Torrential rain.
Thunder.
The curtain of rain blocked most of the view, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.
In Coral Village, Zanza looked at the utterly terrible weather and tried to persuade Bai Chen.
│ "Elder Bai Chen, why not wait until the rain stops before challenging it?"
"When will this rain stop?"
Standing under the eaves, Bai Chen looked at the sky, dim like dusk.
It was hard to believe that it was only noon.
│ "The Coral Highlands enter a rainy season every year. This downpour will last at least thirty days."
"Then there isn't enough time."
Bai Chen shook his head.
He had only seventeen days left before returning to the Pokémon world.
If he failed to complete the challenge before then, the next opportunity would be fifty days later.
By that time, whether this low-rank Kirin would still be alive was anyone's guess.
│ "In a storm like this, the Thunder God's power will increase significantly…"
Zanza said worriedly.
"If you handed over the Iceborne Dragon material right now, I wouldn't need to challenge it at all."
The moment his family's Great Dragon Sword was mentioned, Zanza shook his head violently.
│ "No, Elder Bai Chen. You must complete the challenge before I can give you the Great Dragon Sword. That is my bottom line."
"Alright, alright. Then prepare in advance. I'll succeed."
Bai Chen draped a rain cloak woven from green leaves over himself.
This was a concealment garment relied upon by the Ancient Wyverians.
It incorporated plants that neutralized scent—once worn, as long as Bai Chen did not attack, ninety percent of monsters would simply ignore his existence.
At his chest, the shrunken Nergigante and Cosmog squeezed together, poking their heads out from the collar.
"I'm setting off."
Bai Chen stepped into the downpour.
Raindrops as heavy as lead slammed against his body.
With armor beneath the cloak, Bai Chen easily withstood the violent rain.
He spread out his Ultimate Aura Field.
All attributes rose by seventy percent.
Even his special attacks were boosted by the same margin.
Psychic power wrapped around his entire body.
He slowly lifted into the air, flying through the storm toward the direction Zanza had indicated.
High above, Bai Chen did not fly quickly.
He formed a psychic barrier around himself to block the rain.
The boost from Ultimate Aura Field was passive and consumed no stamina.
Combined with his super psychic ability's Source Flow trait—which replenished mental energy as it was spent—the overall drain was minimal.
In other words, even flying for several hours would only cost him about ten percent of his reserves.
With the aura field spread, ordinary monsters dared not approach.
Still, Bai Chen kept his altitude low—
While weaker creatures would retreat, there was always the chance a powerful fool would stubbornly attack.
After roughly an hour of travel, Bai Chen finally reached the location marked by Zanza.
He landed on a high platform.
A psychic barrier shielded him from the rain above.
From his arms, Cosmog pulled out the map and handed it to him.
"Thank you."
Bai Chen unfolded the detailed map.
Rain obscured the surroundings, making it impossible to identify landmarks by sight alone.
He activated Super Perception.
With Ultimate Aura Field amplifying it, everything within an eight-hundred-meter radius appeared clearly in his mind.
The heavy rain painted the area in shades of blue.
After careful analysis, Bai Chen identified his surroundings—
He was standing atop a massive coral crown.
To the west lay a sheer cliff covered in vines.
To the north stretched a dense forest.
Bai Chen walked to the edge of the coral and looked down.
Below his feet yawned a bottomless abyss.
Rain poured into it endlessly, as though it could never be filled.
Directly beneath him lay the Rotten Vale—
the graveyard of monsters.
Under the heavy clouds, the valley of the dead looked even more sinister.
"I didn't expect there to be a sinkhole here leading straight to the Rotten Vale."
Bai Chen crouched, staring into the depths.
"Roar…"
Nergigante let out a low growl from his arms.
"Yes, there is an Elder Dragon down there—but it's not our target this time."
Bai Chen stood up.
"The rain makes tracking far more difficult. We'll need to widen our search."
The downpour had washed away most traces.
Even with Super Perception, finding Kirin's trail was extremely difficult.
He looked up at the sky.
"A thunder-wielding Elder Dragon should be causing a localized storm…"
The clouds overhead rumbled with thunder now and then, but Bai Chen found no distinct region of concentrated lightning.
After confirming his position, he took off again with Nergigante and Little Nebula.
Maintaining an altitude of five hundred meters, he began a carpet-style search.
Time passed slowly.
After more than ten hours, Bai Chen had combed through every location marked by Zanza.
All he found were faint traces—
A few strands of electrified fur dropped by Kirin.
Following those traces led nowhere; the rain had erased everything.
Inside a cave along a cliff face, Bai Chen lit a campfire.
He set up a tent.
As the weather outside weakened from torrential rain to a steady downpour, Bai Chen and Nergigante enjoyed takeout from the Canteen.
Little Cosmog's teleportation had delivered the food.
"I never thought the biggest problem would be finding Kirin."
Bai Chen had already prepared for the battle itself—
Yet he couldn't even locate his opponent.
"Could it be that I won't find him at all before I have to leave?"
Just as frustration set in, Bai Chen suddenly noticed a red signal flare rising four kilometers away.
He froze.
"That's a Survey Corps distress flare? How is that possible?"
His current location was well beyond any area the Survey Corps could support.
The Coral Highlands barely had any established camps.
Before he could process it, another flare shot up—like fireworks.
"That's an Ancient Wyverian distress signal?!"
Bai Chen was stunned.
The Ancient Wyverians also used signal flares for emergencies—nothing particularly advanced.
"But who could be using both the Survey Corps and Ancient Wyverian distress flares?"
Bai Chen stood up.
He recalled Nergigante and Cosmog into their balls.
Strapping on his blades, he vanished into the rain.
Whether it was Survey Corps hunters or Wyverian hunters—
They were all targets Bai Chen would rescue.
Covering several kilometers in just minutes, Bai Chen arrived at the location.
Hovering in midair, he looked down.
Within the forest below, two hunters were fighting a Deviljho.
The Deviljho's dark-green skin was covered in rough patterns.
It had small eyes, a massive jaw split open to an absurd degree, rows of sharp teeth, and forelimbs so short they seemed nonexistent.
Its tail was nearly as thick as its entire body.
Opposing it stood a sharp-eared male hunter wielding an Insect Glaive,
and beside him, a white-haired woman.
"That's a Wyverian hunter… and the Field Master?"
Clearly, they had been ambushed by this Deviljho.
Bai Chen activated the Zinogre Blade on his back.
"Go."
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