Chapter 73:
"Uh…"
Looking at the trembling Caterpie curled in his arms, Hayashi Kaede was still a little taken aback that it had dared to fire Electroweb directly at Pidgeot.
A Caterpie that defied expectations…
After letting Caterpie cover the two Spearow with a layer of sticky silk so they couldn't escape, Kaede recalled the bug back into its Poké Ball.
This little treasure is still best kept at home eating dumplings.
"Let's go — up into the sky. Take down that Fearow directly!"
He settled back atop Pidgeot and gave the order; there was no time for dithering.
"Bring it out."
There's a natural enmity between Pidgey and Spearow. In Spearow territory, the sight of any Pidgey clan will trigger an all-out attack from the local Spearow.
Those fights rarely end without someone seriously hurt.
So to find the Fearow was actually very simple — just let Pidgeot give a long call.
"Pidgeot!"
"Pidgeot~!"
Pidgeot's three or four thunderous calls rolled across the forest, rousing a chorus of bird calls and the cries of Pokémon hidden beneath the trees.
The nearby Spearow were the first to answer — roused from whatever they were doing, they shot up into the sky, eager to see who was calling.
But when they drew near and saw Pidgeot, they silently fell back to surround it, looking on with shock, fear, and disbelief.
Crimson feathers, razor-sharp eyes, a tail that flowed like fire…
Is that Pidgeot?
It doesn't look like the Pidgeot in our memories.
How did it get so huge?!
"Hiss… there are a lot of them."
Kaede froze as hundreds of Spearow joined the gathering.
Though he trusted Pidgeot's strength, the sight before him was larger than he'd expected.
He should have called out Gardevoir… the thought flashed through his head, but it faded quickly.
"Pidgey?"
"Pidgeot!"
Scattered Pidgey and Pidgeotto seemed to appear from nowhere, flocking behind Pidgeot.
If Pidgeot's first call had been a provocation to the Spearow, the second was a summons to its own clan still in the forest.
"Pidgey!" (We have a leader — we have a leader!)
"Pidgey!" (Follow the leader and fight! We must take back our territory today!)
"Pidgey!" (Spill blood for the future of our chicks!)
"Pidgey!" (…)
The days of being bullied, the pangs of hunger, the pain of being driven from home — all those grievances erupted within the Pidgey ranks.
Their eyes shone with a faith-like light as they looked at the Pidgeot in front. No matter where that Pidgey had come from before evolution, it now stood as their leader.
That faith made them willing to die to drive the Spearow out.
"Spearow…"
Although fewer in number at first, the presence of Pidgeot immediately shifted the momentum. Each step the Pidgey took forced the Spearow to retreat a little.
Until —
"Caw!"
A long-beaked, slender, brown-red Fearow stepped to the front of the Spearow flock, and their confidence steadied a little.
"So that's the Fearow?"
Pokémon: Fearow
Gender: Male
Ability: Keen Eye
Aptitude: Purple
IVs: HP (25), Attack (19), Sp. Atk (23), Defense (19), Sp. Def (18), Speed (24)
Level: 31–34
Moves: Fury Attack, Leer, Growl, Peck, Pursuit, Agility, U-turn …
Friendship: -20
Happiness: -20 (How can a Pidgey have evolved…)
After reading the panel, Kaede breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Caw?!"
Fearow was in a foul mood as it stared at the Pidgeot before it. When it caught sight of the human rider on Pidgeot's back, it immediately realized this Pidgeot must have evolved with human help.
So what?
Most of the Pidgetto that used to be here had already left. With so many Spearow behind it, Fearow reasoned it could hold Kaede off long enough — this territory would still be theirs.
But in the next instant, its pupils widened.
"Pidgeot, Quick Attack!!"
At Kaede's command, a crimson afterimage like lightning focused in Fearow's eyes, growing until it struck — slamming into its body and dragging it dozens of meters along the ground!
There was no chance to resist.
"Caw?"
The impact left Fearow stunned — as if it had been rammed by a powerful Onix. It hadn't even recovered when Pidgeot moved again.
Even at that speed, Pidgeot's talons found Fearow's wings with precision. The evolved Fearow, dwarfed beneath Pidgeot's massive frame, looked little larger than a big Rattata.
"Heat Wave!"
Kaede barked another command.
A blast of searing wind pressed down from Pidgeot's beating wings and washed over Fearow. At those temperatures, the feathers on its chest began to scorch; within moments, nearly half its chest was burned away.
By then Fearow had already fainted — its strength drained to the limit.
When Kaede eased his grip, Fearow's body plummeted like a kite with a broken string into the undergrowth.
Pidgeot didn't look back. It rose into the air, flames licking from its wings, eyes ice-cold as it let out another long call: "Pidgeot!"
Silence fell — a silence like death — across both the Pidgey and Spearow territories.
Hundreds of flying Pokémon hovered in the air, yet not a single one made a sound.
All of them stared, stunned, at the Pidgeot above — a true sovereign in the sky.
The entire clash between Pidgeot and Fearow had taken no more than ten seconds.
But in those ten seconds, they had witnessed a crushing display of dominance.
The Spearow had planned to harass Pidgeot with waves of support for Fearow.
The Pidgey were prepared to throw away their lives for their leader and their land.
Neither side had expected such an outcome…
At that moment, Hayashi Kaede spoke.