Chapter 340: Hoopa Says It's Been a Hundred Years Since It Last Summoned Them!
"Speak! Why is Arceus's scent still on you?! Or Hoopa'll get Baraz to teach you a lesson!"
Hoopa Unbound, all bark and no bite, hiding behind a bigger figure's authority, threatened him in an adorably squeaky little voice. But between the childlike tone and its current posture, it came off far more like a display of cuteness than any real intimidation.
Yeah — its whole body was tucked behind Baraz, with only half its head peeking out.
Arceus?!
Baraz startled at that, but caught on quickly.
"Hoopa, don't be so rude. These are our guests."
Baraz scolded Hoopa, exasperated. To Baraz, Hoopa was both a dear friend and something like a child. It had been his and his family's friend since he was small, and while he and his sister had grown up and matured over the years, Hoopa had stayed exactly as mischievous and playful as it had always been — not a single bit changed.
"But he really does have a really strong smell of Arceus on him."
Hoopa still refused to come out from hiding, clinging tightly to Baraz's clothes.
It's not that it was a coward, honestly — it was just genuinely scared, okay?!
A hundred years ago, back when it had been the carefree, all-powerful Hoopa Unbound, its raw power and its innate Prison Bottle ring had made it completely untouchable, running wild wherever it pleased, doing whatever it wanted.
Then, one day, a human showed up and sealed its power away, sentencing it to this diminished, "confined" form as punishment.
Not even the Sinnoh Creation Trio had managed something like that — but a single human had genuinely pulled it off.
Wait, this guy was actually HUMAN??
But Hoopa had come to understand, eventually, that this human, Gurkinn, while technically human by species, was really something else entirely — practically a superhuman. And the reason he possessed such extraordinary power was because he devoted himself to Arceus, as did everyone else in this strange little valley — trained in these remarkable abilities since childhood.
And Gurkinn had been, by far, the most exceptional among them all.
"Mr. Mammon, have you genuinely met the Great One?"
Seeing Hoopa in such a rare, thoroughly cowed state, Baraz found himself finally believing it.
"Yes. I had the privilege of encountering Arceus once, and it granted me a special power."
Mammon nodded with a smile, raising his palm slightly, a dazzling yet gentle golden light flaring to life.
Hoopa swallowed hard, curling itself in even tighter behind Baraz.
It could sense it clearly — this energy resembled Gurkinn and Baraz's own power, but it was noticeably far more concentrated, far purer.
Oh no. ANOTHER superhuman!
And this one had been granted his power directly by Arceus itself — probably even more terrifying than Gurkinn!
"That really is the Great One's own power!" Baraz, though, was genuinely excited, raising his own hand as the golden light gathered into a circular pattern like a magic seal.
"Oh? You can do that too, Mr. Baraz?"
Platinum blinked, surprised.
"Yes, this ability's been passed down through our family for generations — we've trained in it since we were children."
The golden light in Baraz's hand faded. He was mature by nature, and had already settled back into his usual calm.
"According to what our great-grandfather told us, it's because our ancestors once received a gift from the Great One, and that power has flowed through our bloodline ever since. Anyone who trains diligently enough can master it."
Whoa!
Platinum couldn't help clicking her tongue in amazement. An ability that's genuinely passed down by blood?
Caitlin's beautiful eyes flickered slightly. So if that's the case... would a future child of hers and Mammon's also inherit this power granted by Arceus? Well — that certainly wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
Caitlin had personally witnessed Mammon demonstrate this power before — it was genuinely versatile, far more practical, honestly, than her own psychic abilities.
"That's why we've always devoted ourselves to worshipping the Great One — though sadly, we've never once witnessed it descend and perform a miracle again ourselves," Baraz said, with a note of genuine regret.
"Arceus has been dormant for a long while — it only recently woke up. But it lives in another dimension entirely, so actually meeting it in person really is genuinely difficult," Mammon explained.
"As for the Arceus scent Hoopa detected — this is probably it. Arceus gave this to me."
Mammon pulled the Azure Flute out of his bag, and the moment it appeared, Hoopa's head shrank back instantly.
"No need to be scared, it's just an item — it won't hurt you."
Mammon couldn't help but laugh, though it was clear Hoopa's psychological trauma around Arceus really did run pretty deep.
"Hoopa is NOT scared!" Hoopa felt genuinely insulted, puffing its cheeks out defiantly.
"Is that so?" Mammon raised an eyebrow, his smile half-teasing.
"I— I mean, even if Hoopa's, like, a TINY bit scared of Arceus, that's totally normal, okay!"
Hoopa suddenly went a little sheepish, avoiding Mammon's gaze, eyes darting around as it added that qualifier.
But Hoopa genuinely felt there was nothing wrong with it. Was being scared of Arceus really a problem? Arceus was the Creator God, for crying out loud!
And, more importantly...
Arceus hadn't even had to lift a finger — just a human it had granted power to had been enough to take Hoopa down and seal its power away. Sob...
Just thinking about it stung.
"Haha~ okay, I'll stop teasing you. I know, Hoopa — you're genuinely amazing."
Mammon put the Azure Flute away with a laugh, offering Hoopa some genuine praise.
"Really?!"
Hoopa's eyes lit up.
"Being able to smell all those Pokémon on me alone is already really impressive," Mammon said with a smile.
"Yeah, Hoopa, you know so many Legendary Pokémon!" Platinum agreed wholeheartedly.
"Heheh~ Hoopa used to be SUPER strong! Hoopa could snatch up loads of opponents and beat them all!"
