"Has Aven already informed the Mightyenas?"
Sutter thought to himself. He had a hunch that Aven was trying to earn the villagers' trust for the Mightyenas—just like he had done before with the Glooms.
But as more time passed, Sutter began to feel uneasy. Why hadn't the Mightyenas shown up yet? Wasn't this part of Aven's plan? He looked over at Aven again, only to realize that at some point, Aven had closed his eyes.
No way… Sutter fell into silent disbelief. Could it be that Aven really didn't have a backup plan?
Just then, Aven suddenly opened his eyes and patted the Rhyhorn beside him. "I'll be counting on you in a moment."
Hearing Aven's words, the Rhyhorn let out an excited snort, looking ready to leap into action. At the same time, the Starly perched on Rhyhorn's back spread its wings and soared into the air, prepared to join the battle.
Did Aven not call the Mightyenas after all…? Uncle Mike grew tense. He glanced eastward and gripped the iron farm tool in his hand tightly.
Beside him, his Luxray sparked with electric arcs, ready to charge into the fray at any moment.
Mike had just counted: there were 23 Tangela in total. With the help of Rhyhorn and Luxray, they might actually have a fighting chance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battle between the Tangelas and the Glooms raged on.
Since Sleep Powder was ineffective, the Glooms resorted to Absorb.
But just as Aven had warned, the Tangelas were also proficient in using Absorb. Green light flashed all over the battlefield, the attacks canceling each other out with minimal effect on the enemy.
In contrast, the wild Tangelas had far more battle experience than the newly evolved Glooms.
With the Glooms' main three tricks rendered useless, the power gap between the two sides became immediately apparent.
The blue vines on the Tangelas' bodies grew and lashed out like whips, sweeping across the battlefield. Glooms were continuously knocked down!
…
Peter darted through the village.
He wasn't running away—he was going to the abandoned orchard to get reinforcements.
Even though the villagers still didn't trust the Mightyenas, Peter had spent a lot of time with them and knew they were easy to get along with.
That's why he believed in them. More importantly, he saw this as the perfect chance for the villagers to accept the Mightyenas.
He ran as fast as he could. The village was in danger, and the Mightyenas were needed to drive the invading Tangelas away.
Meanwhile, at the abandoned orchard outside the village…
The leader of the Mightyenas suddenly stood up. It had sensed waves of energy coming from the village—clearly, a battle was taking place.
Its eyes filled with confusion. It didn't know what exactly was happening and hesitated about what to do.
At that moment, it caught a familiar scent rapidly approaching.
Heart stirring, the Mightyena dashed off in the direction Peter was coming from, intending to find out what was going on.
…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battle still hadn't ended.
By now, the Glooms were like soldiers stripped of their weapons and armor.
The Tangelas, on the other hand, were fully armed.
Although the Glooms had the numerical advantage, they still weren't a match for the Tangelas and were pushed back.
Facing the flurry of vine whips, the Glooms kept getting knocked down—only to stand back up again and again.
They knew that behind them stood the villagers—they absolutely could not let these enemies enter the village.
Watching from the village entrance, the villagers were both touched and heartbroken. Many wished they could rush in and help the Glooms fend off the Tangelas.
But the battlefield was too chaotic. Even if they wanted to help, they couldn't step in easily.
The power difference really is too big... Aven sighed inwardly.
To quickly make the Gloom squad battle-ready, he had only taught them Sleep Powder and Absorb. The rest of their training was still incomplete.
He also looked to the east. Peter should've delivered the message by now, right?
If the Mightyenas could arrive in time, that would be ideal. But if not, he was prepared to have Rhyhorn and the others step in.
While the 23 Tangelas were indeed strong, Petilil and Rhyhorn had grown far more powerful recently.
Especially Petilil's Poison-type moves, which posed a deadly threat to Grass-type Tangelas. Poison had a type advantage and could quickly incapacitate them.
…
Awooooo!
Just as the villagers were steeling themselves for a fight, a sudden wolf howl rang out—making everyone tense up.
They turned toward the direction of the howl, and sure enough, a large pack of Mightyenas came running from the distance.
They really came… Sutter let out a breath of relief, but when he looked around at the villagers, he saw no joy—only worry.
Clearly, the villagers still didn't fully trust the Mightyenas. If they too turned on the village—especially now that the Glooms had been nearly wiped out—no one would be able to stop them.
"Wait! Look at the back of that Mightyena!"
"It's Peter! That's Peter! The Mightyenas came because he called them!"
A sharp-eyed villager suddenly shouted, and the others followed with gasps of surprise.
Sure enough, on the back of one of the Mightyenas, Peter was clinging tightly to its neck.
The next moment, the Mightyenas didn't pause at all and leapt straight at the Tangelas.
Instinctively, the Tangelas lashed out with their blue vine whips. But the agile Mightyenas dodged them easily and clamped down on the attacking vines with their sharp teeth.
With a powerful yank, a Tangela was pulled off the ground and flung into the air.
Meanwhile, other Mightyenas slashed with sharp claws, tearing through the vines.
But to the Tangelas, those vines were just expendable growths—not part of their actual bodies. Even when shredded, they didn't feel any pain and quickly grew more vines to counterattack.
However, no matter how fast the vines regrew, they couldn't keep up with the speed at which the Mightyenas tore them apart.
Before long, the Mightyenas had reached the Tangelas directly, unleashing deadly attacks with claws and fangs.
(End of Chapter)