Chapter 138: Fan Ye

Huo La pondered for a moment, then recalled a crucial question and said to Gastly, "Old Ghost, could you ask Suicune again—does it know how long the Phoenix King has existed?"

"How long has the Phoenix King existed?" Gastly was stunned for a beat, clearly not expecting Huo La to ask that, then as if recalling something, swayed its body and approached Suicune, communicating with a "Gastly~Gastly~".

One ghost and one Divine Beast "dialogued" for a while; in Suicune's gaze toward Gastly, a faint, hard‑to‑notice doubt gradually appeared—though the look was cool, Huo La, who had been watching closely, caught it precisely.

After another moment, Gastly floated back to Huo La's side, its expression noticeably less desolate than before: "It says it also doesn't know exactly how long the Phoenix King has existed. However, it, together with Entei and Raikou, were revived by the Phoenix King, and that was a thousand years ago. By its estimate, the Phoenix King may have existed since the very beginning of the world's creation."

"A thousand years…" Huo La murmured the number, couldn't help glancing at Gastly, "By that calculation, the time since the Phoenix King revived them isn't even as long as your lifespan."

He had expected Gastly to retort as usual, or brag about how long it had lived, but this time Gastly merely hovered in place, gave no reply, and even its usual playful grin was considerably subdued.

The next morning around nine or ten o'clock, sunlight filtered through the cave's cracks, casting speckled patches on the ground, one beam landing precisely on Huo La's face.

Yet he still curled up in the haystack, sleeping, even turning over with obvious weariness, his brows lightly furrowed, as if he hadn't yet recovered from fatigue.

Suicune and the wild Pokemon that had taken shelter from the rain last night were long gone, leaving only a few dew‑kissed leaves on the stone at the cave entrance, like a silent farewell.

"Why isn't Huo La awake yet?" Ash crouched beside him, gently prodding his arm with a fingertip, his tone full of puzzlement, "He usually gets up early; why is he sleeping so heavily today?"

Xiao Gang was squatting by the fire, spoon in hand stirring the berry porridge in the pot, the scent of the porridge mingling with the aroma of grass and wood, filling the cave.

He looked up at the remark, smiling as he explained, "You slept too deeply yesterday, didn't notice—late last night, Huo La and Suicune had a quiet match, probably drained too much, so he hasn't recovered yet."

"Ah?!" Ash sprang up from the ground, angrily scratching his hair, his cheeks puffed out, "Huo La…"

He was chattering complaints, when Huo La suddenly turned over, groggily opening his eyes, his voice hoarse from just waking: "What's the noise… can you stop keeping people from sleeping?"

After a simple warm berry porridge, the three packed their gear, slung their backpacks, and left the cave.

As soon as they stepped onto the forest path, Ash clung to him, tightly gripping Huo La's arm and refusing to let go: "Huo La, Huo La, tell me again the details of last night's battle with Suicune! What special move did Suicune use? How did you respond?"

Huo La, tangled by him, could only slow his pace and, helplessly, said, "Last night I didn't send any other Pokemon, just used Kingler."

"Huh? Only Kingler?" Ash's eyes widened instantly, tone full of surprise, "Kingler is Water-type, Suicune is Water-type too, isn't that just a hard‑clash? How could it win?"

"I never intended to win." Huo La smiled, shook his head, explaining, "My real goal was to let Kingler see the Water-type Divine Beast's power with its own eyes, to make it witness the 'strong one's fighting style', so it could find a breakthrough."

He paused, recalling the night's scene, a smile tugging his mouth, "Suicune didn't exert much at first, just used a few Water Cannons to probe. When it saw Kingler daring to charge forward, it got serious, directly using 'Absolute Zero'. The chill from that move froze even the surrounding grass blades."

He hadn't deliberately hidden from Ash that he carried Kingler with him—after all, Ash didn't know how many Pokemon Huo La kept on his person, nor would he think Kingler was actually Lyra's disguise, assuming it was just Huo La's usual companion.

"That's amazing?!" Ash's eyes lit up, continuing to press, "And the ending? Did Kingler hold up? Did it feel it got stronger?"

"It didn't fully hold," Huo La recalled after the battle, Kingler's belly up in the air, its claws frozen solid, and he gave a helpless laugh, "but there should be some gain."

Xiao Gang, walking beside them, also smiled and nodded, "Your training method is clever. Sometimes a Pokemon doesn't need to 'win', but to 'see a higher ceiling', to know which direction to strive toward, giving a clearer goal."

The three chatted and laughed as they walked forward along the path, sunlight streaming through the leaves, weaving dappled shadows on the ground.

But after only a short distance, the ever‑bouncing Pikachu suddenly halted, its ears perking up, trembling slightly, emitting a low "Pika" toward the trees ahead, its gaze wary.

The three followed Pikachu's cautious direction, and at the end of the forest path stood an elderly man with an old backpack and a wide‑brimmed straw hat.

The old man cradled a yellowed book, and upon seeing the Rainbow Feather on Ash's chest, his eyes instantly brightened, and he stepped forward to greet: "Hello, youngsters, judging by your looks, you're looking for the Phoenix King, aren't you?"

"How do you know?" Ash asked, surprised, touching the Rainbow Feather on his chest, "You also know about the Phoenix King?"

The old man smiled, removing his straw hat to reveal a head of silvery‑white hair, his tone full of emotion: "I know more than that; I've spent my whole life chasing the Phoenix King's trail. I'm called Fan Ye, and I've even written a book titled 'Phoenix King Is My Life'."

"'Phoenix King Is My Life'?" Ash's eyes lit up, turning sharply to Huo La, "Huo La! The 'Rainbow Hero' story you mentioned before—could it be that this old man wrote it?"

"Oh? You've actually read this book?" Fan Ye's face instantly showed a delighted smile, his gaze shifting to Huo La, eyes brimming with expectation—meeting someone who's heard the stories from his book is a rare joy for him.