Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

He thought the guy would only fly for an hour or two and then come back to find him.

Now, almost four hours have passed since they set off, and the Pidgeot, probably starving, has finally managed to run back from who-knows-where.

Smoothing the Pidgeot's messy feathers, and watching it devour two or three energy cubes at a time, Zhe was also very curious about how this guy had gotten itself into such a somewhat disheveled state.

Elite-level Pokémon aren't so common in the wild, especially since they fly even faster than Eagle.

"Beep"

Pidgeot ate his lunch while showing off his prize—a gray stone.

Tetsuya casually took it and looked at it; it didn't seem to be anything special.

This is one of Pidgeot's strange hobbies; whenever it goes out to wander around, it always brings something back with it.

But the only one that was truly valuable was that shiny little Rattata.

According to Dr. Yamanashi, the Shiny Rattata has had a very happy year; it has become incredibly fat, and his team is planning to train it so it won't be unable to fight at all.

The main reason is that some of the female Rattatas look down on the fat Rattatas that are as big as Rattatas; they think they are too weak.

As for this time, Tetsuya didn't think that the rock in his hand, which looked like both mud and coal, was anything of immense value.

After all, he's a boy who has memorized all the currently known Pokémon items...

Zero's analysis also corroborated his point of view.

This stuff was at most used as fuel like coal a long time ago—but it wasn't as environmentally friendly or convenient as Fire-type Pokémon, so it was phased out long ago.

Despite saying that, Tetsuya still put it into a small compartment in his backpack, where Pidgeot had gathered all the odds and ends it had brought back.

This includes, but is not limited to, strange tree branches, stones, etc.

"Beep"

Seeing Tetsuya's actions, the eagle flapped its wings in dissatisfaction.

It had a hard time snatching this from a big guy, so it must be a good thing, and it certainly won't be as useless as before.

Zhe didn't believe it at all: "That's what you always say when you bring things back."

But he was also curious about something else: "What kind of spirit did you steal from? How could it have done this to you?"

"Beep"

Pidgeot shook its head dismissively. It had fallen on its own and had nothing to do with the Pokémon it had never seen before.

Tetsuya almost burst out laughing.

Pidgeot angrily slammed its trainer to the ground with one wing.

Tetsuya stood up as if nothing had happened, dusted himself off, and asked, "Tell me about it?"

"Beep—beep"

As Pidgeot narrated, the appearance of the Pokémon it encountered gradually took shape in Tetsuya's mind.

First, it walks on four legs and is very fat; second, the elf has a yellow circle on its head; finally, its whole body is brown and has a lot of rectangular fur.

After trying to imagine it, Zhe found it difficult to figure out what kind of spirit it was, as he didn't have any knowledge of this type of spirit in his knowledge base.

While it's possible that Pidgeot's description was flawed, it's undeniable that Tetsuya suddenly became interested.

As a Pokémon Trainer, the first thing to do when encountering an unknown Pokémon is to investigate it thoroughly.

"Where is that elf? Take me to see it," he said with great interest.

Pidgey swallowed the last energy cube and pointed its wing northward.

Tetsuya thought about it and figured that since Matsuba had already waited for him for so long, she probably wouldn't mind waiting a little longer.

If all goes well, we should be able to arrive in Enju City before tonight.

At worst, we can just let Pidgeot carry us.

He clapped his hands happily: "Then it's decided. We'll go after Pidgeot and get revenge for you."

"Beep"

The pied eagle indicates that it did not lose face.

"Ah, that's right, that's right, we're just going to see what it looks like," Tetsuya quickly reassured him.

Pidgeot nodded in satisfaction, then lowered its body.

Zhe easily jumped onto its back: "Let's go!"

He waved his hand with great confidence and appeared very spirited.

"call"

A strong wind suddenly arose.

A dark shadow suddenly darted out from the dense forest.

Pidgeon carried Tetsuya and in the blink of an eye, they arrived high in the sky.

In another equally dense forest, a strange bear-like spirit was squatting in its den, lost in thought.

Four gray stones were neatly arranged in front of it, exactly the same as the one Pidgeot brought back to Tetsuya.

"Ya Mei"

A small figure ran to its side and skillfully used its paws to climb onto its back.

"Roar!"

The bear spirit then came to its senses and let out a loving cry.

The two elves are vastly different in size, like a toy and a tank.

As the midday sun peeked into the cave, the small figure came into view.

With its light brown body, crescent-shaped white pattern on its head, and a small brown spherical tail, it is a bear cub of the same kind that Tetsuya encountered in the Circle Bear Forest!

The appearance of another large bear gradually came into view, exactly as described by Pidgeot.

