"What happened after that?"
Chen Shi hurriedly asked.
He had never imagined that this so-called darkness had been so terrifying, causing such a massive disturbance three thousand years ago.
Mew sighed and continued.
[Later, we discovered that this darkness possessed an extremely strong infectious nature. Even the Legendary Pokémon helping us were almost contaminated by it.]
[That was when everyone finally realized how serious the situation was.]
[We all went together to seek out Arceus and hoped it could explain what this thing was.]
[But Arceus didn't explain anything.]
[It simply handed the Fairy Plate to Xerneas and told it to use the plate to suppress the darkness and slowly wear it down.]
[You already know what happened after that.]
Chen Shi's expression became complicated.
Of course he knew the rest.
Then he asked another question.
"Which Legendary Pokémon were involved back then?"
[Too many.]
[There wasn't a single one we didn't try to find.]
[We tried every method imaginable, but none of them worked.]
[We even asked Celebi to travel back to the period immediately after Xerneas and Yveltal's battle, hoping to discover how Xerneas had become infected.]
[But in the end, we found nothing.]
[The darkness seemed to appear inside Xerneas out of nowhere. There were no clues at all.]
Mew sounded somewhat emotional as it recalled that era when countless Legendary and Mythical Pokémon had been completely helpless.
This time, Chen Shi truly couldn't remain calm.
He knew the darkness was dangerous.
But he hadn't realized it was this horrifying.
An entire group of Legendary Pokémon had been unable to do anything about it.
Just hearing that was enough to make someone's scalp go numb.
"Chen Shi, what's wrong?"
Professor Oak walked over and patted his shoulder.
Since Mew had been communicating through telepathy, neither Professor Oak nor Cynthia knew what had been discussed.
They only noticed that both Chen Shi and the "Eevee" had become increasingly serious.
Professor Oak could already tell that this matter wasn't simple.
"Teacher."
"This is big."
Chen Shi spoke in a low voice.
Professor Oak was silent for several seconds before asking:
"How big?"
"Bigger than the battle between Groudon and Kyogre."
The entire living room instantly fell silent.
Even Jirachi and Victini, who had been playing moments earlier, sensed the atmosphere and quietly sat to the side.
After a long while, Cynthia finally broke the silence.
"What do we do?"
Neither Professor Oak nor Chen Shi answered immediately.
Both were deep in thought.
At that moment, Mew spoke through telepathy again.
[We have to find that Lugia immediately.]
[We can't allow the darkness to spread.]
Chen Shi twitched helplessly.
Easy for you to say.
The world was enormous.
Where exactly were they supposed to find a Lugia?
Would this corrupted Silver Wing even work anymore?
Chen Shi looked down at the black feather inside the box.
He remained silent.
Mew seemed to understand what he was thinking.
[We can find the Lugia that possesses divine authority.]
[It's the leader of the Lugia clan.]
[It should know where this Lugia is.]
Chen Shi's eyes immediately lit up.
"You can find the Lugia with divine authority?"
Mew grinned.
[Normally, no.]
[But during the Groudon and Kyogre battle, I sensed its aura.]
[It came to watch the show.]
[And afterward, it never left.]
[It's still somewhere in that ocean region.]
Chen Shi was speechless.
So even Lugia liked watching drama?
Afterward, he turned toward Professor Oak.
"Teacher."
"I need to go out tomorrow."
"I'll be taking this Silver Wing with me."
"Do you want to bring my Dragonite along?"
Professor Oak didn't object.
From what Chen Shi had said, he could roughly guess that Chen Shi intended to seek out the strongest Lugia.
Chen Shi shook his head.
"No need."
"Jirachi and Little Rayquaza will be enough."
If the darkness was truly that terrifying, then this problem wasn't something he could solve anyway.
His goal was simply to find the Lugia clan leader and inform it that another Lugia was in trouble.
...
Early the next morning.
After packing a few necessities, Chen Shi and Cynthia left Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Once outside, Chen Shi hugged Jirachi and looked at Mew on his shoulder.
"Let's go."
"Take us there."
[Got it.]
The next moment, Mew used Teleport.
Chen Shi and Cynthia vanished from in front of the laboratory.
A short while later, they appeared above a vast ocean.
[This is the place.]
Mew carefully sensed the surroundings.
The Lugia was definitely somewhere beneath these waters.
"How do we get down there?"
Chen Shi asked.
[Isn't that easy?]
A barrier of psychic energy expanded outward from Mew.
It wrapped around Chen Shi and Cynthia.
Then Mew dove straight into the ocean.
The surrounding seawater was completely blocked by the psychic barrier.
Fresh air remained trapped inside.
"Chen Shi, it's so beautiful down here!"
Jirachi exclaimed as it looked around the underwater world.
"Yes!"
"It's really beautiful, Chen Shi!"
Diancie nodded enthusiastically from behind.
Chen Shi smiled.
"Right?"
"There are lots of beautiful places in this world."
"We'll slowly visit them all someday, okay?"
"Okay~"
Jirachi nodded obediently and snuggled closer into his arms.
As they chatted, Mew continued descending rapidly.
Soon, they had reached depths where sunlight could no longer penetrate.
Chen Shi pulled a flashlight from his backpack.
Unfortunately, even its beam couldn't illuminate very far.
A little while later, Mew suddenly stopped.
[We're here.]
Hearing that, Chen Shi immediately aimed the flashlight downward.
The beam pierced the dark blue seawater.
Gradually, a gigantic silhouette emerged from the darkness below.
A massive blue-and-white bird-like Pokémon was resting on the ocean floor.
Its enormous body occupied a huge section of the seabed.
Perhaps sensing visitors, Lugia slowly opened its eyes.
Its two glowing white pupils swept toward Chen Shi and the others.
The moment it saw them—
It visibly froze.
Mew happily waved a paw.
[Big White Bird! Long time no see!]
Lugia: "..."
It stared at Mew.
Deep in thought.
Damn it.
Why is this stupid cat here?
Whenever it showed up, nothing good ever followed.
Maybe...
It should just run.
If it couldn't afford to provoke Mew, it could at least avoid it.
With that thought, Lugia's enormous body shifted slightly.
It quietly gathered strength.
Then—
Its wings exploded outward.
Powerful currents erupted across the ocean floor.
The giant Pokémon shot away like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Its speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the endless depths of the sea.
Mew: "..."
Chen Shi: "???"
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