Since Su Chuan’s residence was quite far from the Pokémon Center, even riding his Pidgeot, he arrived to find a group of trainers already gathered there.

  “Old Su is here!” A sharp-eyed trainer immediately recognized Su Chuan’s Pidgeot, and a crowd came forward to greet him.

  After dismounting and returning his Pidgeot to its Poké Ball, Su Chuan csped his hands in greeting to the trainers who had come to meet him. He then turned to a middle-aged man with a beer belly and asked, “Director Wang, what’s the situation?”

  The head of the Yun City Pokémon Center was Wang Qing, a master-level trainer who had been coasting through his career. The sweat on his forehead made it clear that Wang Qing was internally cursing his luck.

  When the survey team had detected anomalies in the southern suburbs, they had immediately notified Wang Qing, and the police department’s alert had followed shortly after.

  Upon learning the situation, Wang Qing’s heart sank. With only four years left until retirement, his son had already started a family, and Wang Qing had been looking forward to a peaceful retirement. But now, he might end up ruined in this final stretch.

  Despite his usual compcency, Wang Qing had enough professionalism to issue the special dispatch order without dey.

  Wang Qing grabbed Su Chuan’s hand and pulled him into the Pokémon Center as if clutching a lifeline. “Gym Leader Su, let’s talk inside.” He then called out to the surrounding trainers, “Everyone, please come in. Time is of the essence.”

  Inside the Pokémon Center, the main hall had been temporarily converted into a command center. Once all eleven gym-level trainers from Yun City had arrived, Wang Qing led them to a rge screen.

  “Take a look, everyone. This is footage from the vanguard team,” Wang Qing said, pointing at the screen.

  The screen showed the southern suburbs, which should have been lush and green, now enveloped in a shimmering curtain of water. Within the curtain, mountain ranges rose, and unfamiliar flora and fauna could be faintly seen.

  Su Chuan, drawing on his years of experience exploring secret realms, spoke up. “This is nearing the initial stages of fusion!”

  Secret realms were supposed to exist in separate spaces, but if a secret realm fused with the main world, it would stabilize and likely be marked as a restricted area.

  Wang Qing’s expression was grave. “Gym Leader Su is correct. According to the research institute’s analysis, the secret realm will stabilize and fuse with the main world in approximately 186 hours.”

  186 hours—less than eight days! Everyone in the room was stunned.

  One gym-level trainer excimed, “Impossible! A secret realm of this size would take at least two months to fully fuse with the main world!”

  The other trainers nodded in agreement. This was common knowledge; it was impossible for the fusion to stabilize in less than eight days.

  Su Chuan, however, had a sudden realization. “Could this be reted to that Samence from a few years ago?”

  The sudden appearance and disappearance of that Samence had left a deep impression on all the trainers in Yun City.

  Wang Qing sighed bitterly. “Exactly. According to the analysis, that Samence likely came from this secret realm. Since then, the stability of the secret realm’s space has been declining, and it has been gradually fusing with the main world.”

  There was no time for regret. After briefly expining the situation, Wang Qing divided the eleven gym-level trainers into five teams, each leading a group of master-level trainers to carry out specific tasks.

  “Everyone, our primary objective is to rescue the trapped civilians. Second, we need to gather as much information as possible about Champion-level Pokémon. Finally, if any Pokémon attempt to cross the barrier into the main world, you must stop them. The safety of Yun City is in your hands!”

  Wang Qing bowed deeply to the trainers in the room.

  Led by Su Chuan, the trainers thumped their chests with their right hands. “We have no regrets, and we will protect our homend.”

  The teams then entered the secret realm through several points where the spatial stability had already reached acceptable levels.

  As the strongest trainer, Su Chuan naturally led a team alone and took the central route to facilitate quick support for the other teams.

  “The Dragon and Fire-type energy here is incredibly dense!” Su Chuan excimed as soon as he entered the secret realm, watching the readings on his wrist monitor skyrocket.

  In such an environment, it was no surprise that a Champion-level Samence had emerged.

  All the master-level trainers had already dispersed with their squads to carry out rescue missions, while Su Chuan patrolled the skies on his Pidgeot.

  Secret realms were feared because the Pokémon within might have never encountered humans, making them far more aggressive than those in the main world.

  If Pokémon from a secret realm were released into the main world without caution, it could lead to a surge in Pokémon attacks on humans.

  However, after some time interacting with humans, most Pokémon, being highly intelligent, would establish a retive peace, coexisting with humans without conflict.

  “C3 area, three civilians found, one injured. Returning to base.”

  “B5 area, rare berries discovered, under attack by a fifth-tier Primeape. Requesting backup! Requesting backup!”

  Secret realms didn’t just bring risks—they also offered abundant resources.

  Under the current circumstances, no one was actively seeking resources, but if they stumbled upon any, they certainly wouldn’t pass them up.

  Most of these resources would be used to cover the expenses of the operation and as rewards for the special dispatch order.

  ......

  While the rescue operation was in full swing, Su Wen had already woken up.

  Upon waking, Su Wen noticed that the Charmander had somehow climbed from the small bed he had prepared for it onto his own bed, sleeping soundly while hugging its tail.

  After washing up, Su Wen prepared breakfast for the Pokémon at home, including a portion for the Charmander, and then roused the little fire lizard.

  “Mom, any news from the Pokémon Center?” Su Wen asked, stirring the steaming honey porridge in his bowl.

  Wang Xuan was busy discussing the lunch menu with her Indeedee and didn’t look up. “Director Wang sent a message. He’s reported it to the League Center, and a Champion is on the way. Your dad should be back in two or three days.”

  “A Champion?” Su Wen was genuinely surprised.

  He had expected a Champion-level trainer at most, but now an actual Champion was coming.

  In Xia Country, with a popution of nearly two billion, there were fewer than three hundred Champion-level trainers.

  Among these three hundred, only eighteen held the title of Champion, each representing one of the eighteen types: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Bug, Flying, Ground, Rock, Fighting, Psychic, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Steel, Dragon, and Fairy.

  In a sense, these eighteen were the strongest in Xia Country.

  The conditions for earning the title of Champion were extremely stringent. For example, if Su Wen wanted to apply for the title of Fire-type Champion in the future, he would first need to win the 1v1 championship in the Champion Challenge Tournament, held every three years, using a Fire-type Pokémon.

  After that, Su Wen would need to defeat the reigning Fire-type Champion in both 1v1 Fire-type battles and 6v6 battles using any type of Pokémon to cim the title.

  As a result, every change in the Champion title was a major event that shook not only Xia Country but the entire world.