Chapter 9
Day 11, 7:23 PM – Hidden Lake, Cave Battle
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"Nincada, hold on a little longer! Maintain Harden!" Jayden's voice carried urgency as he encouraged his exhausted partner.
"Nin... nincada!" The Bug/Ground-type responded with determination despite its heavy breathing. Today's prolonged battle had pushed it to its absolute limits. Its carapace bore numerous scratches and dents from the Zubat swarm's coordinated attacks.
Yet despite the exhaustion, Nincada felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment. Fighting against the Zubat leader—an opponent clearly stronger than all the previous Zubat combined—ignited something primal within its warrior spirit.
Sensing Nincada's combative excitement despite the fatigue, Jayden's lips curved into a slight smile. This belligerent personality—this hunger for worthy challenges—was exactly what he needed in a partner.
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"Screeeee!" The Zubat leader screeched with fury and grief. This cursed human and his Bug-type had slaughtered its entire colony. It was now a commander without an army, a leader with no one to lead.
The Zubat leader, possessing intelligence far beyond ordinary wild Pokémon, could clearly sense that the malnourished human before it was physically weak and vulnerable.
The red fury in its narrow eyes gradually shifted to calculated predation. As the sun continued setting and darkness deepened, the Zubat felt increasingly energized. Night was its domain. Every passing minute made it stronger while its opponents grew weaker.
Its wings suddenly beat with explosive force, and a wisp of dark energy wrapped around its blood-stained mouth. Two vampiric fangs gleamed with cold, deadly light.
Dark-type move: Bite!
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Seeing that the Zubat leader had changed targets—now aiming directly at Jayden rather than Nincada—the exhausted Bug/Ground-type moved with desperate speed.
Using the last reserves of its stamina, Nincada positioned itself between Jayden and the incoming threat, its hardened carapace serving as a living shield.
The more dangerous the situation, the calmer Jayden became. Having faced death once before in his previous life, he had developed an absolutely tranquil mindset when confronting life-threatening situations.
His mind worked with crystal clarity, calculating possibilities, assessing risks, and formulating the optimal counter-strategy.
"Nincada, use Bug Bite! Intercept!"
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Nincada gathered its remaining Bug-type energy, its mandibles glowing with brilliant green light. It launched itself upward to meet the Zubat leader's descending Bite attack head-on.
"CRASH!"
The two Pokémon collided mid-air with tremendous force. Both attacks connected simultaneously—fangs against mandibles, Dark energy against Bug energy. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward.
After a moment of deadlock, both figures were thrown backward. Nincada crashed into the ground hard, its legs digging furrows in the earth. The Zubat leader spiraled through the air before stabilizing.
The exchange had been roughly even in terms of raw power.
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After a brief pause to recover, they engaged again. Nincada, having lost much of its earlier mobility due to exhaustion, couldn't move with the same explosive speed it had demonstrated earlier.
Even so, its ground-based agility still gave it a slight advantage in positioning. Every time the Zubat leader tried to circle around and attack Jayden directly, Nincada would intercept with desperate determination.
However, as night continued falling and darkness deepened, the Zubat leader became progressively more energetic and aggressive. Its nocturnal nature was fully activating.
Meanwhile, Nincada—who had been fighting continuously for nearly forty minutes—was gradually reaching complete exhaustion. Its breathing became labored. Its movements slowed perceptibly.
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Finally, after another brutal collision, Nincada couldn't rise quickly. It lay on the ground, legs trembling, trying desperately to stand.
The Zubat leader's wings were also quivering slightly from accumulated damage. It panted heavily, crimson eyes fixed on Jayden as if looking at a delicious meal. Fighting had consumed tremendous energy. Now exhausted and injured, it desperately needed fresh blood to replenish itself.
With a screech of predatory hunger, the Zubat charged at Jayden once more. Its fangs glowed with a sickly red light as it activated Absorb—a draining move that would steal health from its victim.
