"Lord Raticate, I beg you to strike!"
In a bizarre display, Hongsheng dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times, his forehead hitting the stage with an audible thud each time. Only then did the Raticate slowly open its eyes.
It was like a man worshipping an ancestor. Feng Che realized Hongsheng had zero authority over this Pokémon; he was effectively begging for a one-time favor.
[Raticate: You didn't catch me fairly.][Raticate: I never respected you.][Raticate: But I'm dying anyway. Since you've served me well and kept me fed, I'll help you this one last time.]
The Raticate had been a wild leader until it was defeated by a younger rival and exiled. Starving and wounded, it was about to rot in the wilderness when Hongsheng found it. He didn't win a battle; he simply threw a ball at a dying creature that lacked the strength to resist.
To repay the debt of the medicine and food that had prolonged its life, the Raticate had saved Hongsheng several times before.
[Raticate: I can feel it. My time is up. Let my final moments be a blaze of glory.]
The Raticate's withered body seemed to swell with a sudden surge of vitality. Its joints popped like firecrackers. Hongsheng scurried to the corner of the ring like a dutiful servant—he knew better than to try and give orders to a Pokémon of this temperament.
A final burst of life... this is going to be tough, Feng Che thought, his nerves on edge.
Suddenly, the Raticate moved. Its afterimage lingered as its true form lunged at the Arbok.
"Arbok, Sludge Bomb!" Feng Che commanded.
Arbok's throat surged as it spat a glob of acrid, brown gastric acid.
Please hit... Feng Che clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
The acid splashed across the Raticate's face. It let out a piercing shriek. Feng Che saw that the Raticate's whiskers—vital for its balance—had been dissolved instantly by the hyper-acidic stomach juices. As the Raticate hit the ground, the stage floor hissed and bubbled under the residue.
Ditto's acid wasn't as potent as a true Arbok's, but it served its purpose. Without its whiskers, the Raticate's speed plummeted. It staggered, its movements becoming predictable.
"Arbok, Iron Tail!"
Feng Che noticed something strange: during the heat of the battle, he could no longer hear the Raticate's thoughts.
Is it because of the level difference? Or does high-intensity combat automatically mask their inner voice? It was a limitation he'd have to investigate later.
Arbok's tail glowed silver and slammed down toward the rodent. The experienced Raticate didn't try to block with Super Fang; it knew it lacked the strength. Instead, it used Dig to vanish into the floor.
A seismic move would take too long to charge, Feng Che realized.
"Arbok, focus! Sense the vibrations. Use Iron Tail the second it breaks the surface!"
The Arbok closed its eyes, tail gleaming. Suddenly, the floor erupted. Raticate lunged, its teeth glowing with the white light of Super Fang—a move that would halve Arbok's health instantly if it connected.
But the Iron Tail was faster. It moved like a silver lightning bolt, catching the yellow blur mid-air.
CRACK.
The Raticate was smashed into the floor with such force that the stage cracked in a spiderweb pattern. It coughed up blood, its clouded eyes looking up at the Arbok one last time.
[Raticate: A pity... if I were younger, I would have hunted Arbok like this for sport.][Raticate: But at least... I fought to the end.]
The Raticate's breath hitched, and then it went still. It was dead.
"Arbok, consume the Raticate," Feng Che commanded.
Under Feng Che's cold, unwavering gaze, the Ditto (in Arbok form) reluctantly swallowed the old rodent whole.
[Ditto: Ugh, all skin and bone. This is like trying to swallow a hairbrush.]
As the Raticate disappeared into its maw, a glow surrounded the Ditto.
[Level Up: 10 -> 11]
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