Chapter 224:The Hammer-Throwing Tinkatink

"Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night?"

The old man looked concerned. "The fog is so thick outside. It might be dangerous to go out now."

Natsume smiled. "As a Trainer, how could I possibly sit still after hearing such a story?"

"So, I want to go check out the forest behind your house."

"I see."

The old man nodded in understanding.

Trainers were exactly that kind of people.

They loved exploring mysterious and dangerous places.

"If that’s your decision, then be careful."

"Also, take these."

The old man handed Natsume two loaves of bread. "I baked them myself. They should taste pretty good."

"Thank you~"

"Leavanny~"

Nearby, Leavanny handed a blanket to Gardevoir.

Gardevoir accepted it.

Leavanny smiled at Gardevoir.

"Leavanny~"

Leavanny was cheering Gardevoir on.

Gardevoir glanced subtly at Natsume.

Natsume was saying goodbye to the old man. "We’ll be off now."

"Alright. Come visit again if you have the time."

"Will do."

After bidding farewell, Natsume and Gardevoir walked into the forest, where thick fog rolled around them.

Looking back, Leavanny was holding the old man’s arm as they slowly walked back into the house.

The cozy cabin was gradually swallowed by the swirling fog.

Natsume looked at Gardevoir, who was walking beside him holding the blanket, and smiled. "What a beautiful relationship."

"Gardevoir~"

Gardevoir responded with a gentle smile.

The old man had said that he once encountered Zacian when he was very young.

At the time, he was playing alone in the forest.

But suddenly, the fog rolled in, disorienting him.

Feeling scared, he crouched under a tree and started crying.

As he cried, he suddenly heard a peculiar sound, somewhat like Arcanine’s howl but not quite.

He opened his eyes and looked forward, seeing a faint figure approaching through the mist.

Before he could get a closer look, he suddenly passed out.

When he woke up, he found himself at the edge of the forest.

Because of this experience, the old man firmly believed that it was the legendary Zacian who had saved him!

Unfortunately, no one believed his story.

Later, the old man built a house here, guarding the forest and hoping to encounter the legend once more.

"The fog is really thick. I can’t see anything around us."

Natsume tried using Psychic to explore ahead and noticed that the fog seemed to contain a peculiar energy.

"Natsume, there’s an overwhelming fairy aura here."

Gardevoir stood beside Natsume and spoke softly.

"Fairy aura?"

Natsume pondered. "Come to think of it, the legendary Sword King Zacian is a Fairy-type Pokémon, right?"

"Gardevoir, do you think we might be lucky enough to encounter him today?"

Gardevoir smiled slightly. "If it’s you, Natsume, I’m sure it’s possible."

"Haha, you always say that."

"You’re going to make me proud."

"Tinkatink~"

As Natsume and Gardevoir were talking, a peculiar sound came from ahead.

Natsume was slightly startled. "No way?"

"No, it’s just a Pokémon crying."

Gardevoir used Teleport.

Natsume quickly followed.

In the thick fog, under a tree.

A small, pink Pokémon was wiping its tears.

"Tinkatink."

It was crying intermittently.

Name: Tinkatink
Type: Fairy
Level: Lv. 20
Ability: Mold Breaker
Individual Values: HP 31, Attack 31, Defense 31, Special Attack 30, Special Defense 31, Speed 31
Moves: Astonish, Baby-Doll Eyes, Metal Claw, Rock Smash, Fairy Wind
Inherited Moves: Icicle Spear
Potential: Elite

"So it’s a Tinkatink, and an Elite-level one at that."

"Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve encountered a Wild Pokémon with such high potential."

Natsume looked at the Tinkatink in surprise.

"By the way, where’s its hammer?"

Natsume noticed that the Tinkatink didn’t seem to have a hammer with it.

The Tinkatink was about 40 centimeters tall, with a round head and pink skin, looking utterly adorable.

This Pokémon would manually craft a hammer out of metal to battle and protect itself.

But because the hammer was made of metal, it often attracted other Pokémon that fed on metal, who would steal their hammers.

Natsume and Gardevoir approached. "Tinkatink, did you lose your hammer?"

The Tinkatink was startled by the sudden appearance of Natsume and Gardevoir.

It frantically felt around the ground, as if searching for something.

However, it didn’t find anything.

Tears welled up in Tinkatink’s eyes again.

"Tinkatink~"

Tinkatink cried loudly.

Gardevoir crouched down in front of Tinkatink.

"It’s okay. Natsume will help you."

Under Gardevoir’s soothing words, Tinkatink gradually stopped crying.

It wiped its tears and haltingly explained what had happened.

Earlier, it had been searching for food here when it suddenly started raining.

So Tinkatink tried to find shelter, but a Drednaw suddenly burst out from underground and swallowed its hammer in one bite.

"So it’s because you lost your hammer."

Natsume looked around. "It’s been a while. Your hammer’s probably been digested by now."

Hearing this, Tinkatink’s eyes, which had just dried, welled up with tears again.

"Don’t cry, don’t cry."

Natsume quickly added, "Although it might be hard to get your old hammer back..."

"My home has plenty of metal and iron ore. I can definitely help you forge the strongest hammer."

"Then you can use that big hammer to smash that Drednaw away."

Gardevoir said softly, "It’s true."

Tinkatink looked at Natsume again.

Natsume smiled slightly. "Just wait a moment."

"Let me deal with the guy who’s been watching us from behind."

Natsume reached out toward a Pokémon behind them that looked like it was wearing an iron helmet, baring steel teeth.

Its appearance strongly resembled the legendary Viking pirates.

This was a Steel-type Perrserker.

Natsume whispered, "Psyshock."

Energy materialized, and a shockwave quickly surged forward.

Boom~