The Legend of Fallen Sky Mountain and Caterpie's Second Ability

The Legend of Fallen Sky Mountain and Caterpie's Second Ability

After busily relocating the Caterpie to the Caterpie Breeding Base, it was nearly dawn by the time Mark and Old Man Qian returned.

After telling Mark to help drive away Ekans at the Tomato Garden North of the Village in the morning and not run around like an idiot, Old Man Qian went back inside to sleep.

In the room, Mark and Caterpie sat beside the table.

Mark studied a huge map while Caterpie stared wide-eyed at the Pokeball on the table, occasionally fiddling with it using its feet. Beside the Pokeball was a stack of money, totaling 4,500 yuan.

Yes, Caterpie had received a brand-new Pokeball from Old Man Qian. There was no need to go buy one from the Three Mountains Town Pokemon Goods Store.

As for the 4,500 yuan, it was the remaining payment after deducting the cost of the Pokeball.

The only problem was that Caterpie still could not enter the Pokeball.

"Si si, si si?"

Hearing Caterpie ask again, Mark shook his head slightly. "I already told you, your Pokeball is right here. It's not going anywhere. Just wait another two or three days."

Caterpie nodded lightly and continued staring blankly at the Pokeball.

In fact, the reason Caterpie had to wait two or three days before entering the Pokeball mainly involved something called a Life Magnetic Field.

Specifically, as long as a human stayed near a charged Pokeball, their Life Magnetic Field would influence the energy magnetic field inside the Pokeball.

Generally speaking, after two or three days, the energy magnetic field inside the Pokeball would be assimilated by the human's Life Magnetic Field.

If a Pokemon was successfully caught with such a Pokeball, it would naturally be close to its owner, making communication easier and allowing them to form a bond more easily.

That was also why Pokeballs were so expensive in this world, and why charging them cost so much.

It looked simple—just press a button and throw it at a Pokemon—but Pokeballs were undoubtedly high-tech items.

Well, calling them high-tech items was not quite accurate. It might be more fitting to call them alchemical artifacts from a magical world.

Thinking about it carefully, 5,000 yuan really was not expensive for something like that. A hundred yuan each in Pokemon games, or buying a whole pile with the coins from a piggy bank in the anime, was what was truly ridiculous.

Without dwelling on it, Mark continued studying the Maple Mountain Range Map Uncle Qian Three had given him, occasionally consulting the Pokemon Index.

It had been some time since he awakened his memories from another world. Although several textbooks had given him some understanding of the Hia Kingdom where he lived, that understanding had been extremely one-sided.

Now, as he looked over the map and consulted the Pokemon Index, Mark gained a more comprehensive understanding of the world he was in.

The Maple Mountain Range Map on the table covered the western and northern parts of Fallen Leaf Province in the Hia Kingdom.

The entire mountain range consisted of dozens of peaks. In autumn, vast stretches of red maple forest could be seen, which was how the Maple Mountain Range got its name.

Clear Stream Forest was a forest located in the northern part of the Maple Mountain Range, covering roughly one-tenth of the mountain range's total area.

North of Clear Stream Forest was the disaster-ridden Chaotic Area. According to the map's markings, farther north beyond the Chaotic Area lay a place called the Desert of No Return.

On the southern side of Clear Stream Forest stood Fallen Sky Mountain, the northernmost peak of the Maple Mountain Range.

Clear Stream Village, where Mark lived, was a small village nestled between Clear Stream Forest and Fallen Sky Mountain.

Beyond Fallen Sky Mountain, the small town wedged between Taro Mountain and Red Earth Mountain was Three Mountains Town, which Old Man Qian often mentioned.

Notably, while looking up information on Fallen Sky Mountain, Mark discovered a very ancient Pokemon legend.

Fallen Sky Mountain was not named because it was particularly tall, but because a meteor had once fallen onto the mountain.

The Millennium Wish Star—Jirachi.

