The next day.
Latios and Eevee were whispering to each other.
"Bu'i~~"
'So serious, what are you looking at?'
"Oss~" Latios shook its head.
'No idea.'
"Bu'i?"
'Could it be constipation?'
As soon as those words were out, both Latios and the nearby Monferno looked at it in unison.
Eevee quickly covered its mouth, its little eyes darting around, obviously realizing it had said something wrong.
"Bu'i~ Bu'i~"
'You two, don't tattle later.'
"Oss~ Oss~"
'Don't worry, don't worry.'
Latios patted its chest with a "bang bang."
What was Natsuhiko doing now?
He was looking at the smiley face left on the ground from last night.
"A smiley face... Is this a sign of goodwill? At the very least, it's meant to show friendliness. Not writing words, is it because they can't read, or just lazy to write?"
Natsuhiko rubbed his chin.
The wooden bowl and half portion of grilled meat he left yesterday were also meant as a test.
As a result, when he came over this morning, the wooden bowl and the grilled meat were indeed gone.
In response, they left a smiley face, which at least suggests no hostility.
Besides the smiley face, there were also two large footprints left on the ground.
These were clearly the footprints of some kind of Pokémon.
That means.
The person should have a Pokémon too.
But just by looking at the footprints, it's impossible to tell what Pokémon it is, only that it should be a big one.
At least the footprints were deep, and the ground was seriously depressed.
"As for this bone..."
Natsuhiko was also curious.
Even though he left half of the grilled meat, there was only a quarter of the bone left.
"Forget it. For now, classify it under a low-risk category. If the other party is willing to interact with me, they should appear again. If not... that's fine too."
It's no use just thinking about it.
Natsuhiko called over the Pokémon to start the second day of their journey within Rayquaza's Alternate Space.
The target was clear.
First, find a Pokémon with healing abilities, then explore and collect Crystal Stones with confidence.
"Let's go."
Natsuhiko waved to the three little ones.
"Oss——"
This time, Latios was the fastest, flying over to Natsuhiko's side, with an odd expression as if about to say something.
Unfortunately, before it could speak, Eevee jumped up from the ground and rode on Latios's neck, covering its mouth.
"Bu'i! Bu'i!"
Then it turned to Natsuhiko with an awkward smile.
Natsuhiko shook his head.
The chatter of the three little ones wasn't particularly concealed, so he naturally knew about it, but he didn't take Little Eevee's words to heart.
Leaving the grassland and entering the dense forest.
Originally, Natsuhiko would head towards the Celestial Pillar, but now he also needed to collect Crystal Stones. Even if he reached the base of the Celestial Pillar, he might not be able to go up.
Instead, he decided to wander outside and collect more Crystal Stones.
Once there's enough Crystal Stones, Latios could fly over directly in no time.
So he simply followed the stream, as being near water meant there would definitely be more Wild Pokémon, and he wanted to see the attitude of the human living in Rayquaza's Alternate Space.
Along the way, there were many Wild Pokémon attacks.
However, they were all single Pokémon acting alone, so they didn't pose much of a threat as a group.
These Pokémon generally wouldn't carry Crystal Stones either.
It wasn't until he followed the stream into a bamboo grove.
Bang bang bang——
From afar.
He could hear the sounds of combat from the forest, and it seemed quite intense.
After signaling the Pokémon to minimize noise and approaching cautiously, he discovered which Pokémon were fighting.
On one side of the bamboo grove, there were a group of Rogue Panda and playful pandas.
On the forest side, there were several Scyther.
The two groups weren't mixed up in a brawl, with only one very large Rogue Panda fighting against a quick and unreserved Scyther in the middle of the two groups.
The remaining Rogue Pandas and Scythers were just watching from the sidelines, occasionally letting out low growls.
It seemed.
These two groups weren't fighting over territory but were...
"Sparring?"
Natsuhiko was a bit surprised to see this.
In theory, battles between Wild Pokémon are a normal occurrence.
Whether for fighting over territory or resources, it's very common.
But it's uncommon for wild Pokémon to engage in meaningless battles.
The reason is simple.
Since it's a fight, there's always a chance of getting injured.
And once injured, it's a big problem for Wild Pokémon.
They can't get the best medical attention, at most using some home remedies, or herbs or Tree Fruit, to recover.
But such recovery is incomplete.
Frequent fights and injuries will inevitably leave internal injuries.
And these internal injuries can't be completely healed using just herbs and Tree Fruit.
Over time, accumulated internal injuries become shackles for Wild Pokémon, making it difficult for their strength to improve.
Simply put, it diminishes their potential, slowing down their progress.
That's why it's very difficult for Wild Pokémon to reach, for example, Elite Candidate or Elite Trainer Level strength.
After all, rarely can a Wild Pokémon maintain dominance and remain uninjured during constant battles.
This is also one of the reasons trainers like Natsuhiko rarely capture already mature Wild Pokémon as their main Pokémon.
Their long-formed battle styles and habits are one aspect, but the potential loss caused by accumulated internal injuries on them is another aspect.