Tourists are stunned for only two seconds.

The appearance of the patriarch was too worrying, and a long list of "enemy night attacks" and "secretly releasing arrows" instantly rolled through Xiao Ye's mind, and at the same time as the waveguide detection opened, his body had already rushed over without thinking.

"Mr. Ye, are you okay?"

As soon as the patriarch of the Flame People turned his head, he was almost stunned by the face of a man and a large bird, and the torch in his hand fell on the altar with a clang.

"Why did you suddenly rush out in the middle of the night......

"Because...... Mr. Ye!The altar, the altar is on fire!!"

"Huh, huh!?"

Fortunately, the handful of flames did not immediately cause any catastrophic incident, and the two of them hurriedly extinguished the fire source, and then looked at each other in silence, embarrassed by each other.

"Uh, sorry......" Saya stammered.

After a toss, she had already noticed that although the patriarch looked a little tired, his face was ruddy, and his clothes were neat, and he obviously did not look like he had been injured in any way—if she hadn't rushed out recklessly and frightened, her heart would probably have been more stable.

Ye couldn't help but laugh, and while waving his hand again and again, he defended the fire safety of Flame Valley, "Actually, our altar used to be painted with fireproof paint, but we have been in a hurry to move recently, so we haven't been able to take care of it for a while. ”

He looked at the big bird standing quietly next to the girl, and understood why the other party appeared silently—presumably on the way back to the residence on a Pokémon, he happened to notice the movement here.

"Don't worry, it's just that what I just did was a bit of a struggle. Karma comforted, reaching out and patting the pillar of the covenant. There was a faint flow of fire where the palm of the hand touched the crystal, as if the previous splendor had not yet dissipated.

Saya and Dabitori's eyes widened together.

"Do you want to touch it?" said the young patriarch with a smile that understood the young man's heart.

"Is that okay?"

"Of course. ”

Curiously, Saya raised her hand and stroked the ancient words engraved on the surface of the Pillar of the Covenant.

As the orange light and shadow emerged from under his palm, Xiao Ye dimly felt that something was overflowing. It was not a flame of temperature and form, but something just as warm, but more elusive—like a fluid and invisible "thought".

As if receiving a call, the cobblestone in the name of the heart emitted an inaudible whisper. She touched her chest, and she clearly felt that Ye Xinxin was trembling slightly.

It was a new experience, and Saya touched the Pillar of the Covenant several more times, creating a sea of light before she withdrew her hand contentedly, and when she turned around, she saw that Karmic was looking at her—or rather, staring at her right hand in a daze.

The tourists looked confused.

“……”

“？”

“……”

“…… Uh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have poked so much?"

The patriarch's slightly solemn contemplative expression suddenly shattered into eight petals.

"No, I'm not thinking about that...... Or why do you think that?"

Ye couldn't cry or laugh, and after looking around, he simply sat on the ground, and dragged Xiaoye again, "If you're not in a hurry to leave, can you chat with me?"

The crystal pillars had long since been extinguished again, and only the torches surrounding the altar cast their flickering light on the land of the Valley of Flames. Tourists and the patriarch of the People of Fire sat side by side at the altar, facing the rolling black mountains and dimly lit crescent moon in the distance.

Tilting his head in thought, he quietly moved behind the two of them, using himself as a large feathered cushion - and received a warm compliment from the patriarch.

"Xiaoye, aren't you curious what I'm just doing? Last year's tourists were all around me asking questions. ”

"It's a little curious though...... May I ask?"

"Of course, we don't have that many secrets. "If you hadn't been out for the other day, you'd have seen it a long time ago—I was feeling Niwa-sama's mood just now." ”

"Feel...... Mood?" the tourist's eyes widened.

"That's right. "You should have heard the hypothesis that emotion itself is a tremendous energy that is born from the depths of every life and can be stored, transformed, and have a substantial impact on our world. ”

"Although the second half of the hypothesis is still being studied, the first half has been confirmed – we have discovered materials that can store emotional energy. ”

Xiao Ye suddenly said, "You mean Gray Crystal?"

This ore, once known as the "Mind Crystal", usually has a translucent gray color, and only becomes crystal clear when it comes into contact with life, and this change is said to be related to the so-called "emotional energy". Of course, rather than "storing emotions", gray crystals are more well-known for their function as a material for computer chips.

