Chapter 360: Hoopa: "Once I Get My Power Back, White Dragon, Just You Wait"
The weather was lovely today. Mammon lounged leisurely in the courtyard, soaking up the sun, humming along to a quiet tune, enjoying grapes that Caitlin peeled and fed to him one by one.
More than a week had passed since the great battle in Lumiose City. With Kalos's business largely settled, Mei and the others had spent a few more days sightseeing before heading back to Unova. As for Lysandre and the rest of the prisoners, Mammon hadn't gone to see them yet — he figured he'd let them stew for a few more days first.
With nothing particularly pressing at the moment, Mammon had been spending his days casually hanging around with Caitlin and the others, and his nights with either Diantha or Viola.
Then a phone call came in.
"Baraz? What's up?"
Mammon answered, smiling.
"Mammon, something's happened." Baraz's tone was genuinely heavy.
"Don't rush, tell me." Mammon raised an eyebrow.
"It's hard to explain properly over the phone. Would it be possible for you to come out to the Vale of Creation, if you have the time?"
"Sure, give me a minute."
Mammon licked his lips. He had a pretty good idea what this was about — for Baraz to sound this genuinely troubled, it could only mean one thing: something had gone wrong with the Prison Bottle.
"So the legend's about to kick off, then."
He hung up the phone, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"Something happen over at the Vale of Creation?" Caitlin hadn't quite caught all of it.
"Yeah, sounds like something's gone wrong. Which actually works out well, timing-wise."
Mammon rose to his feet and stretched broadly.
"Caitlin, let's go watch a proper Legendary showdown unfold."
"A once-in-a-thousand-years kind of spectacle~"
—
The Vale of Creation.
The spatial ring opened, and Mammon stepped through first, greeted by the sight of Baraz and Meray, along with a thoroughly listless, wilted-looking Confined Hoopa.
Following behind Mammon came Caitlin, Platinum, and Serena.
"Mammon, you came."
"Mamon~"
Confined Hoopa's mouth drooped, drifting slowly over to Mammon with its two little arms outstretched, clearly asking for a hug.
Mammon caught the little deity easily enough, patting its back.
"I'm here. It's okay, it's okay," he reassured it.
"Also, it's Mammon, not Mamon." He didn't forget to correct it either.
"Mm-hm~ I know, Mamon~ That thing was so scary, Hoopa was so scared."
Confined Hoopa nodded repeatedly.
Mammon: "..."
Watching this unfold, even Baraz and Meray, weighed down as they were, couldn't help a small laugh, the atmosphere lightening considerably.
Standing beside Platinum, Serena watched Confined Hoopa with genuine curiosity. She'd originally been sparring with Platinum in training when Mammon suddenly called it off, saying he was bringing them along to witness something genuinely once-in-a-lifetime.
She hadn't seen the "big spectacle" yet, but this Pokémon's ability alone had already left her thoroughly astonished. Pass through a ring, and suddenly you're somewhere else entirely?
"Baraz, what exactly happened? Is someone specifically targeting Hoopa?"
Mammon didn't bother with pleasantries, asking Baraz directly.
"It's not that, it's..." Baraz shook his head, his brow tightly knitted.
"Mammon, I mentioned before that I wanted to help Hoopa reclaim its sealed power."
"Yeah, I remember." Mammon nodded.
"So I've spent the last couple of days searching for the Prison Bottle — the one our great-grandfather used to seal Hoopa's power away originally. I found it today."
"But strangely enough, the moment Hoopa reclaimed its power, it fell into a genuinely bizarre state — its mind seemed to be affected somehow."
Baraz said gravely.
"Is that so?" Mammon put on a face of genuine shock, glancing at Confined Hoopa.
"Mm-hm, once its power came back, all Hoopa could see was total darkness, and it was so scary, like there was another Hoopa staring at Hoopa."
Confined Hoopa's mouth drooped, shrinking its neck down.
"And here's the most important part — I have absolutely no memory whatsoever of actually retrieving the Prison Bottle. But Meray told me I came back riding Braviary, and the moment I got here, I opened the Prison Bottle myself!"
Baraz added this crucial detail, his tone thoroughly grave.
"I suspect..."
"That whatever's inside the Prison Bottle has developed its own self-awareness, and can control anyone who comes into physical contact with it."
Mammon said thoughtfully.
"That's right." Baraz nodded.
"But can raw power actually develop self-awareness on its own?" Platinum was genuinely stunned. Was that even possible?
"Nothing in this world is truly impossible. And honestly, the very fact that Hoopa's power could be stripped away and sealed separately in the first place was already quite extraordinary."
"Sealed away for a hundred years, and with the intensity of resentment built up inside that seal — developing into a genuinely materialized consciousness of grudge and hatred isn't entirely implausible either."
Mammon looked over at Confined Hoopa, its little face scrunched up in genuine confusion, clearly just as baffled by the whole thing.
How could its own power possibly be this messed up?
"So the real question now is exactly what that vengeful consciousness actually wants."
"Hoopa, what do you think?"
Mammon asked Confined Hoopa directly, since it had already come into "personal" contact with the thing. Baraz, though also controlled by Evil Hoopa, had no memory of the event at all.
"I... I don't know. It felt like it wanted to make Hoopa disappear..."
Confined Hoopa felt genuinely wronged by this — deeply, thoroughly wronged.
Damn it, its own power actually wanted it to disappear entirely — who was it even supposed to complain to about THAT? This was completely upside down!
But the real issue was, Confined Hoopa genuinely couldn't understand why any of this was happening. Had it done something wrong?
