Kale's figure darted swiftly through the depths of the forest.
Behind him followed a penguin-like Pokémon, bearing on its head a golden trident-shaped crown, its body clad in a black steel-like armor.
If Aven had been present, he would have immediately recognized this Pokémon—it was none other than Empoleon, one of the three starters of the Sinnoh region.
But at this moment, the Empoleon, whose body was as tough as steel, was covered in countless wounds. Its battered appearance made it clear that it had just emerged from a fierce battle.
Even the one running ahead—the Lord of Marina City himself, Kale—looked utterly disheveled. His clothes were torn to shreds, with not a trace left of the dignity and majesty befitting a city lord.
As he moved forward in haste, Kale clenched his teeth tightly. The events of that midnight kept replaying in his mind, filling his eyes with lingering unwillingness and suppressed rage.
Originally, it had been just an ordinary night. Like always, he had been working late into the evening, handling Marina City's administrative affairs.
With winter looming on the horizon, he needed to ensure sufficient supplies were prepared so that his people could survive the bitter season ahead.
But what he never expected was that Hill—the current captain of the Marina City Knight Order—would choose this exact moment to stage a rebellion.
Hill led the knights straight into Marina City, marching unopposed all the way to the castle gates in the inner district.
The sudden turn of events had caught the guards of the castle quarter completely off guard. Before they could even react, the defensive line had collapsed, and the castle grounds had fallen in almost no time.
"Why, Hill? Why would you do this?" Kale still remembered how he had stood on the castle balcony that night, shouting down his questions to the traitorous knights below.
And the reply he received—he felt he would never forget it for the rest of his life.
It turned out that just a few days ago, during a council meeting, he had rejected a proposal to once again launch a campaign against Aspiration City.
Good heavens! Did they even understand what they were suggesting?
To mount an offensive against Aspiration City in the dead of winter—did they not realize that Marina City no longer had the strength to endure another baptism of war?
What the city needed most this winter was to stockpile resources, ensuring that the common people could pass the season safely—not to ignite another meaningless conflict!
"They said I was afraid. That I had been beaten into cowardice."
When Kale heard those words, he had almost laughed out loud.
Him, afraid? He was the strongest knight of Marina City, the one who had personally driven back the sea beasts that threatened their shores, opening the way for the city's prosperity in the first place!
But… as time passed, his laughter had faded into silence. Because, in truth, he truly did not want to send his people into battle this winter. Deep down, he knew—launching a war now was utterly pointless.
The last war had cost them dearly. More than half of the Knight Order had perished, and even the previous captain had fallen on the battlefield.
Now, with only half their strength remaining, how could they possibly hope to conquer Aspiration City? They might not even be able to breach its southeastern outposts, let alone seize the whole city!
"Am I really just afraid?" Kale could not help but question himself in the quiet of his heart.
He had always believed himself to be a man of ambition. One day, he would lead his people beyond the Black Forest and seize the fertile lands that lay on the far side.
But he also knew—the time had not yet come. Their limited supplies simply could not sustain a new war.
Even if, by some miracle, they managed to exploit Aspiration City's preoccupation with the winter beast tides and seized a portion of its territory, their citizens would never survive the winter that followed.
And what was the purpose of conquering fertile land if not to ensure a better life for his people? A hollow "victory" that left them dead and starving was meaningless in his eyes!
Yet the knights gathered below the castle that night had no intention of listening to his reasoning. And when those mysterious men in black suddenly appeared in their ranks, Kale had finally understood the true hand guiding this rebellion.
The Sorcerer. It was the sorcerer's doing.
They had chosen this war.
The sorcerer had called in reinforcements, and he—Kale—was simply the greatest obstacle standing in their way.
Thus, they chose Hill, captain of the Knight Order, and supported him as the new Lord of Marina City. To prove himself worthy of the position, Hill's first offering was to launch a war against Aspiration City.
And in the end, the result had been inevitable—Kale had lost. Lost completely.
If not for his knights' desperate protection, if not for his Empoleon whose power had reached the rank of a king-level Pokémon, and if not for the secret treasure of Marina City that he still held in his hands… he would already be a corpse lying in the ruins of his city.
"No. I must live. I cannot die."
"As long as I hold Marina City's secret treasure, they will always have reservations."
"It is a protective talisman. As long as it remains in my grasp, they will not dare recklessly harm me or those loyal ministers who remain by my side!"
"And more importantly, it is my guarantee of one day taking Marina City back. The people still need me. I must live on—whatever it takes!"
…
Meanwhile, the reclamation of the Black Coast Forest continued steadily.
Large swaths of trees along both sides of the Pure River had already been cut down.
By the riverbank, numerous Oddish could be seen living freely.
Although the soil on the eastern side of the Black Coast had long been contaminated with poison, for poison-type Oddish this posed no issue at all.
