Xia Henao walked downstream along the small river with Froakie and Rotom. The main purpose of this method of walking was to stay by the river no matter which way they went, thus avoiding being troubled by a lack of water.
The human and two Pokémon walked along the river for half an hour without seeing anything. Xia Henao scratched his forehead, "This shouldn't be. Why are there no Pokémon by the water?"
The system pondered, "Perhaps it's because we are gradually getting closer to the territory of some powerful Pokémon."
Xia Henao thought, "The powerful fire-type Pokémon should only be Moltres, Ho-Oh, and Entei, right?"
"If we calculate by base stats, there are also Heatran and Volcanion. However, these things generally wouldn't exist in a secret realm used by beginner trainers for experience."
That was true. How could these fire-type legendary or mythical beasts be so foolish as to show themselves in such a small place? But as they say, sometimes what you fear most comes to pass.
Xia Henao suddenly felt the temperature around him rising. He looked left and right, finally fixing his gaze on the sky. The sky was a sea of red, and it seemed something was flapping its wings within the red clouds.
Xia Henao's eyes widened as he looked in that direction, but he couldn't see anything clearly. Instead, the scorching light made his eyes hurt. Xia Henao blinked, and tears streamed from his eyes. He rubbed them hard with his hands, and only then did he feel a little better.
"Damn it, what's going on? What's flying in the sky that's so blinding?"
Suddenly, Xia Henao realized that only Moltres and Ho-Oh could possess such power and fly in the sky. So, should he take a gamble?
In fact, whether it was Moltres or Ho-Oh on the other side, as long as Xia Henao saw this Pokémon, it would be a huge gain. This was because both Ho-Oh and Moltres were very kind Pokémon. Ho-Oh would appear before righteous trainers, and Moltres would help trainers in distress.
With this thought, Xia Henao strode towards the fiery glow in the sky. Although the saying goes that seeing a mountain from afar is like chasing a horse to its death, after several hours, Xia Henao felt as if he was getting further and further away from the Pokémon in the sky.
Xia Henao panted, leaning on his legs, "No way, could this be fake? I've been chasing it, and I still haven't caught up."
As if hearing Xia Henao's words, the Pokémon in the sky began to approach him. Xia Henao watched the growing figure, and he started to panic, "What's going on? Why do I feel like the Pokémon's color is a bit off?"
Moltres's flames were a pure red, burning on its wings and tail. But what Xia Henao saw was not the red and yellow flames, but magenta flames burning on the back of a purple Pokémon.
Xia Henao panicked. This magenta-colored one should be Galarian Moltres. The normal Moltres was a fire and flying-type Pokémon, while Galarian Moltres was a dark and flying-type. This kind of Moltres might do anything upon encountering a trainer.
Xia Henao's first thought was to escape.
As Xia Henao turned and ran, he seemed to have caught the attention of the "Galarian Moltres" in the sky. This Moltres spread its wings and chased after him. The evil aura burning around it made Xia Henao feel a stinging sensation all over his body.
After running only a few steps, Xia Henao tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. Just as the Galarian Moltres was about to crash into him, a fiery barrier suddenly appeared in front of Xia Henao. After the fiery barrier disappeared, Xia Henao only saw a circle of red flames around the Galarian Moltres in the sky.
Xia Henao looked closely and saw that there were more than a dozen Moltres surrounding the Galarian Moltres in the sky. The tense standoff between the two sides made Xia Henao hold his breath.
Xia Henao stared intently at the dozen or so Moltres in the sky. He had never seen such a sight before. Although he knew that Moltres were not unique Pokémon, the appearance of more than a dozen at once was truly a rare scene.
The leading Moltres let out a cry, and all the dozen or so Moltres cried out in unison, their flames burning even more fiercely.
"Burn Up!"
The Moltres in the sky poured all their strength into charging at the Galarian Moltres. Even after taking more than a dozen Burn Ups, the Galarian Moltres still stood firm. Instead, the attacking Moltres, weakened by the side effects of Burn Up, flapped their wings listlessly in the sky.
Xia Henao wanted to help the Moltres, but according to the move list he got from the system, Burn Up required at least level sixty-five. What level would a Moltres be that could withstand more than a dozen Burn Ups without falling?
Xia Henao's great crisis had arrived so suddenly.
Xia Henao felt the air around him getting hotter and hotter, and he was sweating more and more. Just as his vision began to blur, he seemed to hear something calling out softly beside him.
...
