Chapter 167: The Impatient Heart
Without the cable car, the only way to get to Fuquan Town on Luminous Mountain was to pass through Luminous Grotto.
Luminous Grotto is located in the area from the halfway point of Luminous Mountain upwards. It has a three-level structure. By following the path developed by the League and the established stairs, one can reach the other side of Luminous Mountain.
The day before entering Luminous Grotto, Míng Rìzhào's group (and Pokémon) camped and rested by a rare small lake in the rocky area.
After eating dinner and resting for a while, seeing that the sky had already darkened, the group entered their tents to rest.
"…"
Ruru, staying in her Poké Ball, felt somewhat uneasy. She popped out of her Poké Ball on her own.
She glanced at the soundly sleeping Míng Rìzhào, helped tuck in the quilt she had kicked off, and then walked out of the tent.
The night was still very quiet. The bright moonlight shone on the small lake, creating a sparkling surface.
Looking at the moonlight, Ruru felt her heart calm down again.
Just as she was about to go back to the tent, she suddenly saw a dark shadow sitting on a rock by the lake, staring blankly up at the sky.
She quietly approached, and a low muttering sound was heard.
"Why couldn't I throw a punch?"
There was a trace of confusion in Rio's words.
"The berserk Pidgeot Leader, the tyrannical Hegemon Nidoking, the super divine beast Mewtwo, the Steel God Pillar Registeel—no matter which one, I had the courage to throw my fist. But why... why couldn't I then?"
Is Rio still troubled by the opponent he met at the cable car station?
Ruru thought to herself.
"In the past, my master taught me that the brave are fearless, and the fearless are invincible. So, in my fighting career, no matter what kind of opponent—be it a world-famous boxing champion or a rising super-fighting rookie—I have always been fearless and dared to throw a punch."
"But why... why did a mere lv45 Incineroar make me completely lose the will to throw a punch?"
Rio recalled the scene from before. The malicious eyes of that Incineroar had made his whole body tremble.
"Was it because of my fear that I couldn't evolve?"
After the evolution was interrupted, that magical power seemed to have fallen dormant in the deepest part of his body. No matter how hard Rio tried, he couldn't awaken it.
"Peerless..." Rio chewed on this word from the panel. "Peerless Evil Incineroar... this 'Peerless', what life tier is that?"
He stood up and said fiercely, "My strength must still be insufficient. Ever since coming to the Middel Region, I've been lax in my own training. That's why, when facing Incineroar, I was overwhelmed by its presence."
"From today onwards, I will increase my training volume."
"The next time I face Incineroar, I must throw that punch!"
With that, Rio began to run frantically around the lake.
But this running—whether it was to better train his body or to vent that unspeakable fear—Rio himself couldn't say.
Ruru stood at a slight distance, watching silently.
…
When passing through Luminous Grotto, contrary to their expectations of it being dark, the various lights installed by the League in the cave illuminated it brightly. Moreover, there were also many trainers who had come out to train and some ore-mining workers in the cave, making Luminous Grotto seem not so gloomy and scary.
However, the Zubat and Golbat that popped out from time to time still gave the girls a scare.
Facing the challenges of the trainers in the cave, Rio always stepped forward without a word. Most of the trainers in the cave used Rock-type Pokémon. With Fighting-type against Rock-type, he had a type advantage, which allowed Míng Rìzhào to smoothly win most of the battles.
However, in the battles, Rio's desperate, life-for-life fighting style made even Fengling, who was watching from the side, realize something was wrong with him.
"Xiao Zhao, is Rio... a little off?"
Fengling asked Míng Rìzhào in a small voice.
The latter had a worried look on her face.
It wasn't that she hadn't communicated with Rio, but Rio would often talk about other things, unwilling to speak his inner thoughts.
Only then did the girl realize how wonderful it was to have a Pokémon with a super-high sense of self, but also, how troublesome it could be at times.
…
They left Luminous Grotto.
After passing through a large plain, they would reach Fuquan Town. Because this plain was close to the volcano, a large amount of volcanic ash would fall on it, making the place seem grey and hazy everywhere.
In such a place, a Pokémon Center had actually been set up. One really had to say that the League's care for trainers was truly meticulous.
In the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy handed the treated Poké Ball to Míng Rìzhào and at the same time said softly, "Hello, your Pokémon has fully recovered."
She thought for a moment and couldn't help but add a few words of advice to the latter.
"By the way, maybe I'm being nosy, but I suggest you be a little more careful during training. Your Pokémon's overall musculature is a bit over-fatigued. If it's over-trained, it could easily get injured."
Míng Rìzhào sighed. She thought it was a problem caused by Rio's desperate fighting style.
So she thought to herself that for the current stage, it was best to avoid battling other trainers.
It wasn't that she didn't want to let Rio rest and not fight. Once, when faced with a challenge from a trainer in the cave, Míng Rìzhào, thinking of letting Rio rest, planned to send Ruru into battle. But she didn't expect that Rio had already entered his Poké Ball first, and then autonomously jumped out, engaging the opponent on his own. Afterwards, listening to Míng Rìzhào's complaints, Rio nodded perfunctorily, but the next time, he still jumped out to fight on his own. This made Míng Rìzhào a little dissatisfied, and the relationship between the two became somewhat stiff for a while.
And Ruru knew even more.
Every night, that small figure would, in a place far away from where everyone (and every Pokémon) rested, train continuously. Several times, he had even failed to hold a rock he was using for lifting steady, and it had smashed heavily onto his body, causing him a lot of pain for a while. Then, after resting for a period, he would continue to train.
Ruru, on the other hand, had always been watching silently from not far away, wanting to help, but not knowing what she could do.
Míng Rìzhào, Rio, and Ruru—the three of them each had their own sorrows.
Only Eevee, since following Míng Rìzhào's group, ate its fill and slept, slept its fill and ate, every day, carefree, looking extremely happy.
"Xiao Teng, do you have any ideas?"
Fengling naturally also sensed this strange atmosphere. She didn't know how to intervene and could only hold her Snivy and ask.
"Teng, teng. (Pokémon Language) I don't have any ideas either. I don't know what that guy is up to..."
Snivy spread her hands.
Although Fengling couldn't understand Snivy's reply, she also felt that her Pokémon was powerless.
Reasonably speaking, Snivy was just a Pokémon that had just left its own living place not long ago and did not have enough experience to counsel these three people (and Pokémon).
Moreover, any discerning person (or Pokémon) could also see that the source of the problem was mainly with Rio. As long as his heart-sickness was resolved, all problems could be easily solved.
If at this time, there was a very experienced person or Pokémon to offer some advice, the matter would probably be resolved.
Unfortunately, in this team, all of them were fledglings who had just left the nest.
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