They buried themselves in the soil, constantly drawing in the poison energy that lingered within the land.
These Oddish had been specially selected to follow the poison attribute path, and to them, this place was an ideal training ground.
"It seems it won't be long before the toxins here can be completely purified." Aven inspected the soil at his feet and nodded in satisfaction.
Then his gaze shifted toward the river beside him. The water's surface rippled gently, and slowly, the silhouette of a Tentacool emerged.
Splash, splash…
Tentacool swayed its tentacles lightly, drifting leisurely on the water's surface.
After spending so much time here, it had fully adapted to its new life. Simple-minded as it was, it found this lifestyle rather comfortable.
Now, its sole task was to cleanse the river of toxins—a role it excelled at. By rhythmically inhaling and exhaling the water, it could steadily gather the pollutants together.
And as it absorbed more and more toxins, its body naturally condensed them into sludge masses, as if by instinct.
Just like now—another mass of sludge had formed within it. Quickly swimming toward the bucket on the riverbank, it spat the sludge into the container.
Splash!
Having successfully condensed the sludge, Tentacool waved its tentacles in joy, its ruby-like eyes turning toward Aven, who had walked closer.
"You've worked hard, Tentacool." Aven gently patted its head.
Ever since their telepathic communication that day, his bond with Tentacool had deepened immensely.
When he learned that Tentacool had been separated from its colony, Aven promised it that once they set out upon the sea, he would help it find its kin again.
Splash, splash…
Tentacool swayed its tentacles happily before slowly sinking back into the river.
Watching the carefree jellyfish playing in the water, Aven shifted his attention to the bucket full of sludge beside him.
He had never given up on researching this sludge. Its ability to absorb life energy and convert it into poison and destructive energy held tremendous potential.
The methods he had already developed with Petilil—on how to channel and convert life energy—were a promising line of study. With this, even healing-type Pokémon could unleash surprisingly powerful combat strength.
For example, if Petilil mastered this move, she could unleash her Grassy Terrain as an offensive, wide-area strike. The battle power she could display would be nothing short of terrifying.
Of course, all of this was still just a theoretical possibility. Mastering life energy was already extremely difficult—let alone learning to transform it.
By comparison, using the sludge, which could absorb life energy and transform it into a special poisonous force, was a far more feasible approach. It could serve as an effective means of training poison-type Pokémon.
"Vileplume, try absorbing some of the power within this sludge," Aven said to the Pokémon nearby.
For the past weeks, Vileplume had been leading the bulk of its tribe here, aiding the Oddish and Gloom in purifying the soil.
Thanks to the Vespiquen hive protecting Fruitvale Village, Vileplume tribe's burden had lightened significantly, allowing them to spread out over a wider area.
As Aven spoke, he scooped some sludge and mixed it into the soil. Since the sludge itself was like a thick mud, it blended perfectly with the earth.
Vileplume nodded eagerly before burying itself into the sludge-laced soil, beginning to absorb the poison energy contained within.
"Plume~"
Suddenly, Vileplume's eyes lit up.
It could feel the toxins coursing through the soil filling it with a strangely comfortable sensation.
And beyond just poison, it could faintly sense an underlying current of life energy within the sludge—clearly the residue of the energy it had absorbed earlier.
Just as Aven had theorized, the sludge absorbed life energy and transformed it into a special poisonous life force—at once brimming with vitality and toxicity.
And in their fusion, both the life force and the poison energy grew stronger than before. For grass/poison dual-types like Vileplume, this made it an ideal form of nourishment.
"Just as I suspected." Aven's eyes shone.
"If refined properly, this sludge could be turned into a special poisonous life-fertilizer, ideal for raising grass/poison dual-type Pokémon."
"Moreover, through exposure to the sludge, these Pokémon could even practice sensing the life energy within it, thereby strengthening their healing moves."
"Perhaps… with this poisonous life-fertilizer, Vileplume's tribe might even be able to attempt learning Grassy Terrain."
"With both Petilil and Vileplume's Grassy Terrain as guidance, the Oddish and Gloom would surely be induced into grasping the move as well."
Aven's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. This truly was a promising development path for the sludge. Not only grass/poison Pokémon—even other poison-types might be able to use it to begin sensing life energy.
And if the Oddish and Gloom really did manage to learn Grassy Terrain—even if only a handful succeeded—the benefits to the territory's growth would be immense.
With Bibarel's move of Rototiller for cultivating land, and Oddish spreading Grassy Terrain to promote crops, the two could complement each other perfectly, reclaiming farmland at an unprecedented pace.
Furthermore, the healing effects of Grassy Terrain would allow the Oddish to serve as assistant healers, compensating for the shortage of Chansey and supporting the early establishment of the Pokémon Center!
(End of Chapter)