"If it really requires waiting ten years, then I'll just come back in ten years," Julian said seriously, looking straight at Celebi, making it clear he meant what he was saying.
The thought of him being waiting here for a decade was almost terrifying.
By that time, it wouldn't just be the sealed Pokémon inside—Julian himself might clean up Celebi.
Unaware of Julian's inner thoughts, Celebi playfully tried to perch on his head but was promptly grabbed by the back of its neck.
"Believe it or not I can make you cry" Julian said, raising his fist.
Celebi: "Actually, you don't have to wait ten years."
"Oh? If that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier? How can I avoid waiting ten years?"
Celebi: "Just break the seal yourself."
It pointed at the half-meter-tall rock.
"How do I break it?" Julian asked subconsciously.
Celebi: "Like this"
With that, Celebi balled its tiny hand into a fist and punched the rock.
Crack! Crack!
The rock, already two-thirds cracked, began breaking apart at an alarming rate. What had been faintly visible black mist now became fully tangible, swirling out in thick plumes.
In the blink of an eye, large amounts of black mist poured out from the ever-widening cracks in the rock, which finally shattered completely into a pile of rubble.
Celebi: "There, it's done."
Julian was frozen stiff, staring at Celebi, which hovered next to him with an eager, proud expression.
'Has this Pokémon, alive for over a hundred years, not developed a single braincell?'
"You just broke it like that, and it was so easy! So what if any random Pokémon happened to stumble in here? Wouldn't they be able to break it too?" Julian demanded, his expression sour.
Celebi shook its head and explained. The area within a kilometer of the rock was already devoid of life, so no Pokémon would wander in, and since Celebi had created the seal, only it could break it.
Celebi: "It's coming out."
With that, it dove straight into Julian's clothes.
The black mist, instead of spreading out, began to converge in one place. Meanwhile, the shattered rock had turned into a heap of debris.
Oddly enough, the surrounding temperature started to rise.
Looking down at Celebi hiding in his clothes, Julian's mouth twitched slightly.
"What kind of Pokémon is this thing, anyway? You still haven't told me."
Celebi: "I didn't?"
"No, you only said its strength was around the peak of Elite level," Julian said.
Celebi: "-Oh-... I forgot."
Celebi's small face scrunched up in thought as it tried to remember, only to shake its head.
Celebi: "It's been over a hundred years. Isn't forgetting normal?"
This excuse was well-prepared, and Julian couldn't find a good way to argue against it.
Always bringing up 'over a hundred years ago' and casually dismissing ten years as a nap—what a flex. Living long really 'is' something to be proud of, huh?
Celebi: "It's coming."
Where the sealed rock once stood, a new stone about a meter tall slowly rose into view. Its surface was marked with three evenly distributed cracks, glowing with an intense purple light.
At the top of the stone, on either side of the uppermost crack, were two thumb-sized circular dots, resembling a pair of eyes.
These dots also glowed purple.
"This is a Odd Keystone," Julian muttered.
The distinctive three cracks and the eerie "eyes" quickly clued him in on what this stone was.
As the Odd Keystone emerged, the surrounding black mist seemed to have found its master, converging onto the stone and wrapping around it like a shroud.
When the mist and the Odd Keystone merged, a surge of sickening, hateful, and overwhelmingly powerful energy erupted from it, and Julian's complexion changed.
He shouted at Celebi, who was hiding in his clothes: "This is what you call 'peak Elite'?!!"
Celebi: "If it stayed sealed for another ten years, 'then' its strength would be at the peak of Elite level. But since you were in such a hurry and couldn't wait that long, I broke the seal early. That way, it didn't have to keep draining its strength against the seal."
Pokemon: Spiritomb (Ghost/Dark)
Level: 83 (96)
Potential: Purple
Ability: Pressure
Held Item: None
Gender: Male
Moves: Night Shade, Confuse Ray, Shadow Sneak, Spite, Payback, Nasty Plot, Hex, Memento, Curse, Sucker Punch, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Hypnosis, Dream Eater
TMs: None
Egg Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Nightmare, Psychic, Grudge, Pain Split
Notes: A Pokémon brimming with endless hatred and grudges. Its Ghost-type moves are boosted by 30%.
---
'A f*ing pseudo-Champion', Julian glared at the Celebi hiding in his clothes. 'This little pest, why can't it just explain things clearly for once?'
The black mist began to form features resembling a mouth and eyes. Within the swirling darkness, Julian could faintly see countless souls writhing in agony, their cries echoing in his mind.
Spiritomb wasn't a mythical or legendary Pokémon.
It was just an ordinary Pokémon—but its rarity was on par with mythical and legendary Pokémon.
This was because the conditions for Spiritomb's creation were unbelievably harsh.
Legends said that a Spiritomb was formed by the union of 108 souls. The balance of good and evil among these souls determined the Pokémon's alignment.
If the majority of the souls were malevolent, the Spiritomb would become a vessel of evil.
A darkened Spiritomb was ten times more dangerous than a purified one.
Fifty years ago, a corrupted Spiritomb appeared in the Pyramid Kingdom. Despite having mid-Elite strength, it managed to kill a peak pseudo-Champion-level trainer and seven or eight Elite trainers.
Its power was truly unreasonable.
The Spiritomb in front of Julian was at the early pseudo-Champion stage, but its actual strength might rival a mid-pseudo-Champion. Additionally, its Ghost-type moves had a 30% power boost.
Julian had initially thought this boost was some unique ability of his own. Now he realized that he had been entirely mistaken.
Having been sealed for over a century, Spiritomb unleashed its endless fury, wearing an expression of twisted satisfaction.
After all, being confined underground in utter darkness for so long made the fresh air above ground seem heavenly.
"Cel~"
While Spiritomb was enjoying the open air, Celebi let out a soft cry.
Celebi: "Has this guy gone stupid from being locked up for too long?"
Spiritomb, engrossed in enjoying the world outside, had not even noticed Julian and Dragonite. It seemed preoccupied with thoughts of devouring thousands of souls to satisfy its hunger.
Then, out of nowhere, it heard a voice. The voice wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear, carrying a sense of familiarity.
Spiritomb turned toward the source of the sound and saw a familiar figure.
Celebi: "Yoo! Long time no see!"
Celebi waved at it with a friendly, almost brotherly expression.
Spiritomb, however, was flooded with memories of being sealed by Celebi.
It recalled how Celebi had borrowed the power of an entire forest to trap it underground, leaving it to rot in eternal darkness for over a century.
Its strength had fallen from Champion level to its current pseudo-Champion state.
The thought of those endless, miserable years made its body tremble with rage.
The intensity of Spiritomb's aura was so overwhelming that Julian could barely breathe.
Celebi: "You're trembling. Are you cold?"
Julian: "Shut up!"
Spiritomb: "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
*****
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