In the subsequent battle, Luna'sStaryu ultimately proved superior, relying on its Psychic abilities to momentarily restrain Sandslash.
Seizing that brief opening, Staryu followed up with a Water Gun, finally knocking Sandslash out.
However, after Sandslash collapsed, Staryu also looked completely exhausted.
In Icarus's opinion, the two Pokémon were actually very close in strength. If anything, Jason'sSandslash might even have been slightly stronger.
But Staryu had both the type advantage and the extremely unfair utility of Psychic power. Sandslash had no resistance against Psychic techniques, so with both factors combined, Staryu's victory wasn't surprising.
In the end, during this internal team battle, Icarus took first place, Luna came second, and Jason placed third.
Originally, Icarus had intended to comfort Jason, but unexpectedly, Jason didn't care much at all. The Sandslash named Little Mouse also didn't seem bothered, saying it would simply train harder and win next time.
As for Luna, despite all her bold declarations earlier, she didn't actually care that much about rankings either. The moment the battle ended, she immediately began discussing the use of Rapid Spin with Jason.
"Brother Jason, I think your Poison Sting could also be combined with Rapid Spin. That way, you wouldn't need Rollout for acceleration!"
As Luna chatted excitedly, she suddenly remembered the previous battle and immediately offered her suggestion.
"Hm… Jason, I think you could try it too. The only issue might be accuracy, but against groups of enemies, that weakness probably wouldn't matter."
Listening nearby, Icarus couldn't help but join the discussion as well.
"Hm, I'll test it later."
Jason nodded seriously. Hearing both Luna and Icarus say so made him feel it was genuinely worth trying.
After exchanging battle insights for a while, the three of them headed to the Pokémon Center to accept missions.
After browsing through the available requests, Icarus ultimately selected three related missions. There were no hidden jackpots or unusually rewarding tasks.
After all, he wasn't some chosen protagonist. There was no way profitable missions would conveniently wait for him to pick them up.
Icarus understood very well that large teams often stationed people at the Pokémon Center full-time specifically to camp mission boards. The moment a high-profit mission appeared, those teams would immediately snatch it up.
So smaller teams like theirs could only honestly choose a few compatible missions and complete them together.
It was worth mentioning that Icarus accepted a three-star mission this time, an assignment categorized as Advanced Ordinary Level.
Mission Number: 30574
Mission Rank: Three-Star
Mission Objective: Collect 10 Ariados Thread Sacs
Time Limit: None
Reward: 50 Alliance Merit Points, 15,000 Alliance Credits
At first glance, the mission seemed extremely profitable and not particularly dangerous.
After all, individual Ariados thread sacs were only worth around 1,400 credits each. Ten of them totaled merely 14,000 credits, while the mission reward alone already exceeded that amount, not to mention the additional income from poison sacs, Bug-type materials, and other loot.
However, there was a reason this mission had been classified as three-star difficulty.
The problem was that Spinarak naturally lived in colonies, and even Ariados preferred operating in small groups nearby.
Their hunting style relied heavily on interconnected spider webs. The larger the group, the denser the web network became, greatly increasing hunting efficiency.
Because of this, encountering a lone Ariados was practically impossible.
Once you provoked one Ariados, it usually meant you had already disturbed the entire spider nest nearby.
Without Advanced Ordinary Level strength, escaping alive would already be fortunate.
Fortunately for Icarus, he had confidence in this mission.
First, Houndoom's Fire-type abilities could completely burn away the troublesome spider webs.
Second, Staryu's Psychic powers, Graveler's Rock-type attacks, and Pidgeotto's Flying-type abilities all had excellent matchup advantages.
Combined with Weepinbell and Poliwag, both solid mid-stage fighters, Icarus believed they had enough strength to handle fifteen Ariados.
Of course, venturing deeper into the core territory was still suicidal unless everyone's Pokémon advanced another stage.
The other two missions were ordinary two-star tasks along the same route, so he accepted them casually.
After taking the missions, the trio didn't depart immediately.
By the time the team battles ended, it was already approaching evening. After eating dinner together, Luna and Jason hurried back home.
Today's battles had given both of them significant inspiration, especially regarding Move combinations. If they could successfully develop those ideas, their overall strength would rise noticeably.
Naturally, they couldn't wait to return and begin experimenting.
