Look, Ho-Oh!

After paying a small entry fee, Ye Lan arrived at the Qinghe Wilderness Area on the outskirts of Jindu and headed down the path ahead with three Capture Balls in hand.

Wilderness Areas like this were not uncommon throughout the Huaxia Region.

The Huaxia Region was vast and rich in resources, but it was also densely populated.

To prevent bad-tempered Pokémon from attacking humans, and to keep human activity from disrupting Pokémon's natural breeding, some larger Pokémon habitats were isolated and managed, becoming the Wilderness Areas of today.

Trainers only needed to pay a small fee to enter a Wilderness Area with three Capture Balls and catch Pokémon, though they could bring out no more than one Pokémon each time.

Should they violate the rules, the rangers patrolling throughout the Wilderness Area would immediately come for them, hand them over to Officer Jenny, and ban them from catching Pokémon in official Wilderness Areas.

If they wanted to catch Pokémon after that, they could only venture into the true wilderness.

For a rookie Trainer like Ye Lan, the wilderness was extremely dangerous.

Wild Pokémon varied wildly in strength and were often ill-tempered. If Ye Lan and Servine happened to encounter a professional-level Pokémon, they would probably only get another chance to be partners in their next lives.

It was Servine's first time visiting a Wilderness Area, and it was clearly more excited than Ye Lan.

It had been by Ye Lan's side ever since it was born and had never experienced such a natural environment.

Moreover, the Grass-type energy here was far more active. Grass-type Pokémon were even more at home here.

As they followed the trail deeper into the Wilderness Area, a powerful gust suddenly swept over them from above. Ye Lan looked up, his pupils shrinking, and shouted at Servine beside him, "Servine, look! Ho-Oh is flying overhead—and it's carrying a camera!"

"Serp?!"

Servine, which had been leisurely admiring the scenery, was startled and immediately assumed a battle stance, shielding Ye Lan behind it.

Ye Lan often told it about Legendary Pokémon. While Ho-Oh had a gentler temperament compared to the three idiots of time and space, it was still not someone to provoke when angered.

Was it finally going to meet a legendary Pokémon?!

Holding its breath, Servine stared up into the sky.

A huge flock of Fearow was flying overhead.

"Haha, I didn't lie to you, did I?" Ye Lan grinned smugly.

When he watched cartoons as a child, if Ho-Oh had not always appeared with its own special lighting effects, Ye Lan would not have been able to tell the two apart either.

But that was not the end of it. Seeing Servine take an attacking stance, how could the bad-tempered Fearow tolerate that?

"Caw, caw, caw!"

In an instant, bird droppings poured down like torrential rain. Ye Lan, who had just been laughing heartily, suddenly felt a warm wetness on his face. He wiped it with his hand and gave it a light sniff, and his mentality instantly shattered.

"You damn birds... blegh... I'll... blegh..."

After being struck by the Fearow flock's long-range "move," Servine, whose aura had been so sharp moments earlier, stared blankly for quite some time.

Only after sniffing itself did it finally confirm that a noble Pokémon like it had actually been attacked with shit!

In an instant, Servine unleashed its intermediate-level peak aura in full. Dense specks of fluorescent green light formed around it, startling Ye Lan beside it.

Servine was truly furious this time. It had no intention of holding back at all!

"Wait a minute!" Ye Lan panicked and lunged at the charging Servine.

Fearow were notorious thugs. Anger one, and a whole flock would come. Fight a flock, and it could shake the entire forest!

Magical Leaf flew out, but it failed to hit its target.

It turned out that the flock of Fearow, all of which were merely at the early stage, had sensed the danger the moment Servine unleashed its aura and scattered in every direction.

With Ye Lan stopping it as well, none of the Fearow were injured.

"Serp!"

Servine shot Ye Lan an angry glare. Its meaning was obvious: "Are you with them or with me?"

"Hold it in! We'll settle the score with them after we become professionals!"

Though Ye Lan's teeth itched with hatred as well, circumstances were stronger than people. Only after watching the Fearow fly away did he finally let out a breath.

"They're finally gone."

However, at that moment, a green blade of light shot from a large tree not far from them, flying straight toward one of the trailing Fearow.

With a boom, the Fearow whose wing had been struck let out a shriek and plummeted toward the ground.

Then, the Fearow in the sky began to cry out in sharp, urgent calls.

At the outskirts of the Wilderness Area, more and more Fearow began responding to their cries. After gathering into a dark mass in the sky, they dove toward Ye Lan.

"Uh... if I said we didn't do it, would you believe me?"

He had indeed seen a white figure flickering through the treetops just now, but it vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Ye Lan and Servine as the Fearow's targets.

"What are you standing around for? Run!"

Ye Lan scooped up the stunned Servine and turned to sprint toward the central area of the Wilderness Area.

He had finally made it to the Wilderness Area, and he had yet to find his second Pokémon. He could not go back just like that.

Watching Ye Lan and Servine flee in a sorry state, a tiny white figure beneath the tree clapped its little green hands, looking utterly delighted.

"Cotton~"

"It looks like they're not chasing us anymore. Let's rest for a bit." Leaning against a large tree, Ye Lan panted heavily.

He had originally wanted to recall Servine into its Poké Ball, but they were about to head deeper into the Wilderness Area, where they might be unable to handle sudden emergencies.

At that point, they would have no choice but to call for ranger rescue.

His long-term physical training finally proved somewhat useful. Once Servine realized it needed to run on its own, Ye Lan could barely keep up with it even while carrying a heavy backpack.

Though Servine's feet had shrunk more and more from degeneration, and it could not glide through the forest, it could still run incredibly fast.

Once it evolved into Serperior and lost its feet completely, Ye Lan wondered whether it would still be as nimble as it was now.

After reaching a stream, Ye Lan washed his face with clean water, took off his jacket to wash it, and hung it aside to dry. Only then did he take the supplies from his backpack and prepare to set up a simple tent.

Ye Lan had long decided to spend the night in the Wilderness Area.

Many Pokémon liked to come out and forage at night, while daytime was relatively dangerous for some weaker Pokémon.

In a Wilderness Area, most powerful Pokémon had survived countless battles.

Such Pokémon had already settled into their growth paths, and the injuries accumulated from prolonged battles without prompt treatment left them with countless hidden wounds. Their potential had long been exhausted as well.

A gust of wind blew past, and Ye Lan could not help shivering.

Autumn had arrived. Though Ye Lan was fairly sturdy, he still could not withstand even a light blow from the lingering summer heat.

Seeing the sky grow darker, Ye Lan decided to get the campfire going first.

This was a survival skill he had learned from the legendary King of Enduring Hunger, Bear Grylls.

A tribute to the legendary King of Enduring Hunger!

Watching Servine tease a Magikarp in the stream, Ye Lan smiled helplessly.

If it got angry and evolved into a Gyarados later... hiss, maybe Servine would get even more excited!