Deep within a primeval forest, seven or eight people dressed in coarse linen mixed with the hides of unknown creatures cautiously advanced with crude, homemade weapons in hand.
"Big Brother, we've already gone very deep into the forest. If we keep going, we might run into Pokémon."
The speaker was a young boy carrying a handmade spear. He looked anxiously at the heroic-looking man beside him.
The man's name was Shate, the leader of the hunting party.
How could Shate not know the danger of venturing deeper into the forest?
But winter was almost upon them.
If they didn't gather enough food before the cold season arrived, the people of their tribe would starve.
Everything edible near the settlement had already been picked clean.
The tribe's food stores were still far from enough to last through the winter.
So they had no choice but to press onward.
Even if all they could bring back were wild berries, it would still be better than returning empty-handed.
With that thought, Shate tightened his grip on the bow in his hand.
"Aji," he said gravely, "you know the tribe's situation as well as I do."
"We don't have any other choice."
"Besides... we still have Little Blue."
"It'll protect us."
As he spoke, Shate glanced at the blue Pokémon walking at his feet.
It had a shell-like plate covering the top of its head.
He had rescued the Pokémon by chance about a month earlier while out hunting.
Ever since then, it had stubbornly followed him everywhere, refusing to leave no matter how many times he tried to chase it away.
Later, the tribe's elders had told him that people from the larger tribes possessed special methods that allowed them to command Pokémon.
Thanks to those Pokémon, the larger tribes rarely worried about food.
Everyone there could eat their fill.
From then on, Shate had kept the little blue Pokémon by his side and named it Little Blue.
After spending more than a month together, he had truly come to regard it as his partner.
"..."
Hearing Shate's words, Little Blue affectionately rubbed its head against his leg.
"Bagon~"
Aji sighed.
He said nothing more.
All he could do was hope their luck held out and that they didn't encounter any especially powerful Pokémon.
Otherwise...
Today's hunt might become a disaster.
Shate led Aji and the other five hunters deeper into the forest with extreme caution.
Just then—
A terrified shout suddenly echoed from the sky.
"Holy crap!"
"Dragapult! Save me!!"
Everyone instinctively looked upward.
A person wearing a strange white robe and a golden mask was plummeting from the sky at an alarming speed.
Just as they thought the mysterious stranger was about to be smashed to pieces—
A burst of red light flashed from one of the Poké Balls at his waist.
A turquoise-and-yellow Pokémon suddenly appeared beside him.
It caught the falling figure neatly on its back before soaring back into the air.
The mysterious stranger was none other than Chen Shi, who had just been tossed through time by Dialga and Palkia.
Unfortunately...
They had deposited him in midair.
He had just experienced an unprotected bungee jump.
To be fair...
It had actually been pretty exciting.
But the moment Chen Shi recovered from the shock, he immediately began shouting toward the heavens.
"Damn you, Dialga and Palkia!"
"You two just wait!"
"If I don't team up with Giratina and beat the stuffing out of you someday, my surname isn't Chen!"
Dragapult could only sigh helplessly.
"Draga~"
(Could you stop yelling? There are people watching us.)
Chen Shi blinked before looking down.
Sure enough, several people stood below, gripping their weapons tightly as they stared at him with obvious caution.
Among them was an extremely undernourished Bagon glaring fiercely at Dragapult.
Chen Shi muttered to himself,
"This should be the Hisui region..."
"But why is there a Bagon here?"
"Whatever. I'll just go ask them."
He had already checked.
The little Bagon was pitifully weak—barely over Level 20.
None of the humans appeared to have any other Pokémon with them.
Chen Shi gestured for Dragapult to descend.
However, seeing the mysterious stranger flying toward them, Shate instinctively assumed he was attacking.
Deciding to strike first, he swiftly drew an arrow, nocked it, and released it.
The arrow whistled through the air.
But Dragapult casually caught it between its claws.
Shate's pupils contracted.
"Little Blue!"
Bagon immediately opened its mouth.
A stream of flames shot toward Dragapult.
Chen Shi frowned.
Seriously?
Can we not have one peaceful conversation?
"Dragapult."
"Teach them a little lesson."
Dragapult glanced disdainfully at the pitiful Flamethrower.
With a slight twist of its body, it easily avoided the attack.
If Chen Shi hadn't been riding on its back, Dragapult wouldn't even have bothered dodging something so weak.
The next instant, it fired a Draco Meteor skyward.
The blazing sphere shot into the heavens before exploding brilliantly.
Countless blazing meteors rained down from above.
They slammed into the ground all around the hunters, blasting crater after crater into the earth.
The deafening explosions pounded against Shate's group's ears.
Only then did they fully realize...
The mysterious stranger was someone they could never hope to oppose.
The difference in strength between them was simply overwhelming.
Yet despite the devastating display—
Not a single meteor struck any of them.
Which meant...
The mysterious figure had never intended to hurt them.
Dragapult hovered a short distance above the ground with Chen Shi on its back.
Looking down at the group, Chen Shi spoke calmly.
"Can we have a proper conversation now?"
Feeling the overwhelming pressure radiating from the turquoise Pokémon, Shate involuntarily swallowed.
He stepped forward, lowered his head respectfully, and said,
"My lord, please forgive my earlier rudeness."
"I am willing to pay whatever price is necessary."
"I only ask..."
"Please spare my tribesmen."
He had been the one who attacked first.
According to the customs of the continent, he had no hope of surviving.
All Shate wanted now was for the mysterious stranger to spare his younger brother and the rest of the tribe.
"Big Brother..."
Aji immediately grew anxious.
He was about to protest when Shate silenced him with a stern glare.
The other hunters stood there uneasily.
Shate was the strongest hunter in their tribe.
Most of the tribe's food had been gathered by him.
He had already been chosen as the next tribal chief.
If Shate died, the tribe would have almost no chance of surviving the coming winter.
Many people would inevitably starve.
But none of them possessed the strength to fight the mysterious man before them.
The gap was simply too great.
One after another, they fell to their knees and repeatedly kowtowed.
"My lord!"
"Please show mercy!"
"Spare Shate!"
"I'll atone in his place!"
A bearded hunter shouted as he struck his forehead against the ground.
"My lord, I'll do it too!"
"Please spare Shate!"
"Our tribe cannot survive without him!"
Chen Shi couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth.
What is it with these ancient people?
Why does everyone immediately start kowtowing?
They're making me look like some kind of villain.
"I don't need anyone to atone for anything."
"I only have a few questions I'd like to ask."
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