"Damn it, a real man should face challenges head-on! What's with the sand playing?"
Briscola crawled out from the quicksand, feeling a bit frustrated. That sense of failure, when all his brute strength went unused, was really pissing him off.
"You young folks are too hot-headed; why waste your natural abilities?"
Regardless of the frustration of losing, a loss was still a loss. The enemy wouldn't choose to duel fairly. Briscola just complained a bit and then left with Dobon.
But Briscola planned to take a bath first as he felt very uncomfortable covered in all that yellow sand.
They hadn't reached the point where it would take days and nights to determine a winner. Moreover, due to Dobon utilizing Hippowdon's abilities, his fight with Briscola ended even quicker.
The battles of the nearby Artificial Fruit Ability Users were still ongoing. While Miaona and Wolf were watching the commotion, Yamato came to Arceus.
"Foster father, are these two the only Divine Favorers this time?"
"There have been fewer missions recently, so the numbers are fewer. Is there something you need?"
"Not really, but foster father, father probably won't be returning anytime soon, right?"
"Who knows? You know Kaidou, that guy disappears regularly. Who knows whom he's off fighting with now. What are you planning?"
"Nothing major, just wanted to ask. If there's nothing else, I'm going to catch some ants. Those two little ones have almost finished their training, so I might as well take them out for some fun. Wolf's abilities should be pretty suitable for this task."
"Wait, catching ants?"
Hearing Yamato's plan, it was rare for Arceus to be perplexed. It's not like it was over a decade ago when Miaona and Wolf were three or four years old; they shouldn't be interested in this kind of thing anymore.
And they were using abilities to catch ants, so what kind of ants were they?
"Ah, foster father, didn't you know? It seems some ants were brought in with shipments from the outside. They gnaw on houses, and the people of Kuri really dislike them."
"Termites? Didn't Wano Kuni have those before?"
Wano Kuni homes are mostly wooden structures, and termites have always been a headache, but dealing with termites shouldn't be this troublesome.
"They're larger, and their shells are very hard, and their numbers have been increasing lately."
Listening to Yamato's description, Arceus deemed this a case of biological invasion.
Invasive species, without natural predators, reproduce unchecked in a comfortable environment, eventually disrupting the original ecological balance.
This world has many islands, and countless islands are isolated, naturally developing unique ecosystems.
The dinosaurs on Ancient Island and the beasts on Beast Island are creatures selected by nature to remain.
When a foreign species invades here, the natural balancing mechanisms can easily fail.
The people of Wano Kuni didn't take this matter to heart; no one reported it, and no one paid attention to a few ordinary ants.
While these ants were more troublesome than local ants, they were not like army ants. If Yamato hadn't mentioned it in passing, Arceus wouldn't have noticed the issue.
"Foster father, do you want to catch ants too?"
"No, never mind, you go ahead and take them to play. I'll arrange for someone to handle this matter."
Yamato didn't dwell on this issue. To her, ants were not a big problem. As insects, they're nearly omnipresent, and countless people have done strange things with ant nests during childhood.
Arceus merely wanted to prevent these ants from becoming a real nuisance, planning to control them a bit.
The environment of Wano Kuni had undergone several improvements before, with the Strong Ocean Currents being one of them. Those ocean currents caused the coral outside Wano Kuni to overgrow, eventually triggering the Mareanie Control Project.
Wano Kuni didn't have similar ocean currents, but as one of Arceus's frequent stays, coupled with the power spreading from Fuji Mountain, the environment here is nearly suitable for any lifeform, let alone insects with strong adaptability.
...
Days later, in the leek fields of Kuri, several Farfetch'd were using their leeks to smash the ground. This was an ant nest, and these ants not only damaged the structure of buildings but also posed a threat to some agriculture.
The leeks of the Farfetch'd were among the victims.
Their leeks needed frequent replacement, and the leek fields here were another of their lifelines. Facing the ants that harmed their leeks, they showed no mercy, wielding their leeks to eliminate the ants below.
Ants were originally part of the Farfetch'd's diet, but these ants tasted bad. To the Farfetch'd, they had a rusty taste, making them impossible to swallow.
At that moment, a creature similar to an Anteater emerged from a nearby leek field. After a brief chat, the Farfetch'd made way, handing the area over to the Anteater.
That wasn't an ordinary Anteater; it was a member of the Pokemon, a Heatmor.
After a brief investigation, the origin of these ants had been clarified. They were mixed into the straw and soil used as padding for fragile goods shipped by the Hundred Beasts.
These ants lived on an island rich in metal minerals, and over prolonged evolution, their bodies were similarly affected, harboring a special acid capable of corroding metal.
On that island, they had many natural predators, but in Wano Kuni, the local creatures showed no interest in these foul-tasting ants.
To prevent them from infesting and spreading uncontrollably in Wano Kuni, Arceus created some Heatmor.
Professional tasks require professional Pokemon. In dealing with the ant problem, Heatmor clearly surpassed Farfetch'd by a large margin.
As a Fire Type Pokemon, they could produce high-temperature flames on their tongues. In the Unova Region, they typically hunt Durant, and those metal-shelled Durant were no match for the Heatmor, let alone these ants.
Heatmor resembled anteaters but had orange-red patterns and a tubular section connecting their abdomen to their tail.
The tail's air holes drew in air, raising the flame temperature on the tongue, literally turning it into a 'fire tongue' that delved into the anthill, roasting large numbers of ants to become their food.
Different Pokemon have completely different tastes. What Farfetch'd found inedible was a delicacy to Heatmor.
With sharp claws, they dug through the outer soil of the anthill, savoring their meal before moving on to the next anthill location after a while.
These ants weren't particularly strong creatures, and after gaining a natural enemy, they were swiftly curtailed to a population level that wouldn't impact the environment.