On the grass outside the forest, the Altaria and her two children basked comfortably in the sun.
She glanced toward the Scolipede forest in surprise, hearing the sounds of battle echoing from within.
The meeting had just ended — why had the fighting started again?
By evening, Aoki emerged from the forest, bringing along the Drapion and the others who had finished the battle.
In the end, the entire clan of Scolipede wasn't completely wiped out by Aoki.
The remaining elite Scolipede had united in the final moments.
Still, by then, most of the group had already been defeated.
However, with the Scolipede's strong reproductive ability, their numbers would likely recover within a year or two.
That said, their overall strength would be far weaker than before.
As for the top combat forces, apart from the Scolipede leader who had been defeated by the Altaria, the losses weren't too heavy.
Now, entering the Scolipede forest felt like returning to his own backyard for Aoki — no pressure at all.
Without their strongest leader, and with Aoki's overwhelming numbers, he had little to worry about.
Passing through their territory felt as casual as crossing the road in the morning — completely effortless.
Aoki wasn't in a hurry to cross the Scolipede forest. Instead, he continued making his way deeper into Neverland.
Having only traveled a short distance and already encountering so many powerful Pokémon, Aoki was cautious about what might await him further inside.
The mission duration was fifteen days, and only two had passed. There was no need to rush.
After returning to the grassland where the Altaria lived, Aoki started preparing dinner.
The two little Swablu were already used to it, playing with the five young Pokémon before happily gathering around to enjoy the meal Aoki made.
Besides barbecue today, Aoki also prepared Pokéblocks for the two little Swablu.
Though the Pokéblocks were fairly ordinary, the two little ones still ate them happily.
As for the Altaria, Aoki made sure to prepare enough for her too.
Unlike yesterday, the Altaria wasn't as proud today.
When Aoki placed the food in front of her, she stopped pretending to be aloof and started eating.
However, compared to the two little ones, the Altaria ate much more elegantly.
Not a single drop of oil stained her feathers, even though her eating speed was surprisingly fast.
After finishing the barbecue, Aoki placed a Pokéblock in front of her.
She hesitated for a moment but eventually took a bite — and then couldn't stop.
This time, Aoki didn't leave after offering the food. He sat quietly next to the Altaria, watching her finish the entire Pokéblock in one go before letting out a soft hiccup.
It could be said that, after so many years on Neverland Island, the Altaria had never tasted food like what she'd had since yesterday.
The Pokéblock wasn't just delicious — she could clearly feel it replenishing her energy.
So when Aoki sat beside her, she didn't reject him.
Mainly because... Aoki's open, unguarded face looked quite pleasing.
Though, who knew if an Altaria's sense of beauty was the same as a human's?
After her quiet hiccup, the Altaria still felt a little unsatisfied.
She glanced lightly at Aoki.
Seeing her gaze, Aoki smiled, shook his head helplessly, and took out another bag of Pokéblocks.
He poured the entire bag into the bowl in front of her.
Nodding with satisfaction.
This guy is very good.
Start enjoying great food again.
Originally, the Altaria had thought about whether it was necessary to finish eating — what if there was nothing left after eating?
But while eating, it accidentally finished eating again.
While feeling helpless, it looked at Aoki who was sitting next to it, thinking that there should be some left on him, and it would be good to just take it from him next time.
It stretched lazily.
It was a really comfortable day. Except that the forest was a bit noisy during the day, everything else was good.
Seeing that the Altaria had finished eating, Aoki didn't say much, patted the grass clippings off his body, and slowly returned to his residence.
He started training with the Pokémon again.
The Drapion had completed its evolution, so it went without saying that its strength had improved.
Although not like Haunter, whose body had almost undergone qualitative changes after evolution and needed to be familiarized from the beginning.
However, Drapion's proficiency in fully mastering every joint of its body during the Skorupi stage could no longer be achieved immediately. If it wanted to reach that level again, it would take a lot of time to practice.
It would take a lot of time to train every joint of the body to the extent that it could operate it freely.
Today, Altaria did not go to play with her two children as usual.
Instead, she silently watched Aoki train Honchkrow and the others.
Halfway through the training with Aoki and the Pokémon, the Altaria flew over directly.
Aoki looked at Altaria in surprise, not knowing what she was going to do.
He saw her flying directly toward Honchkrow, and her speed not only didn't decrease but actually increased.
Honchkrow saw the Altaria rushing toward it with the intention of attacking and immediately made preparations for defense.
Slowking and the others saw Altaria attacking Honchkrow and wanted to counterattack directly.
But Aoki stopped them with his hand.
The expected fierce attack of the Altaria on Honchkrow did not appear.
Instead, the two Pokémon were entangled in the air.
Aoki looked at the Altaria and Honchkrow, his eyes gradually lighting up.
"Altaria is actually teaching Honchkrow how to gain an advantage in aerial combat by using flying skills."
Aoki observed Altaria. Although she was attacking Honchkrow, she was correcting some of Honchkrow's bad habits and shortcomings.
It was true that Aoki had trained Honchkrow well, but after all, there were some things that couldn't be seen just by watching from the ground. Only Altaria, a Pokémon who was also skilled in flying, could point them out.
Of course, even if Altaria didn't point it out, Honchkrow would eventually figure it out, but that would have taken a lot more time.
It might have even required a defeat before realizing the weaknesses and flaws.
Although Altaria wasn't teaching Honchkrow any new moves, it was helping him build a stronger foundation.
"The meals over the past two days weren't in vain," Aoki nodded secretly.
This kind of personal teaching could definitely be considered a great profit.
When Honchkrow finally fell down exhausted, Altaria still strolled through the garden and flew back to its residence in a leisurely manner.
She glanced at Aoki faintly, as if to say, the meal has been paid for.
Meanwhile, Honchkrow fell into deep thought, clearly understanding something from the training just now.