Hello DEARIES welcome back to another chapter...
Enjoy.....
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The hollow was exactly as they had left it: dark, damp, and without any trace of the intruder.
Alex knelt in the mud, about ten meters away from the rotting log where the Skorupi had vanished earlier. He moved with a slowpoke wise slowness, placing the bait on a flat stone rising above the waterline.
The bait was a crude mixture of berries: a slice of the sour Sitrus Berry sitting atop the jagged shard of the Skorupi Carapace he had found in the crate.
"Let's see, If he comes out....should smell it's own species and there is a free meal, two in one....." Alex whispered to himself.
He retreated, wading backward through the muck to hide behind a curtain of hanging moss.
"Duskull," he murmured. "Keep your eyes open."
His shadow rippled, his ghost was watching.
Beside him, Nidorino crouched low with the mud caking its purple fur, acting as natural camouflage.
"Listen to me," Alex whispered into his Nidorino's ear. "We have a problem with this fight, you learned Poison Jab, and it's a great move but that annoying guy is a Poison type too... It resists venom."
Nidorino tilted its head, listening.
"If you stab it with poison, it'll shrug it off," Alex explained, running the type-matchups in his head. "And Double Kick is fighting type and bugs resist fighting so your two moves are nerfed."
"We have to use Peck," Alex decided." Or Horn Attack...Just brute force."
Nidorino snorted softly, It understood brute force.
"Wait for the signal."
Time lost its meaning in the swamp. An hour passed, then two and the sun began to dip below the tree line, casting long, twisted shadows across the water.
The mosquitoes grew bolder, buzzing around Alex's face, trying to bite him, but he slowly got bored and clapped them to death.
The water near the log was disturbed. It wasn't a splash...just a small movement
A pair of antennae broke the surface and then the purple, segmented body emerged.
It's the annoying Skorupi.
It was really cautious as it skittered sideways, its claws clicking softly as the scorpion pokemon approached the flat stone. It smelled the Sitrus Berry but then it stopped, slowly smelling the carapace shard beneath it.
Hiss.....
Its tail arched over its back and the twin stingers dripped with clear liquid. It recognized the scent of a dead kin.
It aggressively knocked the berry aside and struck the shard with its claw, chittering a challenge to the unseen enemy.
"Now," Alex breathed.
"Nidorino! Horn Attack! Charge!"
Nidorino exploded from the moss, It roared, churning the water into white foam as it galloped the ten meters in a heartbeat.
Skorupi reacted instantly, It had the reflexes of an seasoned pokemon which had grown on the wilderness. It didn't run this time as it realized it was cornered.
It fired....Pin Missile
A volley of glowing white spikes shot from its claws.
Thwip-thwip-thwip.... And it peppered Nidorino's chest.
But Nidorino was Level 17 now and also after its evolution Its hide was thick, like leather armor. The missiles pricked it, drawing small beads of blood, but they didn't stop the momentum.
Nidorino lowered its head and rammed the Skorupi.
The bug was lifted off the stone and thrown backward, skipping across the water like a rock and was slammed into the mud bank, flipping onto its back.
"Don't let it recover!" Alex shouted, wading out. "Peck! Aim for the soft belly!"
Skorupi righted itself with terrifying speed, using its tail as a lever. It shrieked, its eyes glowing red...Bite...
It lunged at Nidorino's leg as the larger Pokémon closed in. Its mandibles clamped down on Nidorino's foreleg.
Nidorino roared in pain, stumbling.
"Shake it off!" Alex yelled. "Use your weight! Crush it!"
Nidorino reared up but It didn't use a move. It just slammed its heavy paws down.
Skorupi scrambled sideways, dodging the stomp....It was fast. It circled Nidorino, peppering it with more Pin Missiles.
"We can't catch it if we can't hit it," Alex cursed. "Duskull! Disable!"
Alex's shadow stretched out and Duskull emerged, its single eye glowing blue. It was locked onto the Skorupi.
A wave of psychic static washed over the bug. Skorupi tried to fire another Pin Missile, but its claws locked up. The move was erased from its memory for a short time.
