I caught a Pokémon

Muk opened its arms, trying to catch Wartortle head-on, but as a bright light flashed across its body, its originally soft body suddenly became as hard as cement.

When the two Pokémon collided, Muk let out a deep roar. Although it caught Wartortle, it also suffered damage from the recoil.

The battles with three Pokémon and the subsequent injuries have left it in a precarious state of health.

However, Ah Ju did not give up and made a final struggle!

"Muck! Use Sludge Attack!"

A large puddle of mud gushed from Mud's mouth, and the mud flowed into the turtle's shell through the opening, rendering the turtle's defenses useless.

The turtle couldn't help but peek out, and its face was slowly turning purple, clearly indicating that it had been poisoned!

Unfortunately, the battle was already at its final moment. With Xia You's shout of "Water Gun Attack," Squirtle sprayed a thick stream of water from its mouth, defeating Muk in one fell swoop.

Seeing the stinky mud lying on the ground, Ah-Xing, who was acting as the referee, raised her right hand.

"Muk is unable to battle! The winner is Wartortle!"

Xia You walked up to Wartortle and was about to detoxify it when she saw A-Ju throw over an antidote first.

"Use my special antidote."

A special antidote?

"Thank you." Xia You said thank you, took the medicine, and gave it to Wartortle.

The originally slow detoxification process was greatly shortened by the special antidote; Wartortle's condition improved almost immediately after it was ingested!

"Such a potent medicine!!"

Seeing Xia You's surprised expression, Ah Xing said proudly, "Of course! My dad is a master of poison. He's not only proficient in using poison, but also in detoxification! The antidote he concocts can perfectly neutralize any Pokémon's toxins, and after taking it, you won't have to worry about being poisoned again for a while!"

That's amazing!

Hearing this, Xia You was already tempted. He tentatively asked, "Um... Mr. Aju, could you...?"

Ah Ju smiled slightly, clearly understanding Xia You's intention. Before he could finish speaking, she took out two more antidotes from her bosom and threw them at Xia You.

"Take these. I hope these two doses of antidote will be helpful to you in the future."

Xia You originally wanted to say that he would be willing to pay for them, but he didn't expect that Aju would be so generous and give him two for free!

At this moment, Aya took out a heart-shaped badge that emitted a light red glow from her bosom and walked up to Xia You.

"Keep this safe, it's the emblem of our Fuchsia Gym."

Her tone was somewhat stiff, but in her heart, she was still very remorseful.

She knew perfectly well how powerful her brother was. If it weren't for the fact that Moltres had just lost to Charmeleon, which had depleted Muk's strength, perhaps Aju would never have lost this gym battle!

After saying goodbye to Aju, Xia You turned and left the Red Dojo. However, she had only just stepped out of the mansion when she heard a woman's voice behind her.

He turned around and saw that it was Aya!

"Miss Aya, what's wrong?"

Aya grabbed Xia You's arm and said solemnly, "Let's have another match!"

"Huh?" Xia You was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "We have to have a competition? Why is that?"

"Of course it's for revenge! You don't think you can beat me that easily, do you?!" Aya said, taking out three Poké Balls and waving them in front of Xia You. "Just now at the gym, I was restricted by the rules and couldn't use my full strength at all. This time, let's have a three-on-three match!"

"I'm sorry." Xia You shook her head. "My Pokémon are all injured and are on their way to the Pokémon Center for treatment. I think we should reschedule for another day."

Aya frowned slightly, pointed at Gastly and Kirlia, and asked, "Can't those two work?"

“Those two are too weak to compete right now,” Xia You casually offered as an excuse, directly refusing. “Besides, I have a very important matter to attend to, and I really don’t have time for another battle with you.”

Seeing Xia You's earnest words, Aya thought carefully for a moment and nodded: "Okay, then another day! Remember what you said, never think of running away, otherwise even if you go to the ends of the earth, I will definitely find you!"

……

Back in Fuchsia City, Xia You went to the Pokémon Center, where she first restored the stamina of several Pokémon before leading everyone to lunch.

In the restaurant, as Xia You put a French fry in her mouth, she suddenly saw a mini dragon curled up alone in a corner, eating its food in big bites. She couldn't help but think about how to change its personality and let it integrate into this big family.

His eyes swept over his Pokémon, and when he saw Charmeleon, he immediately had an idea.

"Charmeleon, come here for a second!"

With a Charizard looking completely bewildered, Xia You walked up to the Dratini.

"Ahem." Xia You coughed twice, interrupting the focused Dratini. Seeing it look up at her with a slightly confused expression, Xia You introduced, "Let me introduce you. The Pokémon next to me is Charizard. Although you've already met, you probably don't know each other yet. But from today onwards, it will be your older brother, and you will be its younger brother. I hope you can support each other and make progress together in the future!"

