Chapter 239: Poisonous Roots
"Huh?" Basalt's eyes went wide. "Lileep has a talent for the Poison type?"
In the real world, most of the Pokémon that could use poison effectively were Poison-types themselves. The exceptions were a few gifted Pokémon on the fringes, like Parasect, Houndoom, or Butterfree. It wasn't like the games, where tons of Pokémon could learn the move Toxic, making it a dime a dozen.
Basalt had never expected that his Lileep would have a talent in this area.
"That's right... I remember now. When Lileep was first revived, it already knew Gastro Acid and Acid." Basalt slapped his forehead in regret. The signs had been there all along; he just hadn't noticed them.
Lileep was a Pokémon that could wrap its prey in its eight tentacles and dissolve it with a powerful digestive fluid. That fluid naturally contained corrosive toxins. And as a predator, many Poison-type Pokémon were on Lileep's menu. If it didn't have the ability to absorb and resist toxins, how could it have survived?
"Bronzong, Excadrill, stay alert!"
Putting away the Antidote spray, Basalt quietly watched as Lileep fought against the poison.
Perhaps because of its immense life force, as time passed, the effects of the poison on Lileep began to lessen. However, as the toxicity faded, Basalt's sharp eyes noticed that the purple color of Lileep's body was growing deeper, as if the poison hadn't been neutralized but had instead been stored inside it.
"Nee-nee~"
After about ten minutes, Lileep finally opened its eyes, the same smile on its face.
Basalt raised an eyebrow and tentatively asked, "Lileep, the poison just now..."
"Nee-nee~" Lileep wobbled its head and shifted its body.
"It says it has absorbed the poison and stored it inside its body. If needed, it can use its roots to inject the poison while absorbing an opponent's stamina," the ever-present Bronzong translated. Its telepathic tone was strange as it continued, "But Lileep feels that the poison inside it is still too weak. To strengthen it, it needs to find a way to absorb toxins from other Pokémon. The stronger the poison, the better."
"Is that so?" Basalt rested his chin on his hand and nodded.
Bronzong's translation was already a sanitized version. Basalt figured what Lileep really meant was that it wanted to kill a few more Poison-type Pokémon and eat their poison sacs to cultivate its own poison.
This kind of thing was not uncommon in nature. Large poisonous creatures ate smaller poisonous creatures, just like big fish ate little fish. The goal was singular: to become stronger.
"In that case, let's hunt a few more Poison-types. We'll strengthen the poison in your body as much as possible."
Basalt nodded. If its roots became poisonous, Lileep would be even more terrifying. A single touch could lead to poisoning. Besides, the Pokémon here were all criminals anyway, so Basalt had no psychological burden in killing them. If he were in the outside world, he'd definitely feel a bit more squeamish.
They continued on. Basalt had his team take down a Primeape, finally bringing his hunt count to the required minimum of three.
The Primeape was quite strong, with both power and speed, and it was very agile. Objectively, it was a tough opponent. Unfortunately for it, it ran into Excadrill and Super Bell. In a two-on-one fight, it didn't last more than a few minutes. This was the trainer's advantage; with three Pokémon each, the candidates could easily outnumber their opponents.
"Nee-nee~"
As Basalt knelt to pick up the token, Lileep's tentacles swayed back and forth, carefully sensing the flow of energy in the air.
Before long, it seemed to have found something and turned its body to face southeast.
"Lileep says that not far in that direction, there seems to be a hidden Poison-type Pokémon. It can feel the faint toxins in the air," the Bronzong translator, always on the ball, reported.
"Then let's go check it out." Basalt nodded.
In terms of close-range perception, Bronzong and Excadrill were far superior to Lileep. But for long-range, vague sensing, Lileep was number one. Thanks to the Mega Venusaur's training, its perception and use of life energy were outstanding. Combined with its tentacles' natural ability to sense minute particles in the air and water, it was second to none.
"Ugh... what's that... horrible smell?!"
After following Lileep's directions for a while, Basalt suddenly smelled a foul stench in the air. It wasn't strong, but it was truly disgusting—the kind of nauseating odor that made you want to gag.
Lileep, however, got an excited look on its face when it smelled it. This was all rich, pure Poison-type energy. It loved it!
"Dro-lisk~"
Excadrill held up a claw, signaling it had found something.
Bronzong, on the other hand, had a look of embarrassment on its "face."
