Although he had already been mentally prepared, Chen Shi still couldn't help but feel uneasy after hearing the news.
First—if Groudon and Kyogre truly awakened and clashed without restraint…
it would spell absolute disaster for the Hoenn region.
Second—he was worried about Cynthia and Steven Stone.
Team Magma and Team Aqua were not to be underestimated.
They were the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to take lives.
And if even low-level members like the two in front of him had already entered the secret realm…
then it was almost certain that both organizations had mobilized in full force.
If Cynthia and Steven ran into them—
they could very well be in serious danger.
And on top of that…
the League's move this time was enormous.
Almost all of the next generation's pillars from various regions were gathered in this secret realm.
If anything went wrong…
Chen Shi didn't even dare continue the thought.
If something happened to them—
forget the forces behind them, just the League losing this generation alone would set everything back.
It might end up just like the previous generation—
fading into obscurity.
Chen Shi rubbed his chin, thoughts racing wildly.
Should I try to stop Maxie?
With Jirachi around, even if Maxie had Champion-level Pokémon, he'd still be nothing more than a minor threat.
But—
he couldn't be in two places at once.
If he went after Maxie, then Archie's side would still succeed.
So the priority right now—
was to find Cynthia and Steven first.
Having made his decision, Chen Shi was about to have Jirachi deal with the two Team Magma members in front of him—
when a thought suddenly struck him.
"I have a question."
"You were running in a specific direction earlier. Do you have some way of regrouping with your people?"
The two men nodded frantically.
The burly one quickly answered:
"Sir! Before entering, we were issued positioning watches. As long as we follow the location displayed on them, we can find the main group!"
Chen Shi's eyes lit up.
Now that was useful.
It might not help him find Cynthia and the others—
but it could help him locate Team Magma.
If he followed the tracker straight to their base…
he could wipe them out in one go.
With that thought, Chen Shi wasted no time and began searching them.
Soon, he stripped two watches from their wrists. On the screens, a red dot and a green dot were blinking.
"What do these mean?"
After fiddling with them for a moment without figuring it out, he asked directly.
The thinner one, now clearly learning from before, immediately answered:
"Sir! The green dot represents our current location, and the red dot marks the rendezvous point!"
"As long as we head toward the red dot, we'll find the main force!"
Chen Shi nodded slightly in understanding.
Then he took all the Poké Balls from them and locked them away.
"Dragapult—these two are yours. Take them somewhere far."
From his shadow, Dragapult's flattened head emerged. It glanced at the two Team Magma members, then nodded.
For some reason—
both men suddenly felt a chilling sense of dread.
"Sir, we can walk on our own! No need to trouble you!"
"Yeah, sir! We'll go ourselves!"
They hurriedly spoke up.
They had thought Chen Shi would honor his word and let them go.
After all, most League-affiliated trainers they had encountered before were like that—
overflowing with righteousness and bound by their promises.
They assumed Chen Shi was the same.
But what they didn't know was—
Chen Shi had never intended to let them live.
No matter what reason they had for joining Team Magma—
once they stepped into that dark organization, their hands were no longer clean.
And Chen Shi had no intention of showing mercy.
Dragapult grabbed one in each claw—
and vanished in an instant.
By the time it returned, the two Team Magma members were gone.
Previously, these kinds of "dirty jobs" had been handled by Swampert.
But Dragapult was just as efficient—
if not even more so.
Chen Shi casually praised it.
"Didn't expect you to handle that so quickly. I'll leave this kind of thing to you from now on."
Normally, he wouldn't even bother with such trouble—
Metagross could have dealt with them on the spot.
But with Phoebe and Jirachi present, he didn't want them to witness such a dark scene.
So he had Dragapult take them away.
Unexpectedly—
Dragapult seemed perfectly suited for the job.
Hearing the praise, Dragapult proudly puffed out its chest.
"Baruyaa~"
Of course it was fast.
Because it hadn't buried them at all.
It had simply thrown them into the Reverse World.
For Dragapult, that was effortless.
And in that place—
those two would never make it out.
If they were lucky, they might survive a few more days.
If not…
and they encountered that existence—
they'd be gone instantly.
…
Within the Reverse World—
a terrifying beast carefully picked up an energy cube and popped it into its mouth, savoring it slowly.
Moments later, a look of satisfaction appeared on its face.
"Still, nothing beats this stuff. Worth waiting a thousand years for."
As it spoke, Giratina grabbed another energy cube and chewed.
"It's just a shame there's so little… Next time, I'll have to get more from that brat Chen Shi."
But as it looked at the dwindling supply of energy cubes Chen Shi had given it—
its eyes filled with melancholy.
It was hard to imagine that such an expression could appear on the face of Giratina—
a being known in Sinnoh legends for its brutality and volatile temper.
After all—
this was the Pokémon whose statue wasn't even displayed openly in Sinnoh.
No one knew what exactly had happened to make it turn out like this.
At that moment—
Giratina suddenly sensed something and looked up.
"Oh? That little Dragapult again?"
"Who's it fighting this time?"
A hint of interest appeared in its eyes.
Whenever Dragapult used Shadow Force to traverse the Reverse World, Giratina could sense it.
When bored, it would even watch what Dragapult was doing—
just to pass the time.
After all—
in this dull, desolate world, it was its only source of entertainment.
But soon—
Giratina noticed something was off.
This time…
Dragapult had thrown something in.
It immediately moved over—
only to see two humans falling rapidly through the air, screaming in terror.
Giratina froze for a moment—
then its eyes burned with rage.
"Alright… alright…!"
"You think this place is a trash dump now?!"
"This isn't over unless I get ten boxes of energy cubes!!"
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