As night falls, the sky resembles a navy-blue veil dotted with twinkling stars.
"This luck..."
Aron took advantage of the darkness to search for a campsite. He looked at the rolling hills in the distance and sighed quietly.
Since encountering that Loudred, he hadn't run into another Advanced Pokémon. He wasn't sure if it was due to bad luck or something else.
A major reason could be that advanced Pokémon dominate the food chain in the Praxis Secret Realm, each occupying a territory and preventing other Pokémon from intruding.
If these Advanced Pokémon were in a more advanced secret realm, they might be the ones trembling in fear, prey to even stronger Pokémon. But here, the Advanced Pokémon's scarcity made them much harder and more time-consuming to find.
"Of course, each advanced Pokémon is worth 500 points, so it's not going to be easy to encounter them," Aron murmured.
After all, if there were too many Advanced Pokémon, they might stray into other areas, creating a serious challenge for students. At this stage, every advanced Pokémon was an undeniable boss-level threat for any student.
Because he hadn't made much progress lately, Bryan Lewis, who was ranked second, had used the opportunity to hunt intermediate-level Pokémon and amass significant points.
Now, Bryan's score was only 50 points shy of Aron's.
He only needed to defeat one more Intermidiate-level Pokémon to reclaim the first place.
Aron didn't care about rankings, though. He only cared about leveling up.
For now, leveling at night wasn't an option. Today's gains were significant enough; all he wanted was to find a safe campsite and get some rest.
"Perfect."
Using his flashlight, Aron spotted the entrance to a cave nestled in the mountain wall ahead.
Caves are natural shelters,ideal campsites, but also potential homes for wild Pokémon.
"Be careful," Aron warned softly to Combusken.
"Combusken!"
Combusken responded in a low voice, his sharp eyes scanning the darkness. His claws glowed faintly as he stepped forward, taking the lead into the cave.
Aron followed close behind, flashlight in hand, which allowed him to take in the entire cave.
It was a spacious area, about ten meters from entrance to back, and there were no signs of wild Pokémon.
"Not bad. Perfect for camping." After confirming it was safe, Aron nodded in satisfaction.
He gathered the firewood he had prepared earlier and started a fire. The bright flames lit up the cave.
Aron released Metang and Ralts, who began helping him prepare food.
This field military training exercise was a rare opportunity. There were many Advanced Pokémon in the secret realm, so the first few days were dedicated to Combusken's leveling.
Once he'd assessed all the Advanced Pokémon in the area, Aron planned to move back to where Intermidiate-level Pokémon were more abundant, giving Metang the chance to level up.
As for Ralts...well, Ralts could focus on being cute for now.
After preparing meals for the Pokémon, Aron ate quickly, then set up his tent and sleeping bag.
"Man, I envy Ash and the others with their space gear. Just a small backpack, but every time they camp, they pull out pots, pans, tables, and chairs," Aron muttered as he worked.
After some complaints, he finished setting up the tent.
Just as Aron was about to rest, a strange sound caught his attention.
He glanced toward the cave entrance and saw a snake-like Pokémon appear. Its black body glistened under the light, with golden plating along its head and back. Red, sharp fangs jutted out, and its blade-like tail gleamed menacingly. Scars covered its body.
Oh, isn't this the Seviper who was beaten up by Jessie?
[Pokémon: Seviper (Poison Type)]
[Ability: Shed Skin]
[Potential: Gym Level]
[Level: Lv35 (advanced)]
Seviper, Zangoose's eternal enemy, has fought against agile Zangoose for generations, and the scars on its body are marks of fierce battles.
At this moment,Seviper's red eyes glared at Aron and Combusken, filled with doubt.
Aron was momentarily stunned, then stood up and asked, "Is this your territory?"
"Seviper!!!"
Ignoring Aron's question, Seviper let out a furious roar. Its eyes turned ice-cold as it lashed its tail against the rocks, sending shards flying.
