I haven't decided on a name for my Pokémon trainer yet.

"Auntie, I'm sorry to have worried you." Ye Feng patted Ning Xian's head and said with an awkward smile.

Cao Xuemei glanced at her daughter, shook her head with a wry smile, and said, "Luckily, this was just a small C-level secret realm, and you didn't venture too deep, otherwise you would have been in danger. But it's good that you're alright. You young people can talk, I'll go and get back to work." With that, she turned and left.

Ye Feng smacked his lips. So it was a C-level secret realm. No wonder there were such exaggerated Pidgeots.

After watching Cao Xuemei leave, Ye Feng patted Ning Xian's head and softly called out, "Xiao Xian..."

"Waaaaah, Ah Feng, I thought you were going to die." Ning Xian was still crying, hugging Ye Feng tightly.

"Uh, I'm fine, aren't I?" Feeling the increasing number of gazes around him, Ye Feng felt extremely embarrassed. "Okay, stop crying, lots of people are watching."

Ning Xian stopped crying but didn't leave; instead, she buried her face even deeper.

"Let's go, let's go, let's get out of here first." Ning Xian's ears were bright red, and she was practically steaming from her head.

She hooked her arm around Ye Feng's neck and clung to him, urging him to leave quickly.

Seeing Ye Feng return safely, she was so excited that she forgot there were a lot of people around her, including members of the association who knew her. She was so embarrassed that she almost dug a villa out of her feet.

Ugh! Ye Feng had a terrible headache. Luckily, Ning Xian was small and light, otherwise her neck would have broken.

The two arrived at a tent.

Ye Feng took off the Poké Ball from his chest and released Ralts.

"Ra!" Ralts threw himself into Ye Feng's arms and burst into tears.

Ye Feng stroked Ralts' head, trying his best to comfort it.

Ralts was terrified. Ye Feng had just put it into a Poké Ball and locked it. It couldn't get out no matter what, and could only watch helplessly as Pidgeot attacked Ye Feng. The whole Pokémon was on the verge of collapse.

"Ra!" Ralts pounded Ye Feng's chest hard, shouting repeatedly.

"Okay, okay, I won't do it again." Ye Feng understood what Ralts meant, but given the situation just now, Ye Feng could only make this choice.

Ralts at least has a Poké Ball to protect it, but Ye Feng can't worry about himself.

Although Ye Feng verbally agreed, he estimated that he would still make the same choice if the situation were to happen again.

"Ralts!" Ralts noticed Ye Feng's thoughts, raised his head, and stared intently at Ye Feng with wide eyes.

Ye Feng was stunned. It was the first time he had ever seen Ralts' eyes. They were beautiful, like rubies, and now they were wide open. Ye Feng seemed to see anger, blame, and guilt in them.

As my Pokémon, should it always stand in front of its trainer instead of being protected inside a Poké Ball?

At that moment, Ye Feng and Ralts seemed to form some kind of magical connection, and he understood the meaning in Ralts' eyes.

"I'm sorry, I understand." Ye Feng gently hugged Ralts into his arms, stroking its little head, deeply moved.

"Ruru~" Ralts called softly, hugging Ye Feng and falling silent.

Ye Feng looked and saw that Ralts had fallen asleep. It seemed that the series of events that had just happened, coupled with the depletion of its mental energy, had left it exhausted. It was quite an achievement that it had managed to hold on until now.

"Get some rest." He put Ralts back into its Poké Ball and hung it back around his neck.

Touching the Poké Ball, Ye Feng seemed to feel warm currents emanating from it.

"Ye Feng".

Ning Xian had been watching them the whole time. Only after Ralts was put into its Poké Ball did she come over, grab Ye Feng's hand, and look at him with red eyes.

"Okay, stop crying, I'm fine now, aren't I?"

Ye Feng patted Ning Xian's head and said with a smile.

"You really scared me to death! But how did you get into the secret realm?"

"I don't know either, that hole sucked me in..."

Ye Feng told Ning Xian about the black hole that had suddenly appeared earlier.

"So that's how it is. But how could an entrance to a secret realm appear so far away?"

Ning Xian lowered her head, completely baffled.

"Forget it, don't think about it anymore. There are always unexpected things." Ye Feng didn't care. Anyway, he had escaped safely. He could leave the rest to the professionals.

He's just a student.

"Let's go home." Ning Xian tugged at Ye Feng's clothes.

Ye Feng nodded, and was about to leave with Ning Xian when he suddenly felt something strange in his buttocks, as if something was pressing against him.

He reached in and pulled a round stone out of the bag behind him.

"This is!"

Ye Feng's pupils contracted slightly, and the gem in his hand emitted a strange light, with several colors mixed together. In the center of the gem, there were black patterns resembling leaves.

This looks so much like a keystone! But why is it in my pocket?

Ye Feng was shocked. He couldn't understand how the stone had ended up in his pocket, and why something as precious as a keystone would appear in a small secret realm. After all, the rarity of resources in a secret realm was related to the size of the realm.

Even in games or anime, Keystones and Mega Stones are very rare resources that not everyone can possess, let alone in this world.

