Seven days passed in a flash.
These seven days were not like regular training; while they helped improve the Pokémon's strength, the increase was not significant.
However, these seven days were spent in high-intensity battles every day. From the initial Venusaur and Lucario, even Swampert, Politoed, and Drapion joined the fights later on.
As the opponents' strength continuously increased, Aoki had no choice but to summon different Pokémon to face various enemies.
The progress and improvement in strength were very noticeable. For example, Lucario's level increased to 58, and Salamence's level increased to 66.
The rest of the Pokémon also had varying degrees of improvement in their strength.
However, after these seven days, Aoki recalled all of them. Their current location was still very dangerous, and Aoki himself needed to ensure his safety because not long ago, he had already encountered a quasi-champion Pokémon.
If it weren't for Gengar's quick reaction, Aoki himself would have been in danger.
Therefore, after learning that there were wild Pokémon of quasi-champion level active in this area, Aoki officially ended the training for Pokémon like Salamence.
He summoned Slowking, Tyranitar, Blaziken, and Florges to guard him.
Moreover, according to the location estimation, they would be able to reach the production site of the material Aoki was looking for before nightfall today.
Walking cautiously, he was not afraid of powerful wild Pokémon coming to fight, but he would no longer actively provoke the wild Pokémon living here to reduce unnecessary trouble.
"It should… be here." Aoki stood on a tree, looking at a valley situated between two mountains.
The forest here was dense, receiving little sunlight throughout the year. Although it didn't look damp, it gave off a chilling sensation.
Without hesitation, he led his Pokémon straight down.
Only in such an environment was it possible to produce the materials Aoki needed.
However, as he continued to descend, Aoki found that his vision became increasingly blurry, and the visible range became smaller and smaller.
"Is it foggy? But the air doesn't feel humid; it even feels a bit dry." Aoki frowned, sensing his surroundings, but found no abnormalities.
Just after reaching halfway down the mountain, his vision was already very blurry, and the visibility range was pitifully small. If wild Pokémon were to launch a surprise attack at this moment, the effect would certainly be surprisingly good.
The only fortunate thing was the presence of Slowking; its psychic perception was not restricted.
However, Aoki became even more cautious about the current situation because it felt very wrong.
When he looked down from the mountain earlier, although the forest blocked his view of the entire valley, there wasn't a single wisp of fog at that time.
Moreover, with the appearance of these fogs, the moisture in the air did not increase at all; he could even slightly feel a hint of dryness in the air.
The most important point was that from the mountaintop to the current halfway point, he hadn't encountered a single wild Pokémon.
Although the Pokémon here were stronger, so their distribution was more scattered, it was still unusual not to see even a shadow of a Pokémon.
While powerful Pokémon might be out of sight, not seeing even one ordinary Pokémon, which are at the bottom of the food chain, was very telling.
His vigilance grew stronger, but Aoki still quickened his pace.
Since he didn't have to worry about interference from wild Pokémon, he could just reach the valley quickly. If this was created by a Pokémon, it would definitely appear at an opportune time. If it was truly a purely natural phenomenon, that would be even better; he could get what he wanted and leave quickly.
Between these two conjectures, the former was clearly more likely.
When Aoki successfully reached the bottom of the valley, he still couldn't see the culprit behind the mist.
However, upon reaching the valley floor, the mist was so thick that visibility was almost zero.
Fighting in such an environment would not be good for either the trainer or the Pokémon.
Just as Aoki was considering whether to have Blaziken disperse the mist, Slowking finally discovered something different.
After advancing a certain distance within the valley, the mist actually began to slowly dissipate, and in the clearing mist, Aoki saw a very old-fashioned building.
Gray tiles, red brick walls, classical decorations—it felt like stepping through the mist and traveling back to ancient times.
However, a few dark lines appeared on Aoki's forehead as he saw this scene.
What kind of ridiculous TV drama plot is this? Is this a TV show?
In the deep interior of Mount Silver, in a desolate valley, there's such a brand-new classical house?
At the very least, the house should look older, more dilapidated, to have some credibility, right?
"Come out! Stop playing these pointless games in the dark. Are you going to come out yourself, or wait until I tear this place down before you show up?" Aoki shouted loudly to his surroundings.
The appearance of this house was the greatest insult to his intelligence.
However, the appearance of such a house also indicated one thing: this Pokémon had likely visited the human world before returning here.
And such a classical house, one could easily tell it wasn't from modern society, which meant this Pokémon was quite old, possibly having lived for hundreds of years.
To have lived so long, its strength must be considerable.
Suddenly, in Aoki's line of sight, he saw nine clusters of purple flames suddenly appear in the mist. These nine flames formed a fan shape and slowly approached.
Aoki frowned as he looked at this Pokémon. The Tyranitar and others beside him, as if sensing a threat, immediately adopted a vigilant defensive stance.
The nine clusters of purple flames leaped, jumping from the mist onto the rooftop.
A pair of nimble eyes, filled with intense curiosity, appeared before Aoki.
A slender body, flexible limbs, soft fur, and… nine delicate and graceful tails. The nine clusters of purple flames earlier were precisely the flames emanating from these nine tails.
Aoki's eyes gleamed as he looked at this Pokémon.
This Pokémon was none other than Ninetales, a Pokémon rumored to be a fox spirit in ancient times!
However, this Ninetales was somewhat different from the Ninetales Aoki had seen before, because its entire body was covered in silver-gray fur, and even within the silver-gray, it emitted a faint glow.
This was a Shiny Ninetales!
And it was highly likely a Shiny Ninetales that had lived for hundreds, even thousands, of years!