Well, watching Seviper's reaction, Aron understood that he had indeed occupied its territory.
In the next second,Seviper moved swiftly, slithering toward Combusken at high speed.
Aron quickly stepped back, warning, "Watch out! Its tail can spread poison!"
"Combusken!"
Combusken nodded sharply. As Seviper's tail swung toward him, glowing with venom, Combusken crouched low, dodging just in time.
At the same moment, Combusken unleashed a Flamethrower, incinerating the venom mid-air and engulfing Seviper in flames.
The fire lit up the entire cave, and Aron's face reflected its glow.
Seviper hissed in pain, coughing out dark smoke. Scorch marks appeared faintly on its black scales.
Seizing the moment, Combusken darted forward, with his claws glowing white,he delivered a swift Chop to Seviper's unarmored torso.
Crack!
Though Seviper's golden plating provided some protection, Combusken's precision broke through, stabbing into Seviper's vulnerable body.
Seviper let out a pained wail that echoed throughout the jungle, scattering nearby birds.
Fortunately, no other students were nearby to hear the commotion.
Aron looked down at the fallen Seviper, which now lay motionless. "Well, I guess you'll have to sleep outside tonight."
"If you have no objections, then it's decided."
It had been a good night—experience gained and a perfect campsite secured.
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest…
"Phew…"
Bryan wiped his brow as he looked down at a defeated Liepard, smiling in satisfaction.
"Gible!"
Beside him, Gible hopped up and down excitedly.
"That should put me back on top, right?" Lewis muttered.
Turning on his device, he checked the leaderboard.
But the next second, looking at the ranking on the phone, he fell silent.
[Aron Smith: 1950 points (Rank 1)]
[Bryan Lewis: 1500 points (Rank 2)]
He stared at the screen in disbelief. "Another 500 points out of thin air... He must have defeated an Advanced Pokémon."
"Could it be that his Pokemon have reached Advanced level?"
As soon as this idea appeared in his mind, his face changed, and he shook his head decisively: "No, it's impossible!"
Even his Uncle, whom he admired the most, did not train a advanced-level Pokémon during field military training.
Many thoughts were entangled in his mind, and in a trance, he seemed to see his Uncle standing in front of him,with his hands behind his back, facing the sunset, and saying with a gentle smile: "Bryan, do you know the saying that there are people beyond people, a sky beyond the sky."
"I,your Uncle, have challenged Victory Road several times and ended in failure. As the saying goes, if you can not win in first try, you will fail again, and you will be exhausted after failing three times. My vigor has long been wiped out."
"I made some small achievements in the early years, so I was complacent and regarded the everyone else as mediocre,but now it is difficult for me to improve again."
"So,an early lead proves nothing."
Elite Lewis shook his head, touched his head, and sighed: "The real hero is the one who stands at the end."
Bryan looked up at the starry sky, and Gible danced happily under the moonlight. He quietly clenched his fists and said in a low voice:
"Soon, Gible is about to evolve."
The pseudo-Legendery Pokemon's have slow growth at early stage , but Bryan still firmly occupies the top three with a Gible, which is unshakable.
And just as breaking through levels can drastically increase a Pokémon's power, evolution can do the same.
When Gible evolves into Gabite, its strength will be much higher.
"Whether he has an advanced Pokémon or not, I can't let that affect me."
Bryan knelt down, touched Gible's head, and said, "I just need to follow my own rhythm."
"Everything else is meaningless."
---
Elsewhere in the secret realm,Clara Angel stared silently at the leaderboard. After putting down her phone, her expression remained calm and unreadable.
After finishing all this, she lowered her head and met Gothita's eyes who had been staring at her.
In the quiet night, Clara's cold voice broke the silence:
"I won't rest tonight. I'm taking first place."
"Goth~!"
Gothita nodded solemnly.
Beneath the starry sky, Clara's eyes glimmered faintly as she began her search. Tonight, she wasn't stopping for anything.