Watching Lance flee in panic, the three legendary birds hidden among the clouds looked on with deep disdain.
"Goo goo."
"Let's go. We need to chase after him—quickly!"
"That guy actually dared to battle on our island… dared to disrespect Master. We must teach him a lesson!"
Without hesitation, the three legendary birds flew after Dragonite, intending to vent their fury.
Down below, Groudon was still hiding behind a massive tree.
Watching the three legendary birds quickly catch up to Dragonite, it felt a strong surge of envy.
If only I could fly...
"Tch!" Groudon scoffed at the thought.
"If I could fly, I'd probably lose my soul!"
"Who cares!"
Despite what it said, Groudon was both envious and jealous. It turned around and trudged back toward the berry forest. In truth, its obsession with flying hadn't cooled at all—in fact, it had become even more fervent.
Right now, if someone could really make it fly, it would call them "daddy."
Of course, it meant flying with its own power, not being blasted into the air by a punch.
---
"Riku, thank you for your help."
After Lance left and nearly two minutes of silence had passed, Drake finally stepped forward to express his gratitude.
"No need," Riku nodded.
"If I hadn't been afraid you'd damage the island, honestly, I wouldn't have intervened."
"Understood." Drake had just suffered a setback and didn't feel like saying much.
Still, before he left, he glanced at Riku and Lorelei.
Lorelei, one of the Elite Four, was actually aligned with Riku? He had to report this to the League upon his return.
Moreover, Lance's strength had far surpassed expectations. If the League didn't formulate a countermeasure, the Orange Archipelago would become the backyard of the Indigo League's Elite Four—a humiliating outcome for Drake.
---
"Miss Lorelei, thank you for standing with me this time," Riku said seriously.
"It's nothing. I didn't like Lance either," Lorelei waved her hand dismissively, then grinned playfully.
"If you really want to thank me, do something practical. Don't just talk about it."
Riku shuddered.
"Miss Lorelei, I'm not the kind of man who'd sell his body."
"What are you thinking?" Lorelei sighed.
"I just want you to cook a more lavish dinner. Why do you think I'm so desperate?"
With a yawn, Lorelei turned to head back and rest.
That little vest she's wearing is seriously hot...
Watching her lean back slightly, Riku couldn't help but swallow hard. He silently recited a few lines about the emptiness of desire to calm his heart.
---
Regaining composure, Riku released Lapras. He needed to grind some points.
Lance's overwhelming strength had struck a nerve.
Riku realized that with his current level of power, it would be difficult to truly protect the island.
With special events occurring more frequently across the Orange Archipelago, he felt it was time to work even harder.
"Lapras, Ice Shard!"
"Quickly finish off that Venomoth!!"
Arriving at a nearby uninhabited island, Riku wasted no time. He sent out Lapras and began searching for wild Pokémon.
Originally, he had planned to return to Lapras's former territory.
But to his surprise, the place had turned into a mess. Huge areas of forest had been scorched. Seeing that, Riku couldn't bring himself to attack the Pokémon living there.
With no other option, he picked a nearby uninhabited island at random.
Unexpectedly, the place was teeming with wild Pokémon—mostly Bug-types that were easy to handle.
Ding—
Lapras's battle experience increased.
Host's Pokémon Lapras defeated Venomoth. Venomoth is a lv35 Bug-type Pokémon. Type advantage. Reward: 700 points.
"Not bad," Riku nodded with satisfaction as the system notification rang.
The average level of Pokémon on this island was at least ten levels higher than those on his own island.
Additionally, Riku discovered that wild Pokémon above level 30 yielded double the points.
At this rate, he started hoping to encounter even more powerful wild Pokémon.
Maybe defeating a level 40 Pokémon would grant four times the points...
---
However, despite the decent point gain, Riku still felt somewhat disappointed.
All the Pokémon he encountered so far were Bug-types. It wasn't that Bug-types were weak—but they were far too common.
"Gaa gaa..."
Just as Riku was about to explore deeper into the island, a fragrant scent of scallions filled the air.
Then, he saw a Pokémon holding a large scallion.
"A duck?" Riku blinked, a little speechless.
In his mind, the fiercer and more muscular a Pokémon looked, the stronger it should be.
But this duck... even though it held a large scallion, it didn't look like it had any real fighting strength.
"Gaa gaa..."
The duck seemed to notice Riku's unimpressed expression and angrily swung its scallion in protest.
"Alright, alright," Riku waved dismissively.
"Don't worry, we won't attack you."
"Move aside. We still need to go—"
"Gaa!"
Suddenly, the duck charged, swinging its scallion directly at Riku.
Riku was caught off guard. Despite Lapras guarding him, the duck had chosen to attack him first!
Bang—
Lapras reacted swiftly. An Ice Shard blasted the duck away in an instant.
Not all Pokémon could sense Riku's terrifying presence.
At the very least, only Elite-level Pokémon and above could sense a sliver of it.
Lapras understood this, which was why it had long been on guard. It had anticipated the duck's rash behavior.
"Waaa..."
Lapras growled in fury.
The thought of its master being injured—and the fury that would come from the four legendary Pokémon—sent a chill down its spine.
Just as Lapras was about to unleash Ice Beam in rage, Riku stopped it and slowly turned to the duck.
"I'll let it go this time. If there's a next time..."
"I won't let you off!"
"Gaa..."
Faced with Riku's cold tone, the duck, which had been about to attack again, trembled.
It foamed at the mouth and fainted on the spot.
Riku frowned but didn't pursue it further. After confirming the duck had fainted, he turned away.
He'd assumed the duck was low-level—so fainting from an Ice Shard wasn't surprising.
However, when Riku entered the nearby forest and discovered a large patch of enticing, fully grown green onions... he turned back.
Without hesitation, he threw a Poké Ball at the duck.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter