Chapter 129: Will, I Will Protect You!
After eating lunch, Will led Sprigatito on a stroll around the large mountain. In just ten minutes, he found the cave entrance, marked by a wooden sign. The sign itself was rotten and falling apart. Even if Will could read, he wouldn't have been able to make out what it said. It had probably been used as a teething post or a scratching board by some Pokémon.
"Meow..." Sprigatito looked at the dark, gloomy cave and was a little scared. She hesitated at the entrance, not daring to go in.
"Hm, it's a bit cold. I'll put a little coat on you. This way, the clothes Granny Sola gave me won't go to waste," Will said, feeling the air from the cave. The temperature inside was indeed quite low. He could handle it, but a Lv. 5 Sprigatito definitely couldn't. She had just gotten over a cold; he couldn't have her getting sick again.
Will put his backpack on the ground, dug around, and pulled out the small, white cotton coat Sola had packed for him. Now that he had evolved, there was no way he could fit into it.
"Come here, try this on," Will said, picking up Sprigatito and slipping the coat onto her.
"Meow~" She felt a little uncomfortable and struggled slightly.
"Hm, it's a bit big. Or rather, you're just too small," Will said, holding her up to look. The 0.3-meter-tall kitten was wearing a 0.4-meter-long coat. It looked like she had walked out of the house wearing her favorite blanket. But it couldn't be helped. He had been a large Treecko, and she was a small, female cat.
"Meow." Sprigatito gave a little shake. It was very warm.
"Then you can wear it," Will nodded. He took two macarons from his bag, giving one to her and eating the other himself.
After finishing the sweet, crisp treat, Will picked up Sprigatito and entered Union Cave.
It was pitch-black inside. Not only was there no light, but the ground was also uneven and difficult to walk on.
"Meow..." Sprigatito shrank into Will's arms and pointed up.
"Hm?" Will looked up. A few Zubat were hanging from the ceiling, sleeping. It was daytime, the time when Zubat hide in caves to sleep. As long as they walked straight past, they wouldn't attract their attention.
He stroked Sprigatito's little ears and continued deeper into the darkness. A Grovyle's leaves are very sensitive to the wind. By sensing the airflow, he could keenly detect which way led outside. Even when faced with forks in the path, he wouldn't get lost.
"Meow~"
In a place like this, Sprigatito didn't dare to cause trouble as she had outside. She curled into a ball in his arms and would occasionally peek up at Will, who was calmly navigating. She felt extremely safe and, before long, she was purring softly, fast asleep.
He didn't run into any humans in the cave. If there were any, he would have seen their lights—flashlights or mining helmets—immediately. As for Pokémon, there were quite a few, but they were all just Rattata, Sandshrew, Diglett, and Geodude. In the caves of Kanto and Johto, these five species were the most common. These low-level Pokémon all scurried away the moment they saw Will, having no desire to interact. He, in turn, didn't bother them and just continued on his way.
This mountain stood here all alone, as if it were born to seal away the Unown below. It was tall, but not very thick. After walking for just over an hour, Will emerged from the other side of Union Cave.
"Finally, not a forest," Will sighed, looking at the endless plain before him. He had spent so much time in forests in his past lives that he was sick of them. Although he was now a Grovyle and should prefer forests, his body might be happy, but his spirit was not. It was like an old bookworm who could lie at home for ten days, but couldn't stand not being able to read for even one.
The plains of this era were also different. In the Era of Primal Beasts, the wild grass was at least a meter high. The grass here barely came up to his ankle. Not only that, but there was a wide, flat dirt road, clearly made by the League's Ground-type Pokémon for travelers.
"Meow~"
The sunlight woke the dozing Sprigatito. She opened her eyes, still sleepy, until Will gave her a little shake, and she realized they were out of the cave.
"Meow-meow~"
This made her so happy that she immediately began to sing at the top of her lungs. Now that she was out of the scary, dark cave, her true personality was revealed.
"You're so energetic. In that case, you can walk yourself," Will said, putting her on the ground. He then began to jog forward.
"Meow-meow!" Sprigatito panicked, scrambling after him on her four short legs, trying desperately to keep up.
After they had been playing for a while, it was around two or three in the afternoon, when the sun was at its strongest. Will took the coat off Sprigatito so she could better absorb the sunlight. He then lay down on the grass by the side of the road, basking in the sun.
In the past, as a Dragonair, his skin would get dry and itchy if he was in the sun for too long. But now, as a Grovyle, it just felt comfortable. All the pores on his body seemed to open up, doing their best to photosynthesize.
"This kind of life... it really is nice," Will murmured. This was the daily life he had always dreamed of in his past two lives. Just lying on the grass, sunbathing, while Sprigatito played with her ball of yarn nearby.
The peaceful moment calmed his heart, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
"Meow-meow~"
Sprigatito was chasing her ball on her own when she rolled over and noticed the sleeping Will.
"Meow..."
She pushed the yarn ball away with her hind leg and, on her tiptoes, crept silently towards him.
"Meow!"
Suddenly, she decided she was close enough. She pounced, her two front paw pads landing squarely on Will's chest.
"Meow?" She thought that would surely wake him up, but it didn't. Will just lay there, snoring contentedly, a bit of drool even leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Sprigatito began to knead his chest with her front paws, her body giving off a faint, sweet aroma. This just made Will sleep even more soundly.
"Meow..." Sprigatito felt a little bored. She sat on his chest, unsure of what to do.
Rustle, rustle.
Just then, a sound came from the nearby grass. Sprigatito's ears twitched. Her pupils instantly became slits, and she turned to look.
"Rattata..."
Two Rattata were sneaking towards them. Their target was obvious: the backpack Will was hugging as he slept. But Sprigatito misinterpreted their intentions. She thought they were here to hurt Will.
"Hiiiisss!"
Sprigatito leaped from Will's chest to the grass, all her fur standing on end, and hissed at the two Rattata.
The two Rattata hesitated, but after a glance at each other, they saw that they had the numerical advantage, so they continued to sneak forward.
This time, Sprigatito was truly angry. She shook her tail. The two Rattata were mesmerized by the movement, their attention diverted, and their guard slightly lowered.
The next moment, two pink cherry blossoms appeared out of thin air on either side of Sprigatito and shot towards one of the Rattata.
"Rattata!"
The Rattata was hit in the head by the two petals and was instantly knocked unconscious. This was to be expected. The move Sprigatito had used was Petal Blizzard. It was a high-damage, low-cost, high-accuracy Grass-type physical group attack.
Very few Pokémon could learn Petal Blizzard just by leveling up, and even counting those who could learn it via TM, the number was not large. The Sprigatito line could not learn it by leveling; it had to be an inherited move. Sprigatito's stats were already geared towards physical attack, making Petal Blizzard a perfect inherited move for her.
And among the hundred-plus Grass-type Pokémon, the only one who could inherit this move was Sprigatito. Her luck was just that good. It was a pity Will was asleep and didn't see it.
At Lv. 5, Sprigatito could only summon two petals. If her level were higher, she could summon dozens or even hundreds at once for a massive area-of-effect attack.
"Rattata?!"
The other Rattata was shocked.
[Quick Attack].
It reacted and, without a second thought, charged at Sprigatito.
"Meow!"
Sprigatito had no battle experience. Faced with a Quick Attack, she didn't even know where to dodge and took the hit head-on. She was sent tumbling across the ground, her fur getting all dirty. In the past, she would have absolutely started bawling her eyes out, and wouldn't have stopped until Will had comforted her for three to five minutes.
But the Sprigatito of now didn't cry. She stood up, her focus entirely on the Rattata. She would absolutely not allow it to harm Will. Lost in the tension of the moment, she had even forgotten that with Will's strength, how could he possibly be hurt by two rookie Rattata?
Sprigatito dug her little claws into the ground. A Grass-type energy gathered, forming a leaf, which she shot at the Rattata. She was about to see if it would hit, but she suddenly remembered the image of Will fighting the Ariados. She charged forward, following right behind her own leaf.
The Rattata, not thinking that far ahead, was focused on the incoming leaf. It pounced to the side to dodge it. But before it could even feel proud of itself, Sprigatito's claws were upon it.
With a [Scratch], the second Rattata's eyes rolled back, and it too lost consciousness.
"Meow!"
The winner of the battle... was Sprigatito!