After dealing with the group of Venipede, Whirlipede, and Scolipede, Yuga and his group moved on to take down the last of the lord of the grassland's military camps. That final camp also housed two Pokémon group—one consisting of Scraggy and Scrafty, and the other made up of Pawniard and Bisharp, although they weren't the same group as the ones seen earlier.
Compared to the previous group, these two were significantly smaller in size. Although they were fairly strong overall, Yuga and the others didn't have to put in much effort to subdue them.
Once the last camp was taken care of, Yuga and the others decisively retreated to the base camp of the Pioneer Army.
General Toyama had already heard about Yuga's operation from General Yukishiro and the others, who had returned earlier. So when Yuga and his group came back, they saw General Toyama from a distance, standing outside the camp eagerly looking out for them.
Seeing Yuga, General Leo, and General Chiba returning safe and sound, General Toyama immediately rushed over and asked, "Well? Everything went smoothly?"
General Chiba was the happiest of all. With a big grin, he ran forward and wrapped his arm around General Toyama's shoulders and said, "Of course everything went well. We're all perfectly fine—thanks to Mr. Shimizu, you wouldn't believe it…"
Excited, General Chiba began recounting the entire operation to General Toyama. When he got to the thrilling parts, he couldn't help but act them out with lively gestures, making everyone around burst into laughter. The atmosphere was incredibly joyful.
That evening, General Toyama hosted a celebration banquet at the camp in honor of Yuga and the returning soldiers. The event celebrated how they had successfully shattered most of the lord of the grassland's forces, greatly reducing the pressure on the Pioneer Army.
Although General Damov and the others had not yet regained consciousness, the Army' Pokémon medics were already working hard to study the materials Yuga had asked General Yukishiro to bring back.
The Pokémon doctors of the Pioneer Army were highly skilled. According to General Toyama, the doctors had already started making some progress and might soon be able to help General Damov and the others return to normal.
After the banquet, Yuga, under General Toyama's arrangement, went to rest. Everyone was utterly exhausted after traveling and battling across the prairie for so long.
However, Yuga still got up early the next morning, because according to the agreement he had made with General Leo and the others, he would get first pick of the Pokémon they had brought back.
So, early in the morning, Yuga went to the storage area where the Pokémon were being kept to make his selections.
The Pokémon they brought back this time included group of Jellicent, Simipour, Scolipede, Scrafty, and Bisharp.
Yuga picked out the Pokémon with the best potential from each group, focusing mainly on those with yellow potential, followed by green. There were a few with blue potential as well, but the total number didn't exceed ten.
In the Scolipede group, Yuga selected a few more with yellow aptitude than usual, as he still had a system task related to them.
One key point was that Yuga didn't choose many of the higher-level adult Pokémon. These Pokémon already had set personalities and values, and since they had grown up in the wild, managing them would be difficult and time-consuming.
As the number of Pokémon in the Ecopark kept increasing, managing them became harder and harder. Most of the burden had already fallen on Duoduo, so Yuga figured it was best not to increase the workload too much.
After all, it was one thing for him to be a hands-off boss, but he couldn't go around exploiting his employees too harshly.
Even though Duoduo had support from plenty of Blissey, Chansey, Miltank, and Audino, it was naturally a hardworking type and couldn't help but worry about everything.
Unless something unexpected happened, those high-level Pokémon would be sent by the League to become breeding Pokémon—and very likely for artificial breeding. The lower-level Pokémon would be scattered and released elsewhere.
The League wouldn't send these low-level Pokémon off to some foreign region. Instead, they would still be released within this general area—just not on the grassland side, but within the defense perimeter of the Pioneer Army.
All the high-level Pokémon inside the Army' defensive line had already been cleared out, making it a suitable environment for those low-level Pokémon to survive.
After selecting the Pokémon, Yuga left happily.
At the same time, at the entrance of the labyrinth cave, the lord of the grassland, who had waited another night, awoke from sleep. It looked at a Bisharp guarding the entrance and asked, "Was there anything unusual last night?"
Bisharp shook its head.
The lord of the grassland looked impatiently at the cavern: "Why haven't they come out yet? Could they really be trapped inside?"
Just then, a flock of Mandibuzz flew across the sky. They were merely passing by, but upon spotting the lord of the grassland, they suddenly stopped.
One particularly large Mandibuzz flew out from the group and cawed at the lord of the grassland several times, the tone laced with a hint of mockery.
