"Migthyenas, it's enough to make the Tangela lose their ability to fight."
Seeing the battle, Aven promptly called out.
Hearing his voice, the Migthyena leader paused its actions, then flung the Tangela in its mouth to the ground. The Tangela clearly could no longer fight.
After spitting it out, the Migthyena leader chewed the remaining tangles in its mouth and then spat them onto the ground—truly disgusting.
With the Migthyenas joining the fray, the Tangelas were quickly defeated. The villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief, though they still kept a wary eye on the pack.
But just as the villagers stayed on alert, they suddenly saw one Migthyena collapse to the ground, legs up, twitching violently.
Then a second, a third, a fourth… More and more Migthyenas began to fall.
"Migthyena, what's happening to you?"
Peter panicked as he rushed over to check on the fallen Pokémon.
"What's going on with them?"
"Could it be that the vines on the Tangelas are poisonous?"
The villagers all wore confused expressions, voicing their suspicions.
When they thought about the possibility that the Migthyenas had been poisoned while helping them defeat the Tangelas, their wary expressions faded, replaced by concern.
"Don't worry, the vines on Tangela aren't poisonous. In fact, they're edible."
"I think the reason the Migthyenas fainted is… this place just smells way too awful. And Migthyenas have a sense of smell that's a hundred times stronger than ours."
At that moment, Aven suddenly spoke up with a chuckle, causing the villagers to pause in surprise.
Smell... That's when they remembered—the Gloom had indeed released a tremendous stench to fight the Tangelas earlier. Some villagers instinctively wrinkled their noses, and immediately felt nauseated.
They looked at the Migthyenas again—these Pokémon had been fighting in the midst of that stench?
Their gazes softened, feeling a mix of sympathy and amusement. Much of their hostility toward the Migthyenas dissipated.
Soon, with the help of the villagers, the fallen Migthyenas were relocated to a high slope away from the battlefield.
Once they had fresh air, the Migthyenas finally began to wake up, breathing heavily as if they'd nearly suffocated—because they had.
The surrounding villagers sighed in relief upon seeing them come to.
Meanwhile, Peter—who had run to the abandoned orchard to seek help from the Migthyenas—had become the village's hero, with cheers rising from every direction.
…
In the village's grassland.
The unconscious Tangelas slowly began to wake up.
The moment one of them came to, it felt a chill all over its body and found that only a few vines remained wrapped around it.
Panicked, it quickly regrew its vines. Only when its body was once again covered did it let out a breath of relief. Looking around, it saw its companions lying all over the grassy field—unconscious but all accounted for.
This reassured it, and it began to assess the situation.
It remembered wandering across barren lands with its companions, often attacked by other wild Pokémon.
The vines on their bodies were a food source for many Pokémon, making them easy targets.
After countless battles, they had lost many allies, until they came across a meadow where Glooms lived.
They were drawn to the overwhelming vitality emanating from that grassland and decided to take the risk and attack the Glooms.
Though the Glooms were numerous, their fighting ability was very weak. On the other hand, the Tangelas—survivors of countless battles with predators—were all highly skilled.
Just when they were about to succeed, a pack of powerful Migthyenas suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
In the face of those sharp claws and fangs, they stood no chance.
However, the Migthyenas didn't eat them… but then, where were they now?
While the Tangela was pondering this, a Rhyhorn appeared in the distance, walking in its direction, accompanied by two humans.
"Aven, are you planning to tame these Tangelas too?"
Uncle Mike's voice was filled with exasperation. He was starting to realize that his nephew had an obsession with taming wild magical beast—regardless of what kind they were.
Oddly enough, the magical beast that were once fierce and aggressive always became quite tame under Aven's training.
This had been the case for the Glooms outside the village, and it was the same for the Migthyenas.
"Yes, these Tangelas are quite strong," Aven replied with a smile.
"But more importantly, their vines can be a very good food source."
Mike was momentarily stunned, then frowned and asked, "The vines on Tangela… are edible?"
He was skeptical.
True, people had eaten those vines before—but the taste was awful, to say the least.
He believed no one would willingly eat them unless they were truly starving.
That was food—perhaps more accurately, it was a type of herb.
If processed properly, it could even become a flavorful seasoning… Aven thought to himself.
He recalled that in the Galar region, people loved using Tangela vines to make spices.
But here, Aven didn't plan to use them as seasoning.
Instead, he intended to use them as ingredients for Pokémon food.
The vines Tangela produced were grown using stored energy within their bodies, meaning they were naturally rich in nutrients.
All that was needed was to process them and mix them with various berries to create nutritious Pokémon food.
Worth noting: although most wild Pokémon didn't like eating Tangela vines, Snorlax was a rare exception.
In fact, Snorlax loved them.
Wherever there were Tangelas, Snorlax could often be found nearby.
As a Pokémon breeder, making Pokémon food was a fundamental skill for Aven.
Especially in the wild, foraging and creating tasty Pokémon meals using berries, honey, wild greens, and other ingredients was second nature to him.
"Tangela vines can be used to make Pokémon food," Aven explained with a grin.
Mike blinked in surprise, then heard Aven add, "It'll also help solve the Migthyenas' food problem."
The Migthyenas' food problem… Mike glanced at the Tangelas and suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the Migthyenas.
Could they really stomach this kind of food?
(End of Chapter)