Chapter 106: Cave

After finding a windless place, Yang Yan changed into fresh clothes and finally began planning his next move. Taking out a pen and paper, Yang Yan used the lake he crossed as a starting point and roughly recorded the places he had walked and seen before.

"Nonsense, this is an independent different space, and I don't know if the time here is still calculated according to 24 hours..." Yang Yan covered his forehead with his hand and looked at the position of the sun. After recording the directions of east, west, north, and south, he estimated the time to be around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, based on the outside world—assuming there really are 24 hours a day here.

The environment in the dune zone was somewhat similar to that of a desert. The temperature was relatively high during the day but became very low at night.

"Let's first look around to see if there is any safe place that can be used as a shelter tonight."

Yang Yan stood up, dusted off his pants, and prepared to lead everyone off. Centered on where they were now, the group of Sandslash was due west. In order to avoid dealing with them again, Yang Yan chose to go due east.

There happened to be a hillside going up the mountain, and it was also the highest hill nearby. After they went up, it would be convenient for them to observe the surrounding environment. Walking all the way up the mountain, they didn't encounter any other Pokémon this time.

"This area should be the territory of the Sandslash clan. Now that they're following their leader's instructions and not attacking us, it's a lot safer, but we can't be careless. Everyone, don't let down your guard!"

Yang Yan took a water bottle and drank heavily. The weather here was too hot, and he felt like he was short on water after walking just a short distance. Fortunately, they had Starmie with them; otherwise, they would soon die of thirst in this place.

After walking for about thirty minutes, Yang Yan finally arrived at the top of the mountain. It wasn't that the mountain was particularly high, it was just that the path was too rough. The hot wind and dust hitting his face made him very uncomfortable.

Looking into the distance, the surrounding environment was similar and did not provide much useful information to Yang Yan. Suddenly, a black spot appeared in front of his eyes. Yang Yan stretched his neck to observe carefully and then said uncertainly, "Is there a cave over there? Butterfree, Starmie, Meditite, can you see clearly?"

Now Yang Yan only had these three, plus Ponyta, who was not afraid of heat. He had put Hypno, Shiftry, and Nincada into their Poké Balls because they couldn't handle the weather.

They looked in the direction Yang Yan pointed, but the distance was too far, and they couldn't see clearly. They shook their heads at Yang Yan.

"Let's go over there and have a look first. If it's really a cave, it could be our resting place for tonight."

One advantage of having Psychic-type Pokémon is that even if you jump off a cliff, you don't have to worry about falling to your death. Of course, what Yang Yan faced wasn't a cliff, just a steep slope. It was hard to go up the mountain, but easy to go down.

It took Yang Yan ten minutes to descend the hill. The black spot he had seen was not far from them now, requiring only two more hills to get there.

After walking over, Yang Yan sighed, "It's really a cave!"

Before he even went downhill, he could already see the dark cave ahead. The entrance was small but just large enough for them to move side by side. Taking out his flashlight, Yang Yan had Starmie lead the way, then released Hypno to join Butterfree at the rear. Yang Yan stayed at the end with Ponyta and Meditite.

"Generally, there are Pokémon in caves. Starmie, be careful!"

Since none of the Pokémon with him had learned the Flash move, they had to rely on Yang Yan's flashlight for lighting. However, the flashlight's brightness was limited and shone in only one direction. If something moved elsewhere, they might not notice.

"It seems we need to find an opportunity to teach them Flash in the future. Otherwise, it'll be really inconvenient."

Yang Yan originally thought the cave wasn't deep since the entrance was small and the mountain above it wasn't large. But after walking for a while, he still couldn't see the end. Not only that, Yang Yan looked back in the direction they had descended and found that the exit was behind and above them, meaning the tunnel led underground.

"Butterfree, use ultrasound to see if you can find the end."

Yang Yan asked everyone to stop, because if they went too far, something might happen, and they wouldn't have time to run. So, it was wiser to roughly confirm the situation first.

Butterfree's ultrasonic waves probed deep into the cave. After waiting a while, it shook its head at Yang Yan, unable to find the end.

"This cave is too deep. Just in case, we won't go any further. Let's head back."

Yang Yan only wanted to find a place to spend the night. A bottomless pit like this was obviously inappropriate. His goal was to explore the surface, not underground. There was no need to waste energy in such a place. The exit he sought was on the surface, likely in a conspicuous location. Unless he was very unlucky and missed it, he was sure he'd find it above ground.

Of course, there might be an underground lake below, but Yang Yan didn't need that.

"Bah!"

Just as Yang Yan was about to ask everyone to head back, Butterfree suddenly cried out. Although he didn't understand what it meant, he knew something was wrong when he saw the Pokémon around him instantly adopt defensive stances.

"Is something coming?" Yang Yan asked nervously.

But he didn't need Butterfree to answer anymore. He already knew the answer.

The ground beneath his feet trembled, and the vibrations grew stronger and stronger. Dust and small rocks fell from the ceiling, some hitting Yang Yan's head.

Something was approaching fast!

"Let's retreat quickly!"

No matter what was coming, fighting in such a narrow space was not ideal. They needed to get out so there'd be room for everyone to move and counterattack.

As they retreated, Yang Yan finally saw what Pokémon was approaching—Durant, and a large swarm of them!

The two large pincers at the front of their mouths made a constant clattering noise. The sheer number of Durant made Yang Yan's scalp tingle.

"Starmie, use Water Gun to stop them!"

In the narrow tunnel, the Water Gun hit its target, but the Durant were united. They used their combined Fury Cutter to fend off the Water Gun with their numerical advantage. As a result, the Water Gun didn't have its intended effect, only taking out a few weaker ones.

One-on-one, none of the Durant could match Starmie, but they knew their weakness. Every time they hunted, they always moved as a group! Durant were also one of the few Pokémon never seen alone!

Now, Yang Yan and the other were really in danger!

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