The Wind Is Rising

This cool energy was none other than the Shield Dust ability from Caterpie.

In the turn-based Pokémon games, Shield Dust could block the secondary effects of enemy moves, preventing abnormal conditions such as burns, poisoning, and paralysis. However, it could not prevent status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp that directly inflicted abnormal conditions, much less cure them.

In some respects, Shield Dust was rather mediocre. It was somewhat useful, but not especially so—a better-than-nothing ability.

But in the real world, Shield Dust could cure abnormal conditions.

Cool energy surged from deep within its body, gathering over its surface and forming a powder. The toxins and acid clinging to its body and seeping into its flesh were continuously neutralized and shed under the powder's effects...

Very quickly, Caterpie's body returned to normal, and the exhaustion from being poisoned vanished along with it.

Not only that, under the effects of the cool energy, Caterpie found that the backlash from having Tackle Five-Shot Barrage interrupted by Glare had eased considerably. Its body was visibly becoming more relaxed by the second.

At the edge of the battlefield, Mark gripped a Pokeball tightly, keeping his eyes on Caterpie at the center of the fight.

The moment anything went wrong, he would rush forward, recall Caterpie into the Pokeball, and retreat at once.

At the same time, the Trainer Panel opened in his mind.

Just moments ago, the word "Poisoned" had appeared on Caterpie's information panel, putting him on high alert.

But perhaps because of Shield Dust, the word "Poisoned" had already disappeared from the panel. Mark finally relaxed a little.

Then Mark suddenly noticed something.

Caterpie

Five-Dimensional Potential:

Strength: F Constitution: F Agility: F+ Spirit: E Perception: D-

Abilities: Shield Dust, Run Away

Special Abilities: Evolution, Heart-to-Heart (Mark)

Skills: Tackle (Power-Up Tackle, Instant Strike, Adamant Penetrating Strike, Multi-Strike Combo), String Shot, Bug Bite

Under Special Abilities on Caterpie's information panel, there was now an additional entry: Heart-to-Heart (Mark).

It was not just Caterpie. Under Trainer Talents on his Trainer Panel, Heart-to-Heart (Caterpie) had appeared as well.

According to the ability description, as long as he and Caterpie activated the ability at the same time, they could enter a Heart-to-Heart state rather than having it work only intermittently as before.

"So this means Caterpie and I have officially mastered Heart-to-Heart? Why did we suddenly master this ability?"

Mark quickly thought of the reason.

Not long ago, he and Caterpie had compromised with one another and ultimately decided to face these Arbok and Ekans head-on.

It seemed that decision in the midst of danger had further strengthened the bond between him and Caterpie, deepening their Heart-to-Heart connection.

Even as he thought, Mark kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield.

Though his mind was racing, most of his attention remained on Caterpie.

At that moment, the Arbok Leader in the battlefield was growing increasingly violent. Almost every few breaths, it used attacks resembling Explosion, launching Sludge Bombs or Acid Bombs around itself in an attempt to strike the Caterpie that kept harassing it with these area-of-effect moves.

The Arbok Leader's method of attack proved quite effective.

Although Caterpie could always use Tackle (Instant Strike) to pull away when an attack came, it could not avoid taking some damage.

If this continued, then even if Caterpie kept ambushing the Arbok Leader's vital spot with Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike), Caterpie would be the first to fall.

After all, compared to the Arbok Leader, Caterpie's body was still far more fragile.

"It seems there's still quite a gap between Caterpie and the Arbok Leader. But it should be able to hold on for a while, especially while that Arbok Leader has lost its mind."

Mark murmured softly.

If he put himself in the Arbok Leader's place, he would have commanded the snake swarm to surround and eliminate Caterpie while having some Arbok and Ekans guard his rear, preventing Caterpie from continuing to ambush his vital spot.

Instead of going berserk and attacking everything around him like this Arbok Leader.

In fact, the surrounding Ekans swarm had already suffered several of the Arbok Leader's area attacks. Many Arbok and Ekans had begun fleeing outward in panic, while those that remained could only struggle to endure.

If Ekans, being Poison-type Pokémon, were not naturally immune to toxins and acidic corrosion, those still standing there would likely have already been rendered unable to fight by their own leader.

