Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

Three minutes after Joey left, Wang Yao took a cup of hot milk from Jellyfish.

"Thank you! That's so thoughtful~Jelly Egg!" The temperature of the hot milk was just right and Wang Yao drank it quickly.

"Lucky!" Jigglypuff showed a satisfied smile. With its kind nature, it would feel very happy to be able to help others.

Before leaving, Jilidan took away Wang Yao's leftover porridge bowl and milk cup.

After dinner, Wang Yao simply washed up and lay back on the bed to rest.

……

"…You need to restock your wound medicine and antidote! Also, how are your water and food prepared——!?"

"...and more! Ponytail hasn't fully recovered yet...don't let it participate in Pokémon battles for the time being! Yao, did you hear me?" Miss Joy warned Wang Yao.

It was 12:30 noon the next day. Wang Yao, who had just finished lunch, had already packed his luggage and was ready to leave the Vermillion City Pokémon Center.

"Got it~ Got it~" Wang Yao tightened the straps of his backpack and responded to Miss Joy's nagging.

After a night of recovery, the swelling on Wang Yao's face and legs has completely subsided. Although he still feels some soreness when he pulls his muscles, it does not affect his normal life.

"I have the communicator here - I will find a chance to contact Miss Shizuka and President Masuda!" Wang Yao showed the communicator on his wrist.

"That's good..." Miss Joy nodded subconsciously at first, then realized something was wrong and shouted at Wang Yao angrily: "——Who wants to contact you! Don't bother me!"

"And you! Jigglypuff~" Wang Yao ignored Joey who was angry and smiled at Jigglypuff.

"Lucky~" Jigglypuff still looked carefree.

"Let's go!" Wang Yao waved his hand and turned to walk out.

"Really——!" Miss Joy muttered, silently watching Wang Yao's back gradually disappearing.

Before long, Miss Joy was back to her day's work.

……

……

Once again walking on the forest path north of Dead Leaf City, Wang Yao saw a little fire horse striding happily beside him.

"I didn't expect those props to be so valuable..." Wang Yao patted the bulging bag on Xiaohuoma's back.

After transferring most of the less frequently used luggage onto the back of the Little Fire Horse, Wang Yao felt much more relaxed.

Although the recycling price offered by Silver's Item Store was only half of the selling price, the fifty-seven poison needles were sold for a total of nearly 100,000 Pokémon.

As for the venom of the giant hornet, it is not within the other party's acquisition range!

But the salesgirl also told Wang Yao the purpose of this thing - the dried powder can be sold to Chinese medicine stores to make special Pokémon supplements.

Unfortunately, this type of Pokémon Chinese medicine store is not popular in the Kanto region, but there are many of these Chinese medicine stores in the western Johto region.

After the venom was processed using a professional medicinal material drying machine in the prop store, Wang Yao obtained a small bag of portable purple poison powder.

With the money from selling props, he bought an extra saddle bag and replenished the antidotes and medicines he had consumed previously.

The saddle bag is naturally prepared for Charming Pony, and the outer layer is made of waterproof and wear-resistant insulation material... Although it is only a thin layer, Wang Yao believes in the black technology of the Pokémon world!

According to the salesgirl’s description, even the flames of a duck-billed fire dragon living in the volcanic magma could not penetrate the backpack and burn the items inside.

Moreover, the little Fire Pony was not averse to helping Wang Yao carry the luggage. Instead, he was very enthusiastic about helping Wang Yao carry the luggage and was cheering for himself that he could no longer stay in the Poké Ball.

Wang Yao felt that this would also help train the little fire horse's relatively weak physical strength and endurance, and accumulate strength for it to evolve into a flaming horse.

……

At this time, Wang Yao was standing on the side of the main road leading to Golden Yellow City, north of Kuye City.

"The map says that there will be a fork in the road five kilometers further north..." Wang Yao held up the map book he had bought in advance and carefully determined the direction using the compass.

Now he finally understood why in the animation, Satoshi and his friends often got lost even though they had a map to guide them!

The population of the Pokémon world is sparse, and there are not many settled cities.

Moreover, with the help of flying Pokémon, road construction is usually limited to towns with larger populations.

As a result, most cities only have one official main highway to connect them!

But during the journey, as a trainer, you often need to go to rivers outside the town to get water, camp in forest clearings and valleys, or choose to leave the road and walk through the mountains in order to take a shortcut!

Not to mention that sometimes I would deliberately go to the mountains to capture new Pokémon...

Especially a brainless reckless guy like Satoshi, who might just chase after a rare Pokémon when he sees it!

As long as you leave the road halfway and come to the dense mountains, you will easily get lost if you want to find the original road again!

However, Wang Yao has the flying gulls to lead the way at the critical moment, so he is not afraid of this.

