The journey

Their first destination was a mountain, but before they had even reached its foot, a family of Raticate and Rattata had already set its sights on them.

What were the most terrifying Pokémon to encounter in the wild? Definitely not the hot-tempered Ursaring, nor the elusive Gengar... It was packs like these: individually weak, but highly aggressive, living in groups with frightening numbers.

Rattata, Beedrill, Spearow... These were all Pokémon Trainers dreaded encountering in the wild. Attack one, and an entire swarm would immediately come charging out. Even if you left them alone, they might come looking for trouble anyway.

"Get into the mountain, fast. Wild Pokémon usually have their own territories and won't chase us too far unless they have to," Xiao Ran said gravely, watching the Rattata trailing close behind without charging at them yet.

This Raticate family was small, with only a dozen or so members, but Xiao Ran still wanted to avoid a fight if possible. Their mission was to reach Border Town, not fight their way there.

"Happiny and Hatenna can both learn Disarming Voice. Have them learn from Popplio later. If they can pick it up, it'll make things much easier the next time we're surrounded," Xiao Ran told the two girls as he backed away.

Both Happiny and Hatenna could naturally learn Disarming Voice, but one specialized in healing and the other in psychic powers, so both had neglected the move. Now, however, single-target Confusion couldn't deal with a whole pack of Rattata. Learning an area attack was essential.

Besides, Disarming Voice was a sound-based move. Different sounds might not blend well, but if three identical Disarming Voices were used together properly, their combined power would be far more than the sum of their parts.

"Disarming Voice? Is that an attack move? Happiny