Well, they were not much better off now. Though the Ekans swarm had not lost its fighting capability, it had no attention to spare for anything else.

All he could say was, an incompetent general exhausted the entire army.

And that created the conditions for Butterfree to lead the Caterpie Group away in the distance.

As he thought, Mark suddenly spotted a Caterpie running around in panic a few meters away. There was a patch on its forehead, and Mark happened to remember it.

He recalled that this Caterpie had once shown him kindness. It had even copied the Caterpie Leader's actions and given him two berries, though the berries it gave him tasted awful—bitter and astringent.

Mark sighed softly.

Keeping one eye on his own Caterpie in the center of the battlefield, he ran a few steps, grabbed the Caterpie, then headed toward Butterfree and the Caterpie Group before tossing it down near the group.

Saving a single Caterpie like this would not change anything, but it was still better than doing nothing.

Without thinking further, Mark saw that Caterpie's battle with the Arbok Leader remained stable and continued weaving rapidly across the battlefield, helping lost Caterpie return to the group so they could flee with the main force.

In this way, he helped several dozen Caterpie in a row.

Then Mark suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Quite some time had passed, yet the Forehead-Spotted Caterpie was still standing where it was rather than retreating with the group.

Mark swept his gaze around and found that several other Caterpie, like the Forehead-Spotted Caterpie, had remained in place.

These Caterpie stared at the center of the battlefield as if their eyes had been drawn there, their gazes vacant and confused.

Boom!!

The Arbok Leader at the center of the battlefield fired an earth-shaking Sludge Bomb. It was the largest explosion since the battle began. Blackish-purple smoke billowed outward without restraint, spreading in all directions like clouds in the sky.

Mark noticed that the Caterpie watching the center of the battlefield showed fear and tension in their eyes at the sound of the explosion.

Some Caterpie turned into headless flies again, scurrying about in panic.

Until the blackish-purple smoke thinned somewhat, and that green figure once again darted around near the Arbok Leader, knocking it to the ground once more.

"Caterpie." "Caterpie!" "Caterpie." "Caterpie." "Caterpie!"

Scattered cries sounded beside Mark's ears.

As Caterpie's figure appeared once more within the poisonous smoke at the center of the battlefield, the Caterpie watching the fight seemed to be encouraged by something. The fear and anxiety in their eyes gradually faded, and a faint, barely discernible excitement emerged.

Mark looked around and discovered that even more Caterpie seemed to be staring blankly at the battlefield.

In fact, Mark was not the only one who noticed the Caterpie's condition. Butterfree, who was leading them away, noticed their abnormal behavior as well.

At first, it had led the Caterpie away fairly smoothly. But as time passed, some Caterpie would always stop and stare blankly at the battlefield.

Then, as more time passed, the situation worsened. Some Caterpie that had already fled quite a distance even ran back for no apparent reason.

"Caterpie." "Caterpie." "Caterpie!" "Caterpie." "Caterpie!"

The Caterpie's cries rose and fell one after another.

It was then that Butterfree realized it seemed unable to continue commanding these Caterpie children.

After circling above the Caterpie Group for a while, Butterfree flew back to the edge of the battlefield and hovered above Mark.

"Trainer, the children refuse to leave with me. I am no longer their leader."

Butterfree's clear, pleasant voice appeared in Mark's mind again.

"You're no longer the leader of the Caterpie Group?" Mark looked over the surrounding Caterpie, suddenly realizing something. He turned toward the Caterpie still fighting relentlessly at the center of the battlefield. "Are you saying my Caterpie has become the new leader of the Caterpie Group?"

"I'm not sure."

It might be the Caterpie Leader, but Butterfree was uncertain. It felt like it was more than that.

As Butterfree spoke, a breeze swept over them.

The foul stench brought by the Ekans swarm seemed to be diluted by the breeze. Then a large maple leaf drifted over and covered Mark's eyes.

Mark removed the leaf blocking his vision and rubbed its stem between his fingers in confusion, only to see the surrounding Caterpie beginning to change.

They no longer fled in panic like headless flies, nor did they remain in place and stare blankly at the battlefield as they had just done. Instead, they began gathering toward the center of the battlefield...

The tension is building, so let me end the chapter here.