Chapter 131: Crossing the Sea
An eight-strong Tentacool swarm is pretty small. Their levels probably aren't as high as mine, Will thought, analyzing the situation.
He didn't really want to fight in the water. His combat power would drop precipitously; he'd be lucky to have half his strength. At the same level, if they fought on land, he could probably take on all eight by himself. But underwater, he'd struggle just to fight three.
However, the eight Tentacool were obviously not going to leave the sea, so he had no choice. But it wasn't as if he was fighting alone. Judging by the Pichu's size, its level was probably similar to his own. And while its movepool was shallow, its one move was [Thunder Shock]. An Electric-type move would deal double damage to the Tentacool, which was pretty good.
But the real damage dealer would have to be him. A Tentacool's stats are all dumped into Special Defense, so even a super-effective Thunder Shock wouldn't be enough to take one out. As for its other five stats... aside from a decent Speed, the other four were pure garbage. Its Physical Defense, in particular, was laughably low. Will's moveset was almost entirely physical; he was their perfect professional counter.
"Wait for me to rescue Totodile first. When I do, you all attack them at once," Will said, tilting his head at the small Pokémon on the beach.
"Pichu!" The Pichu, despite being a girl, didn't have a mild temper. She had been wanting to fight for a while now. She had the same concern as Will: she couldn't win in the water, and the enemy wouldn't come ashore. Now that Will was taking the lead, all she had to do was follow the group.
Alright, the highest level one is only Lv. 15, and most are around Lv. 10, Will thought, glancing at the Totodile who was still tangling with the Tentacool. Thanks to the Totodile charging in to test their strength, he now had a good grasp of the swarm's power. They were not a threat. Even without Pichu and the others, he could have rescued the Totodile on his own.
With that thought, he used [Quick Attack] and leaped towards the swarm. The Tentacool, who were focused on the Totodile, suddenly felt the sky go dark, as if they were covered by a shadow. They instinctively looked up and were terrified by the sight of a 1.5-meter-tall green lizard descending from the sky.
[Razor Leaf].
Before hitting the water, Will plucked two leaves from his arms and shot them at the two lowest-level Tentacool. They had no time to react and were knocked out, floating on the surface of the sea.
[Slam].
Next, Will spun his body in mid-air, whipping his tail at the Tentacool that had the Totodile in its tentacles.
SMACK!
The sequence was flawless, and he splashed into the sea. In an instant, two of the eight Tentacool were out, and a third was dazed and spinning.
"Tota~" The Totodile was in very bad shape. A Tentacool's tentacles contain barbs that secrete a toxin, causing severe pain. It had already been injected with a lot of poison and would soon lose its ability to resist. This wasn't even a "move," but a racial trait that was far more effective in a real fight.
It was just like how Will's own fighting ability was enhanced in a forest. It was a species advantage. And unlike stats, moves, or types, the strength of a racial advantage depended entirely on personal experience.
The Totodile had been about to give up, but seeing reinforcements, its spirits lifted. It opened its mouth and used [Bite] on the Tentacool holding it. Another one down. The Totodile was free.
"Totodile!" it cheered, about to charge in again. But Will grabbed it by the neck and swam rapidly towards the shore. The Totodile was just running on a momentary burst of adrenaline; in another twenty or thirty seconds, it would have been floating belly-up.
[Extreme Speed].
The move that would have hurt him on land, in the sea, was cushioned by the water's resistance, greatly mitigating the negative side effects. Even though the water slowed him down, he was still a blur, easily leaving the pursuing Tentacool in his wake.
The moment he leaped out of the water with the Totodile, the attacks from Pichu and the others arrived, striking the remaining Tentacool. Even Sprigatito threw a leaf, managing to get in on the action.
Thump.
Will landed heavily on the sand, turned, and threw two more Razor Leaves, and the dispute was over. All eight Tentacool were now floating on the surface.
Pichu, Totodile, and the others cheered and danced in a circle around the Lapras.
"La-praas..."
Compared to the others, the Lapras was not as happy. She hadn't expected Will's "convincing" to be physical. She had already recognized her mistake, so wasn't it wrong to beat them up?
"Alright, stop wasting time. They'll just want to fight you again when they wake up. Let's get going," Will said, not bothering to overthink it. The Pokémon world should be simple. Being too intelligent wasn't always a good thing. The Tentacool would wake up, be angry for a bit, and then forget about it. But the Lapras would probably dwell on this for days.
"La-praas," the Lapras nodded. She had made a promise and wouldn't back out.
"Great." Will's face lit up. In his three lifetimes, this was his first time riding a Lapras. He had only ever seen it in the anime and had been incredibly envious. If he didn't ride a Lapras at least once, he couldn't in good conscience call himself a transmigrator.
To get to Cherrygrove City, they first had to help the Lapras get back into the sea. This was a simple task. Lapras wasn't completely immobile on land and could be pushed back into the water with a little help.
"Let's go, Sprigatito."
"Meow~"
Sprigatito took a light hop and landed on Lapras's back. Its shell was hard and uneven, but this texture actually helped the creatures on its back stay stable and not fall off.
"La-praas," the Lapras said, turning back to thank Pichu and the others before leaving. If not for their help, she didn't know how long she would have been trapped on that beach, being yelled at and feeling miserable. The newborn Lapras had been on the verge of a breakdown.
"Pi~"
"Wani~"
Pichu and Totodile waved goodbye from the shore. To them, it was just a small thing. They probably didn't even realize they were "helping." People in this era often gathered because of an incident and then scattered just as quickly when it was over. It was a common occurrence.
Lapras set off with Will and Sprigatito, heading in the direction he pointed. Her speed wasn't fast, but it was incredibly steady. Sitting on her back, Will felt almost no discomfort; the rising and falling of the ocean waves seemed to have no effect on her. This was likely her own species' advantage.
"Meow~" Sprigatito, bored on the open sea, began to sing again.
"You like singing so much, you want to be a singer when you grow up?" Will asked, poking her cheek, which made her try to bite him.
"Meow!" She puffed out her chest proudly. She was a natural-born singer.
"Haha. Lapras, you're pretty good at singing, right? Show her what a real genius sounds like," Will said, patting the Lapras's neck.
Lapras was a natural musician of the sea. They were born with beautiful singing voices; even their normal speech was pleasant to the ear.
However, in the past, because the Lapras species was so kind-hearted, rarely participated in conflicts, and was the perfect mode of sea transport, they were hunted in large numbers, bringing them to the brink of extinction. Now, in the early League Era, with the oceans only recently cleared of criminals, this was likely the period when the Lapras population was at its lowest. In this era, a Lapras was probably even rarer than a pseudo-legendary.
But Will wasn't worried about them going extinct. In another ten or twenty years, the world would enter a stable state, and the League would begin to designate nature preserves and protect rare Pokémon. Two hundred years after that, the protected Lapras would be so numerous that they would become a bit of a problem, with reports of their overpopulation reducing the fish stocks in some areas.
"La-praa-aas~"
Hearing Will's request, the Lapras happily began to sing. Her species loved nothing more.
"Bravo, bravo!"
Clap, clap, clap.
Will applauded wildly, as if he had just heard the most divine music in the world. In reality, it was just okay. It was pleasant, but not so amazing as to warrant such an exaggerated reaction. It was better than Sprigatito's singing, but not by much. After all, how good could a newborn Lapras be at singing?
He was doing it purely to annoy Sprigatito.
"Meow!"
Sprigatito, naturally, couldn't see through his clumsy performance. She was instantly furious, and also a little dejected, thinking that Will really liked the Lapras's singing that much more than hers.
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