“Who discovered this?” Fugen looked at Hinoa and asked.
“I did, Chief.”
Zhang Tian stepped out from behind Hinoa and answered softly.
“I see. It was you.”
Fugen looked at Zhang Tian with some surprise before continuing, “If what you’ve told us is true, then you’ve done the village a great service. Once this matter is resolved, we’ll prepare a substantial reward for you.”
The Monster Hunter world had a good atmosphere.
If a Hunter accomplished something, they were rewarded for it.
No one expected Hunters to work for nothing.
“Then I’ll have to thank you in advance, Chief.”
Zhang Tian smiled.
Naturally, he was happy whenever there was a reward involved.
“There’s no need to thank me. You deserve it.”
Fugen waved his hand before looking at Hinoa.
“Hinoa, don’t wander around for the next few days. Stay in the village in case the monsters launch an attack.”
Hinoa was Champion Class and possessed tremendous combat strength, so Fugen placed great importance on her.
“All right. I’ll go discuss this with the Guild. You two can talk.”
Fugen stood up and strode away.
“Zhang Tian, because of the matter with Magnamalo and Bazelgeuse, the Guild will definitely assign a lot of work to us.”
“So I won’t be able to stay and chat with you.”
“I’ll come find you once everything is settled.”
Hinoa looked at Zhang Tian apologetically.
“Go ahead. I won’t misunderstand.”
“Your work is more important.”
Zhang Tian reached out and lightly tapped Hinoa on the forehead before smiling and leaving.
“You really are a troublemaker.”
Hinoa’s face turned slightly red as she glanced at Zhang Tian before following Fugen.
Zhang Tian didn’t hurry home.
Instead, he went to see Hamon.
“Uncle Hamon, are you here?”
Zhang Tian walked into the Smithy and called out.
“I’m here.”
Hamon walked out from the back room.
“What? Are you looking to forge some new equipment?”
Hamon looked at Zhang Tian.
“That’s right.”
Zhang Tian nodded.
“I hunted a Rathian, so I want to forge a new set of equipment.”
He then took a large pile of Rathian materials out of his backpack.
“This backpack of yours is pretty interesting.”
Hamon looked curiously at the backpack on Zhang Tian’s back.
“It can actually hold so many things.”
“This is something from my hometown.”
Zhang Tian smiled.
“Don’t let its small size fool you. It can hold quite a lot.”
“I understand. Spatial technology.”
Hamon nodded slightly.
“I think the Guild headquarters has similar backpacks, but they’re ridiculously expensive.”
“Little brother, are you still using a Long Sword?”
Hamon asked while sorting through the Rathian materials.
“That’s right.”
Zhang Tian nodded.
“Come back this afternoon to pick it up.”
“Okay. Thanks for the trouble, Uncle Hamon.”
Zhang Tian nodded before turning around and leaving.
“Rathian… His growth is really fast.”
“He can already hunt a Rathian now.”
Hamon watched Zhang Tian’s departing back and shook his head in amazement.
…
The Next Morning
Early the next morning, Zhang Tian returned to the Pokémon world.
The reason he had come back was because he planned to challenge his first Gym.
Challenge the Gyms, defeat the Elite Four, and become the Champion.
That was Zhang Tian’s dream.
It was also what he intended to accomplish in the future.
As for capturing Nargacuga, he could wait a while longer.
Neither Magnamalo nor Bazelgeuse was something he could deal with right now.
And there was no need for him to help defend the village.
Fugen and Hamon were both Lesser Deity Class.
His current strength was still far too weak compared with them.
So he would honestly continue developing himself.
There was no reason to get involved in this dangerous mess.
Keep a low profile.
Develop safely.
Don’t take unnecessary risks.
“First, let’s check the information about the first Gym.”
Zhang Tian didn’t rush over to challenge it.
Instead, he took out his phone and started searching.
He wasn’t Ash.
He wasn’t the kind of person who rushed into everything headfirst.
After finding the Gym’s information, Zhang Tian began reading through it.
Rock Gym
Introduction: Located among the mountains, it is the first Gym that Daxia Trainers can challenge.
Under normal circumstances, challengers will first face the Gym’s disciples, whose strength is generally around the Elite Class.
