Chapter 331: Gold Coin, Sandaconda, and the Terastallized Sand Castle Lord

Since Seeing Lei He said some props needed to be prepared, she let Luo Mu explore the surroundings first.

Luo Mu carried a flashlight to the vicinity of the Leaning Watchtower and began observing this structure, said to have been built in the ancient Paldea Empire era.

The tower body was constructed from rough stones; under the flashlight's beam, the stone surface was clearly visible, smoothed and hardened by wind and sand. It was unknown what kind of stone it was, yet it had endured the scorching desert sun and wind for such a long time, resulting only in a slight tilt and most of the tower body sinking into the sand.

The tower body blended almost completely with the pitch-black night sky; had it not been for the previous car headlights and the current flashlight, Luo Mu might not have noticed a watchtower buried there while passing by, and beneath the watchtower lay the tomb chamber of a former Paldea Empire official.

Just as Luo Mu, carrying the flashlight, observed around the Leaning Watchtower, the thick gravel piled beneath his feet, controlled by some mysterious power, began to flow slowly at a speed that would not be detected.

At the top of the Leaning Watchtower, a small creature about ten centimeters tall, hiding in the shadows, cautiously poked its head out and looked down at the sandy ground with some fear.

It wanted to warn the humans below, yet it feared the big fellow hiding within the sand, leaving it in a state of conflict.

Having walked around the Leaning Watchtower for about ten minutes and grown tired of looking at the tower body, Luo Mu planned to summon Dragonite to fly up to the tower top and take a look.

After all, the Paldea League did not maintain the Leaning Watchtower in the Scorching Sand Desert; it was no surprise if this building collapsed at any time. Luo Mu dared not recklessly climb the outside of the tower body; if he accidentally got buried alive, it wouldn't be fatal, but it would be very embarrassing.

Just as he lowered his head to take out a Poké Ball, looking at his feet, Luo Mu frowned slightly.

If it wasn't his illusion, these sands seemed to be moving slowly?

"Ah!"

Luo Mu nodded slightly, accepting Seeing Lei He's gratitude, then asked again: "Are you okay?"

Immediately, forcing herself to calm down, Seeing Lei He quickly realized some Pokémon was causing trouble and planned to take out a Poké Ball to have Dedenne, whose spiritual energy had recovered significantly after a day of rest, help her break free from the yellow sand binding her feet.

Before Luo Mu could think it through, the next instant, Seeing Lei He not far away suddenly let out a scream.

Luo Mu nodded slightly: "I know, and it is a Ghost-type Pokémon particularly skilled at concealing its aura, which is why neither of us noticed it before."

"There is something beneath the yellow sand, it should be a Pokémon."

Furthermore, due to Dragonite's Water Gun washing away the yellow sand near the off-road vehicle, the dazzling crystal buried inside for who knows how long suddenly erupted with brilliant light, shooting up into the sky as a beam of light, piercing the heavens like a sharp sword.

"Thank you."

At this moment, a yellow-orange shadow swept across the pitch-black night sky; Dragonite pulled Seeing Lei He and the large box she held in her arms out of the yellow sand, stopping directly in mid-air.

Under Seeing Lei He's surprised gaze, Luo Mu suddenly gave Dragonite an order.

Although Seeing Lei He had the ability to save herself completely, the fact remained that Luo Mu and Dragonite had indeed saved her.

Dragonite, flapping its wings and hovering in mid-air beside the two, also vaguely sensed a faint aura beneath the yellow sand and was shifting its gaze, searching for the location of that fellow's true body.

Under the scouring of the thick water column, the Pokémon that had secretly attacked let out a strange shriek and jumped straight out of the yellow sand.

Luo Mu quickly looked over there, seeing Seeing Lei He, who was carrying a large box of unknown contents, look at her feet gradually sinking into the yellow sand and instinctively let out a surprised scream.

What surprised Seeing Lei He even more was that the very second after Luo Mu's voice fell, Dragonite had already charged up in its mouth; emerald-blue water rapidly gathered, forming a thick water column that pierced the night sky and air, instantly descending upon the location Luo Mu had indicated.

This sense of trust and execution, Seeing Lei He admitted, even Zoroark, who spent day and night with her, probably couldn't achieve this.

Dragonite brought Seeing Lei He to Luo Mu's side; Seeing Lei He, with her feet back on solid ground, feeling sand grains filling her shoes, while finding it hard to stand steadily, did not forget to thank Luo Mu and Dragonite.

"It's fine, but..."

At this moment, Luo Mu also finished communicating with the system, learning the true identity and location of the Pokémon hiding beneath the yellow sand that had secretly planned to swallow Seeing Lei He and himself.

Seeing Lei He looked at the yellow sand in the distance, which seemed to be flowing faster due to her escape, having already swallowed half of the off-road vehicle's tires and was about to reach the base, and frowned slightly.

"Dragonite, use Water Gun on the rear left tire of the off-road vehicle!"

"This is... a Terastal Crystal!?"

Seeing Lei He immediately covered her mouth, her expression full of surprise.

