Chapter Summaries

Riolu defeated Mienfoo with an aura-powered Headbutt, then chose to face Lucario instead of Poliwrath in her Gym battle. Though Lucario overwhelmed her, Xin Mu’s advice helped Riolu turn his strength against him as she prepared an Aerial Ace.

• Riolu knocked Mienfoo out with an aura-powered Headbutt that left her protected from most of the recoil.
• Riolu demanded to battle the Lucario watching from the arena’s shadow, and Xin Mu agreed to the substitution.
• Lucario opened the match by countering Riolu’s Vacuum Wave, then struck her repeatedly while holding back.
• Xin Mu told Riolu not to meet Lucario’s strength head-on and to use his force against him.
• Riolu used Lucario’s Aura Bone to propel herself backward, braced against the second-floor railing, and dove toward him with Aerial Ace ready.

Meownei realized Riolu had learned an overly direct fighting style from her and Squirtle, so she arranged for Riolu to study how an experienced Lucario fought a stronger opponent. The chapter ended with Meownei closing in to attack Lucario after they exchanged powerful aura techniques.

• Lucario knocked Riolu down with its aura staff and explained that her direct fighting style did not suit her when facing a stronger opponent.
• Squirtle recognized that he and Meownei had taught Riolu according to their own habits, encouraging her to overwhelm opponents head-on.
• Meownei recalled Riolu, but Riolu broke out of her Poké Ball and returned to watch Lucario's fight.
• Meownei challenged Lucario with an Aura Sphere, and Lucario used its aura to redirect the attack into the Gym's roof.
• Meownei closed in on Lucario and brought down a Brick Break.

Meownei defeated Lucario in a hard-fought instructional battle, then Xin Mu brought the injured Riolu to the Gym’s Medical Center. Lucario offered to teach Riolu, who asked to learn his spinning hand-and-flight move.

• Lucario blocked Meownei’s Brick Break and accepted her challenge, explaining that going all out showed respect for an opponent.
• Meownei used Flower Trick and Shadow Claw to counter Lucario’s speed and attacks, then changed to Fairy type to evade Dragon Pulse.
• Lucario’s Meteor Mash failed to turn the battle around, and Meowscarada won.
• Machoke carried Lucario to the Medical Center, where a practitioner and a Shiny Shuckle prepared medicinal salve for the injured Pokémon.
• Riolu refused the salve while Squirtle tried some, and Lucario asked Riolu what she wanted to learn.
• Riolu asked to learn the move where Lucario twirled his hands and flew.

Riolu insisted on learning Hand-Waving Takeoff, so Lucario began teaching him Aura Condensation. Xin Mu received a recipe for a Fighting-type health soup from the former Gym Leader before Zhang Mo led him to a secret base inside the mountain.

• Riolu rejected Lucario’s offer to teach Bone Rush and asked to learn Hand-Waving Takeoff instead.
• Lucario explained that Riolu first needed to master Aura Condensation and transferred the necessary knowledge to him.
• The former Gym Leader gave Xin Mu a recipe for Extreme Realm Gym Secret Health Soup and explained the rumors about its effects.
• Zhang Mo arrived after arranging repairs, and Xin Mu followed him down to a secret base inside the mountain.

After defeating Zhang Mo’s gym, Xin Mu chose a commemorative figurine as his reward and stayed at the gym so Lucario could train Riolu. He studied traditional medicine while Squirtle took part in a strange meditation contest with Infernape.

• Zhang Mo showed Xin Mu his figurine collection and offered him a commemorative keepsake made from footage of their Gym battle.
• Xin Mu chose the picnic-scene figurine and suggested that Zhang Mo make the mountain path easier for visitors.
• Xin Mu stayed at the gym for several days so Lucario could train Riolu, while Meownei watched to learn how to help teach Riolu later.
• Xin Mu spent his time studying traditional medicinal formulas and planned to use them to make new Pokéblocks.
• Squirtle competed with Zhang Mo’s Infernape in a meditation contest to see which could achieve greater stillness.

After returning home from their trip, Xin Mu and his Pokémon resumed their routines, but Squirtle discovered wild Pokémon gathering in the backyard Hot Spring. He called Meownei for help as more than a dozen hidden Pokémon were revealed.

