Spearow Leader

"Web-shaped String Shot."

This was a test for both Weedle and his trainer. Xia Yan focused all his attention.

"Wuu!"

Weedle felt the pressure as well, but as long as Xia Yan was still giving orders, it still had its backbone.

Its mouth opened and closed, and a web woven from white silk threads instantly took shape.

This was the result of repeatedly trying to train Electroweb. Though it was not yet coated in Electric-type energy, changing the shape of String Shot gave it a higher hit rate and a wider area of coverage.

It instantly wrapped around one of the incoming Spearow. The sticky webbing tangled around its body and clung to feathers all over it, severely restricting its ability to fly and forcing it to land.

One temporarily restrained.

"Poison Sting. Aim at the one on the left."

The remaining two Spearow still charged forward without hesitation. As the howling wind grew fiercer with their approach, Xia Yan's hair whipped wildly around him, but he showed no intention of backing down.

Since he had decided to take on this job, he had to be prepared to face many opponents alone.

Upon receiving the command, Weedle reacted quickly.

It raised its head.

The horn atop its head glowed with a purple aura, and three Poison Stings shot out almost simultaneously. They were incredibly fast, and with the Spearow charging straight at them, the needles pierced its body in the blink of an eye.

The pained Spearow stumbled and fell from the sky.

Only one left!

Though Weedle had used two moves to restrain two Spearow, the time spent doing so gave the final Spearow the chance to close in.

Moreover, this Spearow was smart. It had noticed that this Weedle was difficult to handle, and that the human's commands made it even more troublesome.

So it directly ignored Weedle and locked onto the frail human.

Its sharp beak shone white.

A basic Flying-type move, Peck!

With a Pokémon's strength, a successful hit on Xia Yan would definitely inflict tremendous damage. If it struck a vital spot, it might even kill him outright.

Xia Yan's expression darkened as he stared fixedly at the rapidly approaching Spearow.

"Wuu!" Weedle cried anxiously.

"Keep calm!" Xia Yan said without turning around.

This kind of straight-line attack from a Spearow was at its most terrifying. The momentum from its flight, combined with gravity, made the attack exceptionally destructive.

But this style of attack also had a major weakness.

Its trajectory was completely predictable.

At that moment, the benefit of Xia Yan's long training sessions with Weedle became apparent.

Xia Yan's entire body tensed. Beneath his still-thin frame lay a considerable burst of strength.

The instant Spearow's attack was about to strike, Xia Yan, having predicted that its target was his head, suddenly crouched down.

Whoosh—

To Spearow's astonishment, it skimmed directly over Xia Yan's head and hurtled straight toward the ground behind him.

Ever since learning that Pokémon in this world could attack humans, Xia Yan had prepared himself for situations like this.

Training with Weedle was not merely to improve their coordination and trust. It was also so that, when faced with attacks from wild Pokémon, he would not be completely incapable of reacting.

Although humans in this world were physically stronger than those from his previous life for various reasons, the difference was insignificant before Pokémon.

Not everyone could be like Ash, full of energy after being struck by Thunderbolt every day. Nor could everyone be like the three members of Team Rocket, who could take an attack and get a free flight.

That was the difference in talent.

Xia Yan could not do what they did, but he at least needed some ability to deal with danger.

"Finish it!"

After crouching to evade Spearow's lethal strike, Xia Yan spoke coldly.

Weedle's tiny eyes were filled with rage.

It was angry that it had nearly failed to protect Xia Yan, and even angrier that Spearow had no sense of fair play and had directly attacked its trainer.

"Wuu!!" It let out a low growl filled with fury.

Three Poison Stings shot from its horn. Perhaps because of its anger, or perhaps because it deliberately controlled them, this time, aside from looking the same as before, the three needles were wrapped in a dense purple mist.

Pfft—

"Chirp!!"

With a scream, all three Poison Stings pierced Spearow's body at once. It had just completed an attack, its old momentum spent before new strength could arise, leaving it with no chance to dodge.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

The damage caused by these Poison Stings was far greater.

Three rings of dark purple rapidly spread from the points where the needles had entered. The poison's corrosive nature directly ate away at Spearow's outer feathers, and the toxin spread rapidly.

Hearing the commotion, Xia Yan glanced at Spearow's miserable state in surprise, then at the lingering anger on Weedle's face from his shoulder.

In its rage, Weedle's Poison-type abilities had been significantly enhanced.

It seemed Weedle still possessed potential that had yet to be discovered and developed. The thought flashed through Xia Yan's mind.

This gave him a general idea of the direction and goals for their future training.

But right now, this was clearly not the time to focus on that.

The Spearow leader standing on the treetop had seen its three subordinates suffer defeat one after another and was already making its move.

"Deal with the other two first."

Xia Yan locked his gaze on the Spearow leader, ready to respond at any moment, while having Weedle deal with the two Spearow that had been restrained earlier.

Weedle nodded.

Its current state was strange. A surge of energy was churning uncontrollably within its body, though it seemed not to have noticed. Xia Yan, with his sharp observation, did.

Two more Poison Stings in succession dealt with the Spearow whose movements were restricted on the ground.

Then its gaze also fell upon the Spearow leader.

Since Spearow was a Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon, Bug-type moves dealt half damage to it, so Xia Yan had no intention of having Weedle use Bug Bite.

Even though Bug Bite was currently Weedle's strongest move.

Furthermore, Bug Bite needed to be used at close range, and approaching Spearow would clearly put Weedle at a disadvantage.

"Chirp!!"

A sharper, more resounding cry rang out.

The Spearow leader moved the moment it saw its remaining two subordinates about to be finished off.

With a light flap of its wings, its body shot forward.

Like a streak of folded white light, it traced a zigzag through the air, and it was obviously far faster than the previous Spearow.

"Quick Attack." Seeing that zigzag path, Xia Yan's heart sank.

Sure enough, to become the leader of several Spearow, it had some real ability.

Before such speed, Weedle's preemptive Web-shaped String Shot seemed like nothing more than decoration.

"Wuu, wuu!" Weedle's tiny eyes followed Spearow closely, but anxiety showed on its face because it knew it could not hit Spearow at that speed.

And if Spearow got close, the first one to suffer definitely would not be it.

It would be Xia Yan!

That was something Weedle could not accept.

"Don't panic. Remember what I taught you. If you cannot be certain of hitting the enemy with absolute accuracy, then give up a little. Abandon opportunities that might hit but are more likely to miss."

"No matter how fast it is, it will definitely reveal an opening at the instant its attack lands. What you need to do is gather your strength, then seize that fleeting opportunity."