Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

Wang Yao chatted with Joey for another half an hour until the low-battery indicator lighted up on the communicator, and then he hung up the phone.

"Is it because I haven't charged it in a long time..." Wang Yao fiddled with the communicator with a black screen.

Chairman Masuda told him that this thing was solar-powered and it was probably kept in a drawer before.

He had only been wearing it for two days, so the battery probably wasn't fully charged yet.

Wang Yao came back to his senses after talking on the phone with Joey and found that his Pokémon were already sleeping in groups of three or four next to the wooden house.

I don't know when Zapdos came out of the pool and hid back in its Poké Ball to rest.

Stinging jellyfish and octopus barrels rest together in a cold water pool far away from the spring.

Even the sharp-toothed fish that Wang Yao had been holding in his arms squinted its eyes and snored evenly.

"I think it's time for me to go to sleep..." Wang Yao scratched his head and carefully let go of the sharp-toothed fish.

Wang Yao climbed out of the hot spring pool, dried himself with a clean towel, changed into new clothes and went into the cabin.

The cabins built by giant crabs have walls on only three sides, the roof is two meters high and covers a total area of ​​more than ten square meters.

Although it is called a cabin, it actually looks more like a large wooden box with an opening on the side.

The floor of the wooden house was covered with a layer of dry leaves, and there was a small bed made of thick logs in the inside.

Arbok was already curled up in a corner of the cot. Because its evolved body had become too large, a small part of its tail was resting on the head of the bed.

"Cha~Bop~" The sleeping Arbok was still smacking his lips, as if he was dreaming about delicious food again.

In another corner of the cabin, a gull used the carapace of a giant crab as a bird's nest. The two Pokémon were close together, and it looked like the giant crab had a gull-shaped hat.

Only Charmeleon was lying alone beside the fire. As a fire-type Pokémon, Charmeleon's higher body temperature made it more afraid of the cold at night, but the flames on its body prevented it from huddling together with other Pokémon in the cabin.

The sleepy little fire horse had to stay alone with the burning fire.

Wang Yao naturally would not leave the little fire horse alone, and he was also afraid that the little fire horse would catch a cold after the fire went out in the second half of the night.

Wang Yao took out the Poké Ball and took back the Charmer, and also added some new firewood to the fire.

Wang Yao looked around with the Cowardly Bug's Poké Ball again, but couldn't find any trace of this guy.

But Wang Yao knew that with the cowardly bug's style, it would most likely hide in a place it thought was safe and comfortable, so he no longer paid attention to its whereabouts.

"Ha~ah~" Wang Yao yawned.

I walked in the mountains for half a day in the afternoon and took a hot spring bath in the evening. I felt relaxed physically but mentally tired.

He took out a waterproof mat from his backpack and spread it on the wooden bed, then took out a blanket to keep himself warm at night.

Wang Yao adjusted the tip of the monster's tail that was placed on the head of the bed so that it could serve as a pillow under his head.

As Wang Yao wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, his first night in the Gopher Forest passed like this.

……

……

"Crack!"

As Wang Yao slowly woke up, Arbok finally pitifully retracted the tip of its tail that had been numbed by being pressed.

"Haa~" Wang Yao rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little sleepy.

As soon as Wang Yao got up, he saw the coward wandering around the camp.

Seeing Wang Yao wake up, the cowardly bug put a pomelo fruit on his head and ran to the trainer to show his courtesy.

"Where did you go last night?" Wang Yao reached out and picked up the pomelo fruit, then wiped it on his body.

"Guji?" The cowardly bug's whiskers trembled, as if he did not expect Wang Yao to ask this question.

"Guji!" The cowardly bug quickly ran to the gull that was stretching its wings outside the hut and circled around it a few times.

"Cluck! Cluck, cuckoo!" The cowardly bug meant that it had been staying with the toucan last night.

"Hmm?" Wang Yao thought about it.

"So you hid under the wings of a gull?"

"No wonder I couldn't find you!" Wang Yao was impressed by the coward's operation.

After taking a bite of pomelo, Wang Yao put on his clothes and walked out of the hut.

Because Zapdos still needs to recuperate in the hot spring for a few days.

Wang Yao couldn't head to the next town for a while.

And...when Wang Yao was chatting with Joey on the phone yesterday, he also heard a special news!

I have time to verify it today!

If the rumors that Joey and Wang Yao talked about are true, Wang Yao might have an interesting journey!

"You guys move around the camp by yourselves - Toucan! Let's go out for a while!" Wang Yao released all the Pokémon, and only carried the Poké Balls of Zapdos, Charmander, and Crabgrass.

After putting on the saddle again, Wang Yao turned over and rode on the toad.

"Let's go! Let's find a cave dug by a gopher!" Wang Yao gave the toucan a strange order.

"Gaou!" The Toucan didn't understand what was going on, but knew that it was the right thing to do now to take off with the trainer on board.

