Chapter 23 : Heading deeper into the Wild

Time passed quickly. Orion kept improving himself, finding more Pokemons for Rhyhorn to battle and gathering herbs to earn some money at the same time. He followed this lifestyle for the next 3 months. He did have a few more close calls, but never got as much injured as he was by that Rattata. During these 3 months, Rhyhorn's level had increased to 13.

Orion analyzed his progress and decided, 'I need to start heading deeper into the wild. I barely encounter 1 Pokemon a day this close to the city. And, the levels of Pokemon are very low as well. I won't be able to level Rhyhorn much nor will I be able to earn enough to support a Pokemon by myself.

Though it'll be riskier, I should be fine as long as I don't go far enough to enter any wild Pokemon colonies.'

These three months had increased Orion's confidence quite a bit. One of the main reasons for it was that Rhyhorn's Smack Down had reached Expert mastery. He could use it even while running around. And, Orion could sense that Bulldoze wasn't that far off either.

Orion left the city and released his Rhyhorn. He climbed on his back and said, "Let's head deeper, Rhyhorn."

"Rhyhorn" Rhyhorn cheerfully said and began running away from the city. Despite moving casually, Rhyhorn was alert and looking out for Wild Pokemons. He loved fighting them far more than just doing the boring training.

The two moved until they were half a kilometre away from the city before they ran into the first wild Pokemon. Orion had his Pokedex ready at all times. Orion thought, 'It looks like finding wild mons here will be much easier. Its level is higher as well at level 8. This should be a good place to grind.'

In front of Orion and Rhyhorn was a Meowth. It looked carefully at the scary-looking Rhyhorn in front of him and the human sitting on his back.

Without wasting any time, Orion said, "Rhyhorn, use Bulldoze."

Rhyhorn lifted his front legs and slammed them on the ground. In an instant, energy began moving through the ground. Meowth felt it and immediately jumped high into the air, allowing the Bulldoze to pass harmlessly.

However, Orion didn't mind as he said, "Rhyhorn, use Smack Down!"

Rhyhorn immediately prepared the attack and fired a golden orb of energy at the aerial Meowth. Meowth understood that it won't be able to dodge. Its hands began glowing orange. Just before the attack reached it, it clapped. A large shockwave of air came due to the clap and hit the golden orb.

Unfortunately, Rhyhorn was a few levels stronger than Meowth. Its innovative use of Fake Out wasn't good enough to stop the attack. It got hit by the orb and slammed down into the ground.

The damage was high enough to make it pass out in an instant. However, it wasn't high enough to kill it. Orion looked at the Meowth and said, "That's enough. Let's move around and find more wild Pokemons."

Rhyhorn nodded and began moving away. Generally, Pokemon trainers had certain protocols. During a war, if they defeated a Pokemon, then they had to either kill or capture it. But during random encounters in the wild, it depended on various factors.

A Pokemon Trainer needed to kill or capture wild Pokemons they defeat unless killing the Pokemon would provoke stronger Pokemons or a colony. As such, Orion should have killed the Meowth.

However, he was only there to level his Rhyhorn. It made little difference whether the Pokemon he defeated died or fainted. As long as it didn't display incredible hostility towards Orion, he would spare it hoping to defeat it again in the future. Of course, a fainted Pokemon surviving in the wild would be extremely difficult as well as other Wild Pokemons could target it. However, that was none of Orion's concern.

Orion and Rhyhorn no longer headed away from the city. They moved in the 400-500 meter range from the city. Half an hour later, they ran into a level 10 Bellsprout. That fight was considerably more difficult as Orion had to keep himself protected from Bellsprout's Vine Whip, but he managed to win it as well. However, Rhyhorn took a bit of damage as Grass type moves were extremely effective against him.

Orion decided to retreat back to the city to get Rhyhorn healed. En route, he thought, 'Though Rhyhorn is quite strong, the 4 times weakness to Grass and Water is kind of crippling. I'll need to get a tanky Grass type Pokemon to cover those weaknesses. Apart from Dragon, Grass is the only type that resists both Water and Grass type attacks.

