VS Bug Catcher (Part 1) (Please favorite, please vote)

The next day was Saturday again. Eichi rarely allowed himself to sleep in.

Eichi woke Weedle up. Today's breakfast was MooMoo Milk mixed with honey, Pokémon food, and two Pokéblocks.

After breakfast, Eichi headed toward Viridian Forest.

A forest lay between Tokiwa City and Pewter City: Viridian Forest.

To make travel easier, the League had artificially opened up a road through Viridian Forest.

To protect the safety of passersby, the League had made agreements with some of the dominant Pokémon in Viridian Forest.

But how could those dominant Pokémon possibly listen to humans? Thus, those dominant Pokémon received a brutal lesson.

In the end, they had no choice but to accept the agreement and would not make things difficult for passing Trainers or travelers, provided they did not provoke the Pokémon within.

So normally, there were not many Pokémon on the road.

The Bug Catchers from Tokiwa Town often blocked the road between Tokiwa City and Pewter City.

Whenever they encountered a Trainer, they would battle them. Most of the time, they lost, but they still stood there blocking the way.

Thus, Bug Catchers had earned the nickname "experience dispensers."

That was true in the games, and it was true in reality as well.

Eichi followed the road forward. After walking for around ten minutes, he finally saw them.

The Bug Catchers ahead were battling passing Trainers.

By the time Eichi arrived, the battle had already ended. The Bug Catcher's Butterfree had been knocked down by the other side's Charmander with an Ember attack.

That person recalled Charmander and left. After the Bug Catcher recalled Butterfree,

he was not dejected at all. Instead, he confidently told the other person, "Next time, I'll definitely defeat you!"

That person: ...

After that person left, Eichi said to the three of them, "Takahashi, Agawa, Atai. Long time no see."

The three were dressed in the standard Bug Catcher outfit. Eichi had two sets himself.

But as soon as he had transmigrated here, he had thrown them away. They were too ugly.

To tell them apart, one only needed to look at their heights. Takahashi was the tallest, followed by Agawa, with Atai being the shortest.

Atai had been the one battling just now.

The three of them lit up when they saw Eichi.

"Eichi, why are you here?"

"We haven't seen you in ages."

"What have you been doing lately?"

"Why haven't you come looking for us?"

The three of them chattered all at once, making Eichi feel a little dizzy.

Eichi answered them one by one. After they finished chatting, Eichi proposed a battle.

The three discussed it and decided to have Takahashi battle Eichi.

Takahashi was the first to release his Pokémon. A caterpillar-like Pokémon hopped out.

It was Caterpie.

Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon.

Ability: Compound Eyes.

Hidden Ability: Run Away.

When attacked by bird Pokémon, it released a foul odor from its antennae to defend itself, though it often still became bird food.

Easy to catch and quick to grow, it was one of the Pokémon recommended as a companion for novice Trainers.

The textbook description of Caterpie surfaced in Eichi's mind.

Takahashi said, "I only caught this Caterpie two days ago."

Then Eichi released Weedle. When Weedle saw Caterpie, its fighting spirit soared.

Weedle had been stifled these past few days. There had been no Pokémon for it to battle.

Agawa acted as the referee for this battle.

"Battle start!"

The moment he spoke, Takahashi gave Caterpie an order. "Caterpie, use String Shot on Weedle!"

Ring after ring of snow-white silk shot out from Caterpie's mouth.

Eichi gave an order as well. "Weedle, dodge!"

Before the silk could touch Weedle, it had already dodged to the side.

"Caterpie, keep using String Shot!"

"Weedle, dodge!"

String Shot still failed to hit Weedle. Takahashi was unwilling to accept it.

"Caterpie, use String Shot again!"

Eichi smiled. "It's useless. Your String Shot can't hit Weedle at all."

Then he gave another order. "Weedle, dodge, then use String Shot. Show it how powerful your String Shot is."

Weedle nimbly dodged the String Shot. Then it opened its little mouth, and white silk flashed out with lightning speed, striking Caterpie before it could react.

The silk wrapped Caterpie into a ball.

"Use Poison Sting!"

Weedle charged straight at it.

Caterpie was kicked away like a football, smashing hard into a tree.

Then it fell to the ground, unable to battle any longer.

Agawa immediately announced, "Caterpie has lost its ability to battle. Weedle wins. Therefore, Eichi is the winner."

Takahashi looked somewhat disappointed as he recalled Caterpie.

"Come back, Caterpie! You did very well."

After the battle, Takahashi said to Eichi in surprise, "Eichi, you won. Your Weedle is really impressive.

But next time, I'll win it back with my Beedrill."

Eichi replied with a smile, "Then I'm looking forward to it. But when that time comes, I'll still be the one who wins."

Agawa and Atai gathered around as well, just about to chat for a while.

Then they heard shouts from the distance.

"Hey! Eichi, Takahashi, Agawa, Atai!"

Eichi looked toward the source of the voice and saw several more Bug Catchers arriving.

They hurried over, and Eichi happily greeted them.

They were all Bug Catchers he had played with before. The newly arrived Bug Catchers asked Eichi what they had been doing.

Agawa told them they had been having a Pokémon battle.

The moment they heard there had been a Pokémon battle, they became very interested.

When they learned that Eichi had won his battle against Takahashi,

they were all surprised, then clamored to have a Pokémon battle with Eichi.

After discussing it, they decided to have one of them battle Eichi first.

The Bug Catcher who would battle Eichi was named Komori.

Agawa was still the referee. At his command,

Eichi and Asen released their Pokémon at the same time.

Asen's Pokémon took shape in the white light.

It was Venonat.

Venonat, the Insect Pokémon.

Ability: Compound Eyes, Tinted Lens.

Hidden Ability: "Run Away." It was said that stiff, fine hairs covered its entire body to protect it.

Its large eyes never let even the smallest prey escape.

It lived beneath large trees and ate small things such as insects. At night, it went to places with light.

Asen shouted to Venonat, "Venonat, use Tackle on Weedle!"

Eichi said, "Weedle, evade!"

Weedle dodged before Venonat could crash into it.

Asen said, "Venonat, keep using Tackle on Weedle!"

Eichi said, "Evade!"

Venonat used Tackle again, but Weedle easily dodged it.

Eichi did not give Weedle any attack orders, only telling it to evade.

Then Venonat kept using Tackle on Weedle, but Weedle dodged every attack.

Venonat continued chasing after Weedle. Once Eichi saw that Venonat had almost exhausted its stamina,

he gave Weedle an attack order. "Weedle, use Poison Sting on Venonat."

Upon receiving the command, Weedle stopped and used Poison Sting on Venonat.

Its glowing horn slammed into the ground.

Venonat immediately lost its ability to battle.