After packing everything up, Chen Shi decided to have Jirachi take him directly into the ozone layer to find Rayquaza.
This time, he only kept Little V and Jirachi outside.
All of his other Pokémon were recalled into their Poké Balls.
After checking that there was nothing wrong with his mask or robe, Chen Shi lowered his head and looked at Jirachi in his arms.
"Jirachi, how about we go up to the ozone layer and find Rayquaza to play?"
The moment Jirachi heard that, it immediately shrank back a little.
"Why do we have to go play with Rayquaza?"
"It's really fierce... Jirachi is a little scared."
Even though Jirachi only awakened for seven days every thousand years, it had still heard of Rayquaza's fearsome reputation.
That was the true ruler of the skies.
Even a Pokémon as powerful as Mew admitted that it couldn't defeat Rayquaza.
As far as Jirachi was concerned, they could play anywhere.
Why did it have to be Rayquaza?
"Don't be scared. I'll protect you!"
Chen Shi patted his chest confidently.
"Really?"
"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"
"Mhm! Jirachi believes Shi~"
"Great. Then could Jirachi use psychic power to take me up to the ozone layer and find Rayquaza?"
"No problem! Leave it to Jirachi!"
The moment it finished speaking, Jirachi carried Chen Shi rapidly upward.
Looking at Jirachi's innocent, trusting expression, Chen Shi nearly burst out laughing.
Little darling, you really are adorably gullible.
I'm the one who needs you to protect me.
How am I supposed to protect you?
...
"Jirachi, do you know where Rayquaza is?"
"Yep! It always sleeps in the same place. Jirachi can find it."
Chen Shi's mouth twitched.
How did even Jirachi know where Rayquaza slept?
No wonder Mew had once said that other Legendary Pokémon might be difficult to find, but Rayquaza definitely wasn't.
So everyone knew where Little Rayquaza's bedroom was?
Still, that saved them the trouble of searching.
As they talked, Jirachi brought Chen Shi to a barren stretch of land floating high within the ozone layer.
At the center of it, Rayquaza suddenly sensed a powerful psychic presence approaching.
Thinking Deoxys had returned, it immediately opened its eyes and looked over.
But it wasn't Deoxys.
It was the comet Pokémon.
Rayquaza immediately relaxed.
It really wasn't in the mood to fight Deoxys again right now.
Then it grew slightly puzzled.
Why had Jirachi come here?
"Hm?"
"It brought a strange human too?"
Rayquaza muttered to itself before deciding to investigate.
It rose from its resting place and quickly flew toward Chen Shi just as he landed.
"What are you doing here?"
Rayquaza's tone was far from friendly.
There were two reasons.
First, it had only recently finished fighting Deoxys. Not only was it injured, something was also wrong with its body.
Second—
Rayquaza never had a pleasant attitude toward anyone who intruded into its territory.
Jirachi immediately shrank deeper into Chen Shi's arms and didn't dare speak.
Even Chen Shi froze the moment he saw Rayquaza.
His eyes went blank.
Seeing neither of them respond, Rayquaza became impatient.
"What do you want?"
"Speak!"
If there hadn't been something wrong with its body, their silence alone would have been enough for Rayquaza to attack already.
Why would it waste time talking?
Chen Shi finally snapped back to his senses.
His expression became complicated.
Now he finally understood why Arceus had insisted that he find Rayquaza today.
Not tomorrow.
Not later.
Today.
Because if he had arrived a day later...
Rayquaza would probably have been completely marinated in darkness.
"You've been infected by the darkness."
"A certain being sent someone to find me and asked me to remove the dark aura from your body."
The instant those words left his mouth, Rayquaza's enormous body stiffened.
A flash of astonishment appeared in its cold eyes.
This human knew about the darkness?
And he even knew Rayquaza had been infected?
Rayquaza fell silent.
In truth, it had only discovered the contamination itself earlier that day.
The cause was obvious.
Its battle with that Dark Deoxys several days ago.
Rayquaza had believed it had been extremely careful.
Yet somehow, it had still been infected.
Ever since discovering it, Rayquaza had repeatedly tried to purge the darkness from its body.
Nothing worked.
The miserable state Xerneas had fallen into two thousand years ago was still vivid in its memory.
Rayquaza had already been preparing to seek out Arceus.
And now—
A human had suddenly appeared and claimed he could remove the darkness.
No matter how one looked at it, the idea was ridiculous.
Countless Legendary Pokémon had once been helpless against this substance.
And this human thought he could solve it?
After two seconds of silence, Rayquaza slowly raised its head and sneered.
"Do you understand what you're saying?"
"Of course."
"As long as you're willing to trust me, I can help you."
"And why should I trust you?"
Chen Shi quietly relaxed.
As long as Rayquaza was willing to keep talking, the rest would be much easier.
He began laying out his reasoning.
"The darkness is terrifying."
"If you're still conscious and functioning normally, then that proves you were infected recently."
"Otherwise, you probably would have already fallen completely into it."
Before Rayquaza could respond, Chen Shi continued,
"And the only major event that happened recently was your battle with Deoxys alongside Zygarde and Mew."
"I'm guessing that Deoxys was corrupted by the darkness."
"And you were contaminated during the battle."
"Am I right?"
Rayquaza narrowed its eyes.
"Even if your guess is correct, so what?"
"All that proves is that you're not stupid."
"It doesn't prove you can help me."
"Do Mew and Zygarde know you've been infected?"
Chen Shi suddenly asked.
"They do not."
Rayquaza answered with certainty.
It had only discovered the problem today.
There was no way Mew or Zygarde could know.
Chen Shi suddenly smiled.
"Exactly."
"The two Pokémon who fought beside you don't know."
"And yet somehow, I do."
"Why don't you guess who told me?"
Rayquaza stared coldly at the white-robed, masked human before it.
If anyone had spoken to it like this in the past, Rayquaza would have already rewarded them with a Hyper Beam.
But after hearing Chen Shi's words, it couldn't help falling into thought.
Before arriving, this human had said that a certain being had sent him to remove the darkness.
Yet even Mew and Zygarde, who had fought right beside Rayquaza, didn't know that it had been contaminated.
So how had that being known?
And the timing was far too precise.
The human had arrived just as Rayquaza was preparing to seek out Arceus...
Suddenly, a possibility surfaced in Rayquaza's mind.
Its pupils contracted sharply.
Could it be...?
Yes.
There was only one being capable of knowing something like this.
And only that being would have such power.
...
It's Eevee~
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