Buzz... buzz...!
The powerful buzzing wingbeats filled the air—the signature sound of Yanma flight.
The swarm surrounded Cherrim in the sky, forming a protective barrier.
Half of them immediately launched themselves toward the three attacking Pelipper, creating shockwaves with every beat of their wings.
"Is that... Jorah?"
"It's really Jorah! I'd recognize him anywhere—he brought the Yanma!"
"That's amazing! Jorah, you're incredible!"
Cheers erupted throughout the village as hope returned to their hearts.
"It really is Jorah…"
"Tch… that guy… Even with one leg gone, he still insists on running around."
Mado wiped his eyes discreetly and gave a small snort, pretending to scold.
Beside him, his Stunky smiled. Earlier, he'd been so worried about Jorah getting swept away by the flood.
"The Yanma swarm..."
"He must've gone to the Black Forest and convinced the Yanma to help!"
Aven, too, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the scene. His eyes showed admiration as he looked at Jorah.
He didn't know how Jorah had persuaded the wild Yanma to join them—but their timely arrival had made a huge difference.
"Perrr!" The Pelipper let out a low growl from their beaks.
Facing the Yanma swarm, the Pelipper quickly ascended back into the sky, disappearing once more into the thick clouds. Unable to stop Cherrim from summoning the sun, they could only focus all their efforts on activating their Drizzle abilities—this had become a direct battle of weather!
"Come on, Cherrim! You can do it!"
The villagers clenched their fists in unison, all eyes locked on the Cherrim floating in the sky.
Whoooosh—
The sky twisted with turbulent wind and clouds. Black clouds gathered again, desperately trying to close the gap in the sky and shut out the sun.
As the Pelipper pushed themselves to their limit, the clouds began to thicken once more.
"The rain can't hold for much longer."
"We have to take Fruitvale Village before the sun returns! Tell the Bibarel to launch an all-out attack!"
Paul spoke in a deep voice to his adjutant, ordering him to blow the horn of assault.
At this point, he could no longer afford to care about potential casualties among the Bibarel—victory had to be taken by force.
"Captain, what is that?"
Just then, a knight nearby cried out in alarm. Paul looked up instinctively—more Yanma were rising from below, and riding on their backs were several pink, flower-like figures.
"Cherubi! Those are Cherubi!"
"What are they doing? Don't tell me they can summon the sun too?!"
The villagers of Fruitvale cried out in shock. They were very familiar with the Cherubi, the Pokémon that produced their delicious berries.
"Cher… Cherrr!"
The Cherubi in the sky cried out continuously, and the next moment—they all began to glow with brilliant white light!
"They're evolving!"
Aven's expression grew solemn, tinged with surprise. Though those Cherubi had absorbed enough energy over time to meet the requirements for evolution, they'd lost much of their potential due to constant berry harvesting. By all logic, evolution should've been impossible.
Yet now, under some mysterious bond, they had broken free from their limitations and begun their metamorphosis!
As the white light faded, one by one, newly evolved Cherrim floated in the sky, all radiating soft white energy.
The glow gradually gathered and flowed upward—converging into the body of their leader, making her light shine even brighter!
"Cherrr!"
With a cry, Cherrim unleashed a roar of power. Suddenly, a blazing orb appeared in the sky—a ball of fire!
Under its radiance, the clouds rapidly dissolved, and the true sun behind them began to emerge.
Now, there were two blazing orbs in the sky, like twin suns shining their warm light across the battlefield!
"The clouds… they're disappearing!"
The knights of Marina City stared in shock at the two suns above them.
Then they looked toward Cherrim, floating proudly in the sky, their faces full of disbelief.
Those Cherubi—who they had dismissed as mere food—had transformed into terrifying magical beasts capable of summoning the sun? The shift was so sudden that they were left speechless.
"Lass…"
Up in the air, Froslass glanced back at Cherrim and let out a breath of frost. When she saw Cherrim under attack earlier, she had almost lost control and released her ghost-type energy.
Now, as the rain finally stopped and sunlight pierced the sky, she looked upward toward the Pelipper. Ice-type energy gathered around her hand—Blizzard fired out like a piercing beam!
Once again, a Pelipper retaliated with Hydro Pump, a thick jet of spiraling water shooting out to intercept the icy blast.
But this time, the water stream was clearly much weaker than before!
Boom!
