Seeing Rayquaza remain silent, Chen Shi assumed it didn't believe him. Honestly, the explanation really did sound absurd.
"Even though it sounds unreliable, the reason your child can't hatch really is because of this."
"You can try absorbing the excess energy out of the Egg. For someone like you, that should be a very simple thing to do."
Rayquaza's cold gaze locked tightly onto Chen Shi.
"How do I know whether what you're saying is true or false?"
"And what if you're wrong?"
Hearing that, Chen Shi spread his hands helplessly.
"If you don't believe me, then there's nothing I can do."
"But if things continue like this, your child probably won't hatch even after another three thousand years."
Rayquaza fell into thought, clearly conflicted.
It couldn't determine whether Chen Shi was correct.
If he was right, then naturally that would be wonderful.
But if he was wrong…
Wouldn't that just delay its child even further?
Back when it was born, it had never encountered any such issue.
Anything containing dense, high-level energy had simply been swallowed whole without any problem at all. There had never been a situation where it couldn't digest something.
After a while, Rayquaza finally spoke.
"Human, you need to prove that what you're saying is true. Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to trust you."
"How am I supposed to prove that?" Chen Shi sighed helplessly.
Rayquaza had truly given him a difficult problem.
How was he supposed to prove something like this in such a short amount of time?
Then Chen Shi suddenly seemed to think of something.
"When you were born, did you hatch from an Egg?"
Rayquaza shook its head.
"Of course not."
"I was born directly from the world's laws. I was the very first Rayquaza."
"And when you were born, how strong were you?"
"How strong?"
Rayquaza thought for a moment before glancing toward the sleepy Jirachi in Chen Shi's arms.
"Probably around the same level as that little one you're holding."
Chen Shi's mouth twitched.
So you're telling me you were already stronger than Legendary-tier the moment you were born?!
Then Chen Shi carefully phrased his words.
"You were already incredibly powerful at birth, so maybe you don't understand this."
"But Pokémon Eggs are extremely fragile."
"I think you kept pouring energy into the Egg because you wanted to accelerate its hatching or improve its potential."
"But have you ever considered that you're simply too powerful?"
"A random scale falling off your body, or even a little bit of your blood, would already be an unimaginable treasure for lower-level Pokémon. They would need to absorb it slowly, otherwise the effects would backfire instead."
"Your child is the perfect example."
"It's not like you, born directly from the world's laws. Right now, it's still developing inside the Egg."
"To put it bluntly…"
"It's simply too weak right now to absorb the energy you keep forcing into it. Do you understand?"
Chen Shi understood Rayquaza's concerns.
Since he had no way to prove things directly in the short term, he could only explain things step by step.
If Rayquaza still refused to believe him after this, then there was truly nothing else he could do.
After hearing Chen Shi's explanation, Rayquaza sank into deep thought.
What this human says…
…actually makes sense.
It had never experienced life inside an Egg itself, so it truly didn't know much about this sort of thing.
Maybe…
Maybe it should trust this human once?
Toward Chen Shi, who possessed psychic power, Rayquaza already held a certain degree of trust.
After making its decision, Rayquaza stopped hesitating.
It immediately picked up the Egg and rapidly absorbed all the energy it had previously infused into it.
The instant it finished—
Crack.
A visible crack suddenly appeared on the Egg.
"It's hatching already?" Chen Shi stared at the crack in surprise.
He truly hadn't expected the Egg to begin hatching immediately after Rayquaza removed the excess energy.
That alone showed just how badly little Rayquaza had been delayed by big Rayquaza.
When Rayquaza saw the Egg beginning to hatch, it froze momentarily before carefully cradling it in its claws, terrified that something might go wrong at this critical moment.
Soon, more and more cracks spread across the Egg.
The cracks grew larger and larger.
Before long, the entire shell shattered apart.
A black, miniature Rayquaza appeared before them.
The newly born little Rayquaza was only about as thick as a wrist and slightly over a meter long.
Honestly…
It looked kind of adorable.
Rayquaza stared blankly at its child.
Why is it black?
It looks exactly like that other one of my kind.
Still, it quickly accepted it.
Black was fine.
No matter the color, it was still its child.
Just as Rayquaza was about to speak—
Little Rayquaza suddenly charged straight at it and smacked it across the head with its tail.
Then its tiny claws began furiously scratching at Rayquaza's face.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW I'VE LIVED THESE LAST THREE THOUSAND YEARS?!"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MISERABLE I'VE BEEN?!"
"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME, YOU KNOW THAT?!"
Rayquaza: "..."
Chen Shi: "..."
The more little Rayquaza thought about it, the angrier it became. Its scratching only grew more vicious.
Truthfully, while it had still been inside the Egg, it had already possessed a certain level of awareness.
It could vaguely sense what was happening outside.
It knew Rayquaza had constantly been pouring energy into it.
But the problem was—
It couldn't absorb or process any of that energy.
The feeling had been unbelievably agonizing.
It was basically like being forced to swallow solid gold whole.
And to make matters worse, Rayquaza kept doing it again and again over the last three thousand years.
Little Rayquaza had genuinely been tortured.
Now that it had finally hatched—
How could it possibly hold back anymore?
Naturally, it vented all the rage in its heart immediately.
Rayquaza looked extremely awkward.
Although little Rayquaza's attacks couldn't actually hurt it in the slightest, the fact that its child's very first instinct after hatching was to attack its own parent…
…was truly not something honorable.
But the worst part was—
Rayquaza couldn't even defend itself.
Because this really was entirely its fault.
So it could only silently endure the beating.
After a long while, little Rayquaza finally seemed to grow tired of scratching. It floated in the air, panting heavily while glaring angrily at Rayquaza.
"Child, listen to my explanation—"
"I WON'T LISTEN! I WON'T LISTEN!"
Rayquaza: "..."
Seeing little Rayquaza acting like this, big Rayquaza had no choice but to turn toward Chen Shi with a pleading look for help.
Chen Shi coughed awkwardly twice before taking out several prepared Pokéblocks from his backpack.
"Uh… little Rayquaza, you must be tired after all that, right? Here, I've got something tasty for you. Why don't you eat first?"
The moment little Rayquaza heard Chen Shi's voice, it turned around.
And the instant it saw him—
Its eyes lit up.
Then it excitedly threw itself straight into Chen Shi's arms.
It hadn't forgotten.
If not for Chen Shi, who knew how much longer it would've continued suffering under big Rayquaza's "care"?
To little Rayquaza, Chen Shi was basically its savior.
"BENEFACTOR!!"
"The great benefactor who rescued me from endless suffering!!"
Chen Shi stared blankly at the black Shiny Rayquaza in his arms, his head full of question marks.
…Wait a second.
Isn't this Rayquaza's personality a little wrong?!
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