I, Zhulan's childhood sweetheart, was trapped in Xicui.

Fang Cage, hit by the Mk Bird's wing attack, slammed heavily to the ground. A dent appeared on his head, his eyes were dizzy, and he had obviously lost his ability to fight.

Then it was hit by a Poké Ball thrown by Xu Li. Without any resistance, a firework appeared on the ground and it was successfully captured.

The Owl flying above Xiaozhao's head was shocked when he saw the fang cage being hit by the Mook bird.

It remembered the last blow in its first battle with Mukler, and was also knocked to the ground. This time the force was much greater than the first battle with Mukler.

If he were to fight against Muko again now, Mumuxiao narrowed his big eyes, shook his head, and dared not even think about it.

Xu Li welcomed the returning Flame Monkey and Mook Bird, and then said to Xiao Zhao, who was still savoring Xu Li's swift battle, "The crisis has been resolved, let's move on."

Xiaozhao came back to his senses and quickly replied: "Uh, okay!"

Through this forest, there is a narrow path sandwiched between two highlands. Exit the path and you will reach the Crimson Swamp.

As soon as Xu Li came out of the path, he felt the difference. Although they were separated by a pond, the environments of the two places were in stark contrast.

Not only did the mist in the air bring the unique natural flavor of the swamp, but the trees in the woods in front of the trail were also so lush.

On this side, the ordinary trees here were left with only dry branches, without a trace of green leaves. Only a few fruit trees still had some leaves, but the fruits on the trees were all shriveled and sparse.

At the edge of the swamp, at the entrance where Xu Li was about to enter, there was a giant rock snake wandering around, and two skunks beside it.

The giant rock snake's body is made up of huge gray rocks. Xu Li saw that the rocks on this big rock were sharp and angular, and it seemed to be relatively young.

Because Onix slowly wears away the rocks during its daily movements, the older the rocks are, the rounder the rocks on its body become.

Conversely, the sharper and harder the rock's edges, the younger it is.

Xu Li used the system to check and saw that Onix was level 26, and both of the two Stinkbugs were less than level 20.

Then he pointed at the skunk on the left, which was farther away from Onix, and said to Xiaozhao next to him:

"Xiao Zhao, I'll leave that skunk to you, go ahead and do it."

"it is good!"

Xiaozhao nodded vigorously and pounced on the skunk. This was her first outdoor battle, so she was particularly serious.

The skunk was facing away from Xu Li and the others, with its forked tail raised and shaking slightly.

Suddenly, there was a cold wind behind him. Skunk Pu felt something and turned around to see what was going on. Unexpectedly, a green ball hit Skunk Pu in the face.

It was a sticky ball thrown by Xiao Zhao. The skunk was hit in the face and was so dizzy that he couldn't see anything. He only heard a cry of "Mumuxiao, take advantage of the moment!"

Mumuxiao flapped its wings and flew silently but at a fast speed. It soon arrived above the skunk, condensed a ball of leaves, and hit the skunk.

The leaves that hit the skunk Pu were not painless, but they were not a fatal blow either. Instead, they aroused the skunk Pu's anger, and he let out an angry cry.

"Chu——"

The big rock and another skunk Poof noticed their companion's abnormality and wanted to go forward to help, but were stopped by Xu Li and his Pokémon, mainly Dual-Edge Maru.

The skunk that was fighting with Xiaozhao suddenly had its hair standing on end, and an unbearable stench emanated from it, which even Xu Li, who was far away, could smell.

The Wood Owl flying above it was naturally the first to smell the stench. Although the stench was unbearable, it still persisted in gathering leaves and attacking the skunk.

The skunk's face was covered with sticky pellets, and he couldn't see the target clearly. He was hit continuously from above, so he simply lifted his tail to his body and pointed his butt at the sky.

Puff~Puff~Puff

It sprayed out streams of poisonous liquid, accompanied by a strong stench, randomly spraying into the air.

When Mumuxiao saw the poisonous gas expelled by the skunk, his eyes almost popped out and he hurriedly dodged the venom.

These foul-smelling venoms actually stimulated the potential of the Wood Owl. It dodged left and right without being touched by the venom, and could occasionally condense a group of leaves to continue attacking the skunk.

Xiao Zhao was helpless and could only watch the fight between Mumuxiao and Skunk Pu. If he wanted to go and help, he would be hit by the venom sprayed into the sky by Skunk Pu.

