Spirit Dimension: Fooling Groudon at the Start

So he liked to joke around in his daily life, too.

He knew that his old friend, the Pokémon Professor, had devoted his entire life to researching Pokémon evolution. Unless something truly important had happened, Du Chen would never have called all three of them over.

So...

Du Chen's next words left even Gu Tianyuan stunned!

"That's right, Old Gu. This could be a major breakthrough in the study of Pokémon evolution. But it wasn't my work—it was written by that genius you hired, Su Yi!"

Du Chen was so excited that he could barely contain himself.

Gu Tianyuan and Gu Yu exchanged a glance, then looked at Gu Yuanfang, who was just as dumbfounded.

Su Yi, Su Yi—you're not even human!

"..."

Su Yi had no idea about the little incident happening elsewhere.

He had already arrived at the Kunlun Pokémon League headquarters in Kunlun City.

"Hello. How can I help you?"

Su Yi had pinned his Advanced Trainer badge to his chest, so as soon as he walked in, a young woman came over to greet him.

Such a young and handsome Advanced Trainer!

That was the only thought in her mind.

Still, Su Yi looked a little familiar to her, though she was certain they had never met before.

Su Yi had been one of the two top scorers in this year's senior-year graduation exam, and plenty of people had seen him. But for most people, that was all it amounted to—they had seen him. After all, Su Yi had nothing to do with their everyday lives.

The young woman was a case in point.

"I'd like to sell an Evolution Key Stone. Could you arrange that for me?"

Su Yi had come to deal with the Evolution Key Stone he had obtained from Luo Jing.

When the young woman heard he wanted to sell an Evolution Key Stone to the League—an item that could easily fetch hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins—she immediately put her infatuation aside.

"Of course. Please come this way."

She led Su Yi to a person in charge at the Kunlun City Pokémon League headquarters.

In the end, he successfully sold the Evolution Key Stone for 600,000 Gold Coins.

Su Yi also bought a map of the Kunlun Mountains to prepare for his trip inside.

The Kunlun Mountains were part of a vast mountain range.

All sorts of Pokémon lived there.

Wild Pokémon could be found in places other than the Spirit Primal Forest.

Of course, the Spirit Primal Forest had a more complete variety of Wild Pokémon.

When he arrived in the Kunlun Mountains, Su Yi took out his map and checked his location.

"Come on out, Vibrava."

"Ee!"

As soon as Vibrava appeared, it rubbed against Su Yi's palm.

"Vibrava, could you use your Supersonic to sense where there might be a dormant volcano nearby? Or a volcano that's just started waking up?"

No one had ever heard of a volcano erupting in the Kunlun Mountains, so there could only be a dormant volcano hidden somewhere, on the verge of awakening.

Vibrava could beat its wings to send out Supersonic unique to its species.

Vibrava nodded. That wouldn't be difficult for it.

It was now level 42, just three levels away from evolving into Flygon.

After Vibrava left, Su Yi released Beldum as well.

"Beldum!"

Beldum was curious about this unfamiliar environment, looking around in every direction.

"Beldum, from now on, you need to work hard to gain Battle Experience."

They were bound to run into some combative Pokémon while searching for a volcano.

If they were below level 25, Beldum would take them on.

Beldum nodded eagerly. Lately, its only opponent had been Larvitar, and it was sick of battling Larvitar!

Larvitar: →_→

[ Ding! Side Quest refreshing... ]

Refresh complete!

[ Ding! Side Quest 3 issued—Please have Beldum evolve once! Quest reward: Stamina Enhancement Potion ×3! ]

[ Ding! Side Quest 4 issued—Please have Larvitar evolve once! Quest reward: Special Defense Enhancement Potion ×3! ]

[ Ding! Side Quest 5 issued—Please complete Vibrava's evolution! Quest reward: Special Attack Enhancement Potion ×3! ]

All three Side Quests targeted Pokémon Su Yi already owned.

They were practically free rewards.

Still, evolving the two pseudo-legendary Pokémon would take some time.

Su Yi thought it over for a moment, then decided to use the Enhanced Good Luck Card he had been saving.

"System, use the Enhanced Good Luck Card!"

[ Ding! Congratulations, host! The Enhanced Good Luck Card has been used successfully. It will last for 72 hours, and your luck will be twice as good as it would be with a regular Good Luck Card! ]

Nice!

When he had used a regular Good Luck Card, Su Yi had run into a Trapinch with Purple Qualification. Now, the Enhanced Good Luck Card would give him twice the luck for 72 hours—three whole days and nights!

"Roar!"

