The little Shinx had been living in fear lately.
Ever since the Black Forest was occupied by those outsiders, it had been wandering with other Pokémon into human territory.
Relying on its speed and ability to hide, Shinx felt it had been surviving relatively well—at least it didn't have to worry about starving.
However, today, a group of human knights suddenly appeared from who knows where. These despicable men attacked without any hesitation the moment they spotted them.
Shinx saw with its own eyes how the slightly dimwitted but otherwise kind Skutank, who had been friendly to it, fell under the humans' blades.
Soon after, the Mightyena accompanying the humans discovered Shinx hiding in the grass and launched an attack.
Fortunately, Shinx was incredibly fast. With the power stored in its body, it barely managed to break through Mightyena's encirclement.
Now, Shinx's mind was filled with only one thought: Escape.
Escape from this terrifying place.
As it ran at full speed, it left behind a trail of blood.
…
Meanwhile, Petilil had been feeling down lately.
Aven had been so busy that he hadn't had time to train with her for quite a while.
But she understood—Aven was doing everything he could to protect the village.
I have to become stronger too, thought Petilil.
Only then can I better help Aven.
If the village could be kept safe, Aven might finally be able to rest a little, right?
That morning, as usual, Aven got up early. Carrying Petilil in his arms, he headed toward the fields.
In the fields, the Tangela were inserting their vines deep into the soil, happily absorbing the nutrients within.
They didn't even need to actively stimulate vine growth—the vines naturally extended and grew, storing the absorbed nutrients inside them.
Thanks to these nutrients, the vines could be processed into highly nutritious Pokémon food through Tangela's special internal conversion abilities.
This was exactly why Aven had been harvesting the vines—he planned to use them to produce food for the soon-to-open Pokémon Breeding House.
He was now very familiar with the Tangela. After a quick greeting, Aven began harvesting the newly grown vines and loaded them onto a cart.
Soon, the blue vines were all collected. Aven called to Petilil, ready to return to the farm to prepare more Pokémon food.
Recently, Aven had been full of energy. Everything he was doing now was in preparation for the grand opening of his first Pokémon Breeding House in this world.
He took it extremely seriously, and the Pokémon food would be one of the key products to establish its reputation.
"Lil! Lil!"
Petilil looked at Aven, then glanced back at the Tangelas busy training in the fields.
After a moment's thought, she signaled to Aven that she wanted to stay and train with them.
"That's fine. Just remember to come home early," Aven said with a smile, encouraging her show of determination.
As Aven slowly left, Petilil immediately trotted over to a nearby Tangela, curiously observing how they grew so many vines.
The leaves on her head quivered slightly as she tilted her head, deep in thought.
Suddenly, an image popped into her mind: What if she, too, could rapidly grow her Healing Leaves like the Tangela grew their vines?
She was well aware of how valuable the Healing Leaves on her head were.
If she could find a way to promote their growth like the Tangela did, she could be a much greater help to Aven.
Once she thought of this idea, she immediately acted.
Petilil approached a Tangela and began communicating with it.
She knew they were using the Absorb move to draw nutrients from the earth, which Aven had mentioned was part of developing new move techniques.
"Tang! Tang!"
The Tangela, recognizing the leader-like figure who always stayed close to their master, was very friendly and enthusiastically shared its experience.
Petilil's face showed a look of deep concentration.
Soon, green light began to radiate from her body as she used Absorb, drawing energy from the soil and storing it within the Healing Leaves atop her head.
…
Meanwhile, Peter had been feeling quite proud of himself lately.
After successfully capturing a Mightyena, he paraded it around the village streets every day during patrols.
This greatly inspired the younger generation of the village, spurring more of them to venture into the abandoned orchard seeking their own opportunities.
They believed that if Peter could capture a Mightyena, so could they.
As a result, whenever Pokémon food was distributed for the Mightyena pack, the young villagers would scramble for it.
Already having his own Mightyena, Peter didn't need to compete with others.
Instead, he focused on a more important task: training his Mightyena.
As a beginner trainer, Peter wasn't quite sure how to train properly.
He had considered asking Aven for advice, but Aven's expensive training fees made him hesitate.
Luckily, Peter had a sudden idea: Uncle Mike used to be an adventurer—he must know how to train Pokémon!
In fact, Peter suspected that Aven must have learned his methods from Uncle Mike, since Aven didn't have a formal knight's background.
Uncle Mike was very generous. When Peter asked for guidance, Mike directly shared his experience without reservation.
Peter felt that his decision was incredibly smart.
For Pokémon like Luxray or Mightyena, Mike emphasized, the most important thing was to improve their physical fitness.
After all, both species relied heavily on their claws and fangs in battle.
Peter often saw Aven training his Rhyhorn this way, and realized that this must be the "basic training" Aven had spoken about.
In addition to physical training, real combat experience was crucial.
Uncle Mike assured him, with a big thumb-up, that actual battle was the fastest way for a Pokémon to become stronger. Peter fully agreed.
In the following days, Peter rigorously trained Mightyena according to Uncle Mike's methods.
To be honest, the results were excellent—Uncle Mike truly knew his stuff.
Besides fitness training, Peter also took Mightyena out into the wild for real battle practice—though only within the safer areas around Fruitvale Village.
After gaining the villagers' trust, the Mightyenas were no longer confined to the abandoned orchard.
They could now patrol the outskirts of Fruitvale Village, officially taking on part of the village's defense duties.
(End of Chapter)