Chapter 13: Staryu
After Chen Xi arrived at the exploration zone, he clearly felt that the density of Pokémon here began to increase, and their strength also grew.
Of course, the most important thing was that the Small Elves encountered earlier were basically instantly killed by Chen Xi's Floette, which had no impact on Chen Xi, so Chen Xi didn't pay much attention.
However, when Chen Xi entered the exploration zone, he found that the water seepage was very severe here. He would often encounter standing water as he walked, and the deeper he explored into the zone, the more water this ghostly place would have.
“No way… Is the bottom of the Black Gold Carbon Pit a lake? I don’t remember that from when I played the game!”
Chen Xi arrived here with a face full of doubt. While he often encountered Spirit Hunters in the hunting zone, he didn't see a single one in this exploration zone.
With Floette’s Shinny illuminating the surroundings, Chen Xi felt that such a damp environment shouldn’t have any Rock-type Small Elves, so he planned to turn back.
And just then, patches of shimmering light suddenly appeared in the darkness, flashing on and off, making this pitch-black cave somewhat dazzling.
Looking at the dazzling light, Chen Xi was slightly stunned. With a hint of curiosity, he said to Floette, “Throw an Energy Ball over to see.”
“Floette~ Floette~” (`н´)
Floette, of course, wouldn’t hesitate for a moment at Chen Xi’s command.
Floette directly summoned an Energy Ball and smashed it over.
With a splash, the light suddenly dimmed.
Then, in the next second, several Staryu glowing with red light, and even Starmie, floated up in the water.
And these Small Elves were now aggressively surrounding Chen Xi, as if wanting to demand an explanation.
At this moment, the gem on the chest of the smallest Staryu was flickering as if its energy was depleted.
And on this gem, there were even some small cracks, clearly from the Energy Ball grazing it slightly.
Chen Xi watched as this group of Staryu and Starmie surrounded him. He had originally planned to retreat, as he didn’t intend to cause trouble.
Moreover, these Staryu and Starmie were all of good levels, reaching forty to fifty, which is considered quite strong among wild Small Elves.
Chen Xi felt that unnecessary battles were best avoided.
But after Chen Xi saw this injured Staryu, his thought of leaving was immediately dismissed.
This was a blue-potential Staryu.
Staryu: Water type, Level 9, Potential Assessment: Blue.
HP: 30 (31)
Physical Attack: 23 (31)
Defense: 29 (31)
Special Attack: 31 (31)
Special Defense: 28 (31)
Speed: 31 (31)
Overall: 172
Abilities: Illuminate, Analytic.
Growth Skills: Tackle, Harden, Water Gun, High Speed Spin, Cosmic Power, Power Gem,
Hereditary Skills: None
Taught Skills: Gravity, Magic Coat
“A blue-level Small Elf… Floette, use Petal Dance!” Chen Xi commanded without the slightest hesitation.
In an instant, the petals of Petal Dance flew out, sweeping towards these Staryu and Starmie.
Chen Xi’s decisive nature in acting when he intended to move caught these Staryu and Starmie somewhat by surprise.
But their response was also extremely fierce. The gems on the chests of each Staryu and Starmie turned bright red.
These Staryu and Starmie all released Psychic, and this light converged in the air.
Although their levels were all lower than Floette’s, this converging power gave them strength not inferior to Floette’s.
Under the influence of this powerful Psychic, even the Petal Dance unleashed by Floette was jointly held in mid-air by these Staryu and Starmie!
“Interesting…” This Psychic combination indeed surprised Chen Xi. He hadn’t expected these lower-level Small Elves to be able to contend with his Floette for a short period through teamwork, especially since they were wild Small Elves.
“Use full power!” Chen Xi commanded Floette.
Upon hearing Chen Xi’s words, the gracidea flower in Floette’s hand swayed. Immediately, the Petal Dance petals floating in mid-air were stimulated by the gracidea flower, increasing their power by another layer.
At this moment, the Psychic unleashed by the combined Staryu could no longer suppress Floette’s Petal Dance.
As Petal Dance flew, the frail bodies of the Staryu and Starmie simply couldn’t withstand its rampage.
One by one, the Starmie were directly defeated by the Petal Dance, falling down one after another in a blink of an eye.
And Chen Xi, looking at the Starmie that had completely lost their fighting ability, conveniently took out his Poké Ball and captured the Staryu he had taken a liking to.
