The reason Chen Shi had taken an interest in this Salamence was because it had suddenly gone berserk for no apparent reason.
It had looked extremely furious.
On top of that, the moment it saw Chen Shi, it attacked without hesitation.
Something about that was clearly wrong.
Salamence were certainly known for their bad tempers, but they were not normally so aggressive that they attacked everyone they encountered on sight.
Chen Shi's instincts told him there had to be a reason behind its behavior.
Because of its injuries, Salamence was flying very slowly.
It didn't take long for Chen Shi and the others to catch up.
The moment Salamence saw them, it flew into another rage.
Ignoring the pain coursing through its body, it tried to attack again.
Dragapult gave it no such opportunity.
A Shadow Ball struck Salamence directly.
This time, Salamence could no longer hold on.
Its body plummeted toward the ground.
Chen Shi seized the opportunity, took out an empty Poké Ball, and hurled it at Salamence.
Having completely lost the ability to battle, Salamence had no strength left to resist.
It was drawn into the Poké Ball and successfully captured.
Seeing this, Dragapult immediately flew over and retrieved the ball.
Chen Shi accepted the Poké Ball from it and said calmly,
"Let's return to the tribe first."
"We'll treat Salamence there and find out why it went berserk."
"Meta~"
Metagross naturally had no objections.
It carried Chen Shi back in the direction of the tribe, while Dragapult slipped into his shadow once more.
...
Although Metagross was not as fast as Dragapult, it was hardly slow.
Before long, Chen Shi could already make out the outline of Shate's tribe.
Viewed from a distance, a large bonfire had been lit in the center of the settlement.
Many people sat around it, eating and drinking.
Others danced around the flames in unfamiliar patterns, giving the whole scene the atmosphere of a lively bonfire celebration.
At that moment, Aji noticed Chen Shi standing atop Metagross in the sky.
He hurriedly shouted,
"Lord Qiu is back!"
"What? Lord Qiu has returned?"
"Lord Qiu really came back?"
Hearing Aji's cry, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of his gaze.
The moment they saw Chen Shi, respectful expressions appeared on their faces.
They called out in unison,
"Lord Qiu!"
After climbing down from Metagross, Chen Shi didn't know whether to laugh or sigh at their behavior.
"You don't have to act like this."
"I don't like excessive formality."
"Just continue with whatever you were doing."
Shate carefully approached, his expression filled with respect.
"Lord Qiu, we prepared some food especially for you."
"Would you like to try it?"
Grandfather Nio had warned them that someone as powerful as Lord Qiu might not care for food prepared by an ordinary tribe like theirs.
His experience and status were likely on an entirely different level from theirs.
Even so, they still had to observe proper courtesy.
Whatever they prepared for their guest had to be made with care.
At first, Chen Shi intended to accept.
After all, it was a sincere gesture.
He was also genuinely curious about what food from one thousand years ago tasted like.
But just as he was about to agree, he suddenly remembered something important.
He needed to conceal his identity.
More importantly, he was still wearing the golden mask.
Eating in front of everyone would be inconvenient.
So Chen Shi could only decline with a hint of regret.
"I'm not hungry right now."
"Bring it to the place where I'm staying later."
After saying that, he walked toward a spot not far from the bonfire and sat down on a wooden stump.
"Don't mind me. Keep going."
"It looks like you're celebrating something."
Chen Shi's tone was easygoing, without the slightest hint of arrogance.
A smile immediately appeared on Shate's face.
"Lord Qiu, we're celebrating because we finally gathered enough food."
"Everyone has worked hard recently."
"Now that we've finally stored enough for the winter, we wanted to celebrate properly."
At first, the other tribespeople remained somewhat restrained.
Facing someone as mysterious and powerful as Lord Qiu naturally made them nervous.
But after realizing that he seemed approachable and did not put on airs, they gradually relaxed.
Soon, they resumed eating, drinking, and celebrating.
Laughter echoed throughout the small tribe, creating a remarkably warm and harmonious atmosphere.
Chen Shi nodded faintly and watched them with a calm gaze.
Life in this tribe was simple and primitive, yet it possessed a warmth of its own.
After watching for a while, Chen Shi took out the Poké Ball containing Salamence and released it.
Then he also called out Florges.
"Florges, please help treat this Salamence."
"Florges~"
Florges gently acknowledged him and prepared to use Grassy Terrain.
Suddenly, a Flamethrower came from behind and shot directly toward Florges.
Caught off guard, Florges was struck by the flames.
Fortunately, the attack was weak and failed to cause any real harm.
Chen Shi frowned and turned around.
A Bagon was racing toward them at full speed.
It stopped in front of Salamence and glared fiercely at both Florges and Chen Shi.
Bagon had originally been staying obediently beside Shate.
But then it saw Chen Shi release a Pokémon.
That Pokémon was its mother.
However, its mother appeared badly injured and was already unconscious.
Bagon anxiously wanted to run over and check on her.
Then it saw Chen Shi release another Pokémon, which began preparing to use a move on Salamence.
Bagon immediately panicked.
Believing that Florges intended to harm its mother, it instinctively attacked.
That was how the current situation had come about.
"Little Blue, what are you doing?"
"Come back here!"
Shate finally reacted and shouted in alarm.
He couldn't understand why Little Blue had suddenly gone mad and attacked Lord Qiu's Pokémon.
Little Blue was normally very obedient.
Chen Shi looked from Salamence to Shate's Bagon and let out a soft laugh.
"What a coincidence."
"No wonder Salamence went berserk."
"So she had lost her child."
He then stared coldly at Bagon.
"I understand that you want to protect your mother."
"But attacking my companion before even understanding the situation is rather unreasonable, don't you think?"
"Bagon!!"
Bagon shouted and continued standing firmly in front of Salamence.
At that moment, only one thought remained in its mind.
It had to protect its mother.
Chen Shi's voice turned cold.
"Metagross, do it."
"Meta!"
...
Ambipom
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