Zhang Heng and Ou Yishu sat together in the back seat of the car, both silent.
Their youthful age was often accompanied by a silence that lacked expression, and many people in this silence stifled the budding love of their youth.
It was Uncle Luo, the driver, who broke the silence, jokingly asking, "Xiao Heng, what are you and your little girlfriend Ou doing at the Pokémon Lab this time?"
The driver, Luo Hong, had been with Zhang Heng's father for many years and was an elder who had watched Zhang Heng grow up.
Unfortunately, in an accident, his family perished in a Pokémon riot, causing him to lose the will to pursue a career and fall into a long period of depression, even contemplating suicide.
It was Zhang Heng's father who persuaded him not to, keeping him by his side and having him help with driving, at least providing him with a stable income.
Zhang Heng said, "Uncle Luo, you shouldn't say such things! My mom will hit me again."
Ou Yishu said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's, "Uncle Luo, it's... it's not what you think; we're going for serious business."
Luo Hong was just about to tease them when a loud 'boom' echoed, as if the entire ground trembled!
Just then, a mysterious creature suddenly slammed into the side of the car, causing the vehicle Zhang Heng and his companions were in to instantly lose control and drift wildly.
Luo Hong reacted quickly, immediately stabilizing the car and anxiously turning back to ask, "Are you all alright?!"
Zhang Heng tightly gripped the Poké Ball in his left hand, while nervously glancing at Ou Yishu, whom he was protecting with his right hand.
"We're fine, Uncle Luo," Zhang Heng replied softly.
Luo Hong slightly relaxed, but his eyes remained vigilant.
He warned, "You two stay in the car; don't come out.
Outside is an injured Swampert, but don't worry, this car has been specially reinforced, so as long as you stay inside, you'll be safe.
Leave it to me."
Before he finished speaking, Luo Hong swiftly opened the car door and unhesitatingly threw a Heavy Ball.
In an instant, a dazzling white light suddenly appeared.
As the light gradually dissipated, a massive and imposing Bastiodon appeared before everyone's eyes.
Its appearance resembled a Triceratops from the Cretaceous period, with an enormous head like an indestructible city wall, immediately showing that it was a beast with extremely high defense.
Thud ~
With a loud thud, the Bastiodon's massive body landed heavily on the ground, and at the same time, a cloud of dust billowed up.
It raised its head to the sky and let out a soul-stirring roar, as if announcing its unparalleled strength to the world.
The Swampert standing opposite it stared intently at the Bastiodon with its one remaining eye, which was filled with apprehension.
Yes, it was only one eye, possibly due to severe injuries from an intense battle, as this Swampert's body was covered in hideous wounds, clearly indicating it was in a battle state; especially its right eye, which was severely injured and could not be opened.
Zhang Heng narrowed his eyes, concentrating to check the Swampert's attribute panel, beginning to examine the heavily scarred Swampert before him.
Pokémon: Swampert (Injured)
Attribute: Ground, Water
Level: 37 Lord level strength
Potential: Gym level
Terastallization Type: Water
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Torrent
Held Item: Sitrus Berry (C-rank item)
Special Ability Bonus: None
Learned Skills: Mud Shot, Water Gun, Hydro Pump, Earthquake, Arm Thrust, Screech, Rock Smash, Muddy Water
Inherited Skills: Ancient Power, Curse
This massive Swampert, having lived in the wild for many years, possessed extremely high combat proficiency.
It seemed to know that the Bastiodon before it was weak to its preferred Ground-type moves, so it did not retreat, but instead stared intently at the Pokémon before it.
The Swampert's thick, powerful blue forelimbs gripped the ground tightly, and with a low growl, earth-yellow Ground-type energy surged continuously into its palms like a tide.
In the blink of an eye, the Swampert had accumulated its power, ready to deliver a fatal blow to its enemy!
Just as the atmosphere became suffocatingly tense, a piercing bird cry suddenly cut through the air—a 'whoosh', followed by a fierce gust of wind.
