Bai Yu looked at the sleeping Slowpoke lying on the ground and said to Jun Shafeng in surprise,
"I don't know whether to say you're lucky or just reckless. If I'm not mistaken, you caught that strong-willed Slowpoke from Water Town."
He paused before continuing,
"I'm afraid this is the same Slowpoke that became extremely irritable after being abandoned by its trainer. Even if you managed to catch it, it probably won't listen to your commands."
Jun Shafeng was surprised by Bai Yu's explanation.
"You mean it became irritable after being abandoned? I see... I was wrong."
He squatted beside Slowpoke and said gently,
"Slowpoke, I can tell you have a strong desire to grow stronger. Now's your chance. If you can defeat a Ponyta, I'll reward you with a high-level Water Energy Block."
The once-indifferent Slowpoke immediately perked up at the mention of the energy block.
Jun Shafeng couldn't help but mutter to himself,
"Wow... this guy's definitely a foodie. Looks like I can use energy blocks to build our bond."
At that moment, the system's voice rang out in Jun Shafeng's mind:
> [Ding! Congratulations, host, for triggering a random mission. Please enter the secret space within 6 hours.
Task Reward: Unlock the Skill Collection feature.]
"System, what does the Skill Collection function do?"
> [You can record the skills used by Pokémon, copy them, and store them in the skill column. The host may use recorded skills after collecting them multiple times.]
"This is insane! If I open a skill shop someday, I'll be rich!"
Before he could revel in his excitement, a wild Ponyta suddenly charged at them.
Arcanine growled and instantly retaliated, biting down on the oncoming Pokémon.
Seeing the commotion, Slowpoke joined the fight, attacking with a Water Gun.
The two Ponyta were around level 20, but Arcanine made quick work of one in just three moves.
Slowpoke, although a bit lower level than Charmander, managed to defeat the fire-type Pokémon after a tough battle, finishing it with a Yawn move.
As a result, Slowpoke leveled up from 18 to 19.
Jun Shafeng then scanned the battlefield. All the trainers around had summoned their Pokémon—everyone except Situ Kong.
So far, Situ Kong had only summoned his Naughty Thunderbolt and Weezing.
Jun Shafeng turned to look toward Bai Yu, who had summoned both Flannel and Scyther.
Scyther, being a bug-type, struggled against fire-types like Charmander, and could only defeat a level 24 Charmander with Flannel's help.
Bai Yu was sweating as he approached Jun Shafeng.
"The fights in the other directions seem to be over... I wonder how everyone else fared."
Jun Shafeng was about to respond when Arcanine, using his sharp senses, suddenly started barking.
Situ Kong noticed Arcanine's alertness and instantly grew wary.
He followed Arcanine's gaze toward the forest, where a blazing horse—larger and more intense than any Ponyta—was galloping straight at them.
Recognizing the danger, Situ Kong quickly pulled out a pair of translucent glasses and put them on.
After a few seconds, data began to flow across the lenses.
Moments later, the glasses completed their analysis.
When he saw the result—Level 68—Situ Kong's expression darkened.
Without hesitation, he summoned his ace Pokémon: Rhydon, his highest-level partner at level 63.
Turning to a nearby C-rank trainer, he said,
"I'll handle the leader of the Blazebron. The rest of the Blazebron and the Charmeleon are yours."
With that, Situ Kong charged toward the blazing Pokémon with his team.
The Blazebron leader noticed him and launched a fiery attack immediately.
Rhydon leapt forward, activating his Defense skill to block the fire.
"This fire is strong enough to melt gold... Thank goodness for Rhydon's defense," Situ Kong muttered.
Meanwhile, a pack of Blazebron burst out of the forest.
Jun Shafeng quickly used the system to analyze them and discovered they were all around level 40.
"This isn't good... D-rank trainers can't handle that."
But a few overconfident D-rank trainers saw only a dozen Blazebron and rushed in with their Pokémon.
Others followed, ignoring the warnings of C-rank trainers shouting,
"Stop! You can't handle them!"
Too late.
One D-rank trainer at the front was kicked in the head and knocked out instantly.
His Pokémon—a common Rattata—tried to defend its trainer, only to be seriously burned by a Flamethrower.
The rest of the D-rank trainers quickly realized they were in over their heads—but by then, retreat wasn't an option.
Thankfully, a C-rank trainer with a water-type Pokémon used the Rain Dance move.
A dark cloud formed overhead, followed by a few lightning flashes, and then rain began to pour.
The Blazebron, weakened by the rain, retreated into the Rainbow Forest.
Once they were sure the threat was gone, the trainers collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
A C-rank trainer looked at the injured D-rank group, then turned to Jun Shafeng and the others.
"You should head back. From here on out, only we'll stand guard. If this keeps up, someone might actually die."
The other C-rank trainers nodded in agreement.
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---end of this chapter.....