Trainers returning from the Kingdom of Roc

Chapter 23: Battle with Gugu

Yes, there were rumors of the locust grove being haunted before.

Locust trees have always been associated with yin energy, and the character for "tree" (木) with the radical for "ghost" (鬼) further reinforces this impression. Indeed, locust trees do have a certain attraction for Ghost-type Pokémon, and because of this, there have been rumors for a long time that rare Ghost-type Pokémon can be found in locust forests.

When this rumor first appeared, it was only early in the information age, and most people didn't have much ability to discern information. This attracted a large group of trainers who wanted to try their luck in the locust forest.

The result, naturally, was that nothing was found.

Jiangcheng itself is not a gathering place for Ghost-type Pokémon, and there are very few wild Ghost-type Pokémon in the vicinity. Therefore, over time, not many trainers have visited the Locust Tree Forest.

After a simple check, without much hindrance, Luo Yan passed through security and entered the locust grove area through the entrance.

It has to be said that the rumors about Ghost-type Pokémon here are not unfounded. Looking at the towering locust trees that blocked out the sunlight, Luo Yan felt a little apprehensive.

It was a bright, sunny day, but once we entered the woods, the surroundings became quite dark.

It's hard to imagine how 'terrifying' this place must be in the middle of the night.

Luo Yan took a deep breath, touched the Gulu Ball and wand at his waist, and then, without further hesitation, strode into the locust grove.

As she walked, Luo Yan used her phone to retrieve the information she had compiled the night before. Looking at the map on the screen and the range of various Pokémon events, she considered which route to take next.

Unlike the green tributaries, the locust grove has only one entrance. However, despite having only one entrance, it has a multitude of forks in the road, offering a wide variety of routes to choose from once inside. These different roads lead to different destinations.

To explore the entire locust forest, it would take at least six days. With limited time, finding the right direction is crucial.

Luo Yan had actually prepared for this long ago. He wasn't just coming here to try his luck; he already had a goal before he set off.

Luo Yan's original intention was to test the effect of Prism Ball. Although it was an experiment, he had to take responsibility for it after catching it. He couldn't just catch any Pokémon to play with. Luo Yan still hoped to catch a powerful Pokémon with enough potential to be able to join the second team or even the first team in the future.

According to the guides provided by the League and the government, there are many types of Pokémon in the Locust Forest, the vast majority of which are Bug, Flying, Poison and Grass types. Although there are other types of Pokémon, they are too few in number and catching them is more of a matter of luck, so they are not included in the statistics.

Therefore, Luo Yan focused his main efforts on these four categories of Pokémon.

First, there are Grass-type Pokémon. These Pokémon are relatively easy to raise, but their combat strength and potential are questionable. Unless it's a Grass-type starter Pokémon or a special Grass-type Pokémon like Exeggcute, Luo Yan wouldn't bother to catch it.

The same applies to poison-type trainers. Luo Yan had a lot of fun playing with poison teams in the Kingdom of Rock, but here, as a new trainer, building a poison team from scratch is indeed quite difficult.

Therefore, Luo Yan ultimately set his sights on Flying and Bug types.

A good starting bird not only brings excellent combat power, but also a lot of convenience. At least on the road to further studies, having a powerful Flying-type Pokémon can be of great help.

Bug-type Pokémon have even more advantages. Their short growth period makes them a natural advantage as the second-best attacker after Iris. Therefore, if possible, Luo Yan still hopes to catch a rare Bug-type Pokémon.

The current targets are Scyther, Pinsir, Heracross, and Swarm. As for Flying-type options, there are too many to list, such as Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, Argentavis, Murkrow, and so on, all of which are under Luo Yan's consideration.

Of course, these are just tentative plans, and it's hard to say which Pokémon Luo Yan will encounter.

Like Scyther and Heracross, it's incredibly difficult to encounter one outside of specific B-rank or higher regions, because these Pokémon don't have populations in areas close to human cities.

Even if you do encounter them, they are likely to be animals that have abandoned their trainers and fled into the wild, or animals that have been released by their trainers. This shows just how rare they are.

I spent half a day wandering around the woods with my phone in hand. I encountered quite a few Pokémon, but they usually ran away as soon as they saw me, never giving me a chance to challenge them.

Moreover, since most of these Pokémon were relatively weak, Luo Yan wasn't too fixated on them and continued to move forward according to his predetermined route.

Finally, they encountered someone with some fighting ability, a Nidona. After easily defeating her with Iris, Luo Yan gave her some food and let her go.

After wandering around all day, Luo Yan still hadn't encountered a single Pokémon he was planning to meet.

It's not that he's never encountered one before; he did see a Pidgey's nest, but seeing how loving the couple looked, Luo Yan thought about it and decided to give up on trying to catch it.

Luo Yan encountered quite a few Bug and Poison type Pokémon along the way, but he didn't see a single rare one, which made him slightly disappointed. Sure enough, it was still too difficult to catch a rare Pokémon.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to take another route and explore before it got completely dark, a cuckoo came into Luo Yan's view.

Goooo, an owl Pokémon, is a Normal/Flying type. After evolving into Noctowl, its combat power is not weak, and it can also learn Psychic-type moves, making it one of the few multi-attackers among bird-type Pokémon.

Most importantly, gugu are quite rare!

"You're the one! Go, Iris!"

Without saying a word, Luo Yan threw out the Gulu Ball. He had searched all day and finally found one that he wanted to capture, so he couldn't let it get away.

"Coo coo coo!"

Seeing this, the cuckoo on the opposite treetop didn't try to run away. Instead, it spread its little wings, fluttered down, and prepared to fight.

"Instead of running away, you're taking the initiative to fight? Very good, that's spirited. Then I won't hold back. Iris, use [Ambush]!"

Upon hearing this, Iris immediately took action, charging straight towards Gugu's direction.

But Gugu reacted quickly, easily leaping into the air to dodge Iris's attack, and then turning around to unleash an air slash.

...