It turned out that eight agile Mandibuzz descended from the sky, hovering like ghosts above the battlefield of the Swampert and Bastiodon, adding more variables to the battle.
Uncle Luo frowned slightly as he looked at the many wild Pokémon, wondering what the Alliance was doing, allowing so many Pokémon to affect passing civilians.
Facing the sudden uninvited guests, the Swampert showed no fear; instead, it was spurred to even greater fighting spirit.
Its eyes wide with fury, it let out a deafening roar, and its entire body surged with Rock energy.
In an instant, several earth-yellow Energy Balls appeared out of thin air and flew at an astonishing speed towards the Mandibuzz in the sky.
This was the Rock-type move, Ancient Power, which has a chance to boost all of its stats after use!
However, just as it was about to hit its target, a much more powerful Rock energy suddenly erupted in mid-air.
This mysterious power, like an insurmountable mountain, easily blocked the Swampert's attack.
With a loud 'boom', the black smoke generated by the collision of the two energies instantly spread, covering the sky.
Although the Swampert fought with all its might, the opponent's strength was clearly superior.
Ultimately, that powerful Rock-type move not only broke through the Swampert's defense, but even the aftershock of the move slammed heavily into its massive body, forcefully creating a deep pit in the ground.
The Swampert let out a low growl of anger, unwillingly collapsing into the pit.
The Pokémon that attacked the Swampert flew out of the black mist.
It was the bird Pokémon, Bombirdier.
It had a white body and large wings that gave it a unique appearance.
Its pure white body, however, was paired with long, narrow villainous eyelids, giving it a sinister look.
The Bombirdier let out a strange cry, seemingly mocking the severely injured Swampert trapped in the pit.
Zhang Heng's eyes narrowed slightly as he used the system function to scan the Bombirdier.
Pokémon Name: Bombirdier
Attribute: Flying, Dark
Level: 45 Gym level strength
Terastallization Type: Flying
Nature: Arrogant
Ability: Rocky Payload (Hidden Ability, increases Rock-type moves by 50% power)
Learned Skills: Rock Slide (others are not important, not going to elaborate)
Zhang Heng suddenly realized why the Bombirdier's Rock Slide had such astonishing destructive power.
It turned out that all of this was due to the advantage brought by its ability, coupled with its already high attack base stat and move power.
Zhang Heng was filled with doubt; he truly couldn't understand what deep-seated hatred existed between these two sides that they would fight to the death.
Looking at the fierce battle scene before him, he couldn't help but recall the car being hit by the Swampert earlier, which must have been due to its frantic escape.
Zhang Heng used the Water-type affinity granted by the system to sense the Swampert, to see if he could gain any clues.
As he concentrated and extended his senses, a powerful stream of information instantly flooded his mind.
In this information, Zhang Heng saw scenes of conflict between the Swamp Monster Clan and the Mandibuzz clan, led by Bombirdier, over food resources.
It turned out that this Swampert was the strongest in its clan, but today it had unfortunately become separated and was seized by the opponent.
Zhang Heng felt that since he had come to this world and didn't know when he would return, he might as well do a good deed.
"Uncle Luo, can you help it?!"
At this moment, Luo Hong seemed to recall the Pokémon riot years ago that had devastated his family.
If someone had stepped forward and helped the weak as he was doing now, then many tragedies in this world would surely be prevented.
Uncle Luo did not respond to Zhang Heng, but merely showed his stance through action.
"Bastiodon! Let them see what a true Rock-type move is!" Luo Hong said softly.
A powerful Rock energy suddenly erupted around Bastiodon's body.
These energies converged like a surging torrent, rapidly transforming into a sky-obscuring Rock storm that swept towards the Bombirdier and Mandibuzz in the sky!
A loud 'boom' echoed!
When the dust settled, the Bombirdier and Mandibuzz that had been soaring in the sky had vanished without a trace.
The Swampert's sudden cough brought Zhang Heng back from the shock of seeing his first battle.
He then turned and ran to the car's trunk to retrieve a healing potion, then jogged to the deep pit, jumped in, and began emergency treatment for the severely injured Swampert.