After all, as a history teacher at Grandma Ju Zi Academy, she naturally had a clear understanding of the mysterious phenomena in the Paldea region since ancient times.

Once a Pokémon comes into contact with the energy radiating from a Terastal Crystal, it undergoes a transformation called Terastallization, its whole body shimmering with a crystalline coating like cut gems.

It is said that recently the Paldea League even plans to popularize the controllable Terastallization technology jointly researched by Professors Arven and Sada.

"That's right... and over here is the Terastallized Pokémon."

Luo Mu nodded slightly, affirming Seeing Lei He's statement, while looking at the Pokémon that had jumped out of the yellow sand.

Sandaconda, a Ghost/Ground-type Pokémon.

Terastal Type... Grass!

Sandaconda, true to its name, looks like a castle made of yellow sand; this "castle" consists of three parts: the main body in the middle and two arms on either side.

On the arched structure of the main body, which looks like a city gate but is actually its mouth, there are pink and blue stones, and these stones are also present on its head.

Sandaconda's mouth extends straight to its back; on its head is a red shovel inserted upside down, said to have radar functions. When Sandaconda hides in the yellow sand, it mostly relies on that shovel to locate Luo Mu and Seeing Lei He.

Originally, Water Gun should have been Sandaconda's natural enemy, because if hit by excessive water, it would be unable to maintain its castle form.

But seemingly due to Terastallization, even after being washed by Dragonite's Water Gun just now, Sandaconda showed no signs of scattering into a pile of yellow sand.

After leaving the yellow sand, Sandaconda let out an angry and sharp cry, as if furious that Dragonite dared to use its most hated Water-type move against it.

On the Leaning Watchtower, because of the sharp cry emitted by Sandaconda, the small creature-like Pokémon put down the gold coin it had been carefully guarding, clutched its head with both hands, and looked terrified.

After all, it was because of Sandaconda that it was trapped on the tower here.

Sandaconda has been bullying others around the Leaning Watchtower for a long time.

Especially after that strange crystal suddenly condensed.

After coming into contact with the crystal and having its body surface coated with a crystalline layer, Sandaconda was hit by a Water-type move during a fight with another Pokémon. Realizing its weakness to water, Sandaconda, which originally thought its fate was sealed, discovered that its body did not disperse, and the damage from that Water-type move was much lower than expected.

From that moment on, Sandaconda understood how powerful the effect of this crystal was.

As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Sandaconda possesses excellent energy perception abilities; discovering that the crystal continuously radiates energy when exposed to air, it chose to control the yellow sand to bury the crystal, slowing down the rate of energy radiation.

Since then, Sandaconda has regarded the crystal and this area as its territory.

And Seeing Lei He, Luo Mu, and Dragonite were equivalent to intruders in Sandaconda's territory; not only did they not stand still and take a beating obediently, but they also dug out the Terastal Crystal that Sandaconda had painstakingly concealed.

Probably in a short while, other Pokémon noticing the light beam will come to invade.

This made Sandaconda, which regarded the Terastal Crystal as its own property, extremely angry.

The angry Sandaconda suddenly erupted with brilliant light from its mouth; empowered by the power of Terastal, a beam of green light of utmost brilliance was aimed at Dragonite and gushed out, illuminating almost half the night sky.

A move that releases a large amount of Terastal energy from the body at once: Terastal Blast!

Because Shabao was currently of the Grass Tera Type, this Tera Blast counted as a Grass-type attack.

Facing the incoming Tera Blast, Dragonite didn't even bother to dodge, allowing the explosion to detonate directly on its body.

Luo Mu's expression grew even stranger; Dragonite possessed a four-fold resistance to Grass-type attacks and further reduced damage with its Multiscale ability—this Shabao didn't seem very educated.

When the brilliant Tera Blast finally ended, the nearly unscathed Dragonite not only plunged Shabao into a state of incredulous shock, but the tiny figure atop the tower, who had already closed its eyes, now wore a face full of astonishment.

Just a few days ago, it had seen Shabao use this very move to instantly kill a crocodile that looked incredibly strong!

"Bo-wu~"

Shabao's strength was already far inferior to its own, let alone this abstract Grass-type Tera Blast.

At this moment, Dragonite felt as though it had just received a thorough scrubbing, its entire body feeling completely refreshed.

Feeling thoroughly refreshed, Dragonite decided to counterattack; flapping its dragon wings wreathed in air currents, it sent waves of high-speed wind surging toward Shabao, and accompanied by a wind howl even more piercing than Shabao's bizarre shriek, the quicksand around Shabao instantly exploded, while Shabao itself, under the assault of several gusts, was directly drained of more than half its stamina.

"Crack—"

A clear cracking sound rang out; the next instant, not only was Shabao directly knocked out of its Tera Form by Dragonite, but even the Tera Crystal buried beneath the yellow sand, with only a sharp corner exposed, shattered into a shower of light fragments, completely broken.

"Ding."

The tiny figure atop the tilted watchtower let out a surprised cry, its gaze darting back and forth between Dragonite and Luo Mu.

Could such a powerful Shabao have been defeated by them just like that?

(End of Chapter)