• On the cable car, Meownei teased Squirtle for losing the stillness contest to Infernape, and Squirtle resolved to improve his standing by helping catch Pokémon.
• After returning home, Xin Mu started cleaning while Riolu trained under Meownei's guidance and Squirtle soaked in the backyard Hot Spring.
• Squirtle spotted an Eevee drinking at the Hot Spring, and two more Eevee came rushing out of the grass.
• Squirtle sensed more than a dozen Pokémon hiding nearby and called Meownei to come investigate.
• Meownei opened a window and looked into the backyard, objecting to Squirtle calling her big sis as she searched for the wild Pokémon.

Xin Mu and Meownei found three wary Eevee sheltering in the backyard, including one with an injured leg. Xin Mu treated the injury with a Potion, and the Eevee discovered that the pain had eased.

• Meownei confronted the three Eevee in the backyard and told them they had entered her territory.
• Xin Mu decided to let the Eevee stay and went to fetch a Potion for the injured one.
• The Eevee remained suspicious of Xin Mu, so Squirtle frightened them into allowing him to approach.
• Xin Mu sprayed the injured Eevee's leg with Potion, and its pain eased within minutes.

Xin Mu learned that Oddish had made his backyard fertile and helped sustain the Eevee family living there. He let the Eevee stay and asked them to help gather fruit, while considering the value of the Bulbs growing among the grass.

• After Eevee's leg improved with Potion, Squirtle sensed Pokémon hiding in the grass, but the Eevee did not understand what he meant.
• Meownei investigated the grass and pulled an Oddish from the soil, making it shriek before she buried it again.
• Xin Mu realized the Hot Spring's fertile soil had attracted Oddish, whose seeds and berries had fed the Eevee family.
• Xin Mu offered to treat Eevee's leg again the next day and asked the Eevee to help collect fruit, and the three Eevee agreed before returning to their den.
• Xin Mu decided to let the Oddish remain and noted that their Bulbs could be valuable.

Xin Mu experimented with medicinal Pokéblocks and considered expanding his backyard by acquiring school land. Meanwhile, the injured Eevee recovered, its parents evolved into Umbreon, and one gathered fruit overnight, leaving a pile outside Xin Mu’s door by morning.

• Xin Mu made two medicinal Pokéblocks and considered buying adjoining school land to expand the area affected by his Hot Spring.
• The injured little Eevee moved freely again, and its parents evolved into Umbreon under the moonlight.
• Oddish wandered through the backyard and onto the school grounds while a male Umbreon gathered special fruit.
• Riolu woke early and took Squirtle outside for exercise, where Squirtle found a pile of fruit by the front door.

Squirtle and Riolu exercised while Xin Mu sorted the berries the Eevee family had left as rent. A delivery brought Xin Mu his custom figurine and Meownei’s driver’s license, and he considered buying a car someday.

• Squirtle and Riolu completed their morning exercises while Eevee watched them and then returned to the burrow.
• Xin Mu sorted the berries and planted the few bulbs in flowerpots to grow seedlings.
• A Dragonite delivered Xin Mu’s custom figurine from Gym Leader Zhang Mo of the Extreme Realm Gym, and Xin Mu checked it and signed for it.
• Xin Mu opened a package from the driving school and found Meownei’s license, which made him legally responsible for her driving.
• Meownei asked whether Xin Mu planned to buy a car, and he said they would consider it when they found one that suited them.

Xin Mu met the other students in Professor Lü Ming’s research group before their field trip and learned how Wei Heng injured himself helping junior girls with their luggage. Lü Ming arrived looking as though he had been electrocuted, recovered with a drink, and warned everyone not to touch Liyang’s wool barehanded.

• Xin Mu met fellow student Tang Zi, senior Wei Heng, and graduate student Cui Shiya at Lü Ming’s office before the field trip.
• Cui Shiya revealed that Wei Heng had carried luggage for twenty-seven junior girls and injured his feet and ankle, then warned Xin Mu not to imitate him.
• Xin Mu admitted he had spent the freshmen welcome day playing games at an internet café instead of carrying luggage.
• Lü Ming returned from Liyang’s place with blackened skin and singed hair, and Cui Shiya made him a drink that helped him recover.
• Lü Ming warned the students that touching Liyang’s wool with bare hands could cause paralysis.

