Look, Ho-Oh!

After arriving at the Qinghe Wilderness Area on the outskirts of Jindu and paying the required fee, Ye Lan took three capture balls and headed down the path ahead.

Wilderness Zones like this were fairly common in the Huaxia Region.

The Huaxia Region boasted vast lands and abundant resources, but it also had an enormous population.

To prevent aggressive Pokémon from attacking humans, and to keep human activity from disrupting Pokémon breeding, some of the larger Pokémon habitats were isolated and placed under management, becoming the Wilderness Zones of today.

Trainers only needed to pay a small fee to enter a Wilderness Zone with three capture balls and catch Pokémon, though they could take out no more than one Pokémon per visit.

Anyone who broke the rules would promptly be met by the Forest Rangers patrolling the Wilderness Zone, handed over to Officer Jenny, and banned from catching Pokémon in official Wilderness Zones.

After that, their only option would be to venture into the actual wild.

For a rookie trainer like Ye Lan, the wild was extremely dangerous.

Wild Pokémon varied in strength and could be aggressive. If Ye Lan and Servine suddenly ran into a Professional-level Pokémon, they would probably have to wait until their next lives for another chance to be partners.

On their first visit to a Wilderness Zone, Servine was clearly even more excited than Ye Lan.

Servine had stayed by Ye Lan's side since birth and had never experienced a natural environment like this.

The Grass-type energy here was also more active, allowing Grass-type Pokémon to feel even more in their element.

As they followed the trail deeper into the Wilderness Zone, a sudden gust swept down from overhead and brushed Ye Lan's face. He looked up, his pupils abruptly contracting, and shouted to Servine beside him, "Servine, look! Ho-Oh's flying overhead, and it's carrying a camera!"

"Ssss?!"

Servine had been leisurely admiring the scenery, but those words gave the Pokémon a fright. Servine immediately took a fighting stance, shielding Ye Lan.

Ye Lan often taught Servine about Legendary Pokémon. Although Ho-Oh had a milder temper than the three space-time idiots, it was still not someone to mess with when angry.

Am I finally going to see a Legendary Pokémon?!

Servine held a breath and focused, looking up into the sky.

A dense flock of Fearow flew overhead.

"Haha, see? I wasn't lying!" Ye Lan grinned smugly.

Thinking back to the cartoons he had watched as a child, Ye Lan would never have been able to tell the two apart if Ho-Oh hadn't come with its own lighting effects every time it appeared.

But that wasn't the end of it. When the Fearow overhead saw Servine taking an attacking stance, how could those hotheads possibly let it slide?

"Caw, caw, caw!"

In an instant, bird droppings poured down like a torrential rain. Ye Lan, who had just been laughing, suddenly felt something warm and wet on his face. He wiped it with his hand, gave it a cautious sniff, and completely lost it on the spot.

"You damn birds... urgh~ I'll... urgh~"

After taking the Fearow flock's long-range "move," Servine's fierce gaze went blank. For quite a while, the Pokémon couldn't process what had happened.

Only after sniffing the smell lingering on its body did Servine finally confirm that a Pokémon as noble as itself had actually been attacked with shit!

In an instant, Servine unleashed the full force of its peak intermediate-stage aura. Countless fluorescent green lights formed around the Pokémon, giving Ye Lan quite a scare.

Servine was genuinely furious this time and had no intention of holding back!

"Chotto matte!" Panicking, Ye Lan lunged at Servine as the Pokémon charged up.

Fearow were notorious thugs. Mess with one, and a whole flock would come. Fight a flock, and the entire forest would be stirred up!

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

The moment Servine unleashed its aura, the Fearow flock, which only had early-stage strength, had sensed the danger and scattered.

With Ye Lan interfering as well, not a single Fearow was injured.

"Ssss!"

Servine glared angrily at Ye Lan, the meaning unmistakable: Whose side are you on, theirs or mine?

"Hold it in! Just hold it in! We'll settle the score once we reach Professional level!"

Although Ye Lan was also seething, they had no choice but to bow to the circumstances. Only when he saw the Fearow flying into the distance did he let out a breath of relief.

"They're finally gone."

But just then, a green blade of light shot out of a large tree not far from Ye Lan and Servine, flying straight toward a Fearow at the rear of the flock.

With a boom, the Fearow took a hit to its wing, let out a shriek, and plummeted toward the ground.

Immediately afterward, the Fearow in the air began letting out sharp, urgent cries.

At the outskirts of the Wilderness Zone, more and more Fearow answered those cries. They gathered into a dark mass in the sky, then began diving toward Ye Lan.

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

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

"What are you waiting for? Run!"

Scooping up Servine, who was stunned by the sight, Ye Lan turned and ran toward the center of the Wilderness Zone.

He had finally made it here, and he still hadn't found his second Pokémon. He couldn't go back just like this.

Beneath the large tree, a tiny white figure clapped its little green hands as it watched Ye Lan and Servine flee in disarray, looking thoroughly delighted.

"Cotton~"

"Looks like they stopped chasing us. Let's rest for a bit." Leaning against a large tree, Ye Lan panted heavily.

He had originally wanted to return Servine to the Poké Ball, but they were about to head deeper into the Wilderness Zone, and he wouldn't be able to handle any sudden emergencies.

If that happened, he would have no choice but to call the Forest Rangers for help.

All his physical training had finally paid off a little. Once Servine recovered enough to run independently, Ye Lan could just barely keep up, even with his heavy backpack.

Although Servine's feet were growing smaller as they gradually regressed, and sliding wasn't an option in the forest, the Pokémon could still run incredibly fast.

He wondered whether Servine would still be this agile after evolving into Serperior and losing those feet entirely.

At a stream, he washed his face with clean water, then took off his jacket, washed it, and hung it aside to dry. Only then did he take the supplies out of his backpack to set up a simple tent.

Ye Lan had already decided to spend the night in the Wilderness Zone.

Many Pokémon liked to come out and forage at night. For some weaker Pokémon, daytime was more dangerous.

Meanwhile, most of the powerful Pokémon in the Wilderness Zone had survived countless battles.

Their development was already set in stone, and prolonged fighting without timely treatment would leave them with countless hidden injuries. Their potential had long since been exhausted, too.

A breeze blew past, and Ye Lan couldn't help shivering.

Autumn had already arrived. Although Ye Lan was reasonably sturdy, he still couldn't withstand even a gentle swipe from the autumn tiger.

Looking at the darkening sky, Ye Lan decided to get a fire going first.

This was a survival skill he had learned from Bear Grylls, the legendary king of enduring hunger.

A salute to the legendary king of enduring hunger!

Watching Servine tease a Magikarp in the little stream, Ye Lan gave a helpless smile.

If it got angry and evolved into Gyarados... yeesh, that might only make Servine even more excited!