Moving through the jungle.
Zweilous led the way, one head scanning the surroundings while the other sniffed the ground, occasionally raising its head for a call.
This creature was searching for herbs to create essence.
Although its sense of smell wasn't strong enough to learn "Scent Detection," it was a Pokémon that used to perceive enemies primarily through smell and touch. It shouldn't be too difficult for it to find herbs with specific scents in a complex forest environment.
Moreover, it had two heads!
The double scent exploration should uncover something, right?
Indeed, the fact proves that Zweilous has some ability in this regard, as it found quite a few herbs within half an hour.
Baimu tried his best not to harm the roots of the herbs, preserving their maximum efficacy based on the purchased herb collection guide—
There's no choice.
Sister Xiangfen's memory didn't include the herb collecting aspect, so to save on raw materials and to master a skill, he attempted to learn by purchasing books.
He might not have such a keen nose, but he has Pokémon!
When he sometimes couldn't distinguish the herbs, he could ask Porygon for help.
After entering the phone, it could, like Rotom, use the camera to capture the appearance of herbs and search for keywords or image pages online.
The Pokémon World's internet was quite sharing, with all necessary knowledge searchable.
But the regretful part was.
Perhaps Zweilous appeared too fierce; Baimu hadn't encountered any Wild Pokémon for a long time, except for a swarm of Beedrill defending their territory, flying in aggressively as if to teach the intruder a lesson.
But with one giant shout from Zweilous, they retreated.
Coming like bombers, leaving like supersonic fighters.
Facing such enthusiastic Beedrill, Baimu also kindly went to investigate their water meter, with Zweilous and Aggron teaming up to overpower the unyielding swarm of Beedrill.
And through friendly negotiation, exchanged them with many Energy Blocks for the pollen they painstakingly collected.
This pollen, combined with some Tree Fruit, could produce honey irresistible to Teddiursa and Ursaring, an important raw material for a type of Body-Strengthening and Root-Solidifying Fragrance. Because Beedrill had a certain degree of danger and typically appeared in groups, their selling price wasn't low.
"Hey-woo!" "Hey-woo!"
Hissing sounds arose ahead.
Baimu hurried to Zweilous' side, initially thinking it had made a new discovery. Seeing both heads sticking out their tongues, exhausted and lying on the ground, emitting a constant rumbling from its belly, revealed it was hungry.
"...Alright."
He glanced at the time, "Time for lunch."
"Hey-woo!"
Hearing about food, Zweilous perked up and looked expectantly at the trainer.
Nothing is more anticipated than a meal.
In the world of dragons, there's nothing more than eating!
——
After a lunch that swept like the wind through falling leaves.
Baimu and Zweilous continued onward, soon arriving at the foot of the mountain described by the fisherman.
"Didn't expect it to be closer than anticipated."
He looked up at the mist-enshrouded mountain and down at his phone.
Still had signal.
The Pokémon's signal base station construction was strong indeed; even in deep forests, they maintained full bars, allowing him to climb the mountain with assurance.
Otherwise, such a mountain with low visibility—a ghost wouldn't visit!
Hmm?
Wait?
Maybe a ghost would actually go!
Baimu knew well that Ghost-type Pokémon loved appearing in such strange places, the more isolated, the more abundant they were.
Of course, some Ghost-type Pokémon liked to take a different approach and would occasionally appear in bustling human locations.
As for Ghost-types in the Hoenn Region, undoubtedly Shuppet, Duskull, and the classic Haunter and Gengar, etc...
"Hey-woo~"
Having eaten and drunk, Zweilous still led the way.
With its control over its heads strengthened, it began trying a novel approach where one head slept while the other scouted, like dolphins alternating brain rest. Though walking became slightly askew, seemingly affected by a shift in the center of gravity.
But this was just a trial.
Zweilous certainly didn't want its laziness to cause any blind Pokémon to ambush Baimu, as the trainer mentioned that this mountain housed many powerful Wild Pokémon.
If they're powerful.
Then their scent must be strong.
Zweilous understood that many strong Wild Pokémon liked leaving scents on their territory, claiming the land.
Clustered Pokémon didn't leave such scents...
Couldn't smell anything.
Was the fog too thick?
Two heads of Zweilous sneezed in succession, stimulating its sense of smell, but couldn't detect any expected scents.
The suspicion arose whether its nose was malfunctioning.
"It could be other Attribute Pokémon, just observe more, use both pairs of eyes and noses." Baimu patted its head.
"Hey-woo~!"
Zweilous responded happily.
However, on the way up, regardless of how dense the fog was, they couldn't find any so-called powerful Wild Pokémon.
As if captured by someone, the mountain eerily quiet.
"This kind of environment... could potentially be a Ghost-type nest." Baimu remarked.
He had read many traveler experiences online, where the most popular often were "ghost" stories, with travelers expressing that seeing no Wild Pokémon in mysterious mountains suggested Ghost-type Pokémon habitats.
These prank-loving creatures would torment passing travelers, draining them through traps and looping paths until sufficient spiritual nourishment before discarding them—
Only in animated worlds.
If the Illustrated Guide were true, many corpses would be buried in the mountains.
People pranked to such an extent rarely returned to seek death, but just fled as far as possible, leaving behind legends of ghostly mountains or haunted mansions.
Occasionally, mischievous Ghost Pokémon would face powerful trainers who wipe them out, capturing the unruly ones and letting the obedient remain to breed.
They continued upward.
Soon.
Near the summit, at the edge of Baimu's vision, a blurry figure appeared.
The mist made the figure appear vague.
Seemingly petite, resembling a female, standing in a twisted stance.
"You finally... arrived..."
As wind blew.
An eerie voice whispered in Baimu's ear.
He exchanged a glance with Zweilous and quickly threw a Flash Grenade from his pocket.
Boom!
"Ah!"
A cry of pain.
What the hell?
A person?
Baimu's heart skipped a beat.