BMN Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3: Toward the Great Jura Forest

"Poni-un..."

Praised by Bai Luo, Ogerpon happily circled around him, jumping and skipping like an adorable little girl.

Ogerpon's curiosity about the new world was simply unstoppable.

There was no real danger, of course. This was the edge of the forest, near a human village, and Bai Luo lived nearby and knew the area well. What he was really concerned about was the little one's complete disregard for the dirt and grass clippings on the ground. In just a short while, Ogerpon had already gotten herself quite dirty.

"Poni~ Poni~ (Demon Lord, Demon Lord, Pon-Pon wants to be a Demon Lord)."

The little one had no idea what a Demon Lord actually was. But since Bai Luo said a Demon Lord was very powerful, it must be true.

"If Pon-Pon wants to become a Demon Lord, you first need to master your newly acquired powers."

Bai Luo felt they were far enough from the village. He found an open space and said, "Come on, use the skills you've mastered and get used to the changes in your body."

"Poni!"

Without any hesitation, Ogerpon immediately began her practice.

Ogerpon had the potential to grow into a Demon Lord. But that didn't mean every Pokémon had Ogerpon's potential. To be recognized by the Cardinal World and be granted magicules, they first had to be converted into a dependent by Bai Luo. And the upper limit of dependents Bai Luo could have was closely related to the strength of his Catcher unique skill.

Right now, Bai Luo could only contract with a maximum of three dependents. The scarcity of slots made Bai Luo hesitant to capture Pokémon lightly. It could be said that the poor little Ogerpon from Kitakami was the easiest-to-obtain Legendary Pokémon Bai Luo could think of.

To Bai Luo's understanding, only second-tier Legendaries, first-tier Legendaries, and Mythical Pokémon had the potential to grow to the level of a Demon Lord Seed.

"Every contract slot is incredibly precious."

It wasn't that Bai Luo hadn't thought about capturing more Pokémon. After all, even the weakest Pokémon, when brought to the Cardinal World, could be trained into a decent fighting force. Unfortunately, in Bai Luo's current situation, even if he had enough dependent slots, he didn't have the ability to protect weak Pokémon as they grew.

"I'll just have to wait until later to go back to the Pokémon world and capture a Gardevoir..."

Gardevoir was definitely one of Bai Luo's favorite Pokémon. Unfortunately, reality was cruel, and Bai Luo could only tearfully give up on his Psychic Queen.

"Poni!" "Poni, poni!"

Completely unaware that Bai Luo was already thinking about another Pokémon while she was right there, Ogerpon was swinging her Ivy Cudgel, unleashing all sorts of Pokémon moves.

Well, they couldn't be called Pokémon moves anymore. After the conversion of magicules and rules, all the Pokémon moves Ogerpon had mastered had been transformed into 'General Skills.' Because the moves were no longer simply released by the elemental energy within a Pokémon's body, but were now driven by magical power, they could also be seen as a type of special magic—Pokémon Magic.

"Pon-Pon feels so much stronger."

Ogerpon looked at the large tree she had broken with one swing of her club. She compared Kitakami and this place, saying, "My strength is several times greater, and my stamina has increased a lot, too."

"It's not as simple as just a few times stronger."

Bai Luo gently stroked the little one's head, explaining, "The physical laws of the two worlds are different."

"The Pokémon world is a low-magic chaotic world."

The Cardinal World was even higher than high-concentration, considered a super-concentration chaotic world. To his simplest calculation, for every level of concentration increase, an individual's performance would increase by one tier.

For example, right now, Ogerpon could shatter a large tree with one swing in the Cardinal World, earning a D-rank evaluation. In a high-concentration world, this attack would rise from D-rank to C-rank. If this were back in the Pokémon world, after Ogerpon returned, facing beings like Groudon or Rayquaza, she might only need to lift a hand to knock them out of the fight. 

"Pon-Pon doesn't understand, but it sounds amazing!"

Ogerpon had a look of awe despite her confusion. She wasn't very smart, but since Bai Luo said she had become stronger, it must be true. For the only good friend she had met in hundreds of years, now her family, Ogerpon, had absolute trust in Bai Luo.

"Get used to your new powers as soon as possible."

Bai Luo looked into the depths of the forest. "It'll probably be a long walk to find a suitable place to build our new home."

He had already decided to leave the human village and head to the Great Jura Forest to develop. With the abilities of Leader and Catcher, Bai Luo decided to follow Rimuru's path and turn this ownerless forest into his territory! 

"Pon-Pon is super strong."

Ogerpon raised her Ivy Cudgel and said happily, "Leave the work of building our new home to Pon-Pon!"

"Whoa~~"

Seeing Ogerpon's adorable, determined look, Bai Luo didn't wait for her to react and scooped her up from behind.

"There are many powerful magical beasts in the forest, you know."

"Pon-Pon isn't scared!"

Bai Luo lifted Ogerpon high. After the initial panic, the little one was now looking at the Great Jura Forest before them with curiosity.

Pon-Pon will protect Bai Luo!

Pokémon trainers, Pokémon, traveling, battling... these were things Ogerpon had only seen from the people who came to travel in Kitakami. And now, Pon-Pon had her trainer and was about to start her adventure!

"Rustle~ Rustle~"

With Ogerpon's protection, Bai Luo didn't have to worry about the threat of monsters. Just like that, Bai Luo left the village where he had grown up and entered the Great Jura Forest.

Along the way, the two encountered many magical beasts that exuded a dangerous aura. Fortunately, their strength was not high. Facing the B-rank Ogerpon, whose actual combat power was enough to take on an A-rank monster, almost none could withstand a single move.

These magical beasts all turned into experience points for Ogerpon, becoming nourishment for her to grow stronger as their magicules were absorbed.

"Thump, thump, thump!!"

Suddenly, as Bai Luo was exploring his way forward in the forest, he felt the ground beneath his feet tremble. "Something big is coming, Pon-Pon!"

"Poni?!"

Without needing Bai Luo to say more, Ogerpon had already summoned her Ivy Cudgel and stood protectively in front of him.

"Roar!!"

Soon, a dark figure nearly four meters tall, like a wall, appeared before the two. It was a black giant bear exuding a cruel aura. Its arms and legs were covered in hard bristles, and a faint black energy flowed over its body. A pair of blood-red eyes was now staring intently at Ogerpon and Bai Luo behind her.

Clearly, this creature was after them. Monsters in the forest mostly had extremely strong senses of smell and hearing. And two obvious targets like Bai Luo and Ogerpon simply couldn't escape a magical beast's perception.

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