Chen Shi had fantasized about immortality before.
But to him, fantasy was only fantasy.
He had never truly wanted eternal life.
Coming to this world, being able to stay with the girl he loved and see his companions every day—
That was already enough to make him content.
"Why are you making that expression?"
Rayquaza's cold voice rang out.
"Is eternal life not a good thing?"
Chen Shi didn't know how to answer.
He couldn't exactly tell Rayquaza that he came from a thousand years in the future and had no interest in living forever.
Besides, Mew already desperately wanted him to become a guardian of the Tree of Beginning.
There was no need for Rayquaza to act as a middleman.
"Forget it."
"I think that great being probably already has arrangements for something like this."
Since he couldn't think of a proper answer, Chen Shi simply dragged Arceus out as an excuse.
It wasn't the first time he had done this.
Just moments ago, he had borrowed Arceus's name to make Rayquaza trust him.
Rayquaza thought about it and found the argument reasonable.
If even it could recognize how important this human might be, then how could Arceus fail to realize it?
Perhaps Arceus had already made arrangements.
There was no need for Rayquaza to concern itself with the matter.
"Fine."
"Do you have anything else?"
Rayquaza asked indifferently.
"I fought a battle recently and suffered some minor injuries."
"If there's nothing else, I need to return and recover as quickly as possible."
Chen Shi replied,
"That's all."
"Just make sure you remember what we discussed."
"When it happens, you need to come as quickly as possible."
"You don't need to remind me."
Rayquaza glanced at him before turning and flying back toward its resting place.
...
That evening, Chen Shi gathered some firewood and lit a campfire in a clearing within the forest.
He and Dragapult and the others slowly ate around the flames.
Chen Shi usually kept portable food in his backpack.
Biscuits, dried provisions, things like that.
They were filling enough.
But after eating them for too long, they became painfully difficult to swallow.
It was making him miss his days at the Meteor Tribe.
At least when he stayed there, whenever Shate and the others had anything good to eat, they would always save him a portion.
Out here?
He was stuck chewing biscuits.
"Shi, Rayquaza didn't seem that scary after all."
Jirachi took a bite of its Pokéblock as it remembered their meeting earlier that day.
After what happened, Jirachi was beginning to suspect the rumors had been exaggerated.
Mew must have been trying to scare it before!
Chen Shi chuckled.
"Rayquaza is still pretty fierce."
"But as long as we don't provoke it or intrude on its territory, it obviously won't hurt us for no reason."
"Mhm! Jirachi understands~"
Jirachi smiled brightly.
Then it asked,
"But Shi, why didn't you agree to Rayquaza's idea?"
"If you become a guardian of the Tree of Beginning, you could obtain eternal life."
"Then the next time Jirachi wakes up, I'd still be able to see you~"
Chen Shi smiled and shook his head.
"Jirachi, sometimes living longer isn't necessarily a good thing."
"For me, I'd rather live happily for a hundred years."
"Within that limited life, I want to stay beside the person I truly love."
"To see flowers blooming across the world in spring."
"To listen to cicadas singing through summer."
"To watch autumn leaves burn crimson."
"And to admire snow covering everything in winter."
"Life is meant to be lived freely."
"I came."
"I shone brightly."
"And then I left."
A faint light appeared in Jirachi's eyes.
Then it slowly dimmed.
"I think the same way."
"Jirachi doesn't want eternal life either."
"Jirachi only wants a hundred years of freedom."
Hearing that, Togekiss opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something.
But Chen Shi stopped her.
He hugged Jirachi close and rested his chin gently on its head without speaking.
For Jirachi, death would never come from old age.
In theory, it could continue existing until the end of time.
But it only awakened once every thousand years.
And every time it fell asleep...
Wasn't that almost another kind of death?
A life like that was far too painful.
"Shi, three days have already passed."
"In four more days, Jirachi will fall asleep again."
"When I wake up next time..."
"Will I still be able to see you?"
"Of course."
Chen Shi's voice was firm.
"When you wake up next time, I'll definitely be the first person standing in front of you."
"Really?"
Jirachi raised its head and stared at him without blinking.
"Of course."
"When have I ever lied to you?"
"Hmph! You lied to me today!"
"How did I lie to you today?"
Chen Shi seemed to remember something, and amusement crept into his voice.
Jirachi puffed out its cheeks.
"You said you were taking me to play with Rayquaza."
"But you only wanted to talk to Rayquaza about something."
"You weren't going there to play at all!"
"You're so mean~"
"Hahaha."
"Then I was wrong."
"Can Jirachi forgive me?"
Chen Shi rubbed his cheek against Jirachi's with a smile.
"Hmph, no!"
"Unless you take me to that amusement park you talked about, I won't forgive you~"
Jirachi lightly snorted and scrunched up its little face, looking unbearably cute.
"Alright, alright."
"When Jirachi wakes up next time, I promise I'll take you to an amusement park."
"How about that?"
Chen Shi patiently coaxed it.
He really had tricked Jirachi earlier.
There was no denying that.
So naturally, he agreed to its condition without hesitation.
"Mhm!"
"Then where are we going tomorrow?"
Jirachi nodded happily and looked at him expectantly.
"Hmm..."
Chen Shi thought for a moment.
"How about we go visit the tribe tomorrow?"
"There are lots of humans there."
"And delicious roasted meat too."
They had already been away for several days.
Chen Shi wanted to return to the Meteor Tribe and check on things.
He also had no idea whether Shate had managed to build a proper relationship with that Salamence yet.
That was actually quite important.
Chen Shi still cared about it.
If something went wrong, he might accidentally erase the Draconid people from history.
Hopefully Shate would prove useful.
While they were chatting, light footsteps suddenly sounded nearby.
Chen Shi and all the Pokémon turned toward the noise.
A Shiny Gardevoir slowly approached.
She still wore the same gentle smile.
Chen Shi immediately looked speechless.
"Why are you here again?"
"Don't tell me your master has another task for me."
Gardevoir shook her head.
[No.]
[I came because I need to take something from you.]
[It is not suitable for that object to remain in your possession.]
"Something?"
Chen Shi froze and instinctively asked.
Then he immediately realized what she meant.
"You want to take Deoxys?"
[Yes.]
[The meteorite containing the sleeping Deoxys should not remain with you.]
[My master instructed me to take it back.]
Chen Shi's expression instantly went flat.
"I found that thing."
"And I'm the one who purified it."
"So why should you get to take it away just because you say so?"
He stared at Gardevoir.
"Actually, I'd like to ask you something instead."
"Why exactly is it supposedly 'unsuitable' for Deoxys to stay with me?"
...
Nihilego
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