....
Just as Julian had predicted, the trade between the Rattata and the Oddish went off without a hitch.
The Oddish living in the forest had a rough deal.
They had plenty of natural predators, and on top of that, they didn't have many solid offensive moves to defend themselves.
That made foraging the hardest part of every single day.
The moment an Oddish stepped out into the open, it was taking its life in its leaves.
So in exchange, they only asked the Rattata colony for a portion of their food.
Their favorite trade goods were nuts and tree-grown berries...
the kind of food they normally wouldn't dare gather themselves.
For an Oddish, leaving the cover of the grass made it stand out way too much.
And with Ekans constantly prowling nearby...and snake Pokemon being more than capable of climbing trees...that kind of trip was asking for trouble.
If one of them got spotted out in the open, it was basically game over.
Once the deal was done, the Rattata wasted no time bringing the two key ingredients back to Julian.
During the day, Julian let them handle their own move practice and sparring sessions, giving them room to compare notes and learn from each other.
At night, though, he took over.
That was when he broke down the finer points of their techniques, explained what they were doing wrong, and quietly worked on his own secret training as he tried to unlock new moves.
Time flew.
Before anyone really noticed, the Rattata had already been in special training for seven days.
During that stretch, Ekans kept doing what it always did.
showing up during hunting hours and testing the colony's defenses.
Thankfully, under Julian's direction, the Rattata had already developed a battle rhythm of their own.
They still couldn't deal massive damage to Ekans, but against a lone snake, they were no longer getting steamrolled.
And honestly, that was huge progress.
The training atmosphere alone had pushed the entire colony forward fast.
Even the Rattata outside the core training group had improved so much over those seven days that they were already reaching the point where they could begin learning Pursuit.
That had practically been elite-trainee territory before.
So yes...
They deserved some credit.
As for the Rattata who were receiving focused instruction, they'd become especially fierce whenever Ekans invaded.
Every fight turned into another chance to sharpen their new moves.
The colony's morale kept climbing.
Julian still hadn't started teaching them the coverage moves that would truly punish Ekans, but by now, most of the Rattata had stopped fearing it.
And not just in the emotional sense.
They'd stopped fearing it in combat.
At this point, even they could hardly believe how many times Ekans had failed to hunt successfully in their territory.
To the Rattata, this felt like an incredible winning streak.
And in only one week, Julian had already earned the full respect of even the older generation.
But to him...
This was still only the opening act.
Right now, the Rattata colony's battle strength was just barely enough to force back one Ekans.
That was it.
A thirty-on-one result.
Maybe, from the perspective of a bunch of Rattata huddled in a burrow, that sounded impressive.
But Ekans wasn't going to stay the same forever.
It would get stronger.
It would evolve.
It might find a mate.
It might start producing offspring.
Any one of those variables changing would shatter this fragile balance in an instant.
...
So Julian couldn't afford to relax the training program he'd laid out.
If anything, it needed to be tightened.
Because Ekans wasn't even the colony's only problem.
The Rattata also had to worry about Mankey, a Fighting-type that could tear through them in close quarters, and Rufflet, a Normal- and Flying-type predator that attacked from above.
Even if the Rattata had managed to hold the line against Ekans for now, their place in the forest hadn't actually changed.
Not really.
If either of those other species came knocking, the colony would still be completely outmatched.
And if the Rattata couldn't face that reality, they were never going to rise above it.
So Julian tried to bring them back down to earth.
He gave them a few reality checks, reminding them that luck had absolutely played a part in several of their recent wins.
But most of the Rattata were drunk on success.
They nodded along when he spoke...
then got careless in private, slacked off during training, and sometimes even ignored instructions altogether.
That went on for two full weeks.
Then, in the third week of training, the thing Julian had been worried about finally happened.
...
It was another quiet morning.
The Rattata lay sprawled around the territory, chewing on nuts and soaking up the warmth, completely relaxed.
Faced with the fact that Ekans would almost certainly arrive again to hunt, they showed no tension at all.
Not long after breakfast, the smooth purple shape of Ekans appeared right on schedule.
Over the past few weeks, the Rattata's constant training had noticeably improved their bite strength.
So the moment they spotted Ekans's dark purple body sliding through the grass, several young Rattata gave excited squeaks and launched themselves forward with Quick Attack...
without waiting for Julian to issue a single command.
Only a few of the older Rattata stayed by Julian's side.
When they saw Ekans, they lowered themselves into guarded stances, clearly ready for battle...
But they didn't move without his word.
Those were the ones who had learned the hard way in their younger days what Ekans could really do.
Once the first few charged in, the younger Rattata couldn't sit still any longer either...
especially the ones who had only recently grown old enough to join the fight.
Back when they were still pups, they'd heard all the stories from their parents about the colony's big wins over Ekans.
Now it was their turn to be on the front lines.
Of course, they were excited.
Of course, they were fired up.
And whatever fear they might once have felt at the sight of their natural enemy was crushed the instant they saw their packmates rush ahead.
On a battlefield, things changed in the blink of an eye.
One bad choice could trigger a chain reaction.
And this time, Ekans had clearly come prepared.
The instant the fight started, it activated Intimidate.
The Ability's effect swept across the field, lowering the Attack of every Pokemon caught in range by one stage.
Among Ekans, Intimidate wasn't exactly rare, and under normal circumstances, it wasn't even that flashy.
If the Rattata had opened with Focus Energy instead, raising their critical-hit potential, then Intimidate's impact here would have been minimal.
But they didn't.
Before Julian could give a new order, they had already committed to a messy all-out rush, each one throwing out attacks on instinct.
Quick Attack.
Bite.
A chaotic swarm with no timing and no teamwork.
"Ekansss~"
A cruel glint flashed through Ekans's pale yellow eyes.
Its pupils widened.
A dangerous shimmer spread through its gaze.
Then...
a strange wave pulsed out from the markings along its yellow underbelly, instantly washing over every Rattata that had charged in.
You could see the difference right away.
Their movements turned stiff.
Their attack power dipped.
Their speed dropped.
Even their aim got worse.
Julian recognized the move immediately, and his stomach sank.
Glare.
He reacted at once, sending two of his elite trainees to pull those reckless little idiots back before things got any worse.
Glare paralyzed its targets by using the terrifying pattern on the user's body to lock them up with fear and status energy.
From Intimidate to Glare...
Julian could suddenly see the plan coming together.
This Ekans, a seasoned hunter forced to adapt under pressure, had finally started showing what it was really capable of.
The moment Julian gave the command, two white streaks shot past him in flashes of Quick Attack and raced toward the front line.
"Hissss...!"
Then Ekans let out a shrill, grating cry.
The instant the sound hit, every Rattata attacking it blanked out for a split second.
Their minds went white.
Their attacks stalled.
"Fall back! Now!" Julian shouted through telepathy.
But it didn't help.
His message landed directly in their minds, but in that critical instant, their brains were already overwhelmed...trying to process paralysis, fear, confusion, pain, and the shock of battle all at once.
None of them reacted in time.
And Ekans...
Ekans was already baring its fangs.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter