Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 359 Star Crystallization! A Serendipitous Encounter at the Crystal Pool at Night! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

While eating in the living room, Nemo always tried to get closer to Naruto, still not giving up on the idea of ​​battling him in Pokémon. However, Botan, sitting in the middle, would deliberately block her with her body.

"Can't you sit still?!"

Peony retorted in a low voice without any politeness, but Nemo wasn't angry. She continued to press herself against Peony, trying to push her aside so she could pass.

"..."

Mingyou was genuinely scared. Luckily, Xiaozhao wasn't home, otherwise a fight would definitely have broken out.

The others were already used to Nemo's behavior, so Xiaoqing could only apologize on behalf of her senior, Mingyou, feeling rather embarrassed. Then she changed the subject, focusing on the burning bug on Guletun's head.

"Is this child your Pokémon?"

"this……"

Mingyou didn't hide anything and explained about the Burning Bugs. After listening, Mudan immediately took out her phone and operated Rotom.

"Found it!"

"what?"

"The Volcarona trainer you mentioned was a trainer who participated in the League Tournament in the Padia region last year, but he didn't collect all the badges within the allotted time and left. He doesn't have a good reputation, so there's absolutely no need to look for him."

As she spoke, Mudan put down her phone. It was clear that in such a short time, she had investigated all of the other party's information, including their social media activity, and reached a conclusion.

After hearing this, Mingyou felt a little regretful, but seeing the Burning Bug being attracted by Guleton made him realize that the "sun" that the other party was looking for was probably not Volcano. Could it really be something in the conceptual sense?

"..."

After pondering for a long time, I still couldn't come to a conclusion.

After the meal, apart from Peony lying on Snorlax's belly playing on her phone, the others helped tidy up the entire living room. It's something you should do when you're eating at someone else's house.

After exchanging contact information with Mingyou, the group prepared to leave. They were staying at the community center, and if they needed to discuss anything with everyone, they could just chat in the group chat.

After seeing the others off, Mingyou gradually calmed down and began to think about what had happened that day, as well as the intelligence she had gathered, organizing it in her mind.

"The Padia Crater, Sector Zero, the Time Machine, Paradoxical Pokémon... and the Crystal Pool!"

"Hmm?"

Seeing him standing there, deep in thought, Ponpo tilted his head, his face full of doubt and curiosity.

Mingyou gently shook her head and patted its head: "Let's go, go early and come back early. Let's go to Crystal Pool tonight and check on the situation. Come to think of it, I've lived in Beishang Township for so long, and I've never been there before."

"Mmm~"

No matter where Mingyou goes, Ponpo will follow.

A moment later, Mingyou called Heyue and the Night Demon Spirit who worked at the haunted house, along with Pengpeng. The three of them had lived in Beishang Township for over a hundred years and had some contact with Ghost Mountain, so perhaps they could have a chat.

"Hehehe~"

The Night Demon was truly surprised to find itself having another chance to appear.

"Alright, before we get to the top of the mountain, I want to ask you a few questions. I remember you said before that you originally planned to occupy Ghost Mountain to become the Ghost King of Kitakami Township, but you ended up going to the Eternal Forest and were trapped there by Heyue, unable to do evil."

Mingyou hadn't forgotten these things. After all, the Night Demon was one of the more troublesome enemies he had encountered back then, even though he had now been cleansed of all evil.

"Hehehe!"

The Night Demon nodded. It had indeed had such an idea at first, but the temperature on Ghost Mountain was too high for it to live in.

As for the other reason, it was attacked by an unknown entity in the Crystal Pool. It was a power that it did not recognize at the time, and later it learned that it was Taijing, which is why it went to steal Ponpo's mask.

"Did you see any Pokémon attacking you?"

"Hehehe..."

no……

It was precisely because there was nothing there that it felt eerie. In fact, when the Crown King sent it to investigate the haunting at the Crystal Pool, the reason it was so perfunctory and ignoring it was because it was worried about encountering those eerie things again.

"Hmm?"

Ponpo listened with great confusion. It had lived on Ghost Mountain for hundreds of years and had been to Crystal Pool many times, even soaking in the hot springs there. How come it had never encountered these special situations?

"Awooo..."

It's probably because of Taijing.

He Yue offered his opinion: the experienced senior had a simple deduction that Ponpo was wearing a mask with Taijing crystals, which led the special being in the Crystal Pool to mistake her for one of their own. Moreover, she didn't seem to be acting with malice like the Night Demon, which was why they didn't encounter her.

"Hmm..."

That should be it...

Listening to their conversation, Mingyou also felt it was very likely. She kept this clue in mind and soon arrived at the top of Ghost Mountain.

Looking from afar, the mountaintop can be seen shimmering brilliantly under the moonlight, which is very beautiful. Crystal Pool is a volcanic lake, and it takes a while to reach it. However, ahead of it, the guards stationed by Green Town are stationed to block Crystal Pool.

Moreover, they are a group of old friends, the same group of North Faced members who sneaked into the manor to steal fruit back then. After all, they are the strongest group of trainers in Greentown, and only a few of them can be stationed here.

I went up and greeted them. Those conflicts had long since been resolved, and the two sides were having a friendly conversation.