Recommended Types: Water, Grass, Steel, Ground, and Fighting.
“It’s pretty much the same as what I remember.”
Zhang Tian nodded before purchasing a plane ticket.
Daxia was simply too large.
It wasn’t like Nihon, which was an island nation.
If he relied solely on a flying Pokémon for long-distance travel, he would probably exhaust the Pokémon to death.
Of course, if he had a Champion-Class Flying Pokémon, that would be a different story.
The same applied to Psychic-type Pokémon with powerful teleportation abilities.
After buying his plane ticket, Zhang Tian mounted Pidgeot and flew toward the airport.
Looking down at the houses that had become nothing more than tiny black dots on the ground, Zhang Tian suddenly felt emotional.
“It’s been more than two years.”
“Now, I finally have enough strength to control a small part of my own destiny.”
“Freedom… strength.”
“It’s a wonderful feeling.”
“One day, I’ll stand at the very top of the world, with countless people watching me.”
Zhang Tian raised his hand toward the sun in the sky and clenched his fist.
…
Zhang Tian landed on Pidgeot in the plaza outside the airport.
Compared with his school, there were far more Pokémon here.
There were even pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
“Huh?”
Zhang Tian looked at the Garchomp nearby in surprise.
“I didn’t expect to see a pseudo-legendary here.”
“And it’s already in its final evolutionary form. That’s pretty rare.”
Pseudo-legendary Pokémon were extremely expensive.
On top of that, the cost of raising one was more than ten or even dozens of times higher than that of an ordinary Pokémon.
Aside from truly wealthy Trainers, very few people could afford to raise pseudo-legendaries.
There were two reasons.
And they couldn’t afford to raise them.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Zhang Tian noticed the blonde girl standing beside Garchomp.
“Cynthia!”
Zhang Tian immediately recognized her.
It was none other than Cynthia.
She looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, roughly the same age as Zhang Tian.
Cynthia was extremely beautiful, no less so than Hinoa or Minoto.
More importantly, she possessed an alluring, mature aura that made her particularly captivating.
“What should I buy?”
Cynthia stared at the desserts in front of her, unable to decide which one to choose.
She looked completely conflicted.
“Buy this one.”
Zhang Tian walked over to Cynthia and pointed toward the cream black tea.
“This is the best one.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Cynthia nodded and finally made her decision.
After buying the dessert, Cynthia finally seemed to realize that Zhang Tian was standing beside her.
“Thank you.”
“Are you a Trainer too?”
She glanced at Pidgeot behind Zhang Tian.
“That’s right.”
“I’m a Trainer, and I’m planning to challenge the Rock Gym.”
“What about you?”
Zhang Tian nodded and smiled.
“I’m a Trainer too.”
“I’m a traveling Trainer from the United States, and I’m also planning to challenge the Rock Gym.”
Cynthia took a sip of her tea and smiled.
“The United States?”
A trace of surprise flashed through Zhang Tian’s eyes.
He remembered that Cynthia was the Champion of the Sinnoh region in the games.
The Sinnoh region was based on Hokkaido in Nihon.
By the logic of the games, Cynthia should have been from Nihon.
But reality was clearly different.
After all, Cynthia had long blonde hair.
It would be strange for her to be Japanese.
“Welcome to Daxia.”
“My name is Zhang Tian. May I know your name?”
Zhang Tian smiled slightly.
“My name is Cynthia.”
Cynthia answered.
“By the way, you’re planning to take a plane there, right?”
“What time is your flight?”
“Perhaps we’ll be on the same plane.”
Zhang Tian took out his ticket.
“I’m taking the nine o’clock flight too.”
“Looks like we’re really destined to meet.”
Cynthia’s eyes suddenly lit up with fighting spirit.
“Would you like to have a battle with me?”
Cynthia had sensed something unusual from Pidgeot.
It possessed the aura of an apex predator.
Because of that, Cynthia felt that the young man standing before her was no ordinary Trainer.
He was probably a powerful one.
To confirm her guess, she wanted to battle Zhang Tian.
Challenge the strong, then become stronger.
That was Cynthia.
The future Champion of the Sinnoh region.