???

Xia You's words were not only grand and dignified, but also very abrupt. Not only Dratini, but even Charizard was puzzled.

Seeing this, Xia You hugged the Charmander, turned around, and whispered to it, "Hey, this guy is not only a glutton, but he has also suffered emotional trauma, which is why he needs your guidance. No matter what method you use, you must help him return to normal. So, do you understand?"

Chapter 79 Unexpected Information and Twin Islands

Charmander thumped his chest loudly, revealing a confident expression that said, "Leave it to me!"

When Xia You returned to the dining table, Gastly came over and asked curiously, "Why did you entrust this to Charmeleon? After all, wouldn't it be better and more efficient for you to take care of it yourself than for a Pokémon?"

"Of course I'll lend a hand," Xia You said with a smile. "But both of their names have the character for 'dragon' in them, so they'll definitely be easier to communicate with compared to other Pokémon!"

Seeing that Ghoststone still looked puzzled, Xia You continued, "Okay, actually it's because Charizard has such a careless personality. Even if I specifically instructed it, it probably wouldn't be able to detect the subtle emotional changes in Dratini. But the more careless it is, the more it can subtly change Dratini's personality!"

"For example, I once met a person named Uzumaki. Through his persistent efforts and his personality of not being afraid of being rejected, he eventually became good friends with another Uchiha kid who was not mentally healthy."

"Therefore, I firmly believe that if anyone can successfully turn the tide against Dratini, it will definitely be Charmeleon!"

……

Leaving Asakusa City, Xia You continued south, spending the night in the wilderness before arriving at the South China Sea coast of the Kanto continent.

He continued along the coastline and soon found an unnamed seaside town.

Seeing several fishermen returning from the sea unloading their boats at the dock, he walked up to them and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where Twin Islands are?"

"Twin Islands?" The old fisherman, his face weathered by time, puffed on several bags of tobacco and squinted at him. "It's on a waterway leading to Crimson Lotus Island, quite a distance from here. But I'll ask anyway, young man, what are you going there for?"

Xia You turned her gaze to the distant sea and smiled, "I heard there's a rare Pokémon there, and I want to go and catch it."

"A rare Pokémon? You mean Articuno?" The old fisherman exhaled a large smoke ring and kindly advised, "That's just a rumor. I've been fishing and living on this sea for so many years, and I've never seen any Articuno on the island! Every year, many people go there because of its reputation, but after all that trouble, they always come back empty-handed!"

"Yes, yes, yes... I'm just going to try my luck. Even if I don't see Articuno, it's okay..."

Perhaps because of his age, he always liked to chatter with people he knew or didn't know. Xia You listened patiently for a long time before finally getting the general location of Twin Islands from the old fisherman.

After marking the location on the phone map, he expressed his gratitude, then left the town, rode a Gyarados, and headed into the deep sea.

Just as his cell phone signal was about to disappear, he suddenly received a message on his chat app.

The sender of the message was a beautiful young woman with long, flaxen curly hair. In her profile picture, she was holding a man's arm with both hands. Although she looked a little shy, she was still smiling happily in front of the camera.

Staring at the girl's profile picture, Xia You was overwhelmed with thoughts, but after hesitating for a long time, her fingers seemed to freeze on the screen, and she did not click on the message.

Who is this cute girl?

The sudden sound startled Xia You, and she nearly dropped her phone into the sea.

"Hey, Gastly! Don't suddenly startle me like that!"

"What do you mean 'suddenly spoke'?!" Gastly stared at him in disbelief. "I've been calling your name for ages! You were just standing there like a log! Your soul seemed to have flown away!"

"How could that be?" Xia You coughed lightly and quickly denied it. "I was just a little distracted. It's not as exaggerated as you say!"

"Oh? Really?" Gastly said with a teasing tone, "Then who is this girl? And that arm she's holding, is it yours?"

"Her..." Xia You was clearly unwilling to elaborate on this, and vaguely said, "She was a girl next door when I lived in the Carlos region. We were just close because we often played together."

"That's all? Is that really all? Then why don't you dare open her messages!"

"Well..." Xia You hesitated for a moment, "It's just that some things happened in the past, which makes me a little afraid to face her now."

There are some things I'm afraid to face!

Instantly, Gastly's mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts. However, after hearing the embarrassment in Xia You's tone, it was very understanding and did not continue to ask questions, even though it was extremely curious. Instead, it changed the subject.

"By the way, how did you become a trainer in the first place? Why have you never mentioned anything about what happened before you came to Kanto? And even when I asked Kirlia, it kept it to itself and wouldn't reveal a single word!"

Xia You shook her head: "This matter is actually very complicated and cannot be explained in a few words. I'll tell you when there's a chance later!"

