As the saying goes, 'Looking at a mountain can exhaust a horse,' Zhou Yuan had a deep understanding of this point.
Even though he had seen the mountain from outside the battle arena, Big Red still ran for nearly forty minutes before reaching the foot of the mountain.
Upon arrival, Zhou Yuan jumped off Big Red and looked at the vast forest in front of him, asking, "Big Red, is this the place that meets my requirements?"
Big Red nodded.
Zhou Yuan took out an Oran Berry and fed it to Big Red, then recalled him into his Poké Ball.
If Big Red had followed him outside, all the wild Pokémon would have probably fled, and he wouldn't have been able to find a suitable Pokémon to battle.
He released Growlithe, on one hand, Growlithe's Intimidate ability could effectively disperse lower-level wild Pokémon, preventing a Pokémon from jumping out every two steps in the forest.
On the other hand, Growlithe could be considered a high-tier combatant in this area.
When entering other Pokémon's territories, other Pokémon would react.
If they were confident they could defeat Growlithe, they would come over to drive him away, and Zhou Yuan could take advantage of this opportunity to battle.
This was called 'fishing.'
Zhou Yuan held Big Red's Poké Ball reversed in his hand, to prevent not being able to release Big Red in time if danger arose, and walked into the forest with Growlithe.
In the forest, Zhou Yuan laughed as he watched a Oddish, hiding itself with only the grass on its head exposed, trembling.
Then he looked at a Caterpie and a Weedle slowly crawling not far away, followed by a Pidgey descending from the sky and grabbing both insects with one claw each.
"..." Zhou Yuan was a little silent, and a little emotional.
"I can only say, it truly lives up to its name as the Elf World."
Zhou Yuan walked and observed his surroundings, finding that almost all the Pokémon around were early-stage Novice level, and some were even at the nascent stage.
During this time, he saw a Raticate fighting fiercely over an Oran Berry, but the Raticate immediately scattered and fled when Growlithe arrived.
There were also Oddish and Sunkern basking in the sun side by side, but when Zhou Yuan approached them, the Oddish dug a hole and buried its body, and the Sunkern, seeing no escape, simply closed its eyes and started playing dead.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan even chuckled and didn't disturb them, walking straight past them.
As Zhou Yuan continued to go deeper, the Pokémon's levels also transitioned from early-stage Novice to late-stage Novice.
Zhou Yuan even saw a mid-stage Normal level Raticate, but since it wasn't much of a challenge for Growlithe, he didn't bother it.
It wasn't until he approached a Wepear Berry tree that Zhou Yuan knew that such fruit trees usually had larger Pokémon communities nearby, and within those communities, there would be stronger Pokémon serving as leaders.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Yuan approached the fruit tree, chirping sounds came from all around.
Following the sound, Zhou Yuan discovered it was a flock of Spearow.
"Spearow... If it's Spearow, then the leader must be a Fearow."
No sooner had he spoken than a sharp cry came from overhead.
Looking up, sure enough, a Fearow was flapping its wings and gradually descending.
For a wild Pokémon as irritable as Fearow, Zhou Yuan deliberately provoked it: "Fearow, let's battle.
I've taken a liking to this place.
If you don't dare to battle me, then take your flock and leave."
Although Zhou Yuan didn't actually think that way, his words had a distinct villainous aura.
Upon hearing this, Fearow was enraged.
Not to mention where it would take its flock if it scurried away like this, but if it did, it would lose the trust of its flock as a leader.
Fearow raised its head and shrieked.
The Spearow that had gradually surrounded them heard this Growl and retreated, leaving the center clear for the leader and the outsider to battle.
Fearow raised its head towards Zhou Yuan, signaling that the battle could begin, then flapped its wings and flew up.
"System, scan Fearow."
"【Fearow】"
"【Level: Normal Stage Mid】"
"【Ability: Keen Eye】"
"【Skills: Astonish, Quick Attack, Steel Wing, Straight Drill, Peck, Growl, Glare, Fury Attack, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Mirror Move】"
Wild Pokémon are wild Pokémon; their Skill sets still can't compare to Pokémon carefully trained by a Trainer.
It probably benefited from its parents, as it has Steel Wing among its inherited Skills, otherwise, the only truly high-power Skill it learned through evolution would be Straight Drill.
As Fearow ascended, it signaled the official start of the battle.
"Growlithe, use Agility." Zhou Yuan began to command Growlithe.
Fearow's speed was already faster than Growlithe's, and it also had the advantage of air superiority.
If Growlithe didn't use Agility to increase its speed, it would be difficult to pose an effective threat to Fearow.
Growlithe started running, getting faster and faster, and Growlithe's speed increased significantly!
While Growlithe was powering itself up, Fearow wasn't idle, attempting to use the Peck Skill to attack Growlithe, but because Growlithe was constantly moving, all its attacks missed.
Seeing all its attacks miss, Fearow also became a bit anxious and directly started using the Fury Attack Skill with its long beak, trying to hit Growlithe by luck.
