Deep in the dense forest, the air was humid and sweltering, carrying the unique scent of soil mixed with rotting leaves.
Sunlight was sliced into countless mottled spots of light by the overlapping canopy, swaying with the forest breeze and casting shifting shadows on the ground.
This was the forest surrounding Dewford Town, but now it was where Jiang Han trained his pokémon.
"Sha!"
Along with Jiang Han's brief command, a dark shadow suddenly lunged out from the fallen leaves.
Sandile pushed off with its limbs, its thick tail sweeping a wave of dust across the ground. It opened its tooth-filled jaws and bit hard at a panicked Zigzagoon in front of it.
That Zigzagoon clearly hadn't expected to encounter such a swift Sucker Punch; it let out a scream, trying to dodge but it was already too late.
Sandile's movements didn't falter for a second. Its jaws snapped shut just as they were about to touch the opponent's body, and instead, it slammed into it with its hard head!
Bang!
The Zigzagoon was sent flying by the massive force, rolling several times on the ground before stopping. It struggled twice and finally fainted.
"Come back," Jiang Han's voice was calm and steady.
Sandile flicked its tail and walked back to his feet with steady steps, its crimson eyes flashing with excitement and bloodlust.
This was already the eleventh wild pokémon dealt with this afternoon.
Jiang Han took a Potion from his backpack and sprayed it on several shallow scratches on Sandile's body.
The cool mist seeped into the skin, bringing a touch of relief.
An afternoon of high-intensity commanding and mental concentration was also a significant drain on him.
In the outskirts of the forest he chose, most of the pokémon lived at levels around 10, with the highest being only level 13—the perfect leveling targets for Sandile at its current stage.
Most importantly, he always had Sandile hold back, only knocking them out instead of killing them.
This wasn't out of any sense of mercy, but purely out of practical interest.
Dewford Town had a Fighting Dojo, and because the island was surrounded by abundant waves, it had become a pilgrimage site for Surf enthusiasts.
Consequently, Trainers and travelers coming to challenge were endless, including many hot-blooded righteous individuals.
If they caught him slaughtering wild pokémon, it would cause no end of trouble.
Jiang Han hated trouble the most.
"Well done."
Jiang Han praised it, and from another specially made bag, he poured out all fifty grams of Soft Sand.
The golden grains of sand carried strange energy fluctuations. As soon as they touched Sandile's rough, hard skin, they merged silently into it like water droplets into a sponge.
Sandile squinted its eyes comfortably and let out a satisfied low growl. It could clearly feel a gentle Earth Power flowing through its body, nourishing every inch of its muscle and bone.
This wasn't enough.
Jiang Han expressionlessly took out that entirely purple, thorn-covered Berry—the bitter berry.
At the old man's black market stall, this thing was described as a potent medicine that could stimulate the ferocity of Dark-type Pokémon.
Jiang Han had done extensive research on such things. As early as his time in the training camp, Jiang Han had been considering plans for his future pokémon.
Among them, Jiang Han had conducted even deeper research into the resources that provided a Helping Hand for training pokémon.
Therefore, he knew when this thing could be eaten and how much could be eaten at once.
Smelling the strange aura emitted by the Berry, Sandile instinctively took half a step back, a hint of wariness showing in its crimson eyes.
"Eat it."
Jiang Han's tone left no room for doubt.
He held the bitter berry to Sandile's mouth.
Sandile hesitated for a moment but finally obeyed its master's command, opening its mouth and swallowing the hideous Berry in one gulp.
The next second.
A thick black aura suddenly erupted from Sandile's body, enveloping its entire form.
Deep within Sandile's eyes, it was as if two flames were instantly ignited, revealing its full ferocity!
Its muscles bulged by a visible margin, the color of its scales became deeper, and its limbs appeared even thicker and more powerful.
An aura far stronger than before spread out.
Sandile had reached level 10!
The notification sound from the pokédex rang in his mind, and Jiang Han's eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion.
This money was well spent.
He could feel that the leveled-up Sandile's strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
Especially that ferocity stimulated by the bitter berry, which raised its aggressive intent and intimidation factor by a whole level.
This was how Sandile should look in his eyes: fierce, violent, and obedient to commands.
After calming the still somewhat restless Sandile, Jiang Han found a dry tree root to sit on and took out two expensive maps from his ring.
One was a detailed nautical chart of the area around Dewford Town, marked with special ink showing numerous hidden routes and unknown islands that the League had never registered.
The other was a treasure map scavenged from the pirate leader.
Using the light filtering through the trees, Jiang Han carefully compared the two maps.
Although the Pirates' range of activity was wide, the location pointed to by a treasure map carried on one's person was most likely within their recent area of operations.
And the waters around Dewford Town were precisely where that group of Pirates had last entrenched themselves before their demise.
Jiang Han's gaze moved slowly across the nautical chart like a precision scanner, not missing a single detail. His finger finally stopped at the top right corner of the chart, on a small dot surrounded by several whirlpools and reefs.
That was a sea area marked on the official League maps as "Extremely Dangerous, Navigation Prohibited."
And the crude, menacing skull mark drawn in blood on the treasure map perfectly overlapped with the outline of this small island on the nautical chart!
The location was north of Dewford Town, near Route 106!
"Found it."
Jiang Han thought to himself, an uncontrollable surge of excitement rising from his heart. Two hundred thousand league coins in exchange for a clear treasure location—this deal was a massive profit!
He etched the coordinates of that sea area, the distribution of surrounding reefs, and the safest navigation route into his mind, word for word.
After confirming everything was foolproof, he took out a lighter.
With a "shhh" sound, an orange flame flared up, quickly devouring the two precious maps.
The paper curled and blackened in the fire, finally turning into a handful of ash that scattered with the wind.
A secret is only safest when it rots in one's own heart.
Unfortunately... Jiang Han glanced at the Sandile beside him.
With his current level of strength, wanting to cross that dangerous sea area was nothing but a pipe dream.
Strength was still too weak.
Just then, the pokédex in his pocket vibrated slightly twice.
Jiang Han swiped the screen, and a specially encrypted dark red interface popped up.
A new mission instruction lay quietly in the inbox.
[Mission Objective: Collect information regarding the Dewford Town Gym Leader, Fujiki.]
[Requirement: The more detailed, the better.]
This was the first official mission he had received since joining Team Rockets.
Fujiki... Fighting-type Gym Leader. Jiang Han quickly began to construct a character profile and an action plan in his mind.
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by a sudden voice.
"Help! Is anyone there? Help!"
The voice came from deeper within the dense forest; it sounded like a little girl, her voice filled with terror and despair.
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