Caterpie King (Part 1)

"Hiss." "Hiss!" "Hiss." "Hiss." "Hiss."

The Caterpies' cries rose and fell without end, growing denser and louder.

The scene before Mark reminded him of the times when the Caterpie Leader had personally led the Caterpie Group into battle.

As long as the Caterpie Leader was present, the Caterpie Group would be fired up as if injected with adrenaline, their morale soaring.

And now, the Caterpies' morale was clearly even stronger than when the Caterpie Leader had led them before—far stronger.

In his field of vision, a violent Ekans hissed warnings at several Caterpies that kept approaching it. Yet instead of retreating, those Caterpies charged straight in.

One Caterpie fired a strand of silk, while two others took the opportunity to launch Tackles.

It was a small-unit combat tactic Mark had once taught the Leader's Guards through his Trainer Skill, the Tackle Training Method, one that had never been tested in actual combat.

Thanks to the Caterpies' abysmal intelligence, this sort of small-unit tactic had basically never been put into practice.

More accurately, during the Combat Training of the past few days, the Caterpies had not used it even once.

Yet now, while fighting the Ekans, the Caterpies employed the tactic with remarkable ease—and in more than one place.

A dozen meters away, not far from the Ekans that had been knocked down by the coordinated attack of three Caterpies, the exact same scene unfolded. A Caterpie relatively skilled at String Shot sprayed silk at an Ekans, while two Caterpies took the opportunity to ram into it...

"Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!"

The Caterpies kept advancing...

At the center of the battlefield, Caterpie was already on the verge of collapse beneath the Arbok Leader's unceasing Sludge Bombs.

This Arbok was thick-skinned and tough-bodied, with seemingly endless energy inside it. It could clearly keep going for quite a while.

Meanwhile, the cool energy within Caterpie seemed nearly depleted. Its Shield Dust Ability had stopped working, and toxins had begun invading its body, leaving it increasingly exhausted.

Still, Caterpie did not care much about victory or defeat.

At first, it had indeed wanted to drive the Ekans Group out of the Caterpies' territory. But after Mark had rushed into the battlefield and put himself in danger, followed by its personal battle against the Arbok Leader, it no longer thought about matters beyond the fight itself.

There was only one thing on its mind now: hold on as long as possible and let this powerful Arbok Leader hone its combat skills.

Before it knew it, Caterpie fell into deep thought amid the battle.

If only I could predict the Arbok Leader's Sludge Bombs faster...

Its master seemed to have told it to use its Run Away Ability to judge danger and assist in battle.

But how exactly was it supposed to use that power?

As it pondered, Caterpie suddenly noticed something and felt its body in confusion.

It was not that it had figured out how to use its Run Away Ability.

Rather, it was clearly exhausted and had little strength left, so why did it feel as if it had regained its strength?

Something seemed to surge up from deep within its body, not only filling it with power, but also refreshing its mind.

Caterpie looked down at itself and saw a faint emerald glow emerge across its surface. The warm current within it, which had clearly run dry just moments ago, had somehow filled to overflowing. It was so abundant that some of it was even leaking out of its body.

Boom!!

The Arbok Leader's Sludge Bomb exploded once more.

Tackle (Instant Strike)!

Tackle (Instant Strike)!

It still had not predicted the Arbok Leader's attack, but the warm current inside it was so abundant that it moved after yet arrived first. It used the Instant Strike technique twice in succession, escaping the Sludge Bomb's range.

What was happening?

Caterpie's mind was full of confusion when it suddenly spotted a figure in its vision. It was the Caterpie Leader—the Butterfree.

Butterfree beat its wings and used Air Cutter. Two wind blades shot out in succession, striking the Arbok Leader's head.

The Arbok Leader cried out in pain, hissing and roaring furiously.

Tackle (Instant Strike)!

Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike)!

Caterpie would not miss such an obvious opening. It circled behind the Arbok Leader and struck its Seven-Inch Spot with precision.

The Arbok Leader crashed to the ground once again.

And this time, as the Arbok Leader fell, several Caterpies had already rushed forward. Taking advantage of its fall, several Caterpies launched Tackles and Bites, while another sprayed silk from afar.

Boom!!

The Arbok Leader unleashed another Sludge Bomb right where it stood, directly blasting away several Caterpies that had attacked amid the chaos.

Yet this time, before the shockwave from the Sludge Bomb had even faded, more Caterpies had already rushed in!

"Hiss." "Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!" "Hiss!"

The Arbok Leader whipped its tail and body, easily sending the gathered Caterpies flying.

But the Caterpies appearing around the Arbok Leader did not decrease. Instead, they grew more numerous—more and more numerous!

The patterns on its belly shifted constantly. Accompanied by Glare, the Caterpie Group before the Arbok Leader was completely frozen in place.

In the sky, Butterfree unleashed Air Cutter once again, striking the Arbok Leader's head. The Arbok Leader ignored it. Another Sludge Bomb was brewing in its mouth, ready to blast away all these irritating bugs nearby in one go.

But before it could release the move, the Seven-Inch Spot beneath the back of its neck was attacked again.

The Arbok Leader crashed to the ground once more. Perhaps because its Sludge Bomb had been interrupted, it seemed as though the Arbok Leader had been beaten into vomiting, spewing copious amounts of dark purple liquid from its mouth.

The Caterpies naturally swarmed forward, surging in like a green tide.

As for the surrounding Ekans Group, most of them had already retreated a considerable distance when the Arbok Leader went berserk. At this point, they had no way to rush back to the center of the battlefield to guard their leader.

And even if they wanted to, they could not force their way in.

Compared to how they had been chased into fleeing everywhere just hours ago, the Caterpies were now incomparably fierce.

Not only were the Arbok and Ekans unable to enter the center of the battlefield, but they were also pushed farther and farther away by the torrent formed by the Caterpies.

At this moment, the Arbok Leader was like an elephant trapped in an ant colony.

Enough ants could bite an elephant to death.

And among those laying siege were not just ants, but also a ferocious leopard.

Whoosh—

As the swarm launched its collective assault, Caterpie used the charged version of Tackle (Power-Up Tackle). Its overflowing power made its charge-up far beyond imagination. It coiled its body and shot into the sky, descending like an emerald meteor!!

The many Caterpies participating in the siege understood immediately, swiftly retreating as the emerald meteor fell.

Boom!!!

The earth shook, forming a nearly ten-meter-wide crater covered in cracks. The meteor Caterpie had become struck the Arbok Leader's Seven-Inch Spot with precision, and emerald shockwaves burst wildly outward.

Though it had not killed the Arbok Leader outright, it was not far from death.

The Caterpie Group swarmed forward again, completely drowning the dying Arbok Leader.

Before long, the Arbok Leader lost all signs of life. The remaining Ekans Group on the battlefield scattered and fled as if frightened...

At the edge of the battlefield, Mark stood with his mouth half-open, his expression stunned.

It was not merely because the tide of battle had reversed so suddenly, but also because of Caterpie's Spirit Control Panel.

Caterpie

Five-Dimensional Potential:

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

Abilities: Shield Dust, Run Away

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

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