Chapter 166: The Interrupted Evolution
Suddenly, heavy footsteps sounded with a certain rhythm.
One step, two steps, three steps... Each step felt like it was treading on Rio's heart.
An inexplicable sense of dread arose from within him.
"Impossible! My ability is Inner Focus! I shouldn't fall into any state of fear, but why..."
His hands were trembling, his legs were also trembling. An unprecedented feeling of fear continuously welled up from the depths of his heart, engulfing Rio like a tide.
The faintly glowing white light instantly vanished, disappearing from Rio's body.
"Rio!"
Míng Rìzhào couldn't help but cry out. In her heart, that strange power had inexplicably dissipated, leaving her feeling as if a piece of her heart was missing, completely empty.
What turned back to look was Riolu's face, filled with terror.
Míng Rìzhào, who had never seen Rio show such an expression, was also stunned, momentarily at a loss.
"Had enough fooling around, have you?"
A calm voice came from the cable car station, followed by two figures slowly walking out.
Walking in front was a burly man in a red and black vest. His face was expressionless at the moment, yet it made the woman who had been watching the fun on the side involuntarily bow her head and clasp her hands. The youth, Micun, on the other hand, had his face freeze, an expression like a mouse meeting a cat, standing stiffly on the spot.
Following the man out was a bipedal Pokémon, with a fierce appearance, resembling both a cat and a tiger.
The Fire and Dark-type Pokémon—Incineroar!
Incineroar stood tall, its height nearly 2 meters, quite a bit taller than an ordinary member of its species. It had broad palms, sharp claws, powerful muscles, a body that looked like it was wearing a black vest, and a fiery belt that radiated blazing flames. Coupled with its bared teeth and ferocious face, the entire Pokémon exuded a vicious and unfriendly aura.
With Incineroar's appearance, the entire scene felt as if its throat had been seized, becoming deathly silent. Only some timid children seemed to be so scared they couldn't help but let out low sobs.
A formless, shadowless, yet almost tangible evil intent swept across the entire area.
The people and Pokémon couldn't help but show looks of fear.
Rio gritted his teeth, his left hand gripping his uncontrollably trembling right wrist, staring intently at this tall Pokémon.
"Stop! Stop it!!!"
He screamed frantically in his mind but couldn't suppress the fear that kept welling up from the depths of his heart.
Riolu was right in front of Incineroar, yet the latter didn't even glance at him. Its disdainful gaze swept over the entire scene, only showing a slight interest when its eyes swept over the Camerupt.
But the Camerupt was facing a great enemy, the lava in the humps on its back rumbling.
"We've received the leader's order to assemble all team members at the volcano. There's no need to guard this place anymore."
This man, called Fire Wing, looked at Micun indifferently.
"Put away your childish games. Don't delay things."
Even though he was called such, Micun couldn't get angry, only sullenly recalling his Camerupt.
Fire Wing glanced at the worried Míng Rìzhào and the Riolu who was gritting his teeth and holding on.
"You two... fight pretty well."
After speaking, a very gorgeously packaged bottle of medicine was thrown over.
Míng Rìzhào dazedly caught the bottle. A quick look and it was surprisingly a very precious recovery medicine—a Full Restore. It should be known that this kind of medicine was extremely rare and hard to buy. Its effect was to allow a Pokémon to quickly heal its injuries and completely restore its HP and energy, worthy of being called a super-premium medicine.
And this man before her, who was clearly in the same group as that villain Micun, had actually thrown such a priceless Full Restore to her?
"However, you are still too weak."
Fire Wing treated everyone present as if they were air, his gaze fixed only on the distant volcano.
"And being weak means you cannot protect anything."
A Poké Ball shone with light, and three Talonflame were summoned.
The three Talonflame grabbed Fire Wing, Micun, and the other female accomplice, then flapped their wings and flew high, leaving the station.
And then.
"Roar, roar!" The Incineroar left on the ground let out a loud roar that shook the heavens. A fierce aura suddenly erupted from its body. Its two fists ignited with violent flames, and it swung them towards the cable car station.
The flames exploded with a deafening roar.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—"
The fierce explosion blasted the entire station to smithereens. Various pieces of debris were even sent flying out. The originally not-so-large building was directly razed to the ground under this terrifying blow.
"Screeeech—"
The cable car tracks that had been erected from Luminous Mountain also subsequently collapsed.
"Hoo, heh heh heh..."
Incineroar seemed very satisfied with its masterpiece and couldn't help but laugh maniacally.
And with a flash of white light, Incineroar was recalled into its Poké Ball, following the three people who had already flown away from Luminous Mountain.
The after-flames of the explosion affected everyone present. Many people were even cut by the flying debris or knocked down.
"Quick, quick! Call the medics!"
"Boohoohoo, it hurts so much."
"Help..."
The scene was in chaos.