What Wang Yao wanted to search for was, of course, the huge cave that had been dug out by the gophers in the gopher forest over the years!

Yesterday, after Miss Joy talked to him about the Diglett Forest, she casually told him about something she had seen at the Pokémon Center a few months ago.

A few months ago, Miss Joy treated a mountain hiker's Pokémon at the Pokémon Center.

The uncle had an untidy beard and was covered in dirt when he first arrived at the Pokémon Center. He looked very unkempt.

And according to what that uncle said, he was still in Deep Gray Market two days ago!

Normally, to walk from Dark Gray City to Vermilion City, you need to go east through Moon Viewing Mountain, then pass through Cerulean City and Golden City, and finally arrive at Vermilion City!

If you just walk, the whole journey will take at least half a month!

Otherwise, you have to go south and take a ferry from the Binu Coast near the Pallet Town, pass the sea where the Red Lotus Island and the Gemini Island are located, and take the water route to reach the Dead Leaf Port.

Although the ferry is faster, the entire journey still takes two or three days, after all, it has to temporarily stop at the shore to resupply supplies.

But in the forest southeast of Deep Gray City, he accidentally broke into a huge underground cave and traveled in the dim underground for two days!

When he was able to see the light of day again with the help of the Pokémon in his hands, he found himself in an unfamiliar forest, surrounded by moles digging caves.

The hiker came out of the forest and finally found the Pokémon Center, only to realize that he had traveled through most of the Kanto region and arrived at Vermillion City on the seaside!

And the huge underground cave he passed through was dug by those gophers!

This is what Joey learned - news about the mole caves that existed near Vermilion City.

Because there were so few similar cases, Joey thought it was the mountaineer's hallucination, but Wang Yao didn't think so.

In fact, he seemed to have some shallow memory of this gopher burrow!

This should be a setting in an old Pokémon game. After unlocking the Diglett Cave, players can quickly travel between Pewter City and Vermilion City.

Wang Yao was quite interested in this cave, so he couldn't wait to go to the forest to look for it as soon as he got up.

This cave can connect to most of Guandu, and basically only the mole tribe exists there. Wang Yao feels that if he can control the existence of this cave, there will be unexpected gains.

And it can also solve a problem... that is, he can't defeat the Vermilion City and Golden City gyms that are closest to him!

Let’s not talk about Vermilion City. Their attributes were severely restrained and their opponent’s attack was heavy. I guess even if Wang Yao brought up his identity as Team Rocket, Ma Zhishi wouldn’t give him face.

As for Jinhuang City - it’s not that we didn’t try hard, but the enemy has Nazhi!

I can only say that as a trainer, having psychic powers that are more powerful than Pokémon is a bit of cheating!

And if he could get through the Diglett Cave and reach the Pitch Gray City Gym, which specializes in rock-type items... then he'd be in for a killing spree!

He has the three admirals of the navy! Any one of them can be picked up and beaten by Xiaogang!

……

"Ga gull!" The toucan flying in the sky made a discovery.

Wang Yao's Gull has the sharp vision trait that is common among bird Pokémon. Although it is of little use in actual battles, it is completely insignificant compared to powerful weather-related traits such as [Rainfall] and [Rain Plate].

But it is still very powerful when used in high-altitude reconnaissance.

He had helped Wang Yao many times when he was on the deserted island and making a raft to cross the sea!

"Where?" Wang Yao, who was affected by the air currents in the sky and could not open his eyes, could not see clearly what was below him.

"Ga gull!" The toucan gull was still circling and descending in the sky.

"Okay! I see it!" Wang Yao put his right hand in front of his forehead and finally saw a dark shadow on the ground.

Puff! Puff!

The toucans flapped their wings and slowly landed.

"Is this the mole hole?!" Wang Yao looked at the scene in front of him in shock.

Dozens of caves of varying sizes were dug out on a small hill about four or five meters high.

The highest cave was so high that Wang Yao couldn’t even touch the top with his hand when he walked in!

"Thank you for your hard work, Toucan! Come back and have a rest first!"

The cave was not suitable for bird Pokémon to move around, so Wang Yao first put away the Toucan.

"Come out! Little Fire Horse!" Wang Yao called out the Little Fire Horse to go with him.

"Wow~" As the little fire horse appeared, the cave became much brighter.

"It's convenient to have Fire-type Pokémon! Especially Fire-type Pokémon that burns with flames!" Wang Yao couldn't help but sigh!

His previous decision to exchange for Little Fire Horse was indeed the right one!

"Giant Crab! You come out too!" Wang Yao released his vanguard general as well.

The little fire horse is mainly responsible for lighting, while the giant crab is used to fight enemies.

For Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon that are more likely to appear in underground caves, the Water-type Crab is definitely a formidable opponent!

