....
Morning broke over the forest.
Soft, golden sunlight spilled across layers of treetops, scattering broken patches of light over the grass below.
The lazy Rattata, still riding the high of breakfast and the morning's drama, lounged around enjoying the show.
Beyond their territory, though, the rest of the forest was already awake.
Predators and prey alike poured out of their dens and nests.
Another day had begun...
And in the wild, that meant the same thing it always meant
The hunt was on.
Chasing, fighting, killing.
That was how the morning started here.
The Rattata split into groups by age, trading tips on moves and battle instincts.
Their adult Raticate guardians might be gone, but that hadn't crushed their will to survive.
The youngest Rattata practiced Quick Attack and Focus Energy, sometimes calling over slightly older packmates to explain the finer points.
The older ones had already started working on Bite and Pursuit...off-type Dark-type moves that were harder for them to get right than their usual Normal-type moves.
Still, two or three of them were clearly talented.
They hadn't mastered the moves yet, but they were already starting to get the hang of them. Judging by how fast they were improving, their progress was impressive.
The female Rattata formed a group of their own.
Their strength levels varied, but no matter what they trained, they always did it together...
and always around Julian.
Whenever one of them successfully pulled off a new move, she'd throw him a smug little look, like she expected applause.
Every time that happened, Julian quietly looked away and instead watched the male Rattata desperately trying to win the females' attention.
Then...
A faint metallic scent drifted through the air.
Julian's expression tightened.
He got to his feet and moved toward the grass to investigate.
Parting the taller brush revealed flattened trails hidden underneath...patches of bent grass, wilted and pressed into the damp, muddy ground still wet from the morning dew.
"Ekans!"
One of the female Rattata following him took one look, and her face dropped.
She immediately turned and shouted a warning back to the colony.
Julian still hadn't learned any powerful new moves.
But because this body contained a huge reserve of Psychic-type energy, he had recently figured out how to use one particularly useful trick.
Telepathy.
With it, he could communicate with almost any Pokemon...and even humans.
It was useful in battle, sure.
But honestly, it was just as handy in everyday life.
Like now.
He could understand the Rattata's battle plan, which meant that even if he wasn't much help in a straight fight, he could still coordinate with them and help reduce casualties.
Even young Ekans were capable of hunting alone, so most of them operated solo.
For the Rattata, Ekans was terrifying...
But in terms of numbers, it never had the advantage.
Every single Rattata here was a scrappy little fighter. If they had to risk their lives for the colony, they would.
This was when the pack was at its most united.
Who led them didn't matter right now.
What mattered was how many of their own would survive the attack...
and how many would avoid ending up in Ekans's jaws.
That rough, all-in style of fighting had become their creed ever since the Raticates died.
Under the trees, thirty Rattata lined up in three neat rows, looking far more heroic than their size suggested.
Julian finally stood properly as well, taking his place at the very back.
Sure, with only Pound as an active move, he wasn't exactly going to drive off an Ekans by himself.
But at least he was much bigger than a Rattata, and sometimes size alone was enough to make a predator think twice.
Besides, if he was going to be the team mascot, he might as well commit to the part.
So Julian pulled his face into the fiercest glare he could manage...
trying to channel the energy of someone who absolutely meant business.
I am terrifying, he told himself.
Completely terrifying.
He fixed his eyes on the swaying grass and crept forward.
...
Then a smooth, purple, round little head poked out from the brush.
"Hissss~"
Ekans didn't underestimate the Rattata pack.
It might hold the advantage in size and killing power, but against this many opponents, it was outnumbered.
And while its hunts rarely failed, every attack left it with a few fresh injuries from these tiny lunatics.
At its worst, those injuries could even become life-threatening.
So it couldn't afford to get sloppy.
As for Julian at the back of the formation, Ekans kept an eye on him too. But since he was an unfamiliar face, the snake didn't treat him as much of a factor.
When Julian first woke up, he'd been badly weakened and had spent most of his days asleep in the Rattata burrow.
Only recently had that fragile recovery period passed, which was why he'd started coming outside more often to bask in the sun.
So this was his first time seeing this particular Ekans.
If he knew the snake didn't even consider him threatening, he'd probably clutch his head and cry on the spot.
That was just rude.
No...
That was rude to the mascot.
Ekans struck first with Glare, sweeping the field with a move meant to rattle the entire group and leave them vulnerable.
The Rattata braced themselves.
Those who knew Focus Energy used it immediately.
Those who didn't spin around and used Tail Whip instead, waving their tails at Ekans in an effort to lower its Defense.
Focus Energy made it easier to land critical hits...real nasty ones, the kind that could leave lasting damage.
Tail Whip, meanwhile, also lowered the opponent's defenses.
Though if you were judging by appearances alone, it definitely looked less dramatic than Ekans's Glare.
What surprised Julian was that the first Pokemon to attack wasn't Ekans.
It was one of the Rattata.
After using Focus Energy, the little rodent charged with even greater intensity.
Ekans, caught off guard for half a second, got slammed by a Quick Attack.
Still, because it had a snake's long, flexible body, blunt collision moves didn't hit as hard as they might against something sturdier.
Ekans recovered quickly and lunged at the attacking Rattata with Bite.
"Quick Attack...hit its head!"
Maybe it was instinctive fear written into their species, but the moment Ekans launched a real counterattack, the rest of the Rattata froze.
At the critical moment, Julian used telepathy to immediately direct the strongest female Rattata in the pack.
Another Quick Attack flashed forward.
A pale white glow wrapped around the tiny Rattata as she slammed into Ekans's head and knocked it sideways.
Only then did the Rattata who'd nearly been bitten realize how close he'd come to disaster.
He scrambled backward several steps, baring his teeth and screeching at Ekans.
"Just these moves aren't enough to deal with it," Julian thought with a quiet sigh.
Poison-type Ekans and Normal-type Rattata didn't have a direct type advantage over one another.
But type charts weren't the whole story.
Species mattered too.
And in that regard, Ekans had the upper hand in a way that was much more dangerous.
If the Rattata didn't learn moves that could truly threaten a Poison-type predator, then for a long time to come, they would never win this matchup cleanly.
And if this Ekans ever evolved into Arbok?
For the Rattata colony, that would be game over.
Worse, every time Ekans hunted, it tended to pick off the youngest and most powerful Rattata first, leaving behind the weaker ones.
Given enough time, that could reshape the whole colony.
They might stop being a real pack altogether and turn into something much worse.
a walking pantry for the Ekans.
Hungry? Come grab a meal.
Full? Slither away and come back later.
But this colony had taken Julian in when he had nowhere else to go.
He wasn't about to stand by and let that happen.
Under Julian's guidance, the Rattata drove Ekans off for the first time.
Two of them were badly injured, but none were killed.
For the colony, that alone made this their least costly battle in a very long time.
When the fight was over, Julian instantly became the hottest name in the pack...the hero of the hour.
Even the male Rattata who used to resent him came crowding over now, grinning from ear to ear as they celebrated the victory.
But for Julian, this was only the beginning.
The Rattata had accepted him when he was at his weakest.
Now that they were in danger, he wouldn't abandon them.
Even as the entire colony continued treating him like their official adorable mascot, a new idea had already begun taking shape in his mind...
a full training plan for the Rattata.
Not just survival.
Transformation.
A training program designed by a top-tier Trainer.
And if it worked...
This little pack of Rattata might just become the powerful pack of Pokemon that could trouble the entire forest.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter