Chapter 314: The Bullied Cacnea
Will and the two little ones.
In the eyes of the uncles and aunts in the market, they were no longer strangers among wild Pokémon.
Over a month ago.
When this trio first appeared in the market, everyone noticed them.
Later, the uncles and aunts would even greet Will and the others.
However.
Some trainers came from nearby towns specifically to camp them.
More precisely, to camp Will, the Riolu.
Thinking about catching him.
Few people came for Croagunk.
After all, although Croagunk had a comical appearance and high poison value, it was still a relatively popular Pokémon.
As for the pitiful Buizel, basically no one cared.
Because in the land of Sinnoh, Buizel was just a bit too common.
Moreover.
The Buizel line rarely appeared in various competitions, and when they did, they didn't achieve good results.
So the attraction was naturally lower, practically invisible.
However.
For Buizel itself, this was a good thing.
This child was timid.
Once there were too many people, it would hug Will's arm, daring not to battle others.
No one paying attention to it made it more relaxed and comfortable.
At this moment.
Will was sitting with the two little ones around the artificial battlefield in the center of Pal Park.
The artificial battlefield consisted of four standard-sized concrete battlefields.
The surroundings were completely unmodified, retaining the original grassland landscape.
People basically sat on the ground.
Some even pitched tents or had picnics nearby.
This place was simply a paradise for rookie trainers.
Many rookie trainers who had just caught Pokémon nearby would rush here immediately for their debut battle with their new partners.
Looking around.
There were at least forty or fifty boys and girls around ten years old.
Following them were basically immature Pokémon still in their first stage.
Whenever the purchase was complete.
Will would bring Croagunk and Buizel here.
Let them watch Pokémon battles in human society, join the fun, and kill time.
At the same time.
He would eavesdrop on the conversations of these humans.
See if anything interesting happened recently.
The surrounding noise was loud.
But Will could always find the conversation he was most interested in through Aura.
"Did you meet that Cynthia?"
One sentence.
Immediately attracted Will's attention.
'Oh? Has Cynthia already started traveling?'
Will grinned, waiting for the rest.
"Who is Cynthia?"
"You don't know?! I remember she seems quite famous recently, especially near Oreburgh City."
"Oreburgh City, isn't that quite close to here? I don't think I've heard of her."
"Oh, it's a girl with blond hair, and she has a black ribbon on her head."
"Ah! I remember! Her partners are Gabite, Milotic, and Budew, right?"
"Right!"
Hearing their conversation, Will's eyes lit up.
As expected of Cynthia.
Only looking for Pokémon that are hard to raise.
Gabite as a pseudo-legendary goes without saying; evolution waits until Lv. 48.
Will estimated she might evolve when this year's Sinnoh League starts.
Feebas too.
Needs Beauty to reach 170 or trade with a Prism Scale.
Logically speaking.
If it were anyone else, catching a Feebas just two months after debut and evolving it into Milotic...
Will would definitely think it was achieved quickly through the latter method.
But if it's Cynthia...
Will felt she inadvertently raised Feebas's Beauty, making Feebas confident, thus evolving.
And a Budew.
Also a little trouble.
Like Will, the evolution condition is abstract, requiring Friendship/Happiness to reach 220 (or 158 Friendship in later gens), an evolution condition with no way to self-check progress.
But for Cynthia who loves Pokémon so much.
It could only be considered a small trouble.
Maybe in a few days, hearing news of her again, Budew would have evolved into Roselia.
"That guy is really amazing; her Pokémon are all rare."
"Not only that, her strength grows very fast too. I battled her twice, with a month in between; the progress speed was simply exaggerated, like a monster!"
"Yes, I heard she has some huge ambition! For that ambition, she frantically wants to become stronger, often asking other trainers for advice!"
More and more people joined the conversation around.
But the rumors became more and more exaggerated.
Will didn't continue listening to the nonsense later.
He only knew.
Cynthia had accumulated quite a reputation among rookie trainers just two months after starting her journey.
And.
Three of the six members of her initial team had been found.
The remaining three were: Spiritomb, Gastrodon, and...
Lucario.
"Did I replace that Lucario, or... was I reborn as that Lucario..."
Will murmured, propping his chin with one hand.
"Bui?"
Buizel turned to look at him in confusion.
"Nothing."
Will shook his head.
