The thick scent of blood permeated the air.
The younger Zangoose emerged from the burrow and dragged the dead Seviper into one area. Once all the corpses had been gathered together, everyone worked to remove the blood.
Earth Power and Psychic were used in tandem to strip the battlefield clean. The blood soaked soil was compressed into a sphere of dirt, blood, and entrails before being buried nearby.
With that, the battlefield was restored.
Silas hopped onto Tropius alongside Politoed, and they flew off in the direction the Seviper had fled.
After 10 minutes, they finally caught up, though they remained just outside the snakes' detection range. They landed not far from the den.
Like the Zangoose burrow, it was primarily underground, though part of it protruded above the surface like a small hill.
As everyone assembled, they immediately began using their boosting moves.
The Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Politoed all used Belly Drum.
Politoed then activated Drizzle, causing rain to pour from the sky.
Everyone else prepared in their own way, using Calm Mind, Swords Dance, or Dragon Dance.
"Ursaring, use Hyper Beam."
The massive bear Pokémon opened its mouth and unleashed a destructive beam of orange energy.
The Hyper Beam struck the hill head-on.
A tremendous explosion followed, completely blowing away the entrance to the burrow.
Moments later, every Seviper rushed outside.
Shock and horror filled many of their eyes as they recognized the intruders.
They couldn't comprehend how their location had been exposed.
None of them realized one of the survivors had been marked with Silas' psychic imprint, making it effortless to track the tribe back to its nest.
Silas' cold voice echoed.
"Begin."
Politoed and the rest of the tribe immediately unleashed a combined Hydro Pump.
The tremendous torrent blasted the Seviper backward while completely soaking them.
"Electabuzz, use Thunder!"
Electabuzz immediately called down lightning upon the drenched battlefield.
Electricity surged through the massive puddle surrounding the Seviper, electrocuting every snake caught within it.
Despite the circumstances, the Seviper fought back ferociously. Whenever they were struck, they'd strike back with Poison Tail or Poison Fang.
They might have been able to make a comeback had it not been for Espeon. With her power boosted several times, her Stored Power wasn't something poison type pokemon of similar levels could handle.
Each orb radiated deadly power as they flew towards the horde of Seviper. Espeon continued to fire Stored Power relentlessly.
Occasionally a Seviper would break through and strike at Espeon, only to be defeated by a dense and powerful Shadow Ball.
Silas felt bad for 1 Seviper in particular. It had snuck up to Espeon and when their eyes met, it tried to use Glare, only to have it rebounded by Magic Bounce.
Before he could break free from the self inflicted paralysis, he was blasted away by a Shadow Ball.
Frogadier, Ursaring, and Excadrill bravely charged directly into the swarm despite their numerical disadvantage.
Even with his natural immunity to poison, Excadrill was struck by Poison Fang several times and eventually became poisoned.
Normally steel types cannot be poisoned unless attacked by a Pokémon with the Corosion ability but that was due to the actual steel on their bodies.
Excadrill had many exposed spots of skin and fur. With enough venom, he could be poisoned.
Despite the poison weighing him down, Excadrill performed admirably. His use of Crush Claw combined with Rapid Spin allowed him to deflect most attacks and counter with his own.
Meanwhile, Frogadier continuously alternated between slashing and evading. He continuously honed himself during this battle, pushing his stamina.
Whenever he found himself surrounded, he used Acrobatics to reposition before diving back into battle.
Frogadier combat style was perfect for these snakes as well since he could escape into the sky temporarily. Unfortunately, he had a finite amount of stamina otherwise the outcome of the battle would be guaranteed, just a matter of time.
Ursaring was going wild in the battle. He wasn't even dodging, just slashing and biting wherever he could. He was like a savage beast, covered in wounds and blood.
He only got worse once the Seviper poisoned him, triggering Guts and increasing his strength even further. Although being poisoned drained Ursaring's stamina, the power boost was worth it.
Wild Pokemon had knowledge of abilities but not all of them could wield it in battle. For instance, the Seviper couldn't grasp the fact that Ursaring's strength increased with Poison.
If the poison was a must, a smart strategy would have been to poison him and then fight a ranged battle of attrition.
After nearly 10 minutes of fighting, they had only managed to defeat Ursaring and Excadrill and the price had been enormous.
Both Pokémon had each taken down several Seviper with them. When they finally fell, the ground was littered with Seviper bodies in pools of blood, some cleaved apart.
Only 20 Seviper remained in fighting shape, including the king and the last remaining advanced tier Seviper. The rest were either cut down or knocked out.
Seeing his tribe reduced to such a miserable state, the king Seviper let out an unwilling hiss.
Silas stepped forward. Now that the battle had reached this stage, he was very confident in the outcome, so he took the chance to help his own Pokémon improve.
"I'll give you one chance. If you can defeat my Monferno in a one-on one battle, I'll withdraw. However if you lose, you'll take me to whatever resource allowed your tribe to grow so strong so quickly."
The king stared at Silas for several seconds before finally nodding.
"I accept."
With the established psychic connection, Silas heard a raspy voice in his head.
