"I think that's a good idea."
Everyone's eyes lit up. Auron Vale really wasn't reliable — it was better to have Tang Yunqin do another round.
Auron Vale glowered, but there was nothing he could do as Tang Yunqin, surrounded by the others, stood the chopsticks up once again.
*Tick~*
After a light sound, everyone couldn't help but turn to look at Auron Vale.
Auron Vale's face darkened. He stepped forward and kicked the chopsticks flying, then walked off in the direction they'd fallen.
Jace Rowan and the others exchanged glances — then:
"Pffft—!"
"Ha ha ha ha~"
Once one person cracked, everyone lost it.
The direction Tang Yunqin's chopsticks had fallen? It was exactly the way they'd come.
Which meant they'd been walking the wrong way.
After the laughter died down, no one dared poke fun at Auron Vale anymore. They fell in behind him as they headed back the way they'd come.
*. .*
In the Eevee Forest, Soren Li stared at the crowd of people guarding the Mystery Zone exit, and couldn't help but bite his lip.
This was the second one. The second Mystery Zone exit he'd found.
Just as he'd expected, there was a crowd surrounding each exit. Anyone who approached got scrutinized, and then — wouldn't you know it — the scrutinized person would join their ranks.
Who could say no to a Silver Feather?
He'd tried the classic bait-and-switch. All it managed to do was draw away part of the crowd — a large portion still chose to hold their ground and keep watch.
"Damn it!"
Soren Li cursed under his breath. Fine, if that didn't work — there was always the next one. Somewhere, there had to be a weakness at one of the exits.
With that thought, Soren Li and Gardevoir left the area.
*. .*
" Electabuzz, *Thunder Punch*!"
Electabuzz excitedly darted into the middle of a group of Sentret, hands crackling with lightning, punching out one Sentret after another in rapid succession. It was having the time of its life.
"This is so boring. I almost think Tang Yunqin was wrong too."
The moment Jace Rowan finished speaking, Auron Vale and Tang Yunqin both shot him a withering look. "We're not exactly short on targets. What's wrong with that? We get our Pokémon battle experience, we keep ourselves sharp. Isn't that good?"
Jace Rowan's posture slumped further. "I don't feel particularly sharp."
"Release your Bulbasaur for battle. Isn't it close to evolving?"
"Fine, fine."
Jace Rowan sent out his Bulbasaur.
His general battle philosophy was overwhelming force — so in situations where he could dominate, but Bulbasaur couldn't quite manage it, he was reluctant to bring Bulbasaur out.
After all, Charizard finished enemies in one hit. Bulbasaur needed two or three. And where Charizard cleared out a whole area at once, Bulbasaur could only pick off individuals.
"Ah! When is my Dragonair going to evolve?!"
Su Tingxi couldn't help but cry out to the heavens.
Dragonair had been fighting nonstop since they'd entered the Mystery Zone — but three days had passed, and there was still absolutely no sign of evolution.
"Condolences. Look at Fugui — his Larvitar hasn't shown a flicker either."
After Jace Rowan finished, Su Tingxi glanced at Fugui. Fine — that made him feel considerably better.
His Dragonair could at least try to push for evolution through battle.
But Fugui? He could only wait. Fighting did nothing for Larvitar — it was completely useless.
Larvitar's evolution required digesting all the rocks it had eaten during its Kubitaki phase.
Static digestion was faster than dynamic digestion, so Fugui's Larvitar normally barely moved at all — just quietly absorbing the energy from the rocks stored in its body.
And it seemed Fugui had fed Kubitaki quite a few rare rocks. Which meant the evolution process had been drawn out yet again.
On the bright side — once Larvitar finally evolved into Tyranitar, it would be considerably stronger than a Tyranitar that had only eaten ordinary rocks.
Larvitar was anxious too. It just never showed it.
If anyone was the hardest worker, it was definitely Larvitar — it was digesting every single moment of every day.
Even the Snorlax next door was green with envy.
*. .*
By now, Auron Vale's group had crossed back through the lakeside of the Ice Land.
Around noon, they'd returned to the lakeside for a meal, which had left the old shopkeeper staring in bewilderment.
But ever since the whole incident in the Black Mystery Zone, there was no one else left at the lakeside — Auron Vale's group ate a quiet lunch in peace.
It was now past four in the afternoon. They were almost at Crab Island.
Up ahead, Charizard, Arcanine, and Dragonair were still hard at work battling Pokémon.
In the rear formation, some members were already getting drowsy.
Chansey perched on Auron Vale's shoulder, head bobbing. Mini Dragon half-closed its eyes, unwilling to fully open them.
Eevee was tucked in Tang Yunqin's arms, fast asleep.
From the little ones still fighting in the front lines, only Ralts, Mudbray, and Bulbasaur were still active.
Mareep's movement speed was just too slow — more often than not, by the time it hopped its way over, the fight was already done.
In the end, Su Tingxi had no choice but to coordinate with Jace Rowan. They had Arcanine carry Mareep on its back, so Mareep couldbarely keep pace.
From atop the racing Arcanine, Mareep kept releasing *Thunder Wave* and *Signal Beam* at targets. When it got tired, it rested on Arcanine, chewed on a berry, then got back to launching skills and splitting the experience.
Yin Hanling saw this and thought — that could work! She asked Su Tingxi if Sunbrella could ride on Altaria.
Just because Mareep's skill range wasn't long enough didn't mean Sunbrella's couldn't reach!
And so, Sunbrella got to experience the joy of flying for the first time.
But it didn't forget what it was supposed to be doing — even though soaring through the sky was a novel experience, it quickly got down to business.
*Aqua Pulse* after *Aqua Pulse* fired from Altaria's back. Every now and then, it also fired *Confuse Ray* to help the little ones out of a tight spot.
Altaria, for its part, bombarded the packed masses of wild Pokémon with ranged attacks from every direction.
Pushing forward like this, they soon arrived at Crab Island.
"Something's off."
"What's wrong?"
Auron Vale's expression shifted grimly as he activated Aura. That's when he sensed it — a Dark-type energy barrier spread across the sky.
"There's a Dark-type barrier!"
Everyone startled. They all knew what that meant.
Dark-type barriers were generally installed at laboratories or important sites to prevent Psychic-types and Ghost-types from phasing directly through walls.
This energy barrier didn't just stop Ghost-types from passing through walls invisibly — it also prevented any Psychic-type within its range from using *Teleport*.
"Does that mean… Soren Li might be here?"
"Eight chances out of ten."
Auron Vale looked up at the Mystery Zone exit, quietly sitting on the open ground ahead, and said: "If I'm not wrong, every other Mystery Zone exit would have a large crowd gathered there."
You You Liu nodded. "Right. An open scheme — forcing Soren Li to take a gamble. He has no choice but togambling. He has togambling that he can rush into the exit before anyone can react!"
You You Liu was spot on. At that very moment, hidden inside a cave on Crab Island, Soren Li sat perfectly still — waiting for his moment.
*(End of Chapter)*
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