“Bang!”
Iron Hands moved slightly, and the ice encasing him shattered, falling to the ground.
He said disdainfully, “Alright, so you dare to lay hands on me now.”
The Ice Beam did not cause him much damage.
On the other hand, Iron Bundle, who had crawled out of the pit, was struggling a bit, indicating that the Thunder Punch from Iron Hands had caused him significant damage.
Iron Bundle said nothing, launching another Ice Beam from his bundle.
He needed to use the freezing effect to restrain Iron Hands, allowing Chen Kai a chance to summon Iron Leaves from Area Zero.
Iron Hands was no fool; he naturally knew that Chen Kai was the key, which was why he had tried to take out Chen Kai with that Thunder Punch earlier.
The outside world was too wonderful.
Life in Area Zero was the same day after day.
Iron Leaves was always sleeping, Iron Bundle was always silent, and the other Pokémon were always forced to sleep by Iron Leaves.
He couldn't leave the Astronomical Observatory.
The torrent of time in Area Zero seemed to have lost its surging power, leaving only endless monotony and dead silence.
In the morning, sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, casting dappled shadows; in the evening, the setting sun dyed the sky a brilliant orange-red, its afterglow reflecting on the murmuring stream.
However, hundreds of years had long since worn away this novelty.
The floor of the Astronomical Observatory, from his daily and yearly walking, had long become more than familiar.
He knew the texture of every stone like the back of his hand.
The trees around the Astronomical Observatory seemed to have not changed at all for hundreds of years.
They stood silently, witnessing Iron Hands' every day, yet unable to offer him a shred of fresh solace.
The occasional bird songs that broke the endless silence were so faint and fleeting, quickly swallowed by the silence of the mountains.
He didn't want to go back to that boring mountain, didn't want to face those cold Astronomical Observatory and silent mountains.
In the outside world, even the sky was so blue and vast.
The online world was so exciting, as if it would always fascinate him.
And just as he was starting to enjoy himself, he was being called back.
He really couldn't stand it!
When Iron Bundle called him just now, he had a wicked thought: if he just got rid of Chen Kai, Iron Leaves wouldn't be able to leave Area Zero, and he would be free forever!
Of course, Chen Kai was still alright; he still needed Chen Kai to take him around Blue Star more.
He wasn't planning on killing Chen Kai directly; he just needed to make sure Chen Kai couldn't go to Area Zero anymore.
So he controlled his strength just now, intending for the punch's force to simply knock Chen Kai out.
Who knew Chen Kai would be so uncooperative and insist on resisting?
“Then don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Iron Hands spread his fists into open palms, gathering an imposing aura, precisely the move: ‘Push’.
This was the weakest move he specialized in.
He swatted away Iron Bundle's Ice Beam with one palm, then aimed the other palm at Chen Kai.
He guaranteed he would only knock Chen Kai out, at most causing some superficial injuries; it wouldn't be fatal.
But Iron Bundle and Chen Kai didn't think so.
They thought Iron Hands was trying to kill Chen Kai.
Iron Bundle, in a panic, used ‘Agility’ and used his body to take the full force of the Push for Chen Kai:
“Gah!”
Although Iron Hands controlled his strength, Fighting-type moves hurt Ice-type Iron Bundle a lot, but Iron Bundle still held on, not forgetting to remind Chen Kai.
“Chen Kai, hurry and run to find Tieban Ye Daren! I’ll hold him off!”
Chen Kai glanced at Iron Bundle in front of him and resolutely ran towards the foot of the mountain.
Iron Hands, seeing that Chen Kai wasn't planning to summon Tieban Ye Daren, relaxed.
He patted Iron Bundle:
“Little bro, I heard you’ve been quite arrogant lately?!
I was born earlier than you! Don’t you know how to respect your elders?”
Iron Bundle spat at him: “Pfft! You’re only one day older than me.”