As for Icarus, he didn't gain anything especially groundbreaking. Although their new Pokémon had surprised him, their techniques were more suitable as references than something he could directly imitate.
That evening, after completing the usual training routine alongside his Pokémon, he called Luna over again.
Meanwhile, Lucy quietly returned to the small house nearby.
Icarus had purchased it for her convenience. After all, it had only cost a few tens of thousands of Alliance credits, an amount he could easily earn from defeating a couple of Ordinary Level Pokémon.
Since she was technically his maid, letting her walk home alone late at night carried some risk. So, from Icarus's perspective, buying her a temporary place to stay nearby was simply practical.
Naturally, Lucy neither objected nor dared to object.
Especially after Icarus forcefully claimed that part of her body, she already felt there was little difference between that and truly losing her virginity.
After all, both involved him entering her body.
Yet she couldn't really complain.
Technically, Icarus had indeed kept his promise and stopped short of the final step.
Still, after everything he had already done to her, Lucy increasingly understood that she had no real path left besides staying by his side.
In fact, if Icarus had decided to take the final step tonight, she felt she probably would have accepted it half-heartedly anyway.
After all… what difference was really left now?
Yet strangely enough, Icarus remained true to his word. He had said "by the end of the year," and he genuinely meant it.
Even though he had already thoroughly explored every inch of her body over this long period of time, he truly hadn't crossed that final boundary.
"Sigh… I just hope that once he truly accepts me, he'll at least give me some ability to protect myself. Being a traveling maid is still better than merely being a tool for release…"
Inside the small bathroom, Lucy washed herself quietly, rubbing her swollen backside as she sighed softly.
Maid ranks existed too.
At the bottom were beautiful ordinary maids whose sole purpose was reproduction.
Above them were personal maids who frequently served their masters and at least held some emotional value.
Higher still were traveling maids who handled various outside affairs for their masters.
Those maids resembled secretaries more than servants, possessing at least some authority and capability.
Even among traveling maids, there were distinctions.
One category handled ordinary chores and household management.
The higher category consisted of maids involved with Pokémon themselves—semi-breeders who specialized in Pokémon care, or even combat attendants trained as subordinate Trainers.
Of course, the final category was the hardest to become and usually required signing a spiritual master-servant contract.
Lucy never dreamed of becoming a combat maid.
She simply hoped to become a logistics-type attendant, perhaps something like a semi-breeder.
If she could work with Pokémon directly, then naturally she could raise Pokémon herself.
Even if they weren't powerful, at least she would possess some means of self-defense against ordinary people.
Right now, she felt extremely insecure.
Moreover, she genuinely liked the idea of becoming a logistics maid. Her professional knowledge was already solid; otherwise, she never would have worked at the Pokémon Center in the first place.
"…Ugh… it hurts…"
Lost in thought, Lucy gradually succumbed to exhaustion and soon fell asleep.
"Pii! Pii-pii!"
Accompanied by the cries of Pidgey, the sun slowly rose.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, the trio set out into the inner forest with their Pokémon.
The first two missions took less than half a day to complete.
Now, they were heading toward Spinarak territory.
"So many spiders…"
"And so many webs…"
"I can see two Ariados!"
Using binoculars near the edge of the territory, the three observed the forest ahead.
Within the dense greenery, over twenty spiders moved slowly among the trees—some hanging upside down, some crawling, others remaining motionless.
Both the bushes below and the towering tree canopies were connected by layers upon layers of intertwined webbing, resembling a giant transportation network.
For the spiders, these webs were both hunting traps and high-speed travel routes.
"It looks like stealth isn't an option. We'll launch a direct attack instead. I'll have Houndoom use Inferno and burn everything."
"Pidgeotto, use Gust to spread the flames as much as possible. If the fire grows large enough, it should stop nearby Ariados from rushing over immediately."
Icarus quickly arranged his own assignments before turning toward Jason.
"Jason, have Graveler use Rock Throw. Focus on defeating as many enemies as quickly as possible regardless of strength."
"Then have Big Mouse and Little Mouse both use Rollout. Their scales should let them charge through the flames safely, right?"
"Yeah, no problem. Both of them are already Ordinary Level."
Jason nodded and began explaining the plan to his Pokémon.
