"Is this the place?" Fang Yuan asked after being led for about half an hour, finally arriving at the foot of a mountain.
The Forest Ranger who guided Fang Yuan looked to be around thirty years old, with a large nose and a noticeable accent, suggesting he wasn't a local.
"Yes, just go in from here," the Forest Ranger replied to Fang Yuan's question.
"Okay, thank you."
Fang Yuan responded, not bothering to ask if the other party would keep following him. Instead, he immediately released Eevee from its Poké Ball.
The little guy probably wanted to get some fresh air.
Fang Yuan held the Poké Ball in his hand, and with a flash of white light, Eevee appeared on the ground, curiously surveying its surroundings.
As far as the eye could see, the various trees on the mountain were tall and upright, with lush greenery and dense grass covering the ground...
"Eevee..."
Eevee was taken aback, the scenery looked so familiar.
The wild environment reminded Eevee of its experience of accidentally entering the Secret Realm with Fang Yuan.
That wasn't a pleasant experience, but Eevee didn't lose confidence because of it. Instead, it climbed onto Fang Yuan's outstretched arm and onto his shoulder, letting out a spirited cry.
It couldn't protect Fang Yuan well back then, but this time, little Eevee's confidence was noticeably stronger. It was aware of the changes in itself.
Compared to a month ago, its strength had improved a lot.
"Quite energetic..."
Seeing the interaction between Fang Yuan and Eevee, the Forest Ranger following behind Fang Yuan sighed, it was truly heartwarming.
"Alright, hurry up and go in, good luck to you," he urged finally. Hearing this, Fang Yuan immediately stepped forward and began walking towards the top of the mountain.
...
With Fang Yuan's stamina, he should have been able to walk for a long time without getting tired, but he underestimated the discomfort caused by the environment.
First of all, the terrain. There were very few flat roads here. Most of the time, he had to wade through areas full of prickly weeds to continue. Secondly, there were all kinds of small bugs. Not Caterpie or Weedle, just ordinary little bugs jumping around in the grass, sometimes even bumping into his handsome face, which made Fang Yuan very unhappy.
Then, there was the weather. The temperature, which had dropped a few days ago, had risen again, making it feel very stuffy and hard to breathe.
Grumble...
Fang Yuan took a sip of mineral water and gave some to Eevee as well.
"It's a pity we can't get our hands on a Frozen Rock, otherwise it would be nice to evolve you into a Glaceon, at least at times like this... it would be very cool and comfortable," Fang Yuan said.
"Eevee..."
Eevee deeply agreed.
...
Rustle~ Rustle~ Rustle~ Rustle~ After Fang Yuan and Eevee walked for a while, a sound came, and Eevee jumped off Fang Yuan's shoulder, blocking in front of Fang Yuan. Soon, Fang Yuan saw a purple creature glaring at them hostilely.
A snake.
One of the animals Fang Yuan was most afraid of as a child, but now that it appeared in the form of a Pokémon, Fang Yuan wasn't so afraid anymore.
"Ekans, huh."
"Eevee, let's retreat first. If it doesn't show any signs of attacking, we should conserve our energy as much as possible before reaching the summit," Fang Yuan said.
Unfortunately, no sooner had he spoken than the Ekans lunged forward.
Clearly, this Ekans intended to use Bind on Eevee, a common tactic for preying on smaller Pokémon like Rattata.
First constricting the prey, then biting it to death.
However, compared to this hunting method, Ekans actually preferred stealing eggs from Pidgey and Spearow nests.
Without Fang Yuan's command, Eevee easily dodged the attack.
Immediately afterward, it decisively used Quick Attack to send the Ekans flying, making it understand the difference in their strength.
This time, the Ekans didn't dare to attack again.
"I remember… all of Ekans's Abilities seem to have been discovered already, so there's not much research value."
Watching the Ekans flee, a flood of information passed through Fang Yuan's mind. The wild Pokémon he could encounter here were very useful to Fang Yuan, and could be said to be his research subjects. If he could discover a trait worth studying in a certain Pokémon, then Fang Yuan would have material to write his next paper.
