Wait.
What was going on here?
Chen Shi stared blankly at the little girl hugging his leg.
Since when did children randomly start calling strangers their father?
"Ah..."
Steven let out a heavy sigh.
"Old Chen."
"Not that I'm criticizing you, but you've been hiding such an adorable daughter in Pallet Town?"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I'm her uncle, you know!"
"I wasn't prepared at all!"
"Hah!?"
Before Chen Shi could even process what was happening, he suddenly felt a killing intent from behind.
His entire body stiffened.
He immediately lowered his head and said to the little girl:
"Your name is Yan Yan, right?"
"I'm not your dad."
"You've got the wrong person."
The little girl blinked her large eyes.
She carefully examined Chen Shi.
Then she shook her head seriously.
"Nope!"
"Yan Yan won't make a mistake!"
"You are Daddy~~"
Steven walked over with a solemn expression.
"Old Chen."
"How can you deny your own daughter?"
"What kind of father does that?"
"Yep!"
"Hello, Uncle Steven~~"
The little girl happily greeted him.
Steven froze.
"You know me?"
The situation was becoming strange.
Originally, he had assumed this was simply a child who had mistaken someone for her father.
But now—
She recognized him too.
That changed everything.
The little girl nodded.
"Of course!"
"Uncle Steven bought lots of toys for Yan Yan~~"
The moment those words came out, Chen Shi immediately sensed something was wrong.
Then he pointed toward Cynthia and cautiously asked:
"Do you know her too?"
The little girl looked over.
Her tiny body instantly shrank back slightly.
Then she raised her head and muttered:
"I know her."
"That's Mommy."
This time—
Cynthia froze completely.
Since when did she have a daughter?
"Croak!"
At that moment, the Greninja beside the little girl stepped forward.
It pointed at the little girl.
Then pointed at Chen Shi.
Chen Shi immediately activated his system scan on the Greninja.
A moment later—
He smiled.
A very happy smile.
Simply calling Cynthia "Mom" wasn't enough to confirm anything.
But Chen Shi suddenly remembered the psychic resonance he'd felt when he first saw the little girl.
Combined with this Greninja—
Everything clicked into place.
This really was his daughter.
His future daughter.
He gently set Jirachi down.
Then crouched before the little girl.
For the first time, his voice became unbelievably gentle.
"Your name is Yan Yan, right?"
"Can you tell Daddy your full name?"
"I know!"
"I know!"
The little girl puffed out her chest proudly.
"My name is..."
"Chen... Yan... Xi~~"
She carefully pronounced each character one by one.
Her age was clearly still very young.
Probably around three years old.
Even her pronunciation wasn't fully developed yet.
"Chen Yanxi."
"What a beautiful name."
Chen Shi silently repeated it.
Then immediately pulled a camera from his backpack.
"Yan Yan."
"Would you like to take a picture with Daddy?"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yan Yan likes taking pictures~~"
The little girl happily agreed.
Chen Shi immediately grabbed his daughter and began snapping photos nonstop.
He had no idea how she had arrived in this era.
Nor how long she could remain here.
So he wanted to record as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Steven was completely unable to understand what was happening.
He hurriedly grabbed Chen Shi's arm.
"Wait."
"Old Chen."
"You're actually serious?"
Chen Shi couldn't be bothered explaining.
He shook Steven off and continued taking picture after picture.
He even released all his Pokémon and took group photos with every single one.
Naturally—
He didn't forget Cynthia either.
In the end, he even had Steven take a family portrait of the three of them.
"Yan Yan."
"Are you hungry?"
"Daddy has lots of delicious food."
As he spoke, Chen Shi directly emptied every edible item from his spatial backpack.
Snacks.
Lollipops.
Donuts.
Honey.
Everything.
These were originally prepared for Togekiss and Jirachi.
Now they had found a much more important use.
Chen Yanxi's eyes immediately lit up.
But then she seemed to remember something.
She glanced toward Cynthia.
While nervously fiddling with her fingers, she whispered:
"Yan Yan wants to eat them..."
"But Mommy won't let me~~"
The moment he heard that, Chen Shi laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.
"Then Mommy is the bad one!"
"When you go home, love Daddy more and don't love Mommy!"
"Daddy~~"
"Mommy spanks my butt~~"
Chen Yanxi puffed up her cheeks.
Her face was full of grievance.
At that moment—
A small green Pokémon with an onion-shaped head suddenly appeared and landed atop her head.
"Little Buddy~~"
"Little Buddy is back~~"
Chen Yanxi happily waved her hands.
The instant Chen Shi saw the Pokémon—
Everything made sense.
So it was Celebi.
"Hello, past Shi'er."
Celebi greeted him casually.
Chen Shi smiled.
"Hello, Celebi."
"Thank you for letting me meet Yan Yan."
"Celebi?"
Cynthia gasped.
Combined with Chen Shi's bizarre behavior earlier and the existence of Chen Yanxi—
Everything finally clicked.
"She really is my daughter?"
Celebi gave Cynthia a strange look.
"Of course."
"Isn't that Greninja your partner?"
Cynthia immediately shot Chen Shi a furious glare.
She had already cursed him hundreds of times in her mind.
How could he hide something this important?
Just as Cynthia prepared to go hug Chen Yanxi—
Celebi suddenly spoke.
"Shi'er."
"I spent a long time looking for you."
"We've already used up too much time."
"It's time for us to go home."
Disappointment flashed across Chen Shi's eyes.
But he quickly forced a smile.
"Then goodbye, Celebi."
"Goodbye, Yan Yan."
"Why goodbye?"
Chen Yanxi tilted her little head.
She looked genuinely confused.
Celebi didn't give Chen Shi a chance to explain.
The space behind it suddenly became distorted.
Ripples spread outward like water.
Greninja stepped forward.
Picked up Chen Yanxi.
Then gave Cynthia one final look.
The pair slowly retreated into the strange dimensional passage.
Just before entering—
Celebi left behind two final warnings.
"Shi'er."
"Be careful of the darkness!"
"And..."
"Go to the Sinnoh Region as soon as possible!"
The moment Celebi disappeared, the distorted space gradually returned to normal.
"Be careful of the darkness?"
Chen Shi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
This was the second time he had heard that phrase.
The first time had been from Xerneas.
But what did it have to do with him?
Why was Celebi warning him?
What exactly happened in the future?
And why did it specifically tell him to go to the Sinnoh Region?
Just as Chen Shi sank into thought—
Two cold hands suddenly grabbed his ears.
Then twisted them a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
A miserable scream echoed throughout Viridian Forest.
The peaceful atmosphere shattered instantly.
Countless Pidgey took flight in fright.
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