Chapter Summaries

Arceus watched the Shadow Pokémon attack the Shelter while Chen Shi doubted the assault would reveal the miracle they sought. As the defenders neared defeat, Volkner and his six Pokémon sacrificed themselves to hold back the shadow army, leaving Flint and the other Champions to face the aftermath.

• Chen Shi found Arceus on Mt. Silver, where Arceus revealed that he had arranged the Shadow Pokémon assault and asked whether Chen Shi expected to find the miracle.
• At the Shelter, Volkner and Flint saw the exhausted defenders being driven back and realized the shadow army would soon break through.
• Volkner broke away from Flint, gathered his six Pokémon, and unleashed a Z-Move that sent a lightning-covered Surf crashing into the Shadow Pokémon.
• After the attack, Volkner and his Pokémon had vanished, and Flint understood that Volkner had given up his chance to survive so the others could recover.

Chen Shi rescued Volkner from the Shadow Pokémon, but Arceus explained that the miracle Chen Shi sought might require a Trainer’s Pokémon to be corrupted first and might depend on the strength of their bond. Chen Shi challenged Arceus to explain why he had brought him there, threatening to go home if Arceus kept withholding the truth.

• Volkner fought his way out of the Shelter but collapsed at the cave entrance, and Mew drove back the Shadow Pokémon before bringing him and his Pokémon to Chen Shi.
• Chen Shi sent Volkner and his Pokémon to Lance through Dragapult’s entrance to the Distortion World.
• Arceus said the miracle might require someone to be corrupted by Dark Matter and identified Leon, Cynthia, Diantha, Steven, Yukinari Oak, and Giovanni as the most likely to bring it about.
• Chen Shi questioned whether a miracle dependent on extraordinary bonds could help people widely, and Arceus implied there was more to his purpose than that.
• Chen Shi demanded that Arceus tell him what he had come to do and threatened to go home if Arceus continued speaking in riddles.

Arceus explained that Chen Shi’s other self had summoned him to help the flower of hope bloom and had cooperated in sealing Chen Shi’s Psychic Power. As the Shelter fought the returning army of darkness, Arceus proposed passing Chen Shi’s power to descendants as a way to counter Dark Matter, prompting Chen Shi to shut him down while Mew approved.

• Arceus told Chen Shi that his other self had arranged their meeting and said Chen Shi needed to find someone who could bring about a miracle.
• Arceus explained that Chen Shi’s unusual Psychic Power could only be sealed because the other self had allowed it, and Chen Shi accepted that he would need to master his power to learn more.
• Chen Shi watched the army of darkness attack the Shelter as Volkner’s outburst gave Leon, Tate, and the others time to regroup.
• Arceus admitted that he had once planned Chen Shi’s growth around Dreepy and Giratina’s Distortion World authority, but Chen Shi’s unexpected choices forced him to abandon the plan.
• Arceus suggested that Chen Shi could pass his Psychic Power to descendants to fight Dark Matter, and Chen Shi angrily cut him off while Mew supported the idea.

Chen Shi rejected Arceus's suggestion that he have more children to help counter Dark Matter, while researchers in the Shelter extracted their first sample of genuine Dark Matter. Mewtwo and Mew saw a vision of a boy and his newly hatched Eevee, whose joyful beginnings appeared within the darkness.

• Mew suggested that Chen Shi have more children to help save the world, but Chen Shi refused and scolded it.
• Arceus explained that having more children could spread Chen Shi's power and reduce the threat of Dark Matter, but Chen Shi remained unconvinced.
• Professor Oak and the other researchers celebrated extracting a small sample of genuine Dark Matter with help from Mewtwo and Mew.
• Mewtwo and Mew saw a black ocean in the sample, where a vision showed Little Boy caring for a Pokémon Egg and preparing for it to hatch.
• Little Eevee hatched, and Little Boy fed her milk and asked her to stay with him for the rest of their lives.

Little Eevee's loving bond with the little boy turned to neglect and betrayal as his pride drove him to replace her with Charmander. Abandoned with serious injuries, she broke down beneath a tree, while Mewtwo and Mew realized dark matter came from the world's negative emotions and malice.

• The little boy and Little Eevee set off together, but she lost their first Gym battle because she had never been trained.
• After repeated defeats and mockery, the boy grew impatient, and he accepted his friends' challenge even though Little Eevee was still recovering.
• The boy left Little Eevee untreated, lied to his mother about her, and asked for Charmander to be transferred to him.
• The boy took the gravely injured Little Eevee to a tree and left her there while he went to find supplies with Charmander.
• Little Eevee wept until she lost her voice and sank toward unconsciousness, remembering their happier days.
• Mewtwo and Mew understood that dark matter came from negative emotions and malice.