Xiao Ye had seen the appearance of the gray crystal before it was processed in the Star Lake in the other place. She thought about it carefully, and suddenly realized, "Could it be that the Pillar of the Covenant was made of Gray Crystal?"

"Correct. The red-haired patriarch said with a smile.

According to the ancient texts of the Flame People, the Flame People made a pact with the god of Niwa thousands of years ago. The gods give power to the people, and the people give their devotion and devout faith to the gods. Their covenant was engraved on the Pillar of the Covenant and from then on connected the hearts of man and God. From then on, the protected Flame People will be able to communicate with the gods through the Pillars of the Covenant.

As he spoke, he tapped his finger at the obscure words on the surface of the Pillar of the Covenant. The inscription spread densely to the top of the stone pillar, and it was impossible to see it at night.

"It's just that no one has been able to fully decipher the Divine Word—oh, what you call the Uber hieroglyphs—and therefore no one knows what is written on the Pillar of the Covenant. The patriarch showed a pretended sad expression, "It can't all be the content of our agreement with Niwa-sama, whether it is an agreement or a labor contract." ”

Sayo: "......"

She's used to the flames always stirring it up with overly modern terms when the mood is right.

Jingye said this, and Xiao Ye understood the reason why Yongzhen mentioned before that "the only criterion for the selection of the patriarch is the strength of ability". The patriarch needs to take on the responsibility of communicating with the flame bird, and the pillar of the covenant can only be driven by those who have the ability to "control fire", so the strength of the ability may be the most critical talent?

After Saya tried to make this guess, Ye nodded in affirmation.

"You're right. …… Don't look at me like that, our selection system is not so unreliable for thousands of years. The young patriarch sat down next to Tabi again, revealing a pitiful look and looking more like a young man, "Actually, our previous abilities were much stronger than now, and we could create flames out of thin air like Pokémon, and it would have been easy for any clan to use the Pillar of the Covenant back then. ”

"Eh, why ...... now?"

Industry: "Everyone thinks that it is because they are addicted to mining to make money, and they use it to make money. ”

Sayo: "......"

Karma: "By the way, do you have a Pokémon that needs to use the Fire Stone to evolve? ”

Saya: "............"

I believe it, and that's definitely why you're squandering your abilities.

The tourist's bewildered expression finally made Ye couldn't help but laugh.

"Just kidding. We haven't figured out the reason for our weakened ability - the same gods, the Himi family is more addicted to business than us, and their abilities are still as strong as before. ”

As he spoke, the young patriarch stood up and looked at the secluded valley shrouded in moonlight.

In previous years, the Flame Valley in the middle of summer would not be so quiet. Tourists from all over the world crowd the square, and eager trainers challenge the inhabitants of the valley to stir the air with the sound of explosions and fires. Now, the only tourist sits quietly by the altar, "listening to the teachings", not at all looking like he thinks of this place as a tourist attraction.

He thought for a moment and said, "Xiaoye, do you want to fight against me?"

Before karma could explain what she meant, the girl had already taken the initiative to stand up, "Yes, I will show you my strength!"

"No, no, not a test. Ye waved his hand violently, only to feel that the seriousness of the tourist's attitude towards life and his people were simply two extremes, "Think of it as a night entertainment, or - eye contact is a signal of battle?"

Looking at the red-haired patriarch holding the Poké Ball and posing, Xiao Ye was silent for a while.

“…… Mr. Ye, this is a good time for you to shoot advertisements that encourage teenagers to go on trips. ”

At the edge of the square, there is a ring dedicated to sparring. Under the light of the torches, the Pokémon's feathers shimmered with orange-red dots, as if draped in a warm veil.

The patriarch, who was complained about being too "vibrant", simply broke the jar and broke it, copied and pasted the top ten common phrases of rookie trainers on the spot, and asked both sides to take out the strongest Pokémon to fight with all their might - of course, saying that, Xiao Ye believes that Mr. Ye will not be really sincere enough to go all out. It wasn't a fight, it was abuse.

"Please. The person on the other side smiled and put on a look of the owner's style.

As the trainer's command was issued, the golden bird soared into the air - as the only member who could control high-speed combat with ease, Dabi Bird was undoubtedly the strongest fighter in terms of overall strength at the moment.

"Shadow clone, Yan Hui. ”

In the dim light of the sky, the birds turned into tens, overlapping countless curved and twisted flight trajectories, and for a moment it seemed to create a light curtain woven of golden threads, which was dazzling.