"This smell, this situation... could it be a Skuntank?"
Basalt pinched his nose, feeling like he was about to throw up. "Excadrill, flush it out! Lileep, you follow."
As for Bronzong, it stayed behind to protect him.
Vmmm!
Super Bell's psychic power flowed out, quickly forming an invisible membrane that blocked out all the smells from the outside.
As Excadrill rapidly approached, the Skuntank hiding in the bushes knew its cover was blown and immediately launched a counter-attack.
Skuntank was a large, purple Pokémon with creamy white stripes. It had a long plume of white fur on its head, and its massive tail was held over its back.
SPLAT!
A glob of blackish-purple, foul-smelling liquid shot out from the tip of the Skuntank's tail. It was propelled with such force that it could travel dozens of meters.
Whoosh!
Excadrill leaped into the air, easily dodging the attack.
Tsssss...
The foul liquid hit the ground and immediately began to hiss, sending up puffs of white smoke as it corroded the earth. At the same time, the nauseating stench instantly intensified.
Excadrill had dodged the liquid, but it couldn't dodge the smell. Its whole body shuddered in disgust. As fast as it had charged in, it now retreated.
This opponent... was not to be trifled with!
Lileep, on the other hand, only grew more excited as it sensed the stench.
Seeing this, Excadrill, Bronzong, and Basalt all exchanged a look, their mouths twitching. After today, it felt like Lileep was no longer the little cutie they once knew.
...
Somewhere in the secret realm.
A room was filled with monitors, each displaying the real-time situation of the candidates. Some were moving, some were battling, and others were setting up ambushes.
"Huh? How did that Basalt kid manage to run into a Skuntank?" an examiner watching the monitors asked in surprise.
"Basalt? Which screen? Let me see!"
Hearing this, the other off-duty examiners and rescue team members immediately gathered around.
Although each candidate was tailed by a Pro-level Pokémon as a bodyguard, making the probability of danger very small, the exam was still equipped with a dedicated rescue team of three Pro-level trainers just in case. If an accident occurred, they could pinpoint the location via the monitors and then use Teleport to arrive instantly.
After his identity was exposed, Basalt had naturally attracted more attention from the examiners.
"Is this going to be a one-on-one? Whoa! This Lileep's luck is insane! It triggered the all-stat boost from Ancient Power on the first try."
Watching the screen as Lileep formed an amber orb of energy, launched it, and then glowed with power, the people in the monitoring room all sighed in amazement.
But Lileep was also having a tough time. It was too slow. A Venoshock from the Skuntank shot towards it. Although it managed to form a large root shield in time, the Skuntank's poison was far more corrosive than the Venomoth's. The root shield was melting away at a visible rate.
Not only that, as the shield dissolved, a bit of the poison inevitably splattered onto Lileep's body. Even though it was just a drop, a dark purple color immediately spread across its skin.
Lileep was poisoned again!
"Lileep, hold on for a bit. Wait for the Skuntank to get closer."
Although Basalt wasn't helping directly, he had already formulated an attack strategy for Lileep.
A wild battle wasn't a competition. If the Skuntank was outmatched, it could simply run away. There was no shame in that. Lileep was too slow to give chase, and Bronzong and Excadrill couldn't stand the smell. The best solution was for Lileep to deal with the opponent itself.
But for that to happen, the Skuntank had to step into its root domain. They had to feign weakness.
It was all part of the strategy.
"Nee-nee~"
Lileep nodded, and its acting skills exploded. Its body began to look like it was being ravaged by the poison, its condition rapidly declining.
In reality, while it was indeed poisoned, and the Skuntank's toxin was quite potent, it was still within a manageable range. Besides, with its root domain established, the trap was already set. Now, all it needed was for the Skuntank to walk into it.
"Skun-tank!"
After taking a hit from Ancient Power, the Skuntank was also injured. But seeing its enemy afflicted by its poison, it couldn't help but look pleased. It was very confident in its toxins, which were far more potent than those of an average Poison-type. And from the looks of it, this opponent was a Grass-type?
"Skun-tank!"
With a strange cry, the Skuntank shot out another, even more foul-smelling ball of poison.
Splat!
The Sludge Bomb hit Lileep, and a dim light flashed across its body. At the same time, Lileep's aura became even weaker, and it swayed on its feet.
