Hearing that the item on Lady Florges could greatly help her mutation, Chen Shi rubbed his chin and fell into thought.
He knew exactly what the Carbink was referring to.
The only special thing Lady Florges possessed was Xerneas's broken horn fragment.
But that item was simply too important to Lady Florges.
Chen Shi did not want to give it away.
Even if the Carbink could exchange some other legendary-grade resource for it, Chen Shi still wouldn't agree.
Because first—
Who knew whether the Diamond Kingdom even possessed other legendary resources?
And even if they did—
They most likely wouldn't be Fairy-type resources.
If they truly had Fairy-type treasures, they would probably use them themselves rather than trade them away.
In other words—
Chen Shi would be taking away Xerneas's broken horn fragment from Lady Florges, only to exchange it for a resource completely useless to her.
That would simply be too unfair to Lady Florges.
So Chen Shi rejected the Carbink's request.
"Sorry."
"That item is also extremely important to my partner."
"I can't agree to it."
Disappointment flashed through the Carbink's eyes, but she didn't insist.
"Nah nah~"
(I understand. Thank you anyway.)
On Chen Shi's other shoulder, Mew quietly sighed, its eyes showing a trace of hesitation.
Should it help this Carbink or not?
Mew struggled internally for quite a while before ultimately deciding to wait and see.
It had once shared a very good relationship with the first Diancie Queen—the original one.
But the first Diancie Queen had long since passed away.
All those beautiful memories had already vanished with time.
Mew silently made up its mind.
If the Diamond Kingdom truly reached its final desperate moment—
Then it would step in to help.
After all, the Sacred Diamond was only nearing destruction.
It hadn't completely shattered yet.
There was still time.
"..."
Morning arrived.
The sun gradually rose into the sky.
Gentle rays of light slowly spread across the earth like a soft veil, dispersing the lingering chill and darkness of the night.
Chen Shi crawled out of the tent, still looking sleepy.
He rubbed his eyes first before stretching lazily.
Looking around the abandoned hotel, he saw the Carbink all sleeping huddled tightly together, leaning against one another.
The scene felt strangely warm and peaceful.
Chen Shi quietly muttered:
"I wonder if sleeping like that is actually comfortable for them."
"Forget it."
"It's only for one night anyway."
"Who cares if they're comfortable? I slept great."
After saying that, Chen Shi took out his toiletries from his backpack and went outside to wash up.
Shortly afterward, Cynthia also emerged from the tent while tidying her slightly messy clothes.
Looking at Chen Shi's departing figure, her pretty face flushed slightly red as she softly cursed:
"Pervert."
"..."
"Yo, Old Chen! You're up pretty early!"
Steven's bright voice rang loudly through the morning air.
Chen Shi had just stepped out of the abandoned hotel when he saw Steven and Diantha jumping down from Metagross's back.
"Yeah. Morning."
Chen Shi casually replied, his speech still somewhat slurred from just waking up.
He lazily raised a hand in greeting before pulling out his toothbrush and toothpaste from his bag and brushing his teeth as though nobody else existed.
Steven had just been about to say something—
When Cynthia suddenly walked out of the abandoned hotel carrying her toiletries as well.
The moment they saw her, both Steven and Diantha froze.
If they remembered correctly—
Cynthia had clearly returned to the hotel with them last night.
So why was she here now?
And judging from the way she looked while washing up—
She had obviously just woken up.
Steven and Diantha exchanged glances and tacitly chose not to ask any questions.
Very quickly, after both of them finished washing up, Chen Shi woke the three Mythical Pokémon who were still sleeping lazily and prepared food for all his Pokémon.
Once everyone finished eating, Chen Shi turned toward Diantha.
"Do you know about the Orance Forest?"
"Of course I do."
"That forest is extremely dangerous. Why are you asking?"
Diantha replied.
In the Kalos Region, if you asked anyone whether they knew about the Orance Forest, they would all answer yes.
Because that forest was incredibly famous throughout Kalos.
Though mostly for its terrifying reputation.
Countless high-level wild Pokémon lived there, and they were highly hostile toward outsiders.
Many adventurers who entered the forest never returned.
Even traveling trainers generally avoided it.
Chen Shi shrugged.
"What else? I'm taking these Carbink back home."
"They originally lived in the Orance Forest."
"So that's why."
Diantha nodded in understanding before thinking for a moment and saying:
"The Orance Forest is on the opposite side of Lumiose City."
"It's very far from here."
She didn't try persuading Chen Shi not to go.
Because while the forest was extremely dangerous to ordinary people—
For someone like Chen Shi, who possessed Jirachi, those dangers weren't much of a threat.
"Alright. Got it."
Chen Shi responded casually before packing up the tent and other belongings.
Then he turned toward the mutating Carbink.
"I'm taking you all back to the Orance Forest now."
"When the time comes, tell your clansmen not to resist."
"Nah nah~"
The Carbink gently nodded before relaying Chen Shi's words to the other Carbink.
After confirming they were all ready, Chen Shi had Diantha point out the direction before turning toward Mew on his shoulder.
"Your turn this time."
Mew, disguised as Eevee, nodded lightly.
Although it was reluctant to help the mutating Carbink, handling something like this wasn't a problem.
Immediately—
A barrier of psychic power spread outward from Mew's body, enveloping all the Carbink along with Chen Shi and the others.
The next moment—
They vanished from the abandoned hotel entirely.
"..."
Deep within the Orance Forest, atop a massive tree—
A Zygarde Core rested quietly there.
Its gaze looked toward a certain direction as it muttered softly:
"That great horned deer is about to awaken."
"If the great horned deer awakens…"
"Then that stupid bird is probably not far behind."
"I just hope those two remember the lesson from three thousand years ago and don't start another conflict."
At that moment, Zygarde suddenly sensed something and abruptly turned its head toward the outer edge of the Orance Forest.
"What powerful psychic energy."
"And… such a familiar aura."
Zygarde narrowed its eyes.
"It's Mew."
"Why has it come here?"
"Could it be trying to help the great horned deer awaken ahead of time?"
"Forget it."
"I'll go take a look first."
Meanwhile—
Chen Shi and the others had just arrived within the Orance Forest.
They had barely begun admiring the magnificent surroundings—
When countless streams of green light suddenly shot into the sky before converging together directly ahead of them.
"Old Chen…"
"W-What is that?"
Steven stared blankly at the spectacle in the sky, completely bewildered.
Then everyone watched as a black-and-green Pokémon resembling a Doberman slowly walked toward them.
Its gaze was icy cold—
Like a bottomless pool of frozen water devoid of all emotion.
It stared directly at Mew sitting on Chen Shi's shoulder.
"Thou…"
"Why hast thou come here?"
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