Tetsuya woke up in a daze. He had not yet escaped from danger, so he still could not afford to relax.
All of the Pokémon around him were still asleep. That battle had indeed consumed far too much energy, and that Venusaur's poison had been so potent that it had nearly exhausted all of his Antidotes. His Pokémon's bodies had also suffered massive damage.
Once he returned to the city, Tetsuya would still have to take them to a Pokémon Center for a thorough recovery, so as to avoid leaving behind any lingering problems.
Tetsuya began packing up his things when Golurk suddenly rushed into the cave, gesturing wildly toward the outside. Tetsuya immediately put down what he was holding and walked out of the cave, only to see flames soaring into the sky not far away.
Tetsuya hurried back into the cave and recalled all of his Pokémon.
"Let's go, Golurk. We'll take a look. If anything seems wrong, we'll leave immediately." With that, Tetsuya climbed onto Golurk and headed toward the flames.
Golurk's speed was astonishing, and before long they arrived above the source of the fire.
Below them was a stretch of swamp. There was only a single log bridge leading from the forest to the swamp, but it had already been burned down. Seven or eight wooden houses stood in the middle of the swamp, but they had all been swallowed by the flames.
A place like this in the wild would normally have some "mysterious" ace Trainer living in retirement. His thoughts ran completely wild…
Tetsuya had Golurk descend slightly. The pungent smell of gasoline immediately struck his nose, forcing him to stop farther away at the outer edge of the swamp.
"Mamoswine, use Hail. Just do what you can." Tetsuya immediately sent out Mamoswine. Its body was still somewhat weak, but its capacity to create wind and snow was innate.
Mamoswine shook its body, and the temperature plummeted. It shook again, and snowflakes began to swirl. With a third shake, hail began to fall.
The flames grew smaller and smaller beneath the blizzard and hail until they were completely extinguished.
After the fire was extinguished, Tetsuya once again rode Golurk to the land within the swamp. The moment they landed, he saw a corpse.
Because the flames had not completely burned through it, the dead person's face was still clearly visible.
The sight gave Tetsuya a huge shock…
It was none other than the old man who had fought him yesterday!
The old bastard's death could not help but fill him with alarm. Tetsuya knew all too well how powerful he had been. What kind of person could possibly have killed him?
Tetsuya examined the body. The first thing he could confirm was that the Poké Balls on him were gone.
He then examined the wound…
The throat had been slashed, clean and decisive. There was no doubt that he had been killed while completely unguarded.
The wound looked more like something caused by a move such as Cut. It seemed there had definitely been another Trainer here. Moreover, during their conversation yesterday, the old man himself had mentioned someone else. Judging from his tone, it should have been someone young.
With that thought, Tetsuya inspected each of the rooms. Although they had all been burned beyond recognition, judging from the layout, there were indeed two rooms that had been used as living quarters.
Now all of the old man's Pokémon were gone, especially that Venusaur, which had left an extremely deep impression on Tetsuya.
Since this person had gone to such lengths to kill the old man and take the Pokémon, they must have some objective in mind. Whether they belonged to the underground forces or the lawful side, as long as Tetsuya saw that Venusaur again, he would definitely know who it was.
However, that old bastard had killed his Beedrill, and letting him die so easily truly felt like letting him off too lightly…
Thinking of Beedrill, sorrow welled up in Tetsuya's heart, making him even more furious.
"Come out… Weezing, Drapion, Spinarak. Use Toxic and reduce the bastard who killed Beedrill to a pool of blood!" Tetsuya said viciously.
With that, all three Pokémon unleashed their toxins at the old man's corpse. The purple poison corroded his clothes, yet astonishingly had no effect whatsoever on his skin.
"…!?"
Refusing to believe it, Tetsuya then had the three Pokémon use Toxic again. His flesh seemed completely immune to the poison. When it sprayed onto the bastard's body, it simply flowed off.
Even the ground beneath his body was corroded, yet the old rat's body remained completely unharmed…
There was definitely something unusual about this bastard's body. How could he possibly be immune to poison? Even Poison-type Pokémon could not gain complete immunity to poison, much less a human.
If he were some kind of "superhuman", then how had he still died to a move like Cut? His body also bore numerous burn marks.
The only way to solve this mystery was to 'dissect' his body… "Drapion, tear… slowly, tear open his body."
Drapion moved its pincers, starting from the soles of his feet and tearing the old man's body apart section by section. Finally, when it reached the abdomen, Tetsuya discovered a crystal-clear orb about the size of a thumb inside. The orb was as transparent as crystal, pure white and flawless.
'Could it be because of this crystal orb?' With that thought, Tetsuya ordered the three Pokémon to use Toxic once again.
This time, the old man's body was no longer as resistant as before. It was quickly corroded by Toxic and dissolved into a pool of blood.
Now Tetsuya could finally confirm that the old man had been immune to poison because of the crystal orb he had removed from his stomach.
'Could it be…'
This was very likely the legendary Emerald Orb!
Tetsuya had only heard about it in his previous life. In ancient times, the head of the greatest Poison-type Family in the Kanto and Johto regions had an "Emerald Orb". However, no one had ever seen it, and after the Family declined, the orb's whereabouts naturally became unknown.
It was said that Agatha of Kanto and Hattori Tōkichi of Johto had both searched for this orb.
In truth, Agatha and Tōkichi were both pupils of that Family. In other words, most of the methods for raising Poison-type Pokémon throughout the Kanto and Johto regions had originated from that Family.
Now, if this is what he thinks it is, that the Emerald Orb had actually appeared on this old bastard, the only explanation was that he was a direct-line descendant. Otherwise, how could someone like him possibly have raised such a powerful Venusaur?
Judging from his methods, he must have been exceptionally ruthless. As a direct-line descendant, he had undoubtedly felt that failing to achieve as much as Trainers like Agatha and Tōkichi had "disgraced" the "prestige" of his ancestors, which was probably why he had raised a Venusaur like that.
Now that the Emerald Orb was in his hands, Tetsuya immediately swallowed it. A refreshing sensation spread throughout his entire body.
Feeling this, Tetsuya tentatively dipped a finger into the poison…
Sure enough, it had absolutely no effect on Tetsuya!
He continued testing it, next plunging his entire fist into the poison. It still felt no different from soaking it in cool water. Even when the three Pokémon sprayed poison onto his arm, it simply flowed down his skin.
"Excellent!"
Tetsuya could not help shouting. Immunity to poison. Now that he had such feat, it might even be possible for him to personally seek out that Venusaur in the future and avenge Beedrill…