Upon hearing what the Mandibuzz leader said, the lord of the grassland's face instantly changed. It immediately summoned its subordinates and rushed away from the labyrinth cave in a hurry.
The flock of Mandibuzz flew off again with a great flutter. Before leaving, the Mandibuzz leader glanced at the lord of the grassland's hurried figure, its call filled with schadenfreude.
It turned out that what the Mandibuzz had just told the lord of the grassland was the news that humans had already taken down its army.
When Yuga and the others attacked the lord of the grassland's forces, quite a few Pokémon had watched from afar—and the Mandibuzz group was among them.
Originally, they hadn't planned on tattling. But now that the outcome was already decided, the Mandibuzz leader suddenly felt that watching the lord of the grassland make a fool of itself was an amusing way to pass the time.
The lord of the grassland rushed in panic to its army's camp, heading first to the lake where the Jellicent and Simipour group had been stationed.
There wasn't much change at the lake despite those two group being gone. The Swanna still played leisurely on the water, and from time to time, a Basculin or Alomomola would leap from the surface.
The lord of the grassland stood by the lake shouting for quite some time but received no response. Some of the Pokémon living by the lake couldn't help but start chuckling.
They had seen it all yesterday—how the Jellicent and Simipour group had been completely wiped out.
Feeling deeply uneasy, the lord of the grassland looked toward the Swanna leader, who was teasing a Ducklett, and asked, "Where are my Jellicent and Simipour armies?"
The Swanna leader responded calmly, "The humans took them."
The lord of the grassland nearly exploded with rage: "You just stood there and watched them get captured?"
The Swanna leader answered with an innocent look, "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Couldn't you have stopped them?"
"Why would I stop them?"
Aren't we all Pokémon? Shouldn't we be united against outsiders?
The lord of the grassland really wanted to shout this at the Swanna leader, but it knew the Swanna leader would only feign ignorance, so it could only leave angrily with its subordinates.
Next, it visited the camps of the Scolipede, Scrafty, and Bisharp group. The situation was the same at all of them. The lord of the grassland felt like it was about to faint.
"Humans! I will never forgive you!"
The lord of the grassland's furious roar echoed across the skies.
Watching the lord of the grassland rage in helpless fury, the Mienshao leader thought to itself: This isn't going to work… doesn't seem like there's much of a future following this guy…
Blinded by rage, the lord of the grassland didn't even stop to think and went straight to seek out the Emboar.
When it found the Emboar, the latter was lost in thought at home, pondering the mysterious phenomenon caused by Dragonite's recent breakthrough.
It turned out that the Emboar was a master-level Pokémon just one step away from level 100. For many years, it had been searching for a way to break through to that level but hadn't found any clue.
Many years ago, the Emboar had crossed the grassland to reach the snowy mountains beyond. There, it encountered a Haxorus—one whose overwhelming strength was still seared into its memory.
They hadn't fought, but just a single glance from that Haxorus had shaken the Emboar to its core.
The unusual phenomenon triggered by Dragonite's breakthrough made Emboar feel as if it had glimpsed a hope of achieving its own breakthrough, which was why it had been so absentminded lately.
The reason the lord of the grassland was able to persuade the Emboar to let it use its name was precisely because it told Emboar that the humans possessed something that could help it break through.
Of course, Emboar was skeptical of the lord of the grassland's claim, so it merely offered nominal support and didn't put much of its strength into aiding the lord of the grassland.
When Emboar saw the lord of the grassland arrive, it felt a bit annoyed, thinking this guy was getting too pushy. But the words the lord of the grassland said next made it swallow the scolding it was about to utter.
The lord of the grassland told Emboar that if it helped take down the Pioneer Army's stronghold, it would reveal the secret the humans had that could help Emboar break through.
That's right—blinded by fury, the lord of the grassland had decided to use Emboar's strength to completely wipe out the Pioneer Army.
As for that so-called thing that could help Emboar break through—it had just made that up on the spot. But what did it matter? By the time Emboar realized it had been lied to, the lord of the grassland's goal would already be achieved.
So why did the lord of the grassland harbor such hatred for the Pioneer Army? This had to be traced back over twenty years ago.
The lord of the grassland had always lived alone on the border between the grassland and the forest. Back then, the Pioneer Army's base was still outside that boundary, and humans and wild Pokémon were, for the most part, coexisting peacefully.
Later, the lord of the grassland gave birth to a child. It's difficult for high-level Pokémon to reproduce, so it was very protective of its offspring.
One day, it went out to forage, leaving its child safe in the nest. But when it returned, the child was gone, and it was frantic with worry.
