When Zhang Heng and numerous Pokémon stepped into the first floor of the mysterious Water Tower, the interior space was vast to an inexplicable degree.
This ancient tower seemed to possess its own unique world, forming a vast space within itself.
From the outside, the Water Tower occupied an area only about half the size of a standard basketball court, leading one to assume its internal space would be relatively small.
However, upon truly stepping inside, everything became completely different.
What appeared before Zhang Heng's eyes was conservatively estimated to be at least the size of an entire standard basketball court!
Such a huge contrast between the inside and outside structure was too peculiar; Zhang Heng had never seen such a strange architectural design before.
Although the space inside the tower was incredibly vast, overall, there weren't many striking highlights.
The interior decoration utilized ancient stones and wood blocks that had endured the passage of time, interweaving and stacking to form a rustic and slightly aged style.
The surfaces of these stones might still bear some mottled traces, witnessing the long time that had passed; the wood blocks emitted a faint woody scent, easing the restless hearts of the challengers.
Before he could observe his surroundings carefully again, a figure appeared out of thin air in the very center of the first floor.
Its body was yellow, and its eyes had extremely small pupils.
Its mouth was flat, and it had three black cowlicks on its head.
Its limbs were short and stout, resembling a Kappa.
It had a short tail and webbed feet.
"How can there be a Psyduck here?!" Zhang Heng was a bit surprised.
There was no water or food in the Water Tower, so there shouldn't be any living creatures.
That Psyduck tilted its head, holding its head, and looked at the crowd in front of it, letting out a confused "Ga ga" sound, as if it was the one with the most questions.
While Zhang Heng was still contemplating, Mudkip didn't bother with such thoughts.
It directly trotted to Golduck, waving its pink little paw to greet it.
"Ga ga???" Psyduck became even more confused.
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Why are you greeting me?
Mudkip didn't mind, seeing Golduck constantly holding its head, thinking its brain was stuck, it extended its small paw and patted Golduck's round yellow head twice.
Perhaps it was Mudkip's gentle pat that made Psyduck resume operation, as if an XP system that hadn't run for 10 years suddenly booted successfully.
Golduck's eye sockets glowed with an eerie blue light.
A rich and pure Water-type energy began to rush down from the top of the tower, washing over the challengers undergoing the trial.
"As expected."
After feeling the rich Water-type energy wash over him, Zhang Heng also understood.
Psyduck should be a manifestation of the Water-type energy in the Water Tower, not a real creature; it was the first-floor trial of the tower itself.
Mudkip, being closest to Psyduck, also received the most direct pure Water-type energy wash.
Zhang Heng constantly monitored Mudkip's situation, observing its attribute panel, fearing any danger.
Pokémon Name: Shinny Mudkip (Healthy)
Type: Water
Level: 12
Potential: Champion - Quasi-Master (Unstable)
New Skill: Protect
Mudkip directly doubled its level from level 6 at birth to level 12, and also learned the Protect skill inherent in Mudkip's skill pool.
Regarding the Protect skill, in the game, Protect can block all attacks, but in the real world, Protect can only block skill attacks of its own level or below its own level.
If attacked by a Pokémon of a higher level than itself, it can only partially block.
My level 12 Mudkip using Protect surely can't block Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent or Arceus's Judgment, right?
After observing Mudkip, Zhang Heng also looked back at Walking Wake's attribute panel.
It had risen from level 45 to level 46, indicating that this pure Water-type energy greatly benefited Water-type Pokémon.
"But we didn't defeat Psyduck.
Why did we directly receive the clear reward?
Did Mudkip patting it twice count as clearing the stage?"
Mudkip, feeling the changes in itself and the increase in its level, happily ran around Psyduck twice.
Then, that Mudkip moved its short and strong limbs, trotting swiftly towards Zhang Heng's direction.
At the same time, Psyduck tightly held its round head, following closely behind Mudkip step by step.
Their two small and cute webbed feet constantly slapped the ground with the rhythm of their running, making crisp and pleasant "pa ji pa ji" sounds, as if playing a cheerful piece of music.
Just then, Kubfu, who had been standing quietly in the back, as if forgotten and silent, suddenly emitted a powerful Fighting-type energy from its entire body.
This energy instantly swept through the entire space.
Immediately after, Kubfu leaped high from the ground, its small hands, clenched into fists, began to rapidly charge.
In an instant, an unparalleled power gathered onto its fists.
Accompanied by two deafening explosions, Kubfu unhesitatingly threw two punches into the air.
The power contained in these two punches was extremely astonishing, forming two incredibly sharp air currents in the air, heading towards Psyduck's path, and then exploding with a loud bang on the ground it was about to reach.
With a loud "boom," the originally flat and solid ground in front of Psyduck instantly shattered.
Countless stones and sand of various sizes were thrown into the air by the powerful impact, and then scattered down.
Facing such a sudden change, Psyduck had no choice but to stop its hurried steps.
It still tightly held its round little head, tilting it somewhat bewilderedly, and looked at Kubfu not far away with a pair of confused big eyes, seemingly completely unaware of what had happened.
Zhang Heng immediately spoke to stop it, saying, "Hey, Kubfu, we've already passed this stage.
We just need to go to the second floor."
Kubfu completely ignored Zhang Heng's words, pushed off the ground, and leaped in front of Golduck.
Kubfu tapped its toes on the ground, bounced lightly, clenched its hands into fists, and placed them in front of its chest, a standard Bruce Lee starting pose.
Zhang Heng sighed helplessly, thinking, "Why is this Kubfu so stubborn that it didn't evolve into Single Strike Style?"
A flash of insight struck Zhang Heng, and he suddenly realized something was amiss.
He mused, "No... it must be that he's seen too much of Single Strike Style Urshifu's fighting style and doesn't know which direction he should evolve or move towards.
His entire fighting style is a shadow of Single Strike Style Urshifu; he hasn't found his own path yet."