Chapter 341: "Could You Snatch Up Arceus For Me?"
Right, right — "a hundred years since Hoopa summoned any of them." Uh-huh.
Mammon couldn't help finding the whole thing hilarious. You just don't WANT to summon them, is what you mean, isn't it?
More like you're scared they'd beat you half to death if you did.
Exactly as Mesprit had described — before its punishment, Hoopa had been a genuinely unrestrained deity, running wild by any measure. After all, its own Pokédex classification is literally "Djinn Pokémon" — that alone said plenty.
And the Pokédex entry for Hoopa Unbound was equally vivid on the matter:
"Its true form possesses tremendous power. Legend says that, driven by a lust for treasure, it once ripped an entire treasure-filled castle straight out of the ground and made off with it."
"Said to steal absolutely anything using its six rings and six enormous arms — sealed of its power, it now exists in a diminished, confined form."
So Mesprit's earlier claim — that other Legendary Pokémon genuinely disliked Hoopa — clearly wasn't baseless at all. After all, Hoopa Unbound is Dark-typed, and a Pokémon's personality often correlates fairly closely with its own typing.
A domineering, brutish, savage, greedy, battle-hungry deity of Dark typing — that was, quite literally, an accurate description of Hoopa Unbound. And with its innate raw power and Prison Bottle ring, Hoopa Unbound had always thrived unchecked, its casual, uninvited spatial-transfer ability letting it drag anyone it pleased straight in front of itself, consent be damned.
Just imagine — happily soaking in some magma, settling in for a good night's rest, and then suddenly, without any warning at all, getting teleported somewhere entirely different. Whose mood would that NOT ruin?
And the worst part — Hoopa Unbound's spatial teleportation had never played by any rules whatsoever. It could even reach targets sitting in an entirely separate dimension! Genuinely, outrageously overpowered.
So once its power was sealed away as punishment, even though Hoopa's mindset also regressed into something far more childlike, it still understood — deep down, however immature it had become — that it could never again use its Prison Bottle ring to summon those Legendaries.
In its Confined form, Hoopa could only control three rings, compared to the full six in its Unbound state — but even three was still very much usable.
And yet, over the past hundred years, Hoopa Unbound had never once used its rings to summon a single Legendary Pokémon.
Why, exactly?
What do you think? It was scared of getting beaten up!
"Hoopa's super well-behaved now! It never bullies anyone weaker than it!"
Hoopa tried valiantly to salvage its own image.
"...Sure, if that's what you believe." Mesprit said, faintly.
As one of the beings representing "spirit" — the "god of emotion," so to speak — Mesprit could sense exactly what Hoopa was feeling right now. But, credit where due, Mesprit had genuinely good emotional intelligence.
"Hoopa really has genuinely turned over a new leaf, though. Sure, it's still a little mischievous, but it's a genuinely kind-hearted creature these days."
Since it was practically family, Baraz still put in a good word for Hoopa.
"Yeah, yeah, Hoopa isn't bad at all anymore," Meray chimed in, equally protective.
"I believe that too — I haven't known Hoopa long, but I already think it's a genuinely good kid," Mammon added with an agreeable smile.
"Baraz, Meray, Mamon~"
Hoopa was practically tearing up now, its voice thick with genuine emotion.
"It's Mammon, not Mamon," Mammon corrected once more.
"So your ring can teleport any Pokémon at all, freely? Absolutely any of them?" Caitlin asked, genuinely curious.
"Yep! Pokémon, humans, or even objects — anything at all!"
The moment its beloved ring came up, Hoopa perked right back up, pulling the ring off its belly to show off proudly.
"Hmph~ whether it's Dialga and Palkia sitting in their own separate dimensions, or Giratina in the shattered Distortion World — Hoopa can pull them all in with total ease."
Hoopa was thoroughly proud of itself.
"That's incredible~!" Platinum marveled, genuinely astonished.