Sure, Evil Hoopa had been sealed in the Prison Bottle for a hundred years — but it wasn't like Confined Hoopa hadn't WANTED to reclaim that power. It simply had no idea where to even start looking. Right now it was practically helpless — aside from its ring, it wasn't even confident it could beat a Rattata in a straight fight.
"Very classic setup — the copy trying to replace the original," Mammon summarized.
"Or maybe it needs Hoopa's actual body specifically — after all, it's just raw power right now. It needs a physical form to properly manifest itself in this world."
Sure, in the movie, Evil Hoopa had managed to condense a physical body purely out of raw energy alone — but Mammon had good reason to suspect that materialized form couldn't sustain itself indefinitely. Otherwise, why would Evil Hoopa be so single-mindedly obsessed with Confined Hoopa specifically?
"So what do we do now, Mammon? The Prison Bottle's already been taken out, and right now, just touching it is enough to have your mind taken over."
Meray sounded genuinely anxious.
The Prison Bottle still sat abandoned in the grass nearby — neither Baraz nor Meray dared go near it, terrified of falling under the grudge's control themselves. But this couldn't just be left unattended forever, either — because whether human or Pokémon, anyone who touched the Prison Bottle would fall under Evil Hoopa's control, and it could just as easily use them to free itself from the Bottle again.
"There are two options."
Mammon thought it over.
"First — without any physical contact, bury the Prison Bottle completely somewhere remote and unpopulated. But there's a genuine risk to that."
"We can't be certain whether that power might someday break free on its own, or whether some Pokémon living underground might accidentally come into contact with it."
Mammon continued.
Hearing this, Baraz's brow furrowed — honestly, this option wasn't especially appealing. Exactly as Mammon said, the risk was significant.
"Second — release the power directly, and let me confront it myself, figure out exactly what it wants. If defeating it can make this grudge disappear entirely, that would be the best possible outcome."
"And if even that doesn't work, then Hoopa itself should try communicating with this consciousness directly — since the one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. Hoopa, at the end of the day, that power is yours. Whether you can reclaim it or not, I think the real key still lies with you."
Mammon looked at Confined Hoopa.
"What do you think?"
"Hoopa picks option two!" Confined Hoopa didn't hesitate for even a moment, its eyes now blazing with genuine resolve.
"That's Hoopa's power! That belongs to Hoopa!! It actually wants to erase Hoopa? That's completely backwards, how DARE it!"
Confined Hoopa waved its little fists indignantly, thoroughly outraged at how utterly unreasonable and audacious this force had been.
Watching Hoopa in this state, everyone present couldn't help but smile.
"And besides, with Mamon helping Hoopa, Hoopa's not scared of that thing at all!"
This was Confined Hoopa at its most confident, since it figured even its own full-power self, at peak strength, probably wouldn't stand a chance against Mammon anyway.
Let alone some mere grudge-consciousness.
After all, all those Legendaries hanging around Mammon weren't there just for show, were they?
"This is genuinely the best option. I'll have to trouble you, then, Mammon."
Baraz agreed wholeheartedly — given the choice between the two, he'd absolutely have picked the second option too. Because the first option might buy some peace of mind short-term, but the long-term risk was simply too great.
"Not a problem at all — we're friends, after all, and besides, I've genuinely grown fond of this little guy."
Mammon gave Confined Hoopa's little head an affectionate pat.
"Mamon~!" Confined Hoopa was genuinely moved to tears.
"It's Mammon, not Mamon." Mammon corrected it out of pure habit at this point. Was this lisp of Hoopa's genuinely incurable?
Confined Hoopa stuck its tongue out mischievously.
"Alright, let's find someplace out of the way and get started."
Mammon released Reshiram's Poké Ball.
The pure, flawless Dragon of Truth landed before the group, its head held high with cool, regal composure.
"Yaay~ Reshiram, Reshiram, do you remember me?"
Confined Hoopa's eyes lit up, and it immediately flew in front of Reshiram, asking hopefully.
Reshiram's clear blue dragon eyes lowered, fixing on Confined Hoopa.
"Hoopa?"
Reshiram's cool, gender-neutral telepathic voice rang out.
It didn't seem entirely certain — the scent was genuinely familiar, but how had it ended up so tiny, and so... weak?
Reshiram's dragon eyes narrowed slightly. Hoopa really had grown weaker.
"Yep, that's me, Reshiram~ It's been a hundred years! Did you miss me at all—WAAAH! What's the big idea, Reshiram!"
Before Confined Hoopa could even finish speaking, it clutched its rear end and fled for its life.
Yeah — Reshiram had just breathed a burst of flame straight at it.
Confined Hoopa was thoroughly outraged, hiding behind Mammon, glaring furiously at the Dragon of Truth.
Watching Confined Hoopa get its tail thoroughly scorched, Reshiram's whole dragon body felt genuinely satisfied.
Well, well, look who's on the receiving end for once!!
"Uh..."
Watching Reshiram set Confined Hoopa on fire, Platinum and the others were more than a little taken aback.
"Mamon! Your Reshiram's bullying me!" Confined Hoopa was thoroughly aggrieved.
And here it had come so warmly, wanting to reminisce with Reshiram over old times, too.
"Have you forgotten what you did to it back in the day?" Mammon couldn't help a laugh.
Confined Hoopa gave a sheepish little smile. Damn it! If it weren't for its own power betraying it, would some measly white dragon ever DARE set it on fire?!
Fine. It would let this slide, for now. But this insult would not be forgotten!
Once Hoopa gets its power back, white dragon — you'd better watch yourself!
☆☆☆
-> 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