Moreover, its arched eyebrows, combined with its gentle eyes, convey a sense of kindness that is quite incongruous with its physique.

However, it is not on the list of currently discovered Pokémon species.

Just as the bear cub was playing with the unknown bear-like spirit—"Beep~"

"Roar!"

The unknown bear spirit, which had been perfectly fine, suddenly roared in anger upon hearing the call.

It shook its body to get the bear cub off its body, then carried it to a corner of the cave.

The unknown bear spirit nudged the bear cub with its head, signaling it not to move, and then strode away with heavy, angry steps.

That scruffy bird dared to come back after stealing our things; it'll be in for a beating.

The baby bear sat on the ground licking its paws, tilted its head, stood up, and took a few steps to follow the bear outside.

In this forest, it had never encountered a spirit more powerful than its mother.

In mid-air, Tetsuya crouched on Pidgeot's back, squinting as he surveyed the scene below.

The trees surrounding the cave were covered with claw marks, looking extremely messy.

"Wow, is it that big?" Tetsuya raised an eyebrow.

Judging from the appearance of this environment, the elf inside the cave is much larger than the giant rock monster, and its physical destructive power is extremely strong.

His ears twitched as he heard roars coming from inside the cave, followed by footsteps.

Tetsuya patted Pidgeot to signal him to put himself down, then leaned against the tree trunk and stood on a tall, thick branch.

"Whoosh~"

Accompanied by an angry roar, a giant tank, over 2 meters tall, appeared in Tetsuya's eyes.

His pupils contracted, and he immediately took out his Pokédex, took a picture, and sent it to Professor Oak's lab.

Then, "Pidgey, use Wind!"

Just as he was about to mock his opponent's Pidgeot from his superior position, before he could even utter a word, he heard his own trainer's command.

Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. We'll talk about it after we win. Pidgeot doesn't really care.

It spread its wings and stirred up a gale.

"Ugh!"

The unknown bear spirit roared, and a series of stones formed in the air and then shot out.

The wind swirled and collided with the rocks, scattering them in all directions.

Tetsuya watched this scene and analyzed it to himself: "Rock Slide? No, it's a Rock Slash attack. Is this guy a Rock or Ground type?"

Since they had never seen this Pokémon before, they could only ask a question mark about its characteristics and strength, let alone its name, Zero.

However, it is certain that its strength has not yet reached the Heavenly King level, because it lacks that indescribable aura.

Pidgeot skillfully dodged the threat from the aftershocks below, occasionally letting out a mocking cry.

If it hadn't just been thinking of running into the cave to see what good stuff that guy had brought back, how could a Champion-level aerial Pokémon have been injured by a near-Champion-level ground Pokémon?

However, those claws really hurt, Pidgeot thought to itself.

"Stop daydreaming! Shadow Clone, then Steel Wing!"

Tetsuya, who was of one mind with Pidgeot, sensed Pidgeot's thoughts and pulled the guy back into the battle in an annoyed manner.

"Beep"

Pidgey flapped its wings, and countless clones appeared in the sky, even blocking out the sunlight.

Immediately afterwards, all the Pidgeots' wings began to shimmer with a steely silver sheen.

"call out--"

The next moment, a dazzling yet chaotic rain of white light fell wildly from the sky.

Seeing this, the unknown bear spirit could only choose to defend itself passively, hiding its head under its huge body.

"boom"

Hidden among its many clones, Pidgeot's main body swung its steel wings back and forth, striking its opponent, but the damage was not significant.

"His defensive capabilities and stamina are quite impressive," Tetsuya remarked in amazement.

This unknown Pokémon is surprisingly strong, at least according to his assessment.

However, every elf will inevitably have strengths and weaknesses.

Since their physical defense and stamina are both good, it means that their energy defense is relatively weak.

"Pidgey, increase altitude and use Hurricane!"

"Beep~"

The remaining dozen or so Pidgeots immediately began circling the unknown Pokémon at high speed from different directions.

A violent storm formed in an instant.

The trees in the surrounding forest all bent their branches.

"Ugh!"

Tetsuya didn't last long on the tree; soon, painful cries could be heard from him amidst the storm.

It seems his judgment was correct.

The storm gradually subsided, and just in case, Tetsuya threw Blaziken's Luxury Ball: "Blaziken, use Aura to check the opponent's status."

Blaziken nodded, its eyes gleaming blue.

"boom"

A pillar of fire shot out from its final eruption.

"I still have some energy left, that should be enough." Blaziken explained calmly through its aura.

"Beep"

Pidgeot descended with a disgruntled expression and patted Blaziken's head with its wing. "You little rascal, how dare you steal someone else's prey?"