The fine drizzle polished the pebbles by the stream, making them gleam. Chen Kai carefully stepped on the slippery stones, trying to maintain his balance. The edges of his waterproof boots constantly splashed tiny water droplets, forming small arcs in the rain.
At this moment, two natural battlefronts had emerged before him.
On the bank, a Grovyle was engaged in a fierce struggle with a male Unfezant.
In the stream, a Horsea was being relentlessly pursued by a Barraskewda, forcing it to retreat step by step.
“Grovyle, close the distance and use Malicious Pursuit!” Chen Kai’s shout intertwined with the gurgling sound of the stream.
Immediately, dark energy surged between Grovyle’s claws, tracing strange and eerie trajectories in the silken rain.
However, the Unfezant was agile, nimbly leaping onto a nearby dead tree, then vigorously flapped its wings, stirring up a dazzling Feather Dance.
In an instant, most of the energy released by Grovyle was nullified and weakened by the swirling white feathers.
At the same time, a cluster of bubbles suddenly burst in the stream. Horsea’s Bubble Beam rapidly dispersed in the turbulent current.
And Barraskewda, like a silver dagger, pierced directly through the bubble cluster. Its steel-hard fins cut a wound on Horsea’s body.
This was the Aqua Jet move, combined with Barraskewda’s steel-hard jaw, making it difficult for Horsea to inflict much damage on it.
“Hold on!” Chen Kai clenched his fists tightly, loudly cheering on his two Pokémon.
During the battle, the level advantage of the two wild Pokémon gradually became apparent.
The Unfezant once again flapped its wings and soared into the air, while Barraskewda secretly charged its power in the water.
Although Chen Kai’s Pokémon were well-trained, under the dual pressure of type disadvantage and level difference, they gradually showed signs of fatigue.
As the stream continued to rise due to the rain, the small-bodied Horsea found it increasingly difficult to move in the surging currents.
And the Unfezant on the opposite bank had already charged its Drill Peck, aiming viciously at Grovyle’s exposed back.
Raindrops heavily pelted the surface of the stream, forming countless concentric circles.
Chen Kai’s gaze suddenly fixed on a certain ripple—the boundary between the stream and the bank, appearing indistinct in the rain, like a natural dividing line.
“Switch battlefields!” He practically screamed, “Grovyle, into the water! Horsea, onto the bank!”
Upon hearing the command, Grovyle immediately performed a beautiful backflip and plunged into the stream. The large splash of water perfectly blocked the Unfezant’s dive.
Horsea, using the churning waves, leaped onto a flat rock beside Chen Kai. Its cheeks puffed out, emitting a faint blue glow.
Barraskewda sharply turned in the water, chasing directly after Grovyle, but only saw a vibrant green figure nimbly moving through the rocks at the bottom of the stream. The Grass-type Energy Ball it gathered in its hands illuminated the surrounding stream water in an emerald hue.
“Now!”
The Energy Ball shot out, trailing a spiral of bubbles in the water.
Barraskewda couldn't dodge in time and was hit head-on by the Grass-type energy, which was super effective! Its dark brown body instantly flipped over in the stream, revealing its yellowish belly, and then it was swept downstream by the turbulent current.
At the same time, the battle on the bank also reversed.
The Unfezant had just shaken off the water droplets from its feathers when it was met with Horsea's long-charged Dragon Breath.
The faint blue, flame-like breath hissed in the rain. The Unfezant let out a sharp cry and fell heavily onto the pebble-strewn bank.
“Good! We won!” Chen Kai’s excited cheers startled the Pidgey on the treetops, causing them to flap their wings and fly away.
Just then, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the bank of the stream—Horsea's body began to evolve in the joy of victory!
Within the white light, its form gradually elongated, its dorsal fin became sharp as a knife, and its forehead protruded, forming dragon horns.
As the light slowly faded, Seadra raised its head and sprayed a high jet of water, creating a magnificent rainbow in the rain curtain.
Chen Kai squatted by the stream, smiling as he watched Seadra slowly swim back to him, leaving graceful ripples on the water’s surface.
“Amazing, you evolved into Seadra!” Chen Kai praised, filled with joy.
However, Horsea looked at its reflection in the water and seemed a little unhappy.