Mewtwo confirmed that dark matter embodied the world’s negative emotions, while positive psychic power had also emerged. As the Shelter came under attack, Professor Oak left the laboratory to fight alongside Leon and the others, bringing out his three Pokémon.

• Mewtwo reflected that humanity had contributed to dark matter’s emergence but decided not to condemn all humans, especially since Chen Shi had saved him.
• A powerful explosion shook the Shelter, and Mewtwo used psychic power to protect the laboratory as the professors worried about the children fighting outside.
• Professor Oak declared that he wanted to be a Champion again and left the laboratory despite Mewtwo warning that the Shadow Pokémon attack could be fatal.
• Leon, Steven, and the others struggled to hold back the advancing Shadow Pokémon as Dragapult grew exhausted.
• Professor Oak reached the cave and told the exhausted fighters to rest, then sent out Dragonite, Kangaskhan, and Charizard to join the battle.

Professor Oak and his Charizard, Dragonite, and Kangaskhan pushed back the Shadow Pokémon army while the exhausted Champions rested. At Mt. Silver’s summit, Arceus revealed that the battle was only one stage of its plan, and Chen Shi sensed Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion approaching.

• Professor Oak’s Charizard unleashed blue flames as Dragonite’s Hurricane and Kangaskhan’s attacks wiped out waves of Shadow Pokémon.
• Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, and Leon watched in disbelief as Professor Oak’s three Pokémon held back the army, and Leon wondered how Charizard had turned its flames blue.
• Professor Oak used Charizard’s Fire Blast and Flamethrower to drive the Shadow Pokémon back and advanced alone while the Champions and their Pokémon rested.
• Diantha worried that Professor Oak might be in danger, but Leon argued they should rest because they could not help him.
• Chen Shi challenged Arceus about the Shadow Pokémon, and Arceus explained that it wanted the survivors to see hope sooner and compared its plan to progressing through game stages.
• Chen Shi sensed Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion approaching Mt. Silver.

Professor Oak and his Pokémon fought through the Shadow Pokémon outside the Shelter until the Shadow Swords of Justice appeared, overwhelming them with their power. At Mt. Silver's summit, Chen Shi confronted Arceus over the danger to the Shelter's survivors, refusing to accept their deaths as the price of a miracle.

• Professor Oak led Dragonite, Charizard, and Kangaskhan in attacking the hordes of Shadow Pokémon outside the Shelter.
• A Shadow Virizion struck Kangaskhan, and Professor Oak recognized Virizion and the two other Swords of Justice approaching as formidable foes.
• Professor Oak realized the Shadow Swords of Justice were likely too powerful for his team to defeat.
• Chen Shi accused Arceus of endangering the Shelter's survivors by sending the Swords of Justice to make them despair.
• Arceus argued that despair and sacrifice were necessary to create hope, but Chen Shi insisted he could not watch people die for a miracle.

Chen Shi secured Arceus’s promise to protect the Shelter’s survivors as Professor Oak and his Pokémon fought the Swords of Justice at Mt. Silver. Professor Oak Mega Evolved Charizard and Kangaskhan, and Charizard shattered Virizion’s sacred sword, leaving the battle raging.

• Arceus agreed to send the Shelter’s survivors into the Distortion World if their lives were in danger, and Chen Shi realized it had been teasing him.
• Virizion battered Kangaskhan while Cobalion and Terrakion prevented Charizard and Dragonite from helping without exposing themselves to attacks.
• Professor Oak chose to stand his ground, Mega Evolving Charizard and Kangaskhan and ordering them and Dragonite to attack Virizion and Cobalion.
• Charizard charged Virizion repeatedly, ignoring Terrakion’s attacks, until his Dragon Claw cracked and shattered Virizion’s sacred sword.
• Charizard continued attacking Virizion in a frenzy as black energy seeped from his many wounds.

Professor Oak’s Charizard defeated Virizion but succumbed to dark matter and flew away, while Oak’s collapse left Dragonite and Kangaskhan transformed into Shadow Pokémon. Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, and Leon arrived to rescue Oak and fought the Shadow Pokémon, but their battle quickly turned against them.

