These two months had not only increased the powers of Lairon, Primeape, and Koffing but also those of other Pokemon. Staraptor, Blastoise, and Magneton reached rare rank. There were also other surprises.
"Hmmm. Hmm.. hummm."
This time, Axel was humming a song with Pawniard. He was in a good mood. His Pokemon progress was very noticeable. Such a thing would not have happened in the main world. This incident of him getting lost in a different realm had been a blessing in disguise.
It would take a day to reach the Bisharp tribe. They had travelled this route before, so they were familiar with the road. This time, they had four pseudo-king rank Pokemon with them. Their safety had increased.
"Garry, how close are you in evolving 'Vital spirit'?"
Unfortunately, Garry had not been able to evolve 'Vital Spirit' in these two months. It had been trained on it with Annihilape. As per Annihilape, it was common to take some time to evolve an ability to a higher level. Besides that, it had learned all the new moves and even upgraded 'Beseker Hollow' to the next level, increasing its defense. Aside from that, it had gained proficiency in fighting with sword and shield.
Very soon, it was evening, and Axel decided to camp here. Axel wanted to camp at the same place where they had before, but they were slower this time for some reason.
"Garry, go with A and B and monitor the area around us. Meanwhile, others will start to set up camp."
This was a standard procedure while camping. After Garry and others ensured that there were no problems camping here, Axel started to cook some food for the team. They had packed some meat to eat, and after eating, Axel went to sleep.
Primeapes were given instructions to take turns guarding them throughout the night. Axel slept, expecting tomorrow's battle.
###
In the middle of the night, Axel suddenly opened his eyes. He felt that he was taking deep breaths. Then he realized that he was trapped in something. The space was too narrow even to move. He also felt that he was suffocating for some reason. It felt like he was inside a coffin. He tried to use his legs to hit the coffin-like structure.
BANG!!!
BANG!!!
But the coffin-like structure was too strong.
'What the hell is happening? Where am I?'
Suddenly, the coffin-like structure sprang open with a loud thud. Axel didn't waste any time and jumped from that place. He looked around, and it was mayhem.
It was a bunch of Cofagrigus attacking them. The strongest was at pseudo-king rank. Nothing much that they could not handle. But they attacked at night while Axel was sleeping. But there were Primeapes taking turns and guarding them. So, how did this happen?
Axel could see that almost everyone, including Pawniard and Primeape,s had been inside the Cofagrigus. This was bad. Axel didn't know how much time it would take, but being inside Cofagrigus would turn anyone into a mummy with enough time.
Only two of them were fighting. Garry and Lairon. Axel looked visibly angry at the state of Lairon. The grassy aura that covered its body had increased, and it had reached a point where Lairon was having difficulty with movements.
"Damn it!!!!", shouted Axel.
He looked around, and there were six Cofagrigus that had attacked them. Garry was busy dealing with the leader while Lairon was busy taking out its friends from the coffin of Cofagrigus.
"Lairon, stand on the defensive side. Garry, don't care about the leader right now. Go and refuse your friends."
Axel started to give commands. Garry first went to rescue Pawniard. It was the weakest of them all. Meanwhile, Lairon stood just next to Axe,l trying to protect him from any danger. Before rescuing others, Garry had used a powerful 'Counter' with 'Close combat'. It had effectively won that battle.
As Garry went on to help his friends, Larion watched the battle, ready to attack at any moment. As it helped A come out of the coffin, A also started to enable it. This eased its pressure. The only fortunate thing was that Cofagrigus could not attack while they had something inside the coffin. Seeing that they were going to lose, every one of them threw out the Pokemon that were trapped inside them. Then they started to attack.
One of the rare rank Cofagrigus came rushing towards Lairon to attack. It used 'Shadow Ball' towards Lairon. Lairon first used 'Substitute' and then used 'Iron Defense' to block that attack. It was a rare rank Pokemon. Clearly, it was stronger than Lairon.
The substitute Lairon disappeared after taking the hit, and when Cofagrigus used another 'Shadow ball', it took the hit. Lairon had even forgotten that 'Iron defense' only increased the defense stat, not the special defense stat.
BANG!!!
The hit flung Lairon to the side. Axel saw that the grassy slimy thing that had surrounded its whole body not only defended against the attack to some limit, but its quantity also increased.
ROOOARRR
It seemed that Lairon was uncomfortable with the grassy, slimy substance covering its body. Axel was feeling helpless right now. He didn't have any of his main Pokemon to deal with this problem right now.
Seeing his Pokemon on the verge of death against a rare rank Pokemon made him feel humiliated. Axel took out his sword and got ready to attack that Cofagrigus. He was also at a rare rank. Even though Pokemon were stronger in the same rank compared to humans, he had to do something to help Lairon.
ROOOOARRR
A cry tore from Lairon's throat — not from agony, but from defiance. It was raw, primal, and ancient, shaking the very marrow of the trees. The sound reverberated through the forest like a bell tolling war, and the world paused.