A Venusaur, Meganium or Torterra would be quite good for that role. But, these species are very difficult to find in the Wild. Ludicolo could have been a good choice, but Lotad might be more difficult to find than Bulbasaur in Kanto. I guess I'll have to settle for a Tangrowth.

Though Exeggutor might be a good choice as well as the Gym might provide its food due to its Psychic typing. Perhaps it'll be the most suitable considering my situation. However, finding it will need a lot of luck. Oh well, nothing I can do. I'll just need to catch whichever I find first.'

For the next five months, Orion kept heading deeper and deeper into the wild and away from the city, finding Pokemons to fight against. As Rhyhorn's level increased thanks to constant battles, the amount of threats he had to face decreased as well.

In these months, Rhyhorn's level had increased to 25! Orion no longer feared facing several low level Pokemons at the same time. Rhyhorn had learnt Horn Attack and Stomp and improved them to basic mastery while Bulldoze and Dig had reached Expert mastery.

Orion and Rhyhorn were moving in the wild when Rhyhorn suddenly stopped and looked at the location with a puzzled expression. Orion noticed it and wondered, 'That's weird… From his expression, it looks like he is familiar with this place but can't recall where he has seen it.'

In terms of memory, Rhyhorn wasn't very bright. Orion was thankful that he didn't forget the moves he had learnt. He asked, "Were you here when you were escaping from Beedrills?"

Immediately, the memories resurfaced in Rhyhorn's mind. He exclaimed, "Rhy Rhy Rhyhorn!"

He raised one leg and was pointing towards a direction. Orion realized what he was talking about and asked, "You injured your leg here? But, which Rock was so hard that it could injure you?"

Rhyhorn tilted his head as if saying that he didn't know. Orion got off his back and said, "Alright, let's find it. It might be valuable. Do you remember where it was?"

Rhyhorn thought for a bit and began inspecting the ground. It soon found the tracks that it had left last time. It began digging and quickly found a small tunnel that he had dug the last time while escaping from the Beedrills. Though the entrance had gotten covered over time, the tunnel still existed. Of course, its state wasn't very good. More importantly, Rhyhorn could no longer fit in it!

It had been around 9 months since Orion had caught Rhyhorn. His height had grown from 2 feet tall to slightly below 3 feet while his length had increased from 4 feet to 6 feet! It was almost as big as a normal Rhyhorn and weighed over 100 kg!

Rhyhorn immediately dug a new hole and moved towards the rock that hurt it. Orion had to crawl, but he followed Rhyhorn into the hole too as Rhyhorn had already confirmed that there weren't any Pokemons hiding underground.

Soon, they reached the rock that hurt Rhyhorn's leg. Orion was surprised. He thought, 'Weird, the colour of this rock is completely different from the surroundings.'

Orion felt the rock with his hand. The rock was grey-coloured and was extremely tough and rugged. It almost felt as if the rock was indestructible!

Orion thought for a bit before he thought of something. His eyes widened as he wondered, 'Wait a minute! Is this Hard Stone? But why is it so freaking huge? A normal Hard Stone is barely as big as a fist.'

The Hard Stone was too big. Orion couldn't check, but it was around 20 meters in diameter and was spherical in shape. Orion's eyes glittered as he thought, 'If this is a Hard Stone, then this will be worth a large sum of Pokecoins. If I can break it into smaller parts and sell them to the Pokemart, I'll earn enough to raise a second or perhaps even a third Pokemon.

Umm, on second thought, that will be risky. If someone notices me selling Hard Stone frequently, I'll eventually be followed. It'll be better to directly go through Cedric. I doubt he'll care much of this little wealth. Plus, with him here, I won't have to worry about transporting this Hard Stone to the city. His Pokemons could directly teleport it to the city. Hmm, I'll do th…'

Suddenly, Orion heard a crunching sound. He looked to his right and noticed that Rhyhorn had dug his teeth into the Hard Stone. He bit off a small chunk of the stone and began eating it!