Chapter 72:
Inside Aogiri Forest.
Two Pidgey flew cautiously beneath the tree canopy, heads low. When they spotted a fruit tree ahead with no Spearow guarding it, their eyes brightened.
"Pidgey?"
They crept forward, quickly snatched two fruits with their beaks, swallowed them, then grabbed two more and prepared to leave.
Although everything had gone smoothly, the two Pidgey felt like thieves — and when they looked back, they felt angry.
This territory had been theirs once.
"Pidgey…" (If only that older brother/sister could evolve already.)
"Pidgey…" (It's too hard. The stronger brothers and sisters have already left… maybe next migration we should go too?)
"Pidgey…" (Sigh… migration will be so difficult…)
With a little more food in their bellies, the two Pidgey chatted for a while and then flew away from the area.
Not long after, two Spearow flapped in toward the previously empty fruit tree. From the looks on their faces, they seemed excited.
"Spearow?" (What did Boss call us for?)
"Spearow~" (Boss said we're going to grab more food in the next few days. That Happy Valley over there looks like it's about to ripen, and there's a huge orchard… )
"Spearow?" (Really?)
"Spearow~" (Yes. One Spearow told Boss the fruits there are big and fragrant — they'll be delicious. There's only one Pidgeotto guarding the tree and a big snake in the water. If we take out that snake, we'll—)
The two Spearow chattered excitedly, already picturing a bright future. Even the sun seemed a little redder — and the air a touch hotter.
But when they looked up, that redness wasn't the sun at all.
A massive Pidgeot — its wingspan easily three to four meters — blocked the gaps between the trees, casting a solid shadow. Its Keen Eye glinted like a blade, piercing and painful to the sight.
Under the sunlight, a human silhouette could be seen riding the Pidgeot.
One Spearow blinked in disbelief. "Spearow?" (I think I see a Pidgeot… is that Pidgeot?)
The other Spearow thrashed its wings in panic. "Spearow?!" (That's Pidgeot — run!)
"Pidgeot!!"
Before the two Spearow could even get airborne, a thunderous cry dropped on them with overwhelming pressure. Pidgeot dived and, in an instant, clamped the two stunned Spearow beneath its talons.
"Well, well… I just brought Pidgeot here and you lot are already plotting against my orchard?"
Hayashi Kaede leapt from Pidgeot and looked down at the two Spearow trapped beneath its claws, thinking about the earlier chatter he'd overheard.
He felt a strange annoyance. "Boss" clearly referred to a Spearow that had evolved into Fearow, and the Spearow that reported about the orchard must have been the one he'd caught in the Plantation. Only that one would know there was a Milotic in the Plantation.
No sooner had it been released than it was already plotting about his orchard and the Happy Valley. Greedy little things.
"Pidgeot."
Pidgeot descended slowly. Its gaze was cold and forbidding; the tighter its grip, the more the two Spearow cried out in pain.
Kaede ruffled Pidgeot's wing. "Hold them for now. Getting your territory back is the important thing."
Then he pulled out a Poké Ball. "Come out, Caterpie."
"Caterpie?"
A flash of red light, and a yellow Caterpie tumbled out. Seeing the two Spearow and the enormous Pidgeot, it shrank back and, with all the caution of a young bug, crawled toward Kaede.
Although Caterpie knew the big Pidgeot wouldn't hurt it, its insect nature made it instinctively afraid of birds — and this Pidgeot now wore flames on its feathers, which made things worse.
"Use Electroweb — trap those two Spearow."
"Caterpie?"
What did the Trainer just say? How could my Electroweb possibly hold Spearow?
Still, Caterpie tried. It summoned a web of crackling electric light. The mesh formed and, the moment Pidgeot loosened its grip even slightly, the Electroweb fell over the two Spearow.
Next moment, no matter how hard they struggled, the Spearow couldn't break free from the web.
"Caterpie?" (Is it really trapped?)
Caterpie's big, dark eyes stared, dazed. It still remembered the morning Kaede patted its head and it learned that move — but it hadn't thought much of it. Now, seeing a skill that could actually restrain a flying bird, it felt its future brighten.
If this can keep me from being eaten… then I'll be fine.
Kaede watched and murmured to himself, thinking the situation through.
"Looks like I was right… Miltank's milk output went up four or five times after she ate the green dumpling, and her milk quality rose from C to B, with signs of further improvement — a sign that her energy is overflowing and being vented as milk. Similarly, when Servine ate a green dumpling, its Grassy Terrain got bigger every day and its growth-buff on plants got stronger — another sign of energy being vented. But Caterpie is different. In the first stage it needs to accumulate energy and wait to evolve into Metapod. The energy from the green dumpling can't be vented, so it amplifies its own skill strength. That's why its silk and Electroweb toughness… are ridiculously strong."
Seeing that, Kaede couldn't help but feel a shiver of anticipation. If Caterpie accumulates energy like this, when it evolves into Butterfree, the powder it carries — and the negative effects that powder can cause — will be terrifyingly powerful.
Remember: in Kaede's Scan Eye, those two Spearow had energy levels above level 15.
And yet this Caterpie was only level 7–9.
"Caterpie~"
Caterpie aimed another Electroweb at the enormous Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot?"
Feeling a tingling numbness on its foot where the Electroweb touched, Pidgeot paused, then with a casual shake it ripped the web free — mud and sticky webbing clinging together as it flung them aside.
It looked at Caterpie with bewilderment, as if to ask, "What are you doing?"