Then it began.
The leaves. All around. Trembling at first, as if startled by a sudden wind. Then whirling — dancing madly into the air as if possessed by a storm without a sky. From every branch, from the forest floor, from distant hills and hidden groves, the leaves surged like a tidal wave. Their colors shimmered — gold, crimson, emerald — and yet they moved with deadly intent.
The enemy laughed at first.
Then the first slash came — a single leaf slicing across the enemy's body, swift as lightning.
Panic spread.
The leaves swirled faster, forming cyclones of razor-sharp foliage that lashed out like whips, piercing armor and blinding eyes. Screams erupted as the forest came alive, its fury unrelenting. Branches groaned, vines coiled from the earth, roots tore through the ground like serpents, dragging men screaming into the soil.
The team of Cofagrigus, once smug and arrogant, was now reduced to a scattering of broken bodies and whimpering survivors swallowed by the wrath of nature.
The storm of leaves slowed, floating gently now like falling snow, stained in crimson. The forest grew quiet again.
It was 'Leaf Tornado', but the sheer power and the impact of this move were something that Lairon could not do right now. It had not only affected the rare rank Cofagrigus that attacked it but also other enemies. Garry and the other Primeapes were quick to avoid it, so there were minimal injuries from that move.
Axel looked at Lairon and saw that the green slimy substance covering its whole body was gone. There was not even a trace of it.
The rare rank Cofagrigus that attacked Lairon was dead, as it got the most attention from that move. Others were injured by it. Primeapes took their sweet time dealing with them, and finally, the battle was over.
Axel looked at the system notification.
Ding!
The move 'Leaf tornado' has leveled up to level 40. The move could not use the power of the grassy aura covering the user's body for an explosive impact.
So, it was not that the massive move had improved, but just the move itself. Still, this had saved Lairon's life. It was funny that a Pokemon known for its steel type had a grass-type move that was more powerful than any other moves.
After the battle was over, Axel looked at the damage. None of them were seriously injured. It looked like the Cofagrigus didn't have much time to put them inside the coffin. Otherwise, they would have dissolved into nothing but bones.
But they seemed to have sucked a lot of the team's energy. They looked tired and weak. Axel looked at Pawniard, and it looked okay. It was just exhausted.
"Now, who is going to explain to me why we were attacked? Who was guarding at that time?", asked Axel.
All of the Primeapes had their head down. It turned out that since they were taking a smaller amount of medicine for 'Vital spirit', when Cofagrigus used 'Hypnosis' on them, it was highly effective against them, and they instantly fell asleep.
SMACK!! SMACK!!! SMACK!!!
Axel smacked all of their heads.
"How irresponsible could you guys be? If you were feeling tired or sleepy, then you should have changed positions. Once we get to the tribe, all of you will be punished, and if this happens again, I will select other Primeapes in the tribe to train."
This was a serious breach of trust. Axel had to be serious with them. If these Primeapes took this mistake casually, then it would negatively impact Axel and the team in the future.
The Primeapes were scared after hearing Axel. Since they began training under Axel, they had realized that they had become exceptionally strong in a remarkably short time. They would not let this chance go away.
"Now, tend to the wounds. We will resume our journey tomorrow. Pawniard, make sure that you are in top condition for tomorrow's fight.
###
The next day,
Axel and the team decided to delay their arrival, and Pawniard had not fully healed. Pawniard didn't want to show its weak side to the Bisharp tribe. So, they agreed to wait for some time till it was fully ready to battle them.
Finally, they reached the tribe late afternoon. The tribe had been in a state of construction before, but now it looked fully built. There was a big wooden wall that was higher than Primeape's tribe.
"PAWN… PAWNIARD!!!!"
With its chest and head held high, it gave a loud shout to announce its presence. Finally, the door was opened, and they walked inside.
The place looked different than before. Those unique structures seemed to have been entirely built, and everyone was staring at them. All of them knew why they were here. They had come to challenge again.
After some time, all of them gathered as the king rank Bisharp came and asked, "So, you have come to challenge again. Are you sure about this?"
Pawniard nodded its head with confidence.
All the Pawniard stood in a particular direction as Bisharp turned and asked Axel's Pawniard, "So, who do you choose to battle?"
Pawniard chose the same one that it had fought and lost before. Bisharp gave an approving nod.
'At least the kid has its pride.'
All of them silently followed Bisharp to the training ground. There were some whispers here and there. All of them looked excited for the battle. Was their friend going to hold their prestige once again, or would they lose this time?
While others were curious about the result, Axel knew who would win this time.
"Pawniard, show them the result of our training."
---
A/N: There are more than 60+ advanced chapters in pa-treon along with two new side stories of the novel. If you are interested in reading more and getting ahead in the story, subscribe to my pa-treon channel.
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