Chapter 292: Unbound Form
Upon hearing Ryan's words, Meray's face instantly darkened. She asked seriously, "Who exactly are you?"
"Me?" Ryan smiled faintly. "Didn't I tell you before? I'm Ryan. But perhaps you don't know my identity. I'm the president of the Mercenary Guild, and also the founder who single-handedly established it. And the Mercenary Guild's backer is Arceus. You can ask those who know me; my reputation is quite good."
Lillie also looked at Ryan curiously, her heart itching with questions: How does Ryan know all this?!
Meray remained silent, and Hoopa sensed the awkward atmosphere; the mischievous smile on its face gradually disappeared. At that moment, Hoopa suddenly jolted, staring blankly at the horizon.
Hoopa's strange reaction caught Meray's attention. She asked, "Hoopa, what's wrong?"
"Hoopa has a bad feeling. Hoopa feels like Hoopa's going to disappear. Hoopa doesn't want to disappear."
A look of fear crossed Hoopa's face. It cowered behind Meray, its large eyes filled with deep terror. Meray could even feel Hoopa's hand trembling slightly as it gripped her clothes. This was the first time Meray had seen Hoopa react like this. Hoopa was usually a troublemaker, always unruly. When had it ever shown such a reaction?
Considering what Ryan had just said, Meray was beginning to believe him. Just then, a cry came from the horizon. A large Talonflame flapped its wings and hurtled towards Ryan and his companions at incredible speed.
"It's my brother! Has he found the Prison Bottle?" Meray exclaimed, watching the Talonflame approach.
The Talonflame quickly reached above them, circled a few times, and then descended. As the Talonflame landed steadily, a man dismounted from it and recalled it to its Poké Ball. He looked at the silent crowd, a faint red glow in his eyes.
In his hand was the Prison Bottle; he spotted Hoopa among the crowd and raised it, aiming it at the Pokémon. Hoopa felt a force sealing its movements. Stiff and fearful, Hoopa stared at the Prison Bottle, the voice within growing louder—the rage of a power sealed for a century, a desire to replace Hoopa's consciousness, a desire to become the true Hoopa!
Seeing Hoopa unable to move, the man, controlled by the evil entity, pulled open the lid of the Prison Bottle. The instant the lid opened, a surge of blue-purple energy erupted, engulfing the immobile Hoopa.
Freed from the evil entity's control, the man collapsed to his knees, rubbing his forehead in pain. He stammered, "What happened to me?"
"Brother!" Meray rushed to his side, concerned.
Ryan and Lillie watched as Hoopa was enveloped in a blue-purple energy body. Hoopa cried out in pain, then its body gradually grew larger within the energy body, slowly returning to its original form.
In its Unbound form, Hoopa became enormous, resembling a giant. Its ponytail grew larger and stood upright, its horns lengthened, and its arms increased to six, normally inserted upside down into six round holes on either side of its body, palms facing inward. When moving, its arms could fly out, each arm wearing a golden ring, doubling the number of usable rings compared to before its transformation. It had a dark round hole in its chest, two legs, and a long tail.
"Hoopa's power, its true power has returned!"
Hoopa's voice in its Unbound form was somewhat deeper, but its strength was rapidly increasing. It had gradually broken through the gates of pseudo-legendary status, reaching the level of a lesser legendary, then a mid-tier legendary, but hadn't yet reached the level of a major legendary, though it was very close.
"That's great, Hoopa! You've finally recovered," Meray said happily.
"Hoopa is powerful!" Hoopa shouted.
But Ryan could already sense that something was wrong with Hoopa's aura; a violent power was slowly brewing. Hoopa froze for a moment, then rolled to the ground.
"Hoopa!" Meray and her brother ran towards Hoopa anxiously.
But just then, a stone wall blocked their path, stopping them in their tracks. Seeing that they weren't rushing towards Hoopa, Diancie loosened her grip, and the stone wall gradually crumbled.
"Ryan, what do you mean?" Meray said angrily.
Meray felt like she was about to explode with rage. From the beginning, Ryan had been spouting nonsense, then bringing up Arceus, and then saying Hoopa was in danger. But now Hoopa had regained its power and hadn't changed. His warnings had seemed false; now he wasn't warning anymore, but openly interfering?!
"Look closely."
Ryan's cold voice reached their ears. Only then did Meray and her brother realize that Hoopa's eyes had lost their pupils, turning completely blood red!
Hoopa roared as it rose from the ground. Six golden rings detached from its arms, gradually enlarging and hovering above its head. A torrent of black sand poured down from the golden rings. As the black sand poured out, Hoopa swung its arms, sending two black sand tornadoes hurtling towards them.
"Stop! Hoopa!" Meray's brother raised the Prison Bottle, successfully sealing Hoopa's movements. The two black tornadoes, now out of Hoopa's control, turned into black sand and poured down.
"Do you believe us now?" Lillie said calmly, still quite angry at Meray's ungrateful behavior.
After all, no matter who it was, if you saved someone and were then suspected and distrusted, no one would feel good.
"How could this be?!" Meray said, somewhat devastated.
Her brother used the Prison Bottle to reclaim Hoopa's power. Powerless, Hoopa shrunk back to its Confined form, falling helplessly at Lillie's feet. However, the Prison Bottle lay on the ground, untouched by anyone. Touching it would allow the evil entity to control them, opening the bottle and unleashing Hoopa's power, causing it to rampage again!
"Now, you have two paths before you. One is to release the power and let Hoopa suppress it with its willpower. The other is to capture Hoopa in a Poké Ball, making that power question its existence, and it will naturally dissipate."
(End of Chapter)
Author's Note ✍️
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