"Giant Crab! Use your claws to leave marks on the ground at regular intervals!" Wang Yao didn't plan to go too deep, after all, other Pokémon were still waiting for him in the camp.

Leaving a mark is also to prevent getting lost.

However, for giant crabs, which are also good at digging holes, this is just an extra insurance.

Taking out a compass, Wang Yao identified the direction in the underground cave and walked side by side with Little Fire Horse in the middle of the cave.

"Such a wide cave... was it really dug by gophers?" Wang Yao looked up at the digging marks on the top of the cave.

The marks left on the inner walls are very fine, obviously dug by some Pokémon with sharp claws.

Speaking of which, the mystery of the lower body of Diglett and Diglett seems to have never been reasonably answered in the Pokémon world!

However, just looking at the skill list... first of all, the mole should have claws!

"Judging from the direction of the pointer... this cave is facing northwest as a whole!" Wang Yao continued with the flame of the little fire horse and checked the direction of the compass.

Recalling the map of Kanto in his mind, Wang Yao discovered that Deep Gray City seemed to be located northwest of Vermilion City!

"That should be correct!" Wang Yao smiled affirmatively.

"But this cave looks very desolate... I didn't even see a single Pokémon..." Wang Yao didn't see any other Pokémon the whole time, including the moles digging tunnels.

"Don't the gophers have anything else to do besides digging tunnels?" Wang Yao planned to go back first and explore again after resting at the hot spring camp.

"Forget it! Let's go first!" Wang Yao did not go too deep underground. After roughly finding out the direction, he returned to the ground.

……

After riding the toucan back to the camp, Wang Yao discovered that there were two "new guests".

"Hello! I'm Saizo!"

"This is my fellow practitioner—Garaka!"

The person who spoke was a young man with long hair, a short sword on his waist, and dressed like a ronin samurai - Saizo!

Next to him, there is a Pokémon named Garagara, who wears a bone mask, holds a bone stick, and has yellow hair all over his body.

Before Wang Yao's toucan had even stood firm, Sai Zang had already come forward with Gala Gala to say hello.

"My name is A Yao. Are you also a Pokémon trainer?" Wang Yao asked as he helped the Toucan untie the vehicle tied to his body.

"Of course!" Zhai Zang seemed to be a year or two younger than Wang Yao, still full of youthful vigor and childishness.

"We are training for next year's competition!" Saizo said proudly, holding the unsheathed samurai sword at his waist.

"Next year?" Wang Yao was a little confused.

"Isn't there still about half a year until the Quartz Conference in October?!" Wang Yao's meaning was naturally clear.

Using this half year, I could obtain eight badges and qualify for the Quartz Conference... theoretically, that should be more than enough.

After all, some gyms are strong, and there are not only eight fixed gyms to choose from like in the game.

As long as you specifically challenge the weaker or attribute-advantaged gyms, collecting eight badges in a short period of time is definitely not a big challenge.

"Um... I originally wanted to participate this year! But..." Saizo loosened his grip on the samurai sword awkwardly and raised his hand to scratch his head.

"Crack! Crack, crack!" Before he could explain, Crack, crack, beside him, had already explained for him by waving his bone stick.

Of course, Wang Yao couldn’t understand what Galagala said!

"——But, Gara Gara has a strong sense of self-esteem! It thinks that our group should do everything from making a splash to making a splash!!"

"So... one more year of practice means one more chance of success. We all hope to get a good ranking in our first competition!" Saizo was not quite honest enough.

Apparently, both he and Galagala were not confident enough about the remaining six months of training time, and hoped to train for another year before participating in the competition.

"I see..." Wang Yao nodded.

He understood the concerns of Saizo and the others.

Although it is relatively easy to obtain the qualification to participate in the regional conference.

But the problem is, once you pass the first four rounds of the conference and get your ticket to the knockout rounds.

Then your eligibility to participate in this area will be permanently consumed!

As for the contestants participating in the knockout round, no matter whether you continue to participate in the competition or what results you have achieved!

You will not be able to participate in the competition again in the future sessions of this region!

This will prevent someone from participating in the competition repeatedly and bullying kids who have just debuted for a year!

For someone like Xiaozhi to make it to the top 16 right after his debut is actually a very good result. After returning to Pallet Town, the residents of the town even held a celebration party for him.

In fact, there are many restrictions on regional competitions... For example, more than half of the participating Pokémon must be logging in for the first time in the region, which means you have to use Pokémon captured locally.

Unlike in games, there are restrictions on Pokémon items and tactics in actual combat.

At least they won't allow electric-type Pokémon to tie a balloon to its waist, fly in the air and fight ground-type Pokémon!

Your Snorlax can't just take out an apple core from his four-dimensional pocket to replenish his energy while fighting!

In short... these rules are very troublesome to implement.

It will also change according to the league regulations of each region.

"So, you came here... to practice as well?" Wang Yao looked at Zhai Zang and asked, with some uncertainty in his tone.