The unfamiliar creature in the reflection was covered in ferocious spikes, with sharp bone horns protruding from its forehead, and even its originally rounded tail end had become blade-shaped.
As the stream water slightly rippled, the reflection distorted into a terrifying shape.
“Spikes! Spikes!” (Ah! Why did I become so ugly!)
Chen Kai was amused and exasperated by Seadra’s words, and quickly comforted it: “Not ugly, not ugly. You can still evolve later, so don’t worry.”
At this point, the two wild Pokémon struggled to get up from the ground, but clearly had no desire to continue fighting.
They looked at Seadra and Grovyle from a distance, then turned and disappeared into the vast rain curtain.
Seeing its opponents retreat, Grovyle flashed and returned to Chen Kai’s side.
“You worked hard too.” Chen Kai gently stroked Grovyle, encouraging it.
Grovyle nodded in response:
“Cha.” (It’s fine.)
Chen Kai looked up at the incessant rain and said, “Alright, let’s head back. This rain is making me uncomfortable all over.”
Chen Kai had been exploring the Vosges Mountains for five days. He had just set up a tent by the stream to shelter from the rain and was about to eat when the Unfezant and Barraskewda suddenly appeared, disrupting their meal.
So Chen Kai sent out Grovyle and Horsea, who were of similar levels, to battle them.
During these past few days of exploration, Chen Kai and his Pokémon had encountered many wild Pokémon, and the levels of the Pokémon in his team had all improved to some extent.
Now, both Grovyle and Seadra had reached Elite Level (over Level 30).
The forest after the rain was filled with the fresh scent of earth mixed with berries. Chen Kai stepped on the damp fallen leaves, walking upstream along the small stream, leading Grovyle and the newly evolved Seadra back to camp.
The battle by the stream had left both Pokémon a bit tired. Seadra still occasionally glanced down at its reflection in the water, seemingly still slowly adapting to its new spiky body.
Passing through the last patch of bushes, the campfire’s glow came into view.
Miraidon was crouching by the bonfire, fully focused on managing the heat, making sure the soup in the pot didn’t burn.
Exeggcute stood by the pot, following Miraidon’s instructions, occasionally using Confusion to adjust the heat and stir the soup, keeping it at just the right temperature.
After the recent period of battles, Exeggcute had now reached the late beginner stage (above Level 15), becoming increasingly proficient in the use of Psychic.
“You’re back?” Miraidon didn’t even lift its head, having clearly noticed their footsteps long ago.
“Yeah, we drove them off.” Chen Kai sat down beside the tent and took off his wet jacket.
Xiao Mei, as soon as it saw Chen Kai return, happily ran over.
The Hydrapple also slowly crawled over, coiling into a ball beside it, its tail tip gently tapping the ground:
“Mii!” (Then let’s eat!)
They too had improved recently. Chen Kai estimated Xiao Mei was around Level 45, and Hydrapple had reached Senior-level (over Level 40) yesterday.
As Chen Kai and the others approached, everyone noticed that Horsea had evolved into Seadra and were all happy for its evolution.
Miraidon scooped a large bowl of soup and handed it to Seadra: “You just evolved, eat more.”
Exeggcute looked at Seadra curiously, wondering when it too would be able to evolve.
Iron Bundle, Iron Hands, and Iron Thorns also came out of their Poké Balls. These past few days, since there was no place to Charge, they could only drink soup.
Fortunately, they had stayed in their Poké Balls, activating power-saving mode, so a few bowls of soup were enough to sustain their consumption.
“Xiao Kai, we don’t have much food left in the orange gem. Our time here is almost up,” Miraidon reminded him.
Chen Kai finished distributing the soup to the Pokémon, and hearing Miraidon’s words, he scratched his head: “I think we’re back near the town we started from. How about we go back and resupply first?”
Chen Kai hadn't expected finding the legendary seasoning to be so difficult before coming. He and Miraidon had roughly circled the Vosges Mountains once, but had found nothing.
Logically, Miraidon should be able to sense the legendary seasoning from far away, but now it felt nothing at all, which made them anxious.
With their food supplies running low, it also meant their leave was almost over.
It was fine while they were in the mountains, but once they returned to town, his mom’s calls would probably start coming in again to urge him. Thinking about this, Chen Kai felt an even bigger headache.