Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

"..."

Chapter 157 Absol's Warning

Snowdrift City, at Team Flare's base.

This newly built secret base, located beneath the Vladari Department Store, is where the Flare Team and the Vladari Institute have amassed a significant amount of funds and technology.

Besides their headquarters in Stone Town and their branch in Lucerne City, this is Team Flare's third largest base in the Carlos region.

The reason why Vladali poured so many resources into the unremarkable little city of Eyjafjalla was naturally because it was the closest city to the place where Xerneas awoke.

At this moment, in the main control room of the base, a woman with short blue hair and blue lipstick sat in the main seat listening to her subordinates' remote work reports.

Through the holographic communicator, a person dressed in orange bowed respectfully and said, "Chief Momiji, we've searched the entire western part of the Enchanted Forest, but we still haven't found any trace of Xerneas..."

"Okay, you guys come back and replenish your resources first!"

The work report, which was far from good news, made Momiji impatiently shut down the communication. Her fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, and she rubbed her temples with her other hand, looking quite worried.

……

“Momiji, you’ve been in Yingxue City for half a year and haven’t made any progress. Headquarters has approved everything you’ve applied for unconditionally. You’ve spent so many resources and still haven’t gotten anything. The boss is very disappointed in you.”

At a nearby table, a green-haired woman was blowing bubble gum, her crossed legs swaying back and forth, looking quite smug.

"I haven't even asked you to search for Xerneas himself, and you can't even find a trace of him, tsk tsk..."

Momiji glanced at her coldly and said, "Bara, I'm not reporting to you, and are you sure the boss sent you to Yingxue City just to say this?"

As senior researchers at the Fradari Institute and officers of Team Flare, the two were of equal rank, both openly and secretly, and she showed no intention of tolerating her colleague's sarcastic remarks.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush."

After mocking Momiji, Bara suddenly changed the subject, "Are you still following up on Xia Chen's surveillance?"

Momiji frowned and said, "Of course I'm doing the task that the boss emphasized, but I still don't understand what the point of following him is. Our Flame Team of several hundred people has been searching in the Enchanted Forest for half a year without any results. How can he do it all by himself?"

Bara clicked her tongue twice. "That's why I said you don't understand the boss's thoughts. Xia Chen may be useless on his own, but who's standing behind him?"

"Dr. Blatano?"

Momiji was somewhat unconvinced, "I don't think his research on Xerneas is as in-depth as ours."

Bala denied it, saying, "Wrong. It's not just Blatano, it's even the Carlos Alliance. After the perfect cooperation in the Grand Contest, Xia Chen's relationship with the Alliance is very close. No one can be sure whether Xia Chen is currently receiving help from the Alliance."

She spat out her bubble gum and then scoffed, "Besides, isn't pioneering a new path much better than you wasting your time here all day?"

"What do you mean by busywork! You..." Momi stopped mid-sentence, annoyed.

Although I was very unhappy, I couldn't seem to find any reason to refute it.

Momiji said with a hint of frustration, "So we're just going to watch like this?"

Bala chuckled twice. "That's why I came to Yingxue City. I'll be in charge of tracking Xia Chen from here. You stay behind and provide me with location information, so don't hold me back~"

Momiji frowned and asked, "Are you going alone? What if you really encounter Xerneas? How will you subdue him?"

Bara was stunned. "Mommy, are you out of your mind? Capturing it? Forget me, even the world's strongest champion, Cynthia, wouldn't be a match for a legendary Pokémon. If we really meet, the best outcome would be to inject the tracker into Xerneas's body."

She paused, then added, "Even so, it's still a pipe dream..."

…………

Although Karuni's arrival greatly increased Xia Chen's workload during lunch and dinner, it also brought many benefits.

Not to mention having someone to chat with and relieve boredom along the way, having someone of such ability as a companion made Xia Chen feel much more relaxed.

In fact, spending these two days together has changed Xia Chen's impression of Karuni quite a bit.

Perhaps it was because he was in the wilderness where no one was watching, or perhaps it was because he hadn't talked to anyone for several months, but this future champion was surprisingly talkative and had no airs of a big star.

My experiences over the past few months, stories about Pokémon, battle experiences, Ralts training tips, and even some gossip...

The two talked about everything and became friends in a short period of time.

At least that's what Xia Chen thinks...

In any case, this kind of simple "travel buddy" relationship should be much purer than the friendships you make in the world of fame and fortune, right?

"By the way, hasn't your Ralts evolved yet? Judging from the intensity of the energy fluctuations, my Gardevoir had already evolved into Kirlia by then, and it wasn't far from evolving into Gardevoir."

While chatting aimlessly, Karune suddenly became interested in Ralts's evolution. Xia Chen had also thought about this question.

Logically speaking, Ralts and Kirlia's evolution levels in the game are level 20 and level 30 respectively, which are relatively low.

Ralts has been hatched from its egg for half a year, but it still hasn't evolved. Has it reached the rebellious stage where it doesn't want to evolve?

As for why I said "also," it was naturally because Ibrahimovic, the most senior member of the team, started it.

If it weren't for that poaching incident, who knows when she would have been willing to evolve into Sylveon.

