Pokémon travel photography: Starting with riding the wave of popularity.

boom!

Clang!

Amidst the roaring sound of mud flying everywhere, a purple light shot straight into the sky. Watching this scene, Qing Teng She dropped her phone. Although she didn't know what had just happened, she was certain of one thing.

The skilled blacksmith and I have gotten into trouble!

The Green Vine Serpent was certain that the iron pillar with the purple bell that the skilled blacksmith had pulled from the ground was definitely not an ordinary thing.

The skilled blacksmith was also quite certain.

"Clang! (This iron is even better than alloys!)"

Duang!

Duang!

The skilled blacksmith immediately began to swing her sledgehammer, trying to integrate the iron pillar into her hammer. With each strike, she felt that her hammer was undergoing some inexplicable change, which made her even more excited.

Duang!

Duang!

The skilled blacksmith's hammer almost left afterimages as he swung it.

And at that very moment.

Natsuki, who lives in Fukabo Town, looked at the purple fireworks that had suddenly exploded in mid-air and scratched his head in confusion.

Fireworks during the day?! Whatever, it has nothing to do with me!

Xia Mu quickly banished the thought from his mind and then pestered Jasmine again, trying to get a Z-Crystal from her.

"Jasmine, tsk tsk~~"

"I already said, without the bracelet, even if you get the Pure Crystal, it's useless! But as long as you pass the Island King's test and qualify to participate in the Island Tour, you can get the Z Pure Crystal and the bracelet!"

"Hey~ but I don't have time to go right now..."

Natsuki tried to win over Jasmine's bracelet and Pure Crystal by using her charm, but Jasmine unexpectedly insisted that Natsuki go to the Alola region himself.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to participate in the island pilgrimage, collect the eighteen types of Z-Crystals, and witness that scene?"

"It seems so..."

Just as Xia Mu was forgetting about the purple fireworks and was gradually being persuaded by Jasmine.

At that moment, behind the rock wall of the shrine in South District 5, a Pokémon that looked like a snail suddenly opened its eyes.

Meanwhile, in the town of Padiyabha, a woman who was taking a nap suddenly opened her eyes.

"That was... "

Lippe, the Gym Leader of Bakkor Town, frowned.

It was just a normal afternoon nap, but she dreamt of the Padiya region being ravaged by four natural disasters: snow, fire, drought, and earthquake. In the dream, she seemed to see the figure of a man.

"Speaking of which, that man is like a jinx; wherever he goes, disaster strikes..."

Lip shook her head, unsure whether it was just a simple warning from her superpowers or something else, but at that moment, her sleepiness vanished completely.

"Snowstorms, fires, withered plants, earthquakes..."

Lip felt like she'd heard images of these disasters happening at the same time before, but she couldn't quite place them.

Ultimately, Lip decided to seek help from her best friend, Huang Bo, who lived in Orange Academy.

……

Of course, at this time, Natsuki was unaware of the series of events caused by Snake and the Blacksmith. After failing to persuade Jasmine and being persuaded by her to go to the Alola region to collect Z-Crystals in the future, he began to think about what was worth visiting in the Alola region.

"Z-Crystal, Pheromosa, Alolan Ninetales, Toxapex... No, no!"

Xia Mu shook his head violently.

"I almost thought of it from a trainer's perspective... It should be the rich girl Lillie, the angel investor Lusamine, and other people who can ride on her coattails!"

Xia Mu nodded in satisfaction.

Going on vacation to Alola also provides an opportunity to find a sucker to invest in your holographic game concept.

As for the pharmaceutical business, Xia Mu has decided to hand it over to Qiao Yimiao in the future. Investment and operation will naturally be handled by the Qiao Yi family. Xia Mu just wants to be a good-for-nothing who takes money and plays around.

Thinking about the wonderful future, Xia Mu's mood became more and more cheerful, especially after Xiao Yao sent him the video of her battle with Kou Sha. Xia Mu was even happier at this moment.

"Hehehe, the materials from Deep Bowl Town are ready! Next up is..."

Xia Mu thought of the thing he was most looking forward to when he came to the Padiya region.

"This collaboration with Qishu... I hope it will make me a fortune!!"

Xia Mu clasped her hands together and made a wish.

However, since Niangguang City, where Qishu is located, is situated between East 2nd District and East 3rd District, and Natsuki needs to pass through East 1st District and East 2nd District to reach Niangguang City, Natsuki is not in a hurry to go to Niangguang City at the moment.

