Chapter 170: The Consequences of Overdoing It
At this very moment, Rio had just finished his ten-kilometer run, panting.
"It takes me a little over a minute per kilometer. According to this body's speed, that's still a failing grade."
Rio was not very satisfied with this result.
10 kilometers was not a very long distance, but it could fully display a Pokémon's explosive speed and endurance. In terms of explosive power, Rio was still a bit confident, but how to improve his stamina to maintain high explosive power for a long time seemed to have become the current bottleneck.
However, endurance training was not something that could be achieved overnight. Rio could only temporarily put aside his dissatisfaction.
"Not enough! My training is still not enough!"
After the long run, he hoisted a rock from the volcano that was almost twice the size of his entire Pokémon self and began to do squats.
The heavy weight of the rock pressed down on Rio's body, making his legs tremble slightly.
"One, two, three..."
The hot climate of the volcano, coupled with the fatigue of his body, made beads of sweat roll down his cheeks.
After 200 squats.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
The fatigue in his body almost broke through his physique.
"No, I haven't reached my limit yet. I have to... break my limit to make myself stronger, huff, huff..."
Gasping for air, Rio, disregarding his already trembling legs, stubbornly pushed towards his limit.
He threw down the rock he was carrying, and then began to punch it continuously.
Luckily, not many tourists usually appeared on Fiery Volcano, otherwise, anyone would be surprised by this Pokémon that seemed to have gone mad.
Fists of flesh and blood hammered against the rock, one after another.
Was it painful?
Rio was already a little numb, just mechanically maintaining the posture of throwing punches.
Sweat blurred his eyes. The entire Pokémon seemed to have already approached its limit.
Suddenly, the volcano began to tremble again.
But this time, the tremor was much more violent than the previous few micro-tremors.
"Ugh."
His legs were already too weak to support his own body. Rio's figure swayed and he fell to the side.
"Rumble—"
And misfortunes never come singly. The place where Rio fell was the steep cliff right beside him!
"Damn it!"
Rio, instantly awakened, subconsciously wanted to support himself with his hands to avoid falling.
But at this moment, his hands went limp.
"Urgh..."
The entire Pokémon disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
…
A few minutes earlier, in the deepest part of Fiery Volcano.
A large group of people dressed in red and black uniforms waited quietly.
"Tap, tap, tap," the sound of footsteps slowly echoed.
A woman walked out.
"Leader Red Flame!"
The surrounding people bowed one after another, addressing her respectfully.
"Finally, we've finally found it!"
Following the woman were two men and a woman: a burly man—Fire Wing; a man in a white lab coat over his red and black uniform—Demetri; and a woman with glasses and a serious expression—Liya.
The one who spoke was Demetri, who was so excited he couldn't contain himself. This man, who looked like a scientist, looked at the scorching magma before him, the madness in his eyes so intense it was as if he wanted to throw himself into it immediately.
"Ten years ago," the woman called "Leader," Red Flame, began to speak in a faint tone, "the leader of the previous generation of Team Magma successfully awakened the Holy Beast, almost bringing the supreme glory that Team Magma had always pursued to this world."
"However!"
Her tone turned sharp.
"That Maxie actually let two little brats destroy the entire plan, failing on the verge of success!"
"Stupid! Extremely stupid!"
"And now, Team Magma has gathered again. I, as the new generation's leader, have obtained a key piece of information from a great existence."
"And that is, the Holy Beast from ten years ago had only used less than one-tenth of its power, which was why it was controlled by those two little brats, and defeated by that giant dragon."
"But, as long as we possess the treasure before us, we can restore the Holy Beast to its super-ancient state, and show the world Its true strength!"
"Neither that damned fish nor that giant dragon will be able to resist!"
"Humanity needs more continents! Endless land is the goal of human development!"
"The glory of Team Magma will be revived here once more!"
Red Flame scanned the entire scene.
"Are you ready?"
In the boiling lava ahead, a grim, crimson light suddenly blazed!
…
The rocks protruding from the side of the mountain collided with Rio as he tumbled uncontrollably downwards.
His body, arms, and legs endured immense pain from the bumping and crashing.
"Ugh..."
In the past, with this Pokémon body, Rio could have easily controlled his fall and recovered in time.
But at this moment, what surged in his body was endless fatigue.
"Crack!" A hard, giant rock slammed hard into Rio's right hand, making his entire arm instantly lose feeling.
But he couldn't even feel any pain.
His consciousness was a blur.