Thinking of this, Xia Chen shook his head and replied, "I don't know right now either. Let's ask her after we leave the Enchanted Forest."

…………

"Howling!"

The two were talking about Ralts' evolution when suddenly the voice of the Hawkman came from above.

Is someone ahead?

Or have we stepped into the territory of a powerful elf?

Xia Chen and Karuni exchanged a solemn glance and tacitly slowed their pace.

Xianbu, who had been leading the way, returned to Xia Chen's side. With Karuni by her side, she no longer needed to force herself to take the lead in everything.

As they approached the location indicated by the wrestling eagle, Xia Chen and Karuni also heard some unusual sounds, like... elves fighting?

This is quite common in the wild, as it can happen over food, mates, territory, or even simply because someone dislikes another person.

In short, if it's not human, the danger level drops dramatically.

The two gradually relaxed and slowly walked over to check the situation.

Before long, Xia Chen and Karuni encountered the two fighting Pokémon: an Absol and a group of Infernapes.

Perhaps due to the difference in numbers and the advantage of elemental advantage, Absol was being chased and beaten, and was panting heavily due to exhaustion.

It seems that one Absol is not enough to satisfy their rage, and the Hawkman watching from the treetops is also drawn in.

Several fiery monkeys that were ganging up on Absol saw the wrestling hawkman who was quietly waiting for Xia Chen and the others to arrive, and let out a strange cry at him.

Although he didn't understand Elvish, Xia Chen inexplicably understood what they meant: "What are you looking at?!"

Before the wrestling eagle could respond, the fire monkeys had already climbed up the tree trunk to cause him trouble.

Is the Hawkman the kind of elf who wouldn't fight back when provoked?

He sneered, then gracefully leaped down from the tree trunk, swooping down towards the few fiery monkeys that had been causing him trouble.

Before Xia Chen and Karuni could react, they had already been drawn into this battle between elves.

…………

Xia Chen was a little confused. Had the Wrestling Hawkman just gotten into a fight with Inferno Monkey?

They start fighting at the drop of a hat... No wonder they're always in a state of rage, like a fiery monkey.

"So, should we help you?" Xia Chen asked.

The person he was referring to helping was, of course, the victim Absol. The handsome and kind monster was much cuter than those fiery monkeys.

Karuni chuckled, "Help? Aren't the Wrestling Hawkmen already helping?"

Xia Chen was surprised. This was a huge group of Infernapes with more than thirty individuals. It was hard to guarantee that there wouldn't be a gym-level individual. All that was needed was for the Wrestling Hawkman to take action.

He turned to look at the main battlefield, only to see that the Wrestling Hawkman had already torn off the mask he was wearing and started showing off.

A dazzling golden light enveloped his body, and with a graceful leap, he slammed the fiery monkey, which hadn't even climbed the tree yet, to the ground with a loud thud, instantly losing consciousness.

The fiery monkeys stared in astonishment at the creature that had suddenly joined the battle, momentarily forgetting their anger.

The Wrestling Hawkman knelt on one knee, striking a classic hero entrance pose, slowly raising his head and beckoning to the group of Infernape monkeys.

This man's standard, internationally recognized provocative gesture, common to both humans and Pokémon, unsurprisingly enraged the Infernape troop.

It was as if a voice in my head said, "You must prioritize attacking this taunting sprite!"

The fiery monkeys roared and charged toward this reckless lone hero.

Then, Xia Chen witnessed an even more outrageous 1v30 situation, even more so than Master Ye fighting ten people at once...

Left kick, right whip kick, left jab.

In a mere half-second, the Wrestler Hawkman lightning-fast channeled his energy into his power point and unleashed these three moves!

The powerful punch swept past, and the first Fire Monkey that rushed towards the Wrestling Eagleman was caught off guard and was sent flying back more than ten meters by a combo, unable to get up again.

And this is just the beginning of the Hawkman's personal violent aesthetic performance show.

…………

Five minutes later, the Wrestler returned to Karuni's side without batting an eye, while the thirty-odd Inferno Monkeys were all lying on the ground, unable to get up!

Looking at the nonchalant Hawkman, Xia Chen clicked his tongue slightly.

You take down a Fire Monkey in an average of ten seconds. When it comes to showing off, you, Hawkman Wrestling, are the real deal...

But that's not important. Xia Chen looked at Absol, who was trembling and slowly getting up to leave, and softly called out, "Wait until I finish healing your wounds before you go."

Although because Primalmon is a Fighting-type Pokémon, the monster's body does not have obvious burns or lightning strikes.

But anyone could see Absol's weakness from its trembling body.

Absol glanced at Xia Chen, but did not stop her trembling steps, determined to leave.

But before it left, it called out to the two of them, or more precisely, to the Hawkman and Sylveon beside them.

Looking at Xianbu's solemn and thoughtful expression, Xia Chen seemed to have an epiphany.

He shouted loudly at Absol's retreating figure, "Absol, are you trying to warn us that disaster is about to strike?"

Absol paused slightly, then turned around and gave Xia Chen a deep look.

This was the first living being she had been willing to believe in her warning within two days of coming down from Mount Kawa.