The mine was filled with the smell of damp earth. Chen Kai held the mine map and moved forward with exceptionally cautious steps.
Xiao Mei followed closely beside Chen Kai, the beads on its tail emitting a bright light, illuminating a small area around the cave. However, places further away were still hidden in darkness due to the obstruction of the rock walls.
“This mine is truly not small,” Chen Kai whispered to Miraidon, “Do you feel anything special?”
His voice echoed in the narrow passage, quickly swallowed by the darkness.
Miraidon shook its head: “I haven’t felt anything yet.”
Chen Kai comforted him: “Don’t worry, we’ll take our time. We haven’t even reached a quarter of the mine’s depth yet.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of crumbling rocks suddenly came from ahead.
Chen Kai instantly stopped, gesturing for Miraidon and Xiao Mei to stay alert.
Xiao Mei’s light shone forward, and a round figure squeezed out from a crack in the rock wall.
“It’s a Roggenrola!” Chen Kai couldn’t help but exclaim.
This wild Roggenrola was about the size of a basketball, with a conical brown rock on its head, like a horn. Below its round body, two polygonal rocks served as its feet, and in the center of its dark blue body was a pale yellow hexagonal hole.
Chen Kai used to think this was its eye, but later learned it was its earhole…
The Roggenrola let out a low growl, clearly displeased with Chen Kai and his companions intruding on its territory. It rolled forward, stopping three meters away from them, and took on a battle stance.
“Looks like it wants a fight.” Chen Kai’s mouth curved slightly, and he decisively threw a Poké Ball: “Exeggcute, prepare for battle!”
Exeggcute instantly appeared in front of Chen Kai, emitting a faint hum, which Chen Kai knew was a sign of its excitement.
At the same time, the six eggshells spread out, facing the Roggenrola in a fan shape.
After this period of exploration in the Vosges Mountains, the Exeggcute, from their initial clumsy coordination, had gradually developed a tacit understanding. Each battle deepened their bond, and now they could almost act as one!
Chen Kai quickly took out his Pokedex to check. Sure enough, this was just a Normal Class (level 10+) Pokémon, and its attribute was Rock-type, perfect for Exeggcute to practice with.
“Exeggcute, use Hypnosis!” Chen Kai decisively gave the command.
Exeggcute’s six eggshells simultaneously glowed with a pale purple light, and rings of hypnotic waves spread towards the Roggenrola.
However, the Roggenrola suddenly curled into a perfect sphere, its rocky surface reflecting most of the hypnotic light waves.
“Goodness, this wild Pokémon has this trick? It used Defense Curl to boost its defense and also nullified the hypnotic effect!” Chen Kai frowned.
This wild Roggenrola was smarter than he expected.
The Roggenrola seized the opportunity and suddenly rolled, charging towards Exeggcute with astonishing speed.
“Dodge quickly!” Chen Kai shouted.
Exeggcute tried to fly up quickly using Psychic, but the mine was too narrow. The Roggenrola’s Tackle still grazed the lowest eggshell.
Exeggcute wobbled and let out a pained whimper.
“Are you alright?” Chen Kai asked with concern.
Exeggcute regained its composure, indicating that it could continue fighting.
Chen Kai still looked at the hit eggshell; a slight crack had appeared on it.
As expected of a Roggenrola, although it was a Rock-type, its hardness was comparable to Steel-type Pokémon.
At this moment, the Roggenrola had adjusted its position, ready to launch another attack.
This time, it didn’t charge directly but used its short legs to dig up a lump of mud and kicked it fiercely towards Exeggcute—this was the ‘Mud-Slap’ move!
The mud arced through the air, and Exeggcute quickly dodged sideways, but some mud still splattered onto two of its eggshells.
Chen Kai noticed that Exeggcute’s movements had clearly become a bit slower.
“I need to change tactics.” Chen Kai quickly thought, “Exeggcute, use Leech Seed!”
Exeggcute’s innermost eggshell spat out a green seed, which shot out like a bullet and accurately stuck to the Roggenrola’s rough rocky surface.
The seed immediately took root and sprouted, tiny Vines coiling around the Roggenrola’s body.
The Roggenrola angrily shook its body, trying to shake off these annoying Vines, but the Leech Seed was firmly attached.
Chen Kai saw faint green energy being siphoned from the Roggenrola’s body and transferred back to Exeggcute through the Vines—Leech Seed had begun to take effect.
“Good job! Now create some distance and continue with Super Drain!” Chen Kai commanded.
Exeggcute’s six eggshells simultaneously glowed with emerald green light, and a beam of green energy shot from the center, directly hitting the movement-restricted Roggenrola.
Super Drain not only caused damage but also converted some of the energy into Exeggcute’s stamina.
The Roggenrola growled angrily, using Defense Curl again to boost its defense, then charged fiercely towards Exeggcute.
This Tackle was more violent than before, directly hitting three of Exeggcute’s eggshells.
Exeggcute was knocked backward, almost hitting the rock wall.
“Hold on!” Chen Kai encouraged, “Encore Super Drain!”
Exeggcute stabilized itself. Although some of its eggshells had more cracks, it still faithfully carried out its trainer’s command.
Another green energy beam struck the Roggenrola, and this time the effect was even more significant—the combined effect of Leech Seed and Super Drain began to show, the Roggenrola’s stamina dropped sharply, and its Rollout speed noticeably slowed down.
The Roggenrola was breathing heavily, trying to dig mud again, but its movements had become sluggish.
Chen Kai knew victory was in sight.
“Good opportunity, Hypnosis!”
Exeggcute concentrated all its energy, and its six eggshells simultaneously emitted a purple light even stronger than before. This time, the Roggenrola didn’t have time to dodge, and the hypnotic waves completely enveloped it.
The Roggenrola began to become sluggish, standing still.
“Final blow, Super Drain!”
The last energy beam hit the drowsy Roggenrola, and it finally couldn’t hold on, collapsing to the ground, losing its ability to battle. The Leech Seed’s Vines also withered and fell off automatically.
Chen Kai let out a long sigh of relief and walked forward to check on the Roggenrola’s condition: It seemed this Roggenrola was almost at Normal Class (level 18-19), no wonder Exeggcute had a bit of a tough time.
Exeggcute floated beside him, its six eggshells gently colliding, making joyful sounds of victory.
“Well done, Exeggcute.” Chen Kai smiled and stroked Exeggcute’s eggshells. The once mischievous Exeggcute was now becoming more and more reliable.
Although the cracks on Exeggcute’s body were increasing, this also indicated that it was almost ready for evolution. After this trip, Chen Kai would have to consider getting a high-quality Leaf Stone for Exeggcute.
Thinking this, Chen Kai simultaneously took an Oran Berry from his backpack, broke it in half, handed one half to the tired Exeggcute, and placed the other half next to the unconscious Roggenrola.
As soon as the Oran Berry was placed down, the Roggenrola slightly opened its eyes.
Seeing the Oran Berry in front of it, it looked at Chen Kai warily, then quickly picked up the berry and rolled back into the crack in the rock wall, disappearing from sight.
Chen Kai smiled, saying nothing more; wild Pokémon were always so cautious.
After Exeggcute finished the Oran Berry, its condition improved slightly, so Chen Kai continued deeper into the mine.
They were unaware that not far from the battle site, behind a nearly transparent Light Screen, a woman in green clothes, with a satisfied smile on her lips, softly murmured:
“I hope you can give me some surprises!”
Beside her, Mr. Mime’s palms constantly gestured, continuously creating new transparent walls in the air. Noma and Mr. Mime followed Chen Kai in this manner, slowly moving forward.