Chapter 77: The Devastated Kangaskhan Mother
Time flew by, and autumn arrived. Mt. Silver transformed from a uniform lush green to a kaleidoscope of colors. It was like a breathtaking painting; even time itself had put on a richer palette. Golden fallen leaves and branches laden with red, yellow, and green berries adorned the forest's attire.
The summers and winters in Mt. Silver were relatively quiet, but the springs and autumns were exceptionally lively, especially in autumn, when the variety of fruit was at its peak and the temperature and humidity were most suitable.
BOOM!
A loud crash from outside the cave woke Will and the others from their sleep. It was the sound of a tree being knocked over.
"...Starting this early in the morning. Let's see which suicidal fool it is," Will said, opening his eyes in annoyance.
He had been living in this cave for nearly a year now. By all rights, the surrounding wild Pokémon should know that a not-to-be-messed-with character lived here. Although Will himself didn't have a strong sense of territory, the local Pokémon had basically tacitly acknowledged this area as his turf. Normally, no one would dare to come here and cause trouble.
"Zubat~"
The Zubat also opened its eyes groggily, having been woken by the noise. It still hadn't evolved, mainly because Will had rarely taken it out to battle. One reason was that it was hard to find low-level opponents suitable for it in the middle ring. The other was that this Zubat had been raised "improperly."
A normal Zubat sleeps during the day and goes out at night. But Will's Zubat insisted on keeping the same schedule as him, so it had become nocturnal, sleeping at night and playing by itself in the cave or under the shade of nearby trees during the day. It still couldn't be directly exposed to sunlight, so Will could only take it to the outer ring to train on rainy days when the sun wasn't as strong. This had naturally led to it not having evolved after two or three months. From a human perspective, this speed was a bit slow, as a Zubat only needed to reach around Lv. 22 to evolve. But from a wild Pokémon's perspective, its leveling speed was still far ahead of the curve. The Zubat's current level was around 20, its length was a normal 1.6 meters, and its weight was 20 kilograms, which already made it a "fat bat" for its species.
"You stay in the cave. I'm going out to see," Will instructed the Zubat, then flew outside. The Scyther crew wasn't in the cave; they were probably out for their morning training.
"Zubat," the Zubat nodded obediently and stayed put in its nest.
When Will got outside, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. It was too quiet. Just a moment ago, the forest had been noisy, but now it had suddenly fallen silent, like a scene from a horror movie. Moreover, because of his overly benevolent style, his cave was usually surrounded by many small, weak Pokémon seeking shelter. It should never have been this quiet.
"Looks like a powerful Pokémon has come," Will murmured, opening his status screen for a look.
[Dragonair]
Potential: Purple | Level: 47
Type: Dragon | Ability: Shed Skin
Height: 10m | Weight: 55kg
Held Item: Mystic Water
Moves: ...Dragon Rush, Safeguard
He had reached Lv. 47 and learned Safeguard a while ago. It was safe to say he no longer had any rivals in the outer parts of the middle ring. Even the Alphas of other species with similar levels were no match for him. He felt that even if a strong opponent showed up, it shouldn't be a problem. He wasn't even afraid of some of the Alphas from the deeper parts of the middle ring.
Thump. Thump.
Heavy footsteps drew closer. Will saw a huge figure slowly approaching him through the forest.
A Tyranitar? From its silhouette, it looked a bit like Godzilla, and the first Pokémon that comes to mind when you think of Godzilla is Tyranitar.
"Oh crap... this thing definitely came from deeper in," Will thought as he got a clearer look.
It wasn't a Tyranitar, but a Kangaskhan that stood five meters tall. A Pokédex Kangaskhan is 2.2 meters, so one from this era should be between 3.3 and 4.4 meters. This one's height had already surpassed the normal range. A long life doesn't necessarily guarantee a huge physique; if a Pokémon lives a long time but lacks nutrition, its size might even shrink. Only great strength can allow a Pokémon to break through its normal size limits. Of course, there was also the possibility that it was both old and strong.
"This is bad..."
Will felt his scalp tingle as he looked at the Kangaskhan. It wasn't just because of its potential strength, but more importantly, because the pouch on its belly was empty!
