Chapter 65: A Sudden Broadcast, Fobbing Us Off Again?

Is it my imagination, or has the ambient temperature been unusually high ever since we got off the plane?

Even though it is the end of summer and the heat hasn't completely faded yet, isn't this temperature a bit too extreme?

Qianlin looked up at the sky. The boundless blue vault was completely cloudless, with the bright sun hanging high. Although the direct sunlight on his skin only felt mildly warm, the surrounding air felt as scorching as the height of midsummer.

No matter how he thought about it, something was wrong.

"It's not my imagination." Qianlin wiped away his sweat, the arm holding the Swablu already slick with moisture.

Sitting in the vehicle, he glanced down at the Swablu in his hands and gave a helpless smile. "Swablu, how about you go back into your Poké Ball for now? It's getting a bit too hot."

Swablu's feathers were like cotton, providing exceptional insulation, and the Pokémon could regulate its own body temperature using them. Therefore, despite the scorching heat outside, Swablu wasn't actually affected all that much.

Growlithe was a Fire-type, so it didn't mind the heat at all, but Pangoro had it miserable. Lacking any temperature-regulation mechanisms and burdened by such thick fur, it was already panting just like Growlithe.

Added to the fact that the interior space of the vehicle wasn't very large, Qianlin had no choice but to recall Pangoro into its Poké Ball first, and then negotiate with Swablu.

Holding Swablu was simply too much to bear right now!

"Chirp?"

Swablu tilted its head to look at its Trainer. Seeing Qianlin drenched in sweat, it gave an embarrassed flap of its wings, flew out of Qianlin's arms, and slipped out through the open car window.

It didn't want to go back into the Poké Ball. Last time they encountered the Overlord Mismagius, it had spent the entire time sleeping inside its Poké Ball. Not fighting was one thing, but it hadn't even appeared on the live broadcast stream—that was just too tragic.

Watching Swablu flap its wings and hover around the vehicle, Qianlin let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention to Growlithe.

The puppy was lying beside Qianlin with a dead-serious expression, showing no signs of discomfort from the temperature. Naturally, being a Fire-type, Growlithe could even survive in magma—well, maybe not magma, but living in a volcanic region was definitely not a problem.

"Speaking of which... I don't think I've ever paid attention to your Abilities." Qianlin suddenly remembered this detail.

Mainly because opportunities for battles were rare in daily life, and he usually only fought wild Pokémon, he hadn't focused much on Abilities. Remembering just now that Growlithe could operate in a volcano instantly brought the concept of Abilities to mind.

"Awooo?"

Growlithe turned its head to look at Qianlin, its tone full of confusion.

"Nothing." Qianlin stroked his chin in thought. "Theoretically speaking, a Pokémon's Ability cannot be determined simply by its appearance. Even a normal Breeder needs some testing methods to identify it, but I don't have anything on hand right now to test with... Am I just supposed to guess?"

That required a top-tier Pokémon Breeder to discern through sheer experience, and Qianlin didn't have that kind of skill.

If he had to guess...

Qianlin looked Growlithe up and down carefully, making the puppy instinctively take a step back.

Qianlin: "..."

Am I really that terrifying?

However, one thing was certain: he truly couldn't tell.

Growlithe's possible Abilities were Intimidate, Flash Fire, and the Hidden Ability Justified. Qianlin didn't have any particular preference, though if possible, the Hidden Ability would be best... ahem, purely from the perspective of rarity.

He looked up at Swablu. Swablu's Abilities were Natural Cure and the Hidden Ability Cloud Nine. Yep, still couldn't tell.

Whatever, he would figure it out when they got back later.

Just as he was thinking this, the phone in his pocket rang. Pulling it out, Qianlin saw a message from Manager Che.

Manager Che: Absol has approached the visitor center. There are no more humans on the mountain. It seems to be preparing to drive the people away from the visitor center. All our people are there, please hurry up.

Qianlin's gaze hardened as he looked up at the driver. "Brother Gao, speed up. Absol has started clearing the people out of the visitor center."

Driver Gao was the same driver who had accompanied Qianlin to An City last time, and the others were in the car as well.

Hearing Qianlin's words, Gao's expression turned dead serious. Because of the abnormally high temperature, the helicopter couldn't get any closer to the volcano, so they had to drive the rest of the way. Since the surroundings were just grasslands and wilderness, he hadn't deliberately sped up in order to keep the ride comfortable.

However, the situation was urgent now, and comfort was out the window.

"Hold on tight." Gao said this specifically to Qianlin, as the others were already used to it.

Qianlin originally thought this was just a subconscious reminder and didn't pay much attention to it, thinking about whether he should tell Gao to mind his safety instead. But before the words could even leave his mouth, he lost the ability to speak entirely.

To put it simply... what an intense G-force push!

If it weren't for the seatbelt, Qianlin was certain he would have been flung right out of the vehicle.

Thank goodness the seatbelt saved my dog's life—wait, my dog doesn't have a seatbelt!

Enduring the violent bumping, Qianlin grabbed the handrail and looked toward Growlithe, only to see the entire dog flying around the cabin, crashing into the guy sitting to Qianlin's right. The dog's massive body left the poor guy's face turning purplish-blue.

In a daze, Qianlin caught a glimpse of an expression of utter benevolence on Growlithe's face.

(￣(∞)￣)

Has it reached this point already...

Qianlin wiped his sweat, pulled out a Poké Ball, and recalled Growlithe. At that exact moment, Qianlin saw a look of pure relief on Growlithe's face...

Get some good rest.

Qianlin recalled the Poké Ball with a wry smile. He had originally thought Swablu outside would be the most miserable, but it turned out Growlithe was the one suffering the most. Fortunately, Swablu had flown out; if it had still been in his arms, he probably would have thrown it away directly.

Swablu definitely would have gotten angry if he did that.

In any case, the vehicle kept moving forward through the continuous bouncing. Several times, Qianlin felt certain he was about to fly out, only to be yanked back into his seat by the seatbelt.

Aside from everything else, this car was truly built like a tank.

About eight minutes later, a fairly large visitor center appeared before them. Judging by the vehicles parked outside, there were at least a hundred people here.

The moment the car stopped, the doors flew open, and Qianlin jumped out along with the others.

Swablu fluttered down from the sky, happily landing by Qianlin's side.

The temperature here was even higher, and Swablu didn't land directly on Qianlin, instead hovering gently beside him with fluttering wings.

Inside the visitor center came the sound of people shouting, their voices tinged with fear.

"Let's go." Without wasting words, Qianlin ran straight toward the visitor center while pulling his live-streaming drone from his coat and tossing it into the air.

As the drone hummed to life, the live stream instantly activated.

[Holy crap! Live streaming out of nowhere again?]

[You're finally here! How long is Qianlin going to fob us off this time?]

[Ten minutes, max.]

[Three minutes of travel, five minutes of sleeping, two minutes of chatting—today's broadcast is complete.]

[Qianlin, hurry up! Absol is going to attack us!]

[What the heck? What Absol? What's going on?]

Without answering, Qianlin slammed open the doors of the visitor center. Accompanied by a blast of cool air conditioning, a white, beast-like Pokémon came into his view.

White fur, black skin, crimson eyes, and scythe-like horns and tail resembling the Grim Reaper's blade. This Pokémon was none other than...

The Disaster Pokémon! Absol!