The Grudge-Holding Ekans (Please Bookmark)

Only then did Dian relax a little. He turned to look around.

The forest was deep and dark, filled with rustling sounds and mysterious shapes.

Soft grass lay beneath his feet, and a sweet fragrance hung in the air.

"A sweet fragrance?"

Dian frowned. He recognized it: it smelled like the Spring Branch Flowers he had encountered at a flower shop in Tani City.

But those flowers bloomed only at the start of spring, and their flowering period was short—usually just two or three days.

And the flowers had already finished blooming before he lost consciousness.

"The timing's wrong!"

Dian reached a conclusion at once. Judging by what he had seen before he passed out, he had probably been swept into a time vortex.

It wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this.

Dian's expression darkened without him realizing it.

"Nah, nah!"

Hoppip had been sitting obediently by Dian's feet, but it suddenly gave a curious cry, as though it had sensed something.

Dian snapped back to his senses. He scooped up Hoppip and ducked into the nearby grass.

He gently soothed Hoppip in his arms, then checked what he had on him.

"Just these..."

Dian stared helplessly at the five stalks of Void Thorn in his hand.

He had kept the herbs on him because he was afraid they would be damaged in his backpack.

Still, something was better than nothing.

He put the herbs away, leaned against a large tree, and turned to look toward the spot where he had just been.

A purple snake Pokémon with a flickering tongue and a tail like a rattlesnake's had silently settled where Dian had been standing.

Dian breathed a sigh of relief. It was an Ekans. Fortunately, it wasn't its evolved form, Arbok.

Ekans did bite, but they weren't venomous. Arbok, on the other hand, were frighteningly venomous. Some that specialized in poison could kill a person with a single bite.

But even without venom, Ekans weren't something an ordinary person could handle. They were two-meter-long snakes, after all, with muscular strength far beyond that of a normal human.

Besides, this wasn't an ordinary snake. It was a snake Pokémon.

"Bind, Leer, Poison Sting, Bite... Maybe even Glare."

Dian remained cautiously still. Hoppip stayed quiet in his arms.

Picking a fight with an Ekans in the forest would be anything but wise.

Ekans slithered around soundlessly for a while, then coiled up again and looked about.

"Sha?"

A trace of confusion flashed in its eyes. It had definitely sensed prey nearby just now. Where had it gone?

This Ekans seemed to have little hunting experience. After keeping watch for only a short while, it slithered ahead.

Its figure soon vanished into the grass.

Dian still didn't move. He looked down at Hoppip in his arms.

The leaves on Hoppip's head swayed gently.

It hasn't left yet.

Dian stayed where he was, his body turned sideways.

Ekans could move without making a sound, but it would still stir the air. Hoppip could sense even the slightest breeze.

That was how Hoppip had detected it in the first place.

A long time passed before Hoppip gave a soft cry. The leaves on its head drooped; concentrating for so long had worn it out.

"Phew—"

Dian exhaled. "Let's find something to eat first."

He didn't return Hoppip to its Poké Ball. Instead, he carried it into the nearby woods.

If only he had Beedrill or Misdreavus with him. Either one would have kept him from being so helpless just now.

"Hoppip, Fairy Wind."

Dian pointed at the red Berry on a branch ahead.

If he remembered correctly, it was a Red Pupil Berry. Sweet and sour, it was fairly common.

Strangely, the Red Pupil Berries here seemed unusually large, and the tree was bigger than those he had seen in the Forest before.

"Nah, nah!"

Hoppip's usually vacant expression turned serious. It cried out, sprang up, and sent an invisible gust rushing toward the berries.

Dian raised a hand against the wind that swept toward him, surprised to find it was nothing like ordinary wind.

Wind in nature and the Gust produced by a Pidgey were, strictly speaking, physical winds. Gust was still a move, of course, and carried Flying-type power.

But to Dian, it still took the form of physical wind.

The Fairy Wind Hoppip used was quite different.

Calling it wind was almost misleading. It was more like a pure ranged attack.

"So this is what makes the Fairy type special?"

Fairy-type Pokémon were unusual. Most looked small and delicate, yet they were a perfect counter to mighty Dragon-type Pokémon.

Dragon-type moves had no effect on Fairy-type Pokémon, while Fairy-type moves dealt double damage to Dragon-type Pokémon.

There was a counter for everything.

"Even heroes have a weakness for beauties..."

Dian murmured a saying from his previous life.

He smiled faintly. That was one reason he was willing to raise Hoppip.

Hoppip's final evolved form, Jumpluff, wasn't much of an attacker, but it was exceptionally fast and excelled at all kinds of support moves.

Pokémon like that were most vulnerable when an opponent seized the initiative, controlled them, or knocked them out in one hit.

But Hoppip's Leaf Guard made up for its vulnerability to control. It worked only in Sunny Day, but the combination was still excellent. Besides, Pokémon here weren't useful only in battle.

What they could do in everyday life was just as important.

A Grass-type Pokémon, at least, knew the forest well. That could be vital to a Trainer's survival.

Survival—that was exactly it. Only after entering the forest for real had Dian realized how different it was from what he had imagined.

Food was the first problem. He was practically blind when it came to telling what was poisonous and what wasn't.

Then there were dangerous Pokémon to avoid, such as Arbok.

Pokémon generally didn't attack humans unprovoked, but there were exceptions, like Arbok. It might not be looking to attack you, and you probably weren't its preferred prey anyway.

But if it was in a bad mood and bit you, what could you do?

Arbok's venom might not be potent enough to count as Toxic, but it could learn Toxic. Other Pokémon might withstand its poison, but could a human...?

Ekans had no venom, true, but with a body that size, could you survive being caught in its coils?

That made taking Hoppip in an excellent choice.

What's more, it had the unusual Fairy-type move Fairy Wind.

Its offensive power was nothing special, but its type made it valuable. And judging by what Dian had just felt, he might be able to train Hoppip to make the attack harder to detect.