CHAPTER 1491: VACATION ON KUMQUAT ISLAND

Watching the Prison Bottle get closer and closer, Hoopa Unbound shook its head in terror. But because its mouth was gagged with vines by Florges, it could only make "mm-mm" sounds to protest.

However, its protest meant nothing in Yuga’s eyes.

Yuga opened the lid of the Prison Bottle and placed it on the ground. Then he took a few elemental gems out of his spatial backpack and placed them around it. The two gem-like eyes on the bottle’s body glowed faintly, and the energy from the different elemental gems turned into light streams of various colors and were absorbed into the bottle.

When all the energy in the elemental gems had been absorbed, the Prison Bottle finally activated. A suction force specifically targeting Hoopa Unbound emerged from it. Hoopa Unbound cried out in even greater fear, making Little Hoopa watching nearby shiver uncontrollably. Seeing this, Ash quickly comforted it.

Under everyone’s gaze, Hoopa Unbound’s body began to gradually fade. It was originally just the evil thoughts of Hoopa, not a true physical being, only made manifest through its special nature. Now, under the power of the Prison Bottle, it was finally reverting to its original form.

Two or three minutes later, Hoopa Unbound, amidst unwilling howls, finally turned into a mass of pitch-black shadow and broke free from Florges’ vine restraints. It writhed, trying to escape, but was tightly sucked in by the Prison Bottle and then turned into a ball of energy that flew into the bottle.

Seeing this, Yuga quickly closed the lid of the Prison Bottle. Thus, the sealing of the Hoopa Unbound was complete.

Seeing Hoopa Unbound disappear, Little Hoopa, who had been lying on Ash’s body, let out a long sigh of relief. Patting its chest, it said, "Phew~ Hoopa is finally free."

"You still need to keep working hard on your training!" Yuga smiled as he looked at it and shook the Prison Bottle in his hand, saying, "That’s still a part of you. Everyone has evil thoughts. The real challenge is whether you can suppress them. If one day you can absorb them and still maintain your current self, then your training will be truly complete!"

Little Hoopa had trained in the Arche Valley alongside Chief Ghris for hundreds of years. Although it had gained some insights, it still couldn’t control its evil thoughts, showing that its training wasn’t complete.

This was also why the Arche Valley allowed Little Hoopa to travel with Ash for the time being. After all that time teaching it, they still couldn’t help it fully grasp the meaning of "human hearts." So, Chief Ghris wanted to try letting Little Hoopa explore the outside world, hoping it could learn how to get along with people through interacting with different individuals.

Hearing Yuga’s words, Little Hoopa’s joyful expression immediately faded. It felt like that day was still very far away.

Seeing Little Hoopa so down, Ash gently patted its head and said, "Hoopa can definitely do it. I’ll always be with you!"

Hearing Ash’s words, Little Hoopa immediately perked up again. It happily flew up, circled Ash twice, and said, "Yes! Hoopa is amazing! Together with Ash, we can definitely do it!"

Yuga put the Prison Bottle back into his spatial backpack. Watching the interaction between the boy and the Pokémon, he thought: Maybe this is why the Arche Valley entrusted Hoopa to Ash...

At the moment Hoopa Unbound was sealed, Mewtwo, who was in the sky, sensed it and notified Gengar, Mismagius, and Dusknoir to withdraw the space barrier. The small island that had vanished from the ocean reappeared once more.

The four Pokémon descended from the sky, bringing with them the Pokémon that had been under Hoopa Unbound’s control. Now that Hoopa Unbound was sealed, the other Pokémon naturally regained their freedom.

However, they were all still unconscious.

As soon as Gengar and the other three Ghost-type Pokémon returned, they dove into Yuga’s shadow space. Mewtwo then turned to Yuga to ask how to deal with the freed Pokémon.

Because the Three Legendary Birds had gone berserk, the entire island had been almost completely destroyed. It had turned into a barren wasteland, completely unsuitable for Pokémon to live on.

Yuga said, "Send them to another island."

Hearing this, Mewtwo nodded, then flew into the sky again with the unconscious Pokémon. In no time, it disappeared beyond the horizon.

Ash stood dumbfounded, staring at the already vanished Mewtwo. Of course, he recognized Mewtwo. He just hadn’t expected such a powerful Pokémon to be following Yuga.

Obviously, Ash misunderstood. While Mewtwo was indeed traveling with Yuga at the moment, they had never actually battled, so it couldn’t be counted as a proper "capture."