The attacks collided midair. The Blizzard rapidly froze the water beam and began spreading toward the Pelipper!
With the end of the rainy weather, water-type moves had lost their power boost. In normal conditions, Pelipper were weaker than Froslass. As she went all out, the freezing storm advanced relentlessly.
Crack... crack...
The frost spread rapidly, creeping along the Pelipper's body!
Suddenly, it flared with power, shattering the ice from its feathers and flapping hard to ascend into the air.
But as Froslass raised her gaze again, the sunlight stung her eyes. The clouds above had mostly cleared, revealing around ten confused Pelipper flying aimlessly in the sky.
They were bewildered—the rainclouds they had formed had vanished, and even though they tried to gather rain energy, the scorching sunlight made it nearly impossible.
Looking up, they were stunned to see two suns in the sky. The intense light even stung their skin.
Meanwhile, the battle on the ground continued.
Under the strengthening sunlight, Glooms and Oddishs began to emit a faint green glow.
Without hesitation, they launched their Absorb moves—green beams of energy shot toward the nearby Bibarel, attempting to drain their strength.
The Bibarel instinctively tried to counter with Water Gun.
But as they opened their mouths—what came out wasn't a sharp blast of water, just a slow, weak stream.
The green energy beams met the pathetic water streams and pushed through effortlessly, enveloping the Bibarel.
Absorb took effect—the Bibarel's strength was drained and transferred to the Gloom and Oddish, healing their injuries.
"The counterattack has begun!"
Aven clenched his fist and gave the order for a full assault.
The battlefield's weather had officially changed from rain to harsh sunlight.
In sunny weather, fire-type moves gain increased power, while water-type moves are weakened.
This meant the Bibarel had not only lost the benefits of rain—they were now being weakened by the sun.
Under these conditions, the water-type Bibarel were completely at a disadvantage against the grass-type Gloom.
Even worse, with the rain gone, Gloom and Oddishs could now use their Three Powder Strategy again!
White, yellow and purple spores drifted through the battlefield like a deadly mist. The Bibarel began to fall one after another—the tide had turned into a full-blown collapse!
"We… lost."
In the distance, the knights of Marina City stared blankly at their fallen Bibarels, stunned.
No one had expected such a sudden reversal.
They had been preparing for victory—only to suffer a total defeat in the blink of an eye!
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!"
"Leave this place! Everyone, get out now!"
Paul's face was full of panic. Forcing himself to stay composed, he barked out the retreat order.
These were the elite forces of Marina City—he couldn't allow the Knight Corps to be wiped out here.
Whoever could escape, must escape. He just wanted to flee this battlefield that now filled him with dread.
Wooooooo—!
A heavy, urgent horn blared across the battlefield.
The Bibarel and Bidoof, already shaken, retreated like a receding tide.
In mere moments, the once chaotic battlefield had emptied.
Meow!
Shinx stood triumphantly atop a Torterra's shell.
With one final Thunder Shock, it knocked down a struggling Bidoof, then let out a proud cry.
They had won—they'd truly won!
"Lord Aven, should we give chase?"
Peter licked his dry lips in excitement as he watched the fleeing knights.
"Not yet. First, we need to treat the injured Pokémon. As long as there's breath left in them, we don't give up!"
Aven shook his head gently, looking at the battlefield strewn with wounded Pokémon.
Although Fruitvale Village had won the battle, they had paid a heavy price.
"Understood."
Peter's expression turned somber.
He looked toward the flooded grassland. A Stunky was floating on the surface, unmoving.
Without hesitation, Peter removed his leather armor and dove into the water, swimming toward the Stunky.
He reached it quickly, lifted it up, and after a quick inspection, let out a long breath of relief. It was only unconscious—thank goodness.
Creak…
Slowly, Stunky opened its eyes.
It looked up at Peter, who was holding it tightly. It let out a sigh of relief and closed its eyes again, falling into deep sleep.
"It's okay now. You're safe."
"I'm taking you home—back to our home."
Peter smiled gently and carried Stunky back toward the village.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Meanwhile, at the village entrance, more and more villagers were diving into the water, swimming out to rescue the injured Pokémon.
With the combined efforts of people and Pokémon, one by one, the wounded were brought back and gathered on a hillside near the village.
To the villagers, these Pokémon—who had protected their home—were no longer just companions. They were family.
(End of Chapter)