The lord of the grassland was a single mother. The child's father had left shortly after the birth, and where he went, she neither knew nor cared.
Following the child's scent, the lord of the grassland found a human—wearing the uniform of the Pioneer Army—and her child was lying at the human's feet, already motionless.
It turned out the man had unintentionally discovered the lord of the grassland's nest and, upon seeing the child, wanted to take it away and raise it as his own.
The lord of the grassland was a rare species, and so was her child, which was why the man had such thoughts.
But the child had just been born and was deeply attached to its mother. It was unwilling to leave, struggled fiercely, and halfway through the journey, the man accidentally caused the still-fragile baby to die.
Upon seeing the lifeless body of her child, the lord of the grassland went mad on the spot and ferociously attacked the man. The man was no match for her and was ultimately killed.
But that didn't ease the lord of the grassland's grief and rage. From then on, it bore a deep grudge against the Pioneer Army.
In the twenty-plus years that followed, the lord of the grassland never had another child. Instead, it began a plan for revenge, secretly building its own force across the forest and grassland.
Back then, the lord of the grassland wasn't as powerful as it is now. It knew it would certainly lose if it clashed with the Pioneer Army directly, so it remained dormant and restrained.
But perhaps due to the overwhelming grief of losing her child, the lord of the grassland's personality changed dramatically. Her methods became extremely cold and ruthless, causing many Pokémon under her to feel discontent in secret.
Its title as the "lord of the grassland" slowly accumulated in that way.
It wasn't until recently that the lord of the grassland finally felt the time was ripe and her power was ready—so she began her revenge.
Unfortunately, the attack failed at the last moment. Not only did it lose many of its subordinates, but it was also driven back onto the grassland. Unwilling to accept this, it then sought out the Emboar.
And now, the hard-earned force it had gathered had once again been destroyed by humans, pushing it once more into madness.
Yuga rested at the Pioneer Army's base for a day. He planned to return to the mission site early the next morning. But in the middle of the night, he was suddenly awakened by a burst of commotion.
He opened the door and looked outside, only to see towering flames rising at the edge of the base.
"What's going on?"
Yuga grabbed a soldier who was hurrying past his door and asked.
The soldier, dripping with sweat, exclaimed, "It's bad, Mr. Shimizu! The lord of the grassland has brought its army and is attacking!"
Yuga was extremely surprised. They had just taken out the lord of the grassland's army—how could it be attacking now?
He quickly rushed back into the house, threw on his clothes in a flash, mounted Dragonite, and flew at full speed toward the edge of the base.
From afar, he could already see General Yukishiro and General Chiba engaging in battle with a Pokémon.
...
[ Arcanine ]
Type: Fire
Ability: Intimidate
Gender: Female
Aptitude: Indigo
Level: 89
Moves: Bite, Ember, Odor Sleuth, Flame Wheel, Reversal, Fire Fang, Take Down, Flare Blitz, Agility, Retaliate, Flamethrower, Crunch, Heat Wave, Flare Blitz, Outrage, Extreme Speed, Roar, Sunny Day, Hyper Beam, Solar Beam, Double Team, Fire Blast, Flame Charge, Overheat, Wild Charge, Boomburst.
...
This was the lord of the grassland!
The lord of the grassland fought with extreme ferocity—General Yukishiro and General Chiba were being beaten back again and again.
In the past, the one who usually held the lord of the grassland in check was General Damov, but General Damov was still unconscious at the moment.
In addition to that, countless Pawniards, Bisharps, Mienshaos, and Mienfoos were battling fiercely with the soldiers.
Yuga was just about to step in and help, when he suddenly heard General Yukishiro shout, "Mr. Shimizu, go help Uncle Leo and Toyama!"
As she spoke, she pointed Yuga in the direction.
General Yukishiro's tone was extremely urgent—it was clear that things were even worse on General Leo and General Toyama's side.
Yuga didn't hesitate. He took out a Poké Ball and released Absol, then said to it, "Go help General Yukishiro and the others."
"Absol!"
Absol responded with a loud cry and leapt into action.
Yuga rode Dragonite and flew in the direction General Yukishiro had indicated. As he flew, he suddenly felt something was off—because the scenery in front of him had changed. It had turned into Verdanturf City, right in front of the YoYo Day Care's entrance.
Yuga sensed that something was wrong, but his mind became very sluggish, and he couldn't articulate exactly what was wrong.
At that moment, Mismagius appeared by Yuga's side.