by those people because it has value.

Once he falls, the people of the Glass will be just like Larus is now, completely at the mercy of others!

What awaits Rukia at that time, Naki really doesn't want to say...

This is probably the survival rule of the wealthy and noble.

They are united against external forces most of the time, but once an internal faction declines, they will not hesitate to use the most ruthless means to divide up these resources in order to prevent outsiders from obtaining them!

Chapter 895 Misty Mountain, the Ruins of the Libra Puppet

After leaving Lilycove City, Ash and Serena headed south along Route 119.

During their journey through Longevity Town, Serena also participated in the second Grand Contest.

This town has an R1-level tournament venue, where only Coordinators who have obtained at least one Ribbon can register to participate.

However, because the area had been ravaged by Groudon before, there weren't many players this time; most of them were members of the town's PMDM.

The Pokémon-Loving Moms Group is a community of mothers in the area who love Pokémon Contests. They raise Pokémon together and then participate in Contests held in various locations.

By the way, many people in this group are "mommy fans" of a certain green-haired guy~

Serena sent out Long-tailed Fire Fox for this match, and in a contest of this caliber, Magical Fox would naturally win with ease.

In the first round of review, Serena used her best move, the Flower of Flames, and her beautiful performance stunned the audience, easily earning her the highest score of 28.5.

The second round of battles was equally unstoppable, with the opposing Coordinators unable to withstand the onslaught and falling one after another to Fennekin's wand.

Thus, the second ribbon was easily obtained.

They will then travel to Mauville City via Route 118. After obtaining the Mauville Gym Badge, they will visit several cities in western Hoenn that regularly host Contests, ensuring that their schedules are not disrupted.

To avoid taking any detours, Ash is leading Serena across Mist Mountain.

"As expected, the mountain lives up to its name... The fog here is so thick that we can't see anything at all." Looking at the white expanse around them, Serena couldn't help but tighten her grip on Ash's hand.

This is very similar to what happened before in the Karolskibna Heights, where the thick fog also affected visibility to less than a meter.

Furthermore, since Team Magma used Mist Mountain as their new base, it suffered extensive damage from Groudon. Not only were the trees on the mountain bare, but the ground was also full of potholes, making it easy to trip and fall if you weren't careful.

The two groped their way through the fog, but as they walked, Xiaozhi suddenly felt a jolt.

"Ugh..." A strange dizziness suddenly came over him, and he unconsciously covered his head.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Serena immediately helped him up with concern.

"My superpowers detected something unusual... no, it's the sensing of time ripples!"

Ash initially thought it was a psychic disturbance, but he soon realized that the feeling came from a deeper part of his mental world.

He did absorb Celebi's time ripples, but he has never been able to use this power actively. He can only store it in his psychic abilities and use it as a medium to cooperate with Alakazam to foresee the future.

But this time, the time ripples reacted on their own.

He followed the ripples and soon found a cave covered by fallen rocks.

Ash summoned Alakazam to clear away the rubble and found that the internal passageway was relatively well-preserved. He and Serena made their way forward in the dark, and the thick fog around them gradually dissipated.

Finally, they found a hidden underground stone chamber and stopped in front of a mural.

"Are those Libra dolls in the painting? They seem to have lived with ancient humans?" Serena asked curiously.

"This is a Libra doll site. The murals depict the ancients collaborating with Libra dolls to create civilization... They called their inventions the most important treasures in the universe."

"What could be the most important treasure in the universe?"

"It's time."

Ash recalled this plot point; there were indeed episodes in the Advanced Generation anime that involved time travel.

Within this Libra doll ruin lies a magic circle capable of traversing time, which can only be activated by the Libra doll standing within the circle and using high-speed rotation.

The protagonist of that episode seemed to have seen his future self...

"This must be it." Ash confirmed, finding a collapsed and buried stone platform.

After having Alakazam help move the rubble, they indeed found markings on the stone platform similar to the magic circle in the mural.

"Is this the time machine... Hey, there are words on the back." Serena looked at the stone platform curiously, and then discovered that there was a text carved on the wall behind it.

'Approved...approved...'

Where is this path? It's Libra's little path.

Coming here was easy, but going back is terrifying...

It's scary as it is, but it still has to pass, it has to pass...

