The moment Shate revealed that their tribe was the Draconid people, everything finally clicked into place for Chen Shi.
At this point in history, there wasn't another person who possessed the same psychic powers as he did.
There was only one human in the entire world who wielded the Power of the Heart.
And that person...
Was him.
He was the one who would summon Rayquaza in this era and help it Mega Evolve to stop Groudon and Kyogre.
The person Ho-Oh and Mew had met in this time—the one who possessed the Power of the Heart—had also been him all along.
Once he pieced everything together, Chen Shi's expression became wonderfully complicated.
Shock.
Confusion.
Annoyance.
Resignation.
One emotion after another flashed across his face.
After holding it in for a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a few words.
"...To hell with this."
He had only just finished resolving the conflict between Hoenn's two hot-headed titans in his own time.
And now he was being told—
He had to do it all over again?
Are you kidding me?
"Lord Qiu... are you alright?"
Shate asked nervously.
He couldn't understand why Lord Qiu's reaction had been so dramatic after learning they were the Draconid people.
Was there something wrong with that?
Looking at Shate, Chen Shi's gaze became incredibly complicated.
He had been wondering before.
How could the ancestor of the Draconid people possibly be so extraordinary?
How could someone predict events a thousand years into the future?
Turns out...
Those prophecies had all come from him.
Damn it.
Well, that explains everything.
Chen Shi let out a long, weary sigh.
"It's nothing."
"Don't mind me."
"I just need a little peace and quiet."
"You should go back to whatever you were doing."
With that, he plopped down onto a small wooden stool, looking utterly defeated.
From everything he had learned so far, many of the arrangements that existed a thousand years later had been made by none other than himself.
The prophecy left for the Draconid people...
The two Orbs and Rayquaza's scale entrusted to the caretakers of Mt. Pyre...
Those had probably all been left behind by him as well.
At last, he had begun to understand at least part of why he had been sent to Hoenn.
What still puzzled him, however, was something else.
At this point in history, the greatest event in Hoenn should have been the coming battle between Groudon and Kyogre.
But whether he was here or not shouldn't have made any difference.
Was Rayquaza really incapable of stopping the two of them without his help?
That was impossible.
Chen Shi rubbed his chin as countless possibilities ran through his mind.
Thinking about it this way...
Perhaps coming to Hoenn wasn't solely about Groudon and Kyogre.
There might be another mission of even greater importance waiting for him.
Something so significant that Arceus had specifically ordered Dialga and Palkia to send him here first.
"Tch."
The more Chen Shi thought about it, the more irritated he became.
"Couldn't they at least leave me a hint?"
"How long am I supposed to keep guessing?"
Just as his frustration reached its peak, Salamence suddenly flew over.
Chen Shi frowned.
"What?"
"You want another round?"
"...Huh?"
Salamence blinked in confusion.
She had only come over to thank Chen Shi for reuniting her with her child.
Why had the conversation suddenly turned into another fight?
Salamence hurriedly shook her head.
"Roar, roar."
(No. I only wanted to thank you... and apologize for attacking you earlier.)
Realizing Salamence wasn't looking for another battle, Chen Shi felt oddly disappointed.
Still, seeing how sincere she was, he waved the matter aside.
"It's fine."
"What are you planning to do now?"
Salamence immediately replied that she intended to take Bagon back into the depths of Meteor Falls.
"The depths of Meteor Falls?"
Chen Shi twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Well... that lines up perfectly too.
So this Salamence really did come from the dragon sanctuary deep within Meteor Falls.
Meanwhile, the moment Bagon heard it was being taken back, it immediately objected.
It ran straight over to Shate, grabbed his trouser leg with its teeth, and stubbornly refused to let go.
Salamence became anxious and let out several stern roars.
Bagon remained completely resolute.
No matter what happened, it refused to leave Shate.
Seeing that her child was unwilling to go with her, Salamence looked helplessly toward Chen Shi for assistance.
Chen Shi simply shrugged.
"Looking at me won't help."
"This is your family matter."
"It has nothing to do with me."
"Though..."
"If your child doesn't want to leave with you..."
"Why don't you stay here instead?"
"Wouldn't that let you remain together?"
Salamence fell silent for a moment before shaking her head.
The environment deep inside Meteor Falls was far more suitable for dragons to grow.
Her child was already severely undernourished.
It needed to return to the dragon sanctuary.
Otherwise, evolving in the future would become extremely difficult.
"Then there's nothing I can do."
"You'll have to work it out yourselves."
Chen Shi added in a warning tone,
"I don't care how you discuss it."
"But neither of you is allowed to fight."
"And absolutely no forcing the other."
"Understood?"
Salamence immediately shrank back and nodded repeatedly.
She knew very well that the human before her possessed overwhelming strength.
He wasn't someone she could oppose.
Afterward, Salamence and Bagon began arguing with one another.
Shate couldn't understand a single word they were saying and could only stand nearby in confusion.
After arguing for quite some time...
Bagon emerged victorious.
With no other choice, Salamence reluctantly departed.
Chen Shi hadn't bothered listening to what they were discussing.
The outcome had been obvious from the beginning.
Sooner or later, the Draconid people would use Salamence as their bridge and eventually migrate into the depths of Meteor Falls to live alongside the Dragon-type Pokémon there.
Once everything had settled down, Chen Shi recalled Florges and Metagross before turning to Shate.
"Where am I staying?"
"Lord Qiu, we've already prepared a house for you."
"Please follow me."
Shate led Chen Shi toward the center of the tribe and stopped before a noticeably larger wooden cabin.
Stepping inside, Chen Shi discovered that someone had clearly cleaned it with great care.
The furnishings were extremely simple.
There was only a small wooden table and a bed.
Yet everything was spotless.
Shate apologized sincerely.
"Lord Qiu, this is the finest house in our tribe."
"We've cleaned it three times."
"I hope you won't find it too shabby."
Chen Shi nodded.
"It's fine."
"I don't care about such things."
"You should head back."
"I'm going to rest."
"Understood, Lord Qiu."
"My house is right next door."
"If you need anything, just call for me."
After speaking, Shate stepped outside and thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
Once he had left, Chen Shi looked at the blanket sewn together from animal hides.
After a brief hesitation...
He decided to use the sleeping bag from his backpack instead.
It wasn't that he looked down on the tribe's efforts.
He simply wasn't used to sleeping under animal hides.
After spreading out the sleeping bag, Chen Shi sat down on the wooden bed and muttered,
"Dragapult..."
"What do you think we should do next?"
In this era, he possessed neither an extensive network of allies nor the overwhelming support of Mew and Jirachi.
For the first time in a long while...
He found himself genuinely uncertain about what came next.
...
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon → [email protected]/lucarioTL (replace @ with a)