"Ah, rebirth is the process of restoring a Shadow Pokémon to its original state. You open the door to its heart and let it regain its past memories."
"Its past memories?"
"From what I know about Shadow Pokémon-I'm sorry to have to say this-the first step in making them is erasing their memories. Then they close off their minds and become Shadow Pokémon."
"In other words, if they relive those experiences, you can bring back their memories and their hearts. Is that right?"
"Yes. But it takes quite a long time. You interact with the Pokémon, battle with it, and open its heart little by little. Then, once you open the final door, it seems the restoration is complete."
"Well, that's Leo's area," Azusa said with a wry smile. However many times she had seen Shadow Pokémon firsthand, she had never actually experienced restoring one to normal. It seemed she had learned all of this from Leo.
"There's a way to return them to normal. That's a relief."
"That's right. But if research into Shadow Pokémon continues, it wouldn't be surprising if Pokémon that can't be restored start appearing. In fact, some of Leo's little ones seem to have shut the doors to their hearts very tightly. It's not impossible."
"...Is that so?"
The existence of Shadow Pokémon was something Shirona could not tolerate. But all Cynthia could do about it was help Leo and the others. At the very least, they could not cut off the root of all this evil.
"Why did you, Leo Jun, go to Hoenn without completely crushing Cipher?"
"What matters to that boy is his Pokémon. He might help Pokémon he encounters along the way, but it seems destroying Cipher, the root of all this evil, was never his aim to begin with."
"Yes,