Chapter 234

"Shodai-sama, do you know how I managed to travel through time?"

Walking down the streets of Alliance City, Charlotte was puzzled about how she had crossed time. "Could it be that the Time God saved me?"

"Highly unlikely."

Dak shook his head, denying that possibility.

A hundred years is enough time for some Pokémon to become indifferent or even cold-blooded, especially those crowned with the title of 'God.'

Dialga nowadays is the type that wouldn't meddle in others' affairs. The chance of it proactively saving someone a century from now is very, very low.

Unless, during this hundred years, Charlotte's elders had done some great favor to Dialga.

"Then what could it be?"

"Perhaps, a user of the Toki Toki no Mi from the One Piece world saved you."

Dak suggested a possibility but didn't forget another one. "In the shrine at the back, have you seen a statue of a Pokémon called Celebi?"

"Celebi?"

Charlotte furrowed her brows and thought carefully. "There's no such statue in the shrine, but I remember hearing when I was young that someone had seen an unknown Pokémon in the Alliance Forest, one not recorded in the Pokédex. Someone brought a picture to the Fourth Alliance Leader, who said it was a Pokémon called Celebi."

"Celebi can also take people through time. However, its control over time isn't as precise as Dialga's, which can measure time down to seconds. When Celebi time travels, it can only do so in yearly increments."

Dak explained Celebi's existence to Charlotte.

Based on his guess, that Celebi must have been born in the Alliance Forest without his knowledge.

It's similar to how the Viridian Forest gave birth to the Viridian Celebi. For a Celebi to exist, the Alliance Forest in a hundred years must have grown significantly.

This would explain why there is no statue of Celebi in the shrine.

If Dak himself had summoned Celebi from the mystical mall, he would definitely have erected a statue in the shrine.

As for how Celebi ended up in the One Piece world, that's unclear. Perhaps Celebi had been silently following Charlotte from the beginning.

Or maybe, a Celebi had been born in the One Piece world.

Celebi, unlike Dialga, is not a unique deity. It's possible for Celebi, a mythical Pokémon, to appear naturally due to environmental factors. Whether there is a forest capable of producing Celebi in the One Piece world a hundred years later is uncertain.

"So, either a Toki Toki no Mi user saved me, or Celebi did?"

"That possibility is more likely."

Dak nodded, but he didn't speak with absolute certainty.

Who knows, maybe Dialga had a hand in it.

In fact, he could summon Dialga now and ask. Dialga could use its power to see if it saved Charlotte in the future.

However, Dak didn't want to do that. He had always forbidden Dialga from using its time powers to see the future and the past.

Abusing time's power might cause the newly born Dialga to lose the joy and process of its own growth and quickly turn into a numb and indifferent 'god.'

"I wonder who the Toki Toki no Mi user a hundred years from now will be..."

Charlotte began pondering this question.

Dak glanced at her before looking away.

The identity of the Toki Toki no Mi user a hundred years from now is unknown. For now, there isn't such a user in this world because Kozuki Toki hasn't crossed over yet.

In a way, this world is currently without the Toki Toki no Mi.

"Good morning, Dak-oniisan~"

Walking down the street, Dak suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him, feeling a sense of unease.

He glanced at Charlotte beside him.

She had already turned around and was staring blankly at the little boy who had just called out to Dak.

"Ah, good morning."

Dak turned around with a stiff smile and greeted Naruto, careful not to call him by name.

He was gambling, hoping Charlotte wouldn't recognize Naruto.

"Hahaha, Dak-oniisan, is that your girlfriend?"

"No. By the way, Naruto, are you planning to start raising Pokémon?"

That's probably your great-granddaughter.

Dak pointed to the crimson-colored Pokémon egg in Naruto's arms.

"Yeah, I plan to enroll in the Pokémon Academy, so Grandpa said it would be good to start raising a Pokémon now. That way, we can go to school together."

Naruto couldn't help but glance at Charlotte, who had been staring at him silently from the start. Feeling a bit scared, he quickly found an excuse to leave.

"Was that just now... my great-grandfather?"

Charlotte looked at Dak excitedly and asked, "Uzumaki Naruto?!"

"So you recognized him. Thank goodness you didn't shout it out."

