The moment Xilin finished speaking, the ancestral hall erupted into chaos.
"What? A Gardevoir in our tribe died yesterday?"
"That's impossible. Aside from gathering food, we haven't gone anywhere recently. And there weren't any Gardevoir nearing the end of their lives."
"Exactly. How could one suddenly die for no reason?"
Voices filled the hall.
The Psychic Tribe might live alongside an entire Gardevoir clan, but even then, the group only numbered around forty or fifty Pokémon in total.
Most of them were Ralts and Kirlia.
There were very few fully evolved Gardevoir.
Every single Gardevoir was incredibly precious to the tribe.
And now Xilin was telling them that one had died yesterday.
How could they not be shocked?
Liya took a deep breath and struck the table firmly.
"Quiet!"
Only then did everyone stop talking.
Liya turned toward Xilin.
"Elder Sister Xilin, tell us exactly what happened."
Xilin sighed.
"Do you remember the unusually colored Ralts from before?"
At those words, the image of a blue-haired Ralts immediately surfaced in Liya's mind.
She vaguely remembered that the little one had been deeply disliked by the rest of her clan and was often bullied by other Ralts and Kirlia.
But what did that have to do with the death of a Gardevoir?
Liya looked at Xilin in confusion.
Xilin quickly explained,
"Liya, that differently colored Ralts was bullied so severely by the others that she ran away several days ago."
"She never came back."
"Her mother searched for a long time but couldn't find her."
"Yesterday, that Gardevoir suddenly returned and began violently attacking the Ralts who usually bullied her child."
"In the end, the other Gardevoir discovered what was happening..."
Xilin could not bring herself to continue.
But everyone already understood.
Liya's voice became grave.
"So that Gardevoir was killed by her own clan?"
Xilin remained silent.
The Gardevoir had probably lost control of her emotions after failing to find her child and had taken out her anger on the Ralts who had bullied her.
After all, if those Ralts had not tormented her child, the little one would never have run away.
However, no matter how furious she had been, she should never have attacked the young Ralts.
For any Pokémon clan, its offspring were incomparably important.
Her actions had provoked the anger of the entire group.
So in a way, her death had been inevitable.
Xilin could not decide who was right and who was wrong.
That was why she had no idea how the tribe should handle the matter.
Liya rubbed her temples and sighed.
"Forget it."
"This is an internal matter of the Gardevoir clan. It would be difficult for us to interfere."
"Then what should we do about the dead Gardevoir?" Xilin asked.
"What else can we do?"
Liya answered helplessly.
"She can only be blamed for losing control."
"We can't offend the entire Gardevoir clan over one Gardevoir who is already dead."
...
"So this is the Psychic Tribe?"
"It really does look like a major tribe."
"The current Meteor Tribe can't compare to this at all."
High in the sky, Chen Shi sat on Dragapult's back and looked down at the large settlement below.
"Ralts~"
As Ralts gazed at the place that had brought her endless pain, there was surprisingly little hatred in her eyes.
Instead, she felt a faint sense of joy at the thought of seeing her mother again.
After all, her mother was the only Pokémon in the world who had ever treated her kindly.
Ralts tugged lightly on Chen Shi's hair.
"Ralts~"
(Can I go back and see my mother?)
Chen Shi looked surprised.
"Your mother lives in this tribe?"
Ralts nodded.
"Ralts~"
(My entire clan lives here, so of course my mother is here too.)
(Can you let me go see her? I promise I won't run away.)
Chen Shi shook his head with an amused smile and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Little one, with how much you love eating, could you really bear to run away from me?"
Ralts's heart filled with hope.
Was this human actually willing to let her go?
"However..."
Chen Shi's smile deepened as he changed direction.
"We can go down and find your mother together."
"After all, I'm your companion now."
He waved his hand.
"Dragapult, take us down."
"Draga!"
Dragapult curled its lips and quickly descended toward the center of the tribe.
Togekiss leisurely followed behind them.
Below, Liya and the others had just finished their discussion and stepped out of the ancestral hall.
A tall Gallade suddenly appeared beside her and stared solemnly toward the sky.
Liya looked at the suddenly appearing Gallade in surprise.
Before she could ask what was wrong, a voice came from above.
"Hello."
"May I ask who is in charge of this tribe?"
Everyone immediately looked up.
A figure dressed in a white robe and wearing a golden mask sat atop a turquoise Pokémon.
[He is very powerful.]
Gallade immediately warned everyone through telepathy.
Even without Gallade's warning, they could already tell that the mysterious stranger was extraordinarily strong.
The pressure radiating from the turquoise Pokémon was simply too intense.
It felt almost comparable to the strongest Gallade in their tribe.
Although Liya had no idea who this masked person was, she still stepped forward.
"I am the leader of this tribe."
"My name is Liya."
"May I ask who you are?"
Chen Shi smiled.
"Miss Liya, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"My name is Qiu."
"I came here because I wanted to see what one of the major tribes in this region was like."
"And also because this little one misses her mother."
"I brought her back to visit."
As he spoke, Chen Shi gestured toward the Ralts sitting on his shoulder.
However, Ralts merely stared blankly at the Gallade below without reacting.
That Gallade was her father.
The father who despised her more than anyone else.
"..."
After hearing Chen Shi's words, Liya and the others all turned their attention toward the Pokémon on his shoulder.
The moment they saw the differently colored Ralts, a terrible feeling rose in their hearts.
Unless they were mistaken, this was the very Ralts who had run away from their tribe several days ago.
They had only just been discussing how her mother had been killed by her own clan yesterday.
And now, this powerful stranger had brought the little one back to see her mother...
Liya's head immediately began to ache.
The masked man was clearly extremely powerful.
If he learned that Ralts's mother was already dead, there was no telling how he would react.
Noticing their expressions, Chen Shi sensed that something was wrong.
The smile gradually disappeared from his face.
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
"This little one is my companion."
"Please bring her mother here."
...
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