When Chen Kai was helped up by Grovyle, staggering, he was shocked by the sight before him; even the battle between Iron Hands and Iron Bundle a few days ago, when they were at their peak, wasn't as terrifying.
The ground before them was shattered like fragile glass.
The immense impact from Roaring Moon's Dragon Rush caused the ground to crack open with bottomless fissures, which spread wildly in all directions like monstrous pythons.
The previously lush green grass was completely destroyed, and dust, along with the earlier water vapor, enveloped the entire battlefield in darkness.
Chen Kai couldn't see what was happening in the middle of the mist, so he also couldn't see Iron Bundle's current state.
But even the Hydrapple beside him, which had taken most of the impact for Chen Kai, were severely injured.
Chen Kai returned them to their Poké Balls:
“Sorry, you’ve worked hard.”
Although Miraidon received more impact than Chen Kai, it could still move.
Chen Kai knew he couldn't be overconfident anymore; this Roaring Moon was probably max level.
He had just taken out Iron Leaves’ green orb.
Yet, he felt a different oppressive sensation from afar.
At the same time, a cold gleam tore through the dim sky, like a falling meteor, striking with overwhelming force and lightning speed.
This slash was not aimed at Chen Kai, but just seeing its sharp edge made his skin prickle, like Icicle Spear piercing his bones, and a chill instantly swept through his entire body.
The momentum of this slash seemed to strike directly at the soul, making one's consciousness feel frozen, and under the pressure of this powerful force, his heart almost stopped beating.
Miraidon recognized the move: “This is Soul Impact!”
And the target of the slash was Roaring Moon, which was staying in the mist.
It cried out loudly from the slash.
It was because it had felt this familiar yet disgusting energy fluctuation.
That's why it had been hiding in the mist just now, not daring to pursue Chen Kai further.
Now, realizing that hiding in the mist was useless, it ignored the severe pain on its body, pushed off the ground with all four legs, and leaped into the high sky.
Its crescent-shaped wings flapped rapidly, like a red lightning bolt, fleeing madly into the distance.
Chen Kai didn't have time to relax when that sharp oppressive feeling targeted him again.
A cold voice suddenly rang in his ear:
“Human…
Unregistered, eliminate!”
Chen Kai then noticed a blurry white figure had suddenly appeared beside him.
“Hold your blade!”
At this moment, Iron Hands, who was in Chen Kai's Poké Ball, quickly ran out and shouted loudly.
Chen Kai then saw clearly: a pink blade was held across his neck, just a few centimeters away from cutting his skin.
Chen Kai couldn't help but swallow, cautiously taking a step back.
“Number 7980, why should I hold my blade?” the white figure asked.
Chen Kai now clearly saw the owner of the blade; it had a slender figure, and its overall design combined mechanical and biological features.
Its head was a sharp, green streamline, like human hair.
Its body was primarily white, draped in skirt-like components with green and white gradient colors, and pink accents on the edges.
Its eyes were emotionless, looking at Chen Kai as if he were dead.
It was the Paradox Pokémon—Iron Valiant.
Iron Hands quickly explained: “Tieban Ye Daren, he is Tieban Ye Daren’s guest! The green orb in his hand was given to him by Tieban Ye Daren.”
Iron Valiant's pink eyes scanned the orb in Chen Kai's hand.
It slowly retracted the blade in its hand and said faintly:
“Indeed.”
Then it vanished before Chen Kai’s eyes.
Chen Kai then slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
That was too terrifying!
At this moment, Chen Kai suddenly remembered:
“No, quickly go find Iron Bundle!”
The mist gradually dispersed, revealing a large crater in the middle, which had been formed by Roaring Moon's hard impact!
Fortunately, Chen Kai found Iron Bundle outside the pit; he took out a Potion and asked worriedly:
“Are you alright?!”
Iron Bundle struggled to sit up, propped up by one wing:
“I’m… I’m fine.”
After such an incident, Chen Kai temporarily had no mood to continue searching for Tera Crystal Pit. He used two Potions to help Iron Bundle, then went home.
On the way, Chen Kai roughly understood the situation from Iron Hands.
Iron Leaves guarded Walking Wake, and Iron Boulder and the others each guarded a powerful ancient Pokémon to prevent them from destroying Area Zero.
But there was still a powerful Pokémon wandering in Area Zero, and that was Roaring Moon!
Crucially, this Roaring Moon could fly, and there were several of them.
If Iron Leaves spent too much time dealing with Roaring Moon, Walking Wake might escape!
So, the humans from Miraidon’s world had brought a group of Fairy-type Pokémon that countered Roaring Moon.
