Return

On their way back to the village, Yuga and Shadowsong encountered General Moro and others who were also heading to the village with a group of people.

Due to their larger group, Yuga and Shadowsong, who were traveling on Pokémon, couldn't move as fast.

So, Yuga and his group decided to travel back to the village together with General Moro and his team.

After over a month of long and arduous journey, Yuga and his companions safely returned to the village with the people they had rescued.

Because a significant number of new residents had joined the village, they immediately started contributing to the village's development upon their arrival.

Later, Yuga received news that the Vante Empire had emerged victorious, completely conquering the entire Arus Empire. The capital of Arus had been destroyed, reduced to a lifeless city.

However, the Vante Empire didn't invest much effort in governing the region. Due to the influence of Groudon, a large part of Arus had turned into a desert, making it unsuitable for human habitation.

The Vante Empire wasn't interested in dealing with such a challenging situation.

This lack of attention from the Vante Empire meant that Yuga's remote village remained undisturbed, nestled in peace.

A month and a half later, Celebi appeared before Yuga and told him it was time to leave.

Only Shadowsong and Ruby knew that Yuga came from the future, so when Yuga left, these two were the only ones who came to bid him farewell.

Honestly, Yuga was reluctant to leave this place. After all, he and Shadowsong had built it from scratch, together with every brick and soldier.

He had spent over two years in this era, which was longer than the time he had spent in the modern world after his time travel. He had also formed a deep friendship with Shadowsong.

This parting meant that they might never see each other again, and there was also Ruby, who always followed him around, calling him "Second Master."

But he had to leave; he didn't belong to this time. In the future, he had loved ones, friends, and comrades waiting for him, not to mention the Pokémon Day Care that he had worked so hard to build.

"Farewell. Take care of yourselves!"

Yuga hugged Shadowsong tightly. Shadowsong nodded gently, not uttering a word, but Yuga saw a glimmer of tears in his eyes.

"Ruby, too!"

Yuga patted Ruby's messy head and forced a smile.

Unlike the reserved Shadowsong, Ruby's emotions were on full display. While wiping away tears, Ruby sobbed loudly.

"S-S-Sec... Second M-Master, you... you... take care! I'll... I'll always remember... remember you!"

Ruby managed to say through sobs.

"Yeah, I'll remember you all too. After I'm gone, train hard and become a great help for the First Master!"

Yuga advised Ruby.

"Yeah... I will... I definitely will."

Ruby wiped away a tear and nodded vigorously.

"After I leave, you can tell others that I've gone on a journey."

Yuga told Shadowsong. Though he was trying to hold back his emotions, Yuga could still hear the choked voice in Shadowsong's reply.

"Alright."

"We should go!"

At this moment, Celebi urged Yuga from above.

"Take care!"

Yuga waved a sorrowful goodbye to Shadowsong and Ruby, then he was enveloped in Celebi's time-traveling energy. A white light flashed, and Yuga disappeared before Shadowsong and Ruby's eyes.

Inside the time-space corridor, Yuga seemed to faintly hear Shadowsong and Ruby loudly shouting their farewells to him.

However, in just a momentary distraction, Yuga tumbled out of it!

"Little Yuga?"

Yuga raised his head and saw his master, who initially looked surprised and then confused.

"Master!"

Yuga called out joyfully. After more than two years, he had finally returned, and the sadness of parting had lessened.

Compared to ancient life, he indeed preferred the modern world.

"How did you..."

Mr. Kuni'o was the first to notice Yuga's matured face and increased height.

After Yuga came out, Celebi also emerged from the time-space ripple.

Yuga explained to Mr. Kuni'o, "Master, things are quite complicated. I'll explain it to you in detail later."

Mr. Kuni'o glanced at Celebi, then back at Yuga, suppressing his curiosity, and nodded.

Celebi said, "You've safely returned, and my mission is complete."

"Thank you," Yuga replied.

"You're leaving now?" Yuga asked.

Celebi nodded, "Yes."

"Then... could you find a way to change my appearance a bit?" Yuga said somewhat hesitantly.

Celebi quickly realized what Yuga meant.

Although Yuga had spent over two years in the past, in the modern world, only a short time had passed, making his sudden growth in appearance quite noticeable.

"Actually, after receiving my blessing, your lifespan is much longer than that of an ordinary person, so you don't need to worry about these things," Celebi said after some thought.

Yuga was momentarily stunned. "I'm not concerned about my lifespan! I've known about that for a while! Just look at Mr. Kuni'o; he's over a hundred years old and still quite healthy. He even mentioned it to me."

So, two years of extra age weren't a big deal for someone blessed by Celebi. However, the sudden change in his appearance might still make people raise their eyebrows.

Yuga expressed his concerns to Celebi.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," Celebi regretfully replied.

Although Celebi could traverse time and space, it couldn't reverse a person's aging independently.

Seeing Yuga's disappointment, Celebi offered some consolation, "Actually, it's not a big deal. Miracles happen all the time in this world. Something strange happening to you won't be a major event."

Yuga had to reluctantly accept Celebi's reassurance.

After bidding farewell to Yuga, Celebi disappeared back into the time-space ripple.

Then, Yuga explained to Mr. Kuni'o in detail everything that had transpired during his time in the past, including the connection between Celebi and the lineage they served.

"I never thought that in just a moment, you would experience so many extraordinary things," Mr. Kuni'o marveled, even though he was a well-traveled and knowledgeable person.