Chapter 58

Swampert listened to Qing Wu's words in confusion. My stomachache can be cured? But I have to entrust my children to him? No, no.

Swampert hurriedly shook its head. Its children were the continuation of its life; it could not just give them away like that. At worst, it would keep starving like it did now. It was used to hunger anyway.

But the human before it did not give up. Still smiling, Qing Wu said to Swampert unwillingly, "Think about it. You have this condition already—what if your children inherit it too? Can you bear to let them suffer, to starve alongside you like this?" Qing Wu spoke earnestly to Swampert.

In truth, Qing Wu knew very well that this Swampert had undergone a mutation.

This mutation was not hereditary, so these Pokémon Eggs would not inherit Swampert's strange illness.

Qing Wu had only said it deliberately to make Swampert agree to let him take its children away.

After hearing Qing Wu's words, Swampert hesitated greatly.

To be honest, it did have such concerns. That was why, after laying the Pokémon Eggs, it had delayed hatching its children.

It did not want its children to endure this day-after-day, year-after-year life of starvation, unable even to sleep peacefully before being forcibly awakened by hunger.

Swampert had once wished that, so long as its strange illness could be cured, it would be willing to give up everything. But now that someone capable of treating it had appeared, it hesitated.

Swampert knew the digestive power of its stomach acid very well.

Even if this human poisoned it, its stomach acid could easily break down the toxins. That was why Swampert had relied on its own strength to become the leader of this group.

"How about this? I'll give you the antidote first. Once you're sure there's no problem, we can discuss what comes next." Qing Wu directly handed the indigo vial to Swampert.

"You'll know whether I lied in just a moment." Swampert took the medicine with its fan-like hand, then raised its sandbag-sized fist and smashed a boulder weighing nearly a ton into countless fragments with one punch, as if warning Qing Wu not to try anything.

Swampert swallowed the liquid in the indigo vial in one gulp.

Swampert felt a cool stream flow down its throat, and then its churning stomach, which had craved food day and night without rest, stopped feeling that intense hunger.

"Ka-mo?" Swampert rubbed its belly. It's cured? Just like that? Swampert was bewildered.

"Well? It worked, didn't it?" Qing Wu smiled at Swampert, utterly unafraid of the immense pressure radiating from it. Swampert patted its belly, indicating that it was already fine.

At that moment, Swampert's warning suddenly rang out from afar. Large groups of Mudkip crawled out of the lake in panic.

Marshtomp shielded the Mudkip and slowly retreated. Without a word, Swampert charged forward, summoning the remaining Swampert to resist the enemy together.

"Is this an invasion by outsiders?" Qing Wu spotted shark fins rising along the distant shore.

"So it's a Sharpedo attack." As it happened, Qing Wu had seen Swampert battle Sharpedo last time. That enormous Sharpedo had left a deep impression on him.

Not only had the Sharpedo group attacked, but countless Tricolor Piranha also leaped from the water, hopping about with a menacing air.

Dark clouds suddenly blanketed the sky, turning it from clear to overcast. The clouds blocked out the sun's radiance, leaving the surroundings dim as night, so dark that one could not see their own hand.

The clouds collided directly, producing rumbling thunder. Silver lightning writhed through the sky, casting Sharpedo's appearance in a particularly ferocious light. Marshtomp protected the Mudkip as they trembled.

"Come out, Golbat, Kecleon, Squirtle!" Qing Wu released the three Pokémon.

"Golbat, accompany Marshtomp and guard the Mudkip as you move. Kecleon, escort the Mudkip and Marshtomp into the cave on Lakeheart Island and protect them. Squirtle, calm the Mudkip group."

Qing Wu hurried into Swampert's nest and carefully placed Swampert's Pokémon Eggs into his backpack.

Qing Wu even found a Mystic Water and a high-grade Water Stone beneath the Pokémon Eggs.

By then, fierce winds were already howling, lifting Mudkip off the ground.

If Golbat had not grabbed the Mudkip at once, they would certainly have fallen into Sharpedo's jaws and become Sharpedo's meal.

"Golbat, use Hurricane to cancel out these winds!" Qing Wu shouted to Golbat.

Golbat flapped its wings with all its strength, creating wall after wall of wind. Only then did it safely send the Mudkip group into the cave.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, illuminating the faces of Swampert and Sharpedo as they confronted one another.

All the Swampert present knew that their leader had not eaten and was still suffering from its stomach illness.

Torrential rain poured down in sheets, forming dense curtains of raindrops.

The lake's water level rose sharply, quickly swallowing part of Lakeheart Island's land.

It turned out Sharpedo intended to use the move Rain Dance to wipe out the Swampert group that had occupied Lakeheart Island for years.

Sharpedo's leader revealed a crafty smile.

It had planned this for a long time. Its previous battle with Swampert had merely been to test Swampert's true strength.

This Swampert leader seemed to be in poor health. As expected, it could not hold out for long.

This time, the Sharpedo group had captured a batch of Pokémon capable of using Rain Dance, threatening them with the safety of their offspring and forcing them to unleash Rain Dance.

