Caught in the Act

If Hu Yang had felt as though he were standing in an ice cellar a second ago, then now his mood could absolutely be described as spring flowers blooming.

Setting everything else aside, at least his safety in this world was now guaranteed.

So now...

"Cramorant," Hu Yang ordered, "use Spacial Rend!"

"Caw?"

Cramorant held its head with its wings, looking just like Misty's Psychic-type Psyduck.

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed. It was as though a flock of crows flew overhead.

Cramorant tilted its head, its eyes vacant.

Hu Yang: "..."

No way, was it because his Trainer level was too low that Cramorant refused to listen to him?

Hu Yang hesitated. Remembering the 100 friendship displayed on Cramorant's information panel, he crouched down and pointed at himself. "Do you know me?"

Cramorant finally stopped holding its head and instead lowered its head to play with a stone on the ground using its beak.

"..."

Hu Yang reached out and cautiously petted it. Once he was sure Cramorant would not resist, he picked it up from the ground.

"Caw?"

Cramorant made a questioning sound.

Hu Yang asked again, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Cramorant stared blankly for a while, then turned its head and began preening its feathers with its beak.

Watching this, Hu Yang formed a rough guess.

Cramorant did not resist his touch, which meant it knew him.

But it showed no reaction at all to either his commands or voice. There were two possible reasons for that.

First, Cramorant could not understand him.

Second, Cramorant could not hear him.

Having never been a Trainer before, Hu Yang was thoroughly confused.

Could it be that the Pokémon in the anime and games being born able to understand human speech was simply not real?

Or was it because this Cramorant was not a real Pokémon?

Everyone knew that Pokémon in games were merely emotionless strings of data. All their behavior patterns and abilities had been programmed in advance by developers.

With that thought, Hu Yang picked up a stone nearby and, while Cramorant was not paying attention, hurled it hard into the river. A clear splash immediately rang out from the water.

Hu Yang watched Cramorant closely. The instant the sound came, Cramorant clearly heard it. It swiftly raised its head and looked in that direction.

It could hear. It just could not understand.

But that should not have been possible, should it?

Still, now was clearly not the time to dwell on that.

After leaving the forest, Hu Yang planned to find other Trainers and ask them.

He recalled Cramorant into the accompanying Master Ball, then stood and continued forward along the river.

Water was the most important thing to any living creature.

Since ancient times, people had built their tribes and villages beside water. Following the river gave him a far better chance of leaving the forest than wandering around like a headless fly.

Because he had encountered Beedrill earlier, he kept his movements much quieter this time, making no sound whenever possible.

Even so, he still drew the attention of some wild Pokémon.

There were Zigzagoon in the grass, Wurmple wriggling in the trees, Chewtle drinking by the riverbank, and even a rare Mawile.

None of these Pokémon made any move to attack Hu Yang. They merely watched him from afar with curiosity.

Hu Yang's heart stirred at the sight.

A real Pokémon ecosystem!

This was something the games could never truly portray!

He really wanted to pet them!

Though tempted, reason told him that if he really approached them, he would definitely be met with wary attacks.

After walking some distance, Hu Yang felt the burning pain at his waist becoming more obvious.

He lifted his shirt and saw that the purple area was beginning to spread.

This was obviously not a good sign.

Before things got worse, he had to leave this place as soon as possible.

His stomach was growing hungrier as well.

Summer's lingering heat had not yet fully faded. As noon arrived, the temperature in the air began to rise. It was not normal heat, but a stifling humidity.

Based on Hu Yang's thirty years of life experience, it was obvious that rain was on the way.

"Mawile and Zigzagoon... Could this be Hoenn?" Hu Yang guessed inwardly.

But then the Skwovet appearing on a branch made him uncertain again.

Skwovet had first appeared in Pokémon Sword and Shield and was a Pokémon from Galar.

But on second thought, games were different from reality. Games had chronological releases, so earlier versions naturally did not contain Pokémon from later generations, while games from later generations did contain Pokémon from earlier ones.

That meant Pokémon from Galar and Unova could very well appear in other regions.

Having neither eaten nor drunk anything that morning or at noon, Hu Yang was now starving and thirsty.

With his sharp eyes, he spotted the Skwovet clutching a Berry in its arms.

Skwovet had habits similar to real-world squirrels, storing food ahead of time in autumn for the winter.

So, following it might lead him to something to eat.

If he was luckier, he might even find a Pecha Berry that could cure poison.

After hesitating for only two seconds, Hu Yang decisively chose to follow it.

At his pace, who knew how long it would take to leave the forest.

Perhaps this area was familiar territory for Skwovet, because it was not particularly vigilant. Holding a pink Berry, it leaped back and forth among the trees.

Hu Yang followed closely behind, hiding behind a large tree as he watched Skwovet toss the Berry inside its trunk.

After doing that, Skwovet left.

Hu Yang ran over, reached his arm into the tree hollow, silently apologized in his heart, and felt around until he pulled out a fruit.

[Oran Berry: Restores a small amount of a Pokémon's stamina when eaten.]

The relevant information surfaced in Hu Yang's mind.

It was not what he was looking for. He placed the Oran Berry in his left hand and reached inside again with his right.

But at that moment, a heartbroken shriek came from the branch above.

Hu Yang looked up and met the gaze of the Skwovet that had returned.

"..."

"..."

This was awkward.

A dignified adult with perfectly functional hands and feet had actually fallen so low as to steal a "squirrel's" stored "winter chestnuts" to eat.

More importantly, he had been caught red-handed.

This was the first time in Hu Yang's thirty years that he had done something like this. He instinctively pulled his hand out and held up his empty right hand, trying to bluff his way through it.

But Pokémon were different from ordinary animals. They were extremely intelligent.

Skwovet sharply pointed at his left arm and made an accusing noise.

Hu Yang: "..."

Before he could do anything, the enraged Skwovet descended from above. Hu Yang lost his footing and was knocked to the ground by the momentum.

Skwovet's little fists thumped against his forehead again and again.

Hu Yang hurriedly grabbed it under its arms and lifted it up, returning the Oran Berry. "Stop hitting me! My fault, here, take it back!"

After all, he was the one in the wrong.

Skwovet took it, huffed, and then suddenly twitched its nose. Its gaze shifted to the human's waist. It smelled Poison and blood.

Hu Yang noticed its reaction and directly lifted his shirt, exposing the poisoned wound as he put on a pitiful expression.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to steal your things. I've been poisoned. If I don't cure it soon, I'm going to die."

There was a trace of testing in his heart as he said that.

Cramorant could not understand him, but could other wild Pokémon?

The facts proved that they could.

Because Hu Yang saw Skwovet hesitate, then sprint to the tree hollow. It rummaged around inside for a while before running out with a pink Berry in its arms.

Its fluffy face was full of reluctance. After a long moment, as though it had made some major decision, it resolutely pushed the Berry toward him.

[Pecha Berry: Possesses the miraculous ability to cure poisoning.]

Hu Yang was stunned. "For me?" Were wild Pokémon really this kind?

Skwovet nodded, squeaked twice, then stretched out its right leg onto Hu Yang's stomach.

Only then did Hu Yang notice the small pink bandage tied around it in the shape of a bow. It had been covered by the little Pokémon's fur earlier, which was why he had not seen it.

That was a style only a human could have tied.

Hu Yang froze for a moment. From Skwovet's attitude, he vaguely guessed at a possibility.

This Skwovet had once been rescued by a human, so it held great goodwill toward humans and had chosen to help him here.

At that possibility, an inexplicable excitement welled up from the depths of his heart.