"Okay, little fire horse, let's go!" Wang Yao asked the little fire horse that was having fun everywhere to calm down.

"Whee~" The little fire horse took a few quick steps and caught up with Wang Yao.

Half an hour later, Wang Yao arrived at the fork in the road.

"Okay... we can't take the main road for the rest of the journey." Wang Yao looked at the map for the last time and then put it away.

The Mole Forest is located deep in the forest northeast of Vermilion City. Only the approximate location is marked on the map, and no specific road is drawn.

But perhaps because of the hot springs, a path was trampled out on the ground leading to the Mole Forest by travelers.

Just keep following the path and you should reach the Gopher Forest.

"Come out! Arbok!" Wang Yao released the second Pokémon.

"Crack~" Arbok returned to the familiar forest of Kanto area and spit out its snake tongue in a relaxed manner - it smelled the scent of its prey again.

Compared with the Giant Claw Crab and the Arbok, it can move more smoothly in the dense forest and will not be restricted by the changing terrain.

"Go ahead and explore the way! Today you will be responsible for fighting the wild Pokémon we encounter." Wang Yao also planned to let this fat snake accumulate more combat experience.

"Hiss~" Arbok twisted his body and walked to the front of the team.

Wang Yao was in the middle of the team, with a small fire horse carrying luggage behind him.

Pulling out a sharp machete from the side of the bag on the horse's back, Wang Yao also cleared some of the overgrown weeds and vines on both sides of the road.

Since they could camp near the hot springs at night, Wang Yao was not in a hurry to travel.

Feeling a Poké Ball on his body vibrate slightly, Wang Yao smiled and gently pressed it down.

"Don't worry! Zapdos! We're almost there..."

"As long as you use the natural hot spring water and the potion given by the doctor, your feathers will recover soon!" Wang Yao knew that they were getting close to the hot spring, and Zapdos became a little impatient.

"Ni?" The Charmander behind him didn't know the existence of Zapdos, so he looked at the trainer in front of him with some confusion, wanting to know who Wang Yao was talking to.

Wang Yao also realized that he had not yet introduced the existence of Zapdos to the new member of the team, Little Fire Horse.

"Little Fire Horse, after we get to the hot spring, I will introduce you to a new friend!" Wang Yao smiled and comforted the curious Little Fire Horse.

"咴~" The little fire horse was very happy to have a new partner.

……

As Wang Yao went deeper into the jungle, the path under his feet became more and more chaotic. It was obvious that at this point, most travelers began to "play freely"!

Wang Yao used the Arbok's keen sense of smell to find the direction of the dense water vapor, so the route he took should be the closest to a straight line.

But this is obviously not the best route for walking, and the traces of previous generations opening up the road on the path ahead are gradually becoming fewer and fewer.

It’s just that Wang Yao doesn’t have much travel experience now, so he hasn’t realized this yet.

Along the way, Wang Yao encountered many Bug-type and Grass-type Pokémon, as well as common Normal-type Pokémon such as Rattata, Pidgeot, and Spearow.

But they were no match for the Arbok leading the way, and Wang Yao had no intention of capturing it.

Arbok ate a few Spearow and Rattata at first, but once it was full it just hissed to drive them away.

However, Wang Yao thought that the Spearows in this forest were in good physical condition, so he asked Arbok to poison a few more of them as dinner.

The venom of the Arbok snake will not contaminate the meat. The venom will naturally decompose after heating. Moreover, after the toxin is injected, it will have a similar effect to tenderizer, making it easier for the prey to swallow.

Wang Yao tied up the poisoned Spearows with ropes and hung them on both sides of the little fire horse's body where there was no flame.

Perhaps they happened to come across a Spearow habitat. Wang Yao estimated that this group of Spearows did not have the protection of the Toucan...

Because before long, two rows of Spearows were already hanging on the sides of the little fire horse.

After walking through the dense forest for several kilometers, Wang Yao, who was following Arbok, found that the mountain road ahead became rugged, and there was a rock wall more than two meters high blocking the road.

The rock wall at this height can be passed normally with some effort. Wang Yao put away the machete and put on a pair of non-slip gloves.

He first threw the backpack up and gave it to Arbok to take care of, and then with the help of Ponyta, he climbed up the rock using his hands and feet.

The little fire horse, even though he was carrying dozens of kilograms of weight, jumped up easily and landed steadily on the top of the rock wall.

"Huh! Okay, keep going! I think we're almost there!" Wang Yao climbed up, took a breath, and put his backpack back on.

A gravel beach appeared behind the rock wall. It looked like it would turn into a stream during the rainy season, but it was still dry at this time.

It was still April, and the rainy season in the Kanto region had not yet arrived.

Wang Yao continued to move forward along the gravel beach. The view here was much wider, but the gravel under his feet made a crackling sound and it was still a little difficult to walk.