Dak breathed a sigh of relief, fearing she would call it out then and there.

"Wow, I never expected my great-grandfather to be so cute when he was young, hahaha."

The girl burst into laughter, not knowing what she was on about.

Dak then led Charlotte toward the Founding Hall. Currently, he was the only one in the Founding Hall.

Mainly because, apart from him, there didn't seem to be anyone who had made significant contributions to the entire Alliance or had become a champion yet.

"So many changes in a hundred years."

"I remember the roads here weren't this narrow, and there used to be so many cars."

"And that Didi Pokémon Company over there, I've never heard of it in my time. It must have gone out of business."

"But some things haven't changed, like this museum. It's impressive that it's been preserved for a hundred years!"

"I plan to visit all these places in the next few days, then check them out again when I return a hundred years later. I'll tell my cousin everything that's different."

"Shodai-sama, my cousin Boa Seira is an incredible martial artist. I heard she could maintain her Byakugan for an hour at just six years old, and she's mastered both Haki and Aura. Now that she's eighteen, she can even control Conqueror's Haki with ease. I can't do that yet..."

"Oh, and she's never been in a relationship. She says she'll only marry a man as strong as Shodai-sama, and if she can't find one, she'll stay single for life."

"…"

The girl rambled on, inadvertently revealing all sorts of astonishing information to Dak.

"Alright, we're almost there. See if you can spot the differences between the Founding Hall now and in the future."

Dak quickly interrupted Charlotte.

If he let this girl keep chattering, he feared she might disappear suddenly.

Speaking of which, with the future generations being so mixed in blood, it's likely that each child of the Alliance will be a little prodigy or genius.

Given this, the future Alliance may have people strong enough to rival legendary Pokémon.

Dak had once thought he would be the strongest Alliance leader, but it now seemed that wasn't necessarily true.

Charlotte's generation, a hundred years from now, might be the golden age, with children of high talent and strong bloodlines.

After that, these ancient bloodlines might become increasingly diluted. Charlotte's children, for example, might not have much of the Uzumaki or Portgas bloodlines left.

"Eh?! There's only one statue of Shodai-sama here?!"

When Charlotte stepped into the Founding Hall, she was utterly shocked, looking around in disbelief. "What a small Founding Hall."

"What's the matter? Is it very different from a hundred years later?"

Seeing Charlotte's reaction, Dak knew that the Founding Hall must have changed significantly over time.

If that's the case, then the same might apply to the Initial Shrine.

"Of course, it's a huge difference! In my memory, the Founding Hall is almost as big as the Alliance's headquarters. How could it be this small?"

Charlotte walked toward the deepest part of the Founding Hall, continuing to explain to Dak, "The Founding Hall is one of Alliance City's landmark buildings. Even people from small worlds know its name. Every year, people from countless worlds come here during the New Year to pay their respects, hoping for a peaceful year."

"Oh? The Founding Hall is that big? Then it must be filled with many statues?"

Dak grinned. It seems there were many outstanding individuals in the Alliance's future.

"Yes, there are quite a few. From Shodai-sama's era, there were... Nico Robin, Vegapunk, Gild Tesoro, Bellamy, um... and others, but I forgot."

Charlotte giggled, revealing she hadn't paid much attention in history class. "The reason the Founding Hall expanded is that champions changed too frequently. Every time a new champion was crowned, a new statue was erected. By my time, there had been dozens of champions."

"What? That many?!"

Dak was taken aback. This was completely unexpected.

The champion title isn't for winning the Pokémon battle tournament; it's the title for the strongest trainer in the Alliance.

Winning the tournament just earns you a ticket to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion, so it shouldn't be easy to change champions frequently.

"Yes! Too many people are eyeing the champion position. Imagine the competition when people from dozens of worlds are vying for it."

Charlotte nodded matter-of-factly, but also encouraged herself. "But I won't give up! I must become a champion! Then, I'll strive to become the Fifth Alliance Leader! That's how the Fourth Leader did it."

"Is there only one champion position? That's way too competitive."

Dak muttered with a frown.

With such intense competition, some negative incidents might occur.

Dak was already considering whether to establish lower-ranking champions and Elite Four positions.

(End of Chapter)