Kirlia, who had at some unknown point popped out of her Poké Ball, exhausted the last of her psychic power to deploy a psychic barrier for Míng Rìzhào, Fengling, and the people around them, blocking the various debris and impacts.
But she herself also fainted from energy exhaustion in Míng Rìzhào's arms.
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[Pokédex]
Encounter Progress: 97/100
Battle Progress: 55/100
[Real-time Analysis]
Pokémon: Peerless Evil - Incineroar (Male)
Level: lv45
Type: Fire + Dark
Trainer: Fire Wing
Ability: Intimidate (When a Pokémon with this ability enters a battle, it causes the opponent to subconsciously flinch, lowering their Attack.)
Peerless: Ferocious and Vile (This Pokémon possesses extreme peerless malice, which envelops all opposing Pokémon in fear, causing an all-around decrease in their stats. This effect cannot be blocked by any ability or power, and this Pokémon is not weak to Fighting-type moves.)
Moves: DD Lariat (lv5), Throat Chop (lv5), Fire Punch (lv5), Blaze Kick (lv4), Flare Blitz (lv3), Cross Chop (lv3), Snarl (lv2), Bulk Up (lv2), Thunder Punch (lv1)
————————————
…
Rio's evolution was thus interrupted.
…
After receiving calls from the public, medical personnel and the police quickly arrived at Luminous Mountain.
Because of Ruru's full protection, Míng Rìzhào, Fengling, and a host of Pokémon were not injured in the explosion. After cooperating with the police to give a relevant statement, the girls prepared to leave and continue on to Fuquan Town.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy."
Míng Rìzhào said her thanks while taking her Pokémon's Poké Ball from Nurse Joy's emergency treatment device.
The young girl looked at the cable car station, which had been destroyed leaving only a few remains. A look of frustration, fear, and a trace of gloom flashed in her eyes.
She clenched her fists tightly.
"Xiao Zhao, let's go."
The matter was over, and the journey had to continue. Fengling held Snivy and said softly.
"Mm..."
Míng Rìzhào took one last look at the cable car station, collected herself, and with her companions, continued on the road to Fuquan Town.
Everything seemed the same as their journey before.
Kirlia Ruru still meticulously took care of everyone's food, accommodation, and travel. Fengling was trying to start cultivating a rapport with her Snivy. The newly joined companion, Eevee, also slowly became familiar with everyone. Although Eevee still couldn't speak clearly, Míng Rìzhào could still understand some of her simple thoughts. The Pokémon egg was still lying safely in the backpack, occasionally shaking slightly, each time making Míng Rìzhào think it was about to hatch, only to find it was a false alarm.
But it seemed something was different.
"I'm sorry, Rio."
Míng Rìzhào found Riolu, who had become much quieter, sitting on the side and said with some guilt.
"No, it has nothing to do with you, Xiao Zhao. You already did a great job."
Rio shook his head, then, as if having seen through something, continued to add, "Don't worry, I'm not upset about the evolution thing."
Míng Rìzhào was still a little unable to let it go.
"But, wasn't that the evolution you've been pursuing all this time? If at that time I..."
Evolution, for many Pokémon, was a very important matter. And having traveled with Rio for so long, Míng Rìzhào had heard him talk about his longing for his evolved form countless times.
"Hey, Xiao Zhao, did you know? My evolution is very impressive! His name is Lucario. Not only does he have a tall and handsome appearance, but his strength is also very formidable, you could say double my current strength. More importantly, if I evolve, I can have even stronger control over Aura energy."
"Hmm? What's Aura energy, you ask? It's that thing! Don't I use [Aura Sphere] all the time? That's the application of Aura energy."
"And, after evolving, I won't be shorter than Ruru, so that Snivy won't keep laughing at me."
"What's more, after I evolve, I'll go back to Newmoon Forest and let those few Oddish and Poliwag have a good look at what it means to see someone in a new light after just a few days apart, hmph, hmph. Don't worry, I'll take you back with me too, to introduce you to Squirtle—oh, no, it should be the Blastoise Boss now, Big Sister Vileplume, Big Brother Scyther, Brother Machop, and that little brother Takuma."
Whenever Rio talked about these things, his eyes would always sparkle, his face animated.
Míng Rìzhào also knew that Rio's evolution was not like Kirlia's, where he could evolve upon reaching a certain level. Instead, it required some special conditions. And for such Pokémon, they either met the conditions very easily and evolved, or it was very difficult to evolve.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had been right in front of them, yet she had let it slip away.
The young girl was very unwilling to accept it.
"Alright, alright. I'm fine, really."
Rio, in turn, comforted his trainer.
"I'm really not upset about the evolution."
This was indeed Rio's true feeling. However, any discerning person or Pokémon could see that after the cable car station incident, there seemed to be something on Rio's mind that had made him lose his usual liveliness. Even when faced with Snivy's deliberate provocations, he would just silently walk to the side and continue to think about his own things.
So, what on earth was our Riolu thinking about?
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