Furthermore, Ye Feng had not found any information related to keystones or megastones, suggesting that these two types of gems may not have existed in this world yet.

Something like a keystone shouldn't appear in a small dungeon, right?

Could it be...?

Ye Feng suddenly recalled Pidgeot's frenzied behavior. Now that he thought about it, even if a few berries were rare, they wouldn't have driven it that crazy, right? Could it be because of this Key Stone? Or perhaps there's another Mega Stone there?

Ye Feng's heart pounded with excitement. Should he go back there before anyone discovered the Mega Stone...?

"Ye Feng, what are you doing?" Ning Xian, who had already stepped out of the tent, suddenly noticed that Ye Feng hadn't followed and called out in confusion.

"Ah, it's alright, I'm coming right away." Ye Feng quickly put the key stone away.

He didn't tell Ning Xian.

This thing is not suitable to appear right now.

······

High in the sky, unseen by anyone, a tiny, pink kitten-like sprite suddenly appeared, its long tail swaying behind it.

It looked down at the ground, its eyes clearly reflecting Ye Feng's figure.

In its hand, it held a gemstone with orange and red hues.

Chapter 24 The Daily Life of Returning

A while has passed since the secret realm event.

The association's investigation and evaluation of the secret realm is progressing steadily. I heard that it will be open to trainers soon. However, since it is a C-rank secret realm, at least a beginner trainer level is required to obtain an entry permit.

When Ye Feng entered, he had only entered the outer part of the secret realm, where he encountered some weak elves. The deeper he went, the stronger the elves became.

Besides the Pidgeot, there seems to be another Pokémon of intermediate strength in the deepest part of the secret realm. However, the association has already sent people to deal with it, either to communicate with it or to capture it, depending on the Pokémon's attitude.

I heard that the Pidgeot got badly beaten by the Salamander and was even captured. I wonder how it is now.

The events in the secret realm did not have a significant impact on Ye Feng.

He didn't mention the Key Stone to anyone and kept it to himself for the time being. Meanwhile, he secretly searched for information about Mega Stones online, including in the Trainer Association's official resource database, but he didn't find anything yet.

Ye Feng also subtly inquired about Pidgeot's situation with Cao Xuemei, but they found nothing similar to Mega Stone, not even a gem.

It seems that the key stone Ye Feng obtained might have only appeared there by some coincidence.

Because his trainer level is too low, he doesn't have much access to the association's resource library. There are many things he can't see, and he can't ask others for help. One reason is that he can't use resources beyond his level, and another is that if people find out he's after something specific, it will be very troublesome to explain. He can only wait until he reaches the beginner or intermediate level to check if there are any Mega Stones.

If all else fails, then you'll have to explore secret realms and rely purely on luck.

Ye Feng has been having a bit of a headache lately.

Since emerging from the secret realm, Ralts has been in a state of high excitement, with its mental energy constantly fluctuating. Ye Feng guessed that it was about to evolve.

Perhaps it was Pidgeot's near-death experience that allowed Ralts to break through, coupled with the consistently ample supply of Energy Cubes, that caused Ralts to grow rapidly, evolving much earlier than Ye Feng had anticipated.

However, Ralts hadn't evolved by the time school started, and Ye Feng didn't know what was missing, so he had been looking forward to it for nothing.

···

School starts soon.

Ye Feng lived a regular life.

Going to school - Beating up Zhang Qiang's little fire dragon - After school - Beating up Zhang Qiang's little fire dragon - Training - Going to school - Beating up Zhang Qiang's little fire dragon - After school - Date with Ning Xian + Beating up Zhang Qiang's little fire dragon - Training - Going to school - Beating up Zhang Qiang's little fire dragon - ...

Zhang Qiang seemed to have trained hard during the summer vacation, and Charmander had also grown a lot, even learning to breathe fire. However, it was of little use, as it couldn't even touch Ralts's edge and was being rubbed into the ground, with its Blaze being fired.

But he still "enjoys" challenging Ye Feng to battles, which is why Zhang Qiang's Charmander appears so many times... Every time he is defeated, he declares that he will definitely win next time, but it seems that there is no chance unless Charmander evolves into Charmeleon.

However, Charmander's growth is much slower than Ralts'. By then, Ralts will have already evolved and will be no match for it.

The relationship between Zhang Qiang and Ye Feng also became somewhat complicated. While they didn't seem to dislike each other, they started to interact normally outside of their matches, sometimes even exchanging tips. However, occasionally, Ye Feng would notice that Zhang Qiang would get conjunctivitis (pink eye) when Ye Feng and Ning Xian went out together—something strange...

Oh right, ever since that incident in the secret realm, Ning Xian and Ye Feng's relationship has become delicate, but they haven't broken through that unspoken barrier.

Ning Xian was embarrassed. Usually, it's the guy who should speak first in these kinds of situations, right?

Ye Feng felt that women would affect his Poké Ball throwing technique... but lolis wouldn't. Ning Xian was a loli, at least in appearance... Sorry for digressing, this isn't important.

The important thing is that Ye Feng discovered that after escaping death, the connection between him and Ralts had become even closer, and they could now communicate without any barriers. Although it wasn't to the point of direct dialogue, they could understand each other's meaning with just a glance.