"DRAAA!"
Just as the team was advancing quickly, a sudden roar erupted from ahead.
In the next instant, a ferocious and sinister-looking Drapion suddenly appeared before everyone, blocking their path.
And behind this Drapion, there followed a large number of Skorupi. Clearly, they had already discovered that an intruder had stepped into their territory.
"So, we've been discovered after all."
"But we've already come deep enough. Everyone, get ready for battle."
Aven immediately shouted out his command, and at once the Nidoking tribe charged straight ahead to engage.
Although this group did have a Drapion among them, its strength was not particularly impressive. The Nidoking tribe quickly brought the battle to an end.
The Nidoking leader didn't even need to make a move himself. A single Nidoking struck, defeated the Drapion on its own, and claimed victory with ease!
At the same time, Aven's Nidorino and Nidorina, each leading their own sub-groups, also rushed into the fight against the Skorupi. After a series of fierce clashes, they too emerged victorious one after another.
Of course, in the grand scope of things, this was nothing more than an insignificant skirmish in the war. With roars echoing continuously through the forest, more Drapion were already rushing toward the battlefield.
Sha-sha-sha—
From within the forest came a constant rustling sound.
A massive swarm of Skorupi poured in from all directions, surging toward the group to surround them completely.
"They're here. The real battle begins now."
Aven led the team toward a rocky cliff wall. With their backs against the stone wall, the humans found themselves surrounded on all sides, forced into the innermost position.
At the forefront, a lineup of Gloom and Weepinbell formed a toxic grass-type vanguard. They would serve as the team's long-range attackers, using Absorb and Vine Whip to suppress the enemy at a distance.
Meanwhile, Vileplume and Petilil had already activated Grassy Terrain together. With the green field flourishing beneath their feet, the grass-types standing on it were able to continuously draw upon its power, replenishing the battlefield with a steady stream of energy.
A verdant halo spread rapidly outward, covering the Nidoking tribe and the Skuntank tribe, enveloping them in a nourishing glow. These two would be the main forces in this battle.
"Empo!"
Empoleon now stood shoulder to shoulder with the Nidoking leader.
Compared to last time, when it had been forced to flee alongside Kale, this time Empoleon felt far more at ease.
Power surged through its body, its fighting spirit burned bright—this time, at last, it could unleash itself in battle without restraint!
"DRAAA—!"
From afar, the sound of ferocious roars drew nearer and nearer, until at last a large number of Drapion burst into view.
At their head was none other than the Drapion leader, one possessing quasi-king-level strength. Beside it were more than a dozen other Drapion, all of them at the advanced-level.
Among them, Aven even noticed two Drapion with their scorpion tails broken off. The cuts were clean and smooth—clearly, those tails had been severed by Empoleon's razor-sharp slashes in a past battle.
As the saying goes, enemies meeting face to face burn with hatred. The Drapion instantly spotted Empoleon standing at the front of the group. They roared furiously, scarlet light flashing in their eyes, consumed by rage.
"DRAAA!"
The Drapions howled loudly.
In the next instant, their mouths unleashed a storm of poisonous barbs.
Seeing this, the Nidoking tribe also countered with Poison Sting. A rain of purple projectiles clashed violently in midair, bursting with booming detonations!
Impetuous and hot-blooded, the Drapion wasted no time. The battle erupted in full force immediately, the two sides clashing together in a storm of fierce combat!
However, in terms of top-end strength, the Drapion clearly had the upper hand. While the Nidoking and Nidoqueen fought desperately against the Drapion elites, several more Drapion broke through and dove straight into the ranks of the Nidorino and Nidorina.
The Skorupi also displayed surprising combat ability. Especially in terms of offense and defense, they far surpassed the Nidoran males and females, suppressing them heavily.
Only when Skorupi faced Nidorinos or Nidorinas did they fall into a disadvantage, repeatedly being knocked flying by their evolved counterparts.