"Heheh~ that's just how amazing Hoopa is!" Hoopa thoroughly savored Platinum's admiration.
"What about Arceus, then?" Mammon casually dropped the question.
"Hoopa can snatch up literally anything — Arceus is... Arceus doesn't count! Mamon's mean!"
Hoopa, mid-boast, nearly walked straight into the trap, catching itself just in time and turning to glare at Mammon, thoroughly irritated.
Snatch up Arceus? If it could actually do THAT, would it even still be stuck in this sealed form to begin with? It would've already stormed the Hall of Origin, booted that alpaca right off its throne, and crowned itself the new boss ages ago!
"Hahaha~ Hoopa, you really are adorable."
Mammon couldn't help himself, pulling Hoopa in and giving its little cheeks a pinch.
Baraz and the others couldn't help laughing at that either.
"Since you've got this kind of power, Hoopa, could you do me a favor?"
Mammon thought it over and asked.
"Mm~ what kind of favor?" Hoopa blinked.
"I'm quite fond of Diancie, but I haven't been able to track down where she is."
"Diancie? Oh, the one who lives underground?"
Hoopa mulled it over — a faint memory, but not much more than that.
"Right. Could you snatch her over here for me?"
"I mean, I could, sure. Are you trying to catch her, Mamon?" Hoopa hesitated for a moment.
"That's right. I'm quite fond of Diancie," Mammon said. He felt his "mascot squad" was genuinely missing a Diancie.
"Then, um, could you not force her into it if she doesn't want to, Mamon? Like, if Diancie doesn't want to be your partner?"
Hoopa's words genuinely caught Mammon off guard.
Mesprit, too, shot Hoopa a fairly startled glance.
"Honestly, I'm a little surprised to hear you say that — but I promise you, Hoopa, I will."
Mammon replied with a smile. Sounded like a hundred years of punishment really had changed Hoopa quite a bit.
That, presumably, had been the whole point behind Gurkinn's original sentencing in the first place — to give Hoopa genuine empathy, and let it truly understand what a real bond actually meant. Which meant that even once it eventually reclaimed its former power, the reckless, lawless "Djinn of Malice" it had once been would be well and truly gone for good.
"If Diancie doesn't want to become my companion, I won't force her."
"Heheh~ okay then, I'll go snatch Diancie over for you!"
Hoopa grinned with a distinctly mischievous glint — finally, a chance to summon a Legendary Pokémon again. It was genuinely thrilled about it.
The meal was, without question, a thoroughly pleasant time for everyone involved. Once they finished eating, Hoopa immediately started hurrying Mammon out to the courtyard — genuinely more eager about this than Mammon himself, if anything. Naturally, Baraz and Meray followed along too.
"Look at me, look at me, everybody watch this~"
Hoopa drifted back and forth excitedly, the very picture of an attention-hog.
It pulled the ring off its belly and tossed it forward. The ring settled on the ground ahead, its center flaring up with a hazy, dreamlike glow.
Hoopa extended an arm, slowly spinning it.
"Hoopa~ snatch it up~!"
With Hoopa's little "chant" ringing out, the spatial ring slowly expanded — and before long, a beautiful, thoroughly bewildered-looking Pokémon tumbled out from within.
It managed to steady itself just in time, though, hovering just above the ground, its ruby-red eyes scanning the surroundings with genuine confusion. No words were needed at all — its distinctly human-like expression alone told the whole story.
Where is this? How did I even get here?
"It actually... it actually appeared? That's honestly a bit too—"
Absurd, that's what it is!
Platinum's better upbringing barely managed to catch the curse before it slipped out of her mouth entirely.
Wait, what even IS this thing?
Sure, Hoopa had already told them earlier that its ring could summon even the dimension-locked Creation Trio deities — but hearing it described was one thing; watching it happen with her own eyes was an entirely different level of impact.
Platinum had literally just watched it happen — a casual wave of a hand, one little chant, and a living, breathing Mythical Pokémon simply appeared out of thin air!
