The curtain of night slowly fell. A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting down a cool Radiance.
“Ah! Miraidon, look at my phone!”
In the bedroom, after a day of traveling, Miraidon was already dozing off, but Chen Kai’s Growl woke him up.
Miraidon groggily glanced at the phone, which displayed a message: 'Secret Realm — an independent space, varying in size, from several hundred square meters to tens of thousands of square meters.'
'Some scholars propose that Secret Realms might have been formed by the division of space by the "God of Space" Palkia… Other scholars speculate that they drifted here from other shattered worlds…'
'Known Secret Realms in Dragon Country: Kyoto: Beishan Secret Realm… Sichuan Province: Chengdu Secret Realm, Meishan Secret Realm, Qu River Secret Realm…'
Miraidon started to understand: “So, you think Area Zero is also a Secret Realm.”
Chen Kai nodded: “Yes, almost every province has several Secret Realms, and Area Zero is most likely one as well.”
“And look, it says that Secret Realms contain many treasures not found in the outside world! All sorts of rare, even unseen, Pokemon! Berries and minerals rich in energy!”
“It’s like a gold mine that only the two of us can enter!”
“Tomorrow, we’ll sneak back in!”
Miraidon nodded, having no objections.
In Area Zero, the moonlight faded, and it was still dark before dawn, the darkest time of day. Only a few Hoothoot were still hooting in the distance.
Several Impidimp guarded a small cave. Their chief had ordered them to capture that damned human.
But after continuous battles with many surrounding Pokemon, they were already exhausted and all dozing off.
Chen Kai and Miraidon stealthily poked their heads out of the spatial passage, then carefully walked into the distance, without disturbing the sleeping Impidimp.
Chen Kai cursed angrily: “Damn it, these Impidimp are actually guarding us here.”
Miraidon said worriedly: “It’s too dangerous. We must be careful when entering here from now on.”
“Hmm! We need to find a way to distract the Grimmsnarl Family.” Chen Kai pondered.
“We’ve explored most of the area near Zining Mountain. Let’s head towards the county town first; the terrain there is more open, and we might discover something.”
Miraidon nodded in agreement, carrying Chen Kai down the mountain.
Although the trees were dense along the way, he was already quite familiar with this path, so his speed wasn’t slow.
But not long after, Chen Kai suddenly told Miraidon to stop: “Miraidon, stop for a moment.”
Chen Kai pulled out his phone, pointing to a cached photo and asking: “Does that yellow Berry look like the Sitrus Berry in the picture?”
Miraidon focused his gaze: “It seems to be the same.”
Chen Kai walked over, picked the largest Sitrus Berry, wiped it on his sleeve, and took a bite.
It wasn't spicy, and tasted similar to an orange.
He chewed a couple of times and swallowed it whole. Within a few seconds, Chen Kai felt a warm current overflowing from his stomach, his back no longer hurt, and his legs were no longer sore. Now, he could run up five flights of stairs in one go without effort.
The Sitrus Berry was very large, similar to a pomelo. Xiao Mei and Miraidon also came over and took a bite, both letting out sounds of surprise.
Miraidon merely marveled at the taste: “So delicious!”
“Mei!!!” (I’m so high!)
Xiao Mei, already full of electricity from wearing the Electric Orb, had electricity overflowing from her wool, crackling and shooting everywhere after eating the Sitrus Berry, and the light bulb on her tail emitted a dazzling glow.
The Secret Realm in the early morning was still very dangerous, so Chen Kai quickly used his jacket to cover Xiao Mei’s tail.
“Phew! You scared me. This place is too close to the Grimmsnarl’s territory. Xiao Mei, how long until you can control your power?”
“Mei.” (I feel dizzy.)
Miraidon communicated: “Its body is too full of energy. Let him rest and digest for a bit.”
“Okay!” Chen Kai nodded, hiding the remaining Sitrus Berry.
“Sure enough, Area Zero also has a lot of treasures! Miraidon, let’s keep an eye out on the way!”
“Once we sell them, we’ll be rich!”
They set off again, stopping and going, detouring around the Mightyena’s territory.
Along the way, Chen Kai picked a few more Sitrus Berries, his mouth already wide with joy, until he saw a grove of Berry trees.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! Miraidon, look, a grove of Leppa Berry trees!”