In this way, after a while, Xiaozhao and Mumuxiao finally defeated Skunk Pu at the cost of Mumuxiao being exhausted.

Chapter 36: Vajra Settlement

"Thank you for your hard work, Mumuxiao"

When Mumuxiao returned to Xiaozhao with a slightly bad smell, Xiaozhao did not despise him and held Mumuxiao in his arms.

At the same time, Xu Li also easily took care of Onix and Stinkbug.

Onix couldn't withstand the two shell blades of Double-Edged Maru, and Stinkbug was hypnotized by Paras before he even had time to release his stench.

Xiao Zhao and Xu Li threw the Poké Ball together, and three fireworks rose from the Crimson Swamp.

After dealing with the aggressive wild Pokémon in front of the Crimson Swamp, Xu Li took Xiao Zhao to rest and recover his strength.

The Crimson Swamp in front of us is a patch of dark reddish-brown swamps scattered throughout this area, and Pokémon such as Hippopotamus and Frog live in the swamps.

The only place to walk was a small strip of land between two swamps, and even there were some skunks scattered on this land.

This should be the area with the worst environment in the Crimson Wetlands, but the level of Pokémon distributed here is indeed relatively low.

The only thing worth noting is that there is a high-level Skunk Poof boss in the Crimson Swamp. Although he may not be able to defeat Snorlax with his physical strength, it is hard to say whether he can do so in someone else's territory.

We still have to keep a low profile when passing through the Crimson Swamp.

However, Xu Li did not need to pass through the entire Crimson Swamp. He only needed to pass through about a quarter of the Crimson Swamp to reach the next location, Longlongpo.

Xu Li took back most of the Pokémon, leaving only Mook and Growlithe to deal with emergencies. Xiaozhao also took back Mimosa, and Owl flew over Xiaozhao.

He took out the silent spray and sprayed it on himself, Xiaozhao and the Pokémon. This unique prop made the noise of everyone's movements much quieter.

They could still smell the scent of the Skunk Poof on Mumuxiao and Xiaozhao, but in the area where the Skunk Poof was active, they had actually blended in with it, and could better help them pass through the Crimson Swamp.

Stepping onto the land of the Crimson Swamp, the soil here is softer than other places in the Red Lotus Wetland.

They continued to move forward. There was no danger. Only the sand hippopotamus lying in the swamp were staring blankly at Xu Li and his group, as if curious about why these people made no sound when walking on the ground.

Those big nostrils were stuck in the mud in confusion, exhaling clouds of sand that swirled in the mud of the swamp.

Until they left the Crimson Swamp and reached the bottom of Longlong Slope, Xu Li and his group did not encounter any danger.

They only encountered one Skunk, Pu, who discovered them, but was hit by a double-edged headbutt from Growlithe and flew away, rolling into the mud, unable to resist Xu Li and others.

The final Rumble Hill was actually relatively easy to pass. The occasional Rumble Stones were no match for the Double-Edged Pills summoned by Xu Li, and were defeated and lost their combat capability.

Longlongshi has already tamed many of them, and Xu Li doesn't plan to tame this one.

The long uphill road was no problem for Xu Li and Xiao Zhao's well-trained bodies. Soon, they reached the top of Longlongpo.

In front of me is a forest. Unlike the Crimson Swamp which was completely devoid of green, there are quite a few trees here, including some fruit trees.

Xu Li and his group walked along the obvious path in the woods, and soon arrived in front of the King Kong settlement.

Two fire racks made of several wooden sticks intertwined together are the entrance to the King Kong settlement.

There is no gate, no wall, only conical houses scattered inside. This settlement full of primitive characteristics is the home of the King Kong Team, the locals of the Xicui area.

There was a sharp boulder in the middle, and many children were chasing and playing around it.

On the side, Gangshi was watching the children playing, thinking about something, sighed, and suddenly noticed Xu Li in front of the King Kong settlement, and showed a surprised expression.

He walked towards Xu Li and called out to him as he walked, "Hi! I recognize you, Xu Li, right? What brings you to the King Kong team?"

Xu Li looked at the man who walked in front of him. He was wearing blue traditional clothes, a blue headband, blue shoes, and everything blue. He looked at Xu Li with a generous expression.

Hearing Gang Shi say that he recognized me, Xu Li asked doubtfully: "You recognize me?"

