Chapter 1267: Wonder Garden

Rillaboom took out its drum, gripped its drumsticks, and watched Absol nervously.

He Shiyun swallowed and said with a trembling voice: "Hello, Absol. I know you are trying to warn us away. But we are here to investigate the cause of the plants' withering. If possible, could you let us pass so we can explore the truth inside?"

A trace of surprise flashed in Absol's eyes. It hadn't expected that among that group of ignorant humans, there would be one who was clear-headed. But what lay ahead was not a place this girl and that weak ape could go; even it could only drive others away from here.

Absol shook its head firmly, stomping its front paws heavily on the ground, sparks brewing in its mouth, looking as if it would unleash a super-effective Flamethrower on Rillaboom if He Shiyun didn't leave immediately.

Looking at the wary Rillaboom, He Shiyun ultimately lacked the courage to force her way through and decided to retreat.

"Rillaboom, we..."

Suddenly, a puzzled voice sounded from the right.

"What are you doing?"

Su Hao pushed aside the branches and stepped out from the dense bushes, his gaze falling on the two sides in a standoff, confused.

A woman who looked slightly familiar and a Rillaboom, plus a very rare Absol that usually lived in rugged mountains—this was truly a peculiar combination.

Su Hao raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

He Shiyun was stunned. Seeing that the person who had suddenly appeared didn't have a single Pokémon by his side, she wanted to shout for him to leave quickly because it was very dangerous.

But when she saw Su Hao's face, that familiar visage instantly impacted He Shiyun's brain.

She would never forget this face that had once brought her humiliation. But now, the other party's path was going higher and higher, while she was still struggling at the Elite-level. The past defeat was now called "You actually had the luck to battle him?" in envious tones. He Shiyun's gaze toward Su Hao was incredibly complex.

So she really hadn't been wrong back then; this person was really in Viridian Forest.

"Soru!"

Absol's gaze turned to Su Hao, who was walking toward it leisurely. It discovered that the other party didn't even have a partner Pokémon following him, which was practically courting death in this place of right and wrong.

Absol decided to scare him, so he would run away just like those humans before.

Without even using a move, Absol lunged at Su Hao like a gust of wind based solely on its physical ability. During the lunge, Absol specifically retracted its claws to avoid hurting this fragile human.

Discovering Absol's movement, He Shiyun immediately let out a cry of surprise: "Su Hao, watch out!!"

He Shiyun's intention was to warn Su Hao to be careful of the suddenly attacking Absol; with his Pokémon, he would surely be able to easily subdue Absol, right?

But what happened next shattered He Shiyun's worldview.

Su Hao acted as if he had eyes on the side of his head, backhanding the bewildered Absol and pinning it to the ground, unable to move. The Absol that had been so arrogant just a moment ago appeared powerless under Su Hao's hand.

Not to mention He Shiyun, even Absol was stunned. That human's palm firmly clamped onto it, and no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't break free.

What was going on?

"Wait, you have no intention to attack. You wanted to scare me?" Su Hao lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, dissipating the Aura Sphere gathering in his other hand.

Since Absol had no intention to attack, it didn't need to eat this super-effective Aura Sphere.

Ignoring the still-struggling Absol, Su Hao looked at the stunned He Shiyun and the shocked Rillaboom. After struggling to think for a long time, he realized with a start: "I remember you! The female Trainer with that Rillaboom from the High School Cup. The one who cried after losing, and was bad to boot!"

The fact that the other party had inexplicably started crying back then caused him to be framed by that bastard from the Azure Cloud Sect, which was quite unlucky; it was hard for Su Hao not to remember it.

It was just that he only remembered the course of events; he had already forgotten the girl's name, which was slightly awkward.

He Shiyun was dazed for a moment, and her cheeks instantly flushed with two blushes, appearing because her dark history had been brought up directly.

She stammered: "That was how long ago! You don't even remember my name, but you still remember that!?"

Deep in Viridian Forest, in the area south of the west.

The trees and plants here were abnormally huge, more than several times larger than those in other places.

This was the territory of one of the overlords of Viridian Forest, the Giant Venusaur.

And in the center of the territory, there was a place called the "Wonder Garden." It was said to be the holy land of the Bulbasaur clan; Bulbasaur and Venusaur who were lucky enough to complete their evolution here would gain power far greater than their ordinary kin.

Just such a rumor was enough to attract many Trainers to come and adventure, but this remained one of the forbidden areas of Viridian Forest that could not be invaded; almost no one could break into the interior.

The reason was simple: because the Giant Venusaur existed here.

The reason is simple, because a giant Venusaur exists here.