Upon hearing the taunting roar of the Rhydon, the Pokémon inside the cave seemed to be used to it by now and responded with a few cries of their own. It wasn't hard to detect the anger and impatience in their voices.
Watching the Rhydon turn its head and grin foolishly at him, Silas rubbed his temples in frustration. Why did it feel like this Rhydon wasn't the brightest?
Thump! Thump!
Heavy footsteps echoed again, though they were much lighter in comparison to Rhydon's.
"Nee-doh~" "Nee-gah~"
Two distinctly different cries rang out.
Silas snapped his fingers, and Blaziken immediately understood, unleashing a burst of Flamethrower.
"ROAR!!"
The cry of the Pokémon hit by the flames sounded about the same. Silas seemed to be deep in thought.
At the moment, Nidoking and Nidoqueen were completely confused. Wasn't it just their old rival coming to challenge them to a fight again? Why did a fire-breathing Pokémon suddenly get involved?
Silas had no other choice. Things had been somewhat better near Rhydon's territory, where the surrounding area was filled with glowing plants and minerals. It was relatively bright, making it easier to see clearly.
Or rather, many parts of the cave were like that. After all, Pokémon couldn't live freely in complete darkness—they still needed some form of light.
But for some unknown reason, the area around Nidoking and Nidoqueen was pitch black. The last time he came here, it wasn't like this.
If it weren't for the faint light from Blaziken's body flames, he could only make out vague outlines.
However, in the brief moment of light from Blaziken's Flamethrower, Silas managed to get a good look at the two Pokémon before him.
The two Pokémon weren't particularly large—perhaps because they had evolved directly without accumulating enough energy. Compared to the average of their species, they were relatively small. Silas estimated Nidoking to be about 1.3 meters tall (average is 1.4m), and Nidoqueen around 1.2 meters (average is 1.3m).
As for their weight, that was harder to judge by eye.
The purple Nidoking had a white chest and abdomen. On top of its head was a large, sharp, and highly poisonous horn—its most powerful offensive weapon. Its triangular black pupils and white sclera made it look especially fierce.
In contrast, Nidoqueen was covered in tough, blue scales, with its chin, chest, and belly being white.
One key difference from Nidoking was that Nidoqueen had a row of venomous spines running along its back, from the forehead to the tail. On the other hand, Nidoking had blunt, non-poisonous spikes stretching from the neck down its back to the tail.
In fact, wild Nidoking and Nidoqueen were extremely rare, primarily because Moon Stones were so hard to find. Moreover, they were typically social creatures who preferred to live in groups.
Unlike Rhydon—who, after evolving from Rhyhorn, tends to adopt a solitary lifestyle—Nidoking and Nidoqueen are usually surrounded by their offspring: Nidoran♂, Nidoran♀, Nidorina, or Nidorino.
However, up until now, Silas hadn't spotted any of their children nearby.
Their tempers weren't particularly good, especially when provoked.
Silas bent down with a calm expression as a swarm of stones flew toward them, crashing into the front-line Rhydon and Boldore.
The two Pokémon felt a bit of pain, but fortunately, the Rock Slide attack itself wasn't very powerful. Plus, Nidoking and Nidoqueen weren't very skilled at using it, so the stones they threw were small.
Rhydon, with its massive body and strong resistance to Rock-type moves, took the brunt of the attack. Both of the defending Pokémon, known for their high defense, only felt slight discomfort.
Silas dusted the dirt off his clothes. Their tempers really were bad.
Nidoking and Nidoqueen, naturally, weren't in a good mood. Their sense of smell was extremely sharp, and their memory was far better than that of Rhydon.
They clearly remembered it was this human who interrupted their mating last time. And that bird-like Pokémon beside him—although it looked different now—had the same scent. It must've evolved.
And now, under the lead of their old nemesis, they had come back to provoke them again. Unforgivable!
Both Pokémon struck their strong, three-toed front claws into the nearby rock wall, clawing out chunks of stone and hurling them toward the opposing Pokémon and the human.
At the same time, they let out deep howls.
"Roooaaar!!"
They were calling for backup.
"Go, Rhydon, use Drill Run on Nidoking! Boldore, use Sand Tomb to pin them down! Blaziken, use Blast Burn on Nidoqueen!"
Silas quickly issued commands to his three Pokémon, aiming to end the battle fast.
From his estimate, Nidoking and Nidoqueen were no stronger than level 35 at best. The last time he encountered them two months ago, during a chase, he roughly gauged them to be around level 31 or 32.
Even with the nourishment from a Moon Stone, they couldn't have made that much progress in such a short time. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to fight together just to handle a single Rhydon.
Boldore was the fastest to react. For the past two months, it had been training in sand manipulation. While it couldn't yet be called perfect, it had mastered the technique to a highly proficient level.
One Sand Tomb after another surged forth, steadily locking down the ground beneath Nidoking and Nidoqueen, trapping them in a swirling vortex. Though they struggled to break free, escaping the grip of flowing sand wasn't easy.
Upon hearing Silas's command, Rhydon let out an excited roar. One of the reasons it had lost the last time was because it had to fight alone, while the other side fought in pairs—or worse, brought extra underlings. Completely unfair!
If it were a one-on-one battle, it was confident it could pin that little purple runt or the short blue one to the ground and smash them.
This was the perfect opportunity. Those two had kept disturbing it at night, preventing it from getting a good night's sleep.
The horn on Rhydon's head began spinning furiously. It crouched into a charging stance, then launched itself toward Nidoking.
Drill Run and Head Smash were similar in essence, except Drill Run didn't cause recoil damage to the user.
Based on Silas's observations and confirmation from Zero's analysis panel, the Rhydon he had just captured had a single Ability—Lightning Rod—instead of the more practical Strong Jaw, and it didn't have the hidden Ability Rock Head either.
Of course, its potential was still that of a pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon. Even though it had higher-than-average potential, the lack of a hidden Ability meant it wasn't particularly outstanding among its kind.
Plus, most opponents wouldn't use Electric-type moves against a Rock/Ground-type like Rhydon, so the Lightning Rod Ability was practically useless.
As for why it preferred to use Head Smash, a move that hurt itself as much as it hurt its enemies—maybe it was just a personality thing.
All in all, Silas thought this Rhydon had quite a few issues. Even as a member of his second or third team, it would need proper training and discipline.
Blaziken's Blast Burn was the last to be launched, but it landed first, slamming into the blue-bodied Nidoqueen.
"Boom! Crash!"
"Rooaaargh~!"
Rhydon struck Nidoking right after that, a heartbeat later. The purple and blue Pokémon were trapped in place, howling in agony.
....
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