But Skorupi were the Drapion's base form, while Nidorino and Nidorina were second-stage evolutions. In sheer numbers, there was simply no comparison at all.
Thus, overall, the Drapion tribe still held a massive advantage in strength.
But just as the Drapion tribe began suppressing the Nidoking tribe, the Skuntank, Gloom, and Weepinbell tribes all joined the fray.
Thanks to the constant healing of Grassy Terrain, even when Nidoran were injured, they could quickly recover and dive back into battle once more!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Off in the distance, the clash between the Drapion leader and the Nidoking leader erupted into its own battle.
Since both were Poison-types, their poison-based attacks held little threat to each other.
In this situation, Drapion leader began channeling the dark-type energy within its body, while Nidoking called upon the power of ground-type energy. The two forces clashed violently, unleashing a storm of ferocious exchanges!
Fortunately, in recent times, Nidoking leader had undergone Aven's rigorous training. Without that, it truly would not have been a match for this Drapion leader—after all, Drapion seemed far closer to breaking through to king-level than Nidoking was.
Yet, during the course of battle, the Nidoking appeared to be doing something more. It was constantly honing and testing, striving to merge its poison-type energy together with its ground-type energy!
"EMPO! LEOON!"
On the other side, Empoleon fought like a warrior wielding a massive heavy sword.
Its blade-like flippers slashed mercilessly, sending an advanced-level Drapion flying with a single strike!
As the stalemate continued, Empoleon's full king-level power came into play. It became the greatest variable in this entire battle!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With another flurry of powerful blows, Empoleon sent Drapion after Drapion crashing into the earth.
Water sprayed wildly around its body as its speed suddenly surged. Lifting its wings high, it brought them down like heavy blades against its enemies.
Shraaak!
The sound of armor being cleaved apart rang out sharply.
One Drapion's raised tail was severed in an instant, forcing a pained scream from its mouth.
Empoleon showed no mercy. Another strike crashed down, venting all of its pent-up fury in an unstoppable torrent of slashes!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the endless barrage, the Drapion was blasted away again and again until it could no longer endure. At last, it collapsed heavily onto the ground, utterly spent and incapable of battle.
Seeing this, Aven quickly pulled out a Poké Ball from his hand and hurled it at the fallen Drapion.
A flash of crimson light engulfed the beast, transforming its body into red energy and drawing it into the ball. After rolling twice upon the ground, the ball clicked still.
The sudden sight left the rangers stunned. They stared in disbelief at the ball-like device lying on the ground that had sealed away such a terrifying creature.
Their minds momentarily short-circuited. None of them could quite imagine how such a massive Drapion could possibly be captured inside such a small ball-like device!
Even Kale, who had already witnessed it once before, still couldn't wrap his head around it. Could these strange balls truly possess some kind of special sealing power?
The next moment, however, their gazes shifted toward Aven—and they froze.
Blue light suddenly flared in Aven's eyes.
The Poké Ball lying on the ground abruptly lifted into the air, shot swiftly toward him, and landed steadily in his hand!
"A… special ability user?" Kale muttered, utterly dumbfounded, staring at the psychic waves radiating from Aven.
As the former lord of Marina City, he had naturally heard of the existence of such people. But even so, such individuals were incredibly rare across the entire world.
And now, before his very eyes, he was witnessing the power of a true special ability user. His new liege, Lord Aven, was one of them! And his special power seemed to be the use of fruit-like balls to seal Pokémon!
"Lord Aven…" the rangers murmured in shock, their mouths agape.
Aven met all their eyes calmly.
Since he had chosen to reveal the existence of Poké Balls, he had already prepared himself. He had never intended to keep it a secret forever.
After all, he now possessed formidable strength and the power to protect himself. He had no reason to fear others learning of Poké Balls' existence.
Moreover, he truly was now a psychic—a wielder of special energy. To a certain extent, that alone was explanation enough. He had no intention of elaborating further.