The Sharpedo leader had brought every Sharpedo and Tricolor Piranha along for one purpose: to completely seize Lakeheart Island and occupy the place on all of Trial Island with the most abundant Water-type energy.

"This is a little troublesome." Qing Wu led the Mudkip and Marshtomp into the cave. This cave was a shelter the Swampert group had excavated together to defend against invading enemies.

Qing Wu stood guard at the cave entrance, watching the battle in the distance. He also noticed that the lake water was gradually submerging part of Lakeheart Island's land, giving Sharpedo and Tricolor Piranha a much wider range to move around in.

"What a shame. I don't have any Electric-type or Grass-type Pokémon on hand." Qing Wu felt some regret. Otherwise, with Grass-type and Electric-type Pokémon, mowing down Sharpedo and Tricolor Piranha would have been as easy as cutting grass.

Gurgle, gurgle. Hearing the Mudkip's stomachs rumble in the cave, Qing Wu knew they had been attacked by Sharpedo and Tricolor Piranha before they could eat. This was the best time to win over the Mudkip group.

Qing Wu took out a large bag of prepared Poffins from his backpack and handed it to Squirtle.

"Squirtle, distribute these Poffins to the Mudkip and Marshtomp. I believe you can handle this." Qing Wu was worried about the battle and naturally had no mind to do such things himself. At a time like this, Squirtle, which had been calming the Mudkip, came in handy.

"Golbat, the Swampert defending outside seem to be exhausted from not eating too. I'm counting on you." Qing Wu took out a bag of Poffins and handed it to Golbat.

Golbat watched the howling wind and torrential rain outside. After hesitating for a moment, it charged resolutely into the curtain of rain.

Protected by Air Armor in its Riding the Wind state, the rain outside had a negligible effect on Golbat.

The alert Swampert leader heard the sound of Golbat's wings beating. It felt something being tossed into its mouth, and after chewing it lightly, discovered that it seemed to be something it had eaten not long ago.

Its body temperature had dropped because of the rain, but after eating that thing, it began to regain its vitality.

The Swampert leader immediately shouted loudly, telling all the Swampert to open their mouths so Golbat could accurately toss Poffins into them.

Golbat moved with incredible speed, appearing and vanishing unpredictably. The thick-headed Sharpedo failed to notice its little trick. Instead, they wondered why these Swampert suddenly seemed to have taken medicine, becoming so vigorous and ferocious.

The Swampert raised fists the size of sandbags and battered Sharpedo across the heads.

"Hiss! Hiss!" Seeing that things were going badly, the Sharpedo leader opened its blood-filled maw and called out to some of the Tricolor Piranha and Sharpedo that had yet to move.

It signaled for them to attack Mudkip's shelter cave first, intending to threaten the Swampert with the lives of the Mudkip tribe.

Surrounded and intercepted by the Sharpedo, the Swampert could only watch helplessly as countless Tricolor Piranha and some Sharpedo swam toward the cave.

Although the lake water currently submerged only � part of Lakeheart Island, this was no difficulty at all for Tricolor Piranha capable of using Aqua Jet.

By the light of the lightning, Qing Wu noticed that the Tricolor Piranha and Sharpedo could use Aqua Jet. He then spoke to the Marshtomp that had already recovered their strength.

The Marshtomp here were generally above level �, making them the backbone of the Swampert tribe. Against Sharpedo that were likewise above level � and Tricolor Piranha above level �, they could still repel this wave of attacks if properly trained.

"Marshtomp, use Ice Beam all together!" The Swampert was a good leader. Qing Wu took one look and saw that nearly every Marshtomp present had been taught the exceptionally valuable move Ice Beam.

"Don't worry about exhausting your strength after using the move. I'm here." Qing Wu said to the Marshtomp, and they felt exceptionally reassured upon hearing him.

"Golbat, use Air Slash to cut off their Aqua Jet!"

"Kecleon, manipulate Rock Tomb and knock the Sharpedo and Tricolor Piranha that make it ashore back into the water!" Qing Wu gave Kecleon its orders as well.

Watching the Swampert leader grow fiercer and fiercer in battle, the Sharpedo leader revealed a smug smile. He had left the Swampert tribe a big present, after all. He wondered how surprised they would be when they discovered it.

"What a loss, what a loss." Qing Wu truly regretted not finding an Electric-type or Grass-type Pokémon. If he could just toss out a Thunderbolt, the experience would have shot up like crazy.

The Swampert leader was more than ten levels higher than the Sharpedo leader, but there were simply too many Sharpedo. Sharpedo could breed, and they wanted to defeat the Swampert through sheer numbers.

As the Marshtomp unleashed Ice Beam together, countless Tricolor Piranha and Sharpedo were frozen within blocks of ice.

The Sharpedo were better off. With a slight movement of their bodies, the ice trapping them soon cracked into several pieces.

The Sharpedo broke free of the ice successfully, but the Tricolor Piranha did not have that ability. Frozen inside the ice, they could not move at all apart from their eyes.