Spirit Control Talent: [Telepathy]

"Sir, you and your Caterpie only need to help these Caterpie children get away. There's no need to..."

Butterfree's voice appeared in Mark's mind again, but Mark quickly interrupted it.

Mark watched the battlefield. "First, there's something you misunderstood. I haven't had a chance to correct you until now.

"In the Hia Kingdom, amateur Trainers cannot be called Trainers. So I'm not a Trainer yet, only a Pokemon Breeder.

"Also, Caterpie Group and I aren't holding back these Ekans just to help the Caterpie Group escape. We're also using this battle for Combat Training—to grow stronger."

"Hiss!"

As Mark spoke, the Caterpie beside him grew even more determined.

It watched the battlefield, considering what it should do after charging in, while also thinking about how Arbok Leader and the surrounding Ekans would react once it entered the fight...

Butterfree, at the center of the battlefield, was about to say something else when it suddenly discovered that Mark and Caterpie had cut off its Telekinesis connection.

Butterfree shifted slightly, dodging the Acid sprayed from Arbok Leader's mouth. Then, from the corner of its eye, it observed the edge of the battlefield—where Mark and Caterpie stood.

After evolving into Butterfree, its Compound Eyes Ability had awakened along with its evolution.

This gave it a broader field of vision and allowed it to see distant things more clearly.

That was also why it had noticed Mark and Caterpie arriving at the center of the battlefield.

In its sight, Mark stood atop the mound as an Ekans stealthily slithered behind him.

Just as it worried and prepared to use Telekinesis to speak with Mark again and warn him of the danger, Mark suddenly turned around and kicked the Ekans flying.

Of course, Mark had just charged into the center of the battlefield, provoked Arbok Leader, and escaped safely. How could ordinary Ekans put him in danger?

As it thought, Butterfree suddenly realized it seemed to have overlooked something.

Where was that Caterpie?

Its red Compound Eyes flickered as Butterfree searched the battlefield, and it suddenly spotted a flash of emerald-green light.

Caterpie's body was gathering power, and it seemed to have reached the final moment.

Tackle (Power-Up Tackle) + Tackle (Five-Stage Combo)!

Tackle Five-Shot Barrage!

In less than the blink of an eye, Caterpie transformed into an emerald-green cannonball and blasted fiercely toward Arbok Leader!

Whoosh—

More than a dozen Ekans and Arbok along its path were sent flying. Arbok Leader keenly sensed the anomaly and darted sideways, the emerald cannonball grazing past its body.

Arbok Leader flicked out its tongue, its face vicious, only to see the cannonball embedded in the earth suddenly rebound and blast toward it once more. There was no avoiding it.

At the critical moment, Arbok Leader let out a hiss, and the ferocious Pattern Face on its belly flashed violently!

Glare!

The rapidly flying cannonball seemed to pause for an instant before continuing without losing momentum, smashing into the center of Arbok Leader's belly pattern.

Boom!

Arbok Leader's body was struck, and it staggered back several meters.

A blow powerful enough to snap trees and shatter boulders had only broken some of the scales on Arbok Leader's belly, leaving a modest dent there.

The attack had clearly fallen far short of expectations.

That was not only because of Arbok Leader's defense, but also because Caterpie's combination move had been interrupted midway.

The Five-Shot Barrage was supposed to strike five times in succession. Even if it hit the opponent, it would not stop. But Arbok Leader's Glare had forcibly ended Caterpie's combined finishing move.

All the follow-up tactics Caterpie had devised before entering the battlefield were declared failures at that moment.

It truly had not expected its very first move to fail.

Worse still, the failed move caused some backlash. Warm currents surged chaotically through its body like a cramp, compounded by Arbok's Intimidate and the Glare it had just endured.

Caterpie felt its body tighten to the extreme, trembling faintly beyond its control.

It could only be said that Arbok Leader was truly powerful.

At that moment, Caterpie also understood why its master had kept stopping it from fighting.

Because it really was dangerous.

But... it was precisely under such dangerous circumstances that training would be more effective!

As it thought, Caterpie seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around, meeting Mark's gaze at the edge of the battlefield.

Heart-to-Heart activated once again.

In that brief instant, Caterpie conveyed some of its thoughts on the battlefield situation to Mark, and Mark also offered several suggestions for the battle.

From their brief exchange just now, Arbok Leader's use of Glare was extremely adept. Tackle Five-Shot Barrage could no longer be used, since it could easily be interrupted by Glare.

The other combined finishing move, Tackle Infinite Quick Strikes, should not be used either.

Unlike the flexible skin covering ordinary Arbok, this Arbok Leader had developed a layer of dense, tough scales over its body. Its defense appeared very high, and Tackle Infinite Quick Strikes would likely have little effect.

In the end, Mark devised an offensive strategy for Caterpie using Tackle (Instant Strike) and Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike).

It was to use Tackle (Instant Strike) to approach Arbok Leader, then attack with Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike). During the attack, it needed to avoid Arbok's Pattern Face and preferably circle behind it to strike Arbok's Seven-Inch Spot.

Besides that, Caterpie's Run Away Ability had also awakened. It could try using it in battle; perhaps it would be of some help.

The Heart-to-Heart state ended, and the flow of time returned to normal.

Caterpie had just regained its footing on the ground and was breathing heavily when it noticed something. It immediately used Tackle (Instant Strike) to dodge quickly.

The next moment, a blood-filled maw laced with black energy descended from above. Arbok Leader's Bite shattered the move and tore a huge pit into the ground.

Roar!!

Arbok Leader roared furiously!

First, a human had appeared from nowhere and suddenly ambushed it. Now, this nimble and irritating Caterpie had appeared as well, driving Arbok Leader into a rage.

It had clearly been fighting that Butterfree. Why did all this random nonsense have to come and disturb it?!

Roar!!!

Arbok Leader continued roaring, venting its fury and displeasure!

Then...

Bang!

Seeing Arbok Leader rage mindlessly in place and expose an opening, Caterpie ignored the backlash still lingering in its body. It used Tackle (Instant Strike) to appear behind Arbok Leader, then struck Arbok Leader's Seven-Inch Spot with Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike).

Caterpie did not actually know what the Seven-Inch Spot specifically referred to.

During the Heart-to-Heart state just now, Mark had marked out a short section for it and said it might be Arbok's Seven-Inch Spot weakness, telling it to attack there as much as possible.

The results proved to be good.

The force that combined hardness and softness penetrated Arbok Leader's outer scales, invading its flesh and internal organs and striking a vital point.

The earlier Tackle Five-Shot Barrage had been spectacular yet only pushed Arbok Leader back several meters. This attack seemed unremarkable, but it caused Arbok Leader's body to collapse.

Of course, it was down for only an instant.

Boom!!

The moment Arbok Leader fell from the attack, it used Sludge Bomb on the ground.

It had an effect somewhat like self-destruction. Centered on Arbok Leader's position, purple-black acid and poisonous mist erupted outward.

It was Caterpie's first time facing such a wide-range move. Its Tackle (Instant Strike) was a little too slow, and it did not move far enough. A small amount of the black-purple acid and poisonous mist splashed onto its body.

In fact, it was not just Caterpie. The surrounding Ekans were hit as well, and chaos immediately broke out.

Caterpie used Tackle (Instant Strike) repeatedly to open up distance.

Perhaps because it had been poisoned, sharp stabs of pain spread across its body, while a feeling of exhaustion left it unable to summon strength.

Then, just as Caterpie was considering how it should fight next, something extremely cool suddenly surged from within its body...