A water-type trainer who specializes in dragon-type water.

"stop!"

Zhang Heng roared and charged out like a cheetah, his target the unconscious Runshuiya on the ground!

Watching his son rush out without hesitation, Zhang Leiyuan seemed to see his younger self, equally passionate and full of a sense of justice.

He smiled and did not stop them, but silently prepared to provide support at any time.

As Zhang Heng sprinted, he decisively ordered, "Swamp Monster! Waterfall! Stop them!"

"Roar!!!"

The Swamp Monster, which had been suppressing its anger for a long time, let out a deafening roar!

It pushed off the ground with its hind legs, and its huge body stood upright, its two giant hands slashing down fiercely!

The next moment, the immense water energy converged as if answering a call!

Two massive, raging torrents of water, as huge as real waterfalls, appeared out of nowhere. One slammed into the path of the starfish's upcoming super-powered attack, intercepting it; the other, like a waterspout, enveloped Swampert's own body, propelling it forward at an astonishing speed, right behind Zhang Heng!

Zhang Leiyuan's gaze sharpened. As a champion, his insight was certainly extraordinary, and he immediately saw the key point, saying, "Good! This is a waterfall blessed by a divine beast!"

Zhang Heng rushed to Runshui Duck's side, immediately squatted down, carefully picked it up, quickly checked its vital signs, and shielded it with his own body.

Swampert, riding the waterfall, charged towards Zhang Heng like a heavy tank, its incredibly broad and sturdy back acting like an insurmountable rock, firmly protecting the trainer and the weak duck behind it!

It spread its arms, let out a menacing roar, and stared fiercely at the starfish colony!

The leading starfish, capable of using [100,000 Volts] (clearly the leader of the group), spun faster, its central gem flashing erratically, revealing its displeasure and hesitation.

It wanted to eliminate the future troubles completely, but as the leader, it could more clearly sense the still waters behind it and the divine beast pressure emanating from the Martial Arts Bear Master that made it instinctively tremble!

After weighing the pros and cons, the leader of the gem starfish ultimately chose to give up.

It emitted a strange buzzing sound, leading its kin to slowly retreat, beginning to take over and occupy the waters, clinging to the highest rock, proclaiming victory in this battle.

The only remaining Carnival Wave Duck, which had not lost its fighting ability, glanced with complicated emotions at the Radiant Water Duck that Zhang Heng was protecting in his arms, then looked at its defeated tribesmen, and finally let out a low cry.

"quack!"

Calling to the still-mobile Eager Ducks and Water-Nourishing Ducks, they lifted up the two unconscious leaders and quickly retreated from the now-changed area without looking back, their backs appearing particularly lonely and flustered.

With the crisis temporarily averted, Zhang Heng immediately devoted himself to the treatment. He used his system abilities to check on the condition of the water-replenishing duck:

Pokémon Name: Duck (Shiny)

[Attribute: Water]

[Characteristics: Riptide]

[Rank: 24 (Rare-level combat power)]

[Qualification: Champion Level (Unstable)]

[Status: Severely injured and near death]

【Items carried: ??? (Undetectable!!!)】

This simple attribute panel made Zhang Heng frown deeply! Champion-level aptitude! And it's not even a stable champion-level aptitude! This means it even has the potential to reach higher levels!

The shiny Mudkip that had just hatched in the Aquatic Safari Zone had unstable potential, but it eventually stabilized at near Master level. It was the Pokémon with the best potential among all of Zhang Heng's Pokémon, apart from the two legendary Pokémon.

If a starter Pokémon with such dazzling potential were released into the outside world, it would definitely cause a frenzy of competition among major powers!

What surprised him even more was the prop he was carrying: ? ? ? (Undetectable!!!).

The system can't detect it? This is the first time this has happened! What on earth is this thing?

Despite his many doubts, Zhang Heng did not stop what he was doing.

He quickly took out a high-efficiency full-recovery spray, wound medicine, and specially made nutritional injections, and skillfully cleaned, disinfected, injected, and bandaged the duck's wounds, doing everything he could to stabilize its vital signs.

While Zhang Heng was focused on treating the patients, he did not notice that the sky above the secret realm began to darken rapidly without warning.

There was no sunset, no afterglow; it was as if someone had slowly turned down the world's brightness switch, the light quickly receded, and darkness descended like a curtain.

As night fell completely, Zhang Leiyuan discovered that the ancient tower, whose outline could still be vaguely seen in the distance of the basin, had completely merged into the pitch-black night and could no longer provide direction for his journey.

"It seems we can't move forward today," Zhang Leiyuan said in a deep voice, then threw out a Poké Ball.

"Boom!"

The dominant Charizard made its appearance again, but due to the basin's anti-flying laws, it could only land heavily on the ground with a muffled thud.

"Charizard, breathe fire!" Zhang Leiyuan gave a seemingly strange command.

