"Beedrill, huh?"
"Then let's start with you guys!"
"Cacnea, use Ingrain right here!"
Ethan Black watched the Beedrill hovering among the trees in the distance, his eyes gleaming.
"Cac cac cac!"
Hearing Ethan Black's command, Cacnea began to emit a green glow. Roots spread from its body, quickly burrowing into the ground.
Soon, those roots could be seen greedily absorbing the life energy of the surroundings, causing the grass nearby to dry up little by little.
As time passed, the green light on Cacnea's body intensified. At the same time, the Beedrill finally noticed the strange phenomenon in the distance and began flying rapidly toward the spot.
But before they could get too close, roots suddenly shot up from the ground and, taking them by surprise, tightly wrapped around the Beedrill.
With Cacnea's Absorb activated, the Beedrill began trembling violently, feeling their energy being quickly drained away.
"That's enough, Cacnea."
Seeing that the Beedrill could barely resist anymore, Ethan Black gave a signal with his eyes.
When Cacnea released the Beedrill, Ethan Black threw several Poké Balls one after another, easily capturing the exhausted Pokémon.
"Cac cac cac!"
Seeing that all the Beedrill had been captured, Cacnea shouted happily and used its roots to bring all the Poké Balls to Ethan Black's feet.
"Good job."
Ethan Black patted Cacnea's head with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the thirteen Poké Balls by his side.
"Cacnea, keep using Ingrain to spread more roots around the area."
As he picked up the Poké Balls, Ethan Black smiled and gave a new order.
"And you... come out, Beedrill!"
He then took a Poké Ball, switched it to release mode, and with a flash of red light, a Beedrill appeared floating in the air.
The Beedrill, upon seeing Ethan Black and Cacnea, showed an expression of terror and flew away at full speed.
"Cac cac cac?"
Seeing the Beedrill escape, Cacnea tilted its head in confusion, looking at Ethan Black.
"Don't worry, it won't get far. Next time it comes back, it'll bring its whole swarm with it."
"So what we'll do now is stay here—waiting for them to come for more!"
Ethan Black chuckled and hid among the bushes, carefully watching the surroundings.
And just as he had predicted, before long the buzzing of wings echoed through the forest: dozens of Beedrill were flying in a swarm!
"They're here!"
Ethan Black quickly pulled out the flare gun from the tournament kit and signaled Cacnea to get ready to attack.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
As soon as the Beedrill entered the range of the roots, they burst from the ground like a dense net, instantly trapping several of them.
Caught off guard, many Beedrill fell victim to the initial strike, being rapidly drained by the roots as nutrients.
Slash!
But not all of them went down so easily. The ones that remained free attacked fiercely with their stingers, piercing through the roots without trouble.
However, the terrifying thing about the root field was its regenerative power. The pierced roots grew back again, attacking with even greater intensity.
In no time, the entire swarm had fallen to Cacnea. Ethan Black then threw more Poké Balls, capturing them one by one and racking up points in the competition.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Park's control room:
Because of the tournament, the room was especially crowded.
In front of a massive wall of screens projecting the different areas of the park, the staff were closely monitoring the progress of the event.
Among them was Kyle Miller, dressed casually, watching with little interest.
Until suddenly, his gaze fixed on one of the screens. On it, roots could be seen trapping the Beedrill.
"Hey, zoom in on that camera!"
Frowning, Kyle Miller gave an order to the operator in the room.
As the image zoomed in, the figures of Cacnea and Ethan Black were revealed.
"Ethan!"
Kyle Miller shouted in surprise, recognizing him.
"You know him, Kyle?"
The others leaned in, intrigued by the scene. Seeing such a peculiar use of Ingrain, they all showed expressions of amazement.
It was the first time they had ever witnessed such an impressive application of that move. They were completely captivated!
"Ah... yes, he's a classmate."
Kyle Miller nodded while watching Cacnea ensnaring Beedrill. His gaze grew thoughtful.
"If this Cacnea is that strong... maybe it could..."
...
"Cac cac!"
Cacnea, happy, kept retrieving Poké Balls with its roots.
Ethan Black praised it again and repeated the strategy: release another Beedrill to lure in the swarm.
Soon after, another wave of Beedrill arrived, only to end up the same as the ones before.
After several rounds, Ethan Black noticed that the number of Beedrill in the latest wave had dropped considerably.
"Good job. Looks like we've almost captured all the ones in this area. Let's head somewhere else."
Storing the Poké Balls, Ethan Black patted Cacnea and released the Ingrain move, walking deeper into the catching park.
(End of chapter)