And leading them was the Iron Valiant from just now; it led its fellow Pokémon to strike at the Roaring Moon in Area Zero, preventing them from making Area Zero look like the moon's surface.
And unlike Iron Bundle and Iron Hands, Iron Valiant was truly given a name.
Chen Kai estimated that the Iron Valiant's strength was probably Level 100, plus it was a 6V Pokémon with maxed out stats!
Iron Hands said helplessly: “Now, it’s actually rare to encounter Roaring Moon in the plains; they are all afraid of Iron Valiant and are hiding in the mountains.
This time, we just had some bad luck.”
Hearing Iron Hands say this, Chen Kai felt much more relieved.
If he encountered them constantly, how could he challenge Tera Crystal Pit? How could he obtain Tera Shards?
However, the experiences of these past few days made Chen Kai deeply understand that his own strength was simply insufficient. If Iron Leaves hadn’t been kind to him, he would have died countless times by now.
“To forge iron, one must be strong oneself!”
Leaving Area Zero, Chen Kai first went to the Pokémon Center for treatment.
The Hydrapple were still quite severely injured, and Chen Kai and Miraidon also needed treatment.
Iron Bundle was unwilling to expose itself, and it also didn't want to bother Iron Leaves for treatment, so Chen Kai could only spend money to buy more Potions and other recovery items.
He let it and Iron Hands recuperate slowly.
At this time, at the Pokémon Center in Zi Ning Town, Bai Jin happened to come to treat her Dratini's Poké Ball.
In the afternoon, during a spar with Wang Yi, Dratini was knocked out by Wang Yi's Wooloo with a Headbutt.
Fortunately, Zining High School was not far from the Pokémon Center, so she got Teacher Xu's permission to leave campus and treat Dratini.
Although she had been diligently training Dratini recently and it had reached Normal Class, she couldn't even defeat Wang Yi's Wooloo, let alone Chen Kai, or even Huang Mao's Dwebble.
Her mood grew more and more frustrated each day.
When she saw Chen Kai, she was a bit surprised; wasn't he attacked by terrorists and recovering at home?
However, when she noticed the Grovyle beside Chen Kai, she was a bit surprised. There shouldn't be any other Grovyle in the town, so it must have evolved from Chen Kai's Treecko.
She remembered that Treecko was less than a month old, right? It evolved so quickly? Is it real or fake?
So she mustered her courage and went up to greet him: “You… Hello, Chen Kai.”
Bai Jin was still a bit afraid of Chen Kai, especially of the Ampharos beside him.
Chen Kai was currently looking up, staring blankly at the pristine white ceiling. Today was too thrilling, and he was a bit tired, letting his mind go blank.
Chen Kai was suddenly greeted, lowered his head, and asked in confusion:
“Ah, you are?”
Chen Kai didn't remember Bai Jin at all.
Bai Jin, being asked this, felt a bit indignant; Chen Kai actually didn't remember her!
“I, we are classmates!”
“Oh, oh!” Chen Kai rubbed his temples, realizing that the woman in front of him did look a bit familiar.
“Is there anything?”
Bai Jin didn't want to talk to him anymore. She turned around to find the Nurse to treat Dratini.
Just then, the Nurse walked over with the Hydrapple's Poké Ball and asked:
“Are you its Trainer?”
Chen Kai nodded: “Yes.”
The Nurse said unhappily: “You should train in moderation. It’s one thing for yourself, but how can you let your Hydrapple get such serious injuries?”
Chen Kai took the Poké Ball and apologized repeatedly: “Sorry, sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Then Chen Kai said to the Big Boss: “Tonight, when we go back, I’ll treat them to extra food, delicious food!”
Bai Jin was a bit surprised: “Were they seriously injured?”
But Chen Kai didn't hear her; he had already walked away, constantly communicating with Hydrapple.
Only the Nurse unhappily answered Bai Jin's question: “Indeed, not only did he himself get quite seriously injured, but he also let several Pokémon get seriously injured.
They would only sustain such injuries from battling professional-level wild Pokémon, at least.
People like him, they completely disregard their lives.”
Bai Jin remembered that a while ago, Huang Mao said in the classroom that Chen Kai was killed by Gym-level terrorists, so she helped explain:
“He actually encountered those terrorists from Da City a while ago, so he got such serious injuries, right?”
The Nurse, however, gave Bai Jin a strange look: “You don’t need to defend him; these are his injuries from today.”
Bai Jin was stunned. Chen Kai was battling both Gym-level and professional-level opponents, and he had only been in school for less than a month!
“No, if he’s working so hard, I can’t be discouraged!
Dratini, we also need to work even harder!”
Dratini in the Poké Ball silently shed tears: Can you please treat me first, then feed me chicken soup.