After glancing at the unconscious Starmie and Staryu, Chen Xi wasn’t very interested and turned to leave.
Whoever was lucky enough to come here, these little guys would be their easy pickings.
Creatures of such high levels, although powerful, had already lost their potential for training.
After a short while, these Starmie and Staryu woke up.
They looked at each other and immediately discovered that the smallest Staryu had been captured by that hateful human, Chen Xi.
These Starmie and Staryu did not hesitate at all and decisively advanced into the depths of the standing water.
Chen Xi didn’t care about any of this. Capturing the Staryu with Power Gem was enough, and there was no need to stay in the exploration zone any longer.
Chen Xi directly retreated all the way back to the training area and found a relatively secluded spot.
Then, Chen Xi released the already battered Staryu and said to Floette, “Use Wish to revive it.”
Floette summoned a ray of light in her hand, and under its illumination, Staryu quickly recovered.
The recovered Staryu looked around and happened to see the great demon Chen Xi smiling at it.
Not long after Chen Xi successfully captured Staryu, the Ju family was also holding a meeting.
Kikuyo, the head of the Ju family, was the current patriarch. At this moment, he not only met with the Letter Hunter Da Di, the head of the Hunter Organization in Oreburgh City, but also with East Steel, the person in charge of the Oreburgh Gym.
The Spirit Hunter ranks of the Hunter Organization are divided into five levels: Apprentice Hunter, Official Hunter, Superior Hunter, Letter Hunter, and the highest level, Hunter King.
Among them, the Hunter King explicitly stated that only Tianwang-level Trainers could serve.
As for Spirit Hunters below the Hunter King, their ranks were determined by their contributions to the Hunter Organization and the contributions from the missions they completed.
“The reason I called you two in this time is to resolve the lingering issues in the depths of the Heijin Mine, which are caused by its connection to the seabed.”
Kikuyo looked at the two and said, “This matter has already had a huge impact on the Black Gold Carbon Pit.”
Da Di said, “The inlet where the Black Gold Carbon Pit connects to the ocean has been successfully blocked by Elite Kikuno’s Whiscash using Earth Power.
Next, as long as we take our time, we can eliminate these ocean Small Elves that have rushed into the mine.”
“But your actions are too slow!” Kikuyo said, “Even for our Ju family, it’s absolutely not easy to keep such news under wraps.
If the news of the Heijin Mine being flooded gets out, how much damage will it cause to the price of steel in the entire Sinnoh region, and what kind of adverse impact will it have on the stability of Oreburgh City?
This is not just about the Heijin Mine; it concerns the stability of the entire Oreburgh City!”
Seeing Kikuyo speak, East Steel, the person in charge of the Heijin Mine, said, “The Pokémon that surged in due to the accidental connection between the Heijin Mine and the ocean have had too great an impact on the original Pokémon ecosystem within the Heijin Mine.
They have severely encroached upon the original Pokémon’s living environment within the Heijin Mine.
Therefore, throughout the entire Black Gold Carbon Pit, many Small Elves that originally lived in the exploration zone have begun to crowd into the hunting zone, and the Small Elves from the hunting zone are crowding into the training zone.
This has had a huge impact on the miners’ work area, so it must be resolved as soon as possible.”
Because the entire work area is, under normal circumstances, the place for resource extraction.
If wild Small Elves are too dense, miners can only choose to give up, rather than continue to extract resources stubbornly.
After all, this is work; there’s no need to risk their lives.
Letter Hunter Da Di frowned and said, “In fact, I have already deployed the Elite Spirit Hunters of the entire Oreburgh City to help clear out the Water-type Pokémon within the Black Gold Carbon Pit.
But even we have encountered trouble, which has caused our efficiency to drop.
So we need your further assistance, otherwise, relying solely on our Hunter Association, I’m afraid we won’t be able to cope.”
“What happened?” Hearing the Letter Hunter’s words, Kikuyo straightened up and said solemnly.
Da Di said, “During the process of clearing these marine creatures, we encountered a complete tribe composed of Staryu and Starmie.
The number of this tribe is over a thousand, and more importantly, these Staryu show signs of settling down.
To avoid provoking them and triggering unnecessary large-scale battles, I have instructed my Spirit Hunters to try their best not to provoke them.”
