South of Laverre City, Alfu Mountains.
"Help me, Rotom!"
The continuous output of Flash Cannon, Flamethrower, and Dragon Breath caused one Zubat after another to fall to the ground.
The battle was fierce and short.
The Zubat came quickly and left just as quickly.
The remaining Zubat finally let out terrified shrieks and disappeared into the end of the passage like a receding tide.
The remaining Zubat, although temporarily incapacitated, had swirly eyes.
But it was not a big problem.
This was the Pokémon's protection mechanism; they would soon recover their stamina.
As long as they rested honestly for a while, it was no different from going to a Pokémon Center.
Metagross was still leading the way, its powerful flashlight illuminating the path ahead.
Under Metagross's feet, the seemingly solid ground suddenly collapsed without warning!
Caught off guard, Metagross lost its balance,
But fortunately, Metagross could fly.
Three waist-thick pits appeared in the collapsed ground, and Drilbur, with front claws like giant drills, emerged from underground.
"Kohkin!"
The enraged Metagross gave one Drilbur an Arm Hammer.
Bang, bang, bang—
The Drilbur were neatly embedded in the rock wall, then slowly slid down.
Li Wei shook his head helplessly,
"Why provoke Metagross of all Pokémon?"
Among Li Wei's Pokémon, Metagross was the most belligerent and had the biggest temper.
Even when it was still a Metang, Metagross would challenge Trainers and attack Pokémon everywhere.
Of course, there was a reason for this.
In the wild, competition was fierce, and a Metang that wasn't belligerent would find it difficult to evolve and protect itself.
Now Metagross's temper had improved considerably.
If it were before, it definitely wouldn't have just been an Arm Hammer.
Following the direction indicated by the pink light spot, Li Wei advanced.
Now Li Wei was almost certain,
This was a wild Pokémon territory, with almost no human footprints.
The wild Pokémon attacked Li Wei and Lucario because they had invaded their territory.
Sableye, Roggenrola, Gigalith, Zubat, Woobat...
The wild Pokémon population here was very rich.
During the cave exploration, Li Wei had been contemplating the issue of mutation.
King AZ's Eternal Flower, and the Carbink that Li Wei was currently looking for, mutated into Diancie.
Compared to Diancie Princess, who bore the heavy responsibility of the Land of Ores...
He wondered what the situation in the Land of Ores was like now,
But Li Wei thought about it, even Ash was still traveling in the Johto region.
Ash, who was accompanied by a Ho-Oh photographer, would only trigger a movie adaptation wherever he went.
The Land of Ores probably hadn't reached the point where Diancie Princess needed to go find Xerneas yet.
He also didn't know if the Diancie Li Wei was looking for had any mission.
But since the system marked it as capturable, Li Wei thought it probably didn't.
Under the light, tiny fragments on the ground refracted a crystal-clear, diamond-like luster with a hint of dreamlike pink!
"Wait a moment."
Li Wei squatted down and picked up a tiny fragment of a diamond with his fingertips; it was extremely hard.
The Intermediate Identification also provided information.
[Pink Diamond made by Diancie]
Unfortunately, this kind of diamond couldn't be sold for money.
The pink diamonds created by Diancie would eventually turn into useless stones if they were away from it for too long.
But judging by these fragments, he was already very close to Diancie.
"We're almost there."
"Lucario!"
"Kohkin!"
"Arcanine, remember this scent."
Li Wei handed the pink diamond fragment from his fingertips to Arcanine, and Arcanine twitched its nose.
"Let's find the places where these scents are strongest."
Li Wei felt that Diancie should be there.
"Woof!"
Following the faint, ethereal glimmer, Li Wei walked behind Arcanine, traversing the maze-like cave.
The terrain of this cave was very peculiar,
Sometimes he needed to squeeze sideways through narrow rock crevices, and sometimes he needed to climb down steep rock walls.
In narrow places, Li Wei had to recall Metagross to pass through.
If Li Wei were a bit fatter, some places would indeed be difficult to pass.
Li Wei could feel that they were generally going downwards.
Li Wei thought as he walked.
Was it also because of the underground mineral veins that they gathered here?
There should be quite a few Carbink populations here, which is why Diancie could mutate.
There was no sense of time in the cave; unknowingly, Li Wei must have been deep inside this cave for a long time.
Li Wei looked at the mechanical wristwatch on his left hand,
He had been in the cave for three hours,
This was something Li Wei had specially bought for this trip.
Pokémon watches were good, but they required an internet connection, and the time would be inaccurate without it.
In contrast, this kind of waterproof, non-internet-dependent mechanical wristwatch was the perfect choice for caving and exploration.
Li Wei bought it based on Steven's recommendation.
Although expensive, it was useful.
Li Wei didn't know how far he had walked in three and a half hours, but probably few people could go this deep.
Without a certain level of strength, they would have been driven away by Pokémon like Zubat and Excadrill long ago.
The deeper they went into the mine, the drier the air became, and the slightly damp smell of soil that was present earlier disappeared.
After some more time, the terrain gradually became flat and open, and the view suddenly cleared.
Crystals were embedded in the rock walls, and countless crystals shimmered, illuminating the area as if it were daytime.
One must know that this was a cave that was almost completely sealed except for the passage.
Although he hadn't seen the main character yet, Li Wei knew it wasn't far.
The Carbink were diligently working, and some Carbink were using their fluffy beards to polish each other's bodies, making the gems even shinier.
Everything seemed very peaceful,
But the peace was suddenly broken.
Not because of Li Wei, but because of the Pokémon coming from another direction.
It was a team composed of Gigalith and Sableye,
Behind the Gigalith, there were also Rock-type Pokémon like Boldore and Roggenrola.
"Why does the atmosphere feel a bit off?"
"Lucario!"
(It's starting!)
The battle suddenly began.
The Carbink had not yet noticed Li Wei and Lucario behind them,
But their attention was drawn by the approaching tribe led by Gigalith.
"Nah nah~"
"Nah nah!"
Amidst the Carbink's Growl,
With a distinct pink circular diamond on its head, wearing a pink diamond crown,
A golden arc ring on its neck, embedded with an octahedral diamond,
The upper part of its body resembled a white skirt, while the lower part was like a Carbink,
It was precisely Diancie, known as the [Royal Pink Princess]!
[Beep, no data for this Pokémon, Rotom!]
[A brand new Pokémon, Rotom!]
In the tense situation, Rotom's voice echoed through the silent cave.
Originally, Diancie and Carbink had not noticed Li Wei and Lucario.
Now, however,
All eyes in the room turned to Li Wei!