The man held the Prison Bottle and silently recalled Braviary into its Poké Ball.
"Brother..." Meray stood up and started walking toward him.
Baraz said nothing. He simply opened the mouth of the bottle, calm and precise.
"Diancie!" Steven shouted suddenly. "Moonblast!"
Diancie flinched, startled, but reacted quickly all the same. She raised her hands high, and pink energy gathered above them, forming a glowing orb of light.
From inside the Prison Bottle in Baraz's hand, wisps of Haze began pouring out. Little Hoopa, floating in the air, trembled all over, his eyes wide as he watched the Haze rushing toward him.
Diancie's Moonblast surged forward to block the Haze — but the Haze tore straight through it.
The Haze poured into Little Hoopa's body. Black flames burst to life all over him, and his eyes flashed red. Slowly, his body rose into the sky, growing larger as his shape began to change.
The black flames faded away.
What remained was a towering giant, standing well over ten meters tall — far larger than the 6.5 meters listed in the Pokédex — radiating a heavy, oppressive presence. The braids on his head had grown huge and now stood straight up, and his horns had lengthened. His arms had multiplied to six, each one fitted into a circular hole along his sides. Every arm wore a golden ring, and there were now twice as many usable rings as before, in his Unbound Forme. A dark, circular hole sat in the middle of his chest. He stood on two legs, a long tail trailing behind him.
"He's huge! Hoopa got huge!" Bonnie looked up, eyes wide with wonder.
"Is that... evolution?" Clemont guessed.
"No," Meray said. "This is Hoopa's true form."
Steven stepped out of the pavilion and looked up at the towering figure in the sky. Honestly, he thought, this form isn't nearly as charming as the little one.
He turned his attention to Baraz, who was closing the Prison Bottle again, a look of confusion spreading across his face.
"Wonderful, Hoopa! You've finally returned to your true form!" Meray called up happily.
Hoopa grinned and spread all six arms wide. "Yes... this is it. This is the power!" His voice boomed across the field. "Hoopa! So strong!" He opened his mouth, baring two rows of jagged teeth, and let out a booming laugh.
Watching him laugh like that, Steven couldn't help but think — he really doesn't look like a friendly Pokémon at all. No wonder people say not to judge a Pokémon by its looks... though right now, it was hard not to.
Meray turned to her brother and asked carefully, "Brother, is it really all right to open it here?"
Baraz frowned down at the bottle in his hands. "Why... am I holding this?" he murmured. "I don't understand what just happened."
Meray's expression froze. Did that mean this hadn't been his choice at all?
"The true power keeps flowing out! Amazing!" Hoopa clenched his fists, thrilled by the energy surging through his body.
Then, without warning, a flash of black light crackled across his massive frame. His tail dropped and smashed straight through the small house everyone had just been resting in, and his enormous body crashed to the ground.
Boom!
Everyone scrambled out of the way to avoid being crushed.
"Ngh..." Hoopa slowly floated back up, his back to the group, black flames still licking around him. Then, as if sensing something, he turned his head and fixed his crimson eyes on the Prison Bottle in Baraz's hand.
"Not good!" Steven shouted.
Hoopa lunged, stretching one massive arm toward Baraz.
Bzzt! The Prison Bottle flared with blue light, forming a translucent shield that stopped Hoopa's hand cold. Startled, Hoopa pulled his arm back — and a ring of light slipped loose from it.
"Hoopa's not himself right now, Ash!" Steven warned.
"Right!" Ash nodded, understanding at once.
Hoopa twisted his wrist, and from the floating ring of light, he pulled out a chunk of broken rubble and hurled it straight at the group.
"Diancie, Diamond Storm!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
A wave of glittering pink diamonds and a bolt of gold lightning shot out one after the other, smashing the flying debris to pieces before it could reach anyone. The shattered stones scattered — and something let out a sharp hissing sound as they struck it.
"Everyone, get back! It's too soon to try bringing Hoopa back!" Baraz called out, gripping the Prison Bottle and stepping forward.
"Then let me handle it — it was my idea in the first place!" Meray said firmly, grabbing his hand.
"Hurry!" Steven shouted urgently. Are they really arguing about that right now?!
Hoopa's power hadn't fully returned yet, but even so, it already far outmatched the strength of a typical Champion-level Pokémon. Steven had no real way to deal with an opponent on that scale — even with Pikachu no longer just performing for the crowd, the outcome was far from certain.
Meray took the bottle and stepped forward to try to stop Hoopa — but Hoopa had already torn off another chunk of rubble and swung it at them, forcing her to freeze in place.
"Don't be afraid — keep going!" Steven called out.
Diancie's Diamond Storm and Pikachu's Thunderbolt fired again, smashing the incoming debris to pieces.
Meray raised the Prison Bottle and aimed it at Hoopa.
"Ngh!" Hoopa's whole body locked up, unable to move.
Meray twisted the lid open and pointed the bottle's mouth straight at him. Blue flames ignited across Hoopa's body, slowly shifting into a mix of blue and purple — the power inside him fighting back, trying to take hold of his body completely.
Looking back at how Hoopa had acted after growing large, it was clear he hadn't cared much about the Prison Bottle at first. He'd been too absorbed in the power surging endlessly through him. It was only once the black flames appeared that something had gone wrong. What the Prison Bottle had sealed away wasn't only Hoopa's power — it was his malice, too.
Little Hoopa only ever wanted to play pranks. That was simply how he was — a child at heart. He would never turn on the people around him like that.
Slowly, Hoopa's energy was pulled back into the Prison Bottle, and his massive body began shrinking back into Little Hoopa's familiar shape.
Steven moved to run forward, but before he could take a step, Ash shot past him at astonishing speed. Watching Ash's back as he dashed ahead, Steven smiled faintly and lowered the foot he'd just raised.
Little Hoopa dropped weakly from the sky, and Ash caught him perfectly, cradling him in his arms.
Meray sealed the Prison Bottle shut.
Bzzt! A ripple of energy burst from the bottle, knocking Meray backward. Baraz quickly caught her, and the Prison Bottle slipped from his hand, landing softly in the grass behind them.
"So scary..." Little Hoopa said weakly, opening his eyes and looking up at Ash.
"What did you just say?!" Baraz turned sharply, staring at Hoopa in Ash's arms, confusion written all over his face.
Had he and Meray gotten it wrong? They had truly believed Hoopa was ready to handle that kind of power.
But now...