Since Poipole's body was full of venom, coming into the real world allowed it to absorb toxins directly.
As it steadily took in the poison, its experience points kept rising.
Maybe the toxicity on the Dark Continent was especially potent because Poipole was leveling up incredibly fast.
In just about thirty seconds, it jumped from B- rank to solid B, then kept advancing.
The speed of its growth stunned everyone watching.
"Huh?"
Poipole looked genuinely happy, and Larry could easily sense its contentment.
It was clear that Poipole found the poison in this purple forest quite satisfying.
Its absorption ability is passive, allowing it to move freely while soaking up toxins.
It doesn't even need to open its mouth to "eat" the poison; instead, the toxin attaches to it through a kind of mental pull before being absorbed.
In this forest, poison is the scarcest resource, and the purple leaves constantly release toxins, providing a steady supply for Poipole to keep growing stronger.
Suddenly, Poipole spun in mid-air, head down, and landed on the ground using its poison needle like a pen, drawing lines on the soft soil.
Soon, a vivid portrait appeared before Larry.
"It's me and my master, meow," Meowth said, scratching his head in surprise as he looked at the painting.
Although it was drawn on the ground and some details weren't perfect, it didn't spectral thief Poipole's impressive artistic talent.
In the center of the picture stood Larry, smiling, with Meowth by his side.
Floating happily on Larry's left shoulder was Poipole, beaming just like in real life.
"Poipole is really amazing," Larry said with a smile, gently touching its face.
The smile on Poipole's face grew even brighter.
Its skin had a metallic, slightly reflective quality, but it felt warm and inviting to the touch, not cold or harsh like metal.
"Well, you're really good at painting too, Meowth," Larry added.
Meowth put his hands on his hips, closed his eyes, and nodded, clearly proud to acknowledge Poipole's skill.
Noticing Larry petting Poipole, Meowth quickly chimed in, "Actually, Meowth can draw too. Meowth wants a pat on the head, Meowth."
"Alright, alright," Larry chuckled, now busy with both hands, one rubbing Poipole, the other gently petting Meowth.
Still, Poipole felt better at the moment since Meowth was still wearing his safety suit and couldn't feel the softness of his fur.
Those were just two Pokemon out of the team.
Larry had no doubt that if he released a few more, they'd all look at him with big, trusting eyes, inviting him to pet them too.
'Wouldn't they?'
It seemed clear that he had released more than one Pokemon.
Thinking this, Larry glanced up at the shade of the tree above, spotting a small shadow perched on a branch.
The creature was still looking at him for a moment, as if it had noticed Larry's gaze, before quickly turning its head away, clearly pretending it hadn't seen anything and had no intention of being petted.
"Come down, let me pet you too," Larry said with a light laugh, finding the little tree owl's behavior amusing.
Upon hearing Larry's words, the shadow, the tree owl, shifted slightly and immediately moved.
It stepped out from the shade on the tree, leaving behind its shadowy form and revealing its usual appearance.
It was a charming and attractive big bird, wearing a joyful expression as it spread its wings and embraced Larry.
Quietly, Larry placed his hands on the owl's head.
The first thing he noticed was how soft it felt, followed by a comforting warmth.
Unlike the light, delicate touch you'd expect from a bird, the owl's head was thick and full of warmth.
It seemed that every starter Pokemon shared this trait, their initial forms were all quite cute.
Larry thought the tree owl's first form, the wooden owl, was among the cuter starter Pokemon.
Fortunately, even though its final form wasn't as adorable, it made up for it with a handsome appearance, unlike some that ended up looking like Venusaur.
Ging, who had been focused on the parasite in his hand, shifted his attention to look at Larry, who was now "surrounded."
The bond between Larry and his nen best was something Ging noticed was different from other nen best-type users.
They had a closer connection; Larry treated each nen best as a living being.
Maybe that was part of why he was so successful.
After a while, everyone finished gathering their materials.
They had collected a pile of extremely hard bones, along with some parasites wrapped in a sticky substance.
Compared to the scattered rotten meat, these items were definitely more valuable.
The parasites and sticky matter were mainly for research purposes, while the bones held real worth.
Then, a space channel opened, and all the collected items were dropped into it.
Larry nodded, and once everyone had adjusted their status, he said, "Let's keep moving!"
With that, figures flashed past one after another, disappearing from sight as they followed Larry's lead.
Unlike before, a floating poisonous creature hovered beside him, constantly absorbing toxins.
This experience made everyone truly understand what Beyond had said earlier: it's best not to interfere too much with the natural laws of the Dark Continent.
The simplest example is the food chain.
Humans are completely foreign to this ecosystem, at least, humans from the six continents are.
When faced with the long-established food chain of the Dark Continent, the safest approach is to stay clear and avoid meddling.
Today's encounter with the purple bees and parasites clearly showed this.
They are prime examples of the forest's food chain.
However, this cautious approach was chosen for safety's sake.
If they were seeking more of a challenge, they might make different decisions.
After some time, Larry and his group finally reached the very center of the purple forest.
They quietly hid behind bushes and trees, carefully observing what lay ahead.
In this central area, a large group of purple bees lived, close to a hundred of them, counting not only the ones flying around but also the immature bees hanging from the trees.
These young ones were wrapped in purple shells, resembling iron cocoon pupae.
The largest trees in the entire forest had been turned into hives.
The entrance to one cave was as big as a small house, with purple bees constantly flying in and out.
At that moment, Larry suddenly realized something: since these were bee-like creatures, could there be honey inside?
While he was thinking this through, everyone else was quietly taking in the size of the purple bees, holding their breath in awe.
Noticing their reactions, Larry hesitated for a moment, then signaled for the group to go around the bees instead of confronting them head-on.
Another important reason for this was that Larry had no intention of attacking the purple bees, they probably held some other valuable purpose.