The battle immediately came to a halt.
Both sides formed a large circle around the king Seviper and Monferno.
Silas smiled.
"Let's do this, Monferno. Full power from the start."
Without hesitation, Seviper lunged.
Purple poison coated both its fangs and tail as it struck.
Monferno narrowly dodged Poison Fang before raising Fire Punch to block Poison Tail.
He immediately retaliated with Flamethrower.
Seviper responded by launching a dense sphere of poisonous sludge.
The two attacks collided and exploded simultaneously.
Without wasting a moment, Seviper continued launching Gunk Shot after Gunk Shot, forcing Monferno onto the defensive.
"Monferno, use Flame Wheel!"
Monferno curled into a blazing sphere and charged directly toward Seviper.
The cunning Pokémon stopped its rapidfire attacks and stared intently at the incoming Monferno. At the very last moment, Seviper sidestepped.
A perfectly timed Gunk Shot slammed into Monferno's side.
The impact knocked him out of Flame Wheel and sent him crashing into a nearby boulder.
Seviper immediately pressed the advantage.
Its body wrapped around Monferno in an attempt to restrain him.
Fortunately, Monferno escaped before the coils could fully tighten. It took a well timed Mega Shift otherwise the battle would have ended right there.
"Monferno, use Vacuum Wave!"
Still airborne, Monferno swung both hands in a backhanded slashing motion.
A compressed wave of energy shot toward Seviper with incredible speed.
The attack came too quickly to evade.
It struck Seviper directly across the head.
The king flipped backward before hissing in pain and shaking off the damage.
"Now, use Flamethrower!"
Monferno fired another stream of blue flames.
Again, Seviper countered with Gunk Shot.
The poisonous projectile dispersed the Flamethrower before it could connect. The 2 combatants clearly had similar strength.
Silas watched carefully.
He finally understood why this Seviper had become king, it was incredibly crafty. This Pokémon fought cautiously but with an underlying ferocity that made Silas appreciate him.
Battling it felt less like fighting a wild Pokémon and more like facing one that had been trained by an experienced Trainer.
Monferno landed several Fire Punches and Seviper answered each attack with a Poison Tail strikes of its own.
"Monferno! Mega Shift into Mega Kick!"
Monferno's leg glowed brilliant white. A loud sonic boom echoed across the battlefield.
In the next instant, Monferno appeared like a ghost directly in front of Seviper before driving a devastating Mega Kick into its body.
The impact launched Seviper backward with such force that an immediate counterattack was impossible.
It smashed straight through one tree before finally crashing into a second.
The tremendous momentum generated by Mega Shift dramatically increased the power of Mega Kick when executed correctly.
That was precisely why the combination placed such tremendous strain on Monferno's body.
The risk was significant but the reward made it worthwhile.
Silas intended to use the technique only as a finisher or to seize control of a battle.
Without waiting for another command, Monferno executed a second Mega Shift.
This time, however, he carried a dense sphere of Aura and flames in his hands, attempting to drive Flame Aura Burst directly into Seviper's body.
The king adapted instantly.
He had already realized Monferno needed to briefly decelerate before delivering his attack.
Seizing that opening, Seviper slithered around Monferno's extended arm before wrapping his entire body around him.
With Monferno immobilized, Seviper unleashed a barrage of point-blank Gunk Shots.
Monferno's response was immediate.
He detonated the Flame Aura Burst still gathered in his hands.
The resulting explosion inflicted tremendous damage upon Seviper.
Unfortunately, Monferno wasn't faring much better.
"Monferno, stay calm. We've got this. I need you to dig deep. Use Flame Wheel!"
Once again, Seviper met Flame Wheel head-on with Poison Tail.
Several more exchanges followed.
Then, Seviper attempted the same sidestep maneuver once again.
As expected, another Gunk Shot was fired toward Monferno's exposed side.
This time, Monferno had been waiting for it.
He activated Mega Kick while still inside Flame Wheel, abruptly changing direction and accelerating toward Seviper.
The sudden burst of speed caught the king completely off guard.
At point-blank range, there was no time to dodge.
Monferno's blazing body slammed directly into Seviper.
He immediately followed up with 2 more strikes and both connected cleanly.
Seviper staggered backward.
The king was in terrible condition.
With every passing exchang, he was falling further behind.
"Monferno, use Mach Punch!"
The attack came far too quickly.
Monferno's glowing fist slammed into Seviper before he could react.
Without giving him a chance to recover, Monferno immediately launched Flame Aura Burst as a projectile.
Seviper answered with Gunk Shot, launching a dense black orb of energy to intercept.
The two techniques collided in the air and detonated into a cloud of burning poison mist.
————————————————————
Thanks for the continued support on my first fanfic!!
Moving forward, every 50 Power Stones, I will release a bonus chapter.
I will also be releasing bonus chapters for milestones. The next ones are 300k views and chapter 200.
Finally, I will be releasing 3 extra chapters once we reach 10 reviews. 5 star reviews are appreciated but not required, I want honest feedback so I can improve.
Once again, thanks for all the support and feedback!