The moment Chen Shi finished speaking, Shate, Aji, and the other five hunters all froze.
He only wanted to ask them a few questions?
He wasn't going to kill them?
Were there really people this merciful on the continent?
Recovering from his surprise, Shate bowed respectfully.
"My lord, please ask whatever you wish. I've lived in this area since I was born. As long as it's something I know, I will tell you everything."
Chen Shi nodded.
"Where did the Bagon at your feet come from?"
Logically speaking, Bagon shouldn't exist in Hisui.
It wouldn't have been strange to encounter Pokémon such as Goomy or Gible there.
Chen Shi wouldn't even have been surprised to see a Dratini.
But since when had Bagon lived in Hisui?
Something didn't feel right.
Hearing the question, Shate instinctively lowered his head.
Little Blue was baring its teeth at Dragapult, looking completely unconvinced by the difference in strength between them.
Chen Shi found the sight rather amusing.
"Dragapult, look at that. This little dragon has quite the personality."
Dragapult glanced at Bagon and scoffed.
Personality?
As far as Dragapult was concerned, the Bagon was simply stupid.
When faced with an opponent it could never defeat, instead of thinking about how to protect itself, it still dared to bare its fangs.
It was fortunate that it had encountered Chen Shi and Dragapult.
Had it acted like that toward another wild Pokémon, it would have been eaten long ago.
Shate was clever enough to realize Chen Shi was asking about Little Blue.
"My lord, I happened to rescue this Pokémon nearby last month."
"I didn't know it was called Bagon."
"Pokémon?"
Chen Shi shook his head with an amused smile at Shate's use of the term "magical beast."
He had heard before that Pokémon were called magical beasts in ancient times.
Apparently, that really had been true.
Still, this man named Shate had found Bagon nearby...
Chen Shi rubbed his chin and carefully searched through his memories.
Could he have remembered incorrectly?
Had Bagon existed in Hisui after all?
That shouldn't be possible.
After thinking for a long while without finding an answer, Chen Shi simply gave up.
It wasn't especially important.
What mattered was figuring out exactly where he was and learning more about the current situation.
He asked calmly,
"What is this place?"
"Do you know where Mount Coronet or the Snowpoint Temple is?"
Mount Coronet?
Snowpoint Temple?
Shate stared at him blankly upon hearing the unfamiliar names.
He had grown up nearby, yet he had never heard of either place.
Left with no alternative, he could only answer the first question.
"My lord, this area is near Meteor Falls."
"As for Mount Coronet and the Snowpoint Temple, I have never heard of them."
Chen Shi fell silent.
Meteor Falls?
This wasn't Hisui?
This was freaking Hoenn?!
Chen Shi raised his head and stared blankly at the sky.
When he first arrived, he had naturally assumed Dialga and Palkia had sent him one thousand years into Sinnoh's past—to the region later known as Hisui.
He had never imagined that the two dragons would send him to Hoenn instead.
After a long silence, Chen Shi glanced at Bagon.
No wonder.
No wonder a Bagon had appeared here.
Of course it was normal for Bagon to live in Hoenn.
A Goomy appearing here would have been the strange part.
Seeing Chen Shi remain silent, Shate worried that his answer had displeased him.
"My lord, did I..."
Chen Shi let out a long sigh toward the heavens.
"It's nothing. I just need a moment to think."
He climbed down from Dragapult's back, found a clean stone, and sat down in contemplation.
According to the clues he had gathered previously, he was supposed to travel to ancient Sinnoh and deal with some extremely important matter.
He was also apparently going to help Giratina beat up Dialga and Palkia along the way.
Those details were practically certain.
But for any of that to happen, shouldn't he have been sent to ancient Sinnoh—to Hisui?
Why had Dialga and Palkia sent him to Hoenn instead?
Had those two bastards abused their authority to settle a personal grudge?
The possibility suddenly occurred to Chen Shi, but he quickly rejected it.
Sending him here had been Arceus's order.
Dialga and Palkia shouldn't dare tamper with something that important.
That meant coming to Hoenn was intentional.
It had been Arceus's decision.
But why?
Was there something in Hoenn that required his involvement?
Chen Shi thought for a moment before laughing self-deprecatingly.
"Don't tell me I was sent to Hoenn just to find Jirachi."
...
Back in the original timeline, Cynthia parted ways with Tonio and Alice after descending from the Space-Time Towers.
She then found a hotel for the night.
Once inside the room, Cynthia gently lifted Jirachi in both hands.
"Jirachi, could you tell me about what happened one thousand years ago?"
"Mmm~ What should Jirachi talk about?"
Jirachi asked in confusion.
"Tell me how you met Chen Shi back then."
"Oh, that?"
"I don't know either. The last time I woke up, Shi was already there when I opened my eyes," Jirachi replied happily.
"What happened afterward?"
"Did anything unusual happen between the two of you?"
"Nope~"
Jirachi shook its head.
"After I woke up, Shi kept taking me around to play."
"Then, when it was almost time for Jirachi to sleep again, Shi made a wish."
"After that, Jirachi didn't know anything else."
Cynthia felt somewhat disappointed, though she didn't show it.
Instead, she smiled and gently rubbed Jirachi's head.
"Alright. Thank you, Jirachi."
"Mhm! You're welcome~"
Cynthia then turned toward the Eevee perched on her shoulder—Mew in disguise.
"Why do you think Dialga and Palkia sent Chen Shi one thousand years into the past?"
Mew yawned and answered through telepathy.
[How would I know? But since it was that lord's command, there must be a reason.]
[You don't need to worry so much, either. You and the kid have a daughter in the future, don't you?]
[Think of it another way. If the kid has a daughter with you in the future, that means he'll definitely be fine this time. Otherwise, how could the two of you have a child later?]
At the mention of that, Cynthia couldn't stop her face from turning red.
Still, Mew's reasoning did make a certain amount of sense.
Her worries eased slightly.
Then Cynthia asked,
"Who exactly is 'that lord'?"
Mew glanced at her.
[Aren't you from Sinnoh? Haven't you guessed already?]
Hearing that answer, Cynthia fell silent.
Mew lazily sprawled across her shoulder and continued in a relaxed tone.
[Instead of worrying about him, you should go buy me a few more ice creams.]
[Maybe then I'll tell you more about what happened a thousand years ago.]
Cynthia looked at it curiously.
"How much do you know about that era?"
Mew proudly raised its head.
[A lot. As long as you provide enough ice cream, I can tell you everything.]
"And what happens if I buy it and you go back on your word?"
[You dare doubt Lord Mew?!]
Cynthia smiled.
"How could I possibly doubt Lord Mew?"
"Ice cream is a small matter. Why don't you tell me something first, and I'll take you to buy some immediately afterward?"
Mew grumbled for a moment before finally relenting.
[Fine. Then Lord Mew will tell you a little.]
[Actually, one thousand years ago, there was also a human who possessed the exact same psychic power as the kid...]
Mew stopped halfway through its sentence.
It could no longer continue.
Because it had suddenly remembered something.
The human who wielded the Power of the Heart one thousand years ago...
Had never once revealed his true face.
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