A two-meter-long giant snake crawled out of the bushes.
Its whole body was purple, with a single yellow ring-pattern band near its head.
The tip of its tail looked like beads strung together.
With a single shake, it made a crisp sound like a tiny bell.
Ekans!!
Shiko recognized the serpentine Pokémon at a glance.
A highly venomous Pokémon with a violent, savage temperament.
Looks like the three of them had stepped into Ekans's territory—
That was why it had slithered out to warn them off.
"Hissss—"
Ekans raised the front half of its body.
Its scarlet forked tongue flicked in and out.
Its tail lifted and swayed, the bell-like sound ringing out—
Especially ear-piercing in the open, silent forest.
In its cold snake eyes, the figures of the three were reflected.
[Species: Ekans]
[Type: Poison]
[Level: Entry-level (Early Stage) (Lv. 14, 10/100 Experience Points)]
[Status: Good]
[Potential: Professional-tier (Lv. 20–30)]
In front of Shiko and Himeko,
the same attribute readout appeared at the same time.
Level 14?
Himeko's expression turned serious.
This Ekans was three levels higher than Buneary.
A slightly troublesome opponent.
But troublesome or not—
It was still within what Buneary could handle.
Then let this Ekans…
Become the stepping stone for Buneary's evolution!
"Hissss—"
Ekans's hissing grew sharper and faster.
This one human and two Pokémon in front of it
had ignored its warning and were still standing inside its territory.
That made Ekans completely furious.
With no warning at all,
it attacked Buneary, who stood at the very front.
Its icy-yellow eyes suddenly widened!
Strange, eerie patterns surfaced in its pupils—
And Buneary's figure was reflected inside them!
Ekans's signature move: Glare!
Rip—!!
Buneary felt her body suddenly become sluggish.
A faint numbness rose in her joints—
But it vanished in an instant.
It lasted only a fraction of a moment before disappearing.
Buneary's Limber Ability!
It negated the paralysis effect brought by Glare!
"Buneary! Chain Quick Attack to close in, then use Double Kick!"
Himeko commanded.
On the other side, Ekans opened its mouth wide.
Large amounts of purple venom seeped from the tips of its two sharp fangs.
Its usual approach was to paralyze the opponent at range with Glare first,
then blanket the area with Poison Sting.
But this time,
Glare didn't paralyze Buneary.
That genuinely caught it off guard.
After hesitating for a moment,
the venom condensed into needles—
Then shot toward Buneary like a storm.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
The air-splitting sounds were nonstop.
Buneary was extremely fast.
With repeated Quick Attacks, she darted and weaved,
slipping out of the Poison Sting coverage.
At the same time, she rapidly closed to Ekans's side.
Double Kick was ready to fire!
"Hiss—"
Ekans's rear half began to writhe.
Its long, thin body coiled toward Buneary, trying to bind her.
The venom on its fangs stopped dripping—
Instead, it gathered and clung tightly to them.
Then it twisted its body,
dipped its head—
And lunged to bite Buneary!
A constrict-and-Poison-Fang combo!
Shiko saw this and frowned slightly.
This Ekans had outstanding combat awareness.
No wonder it held a piece of territory in this forest.
The moment Buneary got in close,
it was already prepared with an answer.
Shiko lifted his head
and looked at Himeko, standing off to the side.
He wanted to see
what kind of command she would give in this situation.
What he didn't expect was—
Right then, on Himeko's face,
there was a confident smile, not the slightest trace of tension or panic.
As if everything was exactly as she'd anticipated.
"Now!"
"Buneary! Vital Throw!"
The instant Himeko's words fell,
Buneary's long ears and both hands snapped into place like lightning,
hooking and locking Ekans's slender body.
That Poison Fang hadn't even landed yet—
When Ekans felt its body lose balance.
The world spun.
And then—boom!
It slammed heavily into the ground!
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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