Xin Mu and his companions prepared for a month-long expedition to the western Gobi under Professor Lü Ming, then boarded an old green train after high-speed tickets sold out. The group settled in for the overnight journey, though Lü Ming soon called Wei Heng down from the upper bunk because his tossing and turning kept him awake.

• Lü Ming recovered from a shock caused by his sheep Pokémon and told Xin Mu, Tang Zi, and Wei Heng to prepare for a month-long Gobi expedition.
• Lü Ming gave Xin Mu and Tang Zi prototype spacious backpacks and set their departure for three days later so Wei Heng could recover.
• Wei Heng explained that Lü Ming disliked flying and usually traveled by train, and the group discussed the long journey and their professor's habits.
• Xin Mu said goodbye to the Eevee family, watered Oddish, locked his home, and joined the others for the expedition.
• The group took deluxe soft-sleeper compartments on an old green train because high-speed tickets had sold out, with Xin Mu sharing a room with Meowscarada.
• Wei Heng climbed onto the upper bunk, but Lü Ming called him back down half an hour later because his heavy turning kept Lü Ming awake.

Xin Mu and the others traveled by green train to collect equipment for a study trip into the Gobi Desert. After picking up supplies and dividing into two vehicles, they set off, but Officer Jenny stopped Xin Mu’s vehicle for a drunk-driving check.

• Squirtle watched the Wild Area pass outside the train before settling into its shell to sleep, while Xin Mu, Riolu, and Meownei rested in their compartment.
• The group woke to the meal attendant selling boxed meals, and Lü Ming invited them to breakfast in the dining car.
• Lü Ming explained that the group would meet the Western Campus at their station and collect modified off-road vehicles and supplies for their Gobi Desert excursion.
• Cui Shiya asked who could drive, and Xin Mu said Meownei had recently earned a driver's license.
• The group split between the two vehicles, with Xin Mu, Meownei, and Lü Ming in one and the others traveling in the other.
• After driving about a kilometer, Xin Mu’s vehicle encountered Officer Jenny conducting a drunk-driving check, and Meownei answered her greeting.

Lü Ming took Xin Mu and the others to an archaeological site, where he explained how ancient people in Donghuang had used Golurk and Rotom in warfare. The Rotom Gundams’ disappearance remained uncertain, and Lü Ming suggested Celebi might know the truth.

• Officer Jenny inspected Meowscarada’s car and let Xin Mu and the others pass after the breathalyzer test.
• Lü Ming brought Xin Mu and the others to the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, where they saw Golurk among the Terracotta Army.
• Lü Ming explained that ancient craftspeople had created Golurk and that the Pokémon later became capable of reproducing with Ditto’s help.
• Lü Ming showed Xin Mu records claiming that the First Emperor had Rotom inhabit twelve bronze giants built for war.
• Lü Ming said the Rotom likely escaped after the emperor died and suggested Celebi might reveal what happened to them.

Lü Ming’s group traveled into the Gobi to study its Pokémon ecology, where they discovered unexplained tire tracks and encountered an Absol. The Absol warned them of an approaching disaster, and Lü Ming ordered everyone back into the vehicles.

• Lü Ming suggested Xin Mu challenge the nearby Water-type Gym, but the Gym Leader was away, so the group began their journey into the Gobi.
• As they drove over rough terrain, Lü Ming explained the work and safety precautions of Pokémon Ecology Investigators.
• Lü Ming spotted fresh tire tracks that had not been recorded by the League and began gathering evidence.
• Meownei sensed a powerful presence on a rocky mountain, where the group saw an Absol.
• Meownei interpreted Absol’s warning, and Lü Ming recognized its ability to sense disasters and told everyone to return to the vehicles.

After a severe, unexplained sandstorm buried their vehicles, Xin Mu and the others found an injured Corvisquire in the desert. The bird passed out after seeking their help, and Xin Mu decided to investigate.