The hesitation was all they needed.
"Nidorino! Sucker Punch!"
The Skorupi flinched, confused by the mental block. Nidorino vanished into the dark blur.
The blow connected with the side of the Skorupi's head. The bug spun through the air, crashing into the mud. It twitched, legs curling inward.
" Let's go pokeball!" Alex shouted.
He didn't hesitate as he grabbed one of the two balls from his belt and hurled it.
The throw was absolutely perfect.
The ball hit the Skorupi's body and the bug pokemon dissolved into red light.
The ball fell into the mud.
Shake...shake....
The light button pulsed.
Shake....shake.....
Alex held his breath, a Level 19 bug against a standard Pokéball? It was a gamble.
Shake..... shake....
...Click....
The light went out.
[ Pokémon Captured: Skorupi ]
"Yes motherfuckers !" Alex punched the air, water splashing around his knees.
He waded over and snatched the ball from the mud. He checked the status immediately.
[ Pokémon: Skorupi (Male) ]
[ Level: 19 ]
[ Aptitude: Green (Deep) ]
[ Ability: Sniper (Critical hits deal 2.25x damage) ]
[ Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SpA) ]
[ Moves: Bite, Pin Missile, Poison Sting, Leer, Acupressure ]
"Sniper," Alex grinned, wiping mud from the ball. "And Jolly nature...It's a speed demon."
He looked at Nidorino, his buddy was licking the bite mark on its leg.
"Good work," Alex said. "You tanked it."
He looked at his Duskull floating beside him. "And you....nice assist."
He had done it....he had a good team now.
Who would have thought, someone new to this world, a fucking nobody would grow so much.
Most recruits had a Rattata and maybe a Zubat. Alex had a balanced, tactical team with rare regional variants and high-aptitude mons.
The sound of a massive tree branch snapping echoed through the swamp. It came from deep within the thicket, directly behind the log where the Skorupi had lived.
A deep, chittering roar followed which sounded like grinding metal.
[ Warning: Territorial Aggression Detected ]
Alex's smile vanished.
"Now it's time to run for life... if it's the mother drapion looking for a baby search, we are doomed," Alex said, his voice urgent. "Now....Upwind, Into the freaking water."
He recalled Skorupi and Duskull dissolved into his shadow instantly.
He scrambled onto Nidorino's back.
"Run," Alex commanded. "Don't look back."
One Hour Later
They found refuge in a small cave near the top of a ridge, miles away from the swamp.
Alex built a small fire, this time he risked the light, needing the warmth to dry his soaked clothes.
He sat by the flames, rotating the three Pokéballs in his hands.
He looked at the Skorupi ball.
"Skorupi evolves at Level 40," Alex recalled. "That's a long way off but until then, it's fast. And with Sniper, if I can teach it Focus Energy or give it a Scope Lens, it will defeat enemies easily."
He looked at his dearest Nidorino.
"And you.....we found the Poison Barb. I need to equip that on you."
He pulled out the blackened barb he had found in the crate, he carefully worked it into the leather collar, right next to the Black Sludge pouch.
[ Nidorino Equipment Updated ]
[ Slot 1: Black Sludge (Passive Heal) ]
[ Slot 2:Poison Barb (+20% Poison Damage) ]
"You're a freaking walking chemical weapon now," Alex told the pokemon.
He leaned back against the cave wall.
He could go back to the base, grind safely, and wait Or... "We have time, Let's see what else Silph Co lost on this island."
Alex put on his MP3 player and relaxed.....
Walk him down, whole time I know he got some ho in him
Pole on him, extort shit, bully the flow on him
Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young
You better not ever go to cell block one
To any bitch that talk to him and they in love
Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him
:- kendrick lamar.
Authors Note:-
Hope you guys liked it.....
It's been 25 chapters .....thanks for all of your support....
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People don't get it , for people like us pokemon is a emotion.
I recovered my hard phases playing Pokemon roms and re-watching anime and reading fics... pokemon for life 🧬.
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