As evening fell and the sun dipped below the horizon, Phoebe had already returned home. Chen Shi, however, was still outside, watering Florges' garden together with Jirachi.
This garden was Florges' pride and joy. Whenever she had free time, she would come here to tend to her beloved flowers.
"Flo~"
"Mm-hmm, I know!"
Chen Shi sat off to the side, watching as Florges guided Jirachi step by step. A faint smile rested on his face.
"Draaa!"
Suddenly, Dragapult shot over in a panic, frantically gesturing at Chen Shi.
Earlier that day, everything had been normal. In the morning, Dragapult absorbed energy from the Secret Realm Core Fragment, and in the afternoon, he trained his stamina and practiced his moves as usual.
He could clearly feel that, with the help of the fragment, he was getting close to leveling up again.
He had been excited about it—until something went wrong during training.
Just moments ago, while practicing Phantom Force, he had suddenly sensed a powerful presence approaching from within another space.
It had terrified him.
That presence was overwhelmingly strong—far beyond anything he could handle.
He didn't know why such a being existed in that space, nor whether it was friend or foe. But without hesitation, he immediately withdrew back to the real world.
Listening to Dragapult's explanation, Chen Shi scratched his head, puzzled.
A powerful presence in that space?
That didn't make sense. That space should've been nothingness—completely empty.
"You're sure you felt something powerful? You're not messing with me?"
Seeing the doubt in Chen Shi's eyes, Dragapult grew annoyed and shot him a fierce glare.
"Draa!"
(Absolutely. I wouldn't get that wrong.)
"That's really strange…"
Chen Shi stroked his chin, thinking for a long time but coming up empty.
By all logic, that space should be void of anything. No Pokémon, no lifeforms.
So where did that presence come from?
Unless… it was the Distortion World…
"The Distortion World?!"
"Holy—!"
Chen Shi's eyes widened as the realization hit him like lightning.
Dragapult wasn't using some ordinary phase-shift technique—
He was using Phantom Force.
And Phantom Force didn't just slip into some harmless void.
It traversed the Distortion World.
That was Giratina's territory.
Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat.
The presence Dragapult had sensed… could it have been Giratina?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
"Damn it…"
"How did I forget something like this?"
If Dragapult had been using Phantom Force all this time…
Didn't that mean he'd basically been hopping in and out of Giratina's domain repeatedly?
Had that thing finally had enough and decided to come after him?
Chen Shi swallowed hard and immediately said, "Dragapult, from now on, don't use Phantom Force without my permission. Got it?"
Dragapult froze for a moment, then nodded firmly.
He had personally felt how terrifying that presence was. Agreeing came naturally.
Even though Phantom Force gave him a huge advantage in battle, his life mattered more.
If it meant staying alive, then so be it.
Chen Shi gently patted Dragapult, feeling a trace of guilt.
"This is on me. I knew about this, but I forgot."
"For now, don't use Phantom Force. Focus on training your other moves instead."
To be honest, once he realized the situation, Chen Shi was shaken.
Giratina was no benevolent guardian. They had used its scale to let Dragapult learn its signature move, and on top of that, they had been casually jumping around inside its territory.
For all he knew, Giratina had been watching them for a long time already.
Maybe the only reason it hadn't acted yet was because it was bound within the Distortion World.
But letting Dragapult continue using Phantom Force?
That was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
Giratina was infamous for its brutality. At least Rayquaza might listen to reason when in a good mood—
Giratina wouldn't.
Rayquaza might attack when provoked, but at least there was a "provocation" involved.
Giratina?
It didn't need one.
If Dragapult had learned some other Legendary Pokémon's move, Chen Shi wouldn't have been this worried.
Most of them wouldn't bother with something so trivial.
But Phantom Force was different. Every use meant passing through the Distortion World.
Until he understood Giratina's attitude, it was better to avoid it entirely.
Shaking his head, Chen Shi asked, "By the way, how's the absorption of that Secret Realm Core Fragment going?"
"Draaa!"
At the mention of it, Dragapult instantly perked up.
"About to level up again? That's great."
Chen Shi smiled. "Work hard. Even if you're a bit unreliable, you're still the leader of the team. You've got to step up."
Dragapult puffed out his chest proudly, patting it with his small yellow claws as if to say, "Leave it to me."
Then he immediately patted his belly with a pitiful look.
The meaning couldn't have been clearer.
"Alright, alright. Stop making that face. Let's head back and eat."
Chen Shi laughed and scolded lightly, then called out, "Florges, Jirachi, let's wrap it up. Time to go eat!"
Jirachi's eyes lit up. Dropping the watering can, it flew straight into Chen Shi's arms.
"Yay! Food time!"
"You've been hanging around Togekiss too much. You're turning into a little foodie yourself."
"I am not! Jirachi is not a foodie!"
"Oh? Then what are you?"
"I'm Chen Shi's favorite Jirachi, not a foodie!"
"Haha, alright, alright. Not a foodie."
As they chatted and laughed, preparing to leave the garden—
Beneath them, in a small puddle formed from the watering, a pair of terrifying crimson eyes slowly emerged.
In that instant, Chen Shi felt as though death itself had locked onto him.
His blood seemed to freeze, a bone-chilling cold surging straight to his skull.
Dragapult, Florges, and Jirachi all tensed instantly, scanning their surroundings in alarm.
Chen Shi's gaze locked onto the puddle not far away.
Those crimson eyes.
His entire body trembled. Cold sweat poured down his face.
He couldn't say a single word.
Suddenly, an Eevee appeared on his shoulder, staring intently at the eyes below.
It was Mew.
Sensing a familiar aura, it had teleported over instantly.
The moment it appeared, the crimson eyes slowly closed…
Then vanished.
Chen Shi exhaled sharply, feeling life return to his body.
Panting, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.
"Th-That just now… was that… Giratina?"
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