"Ku" "Kuja"
After listening, both Big Mouse and Little Mouse accepted willingly.
Seeing this, Icarus shifted his gaze toward Luna.
"As for you, Luna, have Staryu keep using Confusion to eliminate enemies."
"About Poliwag… did it learn any new Moves recently?"
Because Poliwag specialized in Water- and Ice-type attacks, using those recklessly might extinguish the flames and ruin the entire strategy.
"Uh… I don't think so…"
Realizing the issue immediately, Luna answered awkwardly.
Recently, she had focused most of her attention on training Staryu, while Poliwag simply followed the routine from its intermediate training manual.
"Then let Poliwag use Water Veil to protect itself before charging into melee alongside Jason's two Sandslash."
After thinking for a moment, Icarus remembered Poliwag'sWater Veil technique.
"With Water Veil protecting it, Poliwag should be able to move through the flames without much trouble."
"And Luna, your main task afterward will be controlling the fire. Once the flames spread too far, use Water Pulse to suppress them so we don't accidentally start a forest fire."
"Mhm, got it."
After receiving their assignments, all the Pokémon activated their available buffs.
Then Houndoom leaped out first.
"Woof! Hoooo!"
Opening its jaws wide, Houndoom unleashed a massive burst of flames.
The scattered fire instantly ignited the countless spider webs.
Crackle! Pop! Sizzle!
In an instant, the flames spread explosively.
"Pii-pii! Whoosh!"
Pidgeotto immediately followed up, beating its wings to generate powerful winds.
Because they wanted to intensify the flames, Gust was the perfect support Move.
Under the strong wind, the fires surged dramatically wherever webbing was dense.
The spider silk pathways that once benefited the colony now became death traps.
The flames raced along the webs like burning highways.
"Ito!" "Ari-a! Ari-ass!"
Caught completely off guard, the Spinarak panicked and fled wildly toward areas untouched by fire.
The two Ariados were no exception, screaming loudly while attempting to retreat and summon reinforcements.
"Swish! Swish!"
"Rumble! Ku!"
At that moment, Graveler'sRock Throw and the two Sandslash'sRollout attacks crashed into the battlefield.
Bang! Bang!
Several Spinarak were instantly knocked into the flames.
"Yo-bo!"
Covered in a protective layer of water, Poliwag charged directly into the burning battlefield, slapping nearby Spinarak into the fire with rapid Double Slap attacks.
Meanwhile, Staryu'sConfusion looked downright unfair.
Its core gem flashed once, and another Spinarak would be hurled into the inferno.
"Moo-moo!"
After using Growth, Weepinbell continuously fired Bullet Seed attacks into the fleeing swarm.
Whether the attacks defeated the spiders directly didn't matter.
As long as they were knocked into the flames, that was enough.
Soon, cries of agony echoed throughout the burning forest.
One Spinarak after another burned alive.
"Pidgeotto, use Air Slash on those two Ariados! Luna, have Staryu help restrain them! Everyone else, continue clearing the smaller spiders!"
Seeing the battlefield stabilize, Icarus immediately targeted the two leaders.
"Pii-pii!"
Pidgeotto's wings glowed white before releasing two sharp Air Slash attacks.
At the same time, Staryu unleashed all of its Psychic power in a concentrated wave.
"Ari-a!" "Ari!"
The two Ordinary Level Ariados had no way to resist the Psychic attack.
Before they could recover, Air Slash struck directly afterward.
Without suspense, both Ariados lost the ability to battle.
"Good. Keep clearing the remaining Spinarak. We'll process the Ariados materials first."
"Weepinbell, drag those two over with your vines."
Seeing the primary targets defeated, Icarus immediately began handling the mission objectives.
At the same time, he could already spot nearby Ariados converging toward the burning forest from outside the flames.
"Luna, stop helping here and start capturing the unconscious Spinarak. Hurry and catch as many as possible."
"As soon as Jason and I finish harvesting the materials, we're retreating immediately!"
Hearing the order, Luna quickly grabbed her Poké Balls and rushed into the battlefield alongside Poliwag.
Soon, after processing the Ariados, Luna's backpack had already accumulated twelve occupied Poké Balls.
"Retreat!"
Seeing four or five additional Ariados already approaching the outskirts of the forest, Icarus decisively abandoned the idea of continuing the hunt.
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