The HELL?!
Wait — didn't that mean owning Hoopa was practically the equivalent of owning access to literally every Pokémon in existence???
"This is unbelievable~" Caitlin's beautiful eyes flickered with genuine astonishment — even someone as well-traveled as her found this genuinely shocking.
Because she'd thought exactly what Platinum had — this wasn't just a "Hoopa" — this was practically a walking collection point for the entire species catalog!
Well — except Arceus, apparently, given Hoopa's own claim that it couldn't reach it.
But was that genuinely "can't," or was it actually "wouldn't dare"?
"Hehe~ were you two scared of Hoopa?"
Hoopa drifted around, circling Caitlin and Platinum, hand over its mouth, grinning mischievously.
It was thoroughly satisfied with the two women's reactions right now — genuinely, deeply gratified.
"You definitely scared me, Hoopa — you're really something~"
Platinum offered up her praise without any reservation at all.
"Heheh~ that's just how amazing Hoopa is~!" Hoopa drifted around happily, thoroughly delighted.
Watching this unfold, Baraz shook his head in resignation, exchanging a knowing, amused glance with Meray.
Mammon, meanwhile, was studying this Diancie, looking her over top to bottom with clear satisfaction. Nice. A genuine little diamond heiress right here.
"Um..."
Suddenly, a soft, hesitant voice rang out.
An unfamiliar but genuinely lovely voice — telepathic, at that. Everyone turned immediately toward the newly-summoned Diancie.
Noticing all these humans' attention suddenly locked entirely onto her, Diancie instinctively backed away, looking a little frightened.
"No need to be scared, Diancie. We won't hurt you."
Mammon stepped forward, his voice gentle, a faint golden glow rising as he spoke, soothing the fear rising in Diancie's chest.
Ever since receiving Arceus's gift, Mammon's original Power of Viridian had merged and integrated with it — yeah, Arceus's own power carried a similar affinity-boosting effect, just significantly more potent.
Under the influence of Arceus's power, Diancie's nerves settled considerably.
"I'm Mammon. Pleasure to meet you, Diancie."
"Mammon? I'm Diancie. Likewise, a pleasure to meet you."
Diancie no longer seemed nervous, offering a graceful little bow in return, thoroughly polite.
Her telepathic voice still carried plenty of confusion, though — she genuinely had no idea what had just happened. One moment she'd been in the Diamond Domain, standing before her own subjects; the next, she was suddenly here.
"Could you please tell me where this is? Why am I here?" Diancie asked, tilting her head, puzzled.
"This Pokémon feels like... a genuinely well-bred noble, somehow," Meray murmured quietly to Baraz.
That was exactly the impression Diancie gave off. Sure, she was just a Pokémon — but everything about her, from her manner of speech to her posture, carried an unmistakable air of refined, cultivated grace. Genuinely remarkable.
"Mm, and she's beautiful too — no wonder she's a Mythical Pokémon. Makes sense why Mr. Mammon said he was so fond of her," Baraz said, nodding thoughtfully.
Living in the Vale of Creation didn't mean Baraz was completely cut off from the outside world — he ventured out occasionally, and honestly, he was something of a trainer himself. So Baraz knew perfectly well — Diancie was Kalos's own legendary Mythical Pokémon!
"Tch~ Hoopa's a Mythical Pokémon too, you know. And Hoopa thinks she's not as pretty as Reshiram."
Overhearing Baraz's comment, Hoopa pouted.
As far as its own taste went, it genuinely felt this tiny Diancie couldn't hold a candle to Reshiram's looks.
Shame, really — if it weren't so worried Reshiram might just breathe fire on it the moment they crossed paths, Hoopa would honestly love to catch up with it for old times' sake.
Ahem — well, technically, it HAD beaten up Reshiram once, a hundred years back. Wonder if Reshiram still remembers that.
Yeah — it really hoped Reshiram wouldn't hold it against it.
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