Early the next morning, Yelena arrived near Chen Kai's home to lie in ambush, hoping to catch him red-handed, but she didn't know Chen Kai had an invisibility cloak.
Moreover, Chen Kai set out exceptionally early today; he had already entered Area Zero.
Last night, he had sent a message to Liang Zhi, reminding him that Yelena was back, but Liang Zhi said that Yelena had already been investigated and there were no issues for now; however, if she did anything bad, he should contact him immediately, as he was still in Sichuan Province.
Chen Kai knew Yelena wanted to find the passage into Area Zero, but just as Yelena couldn't force Chen Kai, she would never be able to enter Area Zero without Chen Kai leading the way.
As a model citizen of Dragon Country, Chen Kai naturally wouldn't act against Yelena without reason, so he decided to simply maintain some distance from her for now.
After several weeks of weekend exploration, he had reached the Jiangyang area within Area Zero.
Chen Kai simply flew over previously explored areas on Miraidon, so his progress was quite fast.
Now, by following the Yangtze River upstream, he could reach Yibin.
There were many fish Pokémon in the river, such as Goldeen, Chinchou, and Arrokuda, but the most common was Magikarp.
Unfortunately, they couldn't catch any, so Chen Kai and Treecko could only stare blankly at the river.
"Next time, I'll try to get a fishing rod," Chen Kai said before leaving directly. He had originally wanted Treecko to engage in some wild battles for training.
Now, after developing, Treecko had reached the novice stage. Perhaps it was due to constantly drinking Moomoo Milk, as its height was 60 centimeters, suggesting it would grow to be as large as Hydrapple in the future.
However, Treecko's battles were at a disadvantage against flying types, and it couldn't find any burrowing types immediately, so they could only try their luck by the river.
After walking a short distance, they finally found a low-lying bank where many Wooper had gathered.
Water and Ground types were perfect practice targets for Treecko, and Chen Kai decisively gave the command:
"Treecko, Leafage!"
"Chamo!"
Treecko spat out a Leafage, which slowly drifted towards a Wooper, gently hitting its body.
On the surface, Wooper's skin showed no injuries, not even a trace, as Leafage was so soft it couldn't cause any substantial physical damage to its body.
However, this seemingly harmless attack caused significant damage to the salamander.
The hit Wooper immediately collapsed, unconscious.
Chen Kai was somewhat disbelieving and took out his Pokédex to scan the Wooper:
Name: Wooper
Type: Water, Ground
Level: Novice (Levels 5-19)
Ability: Damp
"How amazing! Is this the type advantage of Pokémon?"
Although this Leafage was a bit soft, since everyone was around Level 5, Treecko instantly defeating Wooper was quite reasonable.
Chen Kai scanned again, and the nearby group of Wooper were all basically in the novice stage.
Chen Kai shouted loudly:
"Battle, awesome!"
Treecko was startled:
"Chamo?" (Huh?)
Chen Kai pointed forward: "Treecko, use Leafage! Keep fighting!"
Treecko nodded and, following the instructions, sent out Leafage after Leafage. If some Wooper could withstand one Leafage, another one would follow.
Chen Kai, meanwhile, was responsible for spraying Potion from behind. One bottle of low-grade Potion could heal about five Wooper.
In this way, after battling forty or fifty of them, several Quagsire emerged from the river, seeking to settle scores with Chen Kai and Treecko.
Chen Kai left some food, quickly got on Miraidon, and ran away.
Miraidon didn't quite understand why Chen Kai always liked to battle wild Pokémon first, but it went along with Chen Kai.
And so, they continued their journey, stopping and starting. When they encountered higher-level Pokémon, he would let Xiao Mei practice. Most of the Pokémon by the river were Water types, and those of the same level couldn't withstand a few hits from Xiao Mei's Thunderbolt.
Currently, Xiao Mei has primarily mastered: Thunderbolt, Confuse Ray, Dazzling Gleam, and Electric Net. It also practices Electric Terrain.
It could have learned Zap Cannon, but its accuracy was too low, so Chen Kai told Xiao Mei not to practice it. While Dragon Pulse might deal more damage, its coverage wasn't as good as Dazzling Gleam, so Chen Kai decided Xiao Mei wouldn't practice Dragon Pulse much.
The Hydrapple were not brought out today. They were still fiercely arguing over who would be the head and who would be the tail. Chen Kai tried to persuade them, but no 'dragon' would listen to him, so he could only let them calm down at home for now.
Occasionally encountering low-level Pokémon by the river, he would let Treecko take them on. After a day of high-intensity training today, Treecko even learned 'Super Drain'.
Chen Kai estimated that Treecko was now around Level 10. With Xiao Mei helping it level up, progress was indeed fast!
As for higher-level Pokémon, their sensing abilities were very strong; they could feel the aura of Iron Bundle from afar and dared not approach.
By noon, Chen Kai saw a bright blue pillar of light in the sky from a distance.
Chen Kai rushed over, and a huge crystal of gems lay before him.
The crystal was irregularly shaped, with many facets and angles on its surface. Under the sunlight, it refracted a dazzling array of colors, though the main color was blue.
Chen Kai exclaimed in surprise: "This is! A Tera Crystal Pit!"
This Tera Crystal Pit looked like it had been there for a long time; there were even some crystal fragments scattered on the ground.
Chen Kai had already asked Iron Leaves, and it said that Area Zero indeed had Tera Crystal Pits, but it didn't know why there were so few near it.
This was also one of the reasons why Chen Kai kept exploring Area Zero.
But this Tera Crystal Pit didn't show how many stars it was. Chen Kai began to hesitate whether to challenge it.
Chen Kai took out Iron Bundle's Poké Ball and discussed with it: "Iron Bundle, can you help me defeat the Pokémon inside this Tera Crystal Pit?"
Iron Bundle said unhappily: "I'm just your bodyguard! Not your thug!"
"We can discuss the terms," Chen Kai said with a smile.
Iron Bundle said seriously: "It's not about terms. These Tera Crystal Pits contain independent spaces of about a hundred square meters. It's hard to get out without defeating the entities inside, not to mention some of the entities inside are very strong, and even I find them tricky to deal with, making it difficult to protect you.
I recommend you stay safe."
Chen Kai thought about it. Indeed, some high-star Tera Crystal Pits contained terrifying entities. Since he didn't know the star level inside, it was better not to risk it.
Next time, he would ask Iron Leaves if there was a portable device for detecting Taijing Energy.
Chen Kai could only mark the location on the map, picked up two fragments that had fallen to the ground, and left.
Returning to the riverside, he continued to walk and stop. Along the way, he encountered another Tera Crystal Pit, this time white, and still a Tera Crystal Pit that had existed for a long time.
Chen Kai still only picked up the fragments that had fallen on the ground, marked the location, and then left.