"Eevee!"
At the same time, Eevee turned its head boredly, the Ekans's escape making it feel very unfulfilled.
Fang Yuan expressed his helplessness towards its little emotions.
"By the way, Eevee, there's someone following us, can you sense it?"
Fang Yuan suddenly lowered his voice, facing forward, but pointing his thumb backward.
The Forest Ranger who sent him here should have been following them all along, probably at a distance.
Although he couldn't see the person, Fang Yuan always had a feeling of being watched.
"Eevee?"
Eevee parted the grass and looked in the direction Fang Yuan's thumb was pointing.
It fell into silence…
Then shook its head, then nodded, then shook its head again.
Fang Yuan didn't know whether it had detected anything or not, and after being confused, he simply stopped asking.
"Forget it, let's keep moving forward. If nothing unexpected happens, I feel like we can reach the summit before dark," Fang Yuan said, after carefully observing that the summit wasn't that far away!
"Eevee!"
As soon as Fang Yuan finished speaking, he saw Eevee bump into Fang Yuan's knee.
It was just a light bump with its body, without using any moves, otherwise Fang Yuan might have knelt there.
"Hmm?"
Looking at Eevee lecturing him with 'Eevee' sounds, Fang Yuan understood.
He seemed to have unintentionally set up another flag! Eevee had noticed this, so it immediately reminded Fang Yuan to say less.
The Eevee, who had been twice victimized by Fang Yuan's jinx in the Secret Realm last time, was deeply afraid.
"Ha... ha..."
Fang Yuan saw Eevee being so strict for the first time, and scratched his head awkwardly, saying, "Okay, I won't say it, I won't say it."
Hearing this, Eevee breathed a sigh of relief.
They had reached a consensus.
However, whether it was because Fang Yuan casually mentioned it or not, they strangely encountered quite a few Pokémon one after another, and their attack awareness was not low. Every time a new Pokémon appeared, it would waste some of their time.
This made Fang Yuan feel wronged.
"It seems that the regulation to arrive at the top of the mountain before tomorrow afternoon is reasonable..." Fang Yuan said sheepishly.
It is worth mentioning that during this period of rushing, under Fang Yuan's deliberate observation, they did not gain nothing.
Fang Yuan discovered a group of Pokémon, Ledyba. After seeing this kind of Pokémon, he recalled an Ability.
Ledyba's hidden Ability, Rattled.
This Ability has not yet been discovered and summarized.
The Rattled Ability only exists in hidden Abilities, which are very rare compared to conventional Abilities. Pokémon with this Ability will only have their speed increased due to the Ability when attacked by Dark, Ghost, and Bug-type moves. Therefore, compared to the expressiveness of Abilities such as Blaze and Overgrow, it is not very significant, and it is a kind of ability that is difficult to associate with.
Although there are several kinds of Pokémon that have this hidden Ability, if you don't know the effect of this Ability in advance, it is really not that easy to discover. After all, the limitations of the Rattled Ability are too great, especially on those weak Pokémon. After being hit by a move and injured, they don't have the strength to move.
Fang Yuan silently took notes. In addition to Ledyba, Magikarp also seems to have this Ability. There are more Magikarp, so it shouldn't be difficult to find an individual with this Ability for research, right? It seems that there is another opportunity to make money...
...
"Eevee, do you see if that's a Pokémon?"
After walking for a while, Fang Yuan suddenly stopped and asked with a frown.
Eevee looked in the direction Fang Yuan pointed, and also showed a puzzled expression.
Unlike before, this time it wasn't that a Pokémon wanted to attack them, but a Pokémon... fell on their way forward.
It seems to be a Buneary.
This kind of Pokémon looks like a rabbit, and its whole body is brown. It is also a Pokémon of the cute type.
"It looks so small. This Buneary doesn't seem to have been born for long, and... its complexion is very bad. Could it be that it has heatstroke due to dehydration because the weather is too hot?"
Looking at the Buneary lying in the grass with an uncomfortable expression, Fang Yuan guessed.
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