"That was Sludge Bomb," Basalt noted, his eyes narrowing. Sludge Bomb was a formidable Poison-type move that not only dealt considerable damage but also had a high chance of sharply lowering the target's Special Defense.
"Bronzong, be ready for a rescue," Basalt secretly commanded.
"Understood."
Bronzong began to activate Reverse Gravity, lightening its own weight, ready to act at a moment's notice.
But seeing that Excadrill and Bronzong were still seventy or eighty meters away, and that Lileep was severely injured, the Skuntank finally got bold. It began to approach Lileep with an arrogant swagger, a look of triumph on its face.
And the moment the Skuntank stepped into the root domain, Lileep exploded into action.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Countless roots shot out from the ground, instantly enveloping the Skuntank.
As a Poison-type, the dark purple parts of the Skuntank's body were toxic. The moment the roots touched it, they began to corrode.
But compared to pure venom, the toxins on its skin were much weaker. And since Lileep had a massive number of roots, even if one was corroded, more would just swarm in to replace it. They were endless.
In an instant, the tables had turned.
"Skun-tank!"
As the roots began to tighten, the Skuntank struggled frantically. But the more it struggled, the tighter the roots constricted.
After taking a full-power "strangling grip" at full health, a look of fear finally appeared on the Skuntank's face. It was filled with regret.
Having no other choice, the Skuntank began to spew poison onto its own body, trying to speed up the corrosion of the roots.
And it had to be said, the poison from its mouth and tail was extremely potent. The roots melted away like snow in boiling water.
"Lileep, Bulldoze!"
At this rate, Lileep's roots wouldn't last much longer. And once the Skuntank was on its guard, the roots wouldn't be as effective again. In that case, it was better to abandon the roots and use the opportunity to deal more damage, possibly finishing it off.
"Nee-nee~"
Lileep understood Basalt's intent. Ground-type energy erupted from it. With the roots as a conduit, its Ground-type energy didn't spread out in all directions but was focused directly on the Skuntank with minimal energy loss.
"Skun-tank!"
The Skuntank had just broken free of the roots when it was hit by the Bulldoze. The super-effective attack made its legs buckle, and it collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
But as a predator, Lileep showed no sympathy or mercy.
A blast of Brine later, and the Skuntank fainted.
"Gasp~ He uses the 'strangling grip' when the opponent is at full health, and Brine when they're below half. A perfectly executed plan."
"Before, when the news said Lileep was a predator from millions of years ago, I didn't believe it. But now, I do."
"Indeed. You can't judge a Pokémon by its appearance. This Lileep is ruthless."
In the monitoring room, watching Lileep easily defeat the Skuntank, the examiners were all filled with emotion. Although it hadn't evolved, Lileep's strength had earned everyone's approval.
Of course, Basalt and his team were unaware of all this.
"Nee-nee~"
With a slight wobble, Lileep's face was full of excitement, but it didn't immediately go to absorb the Skuntank.
This Skuntank's poison was extremely potent. If it recklessly absorbed it, it could lead to disaster. It had to be patient.
But before that, there was one last thing to do: kill the Skuntank to prevent it from waking up and escaping.
Thud!
A series of rock projectiles shot out, and the Skuntank's head was smashed. A fainted Pokémon couldn't channel its energy, so its defense was drastically reduced. This was one of the reasons why battles were immediately stopped once a Pokémon was unable to battle.
After killing the Skuntank, Lileep closed its eyes and focused all its internal energy on fighting the poison.
As for Basalt and his other two Pokémon, they stood guard, their attention focused.
After about fifteen minutes, Lileep finally got the poison under control. It looked up at the sky, its petals opening to absorb the light. Specks of light appeared on its body.
Photosynthesis!
Before long, Lileep was back to full health.
Then, it turned its attention to its big meal.
The roots appeared again, binding the Skuntank's corpse, but there were very few of them, and the absorption speed was very slow.
After about a minute of absorption, the Skuntank's body had shriveled slightly, and a purple glow appeared on Lileep's body again.
Lileep was poisoned yet again.
And after being poisoned, it had to resist the poison.
This time, it took about an hour to digest and store the poison.
Then, Lileep continued to absorb the Skuntank.
The second time, it absorbed for three minutes, got poisoned again, and took two hours to resist the poison.
The third time, it absorbed for five minutes, was poisoned yet again, and took three hours to resist.