"Nin!" Seeing the incoming attack, Nincada tried to position itself defensively. Its legs pushed against the ground, but its body refused to respond properly.
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Its entire frame heaved with exhaustion. No matter how hard it tried, Nincada couldn't summon the strength to move. It felt as if its body no longer belonged to it—muscles locked, energy depleted, willpower the only thing keeping consciousness intact.
Feeling this powerlessness—this inability to protect its trainer when needed most—Nincada felt a surge of self-directed fury. As a Pokémon partner, failing to protect one's trainer was the greatest shame imaginable.
However, when Jayden saw the Zubat's chosen move, he revealed a strange, almost predatory smile. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for throughout the entire drawn-out battle!
"Nincada! One more time! Use Snatch!" Jayden's command cut through the night air with absolute authority.
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"NINCADA!" Hearing Jayden's desperate request, Nincada clenched what little will it had left. From somewhere deep within—perhaps from sheer determination, perhaps from the bond with Jayden—it found a final spark of energy.
Its legs, which had been completely unresponsive moments before, suddenly pushed against the earth. Nincada positioned itself directly in the Zubat's attack path, accepting the incoming Absorb strike.
The blood-red fangs sank into Nincada's hardened carapace. The Zubat leader felt momentary confusion, but immediately relaxed. Blood was blood, regardless of whose body it came from. Right now, it just needed sustenance.
Just as the Zubat began anticipating the rush of stolen vitality, something went terribly wrong.
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The expected sensation of draining life energy never came. Instead of flowing into the Zubat, energy began flowing out of it.
It was like anticipating ice cream on a scorching summer day—imagining the taste, the texture, the relief—only to bite into nothing. Worse than nothing: emptiness that drained rather than filled.
The Zubat leader was shocked to discover not only was it failing to recover, but its own strength was rapidly draining away through the connection.
Meanwhile, Nincada felt a sudden surge of warmth spreading from the bite wound throughout its entire body. Its exhausted frame—like a parched desert absorbing rain—frantically absorbed the stolen energy.
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Snatch was a Dark-type status move that could steal the beneficial effects of an opponent's recovery or stat-boosting techniques. In this case, Nincada had reversed the Absorb entirely, turning the Zubat's healing move into a self-drain that fed Nincada instead.
When the Zubat leader finally realized what had happened and tried to fly backward in panic, its wings staggered awkwardly. A profound sense of fatigue crashed over it like a physical weight.
Taking advantage of the Zubat leader's sudden weakness, Jayden immediately followed up:
"Nincada! Burrow underground and rest for ten seconds! Let the energy settle!"
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Nincada dove beneath the soft earth, disappearing from sight. The stolen vitality from Snatch was still circulating through its system, gradually restoring stamina and repairing minor injuries.
Underground, Nincada felt the earth's natural energy surrounding it—comforting, stabilizing, rejuvenating. As a Bug/Ground-type, being beneath the surface provided additional passive recovery.
After exactly ten seconds—timed precisely by CIPHER—Jayden gave the next command:
"Now! Emerge and use Scratch continuously! Finish it!"
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When the Zubat leader finally registered where its opponent had gone and began searching frantically, the ground beneath it suddenly erupted.
Nincada burst upward with restored energy, claws extended and glowing with white light. Before the Zubat could react, the first Scratch struck its vulnerable underbelly.
"Screee!"
The Zubat tried to gain altitude, but Nincada was relentless. It leaped again and again, each jump perfectly calculated. Each strike landed with surgical precision—wing joints, chest, throat, eyes.
More and more wounds appeared across the Zubat leader's body. It felt its strength draining rapidly with each inflicted injury, but there was nothing it could do. Exhaustion and accumulated damage had stolen its ability to fight back effectively.
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Under the continuous Scratch assault, Nincada finished off the Zubat leader in a brutal, decisive flurry of attacks.
The Flying/Poison-type let out one final, pitiful screech before crashing to the ground. It twitched once. Then went still.