But their long-standing tacit understanding allowed Charizard to instantly grasp the trainer's intentions.

It let out a low growl and spewed out a continuous and steady stream of scorching flames, not to attack enemies, but to precisely bake a damp depression in front of it.

"Chichichi..."

Under the continuous scorching heat of the fire-breathing dragon's high-temperature flames, the moisture on the ground evaporated rapidly, and white water vapor spread out.

Soon, a dry, warm clearing was cleared out, enough for the two people and a few Pokémon to rest.

Next, Zhang Leiyuan took out a triangular rock inlaid with a red crystal from his bag—the precious item [Blazing Rock] that could prolong the sunny weather effect.

He threw the rock to the fire-breathing dragon: "Dig a hole and bury it."

The fire-breathing dragon used its claws to quickly dig a deep pit in the ground and buried the scorching rocks at the bottom.

This item contains fire energy that can effectively block the rise of underground moisture, ensuring that this temporary camp can remain dry for a long time.

"Wow, Dad, you're amazing!" Zhang Heng had just finished treating the ducks when he saw his father's skillful fieldwork and couldn't help but offer a sincere compliment.

"Haha, learn from this, kid. Your old man has a lot of survival skills!" Zhang Leiyuan laughed, quite pleased with himself.

Zhang Heng gently placed the still unconscious but stabilizing shimmering duck on the dry ground.

Although he was curious about its secrets and the unknown artifact, he was unwilling to investigate further since he had decided not to subdue it.

The father and son ate some compressed biscuits and drank some glucose water, a must-have for medical staff working late into the night, to replenish their energy. Then they lay down fully clothed on the warm, open ground.

The dominant Charizard and Zhang Heng's Charizard lay on either side of them, the steady flames burning on their tails bringing warmth and light.

It also dispels dampness and any potential Bug-type Pokémon. Of course, there are no mosquitoes in the Pokémon world, which is really awesome.

After enduring a series of intense battles and mental shocks, both father and son were exhausted. As soon as their heads touched the ground, a heavy drowsiness washed over them like a tide.

Most of the other Pokémon also returned to their Poké Balls or went to rest beside them.

Only the two Ghost-type Pokémon that do not need sleep—Drowzee and Rotom—have emerged from the shadows, like the most loyal ghost sentinels, hovering around the camp, shimmering with an eerie light, and taking on the duty of keeping watch.

...............................................................

However, the atmosphere is completely different outside the secret realm.

Arthur Kirkland and the Second God of All Things still stood at the edge of the island, their faces grim as they looked at the still stable blue light curtain that enveloped the entrance to the secret realm.

"Tsk, after several forced attacks, the defenses at the entrance to this secret realm are even stronger than I imagined."

Arthur clicked his tongue impatiently. Although he had been holding back, he was serious about breaking through the secret realm. The Shiny Wave Dragon attacked relentlessly for nearly an hour.

"Wanxiang, isn't your Creation Palace the best at dealing with these ancient ruins and secret realms? Don't you have any other ideas?"

Wanxiang's gaze, hidden behind the mask, remained calm, but a closer look revealed a hint of solemnity.

He spoke slowly, his voice sounding somewhat muffled through the mask: "Forcibly breaking through the boundary is the worst option, as it could easily trigger unpredictable spatial collapse and even destroy what's inside. The barrier set up by Suijun is connected to the water vein energy of this sea area, so brute force is unlikely to be effective."

"Unless... its energy node can be found, or a brief gap appears when its internal energy fluctuates naturally."

"Wait? We don't have that much time to waste here!" Arthur said irritably. "Chinese reinforcements might already be on their way! If Shi Kaijiang comes, neither of us will escape!"

"Hmph, Shi Kaijiang is currently in a standoff with India and members of my temple, so it's impossible for him to come over."

Arthur and Wanxiang appeared relatively late, and the battles they experienced were not as long.

So they still have a lot of energy, and they can go a whole night without sleeping without any problem.

In contrast to their relative composure, the two South Korean champions, Kim Hyun-woo and Kim Jae-hoon, were in terrible form.

Both of them were pale, with sunken eyes, and their bodies were trembling slightly from exhaustion and nervous tension.

They wished they could just collapse and fall asleep immediately, but seeing that the two "big shots" next to them showed no signs of resting.

They dared not raise any objections and could only secretly inject themselves with adrenaline and guzzle energy drinks to force themselves to stay awake.

The immense pressure and fear of being caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or backward, almost crushed their spirits.

They deeply regret getting involved in this operation against China; now they have suffered heavy losses, and both Tornado Cloud and Land Cloud have been seriously injured.

He not only offended the East China champion, but was also used as a pawn by the United States and the Temple of Creation. He couldn't even get a good night's sleep. He lost both his wife and his army, and was extremely frustrated.

As night deepened, the tranquility within the secret realm contrasted sharply with the anxiety outside.