Just then, the sound of rapid wing flapping came from above the nearly unconscious Rio.
Then, a pair of powerful claws grabbed Rio.
The wings flapped. The silhouette of a giant dragon soared away.
…
Míng Rìzhào, who was just about to soak in the hot springs with Fengling, was feeling uneasy.
"Xiao Ling, you and Sister Flannery go soak first. I need to go out for a bit."
Míng Rìzhào entrusted the Pokémon egg and Eevee, who didn't want to go into its Poké Ball, to Fengling, and then hurried out of the Pokémon Center with Kirlia.
"What's wrong with Xiao Zhao?"
Flannery tied up her loose hair with a hair tie, then asked curiously.
Fengling explained the situation to Flannery.
"I see, a Pokémon with a troubled heart..."
Flannery was lost in thought.
On the other hand, Míng Rìzhào, who had run out of the Pokémon Center, also keenly sensed a slight tremor from the ground beneath her feet, which made her even more worried.
"Ruru, did Rio say where he was going to train?"
Kirlia pointed towards Fiery Volcano.
"That fellow, going to such a dangerous place to train. I'll have to beat him up when I find him."
Though she spoke harsh words, the girl unhesitatingly ran towards the "dangerous" place she had mentioned.
They ascended the mountain path of Fiery Volcano, then, using Ruru's psychic power, found the place where the wave of Aura energy had passed, and finally stopped in front of a cliff.
"Ruru!"
Míng Rìzhào called out to her little companion, and the latter, with a tacit understanding, spread her psychic power, covering Míng Rìzhào. The big and small figures then jumped down the cliff.
Using psychic power to float all the way down and search, they finally found some dried bloodstains on a large rock.
And the fluctuation of Aura energy also ended here.
"Ilulu. (Pokémon Language) Xiao Zhao, Rio is gone."
Kirlia was also very anxious and turned her head to look at her trainer.
"…"
Míng Rìzhào bit her lip.
"Let's go ask Sister Flannery for help. She's the Gym Leader of Fuquan Town; she should have a way to search the area around Fuquan Town."
From the tour guide's introduction earlier, Míng Rìzhào had already heard the name of the Gym Leader, Flannery. And after meeting at the Pokémon Center, although she didn't recognize at first that the generous big sister was the target of her challenge in Fuquan Town, seeing the respectful attitude of the people in the Pokémon Center towards that big sister, she realized she was not an ordinary person, and at the same time remembered the Gym Leader's name.
"But I don't know if we can persuade Sister Flannery..."
Gym Leaders were generally the most authoritative people in the entire town, so they usually had many miscellaneous matters to deal with. Whether it was Norman in Verdant Leaf City or Wattson in Zidian City, the matters they needed to handle every day could pile up into a small mountain.
And Míng Rìzhào wanting to ask Flannery for help in finding Rio was not a simple matter. Leaving aside the fact that their relationship was just that of having just met at the Pokémon Center entrance, and they couldn't be said to have any friendship, furthermore, mobilizing a large amount of resources just to find one Pokémon—this didn't seem like a very practical idea.
"If it really doesn't work, then we'll just have to have a wager battle with Sister Flannery!"
The girl's gaze was firm.
The so-called wager battle was a unique type of battle among Pokémon trainers. In this kind of battle, both sides would bet their most precious things, that is, the "stakes," to conduct the battle. Although it was not of a forceful nature, once the agreement was made between the two battling parties, a winner and a loser must be decided. Sometimes, this kind of battle was also very dangerous, because the most precious thing for a human could be their life.
Of course, if Míng Rìzhào and Flannery were to have a wager battle, it wouldn't go to such an extreme extent.
It's just to say that to find Rio, she was even willing to trade the Pokémon badge she had just obtained and the Pokémon egg gifted by Ruby.
It should be known that the Pokémon egg gifted by Ruby, this world-famous Contest Master, would definitely not be some random thing. There would surely be many people very interested in it.
And Pokémon badges, in the eyes of many, were rare collector's items.
In addition, for something like betting a Pokémon badge, if it were discovered by the League, this Pokémon trainer could potentially be removed from the professional list. That is to say, they could never again embark on the professional path of a Pokémon trainer. If so, for Míng Rìzhào, who single-mindedly aimed for the Pokémon trainer championship, this was undoubtedly the worst-case scenario.
"Pokémon are our companions! To not abandon, to not give up—that is a true Pokémon trainer!"
The words of the old dean of the Pokémon Academy echoed continuously in her ears.
The young girl had made her resolve.
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