I, the first trainer of the new world

In a world as black as ink, Giratina leisurely wandered forward, with Chibayashi sitting behind it, a gentle smile on her face as she looked at the girl squatting in front of her.

The girl crouched on the ground, hugging herself tightly, her body trembling, until she realized that the surroundings had become silent... a silence unlike that of the real world.

She curled up like a little octopus, tentacles probing her surroundings. The silence made her trembling body stop slightly, and she tried to loosen her grip on herself a little.

She opened her eyes, her tear-streaked gaze fixed on the ground.

Not the earth.

He loosened his hands from his head and, like a frightened kitten, slowly raised his head.

Until her gaze completely enveloped him.

At that moment, all the girl's grievances burst forth. She pitifully stretched out her hands, and with a powerful push from her squatting feet, she shot into his body like a cannonball, using her actions to prove her grievances.

She hugged him tightly, buried her face in his neck, nestled in his arms, and curled her legs up together.

She curled herself up and nestled into his arms.

She felt wronged, but she didn't say anything. She just hugged him tightly, and finally, tears streamed down her pale cheeks, dripping onto his skin and flowing down his collarbone.

She was crying, but there was no sound, only her body trembling incessantly, like a puppy shivering in the snow in winter, where even whimpering was a luxury.

That really scared the child.

Qianlin gently reached out and embraced her, his left hand protecting her waist and his right hand gently placing on her head: "Only at times like this can I clearly realize that you are Yike, and not someone else."

She nestled in his arms, using her long hair to cover her face: "I am someone else."

"Aren't you Yike?" Qianlin gently brushed her long hair aside and smoothed it out.

He saw Yi Ke's profile as she nestled in his arms, a glistening tear leaving an inconspicuous scratch.

Yi Ke shrank back again, just like a little turtle that had already retreated into its shell, still trying its best to shrink even further inside.

Because it's safer there, and also... quieter.

“In your eyes, we are all Yike, but in my eyes, she is her, and I am me.”

Perhaps because she was huddled in that tiny shell, her voice sounded muffled.

"I hate that you know me because of her."

"It sounds like you're jealous," Qianlin said with a gentle smile.

"I would never like you, I'm not her." Xiao Yike hugged him tightly. "I like her."

“What an awkward feeling.” Qianlin gently tapped her cheek. “You said you got close to me because of Arceus’s influence, and you said I got to know you because I knew ‘Iko,’ right?”

She did not answer.

Qianlin couldn't help but laugh, wrapping his arms around her and looking up at the pitch-black distance ahead, his eyes clear and pure: "Yes, I don't feel socially awkward when you're near me, and I don't feel shy when I stand with you. This is the influence of Arceus."

"But He won't change a person's consciousness."

"When you get close to me, He just makes you less socially anxious, not makes you approve of me."

"When you stand next to me, He just makes you feel comfortable, not that you can... casually hold my hand."

Qianlin smiled, her eyes crinkling, but her voice remained gentle: "Like... a lotus leaf standing alone on the water, without companions, far from the flowing water, quietly standing on the water, facing the sky in solitude... You think you are different from the water, so you are unwilling to bow your head to face the flowing... Their unstoppable force makes you feel alienated, makes you... at a loss, so you tell yourself that you hate water."

Xiao Yi pursed her lips but still didn't speak.

“But darling, the sky doesn’t want to see you all alone.” Qianlin gently patted her back, “That’s why it sends rain for you.”

She stopped trembling and nestled quietly in his arms like a soft, fragrant doll.

Qianlin continued, “The rain will fall, falling on the earth, falling on the pond, falling on the flowing water at your feet, and you, my dear, will catch the rain, because the sky knows you don’t really hate water.”

He lowered his head, looking at the soft, fragrant doll in his arms: "I know you are not 'Yike', so I will never treat you the same way I treat 'Yike'. At least, I will never call 'Yike' 'darling'."

She was quiet... except for breathing.

She held him close, nestled in his arms, but no longer exerted any force, simply lying quietly on the water's surface like a lotus leaf.

Is the flowing water raindrops? No, it's tears.

Qianlin hugged her, closed his eyes, and gently swayed his body: "The first time I saw you, I was so glad that you weren't her. At least during the years she dropped out of school, I couldn't imagine what she went through at home... and you haven't experienced that yet, so I'm glad."

"She was very happy. She knew about your existence on the first day she went to the Mirror World, but she didn't go to see you. It wasn't that she didn't want to see you, but that she didn't want to see the person she used to be."

"You talked to her, right?"

Qianlin asked.

Xiao Yi nodded gently.

"What did she say?"

Qianlin asked again.

“…She said I’ve become better.” Her voice trembled slightly. “She said I can too, she said… I’m happy.”

"Are you happy now?" Qianlin asked with a smile.

"I'm not happy." Her voice was choked with emotion. "You're such a jerk."

Qianlin laughed even louder: "Then... what about now?"

“Happy…” she choked up, “You jerk.”

"That's enough." Qianlin gently stroked her head. "That's enough."

Quiet as the wind, in a world where only darkness remains.

She nestled in his arms, hugged him, buried her face in his neck, and all that could be heard was the sound of her breathing.

He wrapped his arms around him, gently swaying his body, seemingly humming something softly and warmly.

Like...clouds and the sun.

In a world as black as ink, Giratina continues to wander leisurely forward.

Until the world is bright again.

At Professor Oak's research base in Alola, darkness flashed through the living room, flowing across the sofa like ink, drawing everyone's attention.

They looked in the direction the ink flowed until the darkness ended, revealing the figures within.

He held her as they sat on the sofa, and she remained nestled in his arms, her breathing calm and quiet.

Qianlin raised a finger to her lips.

She fell asleep.

He used lip reading to tell everyone.

Everyone understood, so they smiled and stopped talking, softening their movements so as not to disturb the girl who was resting in his arms.

Then... I saw Yike and Yilin.

Yike puffed out her cheeks and stared at Qianlin like an angry Togepi. Yilin stood beside her with her arms crossed, looking at him with an indescribable gaze, as if she were looking at... a piece of trash.

The forest was silent.

Although I don't know what you're thinking, first of all... Eileen, you should go and clean your head.