Passing towering trees and circling clumps of bushes, Qingliu and Agumon made their way through a sea of green.
Every so often, they came across a few Caterpie huddled together and trembling at their feet, or startled a Pidgey into hurried flight as they passed.
Agumon looked back and forth at them with great curiosity.
"Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and that one hiding in the corner is Starly. These bird Pokémon are a little smaller than Biyomon. I wonder if they suddenly get bigger after evolving."
Agumon muttered while following at his side.
Apart from the Unown Agumon had just fought, every Pokémon in this world was new to Agumon. Everything felt unfamiliar, but that only sparked greater interest. Ever since they set out, Agumon had been constantly looking around and asking questions.
That eagerness to learn had briefly made Qingliu feel that the creature before him wasn't an ordinary Agumon at all, but an Agumon Professor who had accidentally lost the academic cap and pointer.
But... if this really were an Agumon Professor, the two of them probably wouldn't have gotten lost.
Yes, Qingliu and Agumon were lost.
To leave the ruins behind and reach Solaceon Town, the town nearest to the Solaceon Ruins, Qingliu had ventured beyond his familiar surroundings for the first time since arriving in this world and begun a long trek.
Without a compass, a map, or anything else to guide them, they had gotten lost in the tangled forest after less than half a day.
"If I had even a Pokédex, we wouldn't have ended up like this."
Qingliu sighed helplessly and looked up at the canopy overhead, which blocked even the sunlight.
The trees were so tall and their foliage so dense that, apart from an occasional shaft of light, there was no sunlight to be seen anywhere in the forest.
Fortunately, after continuing at the same pace for a while, they finally found a clearing where the branches and leaves were sparse enough to let sunlight through.
At this point, he could only resort to an old-fashioned method.
Picking up a long, thin, straight twig from the ground, Qingliu walked into the open area and slowly crouched down.
He planted the twig in the center, where the sunlight could reach it, placed a stone at the tip of its shadow, then sat on the ground and waited quietly.
Meanwhile, Agumon finished looking around and came over. After glancing at the twig on the ground and then at Qingliu, Agumon asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
"Finding our bearings."
"Just doing this is enough?"
"It'll take ten minutes or so. Once the shadow has moved a little, we put another stone at its new tip, then draw a line between the stones. That'll give us a rough idea of the directions. Then we can use that to get back on course."
"..."
After listening to Qingliu's explanation, Agumon scratched that round head awkwardly.
As expected, even after asking, Agumon still had no idea how it worked and could only sit down beside him to wait.
Seeing Agumon's slightly embarrassed expression, Qingliu chuckled.
Judging by how Agumon struggled to understand anything even a little long-winded, this clearly wasn't an Agumon Professor missing the academic outfit.
"Oh, right, Agumon."
Something suddenly occurred to Qingliu, and he asked, "Since we left the ruins, have you felt your strength, speed, or the power of your moves improve at all?"
At that, Agumon frowned, raised both hands, and swiped through the air a few times.
Sharp claws sliced through the air with a faint whistle.
Then, as though discovering something interesting, Agumon began swinging those claws faster and faster, even using Razor Claw. Eventually, Agumon stood straight up, ready to test the power of "Pepper Breath."
Qingliu hurriedly stopped Agumon.
Set the forest ablaze, spend your life behind bars.
Those flames burned at extremely high temperatures. If a careless move started a forest fire, someone would certainly come to escort them out, but he would probably spend the rest of his life doing prison labor.
"You don't have to test everything one by one. I think you should be able to feel it."
"Yes, I really have gotten a little stronger. My whole body feels full of energy. No wonder I wasn't tired at all after walking so far."
Agumon sounded delighted.
With that confirmation, Qingliu nodded silently, a smile appearing on his face as well.
He had asked Agumon that question because, while using the panel's Pokémon information function as a radar on the way here, his gaze had accidentally landed on Agumon.
Rows of small blue text displaying Agumon's information had immediately appeared.
[Species] Agumon [Category] Reptile Pokémon [Type] Dragon [Ability] Tough Claws (The sharpness of its claws increases the power of attacks made with them) [Level] 12 → 13 [Exclusive moves] Pepper Breath, Razor Claw [Learned moves] None [Base stat total] 360 (HP 50, Attack 72, Defense 55, Special Attack 72, Special Defense 50, Speed 61) [Friendship] 60 (Accepts you and considers you a friend) [Status] Normal [Information summary] xxxxxxx
Agumon had leveled up.
The level had risen from 12 to 13.
Qingliu guessed that the main reason was Agumon's battle against the group of Unown in the Solaceon Ruins. After defeating more than ten of them, including their leader, Agumon had earned enough experience to... level up.
That was good news.
Of course, beyond his happiness at Agumon growing stronger, Qingliu had deeper considerations.
In the world of Digimon, battle strength depended heavily on type advantages and the power of conviction. The protagonists tended to face opponents using forms of the same evolutionary stage and matching their numbers. If they truly couldn't win, they resorted to type advantages.
Digimon outside the protagonists' group generally improved their combat power through the simplest method-beating opponents to the brink of death until they turned into data, then absorbing them.
By accumulating data bit by bit, they eventually gathered enough to advance from one stage to the next and evolve.
With a system like that, levels and actual combat strength were extremely vague. There was no quick way to tell who was stronger on paper at the same stage, or who had improved more through training and battle. You were completely in the dark.
But in the Pokémon world, levels were clearly defined.
Whether it was the possibility of learning a new move at a particular level or evolving upon reaching a certain level, the existence of levels was unmistakable.
Now that Agumon had come to the Pokémon world and changed from a Digimon into a Pokémon, combat strength should, in theory, increase with each level.
Agumon had just confirmed that it did.
After all, Pokémon didn't turn into data when they fainted, so there was nothing for Agumon to absorb.
If training and battling couldn't improve Agumon's level and strength, wouldn't Agumon be trapped in the Rookie form forever?
"Still..."
Another question immediately occurred to Qingliu.
Since Agumon now fully followed the rules of Pokémon, would evolution also happen automatically upon reaching a certain level?
Or would it require something like a Digivice or a Badge?
If those really were necessary, where was he supposed to find something exclusive to the Digital World?
Agumon had successfully made the transition into a Pokémon. He had better not hold Agumon back by failing to make his own transition into a "DigiDestined pretty boy."
Finally, Qingliu's gaze settled on the panel before him.
Before you continue