Axew Tribe

Fossil Maniac looked pained. After struggling for a long time, he finally said with difficulty, "Fine! As long as you can bring those two fossils back, I'll let you pick one yourself!"

"Three," Hu Yang said. "And a Pokémon Pokédex."

"Impossible!" Fossil Maniac's face went pale. Three? Those were treasures he had painstakingly dug up over so many years! "Don't even think about it! One is the absolute maximum!"

Hu Yang: ...I really don't understand you people who collect rocks like they're wives.

"Suit yourself." Hu Yang raised an unconcerned eyebrow and turned to leave.

It wasn't as though he didn't know how difficult this commission was.

Mirage Tower, as its name implied, was a tall tower with no fixed location.

"Mirage" meant that, like an illusion, it appeared and vanished unpredictably. With bad luck, one might never find it in an entire lifetime.

Leaving that aside, the dangerous wild Pokémon living in the desert alone were enough to give an ordinary Trainer a hard time.

Reality wasn't a game. Aside from wild Pokémon, the desert also had overwhelming sandstorms and treacherous quicksand terrain.

Without experienced guides, even an Elite Four member could lose their way deep in the desert and be buried beneath the yellow sands.

Thinking about it, Hu Yang suddenly felt that asking for three fossils was too little. If it were someone else, they would have demanded at least five.

Mega Stones were certainly valuable, but compared to one's life, the latter was obviously more important.

Besides, he was still considered a Rookie Trainer.

That place was far too dangerous for a Rookie Trainer.

"Don't go!" Fossil Maniac weighed the value in his heart. Out with the old, in with the new. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Fine! Three it is!"

"Deal." Hu Yang accepted the commission.

Fossil Maniac asked, "Should I take you to my house now?"

Hu Yang shook his head. "I still have something to do. How far is your house from here?"

Fossil Maniac pointed in a direction. "Over there. Just pass through those bushes and you'll see it. About five hundred meters away."

"Alright. I'll come find you after I'm done with this."

Fossil Maniac gave a grunt, indicating that he would wait at home.

Hu Yang continued following Axew toward the Axew Tribe's nest.

Because of his sprained ankle, his walking speed had dropped drastically.

"I need to find a chance to catch a Pokémon I can ride." One figure after another surfaced in Hu Yang's mind.

Speaking of ride Pokémon, he couldn't help thinking of the rideable Machoke in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Riding other Pokémon meant sitting normally on their backs, but Machoke was different. It carried Trainers forward in a princess carry.

Terrifying...

Hu Yang hurriedly shook that awful image from his mind and began imagining other Pokémon instead.

For example, the handsome Arcanine, the Dragonite known as Fatty, Charizard, Pidgeot, and so on.

But among those Pokémon, aside from Pidgeot, the others would all be difficult for him to obtain.

The Growlithe family was controlled by the Jenny Family, Dragonite was controlled by Johto's Dragon Tamer Clan, and Charizard was distributed by the Kanto League as part of the Starter Trio to Rookie Trainers just setting out on their journeys.

Wild ones did exist, but the chances of encountering them were as low as winning a grand prize in some gacha game—outrageously low.

"Axew!"

At that moment, Axew suddenly let out a happy cry. It swiftly darted into the grass and disappeared, but soon poked its little head back out and beckoned to Hu Yang with a claw.

"Are we there already?" Hu Yang looked around and found that the trees indeed bore many tooth-carved marks, just as the books described.

That was how Axew marked their territory.

"Axew!" Axew nodded happily.

They had reached the deepest part of the forest.

Because few people ever came here, the grass on the ground had grown wildly without restraint, while the surrounding trees were taller and denser than those on the outskirts.

Led by Axew, Hu Yang bent down and passed through a patch of tall bushes. The moment he raised his head, he saw a broad clearing.

"Axew!"

The Axew beside him called out to its companions. Soon, identical cries answered from the treetops one after another.

Then, little heads poked out from the trees, the grass, and behind the slopes.

This...

There were so many Axew!

There had to be at least twenty of them, right?!

Hu Yang stared in astonishment.

His Axew dashed forward and rolled around on the ground with the other Axew, playing happily.

At that moment, several cries different from Axew's came from deeper within the forest.

Immediately afterward, several Haxorus and Fraxure emerged from behind the trees.

Like real-world animals, Pokémon could be divided into social and solitary species.

The Haxorus family belonged to the former.

Those two Haxorus naturally noticed the only human present.

Their gazes immediately became wary.

"Axew!"

That Axew noticed this and immediately stopped playing. It jumped in front of the two Haxorus and cried, "Axew, Axew, Axew, Axew!"

It seemed to be explaining something.

"It's telling those two that it wants to travel with you."

Gengar had floated out at some point. Watching from afar, it spoke quietly.

"What did they say?" Hu Yang lowered his voice as well.

Gengar gestured upward. "Look!"

Hu Yang looked up and saw his Axew touching cheeks and tusks with the other Axew and Fraxure.

That was how Axew expressed friendliness among themselves, and it also meant goodbye.

"Axew!"

After touching each one, Axew ran a few steps toward Hu Yang, then turned back and waved at the other Axew and Haxorus.

Goodbye!

I'm going to travel with this human!

The forest once again filled with overlapping cries of "Axew!"

Axew ran to Hu Yang's side and looked up at him.

At a time like this...

Hu Yang felt that he needed to say something too. He picked Axew up and promised the Axew and Haxorus across from him:

"Don't worry. I'll definitely take good care of it!"

"Axew!" Axew waved a claw at its companions.

"Alright, I'm going to put you inside now!" Holding an empty Poké Ball, Hu Yang said to Axew.

"Axew!" Axew nodded its little head.

Hu Yang smiled faintly. The Poké Ball immediately released a red beam of light and drew Axew inside.

It gave two gentle shakes before falling still.

At the same time, Axew's information appeared in Hu Yang's mind.

[Name: Axew]

Type: Dragon-type

Original Trainer: Hu Yang

Held Item: Thunder Stone

Notes: A personality prone to striving for self-improvement

January 18, 208

It seemed that I met it at Meteor Falls

Highly curious, enjoys adventure and sharpening its tusks

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