"Beedrill, [Agility]!"
Beedrill's twin wings beat furiously, and in the blink of an eye, its body blurred into a streak of motion, dodging Mightyena's savage lunge with ease.
However—
Seeing that Beedrill was too quick to handle, the Mightyena immediately switched targets and charged straight at Guo Yi.
After all, wild Pokémon didn't follow any rules about not attacking Trainers.
If the strong one couldn't be bullied, then fine—pick the easy target.
Its fangs ignited once again with searing flames as it hurled itself toward Guo Yi.
But even faced with this unexpected move, Guo Yi remained eerily calm.
He trusted his Pokémon—trusted that Beedrill would keep him safe.
And sure enough, in the blink of an eye—
Skree!
Beedrill's aura suddenly surged midair. Empowered by its template inheritance, its strength made another breakthrough.
Then it shot forward like a bolt of lightning, stingers gleaming, diving toward the Mightyena like a knight in full charge.
Its target—precisely the Mightyena's flank.
For creatures like wolves, there's a saying: "Bronze head, iron tail, tofu waist."
The waist is always the weak spot.
Beedrill might not have heard the saying, but its sniper instincts told it exactly where to strike.
And it was right.
Mightyena never expected Beedrill to break through mid-battle, raising all of its stats in an instant.
Stacked on top of the earlier [Agility] boost—
Mightyena only registered a flash of black and yellow—and pain bloomed in its midsection before it was hurled backward, slamming into a nearby tree with a loud thud before collapsing, unconscious.
One strike.
That's all it took, under the combined advantage of type matchup and boosted abilities.
Skree!
Though it had won the battle with a single blow, Beedrill lowered its head and hovered back to Guo Yi, clearly remorseful.
I'm sorry, Trainer… I was careless and put you in danger.
Seeing Beedrill's dejected look, Guo Yi reached out and gently patted its small head.
"This wasn't your fault. That Mightyena just doesn't know the meaning of honor!"
"It actually had the nerve to attack me—a Trainer who couldn't hurt a Caterpie. Despicable!"
Skree!
Exactly! Exactly!
Perhaps influenced by Guo Yi's righteous indignation, Beedrill nodded vigorously in agreement, sharing his contempt.
Next time, I'll make sure it doesn't even get the chance to fight dirty. I'll take it down before it tries anything.
Beedrill crossed its stingers with a vow, making a solemn promise to its Trainer.
Once Beedrill's fighting spirit had been rekindled, Guo Yi turned his attention to the unconscious Mightyena on the ground.
Pokémon are strange and miraculous creatures. It's as if some mysterious force protects their lives.
Even if they suffer severe injuries in battle, they rarely die outright.
Only when they're attacked after losing consciousness—or if their wounds go untreated for too long—do they risk true death.
As for this Mightyena who'd just tried to maul him, Guo Yi had no intention of finishing it off.
But healing it? That was out of the question.
So he rummaged through the Mightyena's body, found its Sitrus Berry, and left with Beedrill, continuing toward their destination.
Whether the Mightyena lived or died—that would be left to fate.
...
Guo Yi's journey through the realm was far from peaceful. Wild Pokémon ambushed them at irregular intervals.
However—
None of them came close to the strength of that Mightyena.
So the attacks didn't cause much trouble for Guo Yi at all.
In fact, they ended up helping Beedrill, who was able to absorb more of the template energy through battle.
Its strength had already climbed another level.
[Beedrill (Bug + Poison)]
[Gender: ♂]
[Level: Lv42 (Elite Tier)]
[Ability: Sniper (Critical hits deal 2.25x damage instead of 1.5x)]
[Moves: Twinneedle, Fury Attack, Venoshock, Pursuit (frequently used)]
[Egg Moves: None]
[Template Moves: Poison Jab, Agility, Fell Stinger, X-Scissor, U-turn, Drill Run, Swords Dance]
[Held Item: None]
[Potential: Pseudo-Champion]
[Template Bound To: Giovanni's Beedrill]
At this rate of growth, if certain unethical parties found out, they'd probably want to dissect Beedrill for research.
Fortunately, this secret realm hadn't been developed, and its natural resources were still abundant.
True to the spirit of "never waste what you find," Guo Yi gathered everything he came across and stashed it in his space-pack.
As they ventured deeper, the light around them dimmed. The forest floor grew damp beneath their feet.
The air thickened with the smell of rotting wood.
According to the map, they were now entering a marshland area—just a short distance from where the Nidoqueen and her young supposedly lived.
The damp air, the shadowy environment—it was the perfect breeding ground for poisonous plants and venomous bugs.
Most Pokémon avoided habitats like this.
But for Poison-types, this was paradise.
Ariados and its Spinarak brood had spun webs across tree trunks, lying in wait for unsuspecting prey.
Swarms of rogue Beedrill zipped through the canopy like jungle thugs, attacking anything that trespassed.
Oddish and Bellsprout darted through the underbrush, searching for fertile ground to root and grow.
Guo Yi checked his map again.
Then, finding a stretch of relatively dry terrain, he and Beedrill continued pressing forward.