He looked around boredly.
Suddenly.
He noticed something bad seemed to be happening in a corner of the market not far away.
"Let's go."
"Bui?"
Buizel was reluctant to leave.
"Something fun."
"Gunk!"
Croagunk hoisted Buizel onto his shoulder, looking at Will with shining eyes.
Will grinned, leading them toward the corner of the market.
On the other side.
In a dark corner of the market.
A Machop, a Stunky, and a Carnivine were ganging up on a Cacnea in the corner.
Cacnea.
This name might be unfamiliar.
Also called "Sabonea" (Japanese name), maybe that sounds more familiar (to some).
In the original work, James had a cute Cacnea who couldn't even open a bag of chips.
Oh.
The Carnivine bullying Cacnea, James also had one.
Their reason for bullying Cacnea was simple.
Jealous that Cacnea was more popular in the market, and also wanting to snatch the fruits of his day's labor.
There were many wild Pokémon in the market.
Like Cacnea, there were quite a few.
By helping the uncles and aunts in the market sell things, attract customers, and drive away troublemaking wild Pokémon, they received food rewards from the uncles and aunts.
Cacnea was like a "mascot" in the market.
He was hardworking, cute, and kind-hearted.
Most importantly, he didn't help the uncles and aunts for food at first, but simply felt they needed help.
So the uncles and aunts liked him very much and took care of him in the market.
Sometimes Cacnea didn't need to do anything.
Just passing through the market.
Walking out, his arms would be stuffed with snacks.
But precisely because of this special treatment, other wild Pokémon felt unbalanced.
These three little ones led by Machop were typical.
They were famous bullies in the market.
But humans didn't know.
On the surface, they occasionally helped and acted cute, pretending to be simple.
In reality, they would plunder and rob the food earned by other wild Pokémon's hard work.
It wasn't like this at the beginning.
Will remembered the first time he came to the market.
These three were still simple and honest Pokémon.
Helping the uncles and aunts diligently every day, even when sweating profusely in the evening, they had happy faces.
Don't know what they encountered in this month or so.
To become this personality now.
"Cacnea..."
Cacnea looked at the three bullies in front of him with a scared expression.
He put all the food in his arms on the ground, carefully holding his head and shrinking into the corner.
Cacnea's personality was too weak.
He had no consciousness of resisting at all, always passively taking beatings.
Like today.
The three bullies were obviously in a bad mood.
After taking the food, they didn't intend to leave but continued to surround Cacnea, seemingly ready to use force to bully him.
Just then.
"Croagunk, let them see what a real bully is."
Will's voice rang out from the side.
The next moment, a blue-purple figure squatted in front of Cacnea, staring fiercely at the Machop closest to him.
"Chop!"
Machop was startled, retreating several steps and falling to the ground.
He had never seen such a ferocious expression!!
Then.
Will led Buizel forward.
Croagunk and Buizel stood beside Will, looking coldly at the three Pokémon opposite.
Machop recovered, somewhat angry from embarrassment.
Leading his two minions forward with chest puffed out.
Wolf Mountain Three Bullies vs. Market Three Bullies!
Will looked down at Machop, a faint blue light shooting from his dark red pupils.
Cold sweat began to seep from Machop's forehead.
Gulp.
He swallowed, pulled his two minions back two steps, and left the food where it was.
They were afraid.
At the same time, thinking Will was another group coming to snatch food, they left the food behind.
"Heh, Croagunk, leave it to you."
Will grinned, waving his hand casually.
He could see the level of these three at a glance; not worth the Young Master of the Wolf Clan's personal action, just leave it to Croagunk.
"Gunk."
Croagunk puffed his poison sacs, revealing a comical grin.
Before long.
Sounds of punches hitting flesh rang out.
Cacnea hiding in the corner covered his head, looking at the miserable state of the three bullies with horror.
Two minutes later.
The Market Three Bullies knelt on the ground clutching their butts, eyes turning into swirls.
Recovering.
Cacnea found Will already standing in front of him, and hurriedly bowed and curled up.
"Hey."
"Cacnea?"
Hearing the voice, Cacnea looked up subconsciously.
He saw the blue figure pick up the food on the ground, place it in front of him, and then speak:
"Blind compromise will only make you lose all important things one by one. This time it's food, what next?"
"You have to learn to fight back."
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