At this moment, in the southeastern territory, the Oddish were conducting a thorough carpet search for the presence of the magic beast hunters.
After informing Sutter and Peter in Fruitvale Village, Matthew immediately set out again with his Mightyena and Crobat to continue the search.
His Mightyena had already memorized the scent of Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀, and as long as they came within a certain range, it could detect them.
Meanwhile, Crobat, with its ultrasonic detection ability, could scout the terrain from the sky—even places that were difficult for humans to reach could be explored.
"Nothing here either? Where could they be hiding?" Matthew frowned. He had basically searched all the nearby abandoned villages.
However, since the enemy's target was Fruitvale Village, they were certainly still within this territory. Moreover, given their limited knowledge of the Nido royal family's situation, they wouldn't dare leave the area.
Elsewhere in the territory, No. 7 was dashing across the marshland, constantly sensing something as it ran.
As it passed a barren area, it suddenly came to a halt. In its perception, a faint green glow had appeared.
"Odd-dish~"
Oddish's eyes lit up.
It cautiously ran toward the source of the green glow it had sensed. When it reached the edge of the marshland, it suddenly stopped and picked up a grass seed from the ground.
This seed was still very fresh—it had clearly been scattered by itself!
Bathed in the moonlight, Oddish would scatter grass seeds as it ran. Aside from planting them, the seeds also served as markers.
Even after being scattered, Oddish could still sense them. As long as it followed the trail of seeds, it would never lose its way.
During the earlier search, it had tracked its own seed's scent to this place, and sure enough, it found another fresh one in this marshland.
Now came the real question: it normally lived in the Black Forest and had never been to this marshland before. So why had its seeds appeared here—especially fresh ones?
A quick deduction revealed the answer: someone had brought its seeds here.
Moreover, since its latest seeds were all scattered along the road leading to the Nidoking's valley, the person who brought its seeds here must have passed along that route!
"Odd~"
With that, Oddish continued to follow the direction of the seeds.
Along the way, it discovered another fresh seed, which confirmed its deduction.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
As Oddish moved forward, it suddenly heard the sound of wind.
Looking up, it immediately saw Crobat flying overhead, using ultrasound to continuously scan the terrain.
"Odd-dish~"
Seeing Crobat, Oddish's eyes lit up.
It immediately began gathering energy and used the move Moonblast to attract Crobat's attention.
Sure enough, when Crobat saw the light radiating from the ground, it quickly descended and recognized No. 7. The two Pokémon began to communicate.
Upon learning that Oddish had found the enemy's location, Crobat's eyes gleamed. It swiftly took off, intending to bring its trainer over.
It didn't take long before Matthew arrived riding his Mightyena.
"Oddish, what did you find?"
"Odd-dish~"
Oddish nodded excitedly and raised a grass seed in its hand.
"A grass seed? You mean those hunters got some of your seeds stuck to them?" Matthew's eyes lit up.
After receiving Oddish's firm confirmation, Matthew made a snap decision. He took Oddish with him and rode Mightyena toward the direction Oddish had sensed, with Crobat flying closely behind.
....
In the Black Coast Forest, two magic beast hunters were cautiously hiding in a swampy area.
Each hunter was accompanied by a Skuntank. Their Poison-type attributes made them completely immune to the toxins in the swamp.
On the backs of the two Skuntank were iron cages, each containing a Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀.
"Nido-nido~"
The two Pokémon were heavily wounded and barely alive.
If not for the fact that the live Nidoran could continue to lure out the Nidoking tribe, the beast hunters would have killed them already.
"Quinn, when are we getting out of here?"
The magic beast hunter who had been stationed in the Black Coast Forest as backup asked, his face grave after seeing the captured magic beast.
"Not yet. Although the Nidoking tribe are rulers in the Black Forest…"
"…invading from Nidoking's Valley into the southeastern territory will still take some time."
Quinn glanced at the Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ in the cages and shook his head slightly. This mission had been issued personally by the Iron-Blooded Marquis. He had to see it through to perfection.
Thinking this, he took out a bottle of healing potion and used a wooden stick to feed it to the two injured magic beast in the cages.
As he looked at the wooden bottle in his hand, he noticed with some surprise that it was a healing potion from Fruitvale Village.
He was briefly stunned.
Come to think of it, that apothecary named Aven really was a genius. Ever since he created his new healing formula, potion prices had dropped significantly.
One of Quinn's apothecary friends had even complained that with the prices now so low, using traditional methods barely yielded enough profit to cover the cost.
As a result, most of the potions on the market nowadays came from Fruitvale Village. He had bought this one from their apothecary shop in Aspiration City. Besides healing potions, they sold many other useful ones as well.
Rustle rustle rustle—
Just as Quinn was reflecting, a faint sound of rustling grass echoed nearby.
To an ordinary person, it would seem like nothing more than a breeze. But the two hunters were experienced—they immediately became alert.
They quickly hid beneath a tree beside the swamp and cautiously scanned the surroundings through the gaps in the foliage.
Soon, they saw an Oddish emerge from the underbrush, scatter a handful of seeds, and continue running without stopping.
"Just an Oddish."
One of the hunters sighed in relief. Oddish were far too common in the Black Forest.
"…That Oddish is suspicious!"
But at that moment, Quinn's expression suddenly sharpened.
He quickly stood up to warn his companion, but before he could say a word, he saw a wave of light blue mist surging toward them.
It came so fast that it reached them almost instantly.
Upon closer look, they realized it wasn't mist—it was a massive cloud of fine light blue powder. It only appeared misty because of its sheer density!
"Sleep Powder!"
As that thought crossed his mind, an overwhelming drowsiness struck.
Quinn reacted quickly and immediately drank a bottle of Awakening Potion.
After consuming it, he felt slightly better and turned to look at his companion. To his dismay, his fellow hunter and both Skuntank had already fallen asleep!
"Damn it, we've been found!"
Quinn's expression darkened. He knew at once that the pursuers from Fruitvale Village had arrived.
He had expected they'd be found eventually, but not this soon. He'd planned to kill the Nidoran once morning arrived and make his escape.
Now that they were discovered early, a savage glint flashed in his eyes. He drew a dagger and lunged at the Nidoran♂ in the cage.
Since they'd already been found, he might as well kill the beast now. As long as the Nidoking tribe went on a rampage in the southeastern territory, his mission would still be considered a success.
But just as the blade was about to stab the Nidoran, a pink energy orb suddenly blasted out from a nearby bush.
Caught off guard, Quinn was struck directly in the waist by the powerful attack. His body was flung through the air and slammed into a tree.
Boom!
The entire tree shook.
Quinn fell to the ground beneath it, coughing up blood. He glared hatefully at the bush and saw an Oddish emerge. It had been the one that launched the attack.
"Odd-dish~"
No. 7 emerged from the underbrush and, upon seeing the two Nidoran in the cage, breathed a sigh of relief.
Thanks to its ability to sense the grass seeds, it had tracked the magic beast hunters' route, but even then, the search through the vast Black Forest had been difficult.
Fortunately, Crobat's ultrasonic detection helped them locate the two hunters in this huge forest.
To avoid a desperate counterattack, Matthew had instructed Oddish to infiltrate first and protect the Nidoran.
The plan went perfectly. Using the Sleep Powder supplied by the village's Gloom, the magic beast hunters and their Pokémon were put to sleep.
The one who tried to kill the Nidoran was stopped in time by Oddish's Moonblast, securing their victory.
(End of Chapter)