That night, Chen Shi lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
What had happened earlier was just too sudden.
Giratina had actually appeared—and seemed to have set its sights on him.
Even if Giratina couldn't fully emerge right now, just being stared at through a small puddle was already enough to make Chen Shi's scalp go numb.
If Mew hadn't arrived in time today… who knew what might have happened?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He glanced at the peacefully sleeping Jirachi beside him, then turned his gaze toward the little black-hearted cat.
"Lord Mew… thanks for earlier."
Mew had been about to shove him away in annoyance, but upon hearing that, it immediately puffed up with pride.
"Mew!"
(As you should. From now on, you'd better treat Lord Mew properly, got it?)
"Yes, yes. From now on, anything good to eat goes to Lord Mew first."
Mew nodded in satisfaction, looking thoroughly pleased, as if to say you're quite sensible.
Then it tilted its head curiously.
"Mew?"
(So how exactly did you end up provoking Giratina?)
Chen Shi rubbed his temples helplessly. "It's not like I wanted to… Dragapult learned its signature move—Phantom Force. That's probably why Giratina has its eye on me."
Mew stared at him like he'd just said something incredibly stupid.
"Mew~"
(Do you even know what a signature move is? Phantom Force is Giratina's move—how could your Dragapult possibly learn it?)
A signature move was called that for a reason—it could only be used by a specific Pokémon.
From Giratina's Phantom Force and Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, to Dragapult's Dragon Darts—it was all the same.
Could other Pokémon learn Dragon Darts?
Basically impossible.
Without two Dreepy to launch, without the unique launcher structure on Dragapult's head, the move simply couldn't exist.
It had nothing to do with talent—just pure physical differences.
And Phantom Force?
To use it, one needed some level of authority over the Distortion World—or at the very least, Giratina's permission.
Otherwise, how would you even enter the Distortion World?
And which of those conditions was easy to achieve?
The authority of the Distortion World?
Just thinking about it made it obvious—Giratina would never hand that over.
As for permission?
Did Giratina look like an idiot?
Letting you learn its move and wander around its territory whenever you pleased?
Without access to the Distortion World, how could you possibly learn Phantom Force?
Even Mew—who was said to be able to learn all moves—couldn't do something like that.
So when Chen Shi claimed that Dragapult knew Phantom Force, Mew simply didn't believe him.
Chen Shi got worked up. "I'm telling you, Dragapult really can use Phantom Force!"
"I once got a scale from Giratina by accident. When Dragapult evolved, it absorbed that scale—not only boosting its potential, but also learning Phantom Force."
"He's known it for quite a while now. It was only today that he suddenly told me he ran into Giratina in the Distortion World—and then it came looking for us."
Mew kept its eyes closed, lazily waving a paw, clearly unconvinced.
"Mew~"
(Even if Dragapult absorbed ten more scales, it still wouldn't learn Phantom Force.)
Chen Shi snapped, "What the hell, why won't you believe me?!"
"How about we go find Dragapult right now and have him show you?"
"But if Giratina shows up again, you'd better handle it!"
Seeing how confident he looked, Mew began to waver.
"Mew~"
(Dragapult really can use Phantom Force?)
Chen Shi clicked his tongue, frowning. "How many times do I have to say it? He can use Phantom Force!"
"Mew~"
(Let's go. We'll see for ourselves.)
With that, Mew grabbed Chen Shi—and before he could respond, they vanished from the room in a flash of teleportation.
…
Back mountain.
Garchomp, Salamence, and Dragapult—who had been dozing—stared blankly at Chen Shi, who had suddenly appeared in his pajamas, with Mew perched on his shoulder.
Garchomp rubbed its eyes, thinking it was hallucinating.
What the—
When did they get here?
I didn't sense anything at all!
One human and three dragons stared at each other in silence.
After a long pause, Chen Shi cleared his throat. "I came to find Dragapult for something. Didn't disturb your rest, did I?"
Even he hadn't expected Mew to be this impatient—just barging straight in without warning.
Garchomp and Salamence both turned to look at Dragapult.
Dragapult froze for a moment.
"Dra… Draaa?"
"It's nothing. Mew doesn't believe you can use Phantom Force, so I want you to demonstrate it."
Dragapult's eyes widened in disbelief.
Was this something you could demonstrate casually?
Had he already forgotten what happened this evening?
Did he really want Giratina to come knocking again?!
Dragapult immediately shook his head, refusing. He had no intention of attracting that terrifying existence again.
Seeing him refuse, Mew floated over and patted its chest, confidently promising that nothing would go wrong.
And even if something did—it would handle it.
Dragapult hesitated.
Chen Shi stepped forward and coaxed, "Come on, Dragapult. Just use Phantom Force once more. It'll be fine. Mew is strong—it can keep us safe."
Since his Trainer had spoken, Dragapult found it hard to refuse.
Gritting his teeth like he was heading to his execution, he activated Phantom Force—
and vanished from the cave.
Mew stared at the spot where he disappeared, eyes wide in disbelief.
That really was Phantom Force.
Chen Shi hadn't lied.
At first glance, Phantom Force and moves like it looked similar—almost indistinguishable.
But there were subtle differences.
Having lived for so long, Mew could easily tell.
From the moment Dragapult vanished, it knew—
That was truly Phantom Force, not some similar technique.
Now Mew was confused.
Could absorbing just one of Giratina's scales really allow a Pokémon like Dragapult to learn Phantom Force?
Even now, it still had doubts.
But not about whether Dragapult could use the move.
It was the scale that bothered it.
In its view, even if Dragapult shared attributes with Giratina, being a Dragon/Ghost-type, it shouldn't be enough.
A single scale shouldn't make this possible.
Which left only one explanation.
Mew turned to look at Chen Shi, its eyes filled with a trace of pity.
That scale… was definitely not ordinary.
And for Dragapult to learn Phantom Force—
There was only one possibility.
Giratina had allowed it.
Which meant—
Chen Shi had already been targeted by Giratina long ago.
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