It was said that Jirachi awakened for a few days every thousand years, granting the wishes of innocent children before falling asleep once more.

Legend said that Jirachi, the Wish Star, first appeared ten thousand years ago. At that time, Jirachi was not at Fallen Sky Mountain, but somewhere else.

Until seven thousand years ago, when an unprecedented Chaotic Pokemon Tide erupted in what was now Clear Stream Forest. The nearby humans were in dire peril. At that critical moment, a young girl wished to the heavens, and a meteor fell from the sky.

Jirachi granted the girl's wish, ending the Chaotic Pokemon Tide in the north and helping her establish a kingdom called Hope.

In fact, Emperor Arthur, who established the Hia Kingdom one hundred and fifty years ago, claimed to be a descendant of the Hope Kingdom.

However, too much time had passed. Over seven thousand years, this land had seen countless dynasties rise and fall. Mark felt that Emperor Arthur's claim of being a descendant of the Hope Kingdom had most likely been fabricated.

In any case, according to the information found in the Pokemon Index, Jirachi had remained asleep in Fallen Sky Mountain ever since, seven thousand years ago.

Many people had explored Fallen Sky Mountain over the millennia, yet no one had ever truly found Jirachi. On the other hand, several Jirachi sightings had been reported elsewhere in the world during those thousands of years.

Not giving the Millennium Wish Star much further thought, Mark focused his attention on Clear Stream Forest near Clear Stream Village.

The map contained many markings for Pokemon habitats.

Following the map's markings, Mark quickly located the Caterpie Group where he had trained these past few days.

The map did not mark the Caterpie Group, but near it was a marked Ekans Habitat.

After roughly scanning the Pokemon habitats on the map, Mark found that there were no particularly unusual Pokemon throughout Clear Stream Forest.

Aside from the known Beedrill Group and Spearow Group, there seemed to be a huge cave some distance west of the Ekans Habitat, inhabited by some Zubat, Geodude, and Diglett. There were also some Bellsprout along the lower reaches of the Clear Stream River.

"According to the Caterpie Leader, there should be a Scyther colony in Clear Stream Forest. It seems that, like the Caterpie Group, the Scyther colony is hiding itself. I just wonder how many such hidden groups there are."

Mark lightly pinched his chin, then suddenly frowned.

"Come to think of it, I've often run into Ekans near the Caterpie Territory these past few days. According to the Caterpie Leader, Ekans used to invade occasionally, but the frequency did not seem this high.

"Today, while bringing those hundred-odd Caterpie back to the village, I also encountered several Ekans.

"Besides that, Village Chief Uncle Qian Three told me to help drive away Ekans at the Tomato Garden once day breaks..."

As Mark spoke, he estimated the distance between the Ekans Habitat and Clear Stream Village on the map.

"Could something have happened in the Ekans Habitat?"

Hearing Mark's puzzled voice, Caterpie, which had been staring blankly at the Pokeball beside him, turned its head and tilted it.

Then Caterpie's body began to tremble repeatedly, as if something had happened.

After several breaths, Caterpie stopped trembling. As though it had sensed something, it looked tensely toward the northwest—the direction of the Caterpie Territory.

"Si si si, si si si si, si si."

"You mean I shouldn't go to the Caterpie Territory? There might be danger there?"

"Si si!"

Mark lightly pinched his chin and opened Caterpie's Spirit Control Panel.

Caterpie

Five-Dimensional Potential:

Strength: F Constitution: F Agility: F+ Spirit: E Perception: E+ (D-)

Abilities: Shield Dust, (Run Away)

Special Ability: Evolution

Skills: Tackle (Power-Up Tackle, Instant Strike, Adamant Penetrating Strike, Multi-Strike Combo), String Shot, Bug Bite

Caterpie's panel was currently in an unstable state. Its Perception among the Five-Dimensional Potential kept fluctuating between E+ and D-, while the Run Away ability in its ability column flashed continuously.

"A second ability that hasn't fully awakened?"