Akira stood aside, watching the battle between Beedrill and Golduck.
Excited, he thought, When will I have my own Pokémon?
The poison clashed with the Water Pulse, but the Water Pulse was getting weaker, unable to hold back, while the poison slowly approached Golduck. Golduck sensed danger and increased its output.
Eichi laughed, "Beedrill, let's increase our output too."
Both Pokémon intensified their attacks, but Golduck's water attack still couldn't stop the poison. The poison broke through and hit Golduck hard.
Not only was it hit, but it also got poisoned. The poison's effect activated, doubling its power.
Purple streaks appeared on Golduck's face.
Golduck fell to the ground. The nearby Pokémon all looked worried.
Golduck hadn't lost its ability to fight and got back up to continue.
A shrill sound came from its mouth, making everyone want to cover their ears.
Beedrill was slightly affected, but it didn't matter.
Then Golduck's head emitted a bright energy wave.
Focusing its mind, it concentrated its psychic power on its head and rushed at Beedrill, which also attacked.
"Beedrill, use Poison Sting."
Beedrill gathered poison energy on its twin needles and charged at Golduck.
Just before they collided, Beedrill thrust its right needle, hitting Golduck's head.
The result was that Golduck was knocked away, and combined with the poison, it immediately lost the ability to fight.
After winning, Beedrill felt nothing and silently returned to Eichi.
Eichi praised, "Well done, Beedrill."
After praising Beedrill, Eichi ran to Golduck. Many Pokémon had gathered around Golduck.
They're worried, Eichi thought, and the Pokémon stayed alert when he approached.
Eichi said, "Don't worry, I'm here to heal it," and emitted a small amount of Bug Force.
Only then did they allow him to get closer. Golduck had regained a bit of strength but was still poisoned.
Golduck tried to get up, but Eichi held it down, "Don't move. You're poisoned and injured. It's better to stay still."
Eichi sprayed Antidote carefully over Golduck. After a while, the purple streaks disappeared.
After curing the poison, he sprayed Potion.
Golduck could now stand. Its injuries were not fully healed but didn't affect movement.
Golduck stood and said, "Human… you… are strong."
Eichi thought, You are strong too.
From that moment, Golduck acknowledged Eichi and relaxed its guard.
Akira, who had been watching, ran over, "Eichi, you're amazing. You've bonded with them so quickly."
"Are we still going to battle?"
"Of course, next is Scyther."
Scyther started watching the other Pokémon.
...
The sunlight grew brighter, and it was noon. Eichi and Akira found a place to rest.
After battling Golduck, Eichi had Scyther fight other experienced Pokémon.
Scyther won every match, clearly enjoying it.
This battle method was effective. They needed Beedrill and Scyther to fight wild Pokémon instead of always training at home.
After a simple meal and a short nap, they continued deeper into the forest.
Eichi continued his challenge path, hiding at each Pokémon territory and using Eye of the Bug Emperor to check for Pokémon above Experienced rank.
If there were any, he ran; if not, he challenged them.
It was thrilling, but soon they accidentally entered Arbok territory. Hiding didn't help. Akira was spotted, and there were several Elite Arbok. They couldn't fight and had to run.
They were chased for a while. Akira was slow; otherwise, Eichi would have escaped earlier.
They finally left the Arbok area, but Eichi didn't know where they were.
Looking around, they found themselves in a rocky area, pursued by Arbok.
They rested, exhausted from the chase. Akira collapsed, panting heavily.
While resting, Eichi noticed a group of Sandshrew and Sandslash near a rock pile.
Seeing Eichi's reaction, Akira peeked and saw them too.
Eichi opened Eye of the Bug Emperor. The Sandshrew ignored him, only watching the Sandslash.
Good, none were above Experienced. Most were Ordinary, a few Good.
"This is doable," Eichi said to Akira, "Let's go."
He stood up, but no one responded. He turned to see Akira staring intently at one spot.
It was a Sandshrew training, repeatedly using Scratch on a rock.
It looked serious, unlike the others, who lazily basked in the sun.
Suddenly, a bigger Sandshrew rolled past and hit the smaller one.
The small Sandshrew fell, injured, and lay on the ground.
It struggled to get up. The bigger Sandshrew, larger in size, attacked again with Scratch.
The other Sandshrew didn't react, as if it were normal.
Akira clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, This is too much. I can't let this happen.
He ran toward the small Sandshrew. Eichi followed.
The small Sandshrew was about to be hit by a rolling attack.
"Stop!"
But the Sandshrew had already rolled. Akira ran in front to block it.
"Are you crazy? Don't you want to live?"
"Beedrill, use Agility!"
Just as the attack was about to hit, Beedrill came and knocked the big Sandshrew aside.