Friday, night quietly descended. Qu County, which had been shrouded in continuous rain for a whole week, unexpectedly welcomed a clear sky tonight.
Above the ink-black sky, a few dim stars were sparsely embedded, as if squeezed by the heavy night, losing their former brilliance.
Having entered deep autumn, the temperature had unknowingly dropped sharply, yet the air was unusually stuffy, as if an invisible barrier tightly wrapped the entire world.
This season was not a good time for fishing at all.
But a purple and a gray figure flashed in the low sky.
The purple figure was Miraidon, carrying Chen Kai as it glided down from the mountaintop.
The other gray ancient creature, with its enormous membrane wings spread, covered the sky and obscured the sun, and its sharp hooked claws gleamed with a cold light under the clear moonlight.
Its entire body was covered with granite-hard scales, and its streamlined, sharp head exuded the majesty of a predator. In its black vertical pupils, a wild light that had traversed a long time and space flickered—this was the ancient aerial overlord, the Fossil Pokémon Aerodactyl!
At this moment, this Aerodactyl was carefully gripping Yellow Hair's shoulder, flying with strenuous wing beats.
This Aerodactyl was just revived by Yellow Hair from amber, its level was not high, still in the beginner stage (level 5-19).
Fortunately, it was naturally large, so carrying Yellow Hair while flying was not an issue.
Yellow Hair couldn't help but exclaim, "Kai Ge, you're amazing! I didn't expect your Cyclizar could fly!"
"It's gliding, just gliding." Chen Kai waved his hand, then asked with a hint of doubt, "With this weather today, can we really catch any fish?"
Yellow Hair replied, "I just specifically went to inquire, many people have seen a golden Magikarp this week, but no one has caught it yet.
If we don't come tonight, what if someone else catches it later?"
"Alright, then let's try." Chen Kai looked back at the backpack behind him, filled with newly purchased fishing gear.
Since he had already bought them, and it was a golden Magikarp, which evolves into a majestic red Gyarados, Chen Kai had loved it since he played 'Gold and Silver' as a child. If he didn't come to try his luck, he would be truly unwilling.
The two arrived at the riverside, found an open space, Chen Kai hung the bait on a Poké Ball-shaped fish hook, cast the line forcefully into the water, and then waited quietly.
Initially, Chen Kai had wanted to buy a normal, proper fish hook, but all the fish hooks in the fishing tackle shop looked like this.
Time passed minute by minute, but the float remained motionless, as if the fish underwater were so stifled by the dull, oppressive weather that they had lost their appetite.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, except for Larvitar and Exeggcute playing and laughing nearby, almost no other sounds could be heard.
"Yellow Hair, are you sure we can catch anything?" Chen Kai had waited for over half an hour and was almost falling asleep.
"Probably?" Yellow Hair's tone also contained uncertainty. "Fishing, well, I see it on TV like this, you need patience."
"On TV? You've never fished before?" Chen Kai asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, have you?" Yellow Hair retorted.
Chen Kai was speechless for a moment; he had only fished in games, where he would just press a button when an exclamation mark appeared and a fish would be caught.
"By the way, Kai Ge, do you still have a lot of berries at home?" Yellow Hair suddenly changed the subject.
Chen Kai looked at Yellow Hair and Larvitar in confusion: "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
Larvitar panicked under his gaze and quickly shook its head, indicating it hadn't said anything.
"Sigh, it's all because of raising Pokémon. You know Larvitar, eating ordinary dirt, even if it eats all day, it won't fill its stomach. Plus Dwebble and Geodude, I don't have much pocket money left, especially now with Aerodactyl." As he spoke, Yellow Hair gently stroked Aerodactyl. It was clear that despite their short time together, Aerodactyl already trusted Yellow Hair completely.
"My dad increased my allowance a lot recently, but let alone buying items and TMs, it's hard to even feed them now.
So I wanted to ask you about the berries. Of course, I won't say anything like 'I'll pay you back later,' I already owe you enough. I can help out, whatever you need!"
As he spoke, Yellow Hair even flexed his non-existent muscles, and Dwebble and Geodude seemed to sense Yellow Hair's seriousness, mimicking his display of strength.
"Uh…" Chen Kai looked at Dwebble and Geodude; he could tell Yellow Hair treated them well.
He had already done his part by helping a little, but for the sake of Yellow Hair's four Pokémon, Chen Kai still said,
"I'll ask my dad, his ranch seems quite busy lately. But there's no monetary compensation here, just food, and only some Moomoo Milk, and a small amount of berries. I don't have any rare ores here."
Yellow Hair was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Enough, that's enough! Oh, then I'll trouble Kai Ge."
Moomoo Milk and berries are foods rich in energy and are very filling.
Although Chen Kai only mentioned 'some,' these are quite precious items.
If he could get them by helping out at the ranch, Chen Kai was already being very kind to him, and he would definitely cherish this opportunity.
"By the way, can we even catch anything?!" Chen Kai redirected the conversation, complaining with some impatience.
After chatting for a while, he checked the time; almost an hour had passed, but he hadn't even seen a shadow of a fish.
"Uh… it should be soon, right?" Yellow Hair was actually unsure himself.
Only the stars in the sky twinkled, as if mercilessly mocking the two waiting people.
On the other side, under the moonlight, Bai Jin's home was located near a babbling stream in Qu County town.
Her parents had legitimate jobs in the capital and did not come to Qu County; only her grandparents were forcibly required to leave the capital.
And she herself was also forcibly required to leave the capital by her maternal uncle, Bai Zhuo, who was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Her grandfather had been old friends with the principal of Zining High School for many years, so her grandfather came to Qu County to retire, and she followed him to Qu County.
At this moment, she was sitting in her own courtyard, full of worry, muttering to Green, "Green, Green, do you think Chen Kai and his Ampharos completely forgot about defeating us?"
"Green, Green, what do you think we should do about our second Pokémon? Grandpa said it's enough to focus on raising you well, those small competitions aren't very interesting."
"Green, Green, do you want a Pokémon partner?"
"Green, Green, Grandpa said that even if I want a second Pokémon, he will try to arrange another Dragon-type for me, but I think if they are all Dragon-type Pokémon, it would be very disadvantageous when battling Fairy-type or Ice-type Pokémon, wouldn't it?"
This pink Dratini named Green really didn't want to talk. If she had even called it Little Green, it might have grudgingly accepted, since it turns Green after evolving into Dragonite. It simply couldn't understand why it had to be called Green.
Moreover, its trainer usually seemed quiet, but once no one was around, she would talk non-stop, and it felt like its head was about to ache from the noise.
So it quickly nodded, indicating that it wanted a partner to share the endless nagging.
As they were talking, a golden flash, like lightning, suddenly leaped out of the stream, drawing a dazzling trajectory in the night.
That golden streak crossed the wall of Bai Jin's house by the stream and landed silently in the courtyard, not startling anyone. Only Green seemed to sense a slight unusual movement, turned its head to check, but found nothing.