Rustle, rustle...
Walking through the forest at night was an incredibly foolish decision, but for Ace, Bellsprout's sudden disappearance left him with no choice but to take the risk.
"Where did Bellsprout go?"
Ace was a little anxious. Although it was a Pokémon he had only recently caught, Ace was unusually concerned.
Zubat rapidly flew over the treetops. With many trees in the forest, interference greatly increased.
Its Supersonic quickly spread in all directions. Using the reflections, Zubat found a few Bellsprout, but none of them carried a Soothe Bell.
Following the direction of the bell's chime he had heard earlier, Zubat strained with all its might to pursue Bellsprout.
Boom!
A muffled thud echoed through the forest. This time, not only Zubat heard it, but Ace also saw the firelight coming from not far away.
"Someone's in the forest late at night?"
Ace's heart tensed, and his running speed gradually slowed.
This was Giovanni's Pokémon-raising forest, after all. Ace instinctively thought he might encounter members of Team Rocket.
Zubat sensed Ace slowing down and, flapping its wings, landed on Ace's shoulder.
"Something's up, don't approach rashly," Ace instructed Zubat. "Sneak closer, don't get discovered."
With that, Ace began to slow his pace, stealthily approaching. As he got closer, he even crawled on his belly until he reached a bush. Ace then carefully peered through the bushes.
There stood a boy with long brown hair, eyes closed, in the center of the clearing. Beside him was a Charmander, also with its eyes closed.
Upon seeing the boy, Ace stood up and walked out openly.
"Charmander, Ember!"
The rustling sound of Ace moving through the bushes broke the silence. The boy's eyes snapped open, and Charmander also abruptly opened its eyes. With a flick of its tail, a ball of flame quickly shot out from its tail flame, precisely aimed at Ace's direction.
"Toxic!"
Zubat instantly shot out, two streams of venom heading towards the flame. The two attacks collided: the flame was extinguished by the venom, and the venom was evaporated by the flame.
"Oh, is that a trainer's Pokémon? I didn't mean to, I thought it was a wild Pokémon."
The boy looked at Ace, who had emerged from the bushes, and smiled faintly, offering not much of an apology.
"..."
Looking at the conceited guy before him, Ace immediately felt annoyed. While the boy's actions were technically correct, it didn't mean Ace could swallow his pride.
This annoyance reached its peak when Ace spotted Bellsprout nearby, covered in scorch marks, wrapping its vines around a Caterpie.
Ace said nothing, silently walking past the conceited boy and quickly heading to Bellsprout's side.
Bellsprout was covered in scorch marks, clearly burned by fire. Parts of its two leaf-like appendages were also singed.
Bellsprout was ultimately too fragile; otherwise, with its strength, it shouldn't have been defeated so easily.
After lying for so long, Bellsprout gradually opened its eyes when Ace helped it up.
Seeing Ace holding it, Bellsprout weakly raised a vine and offered the Caterpie to Ace.
The Caterpie was long dead, likely hunted by Bellsprout.
It had seen Ace only eat a piece of bread and half a bottle of water at night and felt a pang of sympathy. It had directly gone out to hunt a Caterpie, wanting to give Ace what it considered delicious food.
"Is that your Pokémon? A bit weak, isn't it? Defeated by one Ember from Charmander."
Watching Ace pick up Bellsprout, Gary Oak showed no trace of politeness, immediately rubbing salt in Ace's wound.
"Zubat, Supersonic!"
Ace's face turned cold. Unable to suppress his anger any longer, he directly ordered Zubat.
Zubat instantly understood Ace's mood. Without hesitation, it flew from Ace's shoulder, opening its mouth and sending an invisible Supersonic wave towards Gary and Charmander.
"Want to battle? Then let me see if you're strong enough."
Gary was confident in his and Charmander's strength.
As Supersonic approached, Charmander quickly dodged, then retreated a few steps. It opened its mouth and spat several Ember attacks towards Zubat.
"Get close!"
Zubat flapped its wings. Its well-trained explosive power was fully displayed at this moment. Facing the Ember attacks, Zubat dodged them all, moving quickly to close in on Charmander.
"Slash!"
As Zubat approached, Charmander showed no panic. It seemed that even in close combat, Charmander wasn't intimidated.
Its sharp claws slashed at Zubat. Zubat fiercely flapped its right wing, glided with its left, and spun instantly, quickly dodging Charmander's Slash while fiercely ramming into Charmander's abdomen.
Feeling the pain in its abdomen, Charmander was pushed back by Zubat's impact.
Seizing this opportunity, Zubat opened its mouth, its fangs coated with venom, and bit fiercely into Charmander's belly.
"Ow!"
Charmander cried out in pain. The venom rapidly injected into Charmander's body. Purple began to appear on Charmander's belly, then spread rapidly throughout its body.
"Poisoned?"
Gary frowned slightly. He was about to tell Charmander to counterattack when he saw a metallic sheen appear on Zubat's wings.
Like two slashes, its wings crossed and struck, directly sending Charmander flying. Zubat also quickly put distance between itself and Charmander.
Thump!
Charmander slammed hard into a tree, the intense impact causing leaves to fall.
Slowly falling to the ground, Charmander tried to struggle, but the invasion of the toxin made its vision blur. Feeling dizzy, Charmander fainted on the ground, incapacitated.
"Charmander!"
Seeing Charmander incapacitated, the conceited boy instantly lost his composure. He quickly rushed to Charmander, simultaneously pulling out a Potion and an Antidote from his pocket to begin treating Charmander's injuries.
"It's not that my Bellsprout is weak; it's just that you only did a sneak attack," Ace said, holding Bellsprout, as Zubat landed on his shoulder. "If we truly fought head-on, my Bellsprout could defeat your Charmander in at most four moves. You're pathetic!"
Having shown off, Ace turned to leave, secretly cursing himself for not keeping his temper in check and getting into a fight with this guy.
"Side Quest (I Am the Protagonist) completed. Quest evaluation: S. Reward: 2000 gold coins, fifty task points."
"Wait for me!"
The boy called out to Ace. "My name is Gary Oak! What's yours? The next time we meet, I definitely won't lose!"
"Ace."
Ace didn't look back, merely stating blandly, "We won't be meeting again."
With that, Ace, holding Bellsprout and accompanied by Zubat, gradually disappeared into the depths of the forest...
[email protected]/DaoistWujinzi