Before he even arrived, his signature power had already settled over the many Legendary Pokémon.
It cleansed the dark matter clinging to them.
Quietly, Chen Shi appeared beside Cynthia without anyone noticing and gently ruffled her golden hair, just as he always did.
His voice held a hint of heartache. "You silly girl."
Cynthia stared blankly at the boy before her. For some reason, all the hurt she had forcibly buried in her heart came surging out uncontrollably.
Without the slightest hesitation, Cynthia wrapped her arms around Chen Shi's waist and bit down hard on her lip. "I thought... I thought I was going to lose you forever!"
She had known full well that the world needed Chen Shi, that only he could protect it.
Yet under immense pressure, Cynthia had still handed the boy she loved over to that false version of herself.
She had been tormented, in pain, and, more than anything, hurt.
Those tangled emotions had left her unable to say a word in her own defense when Dragapult complained.
When Mew questioned her, she could only force a smile.
She had endured all those emotions. The Valkyrie of the Sinnoh Region never made excuses for her mistakes.
But now, Chen Shi's appearance made all the feelings Cynthia had suppressed erupt at once.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to abandon you. I'm so sorry..."
Chen Shi gently patted Cynthia's back. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."
"I shouldn't have tried to run away. Even after everything I'd been through, after so many people reminded me over and over, deep down, I still wanted to escape."
"To dream those empty dreams and live a life I'd scripted for myself."
Cynthia said nothing. She only kept shaking her head, tears streaming down her face.
Only when she truly