Under Fearow's persistent attacks, it finally swept Growlithe once with its long beak, causing some damage to Growlithe.
However, Zhou Yuan took advantage of this opportunity to command Growlithe to use Crunch on its wing, delivering a harsh blow.
After this attack, Fearow's flight became noticeably unstable.
To prevent being bitten by Growlithe again, Fearow chose to continue ascending, increasing the distance from Growlithe.
Zhou Yuan was not in a hurry; when it pulled away, he commanded Growlithe to use Howl to strengthen itself.
Growlithe raised its head and howled, its imposing aura forcing the surrounding Spearow to retreat a few more steps.
Seeing the dog on the Ground getting stronger and stronger, Fearow knew it wouldn't be able to win if it dragged on, so it steeled itself and gathered Ground-type energy in its long beak.
Seeing this stance, Zhou Yuan knew that Fearow wanted to end the battle with Straight Drill.
Just as Fearow swooped down, Zhou Yuan shouted, "Growlithe, use Protect!"
An egg-shaped shield formed around Growlithe's body, and Fearow's long beak failed to penetrate it.
"Growlithe, jump up, jump onto its back, then use Thunder Fang!"
Strike while the iron is hot.
Zhou Yuan took advantage of Fearow's lingering dive momentum and unstable body to command Growlithe to jump onto its back, then a single Thunder Fang completely knocked out Fearow.
"【Battle won, Energy Points +100】"
"【Host's current Energy Points: 3410】"
Fearow lay on the Ground, its wings drooping.
It tried to struggle to its feet but failed.
At this moment, it also seemed a bit lost.
It clearly knew it had been defeated, and it knew that this place no longer belonged to its flock.
It would have to take its flock to find another place to live, especially since it was severely injured and had to guard against attacks from former enemies.
But there was no other way; the world of wild Pokémon was just that cruel.
Zhou Yuan looked at Fearow, then walked towards it.
The Spearow, seeing their hateful enemy approaching their leader, disregarded their own safety and stepped forward to block Fearow's path.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan was a little moved.
Although Spearow generally had a bad reputation in the Elf World for being irritable and aggressive, their unity was truly remarkable.
They would sacrifice their lives for their companions.
With this in mind, Zhou Yuan said to Fearow, "Fearow, tell your kin to disperse, otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't attack them."
Fearow looked at the human in front of it, thinking he was going to exterminate it after taking over its territory, just like other wild Pokémon usually did.
If it died, it died, but it couldn't let its kin die meaninglessly with it; they still had to live on.
So Fearow let out a hoarse cry.
Upon hearing their leader's call, the Spearow looked at their leader in disbelief, but ultimately, under their leader's command, they cleared the way.
Even after clearing the way, the Spearow still stared intently at Zhou Yuan, as if they would charge forward if Zhou Yuan made any move to harm their leader.
Zhou Yuan didn't pay them any mind.
He spent fifty Energy Points to exchange for a Super Potion from the system, then crouched in front of the resigned Fearow, who had closed its eyes, and sprayed the Potion on its wounds.
Feeling the coolness from its wounds, Fearow opened its eyes and looked at the human in front of it in surprise.
It didn't understand why he wouldn't exterminate it but instead helped to heal it, even though he had already won and was still concerned about a loser like itself.
The Super Potion's effect was immediate.
Ten minutes after it was sprayed, the obvious scars on Fearow had completely disappeared, but it hadn't suffered particularly severe injuries to begin with.
What affected its movement the most was the paralysis effect from Thunder Fang.
A few more minutes passed, and its body was no longer numb.
Fearow flapped its wings and gradually flew up, nodded at Zhou Yuan, and with a long cry, summoned the Spearow of its flock, preparing to leave this place and find a new base.
Just as Fearow was about to leave, it heard a voice from behind: "Fearow, wait a moment."
Although it really didn't want to bother with the person who had taken over its territory, out of consideration for him healing it, Fearow still turned its head, intending to hear what else this person wanted.
Zhou Yuan held his dog and said to Fearow, "Fearow, we didn't intend to seize your territory.
We just wanted to find stronger Pokémon to battle to improve ourselves.
After the challenge, we should leave.
What I said at the beginning was only to provoke you into battling us.
You don't need to leave.
This place is still your territory, but as the price for your defeat, I'll pick a few berries.
You don't mind, do you?"
Fearow was a bit stunned.
It had thought it would lose its territory and have to take its flock to compete with other Pokémon for land, but then this human told it that everything before was a lie, and the sole purpose was just to have a battle with it.
As for picking berries later, Fearow didn't care.
Being able to keep its territory was enough.
Seeing that Fearow had no objections, Zhou Yuan turned and picked ten Wepear Berries from the Wepear Berry tree, putting them into his backpack, which was also a way to recoup the cost of the Super Potion.
After waving goodbye to Fearow, Zhou Yuan continued deeper into the forest.
