Time quietly flowed, and another fresh morning dawned.
Sunlight, like golden threads, gently spilled over the campus of Zining High School.
The students in Chen Kai's class, filled with eager anticipation for the Cheng City autumn outing, had gathered early at the school gate.
They carried bulging bags, big and small, filled with snacks and play items, surrounded by their respective Pokemon, like a flock of cheerful sparrows, chattering incessantly, their excitement practically overflowing from their eyes.
A spacious bus, capable of holding over forty people, was quietly parked at the school gate.
"Get on the bus! Get on the bus! Sit in your assigned seats!" Teacher Xu clapped his hands, shouting loudly, organizing the students to put away their luggage and line up in an orderly fashion to board the bus.
Chen Kai, holding Horsea, quickly found his seat and sat down, with Su Yuexi, whose Skiploom rested on her head, beside him.
With the help of the blond-haired man, Horsea woke up the next day to find an independent pond as its cozy home.
This pond was cleverly connected to a mountain stream, so there was no need to worry about the water supply running out.
At the same time, it also had two fish tanks, one placed in the living room, which allowed it to learn to watch TV recently; the other was in Chen Kai's room, so now it could sleep wherever it wanted.
Coupled with Chen Ma's delicious cooking, it now particularly loved to stick close to Chen Kai.
Also, in the past few days, Su Yuexi's Hoppip had evolved.
As a shiny Pokemon, its colors were exactly reversed before and after evolution.
Originally, as a Hoppip, it should have been pink, but it was green; and after evolving into a Skiploom, which should have been green, its body was now pink.
Although Chen Kai had never said it, he was still very envious that Su Yuexi had a shiny Pokemon.
Inside the bus, as soon as the students sat down, they began chatting animatedly, describing their visions of Cheng City to each other.
"It seems there's a lot of free time this trip.
I heard that Taikoo Li in Cheng City is very bustling, with all kinds of trendy brands on display."
"Speaking of which, Cheng City has a lot of special food.
I wonder how it tastes different from Qu County's."
"Then I definitely want to go to the Panda Base to see the Pancham!"
...
Chen Kai, following the atmosphere, also asked, "Su Yuexi, is there any place in Cheng City you particularly want to visit?"
Su Yuexi replied, "Not really.
Chen Kai, is there any place you want to go?"
Chen Kai pondered for a moment and responded, "I'm not too familiar with Cheng City either.
If there's time, maybe I'll go check out a Gym?"
At this moment, Teacher Xu walked onto the bus and smiled as he reminded everyone, "During this three-day trip, everyone must pay attention to safety and keep your important belongings secure.
Today we will first arrive in Cheng City.
Students can have free time in the afternoon and evening, but don't play too wildly!
You must return to the hotel before 8 PM.
I will call roll!
Tomorrow we will go to the Du Jiang Yan Secret Realm for a Secret Realm adventure."
"Okay!!" The students in the bus responded in unison.
Teacher Xu carefully counted the number of people again, then said to the driver, "Driver, let's go!"
The bus slowly started, its wheels rolling with a rhythmic sound.
The students waved goodbye to the campus through the window.
A gentle breeze brushed their cheeks, carrying a hint of early autumn chill, but it did not diminish their enthusiasm in the slightest.
The atmosphere inside the bus became even more lively, with someone leading a cheerful song, the singing echoing through the cabin, as if it were a beautiful prelude to this autumn outing.
Chen Kai leaned back in his seat, not very interested in the singing atmosphere, quietly waiting to arrive in Chengdu.
Unlike the unreliable travel agency that the blond-haired man signed up for, this school-organized autumn outing was very formal.
In addition to Teacher Xu, there were also three other teachers, two school security guards, and an experienced professional driver, who drove smoothly along the highway all the way.
When the bus was halfway on the highway, the scenery outside the window changed rapidly like a slideshow, fields, mountains, and villages flashing by.
The blond-haired man even brought Larvitar and started dancing on the seat, and Teacher Xu couldn't stop him, he even wanted to hit the blond-haired man!
Chen Kai really couldn't bear to watch, so he leaned back in his seat and looked down at his phone.
Suddenly, a new text message notification popped up at the top of the screen; it was from Lu Yang.
Since the summer vacation, Chen Kai and Senior Brother Lu Yang often chatted, and Lu Yang would occasionally share some Pokemon breeding tips with Chen Kai, so Chen Kai was not surprised to see the text message.
However, when he opened the message, he found that Lu Yang had sent a photo.
In the photo, a clump of grass, faintly emitting a pink glow, grew inside a cave.
This clump of grass was in a dark, damp corner, surrounded by cold, rough stone walls.
But its pink leaves were exceptionally vibrant, emitting a soft glow in the dim light, like a dreamlike splash of color in the darkness.
Below the photo, Lu Yang captioned: "Chen Kai, seeing this flower, is it the legendary seasoning you've been looking for?"
Just by looking at the photo, Chen Kai felt it resembled a sweet seasoning, but he had never seen the real thing, so he held his phone up to Miraidon's Poké Ball and asked, "Take a look, does this look like the legendary seasoning you need?"
Miraidon carefully examined it through the Poké Ball for a long time, then helplessly said, "Just by looking at this, I can't sense it either.
Where is this grass?"
"I'll ask."
Saying that, Chen Kai quickly sent a message to Lu Yang to inquire.
Lu Yang replied after a while: This was sent to me by a foreign classmate of mine; the shooting location seems to be in a cave in France, Western Europe.
At the same time, a rough location was also attached below.
However, that was abroad, and Chen Kai was completely unfamiliar with it.
Judging solely from the photo, Chen Kai felt it was ninety percent similar, but he couldn't be sure if it was what they were looking for, and he also didn't know if this plant had already been picked by someone else who got there first.
Chen Kai shook his head and quickly cast these worries aside: Who cares, thinking so much is useless.
The location is already there, so after the Cheng City trip, why not just go and see it!
With that thought, Chen Kai immediately felt much more at ease.
He replied to Lu Yang: "Thank you, Senior Brother Lu Yang."
Thus, even before arriving in Cheng City, Chen Kai had already begun discussing with Miraidon the plans for their trip to France.
As they discussed, the bus arrived at a hotel in Cheng City.
The bus slowly pulled into the hotel's parking lot and came to a steady stop.
The students excitedly packed their belongings and, under the organization of the teachers, disembarked in an orderly fashion to check into the hotel.
This kind of accommodation certainly couldn't be assigned by desk partners; Chen Kai was assigned to a room with Zhong Cong.
Zhong Cong and Kricketune put away their luggage and were eager to leave the hotel to play, but having competed together, he still asked Chen Kai, "Where are you planning to go play?
We're going to Taikoo Li, want to come along?"
Chen Kai waved his hand, "Thanks, no need."
Seeing Chen Kai refuse, Zhong Cong didn't say much and left directly.
Chen Kai communicated with Miraidon for a while and also consulted Lu Yang, roughly determining how to get to France.
Streetlights along the road gradually lit up, their orange-yellow glow spreading into the deepening night, adding a touch of warmth and tranquility to the city.
"Shall we go eat first?" Chen Kai suggested.
"Okay!" Miraidon replied happily.