The Enhanced Good Luck Card had barely activated when Su Yi heard a low growl from somewhere in the distance.

Su Yi took off the Advanced Trainer badge pinned to his chest.

That thing was fine for everyday use, but not for an adventure in the wild.

He brought Beldum along, then reconsidered and decided it might not be enough. He called Greninja out, too.

With Greninja and Beldum at his side, Su Yi headed toward the source of the noise.

Behind a large tree, a particularly big Rhyhorn was furiously ramming a boulder!

As it crashed into the boulder, Rhyhorn let out pained roars.

Su Yi took a closer look and immediately noticed a bear trap clamped around one of Rhyhorn's hind feet!

This Rhyhorn had White Qualification and was level 24.

"Roar!"

Rhyhorn was attacking the boulder in a frenzy. It seemed to notice movement in Su Yi's direction and suddenly charged straight at him!

"Greninja!"

Greninja instinctively stepped forward, putting itself between Su Yi and Beldum.

"Greninja, it's all right. Let Beldum try. You can step in if it can't handle this. There must be bounty hunters nearby, since the trap has caught Rhyhorn's foot."

Su Yi felt a warmth in his heart as he stopped Greninja from intervening.

Greninja nodded, then leaped up into a tree.

Its jumping ability was impressive, too.

From the tree, Greninja could see a long way and keep an eye on Su Yi and Beldum below.

"Beldum, this is your first battle in the wild."

It was six levels lower, but Su Yi didn't think that would be much of a problem.

"Beldum!"

Beldum fixed its red eyes on the charging Rhyhorn.

Rhyhorn charged wildly. The bear trap on its leg had driven it to the brink of agony, and all it wanted was to ram into something hard enough to knock itself out.

It used Horn Attack!

The sharp horn on its nose pointed toward Beldum and Su Yi as it charged. The ground trembled slightly beneath it.

"Beldum, move around to its side and use Iron Head!"

"Beldum!"

Beldum hovered in the air. As Rhyhorn charged, it dodged to one side and used Iron Head, slamming into Rhyhorn's head!

"Rrgh..."

Rhyhorn cried out in pain.

Su Yi had no intention of holding back.

The best way to make Rhyhorn calm down was to render it unable to battle. That would let Beldum gain Battle Experience, and Su Yi could tend to Rhyhorn's injuries and remove the bear trap.

"Chase after it and use Iron Head again!"

"Clang!!!"

Just as Beldum charged forward again, Rhyhorn suddenly raised one of its front feet and used Stomp.

Beldum's Iron Head crashed straight into Rhyhorn's Stomp.

"Beldum!"

Beldum should have been weaker than Rhyhorn. It hadn't had time to grow yet. But after drinking the Attack Enhancement Potion, its strength had actually surpassed Rhyhorn's!

It knocked Rhyhorn's front foot aside, then landed another Iron Head!

"Rrgh..."

Rhyhorn fell.

[ Ding! Congratulations, host! Beldum has defeated Rhyhorn and gained a large amount of Battle Experience. Its level has increased to 20! ]

[ Ding! Congratulations, host! Beldum performed exceptionally well and activated a hidden reward: Skill Awakening Card—Confusion! ]

Su Yi didn't have time to pay attention to the system's notifications. The bear trap had badly injured Rhyhorn's leg, and its frenzied movements had made the trap clamp down even tighter.

It was a custom-made bear trap used by bounty hunters. Even Rhyhorn's armor-like body couldn't stop it from piercing the skin.

"Greninja, use Cut on the part where the trap joins together."

Su Yi beckoned. Greninja jumped down from the tree, looked at the spot on the trap he was pointing to, and nodded.

Cut formed a blade of light and slashed hard at the joint. The bear trap snapped apart.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Just as Greninja's Cut sliced through the trap, two silent Poison Stings suddenly shot from a nearby mountain!

They were aimed straight at Su Yi!

"Greninja!"

Greninja noticed them and shouted. The fading blade of light in its hand suddenly swung toward Su Yi!

Su Yi's heart lurched. Someone was ambushing him?

As for Greninja attacking him, that thought never even crossed his mind. Over the past two months, Su Yi and Greninja had been through its Froakie, Frogadier, and now Greninja forms together. They trusted each other completely and had forged a deep bond.

Beldum reacted, too. Greninja's Cut had only sliced through one Poison Sting. Its wide red eyes caught sight of the other, and without a moment's hesitation, Beldum used its own body to block it!

"Clang!"

The custom-made Poison Sting struck Beldum's body. It was coated with a potent toxin that could paralyze the nerves.