A long time had passed since Eevee devoured the Salac Berries.
Owen estimated they had been in the Secret Realm for about six hours, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Rescue should be arriving any moment now. During this time, he and Eevee had hidden cautiously under the tree, managing to avoid any further Pokémon attacks.
However, Owen was somewhat frustrated. After eating the Salac Berries, Eevee hadn't changed at all.
What happened to the "legendary treasure hiding the power of the sky"?
She had just eaten them like common apples for a bit of snacks...
"Maybe it takes time to digest," Owen mused.
He recalled the in-game description of the Salac Berry: it triggers when a Pokémon's HP falls below 1/4 of its maximum, boosting its Speed. Perhaps Eevee needed to experience a real battle to absorb the nutrients.
"Once we get out, we'll turn up the training intensity to see if we can trigger the effect," Owen told Eevee. "We should be safe in a bit."
"Vee..." Eevee froze.
While she was happy to be escaping danger, she couldn't find it in her to be joyful about "increased training intensity." And...
Eevee's eyes suddenly widened. Barely seconds after Owen said they were "safe," a long, piercing cry rang through the air. Within their line of sight, Pokémon hiding in the grass and trees scattered in a panic, as if a powerful apex predator had just appeared.
Eevee and Owen locked eyes. She felt she had underestimated her trainer's "jinx" ability. Even a powerful Anticipation ability couldn't counteract Owen's aura of sheer misfortune.
"An accident... purely an accident..." Owen waved his hands sheepishly. Seeing a black dot in the distance rapidly growing larger, he grabbed Eevee and started sprinting.
The black dot was definitely heading their way. As he ran, the realization hit him. He should have known—how could a tree with such rare berries be completely unguarded?
Other Pokémon didn't dare approach because this was the territory of a top-tier predator. Only he and Eevee were stupid enough to treat it as a "safe zone" and steal the rare fruit the owner had painstakingly cultivated. If his guess was right, this was likely the most dangerous spot in the entire Secret Realm.
"They say the most dangerous place is the safest place... I believed it, but why couldn't it come back just a little later?"
Owen and Eevee sprinted. Apparently fed up with Owen's slow human pace, Eevee hopped off his shoulder and bolted ahead of him.
"Wait for me!" "Vee!"
Owen felt like a truly pathetic Trainer.
Suddenly, another cry erupted. It was a mournful, aggrieved shriek—the sound of someone who had suffered a great injustice. Hearing it, Eevee ran even faster; she sensed a massive crisis.
Owen gritted his teeth, trying to keep up. But the Pokémon they had provoked was a Pidgeot.
A massive bird, nearly two meters tall, flapped its broad wings over the Salac tree. In an instant, it soared into the sky, its sharp eyes locking onto the fleeing pair.
A Pidgeot possesses incredible flight capabilities, well-developed chest muscles, and powerful wings capable of whipping up winds strong enough to snap trees.
Most importantly, its eyesight is extraordinary; it can spot prey from a thousand meters in the air. Even a fighter jet would struggle against a Pidgeot.
Suddenly, Owen and Eevee looked infinitesimally small.
"Crap, crap, crap! It's coming!"
In the blink of an eye, the Pidgeot was hovering above them. Looking at that terrifying black shadow, Owen and Eevee swallowed in unison. There was no way to outrun this thing.
"Eevee, prepare for battle!" "Vee!"
Eevee stared nervously at the Pidgeot in the sky, stepping in front of Owen. This opponent was stronger than any Pokémon she had ever faced.
Her body was screaming at her to give up and run. Owen looked at the trembling Eevee, his mind racing for a tactic, but before he could speak, the Pidgeot flapped its wings, whipping up a horrifying gale.
It was Owen's first time feeling such force at close range. Under the pressure of the wind, Eevee couldn't even keep her footing; her claws carved deep furrows into the ground as she was pushed back.
"What do I do..."
Looking at the Pidgeot diving through the storm, fear gripped Owen's heart. Eevee was ready to fight, but she had no idea how to deal with a flying enemy.
We're dead...
Owen reached for his Poké Ball, intending to recall Eevee at the last second to save her. But at that critical moment, a freezing beam of light swept across the clearing.
A thick frost spread rapidly, dropping the temperature instantly. The Pidgeot was forced to halt its attack by the sudden interruption, its bloodshot eyes locking onto a new enemy.
It was a Cloyster.
"What happened?!"
Before Owen and Eevee could react, a wave of heat hit them. The silhouette of a Trainer riding a Charizard flashed by, scooping them both up and pulling them onto the Charizard's back before soaring into the sky.
"Hey, Zoe, I've got the kid! I'll leave this Pidgeot to you!"
"Kid, surviving a Secret Realm without a scratch... not bad! But how on earth did you provoke that Pidgeot?"
Owen finally noticed that, besides the Charizard Trainer, there was another Trainer near the Cloyster. The Trainer Association's rescue had arrived.
The highs and lows of life were truly exhilarating.
Holding Eevee tight, Owen panted heavily. "Uncle, you got here just in time. Thank you so much!"
"Vee..." Eevee nodded, still shaken. The outside world is too scary. I want to go home.
Uncle?
Ethan's face darkened. He abruptly loosened his grip on Owen's arm. Unused to riding Pokémon, Owen nearly tumbled off the Charizard in mid-air, scared half to death.
Fortunately, Ethan caught him again quickly, but Owen's heart skipped several beats.
"I'm only forty. Is 'Uncle' a bit too old?"
"I said it wrong... Big Brother!"
"You're Owen, right? You should thank Old He (Hayden) from the Pokémon Center. If he hadn't deduced that you might have wandered into the Secret Realm, our rescue wouldn't have been this fast."
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