By this time, Gyarados had swum quite far, and seeing that no one was around, Xia You rode Zapdos again.

Above the clouds, Zapdos soared with outstretched wings, riding the wind westward. Two hours later, they arrived at their destination.

However, finding the two islands in the vast ocean will be an extremely demanding task requiring keen eyesight.

Xia You stroked Zapdos's neck feathers and asked, "Hey, as fellow members of the 'Three Silly Birds,' having loved and fought each other for so many years, do you Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres have any kind of mutual sensing ability? So that we can accurately find that Articuno?"

Zapdos completely ignored his meaningless nonsense, but still turned its head and, with its eagle-like sharp eyes, helped him find Twin Islands.

Twin Islands, as the name suggests, are named for the towering, bald mountain in the center of each island, which is quite similar in shape, like a pair of twins.

Moreover, the absence of other islands nearby makes them appear unusually out of place in the middle of the sea.

After circling the island several times, Xia You didn't find anything suspicious. After thinking for a moment, she finally decided to let Zapdos land on the large island.

A strong sea breeze swept through the mountains, howling loudly, and even the rocks underfoot seemed to emit a chill.

Because they are far from human habitation, both islands are usually very peaceful.

However, for some reason, although these two islands are covered with greenery, it is rather sparse, and most of them are bare rocks, making the place look very desolate.

What's even more troublesome is that, perhaps because he is often disturbed, or perhaps because he has a strong sense of territory, from the moment Xia You landed on the island, every wild Pokémon he encountered attacked him without saying a word!

Chapter 80 Searching

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!!"

At Xia You's command, countless sharp leaf blades flew out from the Bulbasaur's flower bud and struck a rumblestone in front of them.

Puff puff puff!

Overwhelmed by the continuous attacks, the wild Pokémon couldn't withstand the damage and rolled down the hillside into the forest below.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Including this one, this was the sixth Pokémon Xia You had encountered since arriving on the island that had taken the initiative to attack him.

Zubat, Geodude, Agate Jellyfish, Slowpoke, Cloyster, Graveler—who knows what will appear next!

Although his Pokémon could easily defeat these wild Pokémon due to the difference in strength, this constant attrition was not a sustainable solution.

After thinking for a moment, in order to avoid being attacked again, he released all his Pokémon at once.

Blue light flashed, and Pokémon such as Jolteon and Wartortle appeared, surrounding Xia You.

In this way, even if wild Pokémon wanted to attack him, seeing so many guards around him, they would definitely assess their own strength and dare not act rashly.

Continuing forward, Xia You ventured deeper into the island, arriving at a cliff. She crossed a natural stone bridge formed by rocks, passed through a crevice, and finally entered a vast rock maze.

And just as he had predicted, along the way, seeing this group of Pokémon gathered together, no wild Pokémon dared to overestimate its abilities and attack him.

This maze was surrounded by smooth stone walls formed by steep rocks. Not only were there many forks in the road, but the paths were also very similar. At first glance, it was impossible to detect the differences between them. However, as he walked, after changing directions and taking a few turns, he began to lose his sense of direction.

Looking around, Gastly asked in bewilderment, "Does Articuno really exist on this island? Why haven't we found any trace of it after traveling so far?"

"If it were that easy to find them, we wouldn't have a chance." Xia You was a little tired after walking for a long time, so she took out a water bottle from her backpack to moisten her throat. "Speaking of which, when people think of bird Pokémon, they usually assume that they live in trees. But to find Articuno, we have to go down!"

In fact, whether in the game or the animation, there is indeed a vast space beneath the Twin Islands composed of flowing water and ice.

"Down!?" Gastly suddenly realized, "You mean there's a hidden world beneath this island!?"

Xia You nodded: "Otherwise, why would there be cold air seeping out from beneath our feet? There must be a frigid place somewhere down there suitable for the Articuno to roost!"

Then he said to Gastly and Zapdos, "Then I'll leave it to you two. Quickly fly up to a high place and see if there are any entrances leading underground nearby!"

"No problem, leave it to us!"

Gastly nodded, and it and Zapdos each chose a direction and took off.

Watching them leave, Xia You couldn't help but sigh. If only there were a Pokémon that could dig tunnels at this moment, they could simply dig a tunnel down without having to go through all this trouble.

After resting for a while, Xia You led the remaining Pokémon to continue navigating the maze.

Actually, there's a simple way to get through this maze: just follow the left or right side of the stone wall, choose a direction, and keep going until you find the exit.

At this moment, Xia You was also using this method to slowly explore forward.

Along the way, he also saw many traces of past camping and battles. It seems that the old fisherman was right. In the past, many trainers did not fear hardships and came to this island to find Articuno!