By now, the sky was slowly getting dark. During this time, an unlucky Zangoose had wandered right into the line of fire, and Basalt had unceremoniously taken it down.
On the fourth attempt, Lileep finally finished absorbing the entire Skuntank.
And this time, it was not poisoned.
Clearly, its poison resistance had reached an extremely high level in a short amount of time.
But as a price, the color of its body had become even deeper, as if it were a completely different Pokémon.
"Lileep, how do you feel?"
Basalt was about to pat Lileep's head, but considering the change in its body, he stopped himself.
But Lileep took the initiative and touched Basalt with a tentacle. Nothing happened.
Basalt rubbed his chin and muttered, "Looks like the poison has been absorbed internally and isn't showing on the surface."
"Nee-nee~"
Lileep playfully wobbled its head, then extended a root and wrapped it around a nearby tree.
Tssss...
As the root tightened slightly, a puff of white smoke rose from the tree.
"The roots are definitely poisonous now!"
Basalt was overjoyed.
But although it had absorbed an entire Skuntank, the poison on Lileep's roots was nowhere near as potent as the Skuntank's, not to mention its corrosive efficiency. The Skuntank could easily dissolve Lileep's roots, but Lileep couldn't easily dissolve an ordinary tree. The difference was obvious.
He took out his Pokédex and scanned Lileep. No new moves had been added to its list.
"As I thought. This level of poison isn't enough to become the move Toxic," Basalt sighed, a little disappointed.
At the end of the day, Lileep wasn't a Poison-type Pokémon. Its perception and control of Poison-type energy were definitely far inferior to a true Poison-type.
But that wasn't to say there was no way to fix it.
"Looks like after I get out of here, I'll have to find a way to buy Lileep some high-quality Poison-type gems and enhancement items."
Basalt raised an eyebrow, mentally calculating. This was going to be another big expense. As his Pokémon continued to grow, his wallet was shrinking at an alarming rate.
He had started with over thirty million. After buying supplements for Lileep, he'd probably only have just over twenty million left. And that wasn't even counting the future diamond diet for little Larvitar.
"Every one of them is a money-devouring beast," Basalt thought, a sudden ache in his wallet.
With that business concluded, and the sky growing dark, Basalt quickly led his team away, planning to find a place to shelter for the night.
At night, a trainer's effectiveness was greatly reduced. So the best solution was to find a place to lie low for the night and try not to attract the attention of wild Pokémon.
Whatever needed to be done could wait until morning.
After searching for a while, Basalt couldn't find any good shelter. So, he came to a cliff face and pointed at the rock wall. "Excadrill, dig us a cave."
If there's no cave, make one. Self-reliance is the best policy.
Before long, a brand-new cave was born. It was large on the inside with a small entrance, making it easy to defend.
Then, as was their custom, Excadrill created a quicksand pit near the entrance, and Lileep created a root domain on the inner side of the pit, for double protection.
As for aerial defense, that was left to Bronzong.
"Excadrill, block the entrance," Basalt waved his hand.
With his survival experience from the mining realm, he was well-practiced in this.
But just then, something unexpected happened.
A loud thudding of running footsteps echoed through the area. A woman slightly older than Basalt was riding on the back of a Dodrio, urging it to run for its life.
And behind her, a large bird with a sharp beak and a big cat with a jewel on its forehead were in hot pursuit, occasionally launching attacks.
If it weren't for the Dodrio's incredible speed and agility, the woman would have kicked the bucket long ago.
"Looks like another candidate," Basalt scratched his head, but he had no intention of helping.
If you didn't have the ability to survive the exam, you deserved to be eliminated. It was better than getting killed in the real world, right?
Just then, the woman on the Dodrio also saw Basalt. She was overjoyed. "Basalt! I'm from Seaside County too! Help me!"
The rules allowed candidates to help each other. As long as the guardian Pokémon didn't interfere, it was fine.
"From my hometown? Sorry, not interested."
Basalt shook his head, pretending not to hear.
Seaside County was a big place with a population of over a million. If he had to treat every single one of them as a kinsman, he'd be busy for the rest of his life.
Although she hadn't gotten a positive response from Basalt, the woman still saw him as her last straw of hope.
If she could just lead her pursuers to Basalt, even if he stood by and did nothing, would the Persian and Fearow really not have any ideas?
And so, the woman ordered her Dodrio to make a sharp turn and begin running towards Basalt's cave.
Dragging others down with her to save herself.
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