Seeing Ash spacing out, Yuga smiled and said, "Keep Mewtwo’s matter a secret for me, okay?" He didn’t want too many people to know about Mewtwo’s existence—that would only bring trouble.

Ash nodded dumbly.

On the other side, the three Legendary Birds also woke up. Without the control of the big Hoopa, they had returned to normal. Lugia, feeling ashamed, was scolding them, while Chimecho clung to Lugia’s head, watching the scene with great interest.

The three Legendary Birds had no comeback under Lugia’s scolding.

After dealing with Hoopa’s situation, Ash came over to Lugia and thanked it. Afterward, Lugia took the three birds and bid farewell to Yuga and Ash.

When Mewtwo returned, Yuga and Ash rode on Yuga’s Lapras and left the island, returning to Kumquat Island.

There was still some time before Ash would leave Kanto for the Alola region, so he decided to stay in the Orange Islands for a few more days, take a vacation, and do a bit of special training. Yuga thought about it and decided to stick around to have some fun too.

But before that, he made a phone call to the people at the Arche Valley, deciding to hand over the Prison Bottle containing the sealed Hoopa Unbound for safekeeping. After receiving confirmation, he and Ash checked into a hotel on Kumquat Island.

The hotel Yuga and Ash stayed at was also where the Kumquat Gym was located. The owner was Ms. Luana, the Gym Leader of the Kumquat Gym.

Ash had been here before to challenge the Gym, but many years had passed. While Ash still remembered Ms. Luana, she clearly didn’t remember him anymore.

The Orange Islands were a famous resort destination, and Kumquat Island was one of the most popular spots. So the hotel they checked into was nearly full, and even regular rooms were hard to come by.

Since Yuga and Ash hadn’t made a reservation in advance, they couldn’t get a standard room when they arrived. But Yuga had money to spare, so he booked the most luxurious suite directly.

Rooms at that level were incredibly expensive, so few people stayed in them. That’s how Yuga was able to book it without a reservation and check in successfully.

Thanks to Yuga, Ash also got to enjoy a taste of VIP treatment.

That night, the two of them soaked in a relaxing hot spring, had a lavish dinner, and even watched a Gym battle on the hotel’s first floor.

As the most luxurious hotel on Kumquat Island, the entertainment facilities here were top-notch. The first floor was dedicated to Pokémon battles and training, and it even had a large battle arena with spectator seating. It was the venue for the Kumquat Gym’s official matches. If you defeated Ms. Luana here, you’d receive the unique Jade Star Badge of the Orange Islands.

Yuga and Ash were lucky—there happened to be a Gym battle that evening, and it was pretty exciting.

Since they were VIP guests, the place where they dined wasn’t the same as where the regular guests ate. Instead, they ate in the luxury restaurant on the hotel’s top floor. The restaurant offered all kinds of food—anything you could think of, they could serve. There was nothing they didn’t have.

Yuga was truly amazed.

The next morning, Ash woke Yuga up by knocking on his door, urging him to go out and have fun. After all, coming to the Orange Islands wouldn’t be complete without visiting the beach and enjoying the sun.

When the two arrived at the beach, it was already packed with people. Ash let out a cheer and rushed into the sea with Pikachu and Hoopa, playing and splashing around in the water, while Yuga stayed behind to set up a tent with Madam Florges and Chimecho.

Yuga also released his Palossand, as the beach was its favorite place.

As soon as Palossand came out, it burrowed into the sand, leaving only the little shovel on its head visible. Since tourists came to the Orange Islands from all over the world and brought all kinds of Pokémon, Palossand didn’t stand out at all.

Once the tent was set up, Yuga put on a pair of sunglasses and lay back in a chair, relaxing with his eyes closed as the sea breeze brushed past him. He also released his Grass-type Pokémon so they could enjoy this rare sunbath.

The Orange Islands had a tropical climate, with abundant sunlight and water—perfect for Grass-type Pokémon (except Abomasnow).

Bellossom lay on a chair like Yuga, but unlike him, it didn’t hide under the tent. Instead, it lay directly under the sun. The flower on its head sparkled faintly, clearly performing photosynthesis.

Roserade stood quietly to the side, arms raised above its head, using the flowers in its hands to absorb solar energy. It stood completely still, not looking like a tourist at all—more like it was being punished and made to stand there.

Venusaur, Torterra, and Sawsbuck were all lying side-by-side with their eyes closed, equally enjoying their sunbathing. The flower on Venusaur’s back, the tree on Torterra’s shell, and the green leaves on Sawsbuck’s antlers were all excellent tools for absorbing solar energy—none of them were being idle.

