Gyarados's eyes were covered by Butterfree's String Shot, causing it to become incredibly agitated.
It began thrashing around, constantly firing Hydro Pump indiscriminately, destroying everything it touched.
"Meowth, Thunderbolt!" Xiao Zuo didn't care about anything else; in the wild, Gyarados represented disaster.
There was no escaping a beating when encountering a Gyarados because of its violent nature.
Not only humans, but anything alive in the wild was a target for Gyarados's attacks.
"Meow!" Meowth's fur bristled, and it launched a Thunderbolt towards Gyarados.
The struggling Gyarados was struck by the Thunderbolt, its body crackling with electric shocks, causing it to cry out in pain and let out a Dragon Rage.
Gyarados thrashed wildly from the electric shock, then surprisingly broke free of the silk threads covering its eyes.
It then looked at Meowth and unleashed a Hydro Pump.
"Meowth, quickly dodge! Butterfree, use Confusion! Fearow, Mirror Move!" Xiao Zuo saw the Hydro Pump, as thick as a tree, and knew that being hit by it would be fatal.
Meowth leaped and dodged the Hydro Pump attack, but Butterfree and Fearow weren't as lucky.
Butterfree was directly hit by the Hydro Pump and sent flying backward.
Fearow barely managed to use Mirror Move to block, and fortunately, Fearow's Mirror Move blocked most of the attack.
It reflected a portion of the Hydro Pump back, hitting Gyarados, but it didn't cause any damage to Gyarados.
"Meowth, another Thunderbolt, quickly!" This Gyarados was too strong; they were clearly not its match.
Now, only Meowth's Thunderbolt was effective against Gyarados, as it was 4x super effective.
Meowth glowed brightly again, launching a Thunderbolt directly at Gyarados's face, causing Gyarados to stiffen and shriek repeatedly.
But unexpectedly, after a single cry, Gyarados stopped its agitation and began to spin, quickly forming a water vortex around its body that continuously grew larger.
"Oh no, it's Dragon Rage! Gyarados's Water Dragon Rage! Come back, Meowth, Butterfree!"
Xiao Zuo saw Gyarados unleash Dragon Rage and cried out in alarm, quickly recalling Meowth and Butterfree; he had to run.
Gyarados's Dragon Rage involved spinning its body to form a water vortex, which was incredibly powerful.
Most importantly, this move was an area-of-effect attack, destroying everything it touched, and one wouldn't know where they'd be blown if caught in it.
Ash had experienced this move before.
After recalling his two Pokémon, Xiao Zuo immediately jumped onto Fearow, not even bothering to pack up the tent; he just grabbed his backpack.
"Fearow, hurry and run, quickly!"
Xiao Zuo dared not delay.
This Gyarados could use Hydro Pump; if it wasn't inherited, Hydro Pump could only be learned at level 40.
This Gyarados was at least level 40, and he couldn't deal with it, plus this guy was clearly using its ultimate move, so running was the best strategy.
Just as Xiao Zuo, riding Fearow, ascended into the air, the water vortex swept through the spot where he had just been standing, sending grass and trees flying everywhere, leaving a chaotic mess.
Fearow quickly flew away.
In the middle of the night, there were no streetlights in the forest, making it impossible to see what was happening below.
He could only hear Gyarados's roar, and Fearow immediately flew away.
After escaping that area and flying for a while, Xiao Zuo spoke to Fearow.
"Fearow, let's fly to a safe place and wait until dawn.
It's too dangerous to travel at night; this forest is full of danger at all times."
Xiao Zuo told Fearow to stop.
He didn't want to travel in the dark; if he encountered a high-level flying Pokémon, there would be nowhere to run.
Fearow then landed in a relatively flat area, dropped Xiao Zuo off, and then flew to a tree to stand guard.
"What is all this? Attacked by that mudfish for no reason, losing my tent and sleeping bag.
How unlucky!"
After speaking, Xiao Zuo released Meowth and Butterfree, truly afraid of further accidents, and then he found some firewood and built a fire.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
Holding on until morning, Xiao Zuo woke up groggily.
Meowth was in his arms, Butterfree was sitting on his head, and as for Fearow, it was truly dedicated, staying awake all night, constantly guarding the surroundings.
"Come on, everyone, let's have a quick bite, and then we'll set off."
Xiao Zuo called his three Pokémon over, prepared food for them, took a bite himself, and then opened his pokemon illustrated handbook map to check his location.
Xiao Zuo saw from the map that the place he had stayed last night was several kilometers away from him.
Now he was a bit off his original planned route, with only a few tens of kilometers left to reach Rainbow City.
If nothing went wrong, he might actually reach Rainbow City tonight.
Xiao Zuo continued with Meowth and Butterfree, putting Fearow into its Poké Ball.
That guy had done a great job last night and needed a good rest.
Looking at the map on the pokemon illustrated handbook in his hand, he would soon enter Beedrill's territory, which meant that...
