At noon the next day, under the full sail of Drake's boat, it took only one night and one morning to almost reach the seaside of the hunting zone.
However, the Safari zone is a place owned by the League, and the control of this place by the League is still relatively firm. If Aoki directly enters from the rear, it is considered an invasion, and he will be confronted by the League's forces.
So Aoki can only go around to the main entrance in front to enter.
After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic Drake, the two exchanged contact information, and Aoki left directly on the Flygon.
After Drake's guidance, Aoki has a deeper understanding of Flygon and now has a clearer direction on how to train it.
Now it seems that if the Flygon is properly trained, it can still play a significant role.
It depends on whether Aoki has the dedication and awareness to do so.
Fortunately, Aoki now has a mine. Although the mine is relatively small, the quality is high, and production is efficient.
The Carbink have accumulated minerals over countless years, and the newly produced resources can be used to train other Pokémon.
It's just that this mine is really a bit small. If it were doubled in size, Aoki wouldn't have to struggle to gather resources for training Bagon—it would be enough.
Flying at high altitude on Flygon allowed him to avoid some territorial land Pokémon and head straight toward the gate of the Safari zone.
There is also a Safari area in the Kanto region. This is a place specially enclosed by the League. As long as you pay a certain fee, you can enter to capture Pokémon, but only using specialized Poké Balls provided by the facility.
The quality of Pokémon here is average, and subduing them is more difficult. Many times, even after using all thirty provided Poké Balls, a Trainer might fail to catch a single Pokémon.
Yet, a large number of people still visit every year.
Because in these Safari zones, the level of Pokémon is generally low, making it much safer than capturing Pokémon in the wild.
Of course, since Safari zones cater to different groups, there are also some dangerous areas, but these are clearly marked by the League, and most people avoid them.
The place Aoki is heading to this time is one of the more dangerous areas in the Safari zone, and it's likely that very few people have ventured there.
The Flygon is in a fairly good mood today because, after Aoki's discussion with Drake, his attitude toward Flygon has improved significantly. He has even devised a better training plan.
Aoki believes it's one thing not to waste Flygon's potential—after all, Flygon may serve as his flying mount for a long time. If it remains too weak, it would be embarrassing. But there's another, more important reason: he wants to conduct an experiment with it.
Even if the dragon blood in Flygon is relatively diluted, it is still a Dragon-type Pokémon. The training methods Aoki learned from Drake can first be tested on Flygon before being applied to Bagon. The results should be much better.
Of course, Flygon is unaware of this.
In its good mood, Flygon flies swiftly, avoiding unnecessary conflicts with wild Pokémon.
Soon, Aoki arrives at the ticket office at the hunting zone's entrance.
A large crowd has gathered here, all hoping to enter and capture Pokémon.
After all, free-range Pokémon can still be considered wild, and their potential isn't bad. The key point is that the cost isn't excessive—only 30,000 Pokécoins for thirty specialized Poké Balls.
However, before entering, everyone must surrender all their personal Poké Balls. A special detection device at the gate scans for unauthorized Poké Balls, and anyone found carrying them is barred from entry.
As a recognized League member and the Gym Leader of Verdanturf Town, Aoki, upon presenting his identification, doesn't need to wait in line like ordinary visitors. Thanks to his status, he doesn't even have to pay—Gym Leaders are granted three free entries into Safari zones per year.
He hands over all his Poké Balls and receives thirty lower-quality Safari zone Poké Balls before entering.
Normally, Trainers aren't allowed to use their own Pokémon inside the hunting zone, as the general areas are heavily monitored. If someone is caught forcibly subduing Pokémon, not only will they lose their captures, but they'll also face fines.
But a Trainer like Aoki, heading into a dangerous area, is permitted to use his Pokémon in battle.
Moreover, the dangerous areas have no surveillance—any installed devices would be destroyed by the local Pokémon. Thus, these zones offer much greater privacy.
After entering, Aoki mounts Flygon and flies deep into the hunting zone, drawing envious and jealous stares from the crowd.
He passes through the relatively safe general area and heads straight for a marked danger zone.
Most Trainers here lack Elite-level strength, so venturing further is discouraged—those who do so must accept the risks.
Upon reaching a familiar valley, Aoki dismounts. Going deeper by air might attract swarms of Elite-level or even near-Champion-level Pokémon, so proceeding cautiously on foot is safer.
He arrives at a valley overgrown with dense weeds, where a small waterfall flows.
This is the location Aoki remembers—the Mega Stone should be hidden within the rocky piles here.
If luck is on his side, no Pokémon will appear, and Aoki can simply move the rocks aside to search undisturbed.
If not, he may encounter some powerful wild Pokémon.
Entering the valley, Aoki is accompanied by Slowking. With its psychic senses fully active, locating the Mega Stone will be much easier.
But this time, luck isn't on Aoki's side.
Because shortly after entering the valley, he encounters a formidable Pokémon.
A dark-bodied creature with a fierce expression.
Houndoom!
This might be the only water source in the vicinity, so many Pokémon come here to drink. Aoki, having just entered, crosses paths with a Houndoom that has finished drinking.
As a naturally aggressive Pokémon, Houndoom immediately attacks upon spotting Aoki and Slowking.
Fortunately, Houndoom's Flamethrower is successfully countered by Slowking's Surf.
As a Dark/Fire-type, if Slowking didn't have the Miracle Eye technique from a Psychic-type ally, this battle would be unwinnable from the start.