When Xia Henao once again confirmed that he was seemingly alive, he opened his eyes and touched his body, "I'm still alive?"
As soon as he said this, he noticed that the Galarian Moltres from before had reappeared in the sky. This time, the Galarian Moltres landed directly in front of Xia Henao. Its blue eyes stared intently at Xia Henao, as if it wanted to burn him into a pile of white ash.
Xia Henao looked at the strong evil aura surrounding the Moltres and felt a sense of despair, thinking that he was about to say goodbye to the world...
"I say, have you forgotten something?"
The system's voice suddenly appeared in Xia Henao's mind. Xia Henao was startled, "System, what do you mean?"
The system said calmly in Xia Henao's mind, "What did you choose when you picked your starter Pokémon?"
Xia Henao was stunned, "The seventh-generation starter Pokémon..."
As soon as he said this, Xia Henao understood. What Galarian Moltres? This dimension didn't even have Galarian starter Pokémon, and you expect to conjure up a Moltres?
With this thought, Xia Henao directly sent out Froakie from its Poké Ball.
"Froakie, use Bubble on Moltres!"
Froakie was much braver than Xia Henao and directly spat a stream of bubbles onto Moltres's head, defeating the Pokémon. As Moltres fell, Xia Henao's legs went weak, and he collapsed under a tree.
"System, what exactly is going on?"
The system shook its head, "I'm not too sure. It's probably just your hallucination. There was nothing there, but you just thought there was a Moltres in the sky."
Xia Henao found this hard to believe, "Then why did I feel the air temperature rising, and why did I pass out?"
The system rolled its eyes at him, "You brought it upon yourself. Your excessive fear of this Galarian Moltres caused your heart to race and adrenaline to surge, which led to you blacking out. In reality, the outside temperature hadn't changed at all."
Xia Henao pouted, "Damn it, how did I fall for it?"
If it was a hallucination, then in a fire-type Pokémon-centric Fire Secret Realm, only the appearance of Delphox or Victini could cause it. However, both starter Pokémon and Victini were quite rare, so the possibility was actually slim.
At this moment, Xia Henao thought about the water he had drunk from the river.
"System, could there be something wrong with the water from that river?"
The system pondered, "To know the exact result, you'll need to get a water sample for me to analyze. After all, who would have thought that drinking water would lead to such a mishap."
Xia Henao looked around the environment. After discovering what he thought was Galarian Moltres, he had fled in a panic and didn't know where he was now.
"System, where is that river?"
The system drew a map in Xia Henao's mind of the route he had taken running through the secret realm. Xia Henao followed the map back.
After walking for a while, Xia Henao returned to the riverbank. By the river, Xia Henao saw the three monkeys who had led him to drink water earlier.
Simipour had somehow acquired something and was being beaten up by the other two monkeys who had pinned it to the ground.
Xia Henao walked over, "That's strange, why are you always getting beaten by those two?"
Simipour and the others saw Xia Henao and stopped fighting, coming over to him and chattering about something he didn't understand.
Xia Henao patted all three of their heads, "You guys play over there for now, I have something to do."
The three monkeys took the three berries Xia Henao gave them and happily went off to play. Xia Henao took a small bottle from his pocket, filled it with some river water, and asked the system, "System, how is it? Is there anything wrong with this water?"
"Yes, this river water does have hallucinogenic properties, but the amount shouldn't be enough to make you see so many Moltres at once. Even if you drank like an idiot before, it shouldn't be this bad... Walk along the path again, maybe you'll see other hallucinogenic substances."
Xia Henao looked at the three monkeys who were fighting again over the berries, "You guys keep playing, I still have things to do."
As Xia Henao searched for hallucinogenic substances along the path, he heard a cry from the sky, and then a glowing bird flew past. Xia Henao slapped himself, "System, is that still my hallucination?"
The system shook its head, "No, I saw it too."
Xia Henao was now delighted, "Great, this time I must get a good look at a legendary Pokémon!"
After saying this, Xia Henao bolted, constantly weaving through the forest, following the bright light in the sky. Soon, Xia Henao approached the landing spot of the Pokémon in the sky. He crouched in the grass and cautiously peeked his head out. He saw a Pokémon with greenish coloration standing still on a rock.
Xia Henao carefully looked it up and down. Its tail was different from the Ho-Oh he had seen before. Ho-Oh's tail was round, while this Pokémon's tail was flat.
At this moment, the system's laughter rang out, "You're amazing. This really is a legendary Pokémon. Where would so many people have seen a Shiny Fearow?"