Zhou Zicheng was equally dumbfounded, staring at the wary yet furious giant. He scratched his head and muttered, “Damn it… All that chasing for nothing? And Rowlet got hurt because of it…”
Just as this awkward atmosphere permeated the air, and the two didn’t know whether to apologize or let the other party go, a sudden change occurred!
“Whoosh—!”
A emerald green Energy Ball, imbued with powerful natural energy, shot out without warning from deep within the distant dense forest, heading straight for Chen Kai, who had his back to that direction!
“Watch out!” Zhou Zicheng exclaimed loudly.
Chen Kai’s hairs stood on end instantly; he didn’t even have time to turn around!
Fortunately, a green figure darted out like lightning—it was Grovyle!
It sensed the danger and charged out on its own accord!
Grovyle crossed its arms over its chest, and a equally powerful Grass-type energy instantly condensed.
“Chaa!”
With a sharp cry, Grovyle swung its arms out, and an Energy Ball of the same size shot forth, accurately meeting the incoming attack!
Boom!
The two Energy Balls collided violently in mid-air, erupting in blinding green light and a deafening roar!
The powerful shockwave rustled the surrounding leaves and kicked up a large cloud of dust, instantly obscuring everyone’s vision!
“What?!” Chen Kai was both shocked and enraged; the opponent had actually launched a ruthless sneak attack!
“Hydrapple! Don’t let it get away! Use Random Light to sweep that area!” He gave the command without hesitation.
“Hy—!” (Leave it to me!)
Big Boss’s massive body coiled out. At the same time, four Applin also poked their heads out, gathering energy. Five chaotic beams of “Random Light,” imbued with strong Dragon-type energy, instantly lit up in their mouths, shooting like a downpour into the area enveloped by the explosion’s dust!
“Egg—!!!” A muffled and painful cry immediately came from within the dust!
Clearly, a target had been hit head-on by at least one Random Light!
Hearing that cry, Chen Kai’s heart skipped a beat!
That sound… why did it feel a little… strange?
Listening to it, it felt like it carried a sense of… incredibly familiarity?
What surprised him even more was that the tall, ordinary Exeggutor they had mistakenly chased earlier, upon hearing that cry, instantly changed the expressions on its three heads from anger to extreme fear and worry!
It actually disregarded the threat from Chen Kai, them, and Hydrapple, taking large strides and rushing frantically towards the direction where the dust was billowing!
“Hey! Wait!” Chen Kai and Zhou Zicheng were puzzled, but they immediately followed. Hydrapple, meanwhile, raised its head, cautiously circling beside Chen Kai.
As they gradually approached, the dust slowly dispersed in the evening breeze.
The sight before them made Chen Kai and Zhou Zicheng freeze on the spot, dumbfounded!
Beneath a few trees whose branches and leaves were disheveled by the Energy Ball explosion, a Pokémon they were incredibly familiar with was painfully curled up on the ground—its dark green leaf-like crown, and its three iconic coconut-shaped heads were all painfully drooping, emitting groans. Wasn’t this Chen Ma’s Exeggutor?!
It had multiple abrasions and signs of impact on its body, seemingly having gone through some struggle.
And most noticeably, its left thigh and back were clearly hit by Hydrapple’s Random Light, leaving several charred marks. A purple glow of chaotic energy still flickered around the wounds, making it unable to move from the pain.
Meanwhile, the tall, ordinary Exeggutor was anxiously nudging its injured companion with its head, emitting low, comforting “thump-thump” sounds, its eyes full of concern.
The scene fell into a dead silence for a moment.
Chen Kai felt completely bewildered.
This was his mother’s Exeggutor, so the other one… could it be Ya’an?!
“Hy… Hydrapple…” Chen Kai’s voice was trembling.
He stiffly turned to look at Hydrapple beside him.
Big Boss also froze completely. Its usually calm eyes were now staring in disbelief at the painfully groaning Exeggutor on the ground, its body trembling slightly.