Decidueye took to the sky with Kartana in tow, and before long they had disappeared from Yuga’s sight. He didn’t bother with them.

Even while sunbathing, Serperior maintained the elegance and dignity befitting a royal Pokémon. Its emerald body was coiled gracefully, its neck slightly raised, and the leaves on its tail and around its neck emitted a faint golden glow—it looked positively regal.

Only Breloom, the honest one among them, sat cross-legged next to Yuga, accompanying him in the shade under the tent.

With so many Pokémon around him, Yuga took up quite a bit of space on the beach. But this didn’t draw much attention, since there were plenty of Trainers like him lounging around the beach as well.

After lying down for a while, Yuga started to feel thirsty. Florges thoughtfully handed him a cold drink—something she had just gone to buy.

Yuga dozed off on the chair without realizing how much time had passed. Then Ash returned, completely drenched, with Pikachu and little Hoopa in tow. Panting heavily, Ash plopped down next to Yuga, grabbed a bottle of water from the table, and guzzled it down. After drinking, he didn’t forget to let Pikachu and Hoopa have a sip too.

"Whew~ That’s refreshing!" Ash took a deep breath. "Yuga, it’s not every day we get to come here. Why are you just lying around doing nothing?"

Yuga pulled down his sunglasses and looked at Ash. "I’m quite comfortable like this."

Ash pouted and thought Yuga was weird, but then started telling him some of the fun things he had encountered in the Orange Islands, including his recent reunion with Misty on Tangelo Island.

Yuga also met the Hydreigon that Ash had captured under Lugia’s guidance.

Although this Hydreigon still didn’t really acknowledge Ash, it wasn’t causing any trouble either. When Ash released it, it simply lay quietly to the side—surprisingly well-behaved.

Yuga only found out through Ash’s explanation that the Hydreigon hadn’t always been so obedient. It had caused trouble before, but after getting seriously scolded by Lugia a few times, it learned to behave.

How to describe this Hydreigon? It wasn’t exactly obedient, but it was incredibly simple-minded... or rather, dumb. This was obvious from how easily it got tricked by Hoopa Unbound into doing free labor.

Three days passed in a flash. Yuga and Ash practically explored all of Tangelo Island, and Ash’s special training plan became more of a side quest. Even so, Yuga took the opportunity to talk to him a lot about training, which Ash found very rewarding.

On the afternoon of the third day, the people from the Arche Valley arrived to retrieve the Prison Bottle—it was Meray and her brother Baraz.

The two siblings usually wore the distinctive traditional clothing of the Arche Valley, but this time they were dressed like ordinary people, showing that the Valley’s inhabitants were actively integrating into the outside world.

Meray and Baraz had already left the Valley and taken up positions within the Kalos League. Their father was the next chief of the Arche Valley, so the elders of the tribe believed it was important for the siblings to travel and gain worldly experience.

Hoopa hadn’t seen the siblings in a long time and was very happy when they reunited. But the two were very busy now, so they didn’t stay long in the Orange Islands. The very day they retrieved the Prison Bottle, they left again in a hurry, which made Hoopa feel down for quite a while.

The day after Meray and Baraz left, Yuga and Ash parted ways as well. One returned to Hoenn via a flying vehicle, and the other went back to Pallet Town.

On his way back to Hoenn, while flying, Yuga suddenly heard the system prompt in his mind—someone was trying to enter his Ecopark, triggering an alert from the defense system installed there by the system.

However, the system alert only lasted a few minutes before the intrusion ceased, and of course, the intruder failed to break in.

After several upgrades, the system’s defense was no longer something an average person could bypass.

"Do you know who the intruder was?" Yuga asked the system mentally.

[ No! ]

Apparently, the system didn’t yet have remote surveillance capabilities—at least not for now. If the intruder hadn’t triggered the Ecopark’s defense system, the system wouldn’t have even issued an alert. For example, when Team Rocket invaded before, there had been no warning at all.

Although the intruder failed to break in, Yuga was still extremely uneasy. With an anxious heart, he hurried back to Verdanturf Town.

Once home, he immediately inspected the Ecopark. Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did he finally feel at ease.

He then questioned the people and Pokémon at the store. Everyone said they hadn’t noticed anything strange, nor had they seen anyone suspicious around YoYo Day Care. That made Yuga realize that the intruder was probably far from ordinary.

YoYo Day Care was surrounded by surveillance Pokémon and successfully evading them was no easy feat.