When the little fire horse arrived here, it was very cautious and did not dare to run and jump like before. Although its hooves were very hard, they could easily get stuck in the cracks of the rocks.

After walking for another ten minutes, Wang Yao was about to leave the rocky beach.

A new forest began to appear in front of me.

"Let's take a break first..." Instead of rushing back into the forest, Wang Yao took out a pot of water, sat down and drank two sips.

He then scooped some water into the cup and handed it to the little fire horse.

The little fire horse lowered his head and drank non-stop, obviously he was thirsty.

"Drink slowly, don't be in a hurry." Wang Yao stroked the mane on the little fire horse's neck and used his fingers to comb out the tangled parts.

There was a warm and soft touch when he touched it, which was the sign of Ponyta recognizing his trainer.

Although it is a fire-type Pokémon, Charmeleon usually lives on grasslands and still needs drinking water.

If it's one of those volcano Pokémon, they can usually live their entire lives without getting wet.

Arbok was not thirsty at this time, and even felt a little full!

But this is a natural ability of snake Pokémon - they can store energy and water for consumption in the next few months with just one meal.

During the repair, Wang Yao noticed that the forest ahead seemed to be growing taller and its branches and leaves were very lush.

"This should be the mole forest... the hot spring is inside." Wang Yao said with certainty.

Gophers like dark places, stay underground most of the time, and are especially good at digging holes!

The soil will be properly turned over after they pass through the ground, and their feces will make the soil fertile, making it the most suitable field for farming.

So in the forest where gophers live, most trees grow well!

"Come out! Toucan!" Wang Yao released the aerial scouts.

The trees in the Gopher Forest are too dense, and vision is easily obstructed when passing through them. It is best to be able to locate directly from the air.

"Toucan! Take me to the forest to find the location of the hot spring!" Wang Yao left his luggage and the little fire horse at the edge of the rocky beach and took the Toucan to scout the terrain.

"Gaou~" At this time, the toucan had a simple saddle on its body.

Wang Yao turned over and sat on the soft cushion on the back of the black-billed gull, holding a handle in his hand that was fixed to the black-billed gull with a leather strap.

This saddle was also purchased at Silver's Prop Shop. The main body is a quilted leather pad and a T-shaped handle that can be held horizontally.

With adjustable straps, it can fit the body size of most bird Pokémon.

If Wang Yao didn't care about the experience of the journey... he could even choose to travel light and rely directly on the seagulls to fly to various towns to challenge gyms.

Then speed run through eight gyms in a week and get a ticket to the Quartz Conference!

But this is too boring... If time is tight, Wang Yao would not be opposed to doing this, but there is still half a year before the opening of the Quartz Conference!

The combat power of the Pokémon under his command and the attribute configuration of the team also need to be gradually improved and adjusted. The journey of the past six months is a good opportunity and training.

Wang Yao rode into the sky on a toucan.

Today's toucan has become very accustomed to carrying Wang Yao. Except for the slow flying speed, the stability and flexibility during manned flight are very well controlled.

In the air, Wang Yao looked down at the gopher forest below.

The dark green color of the gopher forest stands out against the light green color of the surrounding ordinary forest.

"It seems that this area is the activity range of the moles..." Wang Yao judged.

"Let's fly higher - the hot spring is either in an open space or in a cave in the mountains." Wang Yao needed a higher view.

"Ga gull!" The toucan flapped its wings faster and carried Wang Yao higher into the sky.

Not long after, Wang Yao saw a low rocky mountain in a dense forest.

The highest point of the stone mountain is about twenty meters high and is just hidden by the surrounding treetops.

And in the middle of the stone mountain, a spring with steam suddenly appeared!

The groundwater from the spring flows down through the cracks in the stone mountain, gathering into several large and small pools below.

Obviously this is the hot spring that Wang Yao is looking for!

"Great! Found it!" Wang Yao was quite happy. The hot spring was not far from the rocky beach.

This meant he could arrive before dark and have plenty of time to set up camp.

Wang Yao took out a compass, identified the direction, and then let the toucan return along the same route.

After reuniting with Ponyta and Arbok, Wang Yao was able to move quickly through the Gopher Forest according to the compass.

Although this dense forest was more difficult to pass through than before, it only took Wang Yao an hour to reach the vicinity of Hot Spring Rock Mountain!

"Okay! Everybody come out!" Wang Yao released all the Pokémon in one breath!

"After setting up camp, everyone can prepare to enjoy the barbecue dinner tonight - there are also natural hot springs here for you to soak in!" Wang Yao was surrounded by a circle of Pokémon.

Tonight will be the beginning of Wang Yao and his Pokémon's journey to the Kanto Tournament!

It will also be a big carnival on the first night!