• Charizard defeated Virizion, began turning into a Shadow Pokémon, and flew away rather than risk harming Professor Oak.
• Professor Oak collapsed, and Dragonite and Kangaskhan were assimilated by dark matter as the Shadow Pokémon attacked him.
• Leon sent Dragapult to stop Terrakion, while Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, and their Pokémon arrived and began fighting the Shadow Pokémon.
• Leon held off the wounded Shadow Dragonite, but Cobalion wounded and transformed Steven’s Skarmory before Metagross retaliated with Metal Burst.
• Terrakion overwhelmed Cynthia’s team and slashed Gastrodon with Sacred Sword, turning the battle into a rout.

Terrakion overwhelmed Cynthia’s team, leaving Milotic mutilated and infected with dark matter and Glaceon badly injured and infected as well. As Terrakion moved to attack again, Spiritomb used Destiny Bond to take his strike and risk her life for her trainer’s victory.

• Terrakion repeatedly overpowered Garchomp until Cynthia coordinated attacks from Garchomp, Lucario, and Milotic to pin him down.
• Terrakion broke free and struck Milotic with Sacred Sword, severing her tail and infecting her with dark matter.
• Milotic transformed into Dark Milotic, while Terrakion’s next Sacred Sword shattered Glaceon’s Protect and infected her with dark matter.
• Spiritomb rushed at Terrakion despite Cynthia’s desperate call, drawing his attack toward herself.
• Spiritomb activated Destiny Bond as Terrakion charged, intending to sacrifice herself for Cynthia’s victory.

Terrakion’s attack left Spiritomb dying, and Lucario sacrificed himself trying to avenge their fallen companions. As Lucario recalled how he and Garchomp had grown up competing, he entrusted the fight to his old rival with a final thumbs-up.

• Terrakion’s Stone Edge struck Spiritomb, and Diantha restrained Cynthia from rushing to the wounded Pokémon.
• Garchomp charged Terrakion, but Lucario used Final Gambit to attack it recklessly.
• Terrakion slashed Lucario with Sacred Sword, and Garchomp struck Terrakion in return.
• Garchomp realized Lucario could not be saved as dark matter spread from his chest.
• Lucario remembered leaving the Mystery Realm with young Cynthia and growing up as Gible’s rival.
• Lucario raised a paw in a thumbs-up to Garchomp, entrusting the rest to his big sister.

Garchomp fought Terrakion in a desperate, grief-driven battle after Lucario became a Shadow Pokémon, while Chen Shi and Arceus debated why some Pokémon resisted dark matter. Arceus predicted the humans could not win, but believed a miracle was about to occur.

• Garchomp mourned Lucario’s transformation into a Shadow Pokémon and charged Terrakion in a furious battle.
• Garchomp ignored Cynthia’s plea to stop and continued fighting Terrakion so Cynthia and the Shelter might survive.
• Chen Shi and Arceus discussed why Garchomp, Charizard, and Milotic had not immediately become Shadow Pokémon.
• Arceus predicted that Cobalion and approaching Shadow Pokémon would overwhelm the humans and the Shelter.
• Chen Shi worried the battle would doom everyone, but Arceus said a miracle was near and wondered who it would happen to.

Cynthia's Garchomp was defeated by Terrakion and succumbed to her injuries as dark matter spread across her body. Cynthia reached her partner and desperately begged for help, leaving Garchomp collapsed and Cynthia grieving beside her.

• Terrakion struck Garchomp with a final Sacred Sword, and both Pokémon collapsed after reaching their limits.
• Cynthia ran barefoot across the battlefield to reach Garchomp, cutting her feet on the stones.
• Garchomp blocked Cynthia from touching her, afraid the dark matter on her body would spread to her Trainer.
• Garchomp reverted from Mega Evolution as the dark matter rapidly covered most of her body.
• Cynthia held Garchomp and begged for someone to save her, while Garchomp gently nuzzled her with her remaining strength.

Chen Shi heard the desperate cries of beings consumed by Dark Matter across countless worlds, and his other self took control to demonstrate the true power of Psychic Power. After purifying and empowering Pokémon across the battlefield, he summoned the Legendary Pokémon from the Distortion World to begin the counterattack.

• Cynthia's bond with Garchomp flared, causing cries from Dark Matter's victims to echo inside Chen Shi's mind and overwhelm him with pain.
• Chen Shi agreed to accept the power to save the victims, and his other self took control of his body after promising to show him how Psychic Power worked.
• Chen Shi's other self shattered the seal in his eyes and revealed glowing threads connecting the world, then used them to heal Pokémon, purge Dark Matter, and awaken their Bond Phenomenon.
• Chen Shi's other self called for a counterattack, and Flash Rayquaza tore open a rift from the Distortion World.
• Legendary Pokémon emerged from the rift and gathered behind Chen Shi as Cynthia, the others, and Steven watched in astonishment.