"Was this carved on later?" Serena guessed. This kind of modern writing was definitely not left by the ancients.

“There must have been someone researching this ruin before, but they probably haven’t come back because of the recent riots,” Xiaozhi said after thinking for a moment.

The magic circle kept calling to him, and out of curiosity, he moved closer to take a look…

hum!

Suddenly, a burst of intense light erupted from the array, completely engulfing Ash's body.

At that moment, he seemed oblivious to his surroundings, and Serena and Pikachu's shouts faded into the distance...

His consciousness seemed to have been thrown into a pitch-black vortex, where he could only be forced to accept a sliver of light emanating from the center of the vortex amidst endless spinning.

The band of light was actually composed of countless images that flashed back and forth in front of Ash like a carousel, seemingly reinforcing his belief that this was his future.

They challenged the Hoenn League without bringing their old Pokémon, and ended up only making it to the top eight in the Sailor Moon Tournament.

The challenger knew to bring back his old Pokémon, but ended up encountering the legendary Pokémon in the final four.

He was relegated from the top tier of the Unified League and ultimately lost to Kotetsu in a ridiculous match.

Despite facing various unfavorable predictions from the Carlos Alliance, they ultimately secured second place and topped the rankings with a physical victory.

After challenging the Alola League, I finally succeeded in winning the championship... although the process was a bit unconventional.

Finally, after licking a certain dog for an entire season, he finally defeated the self-proclaimed world's strongest Dan and successfully won the World Championship!

...

Xiao Zhi said, "Master Zhi is indeed pretty awesome."

Ash has always admired his courage, perseverance, and passion for Pokémon.

So Ash doesn't know what kind of ending would be worthy of all the hardships he's endured along the way...

But whatever the ending may be, it has nothing to do with Ash now... Why make him accept this kind of future?

What's more, he simply didn't see the future!

After winning the World Championship and having a sluggish performance, he returned to Pallet Town, gave an abrupt answer about 'Pokémon Masters,' and then everything came to an abrupt end…

"Heh... The reason the ending is so rushed is because you simply couldn't come up with anything." Ash sneered from within the dark vortex, resolutely closing his eyes. "No matter how many times I see it, it's useless... I won't accept this ending, and this shouldn't be my ending! I will face my future head-on, even if it's worse than what's before me!"

hum!

The surrounding space shook again, and Xiaozhi felt his consciousness being thrown out with great force. He didn't know how long he rolled around before he felt his feet on solid ground again.

The surrounding environment brightened, and Xiao Zhi found himself in a forest. It was quiet and peaceful, with only a small river meandering through it, making pleasant sounds.

But Ash didn't enjoy it at all. When he saw the Pikachu statue, he knew where he was.

The Star Stop, as prophesied by Celebi!

"As expected... this is my future."

Chapter 896 Regretful Expectations, From the 'Past'

The prophecy of the Star's Stop was originally made by Celebi for Blue.

Back in Pallet Town, Blue used this as an excuse, embellishing the story with a bit of "promoting feelings and preserving the good times," successfully convincing Ash's girlfriends to throw a Silver Party...

Back then, everyone had seen the world after the stars stopped... but it was just a fleeting glimpse, not as detailed as Ash's experience this time.

As Ash strolled through the forest, he gained a deeper understanding of the place.

Indeed, there are all sorts of Pokémon statues here, maintaining fixed poses and expressions, much like they look after Yveltal has drained their life force.

However, not all Pokémon turned into statues. Ash still saw some Rattata and Bibarel taking a walk, and Pidgey and Spearow would occasionally flit across the branches in the forest.

There was no fighting, not even loud chirping; everything seemed harmonious…

However, Ash soon discovered the truth behind this so-called harmony.

Two little Rattatas bumped into each other, and they seemed to finally lose their temper and started arguing fiercely.

But just as they were baring their teeth at each other, a strange cluster of crystals suddenly sprang up from the ground and completely sealed their bodies!

As the crystal shattered, the two arguing little creatures turned into statues... just like the other statues around them, frozen in place, their bodies still bearing fragments left from when the crystal cluster pierced their bodies.

"Wow... this is really nuclear-level." Seeing this scene, Ash couldn't help but shiver.

So this is the true nature of the Star's Stop.