"Poniii um..."
Praised by Rin, Ogerpon happily bounced and circled him, looking exactly like a cute little girl.
Ogerpon's curiosity about the new world was simply unstoppable.
There would naturally be no danger.
This was the edge of the forest, close to a human village, where Rin usually lived nearby, so he was very familiar with it.
What he was truly concerned about was the little one's complete disregard for the dirt and grass on the ground.
In just this short while, Ogerpon had already gotten herself quite dirty.
"Poniii~ Poniii~ (Demon Lord, Demon Lord, Poniii wants to be a Demon Lord)"
The little one had no idea what a Demon Lord was.
But since Rin said a Demon Lord was powerful, it must be true.
"If Ogerpon wants to become a Demon Lord, she must first master her newly acquired power."
Rin felt that this place was far enough from the village, so he found an open space and said, "Come, unleash the skills you've mastered, and then get used to the changes in your body."
"Ponooo!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Ogerpon immediately began her practice.
Ogerpon has the potential to grow into a Demon Lord.
But this does not mean that every Pokémon has Ogerpon's potential.
To gain the recognition of the Cardinal World and be endowed with magicules, they must first be converted into dependents by Rin.
And the upper limit of dependents Rin can have is closely related to the strength of his Capturer Unique Skill.
Currently, Rin can only contract with a maximum of 3 dependents.
The scarce slots made Rin hesitant to easily capture Pokémon.
It could be said that the poor little one from Kitakami, 'Ogerpon', was the easiest legendary Pokémon for Rin to acquire that he could think of.
According to Rin's understanding, only Second level god, First level god, and Mythical Pokémon possessed the potential to grow into a Demon Lord.
"Every contract slot is incredibly precious."
It's not that Rin hadn't thought about capturing more Pokémon.
After all, even the weakest Pokémon, if brought to the Cardinal World, could still be trained into decent combat power.
Unfortunately, given Rin's current situation, even if he had more dependent slots, he wouldn't be able to protect weak Pokémon as they grew.
"I'll just have to wait until later to go to the Pokémon World and capture Gardevoir..."
If asked about Rin's favorite Pokémon, Gardevoir would certainly have a place.
However, reality was cruel, and Rin could only tearfully abandon his Psychic Queen.
"Poniii!"
"Pon! Popon!"
Completely unaware that Rin was eyeing what he didn't have, Ogerpon was waving her thorn vine stick, performing various Pokémon moves.
Hmm, they can't be called Pokémon moves now.
After the transformation of magicules and rules, all the Pokémon moves Ogerpon mastered had been converted into 'general skills'.
Because the moves are no longer simply released by the elemental energy within the Pokémon's body, but are now driven by magic power, they can also be seen as a certain type of special magic—Pokémon magic.
("Ogerpon feels so much stronger.")
Ogerpon looked at the large tree she had broken with a single strike, and comparing Kitakami with this place, she said, "My strength has increased several times, and my stamina has also improved a lot."
"It's not just a simple few times."
Rin gently stroked the little one's head and explained, "The physical rules of the two worlds are different."
"The Pokémon World belongs to a low-magic chaotic world."
The Cardinal World is even higher than high concentration. It's considered a super-concentration chaotic world.
According to the simplest calculation, for every increase in concentration level, an individual's performance will increase by one tier.
Like Ogerpon now, she can smash a large tree with one strike in the Cardinal World and receive a D-rank evaluation.
A single blow capable of breaking a giant tree is equivalent to D-Rank, which is generally universal across most worlds.
At high concentrations, this blow would rise from D-Rank to C-Rank.
If this were the Pokémon World, after Ogerpon returned, facing beings like Groudon and Rayquaza, she might only need to lift her hand to knock them out of battle.
("Ogerpon doesn't quite understand, but it sounds very powerful!")
Ogerpon looked bewildered yet impressed. She wasn't very smart, but since Rin said she had become stronger, it must be true.
For her only good friend in hundreds of years, now her family, Ogerpon had absolute trust in Rin.
"Try to adapt to your newly acquired power as soon as possible."
Rin looked into the depths of the forest. "To find a suitable location to build a new home, we'll probably have to travel quite a distance."
He had already decided to leave the human village and develop in the Jura Great Forest.
Possessing the abilities of Leader and Capturer, Rin decided to emulate Rimuru's path and turn this ownerless forest into his own territory!
("Ogerpon is super strong.")
Ogerpon held her thorn vine stick high and said happily, "Don't worry, you can leave the work of building a new home!"
"Woah~~"
Seeing Ogerpon's confident and adorable appearance, Rin didn't wait for her to react and directly picked her up from behind.
"There are many powerful magical beasts in the forest, you know."
("Ogerpon isn't scared!")
Rin lifted Ogerpon high, and after her initial panic, the little one was now curiously looking at the Jura Great Forest before them.
('Rin, Ogerpon will protect him!')
Pokémon Trainers, Pokémon, travel, battles, Ogerpon had only seen these things on people who traveled to Kitakami in the past.
And now, Ogerpon also had her own Trainer and was about to start an adventure!
"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"
With Ogerpon's protection, Rin didn't have to worry about the threat of monsters.
Thus, Rin left the village where he had lived since childhood and entered the Jura Great Forest.
Along the way, the two encountered many magical beasts that emitted dangerous auras.
Fortunately, their strength was not great. Facing Ogerpon, who was B-Rank but whose combat power was enough to contend with A-Rank magical beasts, almost none could last a single move.
These magical beasts all turned into Ogerpon's experience points (magicules), becoming the nourishment for her to grow stronger.
"Thump thump thump!!"
Suddenly, Rin, who was exploring forward in the forest, felt the ground beneath his feet shake. "Something big is coming, Ogerpon!"
"Po?!"
Without Rin needing to say more, Ogerpon had already summoned her thorn vine stick and stood in front of him.
"Roar!!"
Soon, a dark figure nearly 4 meters tall, like a wall, appeared before the two of them.
It was a black giant bear exuding a brutal aura.
Its arms and legs were covered with tough bristles, and black energy faintly flowed over its body. A pair of blood-red eyes were currently fixed on Ogerpon and Rin behind her.
Clearly, this guy was coming for them.
Most monsters in the forest have extremely strong senses of smell and hearing.
And two obvious targets like Rin and Ogerpon couldn't escape the magical beast's perception at all.
(To be continued.)