After the Dark Lugia incident was resolved, Chen Shi and Cynthia returned to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Chen Shi desperately wanted to know why Celebi had told him to go to Sinnoh.
Yet a voice deep inside kept telling him—
It still wasn't time.
He knew exactly why.
Dragapult and the others still weren't strong enough.
So for now, he planned to remain at Oak's Laboratory a little longer.
After all, Dragapult and the others were already very close to reaching the Champion level.
When Professor Oak saw them return safely, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Early that morning, reports of the disturbance near Cinnabar Island had already reached him.
He had suspected it was connected to Lugia.
Naturally, he had been worried about Chen Shi and Cynthia.
Fortunately—
Both had returned unharmed.
Upon seeing Professor Oak, Chen Shi pulled the silver box from his backpack and handed it over.
"Professor."
"This is Lugia's Silver Feather."
"Lugia is fine now."
"And the feather has returned to normal."
Professor Oak opened the box.
Sure enough—
The pitch-black feather had regained its original silver color.
He didn't ask what had happened.
Instead, he simply smiled.
"You've worked hard."
"It's nothing."
Chen Shi waved his hand.
"Professor, I'm going to find Dragonite."
"I still need to trouble him with Dragapult's training."
"Go ahead."
Professor Oak nodded.
"Perfect timing. I need to continue my research anyway."
...
In the backyard, inside the cave Dragonite had dug for himself—
The dragon was comfortably taking a nap.
The next second, sensing someone approaching, Dragonite opened one eye.
After recognizing who it was—
He immediately closed it again and pretended to be asleep.
"Dragonite."
"Stop pretending."
"I saw you wake up."
"Hurry up. I still need your help training Dragapult and the others."
Chen Shi spoke with a cheerful smile.
Dragonite slowly opened his eyes.
His lifeless gaze stared at the cave ceiling.
Damn it.
Why were these two back already?
He'd only enjoyed one peaceful morning!
Before Chen Shi arrived—
His life had been perfect.
As long as the Pokémon in the backyard behaved themselves, his work was done.
Eat.
Sleep.
Sunbathe.
Life had been both comfortable and fulfilling.
But ever since Chen Shi showed up—
He'd been forced to train an entire army of Pokémon every single day.
And there were so many of them.
The dragon felt utterly exhausted.
Chen Shi couldn't help laughing.
He walked over and patted Dragonite's round belly.
"Come on."
"As long as you help Dragapult, Swampert, and Florges reach Champion level—"
"I'll leave immediately."
"I won't bother you anymore."
"How about it?"
The moment Dragonite heard that—
His eyes instantly lit up.
He jumped up and stared at Chen Shi.
His expression clearly said:
Really?
You're not lying to me?
After all, Dragapult was already one step away from Champion level.
It even had the Secret Realm Core Fragment.
Swampert and Florges weren't much different.
With their Legendary resources, breaking through was only a matter of time.
Chen Shi rolled his eyes.
"Relax."
"The moment those three reach Champion level, I'm gone."
Dragonite immediately thumped his chest.
"Woofuu!"
(Brother, leave it to me!)
Before Chen Shi could say anything else—
Dragonite snatched all the Poké Balls from Chen Shi and Cynthia.
Then rushed out of the cave.
Cynthia smiled softly.
"It seems Dragonite really doesn't like us anymore."
Chen Shi chuckled.
"Well, before we arrived, he basically lived a retirement lifestyle."
"Of course he doesn't welcome us."
"Come on."
"Let's go see what he's doing."
With that, Chen Shi headed outside.
Cynthia followed beside him.
As they walked, she asked:
"Once Dragapult and the others reach Champion level..."
"Are you planning to go to Sinnoh?"
"Absolutely."
The answer came immediately.
"The moment they break through, I'm heading straight to Sinnoh."
"And do you know where you're going?"
At that question, Chen Shi looked helpless.
Celebi had only told him to go to Sinnoh.
It never specified where.
"So you still haven't figured it out?"
Cynthia smiled.
"Yeah."
Chen Shi admitted openly.
"But I plan to travel around and investigate."
"Eventually I'll find the answer."
"After all, there are only a handful of truly special places in Sinnoh."
Cynthia became interested.
"Oh?"
"Which places?"
"The three lakes."
"Spear Pillar."
"And Mount Coronet."
The three lakes referred to:
Lake VerityLake AcuityLake Valor
Those locations were connected to the Lake Guardians.
As for Spear Pillar—
The name alone made its connection to the gods of time and space obvious.
And then there was Mount Coronet.
That place was harder to explain.
Maybe it was connected to Arceus.
Maybe it wasn't.
Either way—
Chen Shi planned to visit them all.
Perhaps one of them would provide the answer.
Cynthia nodded thoughtfully.
Then a meaningful smile appeared on her face.
"And what else?"
Chen Shi frowned.
He was about to say there wasn't anything else.
Then he met Cynthia's gaze.
Immediately—
He realized something.
"Right!"
"And Celestic Town!"
"Now that's more like it."
Cynthia smiled sweetly.
"I spoke with Grandma recently."
"She said she misses you."
The moment he heard that—
Chen Shi immediately thought of Professor Carolina.
And his head began to ache.
That old lady was not easy to deal with.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have been afraid.
The problem was—
He'd already stolen her precious granddaughter.
Then spent months traveling around the world with her.
Without bringing her home.
Just imagining his visit to Celestic Town was enough to make him uncomfortable.
He could already picture Professor Carolina's sarcastic remarks.
Unfortunately—
This visit was unavoidable.
After all, Professor Carolina had always treated him exceptionally well.
And she was Cynthia's grandmother.
No matter how he looked at it—
His first stop in Sinnoh should absolutely be a visit to her.
Seeing the endless changes in Chen Shi's expression, Cynthia smiled mischievously.
"What?"
"Scared?"
The moment those words came out—
Chen Shi immediately straightened his neck.
Raised his voice.
"Scared?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"As if I'd ever be scared!"
"When the time comes, just watch!"
"I won't back down at all!"
"Mhm."
Cynthia made a soft humming sound.
Then smiled without saying anything further.
Years ago—
She had once heard her grandmother tell a story.
Apparently, when her grandfather had gone to meet the family for the first time—
He had acted just as confident beforehand.
But after arriving—
He only dared eat the vegetables directly in front of him during dinner.
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