"What's going on?"
"Is this Ariados's poison just too strong?"
Ethan Black was also very surprised to see this situation.
If the poison stored inside Ariados's body had such power, that would already be impressive—but now even the poisonous needles it spat out could cause that kind of damage to the roots!
This made Ethan Black start to wonder inwardly, could it be that this Ariados was actually too strong?
"Cacnea, use Pin Missile!"
Noticing that the roots weren't causing much damage to Ariados, Ethan Black went straight for a frontal attack.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Immediately, spikes shot out from Cacnea's hands, turning into white flashes and firing toward Ariados.
Ariados responded right away, also spitting out a series of poisonous needles, thus beginning a ranged duel between the two.
Boom, boom, boom!
After a round of exchanges, Cacnea's spikes completely overpowered Ariados's poison attacks. Neutralizing most of the poisonous needles, Cacnea's projectiles broke through the defense and went straight at Ariados.
Boom!
With a sudden explosion, Ariados was hit head-on and fell from the branch to the ground.
"Huh? Did we win?"
Seeing that Cacnea had managed to beat Ariados's poison attacks with Pin Missile, Ethan Black was stunned.
Not only Ethan Black, but even Cacnea was perplexed. The roots that were ready to defend just hung in the air.
If this Ariados truly had the ability to easily break through Ingrain, shouldn't it have been able to counter Pin Missile without effort?
"This Ariados doesn't seem that strong?"
Ethan Black blinked, had Cacnea use Pin Missile again, and began firing continuously.
Perhaps because it had hit its head when it fell, Ariados didn't react in time and took the full impact, causing a massive explosion.
When the smoke cleared, Ariados was seen lying on the ground, its eyes in spirals—it had lost the ability to battle!
"Go, Poké Ball!"
Ethan Black hesitated for a moment but finally threw the Poké Ball.
After striking Ariados, a red flash absorbed it, and the Poké Ball closed, lying motionless on the ground.
"Did I really catch it that easily?"
Ethan Black picked up Ariados's Poké Ball, still a bit puzzled.
At first, he thought this Ariados was incredibly powerful, but it turned out to be all appearance and no substance.
However, how could it be explained that it was able to so easily corrode Cacnea's roots with its poison?
"Could it be that Cacnea's roots are vulnerable to poison?"
Ethan Black's eyes lit up: suddenly, that possibility occurred to him.
Could it be that Cacnea's roots absorb poison as well when draining life energy?
"If that's the case, then I'll have to catch a Steel-type Pokémon to create a joint defense."
Ethan Black pondered for a moment, stored Ariados's Poké Ball in his backpack, and decided to proceed with caution. He would look for a chance to test his hypothesis.
"If I could catch a Scyther or a Pineco, that would be perfect."
With that thought in mind, Ethan Black and Cacnea ventured deeper into the Bug-Catching Area.
The Bug-type Pokémon inhabiting this zone were mostly released by humans, without much training, so Cacnea defeated them with ease.
During this time, to test his theory, Ethan Black collected some poisonous powders from Butterfree, as well as Beedrill venom and other toxic substances.
He discovered that Cacnea's roots didn't react to Butterfree's powder, but when absorbing Beedrill's venom, the roots visibly began to rot.
Furthermore, if the poisonous powder was mixed with water to form a liquid poison, Cacnea's roots also decayed upon absorbing it.
After a series of experiments, Ethan Black finally confirmed that Cacnea's roots were vulnerable to liquid poison, because they absorbed water contaminated with Poison-type toxins.
"Looks like everything has its pros and cons."
Ethan Black shook his head with resignation. If Cacnea relied solely on Ingrain, it couldn't become a truly strong Pokémon.
During this time, Ethan Black had focused too much on the power of Ingrain, neglecting the training of Cacnea's other moves.
Ariados had taught him a lesson, cooling his pride and making him reflect on the need to strengthen his partner's other abilities.
Especially Cacnea's close combat: once it evolved into Cacturne, its more humanoid form would allow it to master various fighting techniques.
Moreover, if it combined those techniques with Spiky Shield, Cacnea could have a huge advantage in close-quarters combat.
"Cac cac cac."
While Ethan Black was reflecting on how to help Cacnea train its combat skills, he suddenly heard a call.
Ethan Black turned his head, and saw that Cacnea, who was using Ingrain to restore energy, had something trapped between its roots.
"Huh? Is that...?"
Ethan Black's eyes widened in surprise.
What the roots had caught was a small, turtle-like Pokémon. Its body was yellow, very soft, and wrapped in a red shell.
"Isn't that Pokémon Shuckle!?"
Ethan Black recognized it instantly and exclaimed in surprise.
Although Shuckle is a Bug/Rock-type Pokémon, Ethan Black never thought he would find such a rare one in the Bug-Catching Area.
In fact, in the real world, Shuckle is an extremely rare Pokémon.
Or rather, it's not exactly that it's rare, but its ownership is practically monopolized by large organizations, making it very unusual to find a wild one.
The reason is that Shuckle can ferment Berries inside its shell, creating juices that restore energy.
Humanity took advantage of this ability to, after long experiments, transform ordinary fruits from the real world into nutritious juices that replenish energy.
For that reason, this Pokémon has extremely high commercial value, and is considered a very precious resource.
(End of chapter)