Chapter 292 — The Raid
“Is that okay?” Lu Li looked at Eguipeng with eager anticipation.
Eguipeng nodded decisively. “Of course no problem.”
“Wait a moment—we haven’t started sowing yet.” After speaking, Lu Li turned to the nearby Milotic. “Give us a special rain, please.”
Milotic nodded. Soon the sky grew heavy with clouds and a fine rain began to fall.
The rain wasn’t heavy—very light—like spring drizzle, quietly nourishing everything.
“This kind of rain…” Eguipeng glanced at the charming Milotic in surprise and thought, “Seems my companions all have special skills.”
Normally divine beasts of sacred offices look down on humans and Pokémon alike, but Eguipeng was an exception.
With this special rain, the previously scorching ground was washed and the soil’s temperature moderated.
Next was sowing; Lu Li entrusted that task to the Starmie.
Miblim, an Espurr-type with psychic affinity, was still young—only a Starmie at elite rank could place every seed precisely where it belonged.
“Please take care of the rest,” Lu Li said to the Starmie perched on his shoulder.
The Starmie didn’t answer, only its eyes flashing violet.
Under its telekinesis, seeds fell into the soil like rain—every seed spaced with perfect precision.
“This special Eevee carries the aura of Ho-Oh, and it’s Psychic/Dark—rare to see a dual-type Eevee.” Eguipeng was surprised.
He also grew more certain that Lu Li’s companions were exceptional; almost every one of them had the makings of a deity.
Finally, Onix finished the plowing.
“Leave the rest to me.” Eguipeng volunteered.
Knowing what Eguipeng intended, Lu Li excitedly patted Tropius’s thigh and whispered, “Tropius, watch carefully and learn.”
Both used special growth techniques; Lu Li believed that a divine-officed Eguipeng could teach Tropius a lot.
A green light spread, full of vitality and the mysterious force of rules.
Tropius stared at the radiance, puzzled.
This was indeed a growth technique, but not the kind it expected.
Testing Tropius, Lu Li asked, “Did you figure anything out?”
Tropius first shook its head, then hesitantly nodded.
“Hot—”
(“I understood a bit, but not completely.”)
“That’s already good.”
Lu Li encouraged it with a smile—he himself hadn’t fully understood either.
Eguipeng’s special growth resembled a maturation version of growth but added a layer of rule-force, an arcane law-like power.
In cultivation worlds, practitioners rarely apply “rule-force” directly; they more often speak of the power of laws.
When the green light faded, the once-bare land was instantly covered with yellow-green seedlings that kept growing.
Within a few breaths, saplings became towering trees and even reached flowering stages.
“Hot—”
(“Amazing!”)
Tropius cried in envy and astonishment.
Neither it nor Lu Li’s usual growth techniques could instantaneously mature saplings into towering trees.
“Any harvest?” Lu Li asked expectantly.
“Hot—”
(“A little.”)
Tropius nodded, contemplative.
“That’s good enough.” Lu Li was satisfied.
“By the way, this is for you.”
After finishing, Eguipeng tossed a small green light orb into Tropius’s body.
With his Eternal Vision on, Lu Li immediately recognized the orb’s nature.
It was an energy cluster composed of pure life-law and grass-law—less than a full law crystal but superior to most Pokémon relics.
Tropius was one step away from breaking through to Gym-class; it lacked only accumulated energy.
With the green orb added, Tropius’s breakthrough naturally completed—now Gym-class.
Tropius’s breakthrough was quiet and ordinary, unlike Milotic’s prepared display or Charmander’s dramatic evolution. It was as simple as drinking water.
Lu Li sincerely congratulated, “Congratulations, Tropius!”
“Hot—”
(“Mainly thanks to Lord Eguipeng.”)
“You’re polite.” Lu Li praised, and with the corner of his eye he glanced at Charizard—he had someone in mind but didn’t call them out.
Charizard was displeased, snorted hot breath from its nostrils, then also obsequiously thanked Eguipeng: “Thank you, Lord Eguipeng.”
Eguipeng only smiled lightly, not taking the thanks to heart.
Indeed, he had helped Charizard and Tropius mainly because of Lu Li, the Trainer, not because of the two Pokémon. Their thanks mattered little.
With “Little Wife”’s assistance, Lu Li officially became a Gym-class Trainer—and one possessing three Gym-class Pokémon, a seasoned Gym Trainer.
After accepting the two Pokémon’s thanks, Eguipeng spoke: “Alright, I should return. I have business at the World Tree.”
Lu Li nodded and did not detain him.
“If you need anything, tell me—you might find it more useful than you think.” Lu Li made a finger-galaxy gesture.
Eguipeng smiled, nodded, and slowly faded from view.
When Eguipeng left, Lu Li laughed out loud.
Becoming a Gym-class Trainer in under half a year, Lu Li wanted to shout: “Who’s next?”
“Tropius, see? This is the domain I won for you.” Lu Li pulled Tropius and pointed at the orchard.