“Zzzzzzz!!!—”
A sharp electric hum emanated from Iron Hands' bright yellow palm; before, he had even held back some power.
Now that Chen Kai wasn't around, he wouldn't show Iron Bundle any mercy; he was ready to unleash his full electric power.
“Since you’re asking for a beating, don’t blame me!”
It was a pity, however, that neither Iron Bundle nor Iron Hands knew that Iron Leaves had given Chen Kai a green orb.
This orb was something Iron Leaves had temporarily made when Iron Hands took Chen Kai to get the Tera Orb.
Afterwards, Iron Leaves communicated with Chen Kai through Psychic telepathy, so they had no idea what that green orb was for.
Iron Bundle and Iron Hands thought Chen Kai had to go to the mountaintop to summon Iron Leaves, so Chen Kai running in the opposite direction gave them a false impression.
At this moment, the green orb in his embrace was already fully charged.
Just as the palm was about to land on Iron Bundle's face, a voice that made Iron Hands tremble with fear rang out:
“Number! 7980!!!”
“Ohm—”
Chen Kai only felt a ringing in his ears, and a nearly invisible pink light covered the entire Zining Mountain.
Throughout the mountain, time seemed to pause.
The trees on the mountain, whose branches had been rustling in the breeze, now stood motionless in mid-air as if under a paralysis spell.
Every leaf maintained its most natural posture, as if time had been pressed pause here.
The Pidgey fleeing the battle in the distance were also frozen in mid-flight, their wings half-spread, not even a single soft feather trembling.
The wind also stopped at this moment.
Iron Hands' palm was also stopped, and Iron Bundle, who was beneath him, found that he could move and quickly ran to Iron Leaves' side.
Chen Kai also tried, and found that he could move, and couldn't help but exclaim:
“Holy cow, is this time stop? That’s so powerful?”
Miraidon explained, “This is Psychic Terrain, which normally can only restrict priority moves.
Iron Leaves is indeed strong; this skill in his hands is almost like time stop.”
At this moment, Iron Leaves' forehead glowed faintly pink, moving towards Iron Bundle.
When Iron Bundle was illuminated by this pink light, he only felt a slight drowsiness, and his body began to recover.
“Then what is this?” Chen Kai asked Miraidon.
Miraidon continued to explain, “This is the ‘Rest’ skill.
Iron Leaves has controlled the sleep effect of this skill but enhanced its recovery ability, making it usable on others!”
Chen Kai spread his hands: “No, is this reasonable?”
Miraidon, however, was unfazed:
“I think it’s quite normal.
In our world, if you want to get rid of your Number and get your own exclusive name, you have to do this—play with skills in creative ways.”
“Chen Kai, you should recall Iron Bundle into his Poké Ball first.
He should continue to be your bodyguard afterwards.”
Iron Leaves said to Chen Kai at this moment.
“I’m truly sorry, ‘Number 7980’ has always been unreliable, and this time he’s caused such a huge disaster.
I’ll temporarily recall him first, is that okay with you?”
“Yes, yes, of course, it’s okay.” Chen Kai naturally didn’t dare to say anything.
For some reason, Chen Kai felt like the monsters with backgrounds in Journey to the West, being taken back by their masters, leaving Sun Wukong helpless.
“I will also repair the damage he caused.”
Saying that, Tieban Ye Daren lightly stomped his foot.
A large amount of grass grew wildly, carrying soil and rocks, restoring the area as much as possible.
Miraidon said again, “This is Grassy Terrain.”
Chen Kai interrupted Miraidon, “Alright, alright, this can’t even be considered a skill anymore, you don’t need to explain.”
Naturally, there was no need to say anything further.
Iron Leaves' forehead glowed, and Psychic energy, truly like Psychic power, restored Chen Kai's home and its surroundings to brand new condition.
Iron Leaves then produced a Poké Ball from somewhere, recalled Iron Hands, and with Chen Kai's help, returned to Area Zero.