Normally, a Nidoking's cub wouldn't make it to Fruitvale Village on its own.
Which meant the answer was obvious—someone stole a Nidoking's cub and brought it to Fruitvale Village, deliberately luring the Nidoking tribe to attack!
"The Gilded Fang Guild—it must be them!"
"All these years, they've done this kind of thing plenty of times. I should've suspected it earlier."
"We executed one of their hunters publicly. Of course they'd look for a chance to retaliate!"
Matthew snorted coldly. At this point, he had completely regarded himself as one of the people of Fruitvale Village. Just thinking about the despicable behavior of the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild filled him with disgust.
Back then, he had left the Ironblood Fortress precisely because he couldn't stand the way they did things. At heart, he was still a true knight with proper knightly values.
"Now we can basically confirm that the Nidoking cub is definitely within the boundaries of Fruitvale Village."
"What we need to do now is find that cub as quickly as possible—only then can we calm the rage of the Nidokings."
"In addition, we must prepare for battle. If we can't find the cub, we'll have to fight them head-on and drive them back!"
Upon hearing Aven's command, Matthew nodded quickly. "Lord Aven, please leave the task of finding the Nidoking cub to me."
As a magical beast hunter, he was confident in his ability to track magical beasts. Whether it was Crobat's ultrasonic detection or Mightyena's keen sense of smell, both were highly effective tools for searching.
"Very well, I'll leave this task to you. I'll have the Mightyenas cooperate with you."
"Also, this Moon Stone was previously played with by Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀. Let the Mightyenas memorize its scent."
Aven nodded and pointed to the Moon Stone on the ground. He had a strong hunch that the ones who took it were likely those two mischievous little Pokémon.
The situation was urgent, so Matthew nodded immediately. After letting the Mightyenas memorize the Moon Stone's scent, he quickly departed with the Mightyenas and Crobat, heading toward Fruitvale Village.
The Safari zone was now fully under their control—it was impossible for the enemy to have sneaked into it.
Judging by the timeline, they had left the Nidoking Valley in the afternoon, and the Nidoking tribe hadn't shown any abnormalities back then.
Therefore, this incident must have occurred sometime after they left. Given the distance between Nidoking Valley and the Safari area, those hunters could not have entered Fruitvale Village territory more than three hours ago.
If they had entered stealthily, they would have moved even slower. That meant the magical beast hunters likely hadn't made it into Fruitvale Village yet.
This allowed them to narrow the search area even further—they only needed to focus their search between Stonefall Village and Fruitvale Village.
Moreover, most of the land in the southeastern part of Aspiration City's territory was wasteland, and there weren't many good hiding places for beast hunters. That's why Matthew's first thought was the seven villages besides Stonefall and Fruitvale.
"This is my first mission since joining the territory. I must complete it flawlessly!" Matthew thought to himself.
Crobat was one of the fastest among all Pokémon. With its two pairs of wings flapping rapidly, Matthew and Crobat's silhouettes quickly vanished from Aven's sight.
…
"Vileplume, you won't be participating in this upcoming battle."
"You and your Oddishs should also join the search. Have them comb the area thoroughly—leave no place unchecked!"
Watching Matthew depart, Aven turned to Vileplume and gave his orders. While the Oddish corps had excellent combat strength, most of their main force was stationed in Fruitvale Village.
Compared to fighting the Nidoking tribe, finding the missing Nidoking cub was the higher priority. The Oddishs could travel quickly at night, making them ideal for the task.
With thousands of Oddishs conducting a grid-style search, Aven believed it wouldn't take long to locate the missing cub. That was the best way to defuse the crisis.
"Plume!" "Mission guaranteed!"
Vileplume, always obedient to Aven, quickly dashed off to gather its Oddish army.
Under the white moonlight, thousands of Oddishs gathered on the grassy plains, their figures swaying in the breeze as they danced the graceful Moonlight Dance.
It was an awe-inspiring sight—so many Oddishs bathing in the moonlight and dancing in unison.
