Chapter 71: With You and I Together, We're Invincible (Part 1)
Spring passed, and summer arrived.
Will had marveled countless times at how correct his decision to save the Scyther had been. The Scyther was an old veteran of Mt. Silver. It knew at least 80% of the paths in the mountain's middle and outer rings. It remembered which areas were occupied by powerful Pokémon and where rare medicinal herbs and berries grew. Thanks to the Scyther's memories, Will's life these past few months had been much easier. Moreover, they often teamed up to challenge even stronger Pokémon, which had significantly increased his leveling efficiency.
"Scyther, I'm heading out," Will said, flying to the mouth of the cave and giving his friend a nod.
"Scyther," the Scyther glanced at him and nodded back.
By now, its injuries had long since healed, leaving only its left eye permanently blind. The Scyther's level was very high, even higher than Will's. But since Will hadn't reached that level himself, he couldn't judge accurately. He could only estimate that the Scyther was around Lv. 46.
"I'm at level 44. I should be close to evolving soon..." Will thought, flying forward with his head down, his attention on his personal status screen.
He didn't know how many days he had been away; he only remembered that he had left in the winter, and it was now summer. Many might think that summer is when Pokémon are most active, but that wasn't true. The summer temperatures in Mt. Silver were ridiculously high, and most Pokémon would hide in the shade of the trees, trying to minimize unnecessary activity to avoid overheating and losing stamina. Perhaps in the Sinnoh region, where the summers were milder, Pokémon would be more active.
Will himself didn't even want to leave the cave, let alone other Pokémon. Every time he went out, he could feel the moisture in his body rapidly evaporating, and he still hadn't learned Rain Dance.
BOOM!
Just as Will was pondering how long it would take for him to evolve, a heavy sound echoed from the nearby forest.
"Hm?" Will frowned. He recognized it as the sound of some Pokémon's footsteps. But he had been in this area for so long, and he didn't remember any Pokémon nearby that could make such heavy and loud footsteps.
Will headed in the direction of the sound to investigate. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, there were no Pokémon in sight; the creature had likely already left. All he found on the ground was a pair of giant, deeply indented footprints, like those of some monster.
"It couldn't have jumped down from up there, could it...?" Will looked up at the cliff face in front of him. It was over fifty meters high. He couldn't imagine what kind of monster could jump down from that height and walk away unharmed.
"I'll have to remind Scyther when I get back," Will said, giving the footprints one last look before turning to leave.
It was another unremarkable day of battle. Will flew wearily towards the cave.
Swish!
But on his way back, he suddenly heard a familiar sound nearby.
"That's... the sound of a Scyther in battle!"
Will's eyes widened, and he rushed in the direction of the sound. He had fought alongside the Scyther many times and was familiar with the sound its scythes made when they cut through the air. From this distance and the sound alone, it was clear that the Scyther was not in good shape; the force of its swings had become sluggish.
"Scyther!"
Will arrived at the scene at top speed, and one glance was all it took to understand the situation. The Scyther had probably been practicing its skills nearby; you could tell from the slash marks on the surrounding trees. But by a stroke of bad luck, the noise of its practice had attracted its old enemies.
It was a swarm composed entirely of Ariados, numbering more than twenty.
Will had heard the Scyther mention them before. Its old swarm's territory had been close to the Ariados swarm's, so they often fought, slaughtering each other over food and land. Because Ariados were weak to the Flying type, the Scyther clan had almost always had the upper hand. The Ariados swarm hated them for it, but there was nothing they could do. They couldn't win and could only move their territory.
And by coincidence, the place where Scyther was practicing today was very close to the Ariados swarm. The noise had drawn their attention. If it had been any other Pokémon, the Ariados might have just ignored it. But this was the leader of their hated rival. They didn't know that the Scyther had already left its clan, nor why it was here alone. All they knew was that they could not pass up this opportunity to surround and kill it.
"Scy... ther..." the Scyther breathed a sigh of relief when it saw Will arrive. Then, its body went limp, and it knelt on one knee, its exoskeleton taking on an unhealthy, pale purple hue.
He's badly poisoned, Will thought, looking down at the Scyther's body. He then turned his head to look at the indecisive Ariados.
Will's huge size had startled them. With another equally powerful Scyther here, they were hesitating whether to continue the fight.
"Ari-dos!" the Alpha Ariados commanded.
They decided to press the attack and kill the Scyther here and now, to avenge all their past grievances.
"Scyther!" The injured Scyther looked up and pushed at Will, telling him to leave immediately. This was its feud with the Ariados; it didn't want to drag its friend and benefactor into it.
"...Can you still fight?" Will asked, scanning the surroundings.
He couldn't run. A dozen or so Ariados had already spread out, spinning a great web around them. Even the canopy above was covered in a dense layer of webbing. Ariados silk was famously tough; in the future, it would be highly praised in many regions for its durability. Maybe he could brute force his way through... but he felt there was no need to run.
Based on the size of the surrounding Ariados, he judged that none of them were above Lv. 40. In the middle ring, this was the bottom tier, barely able to survive. If not for their superior numbers, allowing them to slowly wear him down, they would never have been able to injure the Scyther to this extent.
"Scyther," the Scyther gritted its teeth, pushed itself up from the ground, and gave a weak nod.
"With you and I together, we're invincible," Will grinned, standing back-to-back with the Scyther as they faced the surrounding enemies.
Many of the Ariados were already in bad shape, likely injured by the Scyther earlier. In their current state, Will felt that with him and the Scyther together, taking down this group of spiders would be no problem at all.
"...Scyther," the Scyther glanced around, feeling the support at its back, and nodded.
If it didn't have to worry about an attack from behind, then... they could win!
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