Chapter 9: Moving
It was another day of hard work, and by the time Ryū returned home with Suzume and Kikō, it was already evening. After eating a large amount of berries, they fell into a deep sleep. They woke up again during the night. Ryū felt eyes on him, so he woke up uneasily from his sleep. He looked around and finally focused his gaze on the large figure under the tree. A 3-meter-tall Poliwrath.
When Ryū first saw this guy, he felt a bit strange inside. After all, Poliwhirl needs a Water Stone to evolve into Poliwrath, and wild Pokémon don't know if their evolution has conditions, so they naturally won't specifically look for this item. Therefore, it's very rare to see a Poliwrath in the wild. It can only be said that this Poliwrath had some fortunate encounters.
'This guy is stronger than that Arbok,' Ryū could tell this just from the aura emanating from the other party. The sense of oppression Ryū felt during the day was more due to Arbok's Intimidate ability at work. But Poliwrath's was purely from his strong strength and higher level. Poliwrath just stood there with his arms crossed, and that kind of aura was not comparable to a newly promoted king like Arbok. He had obviously been in the position of boss for a long time, and a natural aura had already formed around him.
Poliwrath looked up and quietly watched Ryū in the tree. He didn't say anything, turned around, and left.
'He's telling us to leave, right?'
Although Poliwrath didn't speak, Ryū still understood his meaning. Perhaps he heard from Poliwhirl that Ryū had saved him before, so Poliwrath's attitude of "driving" them away was very gentle, almost like "asking" them to leave.
"It's almost time to leave when it gets light anyway. It's really a bit inconvenient to live here now," Ryū mumbled as he turned over. Fighting outside these days had been exhausting, and having to fly a long way back to the nest was really tiring. It would be better to move directly into Arbok's territory. Then they could choose a few trees as their territory and gradually fight their way out, and naturally, no foolish Pokémon would dare to come looking for trouble. Ryū estimated that with his current leveling speed, they should be able to reach the level of beating up Arbok within a week. By then, their Beedrill would be the new king of that small patch of land.
After thinking, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. He woke up again in the early morning. Ryū woke up the other four Beedrill.
"It's time for us to move."
"Buzz? (Why?)" Shiro tilted his head in confusion. He felt that the place they were currently living in was very good, with endless food and a very comfortable environment. Since that was the case, why should they leave?
"Well... we're going to grab other Pokémon's territory, live in more comfortable nests, and eat more delicious berries," Ryū thought for a moment before speaking. You can't say too complicated things to young Pokémon like this. They can't understand idioms like 'be prepared for danger in times of peace' or 'prepare for a rainy day.' There is no eternally safe environment. The Sandshrew next door is a typical example. And even if they don't deliberately level up, just eating every day, they will eventually reach level 20 and be driven away by Poliwrath.
"Buzz! (Okay! Let's move!)" Shiro's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded.
"Just take those berries. We can collect others later," Ryū pointed to the slightly rarer berries that could remove negative statuses. As for berries like Leppa Berry and Oran Berry, which are everywhere, there was no need to specifically move them. The five Beedrill each picked up a small pile of berries and flew towards Arbok's territory.
Moving is that easy for Pokémon. There's not much fuss; the only thing they care about are these berries, which aren't particularly important things either. If Ryū hadn't been too lazy to spend time looking for these rare berries again, he could have even taken the five Beedrill directly without bringing anything else.
Buzz buzz buzz~
Ryū was already very familiar with this road. Likewise, the Pokémon living on this road were also very familiar with Ryū's Beedrill. Now they don't even need to look up; just by hearing the sound of their wings vibrating, they know they should hide. Otherwise, they will be beaten up by that crazy person and his group.
Ryū flew forward, vibrating his wings so hard that he almost fanned Kikō and Suzume next to him into catching a cold. He was being so high-profile to let the residents of Arbok's territory know that they had arrived. They had been beating up Pokémon along the way these past few days, and many Pokémon had already remembered this sound. Hearing this sound again now would only make them want to run far away.
"We'll live here for now." Ryū finally chose a Weepinbell's territory. Because he found that the fruit trees nearby had an excellent harvest, with almost no missing fruits on the trees. It was clear that Weepinbell not only didn't eat these berries daily but also cherished and nurtured the growth of these fruit trees.
As for what Weepinbell ate daily... Of course, he couldn't eat dirt. Don't look at Weepinbell as a plant that appears harmless on the outside. But in reality, it's completely different. When Weepinbell is hungry, he will swallow everything that moves around him. Small Pokémon like Rattata and Caterpie can even be swallowed whole, and he will use the Acid secreted in his mouth to literally refine these Pokémon into food and devour them.
Under the gaze of Ryū's five Beedrill, Weepinbell unwillingly fled. He had been beaten up by Ryū alone before, and now there were five of them. He didn't want to get beaten up again.
"Alright, from today onwards, this area is our territory!" Ryū chose the largest tree nearby as the 'master bedroom.' The rest of the day was spent organizing their new home and greeting their neighbors. They found some soft leaves to lay a soft leaf bed on top of the tree trunk. Then they picked and collected the berries that had reached full maturity, placing them under a cool pile of leaves for temporary storage. Next, they carved cross markings on the large trees within their range to warn other Pokémon.
Finally, it was the greeting segment. There were many 'old faces' around who had already been beaten up by Ryū, and a few individual Pokémon also got to know them after being beaten. Now, the Pokémon in this surrounding area basically knew that a small group of Beedrill had arrived in Arbok's territory. But in reality, how could five Beedrill be considered a 'group'?
"Shiro, Chairo, I'm giving you two a task. From now on, when you see our weak fellow species, bring them back to our territory. We need to strengthen our team!" Ryū instructed the two Beedrill who were currently doing nothing but guarding the home all day. He would focus on both leveling up and expanding his territory from now on. He took Kikō and Suzume to continue battling everywhere, accumulating experience, increasing their levels, and speeding up their leveling. Meanwhile, Shiro and Chairo were responsible for finding some weak Weedle and Kakuna and bringing them back. They would protect these weak fellow species as they grew, thereby expanding the size of their team.