“A thousand Staryu? Aren’t such Pokémon very rare in our Sinnoh region? How could so many appear here?!”
Kikuyo was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
Kikuyo naturally recognized Staryu, but this type of Pokémon wasn’t very common in Sinnoh. To some extent, it was even considered rare, appearing more often on other continents.
East Steel, at this moment, calmly analyzed, “Our Sinnoh Staryu and Starmie generally only appear in the deep sea.
The appearance of so many of these little guys in this incident suggests that the Black Gold Carbon Pit must have explored to the bottom of the deep sea this time.
Moreover, a very important reason why Staryu and Starmie like to live in concentrated environments is the Water Stone.
I think there might be a Water Stone ore vein where the Black Gold Carbon Pit connects with the seawater.
It’s a Water Stone ore vein sufficient for an entire colony of Staryu to evolve!”
“A Water Stone ore vein? That’s a fortune worth getting excited about!” Kikuyo couldn’t help but say upon hearing this.
Among several common ite, Water Stone is actually the least suitable for mining.
Because most Water Stones are found in the deep sea, and to mine this ite, one must go to the deep ocean to collect it, making the mining extremely difficult.
And possessing a Water Stone ore vein, even for a top family like the Ju family, is an invaluable fortune.
“If it really is Starmie, then we must act quickly!”
East Steel said with a serious expression, “Starmie are not only Water-type Small Elves, but also moon-worshipping Small Elves.
They have the habit of sending signals to the moon. Staying at the bottom of this cave for a short period is fine.
But over time, they will eventually discover weak points in the underground mine, break through them, and leave.”
“These Starmie can’t be that smart, can they?!” Kikuyo couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead upon hearing this.
East Steel said very solemnly, “Mr. Kikuyo, please do not underestimate Staryu and Starmie; they have mastered Psychic!
If they decide to migrate collectively, the entire Black Gold Carbon Pit could collapse.
After all, last time Elite Kikuno happened to be in Oreburgh City, but now Elite Kikuno has gone to Mt. Coronet and is not in Oreburgh City!”
Last time Kikuno was in Oreburgh City, so when the underground leaked, Kikuno easily resolved it by taking action.
In Kikuno’s view, since she had even blocked the cave, all that remained was for the Ju family to sweep away those Small Elves that had fled into the cave. How could this task be considered difficult?
Just do it casually.
After all, she was the family's Elite, not the family's thug. If she had to do all the dirty work, what was the point of having the Ju family?
But the task that Kikuno had casually handled, when passed to Kikuyo, filled Kikuyo with such despair.
Because the Ju family’s most proficient Ground-type Small Elves were countered by Water-type Small Elves, they thought of using the power of Spirit Hunters.
But unexpectedly, after these days of missions, the invading Small Elves had still not been dealt with.
Moreover, large tribes of Staryu and Starmie were discovered. Trying to eliminate them, no matter how one thought about it, was bound to be a headache.
More importantly, it was in an underwater mine. If the confrontation was too intense and broke through the mine, it would cause irreversible secondary damage to the Heijin Mine.
This would force the Trainers taking action to be cautious, while the Staryu would have no such concerns.
This give and take was enough to become a very troublesome matter for the Ju family.
At this moment, a servant of the Ju family, Xiao Pao, came in and said to Kikuyo, “Patriarch, someone from the Yuan Family has arrived. They said that the young master of the Yuan Family has gone down into our Heijin Mine, and to avoid misunderstanding between our two families, they would like to request a pass from the patriarch.”
“The young master of the Yuan Family has gone down into the Heijin Mine… Good, very good!” Kikuyo slammed the table and said, “Let the Yuan Family people in. We just happen to need to discuss this matter with them.”
The Ju family’s servant immediately went to greet the Yuan Family members.
East Steel reacted first, looking at Kikuyo and saying, “You want to involve the Yuan Family as well?”
“Yes, the Yuan Family’s medical system is the best in our Sinnoh region. With their help, the difficulty of eliminating the Pokémon inside the cave will greatly decrease.” Kikuyo nodded, “More importantly, their young master’s disappearance just gives us an excellent excuse. If we don’t make good use of such an opportunity, it would be too wasteful.”
However, before he finished speaking, another servant ran over and said, “Sir, something bad has happened! There’s a Starmie riot in the carbon pit. They’ve broken through the hunting zone and are now surging into the training zone.”