Early the next morning, David took Zorua by car to an F-rank Secret Realm located in the suburbs of League City.
Pokémon Secret Realms are generally divided into four levels based on their size: small, medium, large, and super-large. Due to human development, they are further categorized from F-rank to A-rank, from safest to most dangerous.
F-rank and E-rank Secret Realms are mostly early-descended medium and small-sized Secret Realms. Because of their small area and long-term human development, there are now no highly dangerous Pokémon, and naturally, no precious resources. They are mainly used to house less powerful Pokémon to maintain ecological balance and for ordinary Trainers to train.
C-rank to A-rank Secret Realms are only open to Professional Trainers. They are much larger, rich in resources, and contain powerful wild Pokémon at the Gym Leader, Elite, or even Champion level.
Besides these regular types, there are two exceptions: newly descended Secret Realms, which remain unexplored, are uniformly classified as EX-rank, indicating unknown conditions. A very small number of Secret Realms related to Legendary Pokémon are classified as S-rank.
After completing the registration at the Secret Realm entrance, David took Zorua inside. The main ecological environment of this F-rank Secret Realm consisted of a large forest with a few lakes and rivers scattered throughout.
The outer perimeter of the forest mostly contained Novice-level Pokémon lacking combat ability. The deeper one ventured into the forest, the stronger the Pokémon became. However, to find Ordinary-level and above Pokémon, one had to go near the lakes in the forest's depths.
The outermost area of the Secret Realm was already crowded with many people. It was the season for new Trainers to acquire Pokémon. Many new Trainers were sparring with the Pokémon on the forest's perimeter to get used to their starter Pokémon, while others who hadn't acquired Pokémon yet were acting as Bug Catchers or Youngsters, hoping to catch a Pokémon directly in the outer area.
David ignored the crowd in the outer area and, while it was still early, took Zorua directly into the forest. As expected, David heard the familiar system prompt along the way.
"Ding... Detecting the host's first entry into a Pokémon Secret Realm, triggering relevant conditions. Now issuing the Novice Mission—First Exploration of the Secret Realm."
"Within ten days, please explore as much of the current Secret Realm as possible—no less than thirty percent—and defeat at least fifteen Pokémon within the Secret Realm."
"Mission rewards will be determined by the level of Pokémon defeated by the host and the extent of Secret Realm exploration."
Seeing the mission and its requirements, David raised an eyebrow and quickened his pace with Zorua.
Along the way, David saw many types of Pokémon, such as Caterpie, Wurmple, Bellsprout, Oddish, Pidgey, and others. Due to the various harassment from new Trainers during this period, and the Novice-level Zorua accompanying David, no Pokémon had any desire to attack. Each one seemingly ignored David.
David didn't mind. He hadn't intended to battle these weak Pokémon on the outskirts anyway. Their disregard for his presence just saved David time.
After walking for almost an hour, David gradually left the forest's outer perimeter and finally spotted a suitable target—a light blue Pokémon drinking water by a stream ahead came into view.
"Name: Nidoran♀"
"Type: Poison"
"Gender: ♀"
"Ability: Rivalry"
"Level: 13 (Ordinary)"
"Potential: Green"
"Held Item: None"
"Moves: Tackle, Growl, Bite, Fury Swipes, Tail Whip, Poison Sting, Dig"
She had already broken through to the Novice level, and her level wasn't much higher than Zorua's, making her a perfect first opponent for Zorua.
"Ni~" Nidoran♀, who was drinking water nearby, immediately became nervous when she saw David approaching.
David took out a few general-purpose Pokéblocks from his backpack and slowly approached Nidoran♀, displaying the Pokéblocks in his hand.
Nidoran♀, seeing David approach, initially wanted to turn and leave. But upon seeing the Pokéblocks in David's hand, she hesitated for a moment and then couldn't move her legs. Although she still maintained a wary posture, her eyes, fixed on the Pokéblocks in David's hand, betrayed her desire.
Given David's family background, the Pokéblocks in his hand were naturally high-grade, far beyond what ordinary Pokémon could access.
Seeing this, David immediately seized the opportunity. He activated his Aura Power, conveyed his goodwill to Nidoran♀, pointed to Zorua beside him, and spoke.
"Nidoran♀, we mean no harm. I just want to find an opponent for my partner here. What do you say? If you agree, all the Pokéblocks in my hand will be yours."
After hesitating, Nidoran♀ thought for a moment, looked at Zorua, then at the Pokéblocks in David's hand, and nodded gently.
With the help of Aura Power, David easily gained Nidoran♀'s trust. Most Pokémon are very simple in nature—as long as humans are willing to show kindness, it's easy to gain their friendship. The presence of Aura Power allowed David to convey his goodwill to wild Pokémon more easily.
"Ni~ Ni!!" After agreeing to David, Nidoran♀ shook her head, shedding her earlier appearance of being tempted by food. She stood on the open ground by the stream, inviting Zorua to battle.
Zorua then came to stand opposite Nidoran♀.
Seeing Zorua ready, Nidoran♀ let out a piercing Growl, first weakening Zorua's Attack, then used Tackle, charging straight toward Zorua.
"Agility, dodge!" David commanded Zorua to use Agility. Zorua, whose Speed was already far superior to others at her level, became a black blur under Agility, easily dodging Nidoran♀'s charge.
"Whoosh~ Whoosh" Nidoran♀, whose two consecutive Tackles were dodged, also reacted. Purple light gathered in her mouth, and she shot a volley of Poison Sting directly at Zorua not far away.
"Double Team, then use Shadow Sneak!" Zorua's figure suddenly split into four, surrounding Nidoran♀. The incoming Poison Sting only struck and dispelled one of the clones.
"Bang~"
Just as Nidoran♀ was looking at the other clones with difficulty, a purple-black orb of shadowy energy directly knocked her flying.
Nidoran♀, knocked flying, struggled for a while but ultimately couldn't get back up.
David came to the fallen Nidoran♀ and took out a Super Potion from his backpack. He sprayed it gently on the spot where Shadow Sneak had hit her side, then took out a few Oran Berries to restore her stamina and fed them to her, before placing down the Pokéblocks he had promised earlier.
Only then did he feel relieved, leaving with Zorua to move deeper into the forest to find the next opponent. Nidoran♀, left behind, slowly recovered her senses and looked with a complicated expression at the departing figures of David and Zorua. She then quickly turned her head, picked up the Pokéblocks David had left, and disappeared in a flash.
To complete the mission as best as possible, David and Zorua spent the entire day in the Secret Realm. Through the temptation of Pokéblocks and communication with Aura Power, most of the Pokémon they encountered that met David's requirements were not reluctant to have a battle with Zorua. Zorua's level also increased during the day's battles.
In the afternoon, as the sun was gradually setting, David, after a whole day of hard work, finally returned home with Zorua. Both were exhausted.