Chapter 121: So Fast You Can't See!
Walking through the forest, Ryu felt a sense of peace. It was a stark contrast to the constant tension of survival on Mt. Silver.
"Meow~" Sprigatito sang the sea shanties she had learned from Tom and Corphish.
Whoosh whoosh.
A rustling sound came from the grass, and five Sentret ran out. They immediately stood on their tails and held hands, trying to look intimidating. Even so, they only reached his belly.
"Hey, just passing through," Ryu grinned and continued on his way. The Sentret, seeing he wasn't a threat, breathed a sigh of relief. But then they saw the baby Sprigatito in his backpack. One of them ran up and tugged on his tail.
"What? Want to fight?" Ryu asked, a hopeful look on his face.
"Sentret!" The little Pokémon quickly shook its head and ran into the grass with its friends, returning a moment later with small handfuls of berries as a gift for the baby.
"Haha, thank you," Ryu chuckled, taking two for Sprigatito before waving goodbye.
As he walked, he noticed scratches on the trees, clearly left by humans as trail markers. 'Following these should lead to Azalea Town,' he thought.
"Hiss!" An angry voice suddenly sounded from above. On a spider web sat a huge Ariados, clearly woken up by Sprigatito's incessant singing.
"See? You woke someone up," Ryu scolded.
"Meow..." Sprigatito apologized tearfully.
The Ariados, seeing she was just a baby, simply waved an arm, signaling for them to leave its territory. In the Alliance Era, most Pokémon were surprisingly friendly.
However, that thought was quickly proven wrong. A few dozen steps later, they encountered another Ariados. This one was a robber.
"Hiss!" it threatened, demanding Ryu leave his backpack, the green box, and Sprigatito.
"...You've got some nerve," Ryu was stunned for a moment, then felt it was a good time to stretch his limbs.
He placed Sprigatito safely under a tree. "Stay here and watch carefully," he told her. "Don't call me 'mom,' I'm male. You have to call me 'Master' from now on!"
"Meow~" she replied, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Alright, come on," Ryu beckoned to the Ariados.
His opponent was at least Lv. 22, and with a massive type advantage. An ordinary Grovyle would be finished. But Ryu was no ordinary Grovyle.
The Ariados attacked first, spitting a [String Shot]. Ryu, unsurprised, pinched a leaf from his arm and threw it, the [Razor Leaf] slicing through the silk. The Ariados leaped onto its web to dodge, but when it looked down again, Ryu was a green blur, leaving a white arc of [Quick Attack] behind him as he zipped between the trees.
The Ariados was startled by his speed. Before it could react, Ryu had leaped in front of it, grabbed it, and [Slam]med it hard onto the ground. As it struggled to get up, he hit it again with a [Hone Claws]-boosted [Take Down].
By the time it finally climbed to its feet, Ryu was gone again.
"Meow~" Sprigatito's excited cry rang out. The Ariados followed her adoring gaze and looked up—right as Ryu's [Pound], enhanced by Hone Claws, came crashing down on its head. It rolled its eyes and fainted.
'Just evolved recently?' Ryu thought, looking at the defeated Pokémon. The battle had been won relying solely on his natural Grovyle speed and agility within the forest.
"How about it? Is Master amazing?"
"Meow!" So fast you can't see!
"Stay put," he said, suppressing her excitement. "We should be arriving soon."
Five minutes later, he heard the familiar cry: "Slow~"
He had reached the Slowpoke Well.
[Inorin Note:
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