Pokemon: Reborn as a Pokemon

Chapter 326 326: 326. Firelines

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Kael glanced at the system's experience notification and could not help feeling a little regret.

If he were not in the middle of running for his life, this place would actually be a perfect leveling ground.

With his type advantage, even against Fire-type Pokémon far above him in level and strength, Kael was confident he could defeat them with ease.

That would raise his experience gain dramatically and shorten the time he needed to grow by a huge margin.

But obviously, with a relentless pursuer still watching from behind, Kael had no conditions to stop and grind safely.

He had to break free from Skarmory's line of sight as soon as possible.

So for now, all Kael could do was commit this place to memory and wait for the day he had the chance to return and hunt here properly.

He started moving again, heading deeper into the dead forest.

The landscape was nothing like the lush green jungle from before, yet in another sense it was strangely similar.

The endless repetition of withered trees and brown earth formed a natural maze every bit as confusing as the forest behind him.

Any human with a weak sense of direction would probably get lost here with ease, then be baked alive by the searing air and reduced to little more than nourishment for the dead woods.

Fortunately, Kael was a true Pokémon in every physical sense now, and his bodily instincts had been pushed to their fullest.

With his ability to sense moisture in the air, there was almost no chance of him losing his way.

As far as Kael was concerned, there were only two things to worry about in this bizarre forest.

The first was the lack of moisture and the unnatural heat.

The second was the dangerous Fire-type Pokémon moving through the woods.

Using all four limbs, Kael moved carefully through the forest.

Each step kicked up loose, gritty brown soil that felt warm beneath his feet.

He frowned.

Something felt off.

At this point, Kael's focus was already stretched tight because of the wild Pokémon that might appear at any moment.

He was monitoring every disturbance around him.

In that state, it was easy for him to notice that the ground he was walking across was slowly rising.

That was not what truly caught his attention.

The towering mountain visible in the distance was more than enough to explain the climbing terrain.

What truly bothered him, what made him uneasy, was the heat flowing through the soil beneath his feet like an invisible current.

It was as if something strange lay ahead, radiating a terrifying pull without end, drawing the heat from dozens of miles around toward its center in a slow but unstoppable convergence.

It felt familiar.

Far too familiar.

A strange emotion spread through Kael's chest.

For a moment, it felt like he had returned to the days when he was Ampharos, back when he first encountered Groudon.

The black smoke that blotted out the sky. The firelight seemed to set the heavens ablaze.

That apocalyptic scene, as if the end of the world itself had arrived, was something Kael would never forget.

"Gulp..."

The sound of swallowing rang out abruptly in the stillness of the dead forest.

"No way..."

Kael suddenly lifted his head and stared blankly at the towering reddish-brown mountain in the distance, his gaze shaken.

He did not want to believe it.

But deep down, he already had a suspicion.

"Am I really doing this again?"

Kael knew very well that if he was right, if that volcano truly erupted, then at his current distance from it, there was no way his present speed would be enough to escape.

He gave a helpless, bitter little shake of his head.

"Well... nothing else I can do."

If escape had already become impossible, then all he could do was quietly hope his guess was wrong and keep moving through the dead forest.

After several lives of struggle and tempering, Kael's mind and will had already reached an unusually high level.

Combined with the influence of his human soul, his nature could now truly be described as easygoing and broad-minded.

He still held tightly to his long-term ambitions, but at the same time, he no longer let emotions drag him off course.

He still felt anger when anger was warranted. Still felt joy when joy came.

But now, it was rare for him to act impulsively or violate his usual principles simply because his emotions got the better of him.

His resilient soul kept his thoughts and actions under remarkable control.

Whether it was the Skarmory behind him that could tear him to pieces...

Or the terrifying volcano ahead that might erupt at any moment...

Kael's attitude toward both was much the same.

Fear was there. Anxiety too.

But he never allowed those emotions to dictate his choices.

When the moment came to decide, he judged based on the environment, his position, and what he needed most, then chose the best possible course.

"Keep moving. Just keep moving."

Knowing there was nothing he could do to change the situation, Kael stopped paying attention to the massive mountain in the distance, where the heat currents were silently gathering, lowered his head, and prepared to continue his escape.

BOOM.

Suddenly.

Just as he stepped forward, a shrill blast of exploding energy burst from the sky overhead.

A massive shockwave created by the clash of blazing forces came crashing down like crushing pressure from above, laced with faintly red streams of fire, and slammed into Kael's body.

"Ssszz..."

The thin layer of water covering his skin for protection was instantly vaporized, turning into curling white steam.

"This is bad."

The alarm bells of death screamed through his mind.

Fighting through the searing pain spreading across his body, Kael instinctively drew as much power as he could from the Water Stone in his tail and cast Aqua Ring again as fast as possible, even though the previous use had only just ended.

The half-invisible camouflage settled over him at once.

Pressing himself into the shadow of a tall tree, Kael waited until his body had blurred into near transparency before finally looking up to see what had caused the burning wave.

His brow tightened immediately, and his expression turned grave.

In the vast blue sky overhead, once completely free of clouds, two brilliant trails of fire were colliding and weaving through the air at incredible speed like twin meteors.

Each impact sent rings of blazing red sparks bursting across the heavens, dazzling as fireworks on a summer night.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In just a few seconds, more than five fiery explosions had erupted overhead.

And those scorching shockwaves that had left Kael in agony were the result.

"This is..."

Thanks to the powerful dynamic vision of his Sobble body, Kael managed, in the fleeting instant each clash slowed the two figures down, to vaguely make out their forms within the blinding flames.

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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter

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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:

P-atreon/iamxeno

(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)

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