Bird Pokémon possessed robust wings, allowing for more endurance and higher speeds. Their feathers and tail glands also secreted oils, so they didn't have to fear their plumage becoming soaked even when flying through heavy rain.
With a dedicated scout, searching for targets, exploring locations, or even harvesting rare medicinal plants from cliffs would be much easier. Furthermore, Hisoka could mount a smart camera on a flying scout, allowing him to observe everything from a computer in a safe location.
In the Kanto region, only a few Pokémon could satisfy Hisoka's demands. Among them, his favorite was Pidgeot, the final evolution of Pidgey. It was powerful and could fly at altitudes of 1,000 meters.
Over long distances, it could reach impressive speeds, making it an almost perfect avian reconnaissance craft. It was said that researchers had even discovered Pidgeot in the wild capable of flying at a terrifying speed of Mach 2.
Hisoka believed such powerful individuals could exist because the disparity between individual Pokémon of the same species was often staggering. Some could rival Legendary Pokémon, while others were so weak that even a Raticate could bully them.
However, a speed of Mach 2 for long-distance flight was impossible. Hisoka was certain of that. What did Mach 2 even mean? 2,450 km/h! Flying at that speed over long distances was the realm of supersonic fighter jetsmonsters of steel.
A body of flesh and blood simply could not support that kind of power; the friction with the air alone would cause a Pidgeot's feathers to ignite. The "Mach 2 Pidgeot" the researchers spoke of likely referred to a high-speed dive during a hunt over a short distance.
...
THOOM!
Hisoka, who had been about to drift off, was suddenly startled by a vibration in the ground. Before he could react, another THOOM echoed, followed by the sound of trees snapping in the forest to the south. It seemed as though some massive beast was charging through the woods, heading straight for the beach.
"Wea! Weavile!"
Weavile leaped down from the coconut tree, pointing toward the south with a dead-serious expression.
"Weavile says she just saw a massive black monster with a horn on its nose coming this way from the top of the trees," Lulu translated via Teleport.
"A black monster with a horn on its nose?"
Hisoka didn't immediately recognize what it was. Regardless of the species, the sheer presence generated by its footsteps was enough to make him want to keep his distance.
"Time to go! Move!" Hisoka muttered.
He wasn't a reckless man. Knowing when to avoid danger was an essential quality for an excellent bounty hunter. Besides, this behemoth wasn't his mission target. Why stay and risk being the beast's dinner? If it was an herbivore, it might not be too aggressive.
If it was a carnivore, that was a massive problem. This beast had lived on this deserted island its whole life; it had likely never seen a human before and might find one to be a tasty snack.
Hisoka scooped up Lulu and bolted for the forest on the eastern side of the beach, with Weavile following close behind. About three minutes after they fled, a massive dinosaur-like creatureover four meters tall and covered in black, armor-like platingemerged onto the beach.
Just as Weavile had described, the giant dinosaur monster had a silver-white, conical horn on its nose. Its body was as black as ink, and its eyes were a glittering gold. A single glance was enough to send a chill down one's spine.
"Isn't that just a Rhydon?" Hisoka and Lulu hid in a large tree, using binoculars to secretly observe the titan on the beach.
True, the color and size were all wrong. But in terms of appearance, it was indeed a Rhydon that had been enlarged to twice its normal size. The average height of the Rhydon species was around two meters. Even an exceptional leadera Rhydon Kingwould rarely exceed two and a half meters.
But this pitch-black Rhydon? It was visually estimated at four meters, and its actual height might even exceed that number.
Was it a genetic mutation? Was this Rhydon just naturally gifted? Or was there some natural treasure on the island that this Rhydon had eaten to grow so large?
Innumerable theories flashed through Hisoka's mind. A Rhydon couldn't grow this large for no reason; it defied scientific logic. After a moment of thought, Hisoka felt that the "natural treasure" theory was the most likely. Nature often nurtured special treasures in this world. Most of the "Miracle Items" used by humans were formed from natural treasures processed by human technology.
Take the Mystic Water Hisoka had won on the S.S. Anne as an example. Its raw material was a pearl nurtured by a singular giant clam living thousands of meters deep in the ocean. The pearls produced by these clams resembled water droplets,
hence the name "Water Droplet Pearls." These giant clams were not considered Pokémon by scientists because they lacked intelligence and could only survive in the deep sea; the pressure imbalance of the shallows would kill them instantly.
The giant black Rhydon was immediately drawn to the food scraps Hisoka had left behind on the beach.
The behemoth stomped over to a beef bone lying in the sand. Crouching down, it picked up the bone with its three fingers and sniffed it. A strange fragrance it had never encountered before flooded its nose. In an instant, the Rhydon began to drool. It stuffed the bone into its mouthCRUNCH! It was an unparalleled delicacy, the likes of which it had never tasted in its entire life.
But there was too little! The Rhydon let out a disappointed roar; that tiny morsel wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth. Its mood souring, the beast swung its massive tail, slamming it against the beach several times.
This was merely a minor venting of emotion for the Rhydon, but with its size, every stomp made the ground tremble, let alone a tail slam.
Hisoka, who was watching with rapt attention, was nearly shaken off the tree by the beast's minor movement.
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