Natsui's appearance naturally drew the attention of the Scyther swarm. Instantly, the scarred Scyther and its followers all looked at him with hostility.
Glancing at the Pokémon, Natsui saw they were eager for a fight, looking as if they were ready to rush forward and tear him to shreds at any moment.
"Easy, easy," he said, holding up a hand to calm them. His gaze finally settled on the Scyther with the scar.
"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Natsui, and I'm a traveling trainer. This time, I've come with malicious… er… with sincere intentions. First, congratulations on becoming the leader. At the same time, I have an important matter I'd like to discuss with you."
In truth, if it were any other time, recklessly barging into a Scyther swarm's territory would have certainly resulted in a group attack.
But right now, the scarred Scyther had just defeated its rival and was at the peak of its confidence and power. Therefore, even if someone challenged it, it would surely not back down, in order to solidify its authority.
It was precisely because he had figured this out that Natsui dared to be so bold as to walk right up to it.
Sure enough, the scarred Scyther barked at its companions, making them back off. It then took a step forward, staring intently at Natsui.
"Scyther, Scyther!"
Natsui raised an eyebrow. He couldn't understand the Pokémon's language, but fortunately, he had a free translator with him.
"Hey, Haunter, stop sleeping. Get out here and do some work. Translate for me, what did it just say?"
Haunter lazily floated out of his shadow.
"Honestly, you only think of me at times like these," Haunter said, rolling its eyes. Although reluctant, under Natsui's urging, it translated, "Listen up, it said: 'You despicable human, get the hell out of my territory before I get angry. Otherwise, with one command, my little bros will chop you in two!'"
Natsui was stunned. He looked at Haunter doubtfully. "Are you sure those were its exact words? All I heard were a few syllables. And even if Scyther are fierce and warlike, they wouldn't talk like human thugs, would they?"
"What's so hard to understand?" Haunter spread its hands and said matter-of-factly, "What do you expect these simple-minded, muscle-brained Scyther to say? I even had to polish its words and fill in the context for it! The phrasing might be a bit rough, but the meaning is about the same. Hey, don't sweat the small stuff."
Natsui: …
No wonder it sounded so thuggish… Natsui had been wondering why these Scyther, living far from human society, would refer to themselves so crudely. It turned out Haunter was adding its own flavor to the translation.
He gave it a speechless look, and after a long silence, sighed. "I see. Thanks a lot. You're so considerate."
"You think so?" Hearing Natsui's praise, Haunter gave him a smug look. "To be honest, I think so too!"
Just then, the Scyther in the distance grew impatient. It scraped its two sharp scythes together, producing the sharp 'clack' of blades colliding.
Seeing this, Natsui shook his head helplessly and stopped paying attention to Haunter, turning his gaze back to the Scyther.
"The important matter I mentioned is actually about a powerful alliance, to take on the Pokémon League together. How about it? Are you interested in defeating countless strong enemies and eventually reaching the very top?"
The Scyther tilted its head. With its limited knowledge, it clearly didn't understand what the Pokémon League was, nor why it should be 'climbing a mountain' for no reason.
Seeing its confusion, Natsui thought for a moment and rephrased his words. "Alright, let me put it another way. I'm challenging you to a battle right now. If I lose, I will offer you human food. But if you lose, you must become my partner and travel with me. How about it, to accept?"
This time, the Scyther understood.
It gave Natsui a scornful look, thinking, This human dares to overestimate himself and challenge me? Does he want to die?!
Without any hesitation, it let out a loud cry. Hearing its voice, the other Scyther all moved aside, and in an instant, a large open space was cleared.
This time, Natsui didn't need Haunter to translate; he knew what it meant. As expected, it had accepted the challenge.
Natsui was about to take out a Poké Ball when he remembered something and glanced into the distance. The Scyther that had been defeated in the duel was now staggering at the edge of the forest.
Watching its disappearing figure, Natsui suddenly realized: could this wounded Scyther be the one that Ash and his friends would encounter on their journey, the one that Tracey would eventually catch?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. There weren't that many coincidences in the world; it had to be the one. However… that had nothing to do with him, and right now, he had no time to worry about it.
Refocusing his attention on the scarred Scyther, Natsui took out the Poké Ball he had already chosen and threw it onto the field.
"I choose you! Go! Crystal Onix!"
As the blue light faded, Crystal Onix appeared on the field.
As a heavyweight contender, even larger than a Gyarados, its entrance wasn't as imposing, but rather quite steady.
Although this was Crystal Onix's first official battle since being captured, it had been training and battling in private for a long time, so Natsui was very confident in its abilities.
Most importantly, while Ground-type moves couldn't harm Scyther, its other typing, Rock, could inflict four times the damage.
This gave Crystal Onix an absolute advantage.
On the other side, seeing such a massive opponent, the Scyther showed no intention of retreating. It let out a roar and was the first to attack.
As expected of a warlike Pokémon, it dared to take the initiative even against a strong enemy. Scyther was fast, and with one charge, it leaped in front of Crystal Onix.
It raised its two gleaming claws and brought them down heavily on Crystal Onix! The sharpness of the attack made it clear to Natsui that this was the Normal-type move, Slash.
He said calmly, "Crystal Onix, don't be intimidated by its presence. Use Harden!"
Hearing Natsui's command, a sheen of light reflected off Crystal Onix's body. As the light appeared, every inch of its surface became even harder.
CLANG!
The scythes struck Crystal Onix, producing a metallic clang. Looking at Crystal Onix, its body didn't even have a scratch.
It had to be said, its rock-like body was truly hard… The Onix species naturally had extremely high defense, and now, boosted by Harden, the impact actually made Scyther's claws go numb.
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