Chapter 12. Battle with Heracross
It was early in the morning.
"Kikō, you have to come back early today~"
Liz stood under the tree and waved goodbye to Ryū as he left.
"..."
Ryū didn't even want to look back, continuing forward with Suzume and Kikō. This 'Kikō' was a name Liz gave him based on his color, which left him speechless. It sounded even more like a pet's name than his own 'Kikō.'
"Raticate! Raticate!"
Just as Ryū was planning to take his team to try and gang up on an Arbok today, three Pokémon suddenly ran out of the nearby forest. It was a huge Raticate and his two little Rattata 'wives.' This couldn't help but make Ryū wonder if he hadn't been high-profile enough lately. Even this kind of trashy little group dared to come looking for trouble with his own.
"If you want to challenge my status, at least bring a hundred thousand Rattata with you, right?"
Ryū had no impression of this Raticate at all. Because his aesthetic was still that of a human, he was essentially 'face-blind' in the Pokémon world, and he couldn't remember if he had ever beaten this Raticate before.
"Raticate! (Boss, misunderstanding!)"
"Huh?"
Ryū flew in mid-air, looking down at this guy.
"Buzz~ (Ryū, this guy has been living near our territory.)"
Kikō, who was nearby, had a strong impression of this Raticate.
"Oh."
After hearing Kikō say that, Ryū immediately understood what was going on. It turned out this Raticate was a persistent resident who lived nearby, and even after being beaten several times, he didn't move. Instead, he cleverly used the protection of the Beedrill swarm to use Ingrain and start developing. See? This Raticate, who was all alone originally, has now found two little wives.
"What are you here for? Looking for a beating?"
Ryū looked at the Raticate with a strange expression. It couldn't be that he felt uncomfortable if he didn't get beaten for a day, like some kind of masochist, and actively came to seek a beating to give experience points, right?
"Raticate! (A big guy is walking over here!)"
The Raticate, acting as the boss, pointed in a direction and shouted anxiously.
"Huh?"
Ryū looked up in that direction. A Heracross that looked somewhat dopey was walking towards them. This Heracross was a full 3.5 meters tall! You should know that a Heracross in the Pokédex is only 1.5m, and even doubling that is only 3m. This wasn't because of a high level, but purely a natural talent in physical growth.
Because he had seen this Heracross before, it was originally one of the most powerful Pokémon living in the central area of this region. However, this Heracross couldn't beat Arbok, which proved its level wasn't very high. It just had a physique that made it prone to growing big. This kind of individual exists among humans, and of course, it also exists among the Heracross species.
Heracross use their two antennae to sense smells, gathering in the forest to find sweet tree sap and search for sweet honey. The fact that it was walking in this direction meant it smelled something sweet here.
"Forget it, I won't beat Arbok today. Let's fight this guy and see."
Ryū couldn't help but smile. He was now the bully in this forest, beating up other Pokémon everywhere to level up. Smart Pokémon, like Raticate, would realize that Ryū only beat them and didn't kill them, thus settling nearby and becoming protectors of the Beedrill swarm. Unintelligent Pokémon would run away dejectedly and sadly after being beaten, going to other places to continue facing the dangerous forest.
"Hera?"
Heracross looked at Ryū, who had suddenly blocked his path, and tilted his head in confusion. He didn't seem to intend to fight Ryū, so he moved a step to the side, seemingly intending to go around. But Ryū had no intention of letting him go just like that.
"Don't you guys interfere, I'll do it myself."
Ryū waved his hand, signaling Kikō and Suzume, who were preparing to charge, to retreat. He wanted to have a 1v1 battle with this Heracross, who was definitely above level 30. Ryū, who had a huge type advantage, felt that this fight was doable. His types were Bug and Poison. While Heracross was Bug and Fighting. Against Beedrill, Heracross's Bug-type moves had only half power, and Fighting-type moves had only a quarter power. On the other hand, while Ryū's Bug-type moves only had half damage, his Poison-type moves' damage wasn't reduced.
[Hone Claws]
[Focus Energy]
[Harden]
Ryū applied layers of buffs to himself while Heracross was still confused. Wild Pokémon rarely had the concept of buffing themselves in battle; only trainers would give such commands. And Ryū was his own trainer.
"Magical Beasts and Magical Beasts, are they going to fight?"
Liz, standing under a nearby tree, saw what was happening and watched the scene with sparkling eyes.
Pfft!!!
String Shot.
Ryū sprayed streams of silk from his mouth towards Heracross's feet, sticking them to the ground.
"Hera?"
The dopey Heracross hadn't yet reacted to the situation.
[Poison Sting]
Pew! Pew!
When several Poison Sting shots hit Heracross and made him feel pain, this Heracross finally understood that this Beedrill wanted to fight him. His expression changed, and he charged towards the Beedrill, intending to deliver a heavy blow to Ryū with the horn on his head. But because his feet had been stuck with Ryū's silk earlier, his movement speed wasn't fast due to the stickiness. Ryū flapped his wings and flew into the air, easily dodging.
"Hera!"
Heracross stomped his foot angrily. The shell on his back opened, and two wings appeared. He also flew into the air and charged towards Ryū again.
"That big bug can fly!!"
Liz, who was watching, couldn't help but cover her mouth. It was the first time she had seen such a large Bug-type Pokémon like Heracross, so she was very surprised. She could hardly imagine how much damage this kind of Pokémon could cause to crops if it got into the tribe's farmland.
[Pursuit]
Ryū's figure flashed. While Heracross was just starting to fly and hadn't picked up speed, he charged forward and used both hands to forcefully poke Heracross in the chest. Although this was a Dark-type move, the damage to the Fighting-type Heracross would be weakened. However, thanks to the unique effect of this move, it was also enhanced, resulting in decent damage overall.
Crack!
"Hera!!"
His twin stingers poked into the shell on Heracross's abdomen, hitting a vital spot and causing huge damage to Heracross. Heracross's most vulnerable spot was his abdomen, and the hardest part was his head, so attacking this area was more likely to hit a vital spot and cause a critical hit.
However, something unexpected happened to Ryū. Even after being critically hit, this Heracross endured the pain and reached out to grab Ryū's two stingers. The strength was so great that Ryū couldn't break free for a moment.
[Venoshock]
Helpless, Ryū could only spray a stream of venom at close range onto Heracross's face, causing huge damage again. But Heracross's counterattack followed closely. This guy actually held Ryū and spun around while rapidly falling towards the ground.
'Seismic Toss?!! One of this guy's parents is a Volbeat!'
Boom!!!
As soon as the thought appeared in Ryū's mind, he felt a huge impact on his head. The pain was so intense that he nearly coughed up blood. Heracross quickly got up, raised one hand high, and brought it down forcefully towards the fallen Ryū. The Fighting-type move, Brick Break!
[Fury Attack]
Unable to dodge in time, Ryū used his hands and the three stingers on his tail to quickly thrust forward in counterattack.
Snap!
Brick Break hit Ryū's head, making his head buzz and leaving him dazed. Then his eyes rolled up, and he fainted. But Heracross was also defeated by Ryū's Fury Attack, his eyes turning into circles as he fainted.