Mingyou offered a simple reason to explain her purpose: "I heard from the administrator that the Crystal Pool is haunted, so I came to check it out when I had some free time. Have you found anything?"

"Yes, there is."

Muramasa nodded and continued, "The Crystal Pool gets foggy every few days, so we haven't dared to approach it to investigate. It's not within our scope of work. But everything returns to normal after the fog dissipates. We've gone to check a few times but haven't found anything."

"Hmm... Is there a pattern to the fogging?"

"No, it's completely random."

"Alright, by the way, are there any wild Pokémon living near Crystal Pool?"

"There used to be some gas bombs and bells... but after the first haunting incident, all of these Pokémon disappeared, even some of the Barracuda in the Crystal Pool have vanished."

Muramasa continued explaining, while Naruto paused slightly, then asked, "Not a single Pokémon left?"

"At least we didn't see any. There might be some hidden inside the Crystal Pool. We heard from tourists who sneaked in that they saw strange shadows coming out of the Crystal Pool. Maybe there are other Pokémon too."

"Hmm... okay then."

After asking a few more questions, Mingyou walked towards the Crystal Pool. He hadn't expected it to be this serious. There must be at least dozens of wild Pokémon living in the Crystal Pool.

Nobody cares about wild Pokémon...

As she climbed the steps and passed through the torii gate, a strong smell of sulfur hit her, bringing her back to her senses, and she looked around.

The entire Crystal Pool was eerily quiet, with the ground almost entirely covered in clumps of sulfur and scorching volcanic gases billowing from all directions. The Crystal Pool in the distance shimmered slightly under the moonlight, and glittering crystal particles drifted around, creating a breathtakingly beautiful and dreamlike scene.

"As expected of the sixth candidate selected from the north..."

Mingyou took out her phone and snapped a picture of Rotom. The view here was definitely worth the price of admission.

The Crystal Pool, serving as the water source for the entire Beishang Township, remains completely unpolluted and is safe to drink directly. Furthermore, a legend in Beishang Township states that if one gazes intently at the shimmering light of the Crystal Pool, one can see deceased people appear before them, though it seems no one has ever actually succeeded…

Returning to the Crystal Pool after many years, the Night Demon was still somewhat apprehensive, while Ponpo seemed much calmer. She jogged to the edge of the Crystal Pool and gazed at her reflection in the shimmering water.

"Mmm~"

"Don't fall in!"

Mingyou smiled and stepped forward, wanting to observe the situation inside the Crystal Pool. But just as he approached the shore, ripples appeared on the water's surface, followed by splashes, and a graceful figure suddenly leaped out of the water!

"What...?"

Before Mingyou could even be surprised, the figure suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, and the crystals covering its body shattered like broken glass, revealing a Milotic with a purple ghost crystal on its head standing right in front of him.

"Mmm!"

Ponpo pulled out the Thorn Vine Staff and, sensing Milotic's intense hostility, immediately stood in front of Naruto to protect him.

"Is this the guy?!"

Mingyou looked at the Night Demon and asked it a question.

This Milotic transformed into a Ghost Crystal even though there were no Crystal Crystals around, which meets the "Ghost" condition. Moreover, the fact that there was only this one Pokémon here speaks volumes.

"Hehehe..."

The Night Demon shook its head. It wasn't that. It was certainly familiar with ghost-type power. What it had encountered was other unfamiliar crystalline energy.

At this moment, the crystal above Milotic's head trembled slightly, then a burst of spiritual energy erupted, and the crystal exploded. In that instant, a blood moon floated in the void, transforming into a blood-red beam of light that struck Milotic's body, sending it flying from the crystal pool to the shore.

"Now!"

Mingyou told Pengpeng to go over and stop Milotic, hoping to get some useful information from it. But as soon as he finished speaking, his voice stopped abruptly, and he froze on the spot.

"They're lying in ambush here..."

Feeling weakness and pain in his arm, cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He glanced down and saw that where the ground had been covered with sulfur, a blue flower, like a crystal, was now growing, with the tip of its petals piercing his arm.

[Crystal Blossom: A mineral Pokémon, originally meant to exist only deep underground, born under the influence of crystal energy. Its crystals are highly poisonous, so do not provoke it. If you encounter it, escape as soon as possible. Gaining its favor is almost impossible.]

The sudden appearance of this crystalline flower went unnoticed even by He Yue, seemingly as if Milotic was deliberately drawing attention to it. The Night Demon seemed to sense something, and its face immediately showed terror.

After successfully poisoning Mingyou, the Crystal Flower suddenly shot into the air from the ground, hovering above the Crystal Pool, continuously absorbing the surrounding Taijing crystal particles, and then bursting into brilliant light.

But unlike typical crystallization, this crystalline flower, after the crystals covering its entire body shattered, appeared to be wearing a colorful crown on top.

Around the crown, a ring of hexagonal crystals representing eighteen different attributes slowly rotates. Above the crown, a dark blue turtle with its head raised is depicted, and above the turtle's shell is a dark blue icon representing crystallization.

"This is... Star Crystal!"

As Mingyou's exclamation faded, the crystallized flower unleashed its dazzling aura, crystalline particles began to converge, countless brilliant rays of light fell from the night sky, and a crystalline storm launched an indiscriminate attack on those below...

……

(End of this chapter)