As long as he could get out of Beedrill's territory, he would basically be close to leaving the forest, because Beedrill usually inhabited the outer edges of forests.
When they were still two kilometers from Beedrill's territory, Meowth suddenly ran into the nearby bushes.
Xiao Zuo knew that it had probably found something again; the little guy's ability had activated.
After waiting for a while, Meowth ran back, holding something in its mouth.
Xiao Zuo took it and was stunned.
"Is this...? A pokemon illustrated handbook?"
Xiao Zuo looked at the pokemon illustrated handbook in his hand.
This pokemon illustrated handbook looked new, probably the latest model this year.
It was a bit dirty but still intact and usable.
Xiao Zuo hadn't expected Meowth to bring back a pokemon illustrated handbook.
Before he could react, Meowth ran back again, and then immediately returned.
This time it had something else in its mouth.
Xiao Zuo took it and was completely dumbfounded.
"Is this...? A GPS navigator?"
A GPS navigator is a device connected to satellites, providing the most advanced maps.
With 24-hour satellite tracking, one can see their location at all times, and except in underground caves, as long as they are above ground and there is no signal interference, they can find their way.
"Meowth, take me to see where you found this."
Now, Xiao Zuo wasn't happy at all, because while a pokemon illustrated handbook could possibly be dropped by someone, a GPS navigator, even if lost, could be easily tracked and recovered.
Because it was connected to satellites, and this item was very expensive, costing hundreds of thousands to buy, it was impossible for someone to abandon it.
"Meow!" Meowth understood and led the way.
Xiao Zuo followed Meowth into the nearby bushes and stopped in front of a large tree.
Xiao Zuo saw a hand dangling behind the large tree, clutching a Poké Ball.
"Are you alright?!"
Xiao Zuo's first thought was that someone was injured, and he quickly ran over to ask, but in an instant, Xiao Zuo's face turned pale.
Sitting under the tree was a child, with pale skin, covered in blood, and completely lifeless.
"Ugh..." Xiao Zuo couldn't help but run to the side and vomit.
After all, he was only fifteen years old and had never seen such a sight.
He vomited for several minutes, throwing up not only what he ate in the morning but even what he ate last night.
After recovering for a while, Xiao Zuo calmed down, turned around, faced the deceased child, and walked forward to examine him.
This was a boy, about ten years old, dressed in the latest outdoor gear, carrying a spatial backpack, holding a Poké Ball in his right hand and a wooden stick in his left.
He seemed to have a leg injury, leaning on the stick for support.
His face was covered in scratches, and his body was covered in blood, indicating he had been through a major battle.
From the surrounding traces, he had limped from that direction, and simply couldn't go on any further when he reached here.
Xiao Zuo squatted down, looking at the ten-year-old boy.
He must have been a rookie Trainer who just started this year, just like him, choosing to cross the forest instead of taking the main road to train himself.
However, things didn't go as planned.
Although the death rate for rookie Trainers reached over 20% every year...
Seeing it with his own eyes was still very regrettable.
This child, with all his new equipment, stepped into this place with hopes for the future and his parents' expectations, but unexpectedly, he met his end here.
Xiao Zuo knew that if he hadn't been careful last night, he would have ended up like him, perhaps even without a body to be found.
Because many people were eaten by wild Pokémon, such as Arbok, which was a rookie killer.
On average, thousands of people died at the hands of such venomous snakes every year, and their bodies were very difficult to recover.
But the current situation stumped Xiao Zuo.
Since he had found the boy, he couldn't just leave him.
At the very least, he had to take him back to his parents.
Parents raised their children with great difficulty; how could he leave him to rot in the wilderness?
But this was the wilderness.
The League's professional teams could easily take him back, but he was also just a fifteen-year-old child, without strength or equipment.
How could he take him back?
After more than ten minutes of thought, Xiao Zuo finally decided to first use branches to Protect him from being eaten by wild Pokémon.
He himself would run to Rainbow City as quickly as possible and ask the League to come and retrieve him.
Xiao Zuo then released Fearow, had it use Air Cutter to cut many branches, and then had Butterfree use Confusion to arrange the branches carefully so as not to harm the boy.
He also surrounded the area with a circle of branches and stones, completely enclosing him securely.
Then, Xiao Zuo took the boy's hat, pokemon illustrated handbook, and Poké Ball, as these needed to be handed over to the League, and he also marked this location on the map.
He then got on Fearow and flew towards Rainbow City.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely take you home."
He had to get there as fast as possible, so he didn't care about anything else; he would just fly directly and save time.
Fearow flew rapidly through the air, and Xiao Zuo clung tightly to Fearow.
He didn't let Fearow slow down.
Even though the wind made it hard to open his eyes, he didn't ask Fearow to fly slower, because he wanted to take the child home quickly.
But it was as if fate itself wanted to stop him; things never went as planned.
Mid-flight, Xiao Zuo and Fearow were targeted by a flock of flying Pokémon.