After hearing Rayquaza's words, Chen Shi froze for a moment, unable to understand what kind of matter would require his help.
But since Rayquaza had personally asked, there was no way he could reject it to its face.
So Chen Shi immediately replied:
"Go ahead. If there's anything I can help with, I'll definitely do my best."
He deliberately didn't make his promise sound too absolute, just in case Rayquaza's request turned out to be something impossible.
After all, anything important enough for Rayquaza to seek help with definitely wouldn't be a trivial matter.
After finally resolving the Groudon and Kyogre crisis, Chen Shi honestly wanted nothing more than to go home and lie down for a few days.
Rayquaza spoke calmly.
"Come up. We'll talk at my place."
As it spoke, Rayquaza lowered its head, clearly intending for Chen Shi to sit on top of it.
Chen Shi blanked out for two full seconds.
Then a grin brighter than sunshine exploded across his face.
"Alright, alright, alright! I'm coming right now!"
"Jirachi! Quick, hurry up and get me up there!"
Chen Shi hurriedly urged Jirachi to use psychic power to lift him onto Rayquaza's head.
Ride Rayquaza?!
This was something Chen Shi had never even dared dream about before.
And now Rayquaza was actually inviting him to ride it personally.
At that point, why would he bother being polite?
Just ride it already!
Watching Chen Shi grin like an idiot, everyone collectively rolled their eyes.
But deep down, they were insanely jealous.
Only Mew cautiously hid behind Cynthia, terrified that Rayquaza might notice it.
Next, Cynthia released Garchomp again and jumped onto its back. Chen Shi recalled Metagross before waving toward the others.
"You guys head back first. We'll meet again in Sootopolis City!"
Before anyone could even respond, Rayquaza had already shot into the sky with Chen Shi, flying straight toward the upper atmosphere.
"WHOOOHOO~~!"
Feeling the fierce wind rushing across his face, Chen Shi looked unbelievably excited.
Achievement unlocked:
Ride Rayquaza.
"..."
Rayquaza's speed was astonishing.
Before long, it had already carried Chen Shi back to the ozone layer.
After climbing down from Rayquaza's body, Chen Shi immediately asked:
"So? Can you tell me now?"
Rayquaza gave a slight nod before flying over to the place where it had previously been sleeping. It used its claws to clear away the surrounding rubble.
Very quickly, a black-and-green Pokémon Egg was revealed beneath the broken stones.
"This can be considered my child," Rayquaza said calmly. "But it has remained in this state for more than three thousand years without hatching."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Your child?!"
Chen Shi's eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of his head.
Rayquaza actually has a child?!
"Mm. It split off from my origin, so it counts as my child," Rayquaza replied flatly.
Chen Shi: "..."
So it wasn't born the normal way?
Chen Shi suddenly felt a little disappointed.
For a moment, he genuinely thought Rayquaza had actually laid an egg.
But splitting from its origin did sound reasonable.
After all, Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza technically didn't have genders.
Besides, Rayquaza was probably a single dragon anyway.
Who exactly would it even reproduce with?
Soon, Chen Shi's gaze landed on the Pokémon Egg.
Immediately, the system scan appeared before his eyes.
Pokémon: Rayquaza (Black Shiny)
Level: 0 (Unhatched)
Potential: ???
Ability: Air Lock
Gender: None
Moves: Ancient Power, Dragon Ascent, Air Slash, Crunch, Dragon Pulse, Twister, Extreme Speed
Notes: Has absorbed excessive amounts of high-level energy beyond what it can digest, preventing normal hatching.
Chen Shi: ???
Wait.
Hold on.
What exactly did he just see?
Black Shiny Rayquaza?!
No freaking way.
Could this be that one?
The absurdly overpowered black Rayquaza that practically solo-carried entire battles?!
Chen Shi stared at the Egg below with wide eyes.
But the timeline didn't match up.
Ash still hadn't even started his journey yet, which meant only a few years remained.
Not to mention—
This Rayquaza wasn't even hatched yet.
Even if it hatched now, could it really grow that monstrously powerful in such a short amount of time?
Chen Shi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Rayquaza immediately asked:
"Well? Is there a solution?"
Truthfully, Rayquaza itself hadn't held much hope.
It was only because the Egg had remained unhatched for so many years that it suddenly thought of asking Chen Shi to take a look.
Just in case something worked.
Sometimes, even Rayquaza had to admit that certain human methods were truly remarkable.
Hearing the question, Chen Shi snapped out of his thoughts.
Looking at the system note, he suddenly felt rather speechless.
To put it simply—
This black Shiny Rayquaza had basically been overfed.
Who even knows what Rayquaza did to this poor kid?
It had been so stuffed with energy that it couldn't hatch for over three thousand years.
Honestly, that was kind of tragic.
"I do have an idea," Chen Shi said immediately. "But first, I have a few questions."
Rayquaza's massive body trembled slightly.
Its enormous dragon head moved closer, and for the first time, excitement could clearly be heard in its voice.
"There really is a way?"
Three thousand years.
In those three thousand years, who knew how much energy it had poured into this Egg?
How many precious high-level resources had it gathered?
It had even borrowed half of a Dragon Plate from its own kind to use as a bed for the Egg.
And yet after all these years, the Egg still stubbornly refused to hatch.
Now, for the first time ever, a human was saying there might actually be a solution.
How could Rayquaza not feel excited?
"Ask whatever you want!"
Chen Shi's eyes lit up.
"So there are others of your kind in this world?"
Rayquaza paused briefly before nodding.
"Yes."
"I have two others of my kind."
"One is similar to me, while the other has a different coloration from ours, though it is still undeniably my kin."
"I see!"
Chen Shi immediately understood.
So Rayquaza wasn't unique.
There were actually three of them.
And the differently colored one Rayquaza mentioned was most likely the black Shiny Rayquaza—the one that later helped Ash.
Then Chen Shi curiously asked:
"Then do Groudon and Kyogre also have others of their species?"
"No. They are both unique."
"But what does that have to do with my child hatching?"
Chen Shi coughed awkwardly.
"Uh… nothing really. I was just curious."
As for the Egg itself, Chen Shi already had a solution in mind.
He really had only asked those questions out of pure curiosity.
Rayquaza gave him a sidelong glance.
"After you solve my child's problem, you can satisfy your curiosity however you want."
"Right, right."
Chen Shi nodded repeatedly before hesitating for a second and continuing:
"Based on my observation, your child has absorbed too much high-level energy."
"It's still too weak to digest all that energy, which is why it can't hatch normally."
"As long as you remove those high-level energies from its body, it should be able to hatch properly."
The moment those words came out—
Rayquaza fell completely silent.
Its mind filled instantly with question marks.
Too much high-level energy?
Unable to digest it?
The so-called "high-level energy"…
Could it possibly mean the energy I injected into it?
Rayquaza recalled how over the years, it had constantly poured energy into the Egg.
It had even soaked the Egg in its own blood before…
So the reason this Egg couldn't hatch…
…was entirely because of itself?
After all this time—
It turned out it had been the one delaying its child's birth?!
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
There was no way this was its fault!
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon → [email protected]/lucarioTL (replace @ with a)