Gangshi replied with a smile, "I heard that the person who subdued the entire Speaker Cricket tribe was you. I was at Team Galaxy headquarters at the time, and I could hear Dr. Laben's scream from three rooms away."

Finally, Gangshi gestured with his hands to indicate the number three, indicating how loud Dr. Laben's scream was.

Xu Li remembered that in the investigation report after returning from the Obsidian Wilderness, Dr. Laben heard Xu Li say that he had subdued an entire speaker cricket and indeed made a loud noise.

At this time, Gangshi smelled a scent and looked towards Xiaozhao and Mumuxiao, saying, "Did you encounter a skunk?"

Xiao Zhao also sniffed the smell on his body and replied a little shyly: "...Sorry, we just fought with the skunk, so there is some smell."

Gangshi replied: "It's okay, we have special methods to remove these smells."

"After all, our settlement is right at the foot of a skunk congregation, and we frequently come into contact with them, so we have a lot of experience in dealing with this kind of thing."

After saying this, Gangshi turned around and called a girl from the Kongo Team, and took Xiaozhao and Owl into a house to help Xiaozhao get rid of the smell.

After helping Xiaozhao, Gangshi looked at the Tianguan Mountain space-time rift that was still clearly visible here, and then asked Xu Li in confusion:

"What's wrong? You're here with Team Galaxy. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Xu Li quickly shook his head and said, "No, it's some personal matters of mine."

"I heard that you like to collect stones with special effects. I'm in urgent need of a stone to help my Pokémon. Can I take a look at the stones you've collected?"

“I’m willing to pay several times the price to buy it.”

Gangshi nodded and said, "Of course, but I'm curious what kind of stone you need."

"The Stone of Change"

Xu Li described the Unchanging Stone to Gangshi.

Gangshi patted his head and said, "I might actually have it."

Having said this, Gangshi turned around and went back into a house. Not long after, he came out with a small round stone and showed it to Xu Li.

"Is this it? I heard that this stone can inhibit the evolution of Pokémon, so I bought one from a merchant in Hoenn out of curiosity."

Xu Li uses the system to try it out.

【Stone of Unchange】

[A magical stone that prevents Pokémon from evolving during this period of time]

It really is the Unchanging Stone. Xu Li was a little delighted and said quickly: "Yes, this is the Unchanging Stone."

"I need this stone so badly that I can..."

Before Xu Li could finish his words, Gang Shi interrupted him.

"I can give you the Stone of Changelessness, but I need you to do me a favor."

Chapter 37: Fire Summer

“Here’s what happened”

Gangshi pointed to the space-time rift on Tianguan Mountain and continued, "You have also seen this rift, right? I have received news that kings from all over the world seem to have been affected by it."

"And we haven't heard from Huo Xia, the captain of our Kongo team who's in charge of looking after the 'Mountain Road Queen' in the Red Lotus Wetlands, for almost half a day. We're clearly the closest to Huo Xia."

"I sent people to the stage battlefield to see what was going on, but they only saw that the queen seemed to have gone berserk, and Huo Xia was nowhere to be found. I haven't heard from her for several hours."

When mentioning Huo Xia, Gang Shi sighed helplessly.

"Although Huo Xia has a strong sense of responsibility, she often bears everything alone. I believe she left this time because she had something to accomplish."

"So I would like to ask Xu Li for your help in finding Huo Xia and helping her accomplish what she wants to do."

As he spoke, Gangshi handed the Stone of Unchange to Xu Li.

"I can give you this unchanging stone first. I believe in you."

Xu Li took it, nodded, accepted the task, and asked Gang Shi about some details. Soon, he had an idea.

We just need to wait for Xiaozhao to clean up the smell on his body before we can set off.

During this time, Gang Shi also asked Xu Li curiously:

"By the way, why does your Pokémon need the Unchanging Stone?"

"I can't think of any situation that would require suppressing evolution, so if you hadn't mentioned it, I probably wouldn't have cared much about the effect of this Unchanging Stone."

Hearing Gangshi's question, Xu Li released Paras.

“It’s this child.”

As soon as Paras came out, he observed his surroundings. Finding that there was no battle, he walked to Xu Li's feet in a relaxed manner.

"group?"

When he heard Xu Li mention it, he asked a question.

Xu Li squatted down, stuffed the Stone of Invariance into the pocket Xu Li specially prepared on Paras' neck, and touched Paras' head.

"Now I don't have to restrict you from eating."