“I’m rich! Haha! Miraidon, you finish the sandwich in your backpack first. I’m going to gather the Leppa Berries.”
Chen Kai threw down his backpack and ran to pick them. Just as he was about to pluck a huge Leppa Berry, he felt a prick on his hand, and a trickle of blood flowed from his palm.
The Leafage on the Leppa Berry looked like a pair of eyes, glaring at him.
Chen Kai took a small step back and pointed his Pokedex at it.
Name: Applin
Type: Grass, Dragon
Level: Beginner
Ability: Gluttony
“Damn it, I remember now, there’s also this kind of Pokemon that looks like an apple, and you stung me! You’re not getting away with this!”
“Go, Xiao Mei, just in time to help digest, Thunderbolt!”
“Mei!” (Leave it to me!)
Xiao Mei took heavy steps, walking one by one towards the Applin, yellow electric light overflowing from her body, gathering together, and striking towards the Applin.
The Applin was startled and turned pale with fright! It scurried away to another tree in a panic.
Xiao Mei’s aim was already poor, and with her power overflowing, it was even harder to control. With a “bang,” the attack only hit the Leppa Berry tree, which fell to the ground.
“Emm… I’m not worried about the tree, Xiao Mei, why don’t you get closer and paralyze it with Thunder Wave first?”
“Mei!” Xiao Mei nodded, but because she was too full, her four legs paddled like oars as she rushed forward, still unable to catch up to the Applin.
While the Applin Pokemon is very weak initially, only having two moves: Astonish and Withdraw, it naturally isn't a match for Xiao Mei in a direct confrontation.
But it was his home turf, and with all his dodging and weaving, Xiao Mei really couldn't hit him with electricity for a while.
Chen Kai said, doubting his life: “Is the Applin’s movement speed really that fast?”
“Xiao Mei can try the move I taught you earliest.” Miraidon walked over and reminded.
“Mei!” (Okay!)
The light bulb on Xiao Mei’s tail began to glow, condensing a large amount of electricity. With a flick of her tail, a large yellow Electric Net covered the Applin.
The Applin was shocked by the Electric Net, making a “zzzzt!” sound, unable to move.
Chen Kai asked Miraidon in confusion: “You taught Electric Net at first?”
Miraidon replied somewhat awkwardly: “Yes, maybe because I don't know Electric Net either, I don't know how Xiao Mei learned Thunderbolt, but she also learned Electric Net, it's just lacking in power.”
“I see, that means you taught him quite well, Miraidon.”
Chen Kai chuckled, saying sinisterly like a villain: “Xiao Mei, use Thunder Shock now! Give it a lesson for stinging my hand!”
A yellow light flashed, and the Applin fell to the ground, smoking, unable to get up.
Chen Kai looked down: “Hmph, now you know, don’t sting me right away next time. We can negotiate.”
“How about this, as compensation for stinging me, I’ll take 2 of your Leppa Berries, and as compensation for hurting you, I’ll give you one Sitrus Berry, how about that.”
But at this moment, the Applin was already unable to move, how could he have the strength to reply to him.
It just felt that this human was a bit crazy; first, he wanted to capture it, then he beat it up, and now he gave it a Berry it had never eaten before.
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as agreement!”
Chen Kai handed it the largest Sitrus Berry from his backpack: “Here, it’s for you. Eating it can also restore your stamina. I’ll just pick 2 of your smallest Leppa Berries.”
Chen Kai picked 2 Leppa Berries the size of red dates, tasted a bite, and found no astringency at all. They were very easy to eat, just a little spicy.
“Xiao Mei, Miraidon, do you want to try it?”
Although they were very full, the Berries didn’t look big, so the two of them shared one Leppa Berry.
As soon as Xiao Mei ate it, white light emanated from her entire body—she began to evolve.
The one human and two Pokemon present had never seen an evolution before, and now they all stared wide-eyed at this miraculous process.
Xiao Mei, who was originally on all fours, stood up. As the light dispersed, her original dark blue skin turned pink, and her fluffy yellow wool became white cashmere. The cashmere seemed to form a scarf and hat, covering her neck and the top of her head.
Xiao Mei grew taller, almost a meter. As soon as she successfully evolved, she eagerly made a sound:
“Ooh… Ooh… Rong…” (So spicy!)
She was choked by the spiciness.