Finally, the rangers here were all his own people. Even if they saw this, they would keep the secret for him. In fact, these very rangers were also the first test subjects Aven intended to use in spreading the Poké Ball's use.
"Lord Aven is actually a psychic!" Kale said after a moment's hesitation.
Now, at last, he understood how Aven had grown so powerful in such a short time. A psychic could hardly be considered an ordinary person anymore.
He had even heard rumors that psychics often inherited their powers—that Aven might well be the heir of such a lineage, backed by a hidden force of psychics!
In a sense, weren't those black crystal-wielding sorcerers also inheritors of such powers? Besides using their crystal to control that guardian deity, they even wielded powers to corrupt and darken Pokémon.
Closing his eyes, Kale immediately recalled the sight of knights at the castle gates, their mounts shrouded in black miasma, their combat strength greatly enhanced by that eerie power.
"Yes, I am indeed a special ability user. There is no need to hide this fact from you," Aven said calmly.
The rangers froze for a moment, then exchanged glances. "Thank you for trusting us, Lord Aven. We swear that not a single word of today's events will ever be revealed!"
Aven smiled, nodding. Then he turned his gaze back toward the battlefield.
Having just defeated one advanced Drapion, Empoleon surged forward again, unleashing its power to take down opponent after opponent.
Aven carefully judged the strength of each defeated Drapion. With precise throws, his Poké Balls shot forth, each time capturing only those that had reached the advanced level.
As the number of advanced-level Drapion dwindled, the battle gradually tipped into a one-sided rout. Skorupi fell one after another, unable to resist.
"NIDOOO—!"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar split the air.
The Nidoking leader had unleashed Thrash, entering a state of berserk fury.
But with Petilil's Aromatherapy supporting him, he did not lose himself to confusion. Instead, he exploded with his full power all at once!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With another deafening crash, the frenzied Nidoking finally forced the Drapion leader into submission!
Its mouth glowed with a condensed beam of destructive light—Hyper Beam—and the devastating blast sent the Drapion flying!
Crash!
The Drapion slammed into a massive tree, shattering its trunk with a sharp crack before both crashed heavily to the ground.
"Now's the moment—go, Poké Ball!"
Aven swiftly hurled another ball.
A flash of red engulfed the Drapion leader, sucking it inside. The ball shook once, then twice, before falling still.
After a grueling struggle, the Nidoking leader, having fought with all its might, finally brought down its formidable foe and claimed ultimate victory!
"Huff… huff…"
When the fight was over, the Nidoking leader collapsed weakly to the ground.
Thanks to Aromatherapy, it had avoided confusion, but the exhaustion of battle weighed heavily on its body.
"Empo?"
Empoleon, having just struck down another Drapion, turned and glanced at the Nidoking leader in surprise. Even it was astonished by the explosive power Nidoking had displayed.
Perhaps, once they returned home, it might test itself in a duel against the Nidoking leader in that state. But now was not the time.
With the fall of the Drapion leader, the battle swiftly drew to a close. The remaining Skorupi and Drapion, seeing their leader vanish, froze in place.
When they failed to sense its presence any longer, fear gripped their hearts. Without hesitation, they turned and scattered, fleeing in every direction!
"The battle is over."
Aven now held five Poké Balls in his possession—one for the Drapion leader, and four more for other advanced-level Drapion.
It could be said that the strongest forces of the Drapion tribe were now sealed within his grasp. What remained was simply to complete the taming process.
Of course, the reclamation of the Drapion's territory was still far from finished. The rangers led the Nidoking tribe in encircling the area, preventing any remaining Drapion or Skorupi from escaping.
In addition, they would continue to explore deeper into the Drapion domain, searching for the true source of the purple poisonous mists.
This territory had existed for countless years. For it to constantly remain shrouded in toxic haze, and even produce a quasi-king Drapion and numerous advanced ones, there had to be something extraordinary hidden within!
(End of Chapter)