"Nincada!" With a triumphant cry, Nincada felt a surge of power course through its body. Its carapace became slightly thicker and harder. Its legs grew more muscular. Its mandibles sharpened perceptibly.
In Jayden's perception—through CIPHER's real-time monitoring—Nincada had risen from Level 10 to Level 11. Although only a single level increase, he could feel the qualitative growth that came with it.
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[CIPHER NOTIFICATION: Nincada has leveled up to 11. Physical attributes increased by 7%. Energy capacity increased by 9%. New move potential detected: Dig can now be learned.]
In this realistic world, every level increase represented genuine physiological growth and development. It wasn't just arbitrary numbers—it was tangible improvement in strength, speed, durability, and energy reserves.
After celebrating its victory with an imposing battle cry, Nincada's body suddenly swayed. Its legs buckled. Exhaustion crashed over it like a tidal wave.
Jayden, with sharp eyes and quick reflexes, lunged forward and caught Nincada before it could collapse completely into the dirt. He cradled his partner carefully, feeling the Bug/Ground-type's labored breathing against his chest.
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This was the inevitable consequence of using Snatch combined with aggressive combat while already exhausted. The stolen energy had provided a temporary surge—enough to finish the battle—but now the body's natural limits were reasserting themselves.
Snatch didn't create energy from nothing; it merely redistributed it. And Nincada had pushed far beyond safe limits to secure victory.
"You did incredibly well," Jayden murmured softly, gently stroking Nincada's battered carapace. "Rest now. You've earned it."
Holding his exhausted partner securely, Jayden walked into the now-conquered cave under the bright moonlight filtering through the trees.
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Day 11, 8:15 PM – Inside the Cave
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Stepping carefully through the cave entrance, Jayden immediately noticed the familiar stench intensifying. His boots squelched unpleasantly as he stepped on the mud-like accumulated droppings that carpeted the cave floor.
Enduring the profound discomfort, he made his way deeper into the cave. Through the faint moonlight filtering through cracks in the ceiling, he could vaguely make out scratch marks on the walls—marks that clearly didn't match Zubat claws.
Combined with the excavation marks outside, it was obvious that the Zubat colony had merely been occupying someone else's former home. The original owner had either died or abandoned the cave long ago, allowing the Zubat to claim it.
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However, judging by the thick layers of accumulated droppings, the original owner must have left a very long time ago. These deposits couldn't have accumulated in just a few months—this represented years of Zubat occupation.
As expected, the cave extended about ten meters deep. At the very back, the ground gradually became dry and relatively clean. Moonlight shone through natural cracks in the stone ceiling, providing enough illumination that it wasn't completely dark.
Jayden found a large, flat stone in the cleanest section and sat down carefully, still cradling Nincada in his arms. They would have to make do here for the night. Tomorrow, he'd begin the process of thoroughly cleaning and fortifying this location into a proper base.
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After approximately fifteen minutes of rest, Nincada gradually recovered enough strength to move. It jumped down from Jayden's lap and gently rubbed its head against Jayden's hand—a gesture of affection and gratitude.
Feeling the warmth radiating from Jayden's calloused palm, Nincada felt deeply reassured. This was safety. This was home. Wherever Jayden was, that was where Nincada belonged.
Pokémon were sometimes beautifully simple in their loyalty. When paired with a trainer they genuinely loved and respected, they became the most faithful companions imaginable—unwavering through wind, rain, danger, or hardship.
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Jayden smiled and retrieved one of his precious Sitrus Blend Energy Cubes from his dimensional storage belt. "Here. Eat this and rest. Tomorrow we begin the real work: establishing our territory."
"Nincada!" The response was tired but content.
As Nincada consumed the energy cube and settled in for sleep, Jayden remained awake—keeping watch, planning improvements, and contemplating the path forward.
They had secured their first true victory. Their first real base. Tomorrow, the foundation for future strength would truly begin.
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End of Chapter 9
"Victory belongs not to the strongest, but to those who refuse to surrender even when defeat seems certain."