Hoopa put its hands on its hips again, head held high, thoroughly proud of itself.
Mammon just smiled and said nothing further. Hoopa really was genuinely adorable — innocent, cheerful, and utterly starved for praise, a hundred years running, apparently unchanged. Seemed like in its confined form, not only had its body shrunk and its power been sealed, but its mindset had regressed considerably too, staying genuinely childlike.
Once he learned that Mammon had genuinely received a gift directly from Arceus, Baraz's demeanor grew noticeably warmer still, sincerely inviting the three of them over to his home to sit and chat. Mammon had no objections at all.
—
"Hoopa!! You actually came BACK here?!"
The moment they stepped through the door, a frying pan came flying straight at them, hurtling directly at Hoopa.
Hoopa scrambled in a panic, whipping out its golden ring and "swallowing" the incoming pan whole, letting out a relieved breath.
A young woman in white stormed toward them, visibly furious — leaving Platinum and Caitlin both blinking, taken aback.
"Ahem. Meray, we have guests," Baraz said, rubbing his temples in exasperation, addressing his sister.
"Huh?"
Meray's expression froze on the spot as she finally noticed Mammon's group standing behind Baraz and Hoopa. Her face immediately flushed red, and she stood there, utterly at a loss for what to do.
"That... Meray's not usually like this," Baraz offered, a dry, awkward explanation on his sister's behalf, trying to salvage what he could of her image.
"That's right, that's right — Meray usually just throws a chair. This is actually the first time she's used a pan," Hoopa chimed in helpfully, nodding along with total sincerity, as though offering genuinely reassuring context.
Crack. Crack.
That was the sound of Meray's knuckles cracking as she clenched her fists.
"It's fine, Miss Meray's got real spirit," Mammon said, smiling warmly, smoothing things over.
"Are you in the middle of cooking, Miss Meray?"
"Oh, right! You all should stay and eat with us — my cooking's pretty decent, if I do say so myself," Meray said quickly.
"Eating together~ Mamon's eating too!" Hoopa, no longer scared of Mammon in the slightest, was actually warming up to him considerably now, thanks to the earlier praise.
"We wouldn't want to impose, but since you insist," Mammon replied, gracious as ever.
"Also, Hoopa — it's Mammon, not Mamon."
He knew Hoopa had a bit of a lisp, but "Mamon" honestly sounded a little too feminine for comfort.
"Hoopa, come with me."
Meray grabbed the thoroughly reluctant Hoopa by the scruff and marched it into the kitchen.
Mammon, meanwhile, released his "mascot squad" and settled into the courtyard to chat with Baraz.
Before long, Meray called everyone in for dinner. Worth noting — Hoopa emerged looking thoroughly wilted, like a frost-bitten eggplant, clearly having been through something in that kitchen. But the moment it spotted Jirachi and the others, it perked right back up instantly, diving straight into the mascot squad, thoroughly delighted, working the room like a natural.
Naturally, conversation at the dinner table turned to Hoopa itself. Baraz and Meray fell easily into recounting the events at Geosenge Town a hundred years ago.
"So Hoopa wasn't always like this?"
"Of course not! Hoopa used to be REALLY big!"
Hoopa drifted over immediately, declaring this with obvious pride.
"Ummm..." Watching this playful, adorable little creature, Platinum genuinely struggled to picture it.
"Hoopa really was super strong back then! Reshiram and Kyogre couldn't even beat Hoopa!"
Seeing Platinum's evident skepticism, Hoopa got a little worked up.
"If you don't believe me, tell Mamon to let out Reshiram and Kyogre — Hoopa beat both of them a hundred years ago!"
"It's Mammon, not Mamon," Mammon corrected again.
"Hoopa really was strong, yeah — it was widely acknowledged as a genuine deity back then. Mm~ most Pokémon didn't really like Hoopa, but it genuinely was powerful," Mesprit chimed in, since it knew Hoopa personally too.
As one of the six deities of creation, Mesprit wasn't especially strong itself, but its perspective and lived history far outstripped what most other Pokémon could match.
And the "most Pokémon" Mesprit referred to meant the other Legendaries.
"That's not true, everyone loved Hoopa," Hoopa insisted stubbornly.
"But even Regigigas doesn't really like you very much, Hoopa," Mesprit said, tilting its head, playing innocent.
"Tch~" Hoopa pouted.
"So a lot of Legendary Pokémon know Hoopa?" Platinum blinked, curious.
"Because Hoopa's Prison Bottle ring has genuine spatial power — even Palkia and Dialga, who reside in different dimensions entirely, could be forcibly pulled through by it. And that kind of forced spatial transfer comes without any warning at all."
Mesprit explained.
That kind of power actually exists?!
Platinum stared at Hoopa in astonishment.
"And back then, Hoopa's personality was thoroughly domineering, cruel, and battle-hungry — it constantly abused that spatial advantage to summon other Legendary Pokémon just to bully them for fun. Which is exactly why nobody really liked Hoopa," Mesprit continued.
Ohh, that explains why, in the movie, the moment Kyogre and Groudon get freed and summoned by Hoopa, they immediately turn around and attack Hoopa itself — turns out this wasn't the first time this had happened at all. Mammon couldn't help a small laugh at that.
Having its own dark history bluntly exposed by Mesprit, and now catching everyone's slightly odd looks — even with all the shamelessness Hoopa had going for it, it still couldn't help scratching its head awkwardly.
"Hoopa doesn't do that anymore, okay?! It's been a hundred years since Hoopa summoned any of them!"
(End of chapter)
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you