While anticipating making a fortune through his collaboration with Qishu, Xia Mu finally saw the return of Qing Teng She and Qiao Tuan Jiang, and immediately waved his hands happily.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Snake, you're definitely the most reliable one!"

"Tap~"

Seeing Snake Sister's slightly somber expression, Xia Mu blinked in confusion.

Something's not right.

Usually, in situations like this, Snake Sister would proudly cross her arms and forcefully suppress her smile, right?

Because of her proud and aloof personality, the Green Vine Snake always shows an expression of "I can't laugh" when faced with Xia Mu's praise, but some small actions such as "wagging her tail from side to side" and "wrapping Xia Mu's fingers with her vine whip" will reveal her joyful mood.

Xia Mu himself really enjoyed these little romantic gestures, so every time he asked Qing Teng She to do something, Xia Mu would shower Qing Teng She with compliments and admire her little actions.

But now...

"Did something happen?"

"Tap (Actually...)"

Chapter 272 The Master Blacksmith's Poison Skills

Under Xia Mu's worried gaze, Qing Teng She hesitated for a moment, but finally explained what had just happened to Xia Mu with gestures.

From preparing to go home to the skilled blacksmith discovering the materials, and then to the flying purple energy body and the iron stake with bells hanging from it...

The Green Vine Snake didn't miss a single detail.

Upon hearing about the iron stake with the purple bell that the skilled blacksmith had discovered, Xia Mu immediately thought of the scene in the game that made him run around the map until his liver ached.

The sealed treasures of calamity—the four calamity Pokémon of the Padina region.

Ancient Slipper Snail, Ancient Sword Leopard, Ancient Cauldron Deer, and Ancient Jade Fish!

It is said that during the time of the Padian Empire, 2000 years ago, a merchant sold four treasures he brought from the East—a tripod, a sword, a bamboo slip, and a jade—to the king of the Padian region.

As a result, that very night, the four treasures suddenly transformed into Pokémon and wreaked havoc, leading to the destruction of the royal city.

Legend has it that the true form of these four treasures is Pokémon. Because they absorbed a lot of desires and curses during their long journey to various places, when they were handed over to the king, it was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The king's desires turned these treasures into calamity Pokémon.

In the end, the king invited a Pokémon trainer to subdue the four Pokémon and sealed them into four shrines with eight stakes each.

"So it's just one iron pillar. There are still seven left, so it's perfectly fine!"

Relieved by Xia Mu's words of comfort, Qing Teng She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ta (That's good...)"

The Green Vine Snake was too shocked to stop the skilled blacksmith in time. By the time she reacted, the blacksmith had already flattened the iron stake, making it impossible to put it back in and reuse it.

After hearing Xia Mu's story, the skilled blacksmith reached out and tugged at Xia Mu's pants.

As Xia Mu hurriedly pulled up her pants, the skilled blacksmith asked the question that concerned her most.

"Clang! (Can we leave just one stake? I think this iron stake is super useful!)"

"..."

Xia Mu looked at the skilled blacksmith with a speechless expression.

"Is that even a question? Of course not, but if you leave four or five..."

After all, it's an iron stake that's been stored for over 2000 years, so Xia Mu figured it must be very valuable.

"Besides, the Calamity Pokémon has been sealed away for so long, its strength must have weakened. Maybe keeping two or three of them will allow it to continue to be used..."

"Clang!"

The skilled blacksmith nodded vigorously, his single ponytail almost creating a phantom.

The fact that the skilled blacksmith was even more excited than when he first saw the alloy made Xia Mu even more convinced of his idea.

"This thing is definitely worth a lot of money, if we could sell it..."

Upon hearing that Xia Mu actually wanted to sell the iron stakes, the skilled blacksmith immediately shook his head frantically.

"Clang, clang clang~"

The skilled blacksmith slapped his hammer and said something, but because he was too excited, Xia Mu couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

Seeing Xia Mu's bewildered expression, the skilled blacksmith became even more anxious.

So she grabbed a sunflower monster that happened to be passing by and smacked it on its round, flat face with a hammer.

???

"Tap (Huh?)"

"No way, even if you're angry, you can't take it out on other Pokémon!!"

Amidst Xia Mu and the Green Vine Snake's shocked questions, the Skilled Blacksmith simply lifted the Sunflower Monster and placed it in front of Xia Mu.

"Clang! (Look!)"

"I can see that. You have some special skills. You turned his smiling face into a mournful one..."

"Ta-da! (No, not this one, it's this one!)"

The skilled blacksmith shook his head repeatedly, then pointed to the pale purple color that had appeared on the face of the sunflower monster.

"A light tap brings forth a deep purple and red?"