• Lü Ming correctly predicted a sandstorm, and Wei Heng drove the group behind a slope before activating the vehicle’s defensive mode.
• The sandstorm lasted through the night, while Wei Heng’s snores drove Squirtle, Riolu, and Meownei to seek quiet or complain.
• After the storm ended, Lü Ming and the support team noted that no warning had been issued for a sandstorm of that scale.
• Meownei spotted an injured Corvisquire struggling out of the sand and confirmed with aura that it was alone and genuinely seeking help.
• Xin Mu recognized Corvisquire and, interested in its potential as a Flying-type partner, went to examine it after it passed out.

Xin Mu and Lü Ming’s team rescued an injured Corvisquire from Paldea, which had been transported to Donghuang through a yellow ring, and discovered Celebi in their photographs. As they continued their expedition, they found a grotto exposed by the sandstorm, where Rotom spotted ancient wall paintings.

• Xin Mu and his Pokémon treated Corvisquire’s broken wing, and Corvisquire agreed to enter his Poké Ball for care.
• Corvisquire explained that Tinkaton had knocked it from the sky in Paldea and that it had fallen through a yellow ring before the sandstorm carried it away.
• Tang Zi found an image of Celebi in the expedition photographs, and Lü Ming celebrated the discovery while the team continued its route.
• Xin Mu’s team saw Cacnea digging through the sand at the site of a buried oasis.
• Lü Ming sent Rotom into a newly exposed grotto, where Rotom found damaged paintings covering the rock walls.

Lü Ming and his team explored ancient murals recording humans and Pokémon during the Age of Warcraft, including a damaged story about a human becoming a Typhlosion. Rotom then discovered a hidden chamber lined with sleeping Unown.

• Lü Ming identified a Typhlosion in the murals and ordered Rotom to inspect the cave, where it found signs that tomb robbers had visited.
• Lü Ming, Wei Heng, and Xin Mu entered the cave while Xiao Zi and Shiya stayed outside to keep watch.
• The explorers examined murals showing ancient humans living with and worshipping Pokémon, including Lugia, Ho-Oh, Pikachu, Chansey, and Salamence.
• Lü Ming and Wei Heng translated an inscription about humans walking alongside Pokémon and found a fragment mentioning a human who became a Typhlosion.
• Rotom returned from farther inside and reported a hidden chamber where many Unown were sleeping on the walls.

After Lü Ming’s group withdrew from the cave upon discovering multiple Unown, they camped outside and waited for League reinforcements. The disturbed Unown fled the cave, and a golden beam heralded Regirock’s emergence, leaving Xin Mu’s group to watch and decide how to respond.

• Lü Ming led Xin Mu and the others out of the cave after Crobat detected a special chamber and they learned that multiple Unown were inside.
• The group set up camp nearby, and Squirtle gave his unwanted instant noodles to Corvisquire.
• Xin Mu took the first night watch while the others settled in for the night.
• The Unown woke and flew out of the cave after cold air entered through its entrance.
• Xin Mu warned the group, then an explosion and golden beam shook the Gobi before Regirock rose from the ground.
• Meownei suggested catching Regirock, but Xin Mu asked everyone to wait and see what it would do.

Xin Mu and his group witnessed Regirock awaken and learned from Absol that it had once guarded an ancient kingdom. The Hunter Organization attacked Regirock and then ambushed the students’ vehicles, leaving Xin Mu and Tang Zi to escape and fight back.

• Regirock awakened in the Gobi Desert, and Absol arrived to speak with it while Xin Mu’s group recorded them.
• Absol explained that Regirock had been an ancient kingdom’s guardian and that its chamber was for recovery; it had warned humans away from the area.
• The Hunter Organization arrived in armored vehicles and fired on Regirock, knocking it to one knee.
• Lü Ming recognized the hunters, ordered his students to retreat, and said the League had been contacted.
• Another hunter vehicle turned the students’ tires to stone with a ray, forcing Xin Mu’s vehicle into the sand; Xin Mu and Tang Zi sent their Pokémon to dig them out.
• Two hunters approached the overturned vehicle, but the ground suddenly gave way beneath them.