It recognized it! This was its elder brother! When it was still an Applin, Exeggutor often played with it. It actually… attacked its best friend?!
“Hiss…Woo…” Hydrapple let out an extremely painful and remorseful low Growl. Its massive head slowly lowered, almost touching the ground, its entire body radiating a dense, almost tangible sense of guilt and sorrow.
Xiao Mei and Grovyle also walked over awkwardly. Fortunately, they didn’t directly attack Chen Ma’s Exeggutor.
Zhou Zicheng’s mouth hung open. He looked at the painfully groaning Exeggutor, then at Hydrapple, which was so remorseful it had almost curled into a ball, then at the equally anxious tall, ordinary Exeggutor beside them, and finally his gaze fell on Chen Kai, who was completely dumbfounded.
He swallowed with difficulty, holding it in for a long time before softly and precisely uttering: “Kai Ge… This… This is truly ‘the Dragon King’s temple flooded by its own waters,’ family fighting family…”
Chen Kai: “…”
Indeed.
As dusk deepened, Chen Kai and Zhou Zicheng, with their two Pokémon, returned to the seaside guesthouse.
Chen Ma had already received Chen Kai’s call and had been waiting at the entrance, hands on her hips, a storm brewing on her face after holding it in all day.
Seeing her own Exeggutor, she immediately strode forward. Just as she was about to say something, her gaze swept past her own droopy-headed Exeggutor and landed on the large figure behind it, which was fidgeting and almost shrinking its head into its wide crown.
“Uh…” Chen Ma’s voice was like it had been choked, instantly cutting off. She opened her mouth, forcing the words back in. Chen Kai hadn’t told her about this!
This ordinary Exeggutor, much taller than her own but nearly half as thin, with dry leaves on its entire head, and an air of travel-weariness and nervousness, was completely beyond her expectation.
“Mom… This is… Ya’an.” Chen Kai quickly stepped forward, bracing himself to introduce, feeling his cheeks flush, “Uh… it’s… the one Exeggutor… went to find last night.”
Chen Ma: “…”
Her gaze darted back and forth between her own Exeggutor, which was lowering its head and secretly touching Ya’an’s ankle with a leaf, and the large creature named Ya’an, whose three heads were trembling slightly from nervousness.
The anger on her face visibly dissipated, replaced by an extremely peculiar expression, a mixture of shock, realization, and a wry amusement.
“Cough…” Chen Ba also came out at some point. Looking at the scene, he cleared his throat, suppressing a laugh: “Well… let’s go inside first, let’s talk inside. It’s windy out here, and the injured Pokémon need rest.”
In reality, before returning to the guesthouse, Chen Kai and Zhou Zicheng had already taken the injured Pokémon to the Pokémon Center in Maliye Jing City for recovery.
But there was always a way to save face, so everyone entered the guesthouse.
After all, Chen Kai had put in a lot of effort to try and invite the tall, shy ordinary Exeggutor—Ya’an—to the guesthouse with them.
He couldn’t just let Ya’an leave again.
Ya’an was extremely wary at first, backing away when Chen Kai approached, its three heads shaking like rattles, its leaves rustling, full of resistance.
It clearly still remembered Chen Kai commanding Ampharos to attack it, and Hydrapple’s overwhelming Random Light.
The situation was at a stalemate for a while.
Until Chen Kai released Exeggcute from its Poké Ball.
Exeggcute was a bit disoriented when it came out; it didn’t understand the current situation, but that didn’t hinder it.
And when Ya’an saw the happily bouncing Exeggcute, its body suddenly stiffened.
Its middle head slowly and cautiously lowered, looking in disbelief at the small, blood-related life beside it.
It recognized it! This was its child!
At that moment, all the wariness and resistance in Ya’an’s eyes disappeared, leaving only a clumsy tenderness and excitement.
And Exeggcute, by instinct, was especially close to Ya’an.
So, Ya’an no longer hesitated. It carefully shielded Exeggcute by its side and followed Chen Kai and the others on the way to the guesthouse.