Seeing the confused look on Mew's face, Chen Shi found it rather amusing.
"You came here hoping to take advantage of the fight and pick up something from those two, didn't you?"
"You even know that?!"
Mew's voice suddenly shot up several octaves as it stared at him in disbelief.
Sure enough, the black-hearted cat was still the same black-hearted cat.
Whether it was a thousand years ago or a thousand years later, nothing about it had changed.
Chen Shi silently complained to himself before saying,
"Don't worry about how I know. Just tell me what you came over here for."
Mew stared fixedly at him without saying anything.
Originally, it had only found this human interesting and had come over to tease him a little.
It hadn't expected him to know so many things.
That only made Mew even more curious about him.
"Can't I come find you for no reason?"
"Say whatever you want. Just don't do anything unnecessary," Chen Shi replied calmly.
His long experience dealing with this black-hearted cat had taught him one thing:
It was best not to argue with Mew.
The more you argued, the more excited it became.
Light enveloped Mew's body as it instantly transformed back into its original form. It then floated in a circle around Chen Shi.
"Hmph~ Don't you feel guilty?"
"This whole battle only happened because you brought the Giant Energy Stone out."
"Look over there. So many Pokémon and humans have been caught up in this disaster, and you're the one who caused all of it."
Chen Shi fell silent for a moment before slowly replying,
"Even if I hadn't brought the Giant Energy Stone out, this battle would only have been delayed by a few days."
"Those Pokémon and humans would still have been affected."
"Everything happening right now was already destined to happen. What good would feeling guilty do?"
Mew tilted its head.
Its little brain seemed to fill with question marks.
Everything was already destined to happen?
What did that mean?
Chen Shi suddenly remembered something.
"Right. Do you know what that Giant Energy Stone actually is?"
"Why do Groudon and Kyogre care about it so much?"
"And why couldn't it be taken out of Meteor Falls?"
He had wanted to ask this question for a while.
But because he'd been worried about the Draconids earlier, he hadn't had the chance to ask Rayquaza.
Now that Mew was right here, he might as well ask.
This thing had lived for who knew how many years. Surely it knew something.
Sure enough, a sly glint flashed through Mew's eyes.
"And here I thought you knew everything."
"So you don't even know what the Giant Energy Stone is?"
"I never said I knew everything. I just know that you're a professional wanderer."
Mew fell silent.
Damn it!
What the heck was this "professional wanderer" thing supposed to mean?!
"Hmph. You want to know? Why should I tell you?"
Mew grinned smugly.
Chen Shi immediately shut his mouth.
Sure, he wanted to know the answer.
But Rayquaza definitely knew too.
If Mew didn't want to tell him, he could simply ask Rayquaza after everything was over.
There was no hurry.
Mew pursed its lips before turning its attention toward the mask on Chen Shi's face and the white robe covering his body.
"What are your mask and clothes made of?"
"I actually can't see through them."
When it had first arrived, Mew had secretly tried using its psychic powers to see what this human looked like.
The result had surprised it.
Its psychic power had actually been blocked by the robe and mask, preventing it from seeing Chen Shi underneath.
That immediately piqued Mew's interest.
It considered itself quite powerful.
Yet its probing abilities had been stopped by an ordinary-looking robe and mask.
These two things definitely weren't simple.
Maybe they were some kind of treasure…
Chen Shi replied casually,
"They're just something a certain llama told me to wear—"
BOOOOM!
Before he could finish speaking, a bolt of lightning as thick as a man's arm suddenly descended from the sky.
It struck the enormous boulder beneath Chen Shi's butt.
The seven-or-eight-meter-tall rock instantly exploded into powder, leaving behind a blackened crater.
Chen Shi sat dumbfounded in the middle of the crater.
A second later, he snapped back to reality.
He sprang to his feet, clutched his backside, and let out a miserable scream.
"GAIAAA!"
"MY ASS!"
"I swear to freaking Ar—"
BOOM!
Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
Chen Shi immediately swallowed the rest of the word.
His face alternated between green and white before finally twisting into an expression on the verge of tears.
"Fine!"
"I freaking get it! I was wrong, okay?!"
Above the crater, Mew and the Draconids stared blankly at the scene, completely unable to understand what had just happened.
Shate was the first to react.
He hurriedly rushed down, lifted Chen Shi out of the crater, and carefully placed him on the ground.
"Lord Qiu, are you all right?"
The surrounding Draconids immediately crowded around him, bombarding him with concerned questions.
Chen Shi stood shakily with his legs pressed awkwardly together and waved them off.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
But then he suddenly felt as though something was missing.
He reached into his robe and felt around.
His expression changed.
"Holy crap—Jirachi!"
Chen Shi hurriedly looked around.
Jirachi was nowhere to be seen.
He limped back toward the crater and looked down.
There it was.
Jirachi was still sitting dumbly at the bottom of the crater.
When it noticed Chen Shi looking at it, it even gave him a silly little smile.
Chen Shi stared at it speechlessly.
"Come on. Get up here. Don't just sit there."
"Okay~"
Jirachi happily floated out of the crater and threw itself into Chen Shi's arms.
"Xiaoshi, that thing just now was really fun!"
"Can we do it again?"
The corner of Chen Shi's mouth twitched.
You might have thought it was fun…
But my ass certainly didn't!
"Sigh…"
He couldn't help letting out a heavy sigh.
Until now, he had always called Arceus a "llama" in his head.
He had never actually said it aloud.
But for some reason, the word had suddenly slipped out just now.
And considering that Arceus was probably watching him the entire time…
He had basically insulted the Creator God right to its face.
"Mew~"
Mew floated over, covering its mouth with its tiny paws as it snickered.
"Who exactly did you offend just now?"
"Even I couldn't tell how they attacked you."
Groudon and Kyogre were still fighting in the distance.
So why had a bolt of lightning suddenly appeared in the sky and, by sheer coincidence, struck the exact rock Chen Shi had been sitting on?
Mew was certain of one thing.
Some powerful existence had secretly made a move.
But as for who it was…
Even Mew hadn't been able to tell.
Chen Shi clutched his aching backside and snapped,
"What's it got to do with you?"
"Get lost. If it weren't for you, I might not have suffered through this in the first place!"
"How is this my fault?!"
"How is it not your fault? If you hadn't kept asking me question after question, would I have said the wrong thing and gotten struck by lightning?"
"Now hurry up and leave. Stop being an eyesore."
Mew's eyes widened as it planted both paws on its hips.
"You're completely unreasonable!"
Chen Shi rolled his eyes.
"Why the hell would I bother reasoning with a professional wanderer like you?"
Mew fell silent.
Then, after a moment—
"How about you tell me who attacked you just now?"
"You want to know?"
Chen Shi paused.
A strange smile slowly spread across his face.
"Easy."
"Just repeat exactly what I said a moment ago."
"Then you'll find out for yourself."
...
Hisuian Arcanine
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