Jiang Tiansheng pondered whether he should inform the Alliance about this matter, since he himself was eager to get his hands on that Bulbasaur.
"No way, relying on myself alone, I definitely can't snatch that Bulbasaur from the dominant Venusaur. What if I run into it and it decides to fight me to the death?"
Jiang Tiansheng muttered to himself.
"Even if that Venusaur is old and on its last legs, in this forest home turf, it wouldn't be hard for it to take my Pokémon down with it."
"Now that the forest riot has settled, I can't just casually send my team members to deal with that dominant Venusaur. Besides, Zhou Zhiwen managed to get this info from Wang Jian, so the Alliance will definitely interrogate the main culprit of this riot thoroughly. There's no way to hide this."
Jiang Tiansheng frowned, deep in thought.
"So, whether I sneak off on my own or try to force my way in, I can't get it. I might as well voluntarily report this to the Alliance and at least gain some benefits."
"If the Alliance ends up getting this Bulbasaur later, they might reward me with some attribute treasures, giving my Pokémon more chances to break through."
With that thought, Jiang Tiansheng's expression turned serious.
He looked at Zhou Zhiwen and said sternly, "Zhou Zhiwen, keep this to yourself. From now on, don't breathe a word of this to anyone, got it?"
Zhou Zhiwen, who had been grinning, immediately sobered up at the captain's tone and serious expression. He realized that what he'd just said must contain some crucial information he didn't fully understand, which was why the captain was so tense.
Still, he knew he was just a squad leader, several ranks below Captain Jiang Tiansheng.
Zhou Zhiwen quickly nodded in response. "Captain, I understand. I won't say a word."
After sending Zhou Zhiwen off, Jiang Tiansheng found a quiet spot, pulled out his phone, and directly reported the news to the Southwest Alliance headquarters.
Soon, after finishing his report, Jiang Tiansheng hung up and fell into thought on the side.
Headquarters, upon hearing his report, first acknowledged his contribution. For this matter, they told Jiang Tiansheng to handle it for now and see if the Venusaur could retrieve the Bulbasaur.
Jiang Tiansheng murmured softly, "If it can be safely retrieved, I'll report again, and the Alliance will make arrangements. But if not, it's likely the Bulbasaur died in the riot, or if it survived, it's definitely missing."
"Since even the dominant Venusaur can't find it on its home turf, even if the Alliance sends people, it'll probably be the same. So we can just let it go."
"In short, let's first see if that Bulbasaur can be found. They just told me to keep an eye on the forest situation."
Jiang Tiansheng nodded. "Yeah, headquarters makes sense. It's just speculation right now—we haven't even seen the Bulbasaur. Sending people over would be overreacting. The world's huge, and the Alliance gets tons of reports like mine every day. If they sent someone for each one, they'd have nothing else to do but handle these cases."
Thinking about how worked up he'd gotten earlier, Jiang Tiansheng felt a bit embarrassed. He glanced around, relieved that only Zhou Zhiwen had witnessed it.
"Speaking of which, since that guy saw me lose my composure, should I transfer him away?"
Jiang Tiansheng mused to himself.
"On second thought, forget it. I noticed during this operation that Zhou Zhiwen is talented. His strength might not be much, but he's sharp-minded. Worth grooming."
Jiang Tiansheng pondered inwardly.
"Better head back and treat my Pokémon properly. In a few days, I'll go to the forest to look for that Venusaur again. At least I'll have an excuse then."
"I'll check then whether that Bulbasaur has been found. Yeah, let's leave it at that for now and see how things play out."
Jiang Tiansheng's matters were mostly settled.
On the other side, Wen Qi was staring at his new Scizor, his face brimming with uncontrollable joy.
"Haha, this is amazing!"
Wen Qi exclaimed excitedly to himself.
"Another blue-quality Pokémon! Now, with the Bulbasaur, I've got three blue-quality Pokémon. Even if they're just light blue, they're still champion-grade!"
At that moment, Wen Qi felt like he could float away with happiness.
But it was getting late, and Wen Qi knew he needed rest.
After all, the Scizor had leveled up so much and grown significantly larger; it needed time to get familiar and adapt.
Wen Qi sent the Scizor off to acclimate, then prepared to rest himself, thinking that tomorrow might bring a big battle.
Over by the Bulbasaur, it had played with the Turtwig until it was tired and had drifted off into a sweet sleep. Being young, it got sleepy easily.
Seeing them safe and sound, Wen Qi went to bed with peace of mind.
Time quickly passed to the next day.
The weather was exceptionally good—sunny, with a sky as blue as a gem and white clouds floating like cotton.
In the forest, the trees were lush and green, their leaves shimmering in the sunlight, while birds sang cheerfully on the branches.
Early in the morning, Wen Qi got a call from Zhou Zhiwen, who said on the other end, "Wen Qi, the forest situation is mostly resolved for now, but you still need to stay safe."
Zhou Zhiwen specifically reminded him, "If anything changes in the forest, let me know right away."
Wen Qi quickly replied, "Got it, got it. I understand."
Anyway, Wen Qi figured he'd be as lazy as possible—if he could stay put, he would.
If it weren't for the Bulbasaur, he wouldn't have bothered to trek into the forest.
Soon, Wen Qi arranged the farm affairs. This time, aside from leaving the Bellossom and the Sandslash couple to guard the farm, he brought all his other Pokémon.
After all, heading into the forest this time, Wen Qi wasn't sure he'd make it back safely. Bringing more Pokémon was just a precaution.
If the forest weren't still a bit unstable, he'd have even taken the Bellossom and the others.
Wen Qi mounted his Gogoat and sped deep into the forest.
He also released his newly evolved Pidgeotto. Though it was only level 18, it could fly and see farther than him, helping him spot potential dangers.
As for his other Pokémon, he kept them in the small world to conserve energy.
While Wen Qi was heading into the forest, in the Venusaur's territory within the forest.
Early in the morning, the leader of the Kecleon was nervously approaching the dominant Venusaur.
The surrounding trees were tall and straight, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting dappled shadows.
The Kecleon leader, looking at the Venusaur—though weakened, still exuding an imposing presence—was filled with fear. It stammered, "Lord Dominant..."