“Hot—”
Tropius cried in excitement.
After calming down, Lu Li rode Tropius to inspect the orchard. Finding no anomalies, he led his Pokémon out of the pocket realm.
Back in the real world, Lu Li smelled burning.
That uneasy feeling grew worse; he hurriedly crushed a path and rushed out of the pocket gateway.
He returned to a ruin.
The former mansion was reduced to a few blackened concrete chunks; the nearby orchard was heavily damaged too.
Fortunately, distant gardens and orchards were not completely destroyed—at worst a fallen wall.
“What happened?” Lu Li’s face darkened.
From the scene, it was clear they’d been raided.
He scanned with his mind and found Wei buried under concrete in the northwest corner of the ruins.
Wei lay barely alive, protected beneath their Bear Disciple, while the little Chimchar hopped anxiously.
Seeing this, Lu Li had the Starmie teleport them over.
Panicked, he asked, “Chimchar, what happened?”
“Fire—” Chimchar gestured frantically, extremely agitated.
Using Spirit Speech, Lu Li finally learned the sequence of events.
Two groups attacked the estate together; the attackers were powerful—four Gym-class Trainers among them.
Luckily, the Sun Pokémon had been outside and spotted them early.
Though there was some defense, four attackers overwhelmed them.
During the raid the intruders found Baobao by chance.
Needless to say, they seized Baobao and left; Aike disappeared during the fight.
Fortunately, the attackers had been targeting Lu Li. With Lu Li absent, they surprisingly found Baobao and grabbed it.
Yaoyifei gave chase.
“Starmie, look for ‘Approximate Doll’—he should be in the forest. Tell him to come back and treat Wei.” Lu Li said, then released Tropius.
“Do you know which way they ran?” Lu Li asked, composed.
Chimchar, eyes blazing with hatred, pointed toward the depths of the Qingyun Mountain Range.
“They headed into Qingyun Mountains? To evade the Alliance’s pursuit.” Lu Li frowned.
The raiders wouldn’t run toward the city for fear of drawing Alliance attention; they chose the mountains.
“Tropius, let’s pursue!” Lu Li urged.
Tropius beat its wings and flew toward the mountain interior. Lu Li scanned and calculated potential escape routes.
He soon pinpointed the group’s likely location. Even though a Ghost-type Gym-class Pokémon cloaked their traces, Lu Li caught a few clues.
After about ten minutes they caught up to Yaoyifei.
From far away Lu Li saw a meteor shower fall from the sky—he recognized Yaoyifei’s comet swarm.
“Tropius, let’s go.” Lu Li placed his right hand on Tropius’s back and infused it with spirit power.
Tropius’s aura rose sharply: mid-Gym, late-Gym, early-Elite (Tianwang)! Its strength leapt to Elite-class, and wingbeats caused sonic booms.
Lu Li then released Charizard.
Jumping from Tropius to Charizard, Lu Li said in a low voice, “Charizard! This is revenge—and a slaughter!”
Charizard felt the burning fury in its Trainer’s heart and nodded heavily.
Charizard had no time for pride; it was uncommonly serious.
“We’ll finish this quickly. I didn’t sense Baobao among their ranks.” Lu Li continued, pouring spirit power into Charizard too.
Charizard’s aura surged to Elite-class as well.
Two Elite-class Pokémon arrived on the battlefield in two breaths.
Charizard, remembering Lu Li’s command, launched its opening attack.
Engulfed in golden-red fire, Charizard shot like a rocket at a late-Gym Aggron.
“Boom!”
The Aggron had no idea an Elite-class would ambush it and was slammed into the ground; intense flames immediately reduced it to ash.
The sudden turn startled both sides.
Yaoyifei immediately recognized the Charizard that struck.
“Is that Chimchar?” Yaoyifei stared in disbelief at Charizard.
A day earlier Chimchar had been an advanced late-stage; in half a day it evolved to Charizard—and leapt to Elite-class.
A cloaked Trainer with a “101” emblem cursed quietly: “Damn! Could the Alliance’s Elite have caught up?”
Someone radioed, “We found the target.”
“Even better—an unexpected bonus! Hurry and catch him.” An excited voice replied.
Lu Li’s expression darkened. He coldly ordered, “Charizard! Fire Vortex World—don’t let a single one escape.”
Charizard exhaled molten heat; a fiery vortex formed and nearly engulfed every enemy.
“Boss, they’ve got an Elite Charizard—our—” 101’s words were cut short when his radio melted into iron.
The nearby Trainers’ faces drained pale.
One of them was a Grass-type Trainer—inside the fire, his combat effectiveness would be crippled.
“102, find a way out.” 101 ordered helplessly.
Lu Li opened his mouth to speak—he wanted to say Tropius was still outside—but stopped. Charizard would not let anyone go.
The fire vortex was only the opening; it wasn’t the final move.
“It’s time to test the skill we learned.”
Trusting his instincts, Charizard unleashed a new move—
Inferno Abyss!
(End of chapter)
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar