Chapter 61: New Bark Town! The Town Where Winds of Beginning Blow

Chapter 61: New Bark Town! The Town Where Winds of Beginning Blow

"New Bark Town, the town where winds of beginning blow. It seems I've arrived at last, the starting point of my Johto League journey," Ron said, looking at the distant town while carrying his backpack.

Previously, in the battle with Ash, Ash's Charizard indeed surprised Ron with impressive tactics and teamwork, making Ron marvel at how quickly Ash had progressed. However, Ash still lost to Ron in the end. After agreeing on another battle in the future, Ash left.

Originally, Ron had wanted to go to Johto with Ash so that he could at least see Suicune. If he registered it in his Pokédex, he would probably earn some extra rewards. But Ron suddenly realized he didn't even have the Johto region's Pokédex yet, so the system naturally hadn't issued any missions related to collecting information.

Therefore, Ron had no choice but to depart early. He planned to upgrade his Pokédex at Professor Elm's lab before Ash arrived. The rewards for encountering Suicune were something he definitely intended to claim!

Upon arriving at the Pokémon Center, Ron asked Nurse Joy to register him for the Silver Conference using his Pokédex. Then, without resting, he immediately rushed to Professor Elm's lab.

"Professor Elm, I'm Ron from Pallet Town. I came here to—" Ron began.

"You're from Pallet Town?! Then you must know Professor Oak, right?" Professor Elm interrupted excitedly.

"Uh, actually..."

"Professor Oak is my benefactor! At that time, he was the first one who approved my research..."

"Well, I..."

"Don't interrupt me! My main research topics include..."

Who am I? Where am I? Ron stood there completely bewildered. It wasn't until he walked far away from the lab holding his upgraded Pokédex that he remembered: he had come here intending to gather data on Suicune!

But looking back at New Bark Town and recalling Professor Elm's enthusiastic lecture that lasted three full hours, Ron couldn't help but shiver. Professor Elm was terrifying!

Better not provoke him again! Ron quickly decided to leave immediately.

He didn't even dare stay at the Pokémon Center. After eating dinner, Ron immediately set out for Violet City, preferring to sleep outdoors in the wild if necessary!

"Ding. Pokédex obtained. Side mission triggered: Collect Pokémon. Successfully register the information of the 93 Pokémon from the Johto region, excluding its 6 Legendary Pokémon. Reward: 10,000 Diamonds and a random set of Mega Evolution Stones worth one million. Additional rewards will be given if Legendary Pokémon data are included," the system notification sounded.

Ron smacked his lips. After all, there weren't as many Pokémon as in the Kanto region, so naturally, the rewards were reduced. Besides, there weren't many particularly rare Pokémon; most were very common and he already had quite a few at his ranch. In an instant, nearly half of the task was already completed.

Ron found a flat spot outdoors, set up camp, and released his Pokémon for rest. For this Silver Conference challenge, Ron currently had Charizard, Sylveon, Pheromosa, Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tyranitar eligible for battle. However, currently, he was carrying Charizard, Cosmog, Pheromosa, Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tyranitar. Cosmog was a Legendary Pokémon; even after it evolved to its final form, according to the mission rules, Ron wouldn't be able to use it in official battles.

Excluding Charizard and Sylveon, he still needed two more Pokémon. To be honest, among all Pokémon regions, Johto's Pokémon were the least popular. Aside from Tyranitar, which was a pseudo-Legendary and somewhat notable, only Skarmory and Blissey were truly noteworthy in competitive battles.

Rubbing his eyes, Ron tightened his sleeping bag and stopped thinking about these matters. Exhausted, he quickly fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Ron was awakened by the wind. Wait... wind? His tent was supposed to be windproof!

Breaking into a cold sweat, he opened his eyes to discover himself hundreds of meters in the air. Terrified, he raised his head and saw a group of Ledyba and Ledian carrying him through the sky. Charizard and Dragonite were following closely behind but hesitated to attack out of fear of harming Ron.

"What's going on here? Can someone explain this to me?" Ron tapped a few of the Ledian that were carrying him and asked.

Those Ledian called out apologetically. According to their explanations, Ron gradually understood what had happened.

These groups of Ledyba and Ledian had originally been living off several large Sweet Trees, but recently those trees had been taken over by a swarm of Beedrill. Unable to defeat the Beedrill, they decided to find outside help. Observing passing trainers, they eventually noticed Ron and his Pokémon.

What happened afterward was exactly as Ron experienced. The Ledian had carried Ron away after using a strange insect sound to hypnotize him, which explained why he hadn't awakened even when moved. Charizard and the others were also slightly affected by this sound, which explained how the Ledian succeeded in their plan.

After hearing this, Ron couldn't help feeling speechless. Calling these Ledyba and Ledian clever might be accurate, but clearly their cleverness had gone in the wrong direction. Calling them weak was also questionable since even Charizard and the others had been caught off-guard. It felt like their skill points had completely gone into the wrong skills!

Ron promised to help them, requesting that they first bring him back. After all, except for Charizard and Dragonite, the other four Pokémon he had couldn't fly. Gyarados could only float; making it actually fly was a bit unfair.

The Ledyba and Ledian discussed among themselves for a moment and decided to release Ron first. After all, when they'd captured Ron, quite a few of their companions had been taken hostage by Pheromosa and the others. (That was probably the main point!)

Jumping onto Charizard's back, Ron kept his guard up against these insects. Along with Charizard and Dragonite, he quickly flew back to his campsite, following behind the swarm of Ledyba and Ledian. Upon returning and seeing the ground densely packed with Ledyba and Ledian, Ron couldn't help but criticize them silently: if they had such great resolve and determination to kidnap someone, why didn't they have any courage at all to confront their own rivals?

After tidying up, Ron recalled his other Pokémon and jumped onto Charizard, saying, "Lead the way. Let's resolve this quickly. Also, next time you have problems, try to solve them yourselves. Always depending on others isn't good!"

It was unclear whether these Ledian and Ledyba understood him, but they immediately took flight, leading Ron toward their original home. Sitting on Charizard's back and looking at the group of insects flying ahead, Ron gave up any thought of catching some of them.

Pokémon without a fighting spirit should just continue living freely. Even if he caught them, placing them in his ranch would be pointless since they wouldn't choose trainers for traveling on their own initiative.

After flying for more than an hour, Ron finally spotted several tall trees ahead, with swarms of Beedrill flying back and forth among them. Ron knew he had arrived at his destination.

Ron landed approximately 200 meters away from the large trees. Even at this distance, he could still smell a sweet fragrance, probably from these special trees. Ron had already started considering applying to the Pokémon League to take some of these trees back to plant at his ranch, especially since the system provided soil that practically guaranteed their survival.

Just as Ron was about to move forward, a group of Beedrill rushed towards him. Ron curled his lips, "I used to be scared of Beedrill swarms in Viridian Forest, but I'm not afraid now. Charizard, use Heat Wave!"

Charizard roared and flapped its wings vigorously, unleashing powerful scorching winds. The group of Beedrill collapsed to the ground, completely knocked out before even getting close.