There were only two possibilities. One, the baby had reached the age of three and it was time for it to leave its mother. Or two, the baby was lost or dead.
Gulp...
Will swallowed hard, looking at the Kangaskhan's bloodshot eyes, which were already showing cracks. It was clearly the latter. This would cause a mother Kangaskhan to go berserk, to the point where she wouldn't even fear death. The one before him was clearly on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Wait, those giant footprints from before...
Will suddenly remembered the giant footprints he had seen at the bottom of a cliff months ago. He had known then that some monster had come out from deeper in the mountain. But since nothing had happened for two or three months, he had assumed it had gone back. It seemed now that the "monster" was this Kangaskhan mother who had lost her child. And for the past few months, she must have been searching for it.
"ROAR!"
The moment the Kangaskhan saw Will, it lunged, ramming its [Headbutt] towards him.
This thing has really lost it, Will thought, pushing off with the lower half of his body to launch himself into the air, dodging the attack. The Kangaskhan had clearly become neurotic, attacking any Pokémon it saw.
"Roar..."
The Kangaskhan glared at the airborne Will, then ignored him and turned to leave. This action made Will realize that perhaps it wasn't as dangerous as he thought. At least it wouldn't chase down and kill a Pokémon that actively fled. That made sense. If it had been on a killing spree, the outer middle ring would have been littered with corpses by now.
But then, the Kangaskhan's path made Will's face darken. It was heading straight for his cave! She was going to see if her baby had run in there.
BZZZT!
Suddenly, a powerful bolt of electricity shot down from the sky, striking the Kangaskhan. The Kangaskhan gritted its teeth, turned to look at the dangerous blue serpent in the sky, and decided to deal with this nuisance first.
"That cave is my territory. Get lost," Will said. He didn't want to fight this Kangaskhan; he estimated that he most likely couldn't win. But the Zubat was still in that cave. He couldn't let this rabid dog enter.
"ROAR."
The Kangaskhan couldn't understand a word he was saying. In its eyes, Will was just a villain trying to stop her from finding her child.
[Rock Slide]
The Kangaskhan drew back its arms, a brown energy gathering in its palms. In an instant, several huge rocks materialized behind her, which she then hurled at Will.
[Water Pulse]
Will shot a spiraling orb of water from his mouth. The orb exploded in mid-air, sending out waves that struck the incoming rocks. The waves weren't powerful enough to shatter the rocks, but the impact was enough to knock them off course, causing them to fly past Will without harming him.
This thing...
Will frowned, feeling that this was going to be tough. This Kangaskhan was not only powerful, but its movepool also seemed to be quite deep. A Rock-type move like Rock Slide was not something a Kangaskhan could learn through natural growth. It must have learned it through countless battles with Rock-type opponents.
Will had originally planned to use his air superiority to act as a mage and take it down, like he did with the Ursaring, since a Kangaskhan's natural move list didn't have many ranged attacks. But now it seemed that wouldn't work.
Seeing its first attack fail, the Kangaskhan immediately followed up. It stomped one foot heavily on the ground, and a series of tall rock pillars suddenly erupted from the earth.
[Rock Tomb]
CRASH!
Will wasn't flying high enough and couldn't dodge the huge rocks that shot up from below him.
"Not good."
A heavy blow to his abdomen made his body stiffen for a moment. With no time to think, Will felt the Kangaskhan's presence rapidly approaching and tried to gain altitude to create distance. But to his shock, the Kangaskhan stepped on one of the rock pillars and leaped an incredible seventeen or eighteen meters into the air!
So fast!
Will looked up in shock at the Kangaskhan now above him and subconsciously gulped. At the same time, the scales all over his body stood on end, and he instinctively whipped his [Aqua Tail] upwards.
This is bad...
When Will saw the Kangaskhan raise its arm high above, its fist glowing with an ice-blue light, he knew he was in for a world of pain. He had thought it would use a move more suited to its high position, like Stomp. He had never expected it to use one of the few moves that could hit a Dragon-type for super-effective damage: [Ice Punch].
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