A Favor

"Lao He?"

"Doctor He Haifei?"

At first, the name Lao He sounded unfamiliar to Fang Yuan.

But he quickly realized who it was.

Who else at the Pokémon Center could be called Lao He but the Pokémon Doctor who often treated Eevee's injuries?

After meeting him once, Fang Yuan had run into him quite often at the Pokémon Center. Since they were from the same hometown, Doctor He had taken a rather favorable view of Fang Yuan.

Whenever Fang Yuan asked questions about Eevee, Doctor He did his best to answer them.

To Fang Yuan and Eevee, he was an incredibly kind and wonderful person.

"Lao He and I are friends," Yang Han said.

"After Nanwu Town issued the disaster warning, we immediately contacted the local police and Pokémon Center. When Lao He heard where the Secret Realm had appeared, he quickly found your contact information. Then he discovered that you really had gone Lost Contact. Considering how you and Eevee liked training near the site where the Secret Realm appeared, he guessed that you might have run into danger long ago, so he immediately informed us."

"He was mainly afraid that you'd get yourselves killed in the Secret Realm. He repeatedly told us to begin the rescue at once and search carefully."

"Oh, right. Since this Secret Realm appeared in such a remote location, hardly anyone ever came nearby. You were the only one who met with misfortune..."

Yang Han glanced at Fang Yuan and Eevee. They really did not look like obedient kids.

A Rookie Trainer with an Eevee that was only a month old had provoked a powerful Pidgeot. No matter how he looked at it, they had nothing to do with being well-behaved.

"Uh... bad luck."

As Fang Yuan gave a wry smile, Eevee let out a long sigh.

After flying for a while.

Charizard landed. To Fang Yuan's surprise, many people were stationed not far away, and there were even police officers.

"That's the Safe Zone over there. We need to walk over and go through security. I'll take you there," Yang Han said.

"Wait!"

Fang Yuan's expression suddenly changed, as if he had remembered something. "Brother Yang, can I speak with you privately?"

He had nearly forgotten that the Sand Scale Fruit Kernel was still in his pocket. Without hesitation, he quickly took it out and handed it to the puzzled Yang Han.

"Eevee and I found this by accident. It might be a Berry Kernel. It should be useful to you, so please take it," Fang Yuan said.

"That Pidgeot might have targeted us because of this. Cough, perhaps we accidentally stole its food."

Fang Yuan had kept the Sand Scale Fruit Kernel after Eevee finished eating it. It was not that he did not want to take it home to plant or sell himself, but the law stipulated that the resource rights to any Secret Realm appearing within the country belonged to the Trainer Association.

In other words, even if Fang Yuan took it out, it would not end up in his hands.

Rather than having it discovered and being forced to hand it over later, he might as well give it to the man who had saved his life.

If Fang Yuan was right, this uncle who could enter a Secret Realm to carry out a rescue mission was most likely a Professional Trainer.

As the core class of the Trainer Association, Professional Trainers were already qualified to enjoy a share of the benefits from Secret Realms.

"A Berry Kernel?"

Yang Han carefully examined the Berry Kernel in his hand.

Fresh...

He gave Fang Yuan a deep look. What a clever kid.

"I've never seen this kind of kernel, but I'll accept it. Let the Trainer Association assess its value later."

"Do Professional Trainers have to hand over their gains from Secret Realms to the Trainer Association too?" Fang Yuan asked in surprise.

"It depends on the circumstances. For rescue missions like this, we Professional Trainers split our gains with the Trainer Association according to a certain ratio."

"Since you gave it to me, it counts as my gain. It really would be useless in your hands," Yang Han said.

"I'll handle this. Once its value has been assessed, I'll let you know. If it proves useful to me, I'll owe you a favor."

"Hahaha... It's fine. I should be the one owing you a favor, Brother Yang."

Fang Yuan scratched his head. They were only a few kernels; he figured they would not be worth much. After all, there was still an entire Sand Scale Fruit Tree in the Secret Realm.

Besides, nothing was worth more than his and Eevee's lives.

Just being able to make it back alive was enough to satisfy Fang Yuan.

And there might even be some Mental Damage Compensation later. That was pretty sweet.

Most importantly, Eevee had already eaten the Sand Scale Fruit flesh... Given the circumstances at the time, no one could hold them accountable.

That was the biggest gain of all!

Next, Yang Han escorted Fang Yuan to the Safe Zone ahead.

As expected, Fang Yuan was searched under the pretext of a security inspection.

After finding nothing of value on him, they treated him and Eevee quite well.

A balding old man kept asking Fang Yuan whether he was hurt. A psychologist was with him as well, but after seeing that Fang Yuan and Eevee did not seem frightened, the psychologist only offered a few simple words of comfort.

In truth, the best rescue window for a Super-Small Secret Realm was within half an hour.

Fang Yuan and Eevee had not only missed the best rescue window, but had also held out for six hours. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Ultimately, it was because the Secret Realm had appeared in such a remote location that no one had noticed anything unusual before the Trainer Association detected it.

After confirming that Fang Yuan had been missing for six hours, many people believed he had already died and had prepared to mourn him. Yet no one had expected a high school student to truly endure inside the Secret Realm for so long.

The people happiest about this were the management of Nanwu Town and the Peaceful City Trainer Association.

No casualties was better than anything else.

Fang Yuan did not know how he had left the Secret Realm. The Trainer Association seemed to have a special way of traveling between the two spaces, but that was not something he could access yet.

After leaving the Secret Realm, Fang Yuan saw Doctor He from the Pokémon Center again. According to Yang Han, he had been saved thanks to him.

Fang Yuan and Eevee immediately thanked him.

"It's good that you're alright. Get plenty of rest from now on. The police have already contacted your parents. You and Eevee shouldn't train for a while either. This Black Forest probably won't be usable anymore. Other Dimension Channels to the Secret Realm are everywhere now, and it will likely take a long time to completely eliminate the danger," Doctor He said.

"Ah..."

Fang Yuan and Eevee both froze. Without this forest, their training would become very difficult.

After all, Eevee had not yet fully mastered the Tree Stump Training Method. It still had plenty of room to improve...

"Forget it."

There was nothing they could do about it. Though Fang Yuan felt disappointed, he did not insist.

He could use this time to think about how to make Eevee deal with Ghost-type Pokémon.

"Eevee..."

Upon hearing that the Black Forest had been sealed off, Eevee, lying on Fang Yuan's shoulder, felt deeply relieved. It patted Fang Yuan's head with its paw pads, telling him not to be sad.

It was fate.