Chen Shi and the Legendary Pokémon confronted the dark army while he learned how Psychic Power had brought Pokémon together and amplified their bonds into the Bond Phenomenon. His enhanced Pokémon overwhelmed the enemy, and he ended the chapter joking that he would need Rayquaza and the others to protect him as a support.

• Steven and the others watched in shock as more than thirty Legendary Pokémon appeared together, with Groudon riding Kyogre.
• Cynthia called Chen Shi “Miracle,” and he agreed that he liked the name before using Psychic Power to swap in a huge group of powerful Pokémon.
• Chen Shi learned that Psychic Power had intensified the Pokémon’s feelings, triggering the Bond Phenomenon across an army of more than fifty thousand Pokémon.
• He sent the strengthened Pokémon to attack the dark army, and they advanced without fear of Dark Matter.
• He learned that Psychic Power could boost Pokémon by one or two major tiers, depending on how much their bodies could withstand.
• Chen Shi called his ability a support power and joked that Rayquaza and the others would have to protect him in battle.

Chen Shi joined forces with Him to turn the battle against the Shadow Pokémon in Kanto and learned how his Psychic Power could awaken and be controlled. He left Chen Shi with the revelation that Chen Shi himself was the miracle.

• He sent the Legendary Pokémon to help reclaim Kanto and told them to purify Shadow Pokémon rather than kill them.
• He promised Steven, Cynthia, and the others that Kanto’s Shadow Pokémon would be purified, then released Lance, Lorelei, and Professor Oak’s Charizard from the Distortion World.
• Chen Shi saw Him purify Shadow Pokémon through the threads of his bonds and learned that he could eventually do the same.
• He explained that Cynthia’s cry of despair had naturally awakened Chen Shi’s dormant Psychic Power, allowing Him to help Chen Shi control part of it.
• He returned control of Chen Shi’s body and declared that Chen Shi was the sole miracle born among countless parallel worlds.

Chen Shi learned that he was the only miracle destined to save worlds from Dark Matter, and he began accepting the burden while testing his awakening power. He successfully purified a Shadow Pokémon through the threads connecting him to it and continued practicing as Arceus watched.

• Chen Shi realized Arceus and the being within him had confirmed he was the sole savior, leaving him frightened by the responsibility.
• Arceus told Chen Shi his power was awakening rapidly and that mastering it could make him stronger than Mewtwo.
• Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, Leon, and the others recognized Arceus as the Creator God and wondered about Chen Shi's familiarity with Him.
• Chen Shi asked how many worlds had fallen, and Arceus said he should focus on mastering his power while there was still time.
• Chen Shi sent Psychic Power along a thread to a Shadow Pokémon and purified it, then began purifying more while joking that Arceus should spam six instead of congratulating him.

Chen Shi learned that Arceus’s avatar had been assimilated by dark matter and could not be found, then demanded payment for his work. Arceus gave him a genuine Spooky Plate and promised access to two more Plates after he returned.

• Chen Shi reassured Jirachi that he was fine and joked about Jirachi joining training.
• Arceus asked when Chen Shi planned to return, and Chen Shi said he would leave after five days at most if the Shadow Pokémon in Kanto were not all purified.
• Arceus admitted that its avatar in this world had been assimilated by dark matter and that it could not find the avatar.
• Chen Shi accused Arceus of hiding information and warned that he would stop doing errands after the crisis, then demanded the reward Arceus had promised.
• Arceus gave Chen Shi a genuine Spooky Plate for Dragapult and said Chen Shi could obtain the Fairy Plate and Dragon Plate from Xerneas and Rayquaza.

Chen Shi arranged for Eternatus and the others to purify Shadow Pokémon, then answered Cynthia and the others’ questions before preparing to leave. Mew revealed that their children with Chen Shi might inherit his Psychic Power, prompting Chen Shi to chase after it.

• Chen Shi gave Eternatus four Psychic Power Orbs and sent it and the others to cleanse Shadow Pokémon across four directions.
• Chen Shi promised to leave one Orb for the humans and Legendary Pokémon to share, and said Celebi could find him if its power ran out.
• Chen Shi remembered Volkner and used Dragapult to retrieve him and his unconscious companions from the Distortion World.
• Cynthia thanked Chen Shi for saving Volkner, while Chen Shi urged the group to keep researching ways to prevent dark matter’s return.
• Mew told Cynthia and the others that their children with Chen Shi might inherit his Psychic Power, and Chen Shi tried to silence it.