After receiving their leader's orders, the Oddishs immediately sprang into action, scattering in all directions like dandelions blown by the wind.
"Odd-dish~"
In Aven's arms, Oddish #7 also cried out.
At this moment, its mind couldn't help but recall the sight of Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ back in the valley. It clearly wanted to join the search too.
Although it knew this incident likely wasn't caused by the Moon Stone, it still felt uneasy.
Deep down, it felt that if it hadn't taken the Moon Stone, Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ might not have ended up in danger. Only by finding them quickly would it feel at ease.
"Alright, I'll leave the task of finding them to you too." Aven nodded.
Hearing this, No. 7 quickly jumped from Aven's arms, looked up at the moon, and disappeared into the night.
"Next comes the battle against the Nidoking tribe."
According to Crobat's reconnaissance, the Nidoking tribe consisted of 3 Nidokings, 14 Nidoqueens, and around a hundred Nidorinos and Nidorinas.
There were even more Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀—the total number of the tribe exceeded 500.
Although their numbers weren't enormous, each Nido-line Pokémon had strong individual combat power, making the tribe's overall strength formidable. Each one could take on multiple enemies.
Some of the Nidoqueens and Nidokings were close to advanced-level magical beasts, and a few may have already reached that level!
And the leader of the Nidoking tribe was near the King-tier level. It was the strongest member of the entire tribe and could probably take on hundreds of opponents by itself.
It was exactly because of this quasi-King-level Nidoking that the relatively small tribe had become the overlords of the Black Forest. No other tribe dared to provoke them.
"Quasi-King-level combat power…"
Aven felt a headache coming on. In the Master League of the future world, Pokémon of this level would already be eligible to compete.
Compared to Gym-level Pokémon, quasi-Master-level Pokémon were in a completely different league, with a massive gap in power.
Among his own Pokémon, unless Froslass used her Ghost-type powers, none of them could deal with a quasi-King-level foe.
Of course, he could always rely on a "numbers" tactic and brute force his way through—but the cost of such a victory would be steep.
"It looks like I'll have to make up for the power gap with strategy."
Aven glanced over at the Pokémon gathered on the field. Aside from the Mightyenas, most of his core battle force was here.
If they all worked together and coordinated properly, they still had a chance. He had to plan carefully—this was the time to show what a real Trainer was made of!
"RHYYY!"
Rhydon was the most excited upon hearing there would be a battle. It roared loudly, eager to join the fight.
"Don't worry—you'll definitely be part of this battle." Aven nodded slightly.
Then he turned to Bibarel. "Bibarel, I'm counting on you and your team in this upcoming fight."
"Biii!"
Bibarel wagged its tail, indicating it had no problem with that.
This Pokémon breeding house was their home—they would definitely protect it with everything they had!
"Yes, this is our home, together."
Aven nodded firmly. Though Bibarels normally didn't like to fight, protecting their home was a completely different matter.
When danger threatens one's homeland, even retired soldiers will pick up their weapons again to defend it!
Then, the Bibarel leader leapt into the nearby river, swimming toward Lake Bibarel to gather its kin and prepare for battle.
Watching the leader depart, Aven also led his Pokémon north toward the Black Forest and summoned every Pokémon from the breeding area who could participate in the battle.
"TORRR~"
By the time Aven arrived at the edge of the Black Forest, Torterra had already assembled its entire Grass-type group.
Since the Black Forest wasn't suitable for large-scale battles, Aven had Torterra call the forest Pokémon out to the open plains to set up their battle lines and await the Nidoking tribe's arrival.
Not long after, the Bibarel leader arrived with its entire clan.
Nearly 1,000 Bibarels and 2,000 Bidoofs—well-trained under the knights' guidance—assembled in formation. Their momentum was astounding.
Seeing this, Aven finally felt a bit more relieved. With the Bibarel army as a solid backbone, even if they had to pay a price, the Nidoking tribe would not step a single foot into his territory!
Of course, it would be best if they could resolve things through direct negotiation. Otherwise, a full-blown battle would cause significant losses on both sides.
(End of Chapter)