The flaming chicken stared silently at the seemingly omnipresent enemy, and did not seem to panic at the approaching danger.

The trainer's boy-like voice sounded softly from behind.

"Double the payback. ”

When the words fell, there was a loud bang that shook people's eardrums.

The shadow clone's blinding method and Yan Hui's trajectory change seemed to be just a simple straight line in the flame chicken's eyes. The arm wrapped in orange light poked out like lightning, and Dabi was strangled by the neck and slammed to the ground, falling into a mess.

The impact then came from the back, and the Flame Chicken kicked it away, and the hot sparks were already gathering in its mouth.

"Flame Sputter!"

"There was a flash of lightning. ”

The Tabito sped up urgently at the nick of time, brushing shoulders with the scorching flames. Before it could regain its sense of direction, Sayo saw the Flame Chicken spew out two fireballs at very short intervals, and the second flame sputtered, colliding with the first fireball in the same trajectory.

The sound of the explosion was accompanied by a flash of light, melting the deep sky night into the heat. The halo overbearingly eroded everyone's vision, so when the rain of flames from the collision of the moves fell, Tabitori was caught unsuspectingly.

The duration of the flash is not long. After the light faded, Saya noticed that Dabitori's body was covered with scorch marks, and it seemed that he was suffering from the pain of burns.

The industry did not continue to give orders to give the young trainers time to regroup. But the person on the other side didn't seem to think at all, and ordered as soon as the flash ended, "Shadow clone." ”

Dabi Bird repeats the old trick. It's just that its seemingly realistic doppelganger still has flaws, and in the eyes of karma and flame chickens, the difference between the real body and the phantom is as obvious as black and white.

There is no doubt that the "rain of fire" just now is the nemesis of the phantom.

"Flame Splash ......"

"Parroting. ”

Xiao Ye's voice almost overlapped with the second half of karma's command, causing the patriarch to be stunned for a moment.

The flaming chicken's flame sputter has been emitted. Before it could spit out a second fireball, the exact same move had already flown from the opposite side, slamming into each other.

The sudden flash of light made the flame chicken subconsciously close its eyes, and the prepared attack was also missing. Kari covered his hands in front of him, squinting his eyes and barely looking at the field through his fingers, only to see countless fire feathers getting brighter and brighter in the gradually dissipating light. They fluttered and danced, and it was so dazzling that there were no two Pokémon to be found at one point.

"Tornado. ”

The golden bird had already reached the flame bird directly above it silently, and the feather dance was seamlessly connected to the tornado, and the powerful cyclone swirled the ignited feathers, building a wall of wind that enveloped the two Pokémon.

As a veteran trainer, the situation in front of him did not require complicated thinking, and karma gave instructions to deal with it almost without thinking—and the voice of the girl on the other side still followed, as if it was an unpredictable prophet.

"Flame Vortex—"

"Awaken power, lightning flashes!"

The flames rose from the soles of the flaming chicken's feet and swirled along the wind wall. And the big bird in the air was covered with thunder, and the current spread with the cyclone as the carrier, and for a time the thunder and fire were intertwined, and the flame chicken in the center of the fire tornado felt a strong sense of paralysis.

Despite the heat, the bird swooped down from top to bottom, hitting the flaming chicken's chest.

The wind wall is broken. Xiao Ye immediately motioned to Dabi Bird to distance himself, and looked at the appearance of the flame chicken and suddenly became puzzled.

This blow...... Is it too easy?

At the other end of the venue, the red-haired patriarch looked at the unique golden feathers of the Dabi bird in a bit of a daze, and a look of surprise gradually rose in his eyes.

Ten minutes later, the battle was over.

- The result is not necessarily the case. The difference in strength between the two sides is too great, and although Mr. Patriarch has politely kept his hand repeatedly, Xiao Ye and Dabi Bird are still completely defeated.

They didn't care about the outcome of the game, and felt that it was enough to leave a scar on the flaming chicken. Xiao Ye took the big bird back into the ball, and smiled and stretched out his hand to karma, "Thank you for your advice." ”

The young patriarch did not shake hands with her, but lowered his voice with a strange expression-

"Beidou?"

The sightseer's hand stiffened, and the Poké Ball of the Dabi Bird rolled to the ground with a tinkling of bells.

====================

Small Theatre:

Sayo: Stunned.

Tabinia: I'm dizzy.