"Baba?"
Steven murmured the rather odd name to himself. Without giving it much thought, he pressed on:
"What brings you here, and why are you wearing a mask?"
As he spoke, Steven's gaze kept drifting toward Jirachi and Victini.
These Mythical Pokémon were all famous, so of course he recognized them.
But with Shadow Creatures everywhere outside, this human of unknown origins, who was even concealing his face, had actually brought so many normal Mythical Pokémon with him.
It was truly strange.
Seeing Steven continue to question him with a perfectly straight face, Chen Shi struggled to hold back his laughter.
Finally, finally!
He'd finally become this unfilial brat's dad.
Behind them, Diantha, who had a Gardevoir at her side, couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
Beside her, Lorelei looked up at the sky, her normally frosty face flushed red with the effort of holding it in.
It was obvious that she desperately wanted to laugh, too.
Only Lance and Steven looked utterly bewildered, with no idea what the two women were laughing about.
Afraid the two would expose him, Chen Shi cleared his throat twice and immediately changed the subject.
"I heard there were still some normal humans and Pokémon living here, so I wanted to join you."
"You know, humans are social animals, so I really need companions."
"Join us?" At those words, all four of them immediately grew serious.
They exchanged glances, and Lance stepped forward, saying earnestly, "Mr. Baba, we'd be delighted to have you join us. After all, we're all sticking together to get through this."
"But you should understand what things are like outside right now. We have to test you and your companions."
"Once we've confirmed that you haven't been contaminated by Dark Matter, I think we'll get along