He knows Pokémon better than me.

The next day, the two returned to Route 6 together.

Before leaving, I took a good look around Su Chuan Town, including the huge mural at the northernmost high point of the town, which is considered a local landmark.

Ash and Marie stood before the magnificent mural, gazing at it for a long time.

The top is colorful and resembles a primary school student's doodle, with what appears to be a hastily written signature in the lower right corner. Locally, this is considered the most elegant work of art.

Xiaozhi: "."

Where exactly is art?

"Pica~"

Pikachu shrugged nonchalantly, as if it could paint ten murals like Smeargle with paint stuck to its tail in an hour.

Beside her, although Mary also couldn't understand what the mural was trying to express, her gaze was fixed on the lower right corner of the mural.

There was a crack or gap there, as if it had been damaged by someone.

"Could it be that person again?"

Ash does remember a gray-haired trainer who looked like an old lady who was also destroying ruins everywhere.

After scanning his surroundings and not seeing any suspicious people, he naturally did not stay to work as a bodyguard.

If it is indeed destroyed, it can only be blamed on the locals for not protecting their precious heritage properly.

After exploring the various ruins, murals, and sculptures around the town with Mary, Ash returned to the town.

Then I bought some materials from stalls along the way.

Before he set off, Mr. Mime gave him a list of materials that Lucario might need for his crafting.

You can't find it in the nearby wilderness, including in the general stores of Motostoke; it's estimated that this treasure market is the only place in the entire Galar region that has it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone selling Dynamax mushrooms, otherwise I would have saved myself the trouble of searching for them.

After finishing everything, the two returned to the uneven Gobi Road No. 6. The various mountain paths and slopes were of varying heights, and when they reached a dead end, they had to use the ladders embedded in the rock walls to continue forward.

Previously, I had only flown over from high above, but this time I walked on foot, and the feeling was quite different.

"The decision is yours!"

Ash throws two Poké Balls with his backhand, one for Bagon and one for Scorbunny.

"Baby Dragon, let's start the battle! Scorbunny, if we encounter any powerful wild Pokémon, you're in charge of holding them off for Baby Dragon."

The young general nodded and began kicking a small pebble next to him, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he did so.

If a creature that the baby dragon cannot handle suddenly appears, it will kick out a fireball.

"Aww!!!"

As a little evil dragon, Baby Dragon naturally opened its mouth wide and roared as it ran out immediately.

Every now and then, I would kick aside a nearby rock to see if there were any iron ants underneath.

Or they might shake the withered grass by the roadside, hoping to unearth one or two sandbag snakes or pincers-tailed scorpions.

Mary simply followed quietly beside him; she wasn't a good conversationalist.

Her team's level wasn't low either, and leveling up wild Pokémon in the vicinity wasn't very meaningful, so she simply started looking for Pokémon that could counter Fairy-type Pokémon.

During the process, her gaze involuntarily fell on the baby dragon, and Mary's little mouth opened slightly:

"Hey, what's that on the back of this precious dragon?"

There were some small, light red feathers on its back, which looked like it was bleeding if you didn't look closely.

It seemed even more ferocious and savage than she remembered the baby dragon to be, with claws already growing on its two short hands.

Is it some kind of mutated individual? This friend that Xiaozhi met by chance is even more mysterious than she originally thought.
As for Ash, besides watching the Bagon's special training battle, he was also looking around, trying to find the location of the campsite from before.

This time, without Corviknight's Intimidate ability, the surrounding wild Pokémon dared to approach.

For example, just as Baby Dragon flips over a rock, a pincer-tailed scorpion suddenly emerges from under the rock, its sharp stingers and claws aimed at Baby Dragon's face.

"Bee!"

Fortunately, the baby dragon reacted very quickly and leaped backward, thus avoiding being hit by the pincers-tailed scorpion's short arms.

However, the next moment, the pincer-tailed scorpion turned around and suddenly thrust its tail at him.

Like its evolved form, Dracoscorpion, the pincers of the scorpion cannot yet extend their pincers, but its tail can already extend to a length of more than one meter.

"Bee!!"

Baby Dragon instantly went into battle mode, quickly turning its head to dodge the attack.

Then it opened its mouth wide and bit down hard on the middle of the tail that the pincers-tailed scorpion extended.

Boom!
Flames erupted and exploded, causing the pincer-tailed scorpion to writhe on the ground in pain.

"Evil wave!"

Then, the powerful Dark Pulse released by the baby dragon blasted the pincer-tailed scorpion away, sending it crashing down the slope.

"Dark-type moves?"

Mary was even more surprised. As a trainer specializing in Dark-type Pokémon, she could tell that even if this Pokémon didn't have the Dark type now, it would definitely gain it after evolving.
Wait a minute, isn't Salamence a Dragon/Flying Pokémon? Did I misremember its Pokédex entry?

Mary blinked, looking bewildered. In order to assemble a Dark-type team, she had memorized all the information about Dark-type Pokémon in the Pokédex long ago.

"Hehe. Keep going, baby dragon!"

Ash chuckled and commanded his Bagon to continue the battle.

Raise your hand to activate the power of the bond, granting the baby dragon various buffs—

In particular, its reaction speed allows it to largely evade attacks from wild Pokémon in the vicinity.

After all, it is only a juvenile pseudo-god, with limited stamina. Without relying on the power of bonds, it can only fight two enemies before needing to stop and rest for a while.

Next came the iron ants that emerged from the pile of dry grass, their mandibles opening and closing with a metallic clang.

Without further ado, it charged straight at Baby Dragon, ready to settle the score with a single Iron Head attack.

"Steel and Bug attributes? Perfect!"

Xiao Zhi's lips curled into a smile, and he quickly gave instructions:
"Jump up and unleash a small burst of flame!!"

Baby Dragon understood and immediately leaped up to dodge Iron Head. Blazing flames ignited in its open mouth, and it spat them out mercilessly towards the Iron Ant.

Chi Chi Chi -!
The flames gradually transformed into the shape of the Chinese character "小" in mid-air. Caught off guard, the iron ant was struck in the back by the explosive flames of the "小" character, and the flames exploded instantly.

The effect is remarkable, four times more effective at controlling the disease!!

With just one strike, the iron ant was charred and turned upside down, its limbs curled up, completely unconscious.

Instant kill!

"Aww~!"

After the baby dragon landed, flames still flickered between its teeth, and it proudly raised its head and roared.

Ash looked at Mary and asked with a smile:

"By the way, Marie, are you going to catch it? Iron Ant seems to be a Pokémon that perfectly counters the Fairy Gym?" (End of Chapter)