(TN: Sorry, I forgot about the bonus chapter I promised last week but hey better late than never.)
"You'll regret your decision!"
Vice-captain Todd swung his arm sharply, and immediately, the archers within the knight regiment drew their bows and notched their arrows.
With a chorus of whistling sounds, a barrage of arrows shot toward Fruitvale Village.
"Absorb!"
As Aven's voice rang out, the Gloom standing in the grass began to glow green, beams of light shooting forth!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Midair, the green beams struck the incoming arrows. After a brief standoff, the beams exploded and the arrows lost momentum, falling powerlessly to the ground.
Seeing this, Vice-captain Todd's pupils shrank. He hadn't expected all of these Gloom to have mastered abilities comparable to those of magical beasts!
Against the long-range abilities of the magical beasts, arrows had become virtually useless.
Realizing this, Vice-captain Todd stopped hesitating. He drew his sword and patted the Rhyhorn beside him.
Years of coordination kicked in as the Rhyhorn charged forward.
"Charge! Break through!"
The knights shouted in unison, urging their Rhyhorn mounts to follow.
Two hundred Rhyhorns quickly formed a tight formation and charged toward Fruitvale Village.
While the Gloom were capable of long-range attacks, their close combat abilities were weak. If the knights could just close the distance, the battle would be over.
"Gloom, use Absorb!"
Seeing the charging knights, Aven issued his command, puzzling some of the villagers. Normally, the Gloom should be using Sleep Powder at this point in the strategy.
However, the Gloom didn't hesitate. Their training in discipline had taken root, and they followed the command without question. Once again, they began to glow green.
In unison, they unleashed the Absorb attack.
The Rhyhorns continued to charge forward, soon becoming enveloped in green light. But moments later, they shook off the effects of the Absorb and barreled forward, reaching the grassy area outside the village.
"Awooo~!"
The Mightyena and Poochyena began growling at the charging Rhyhorn.
Under Aven's command, the battle-capable Mightyena and Poochyena fearlessly rushed forward!
Sutter and Fessen's expressions changed.
That was a formation of 200 Rhyhorns—charging directly forward. Sending just forty or so Mightyena and Poochyena to intercept them seemed reckless.
They looked concerned. Aven was a skilled apothecary, but battlefield strategy wasn't his strength.
But as soon as the Rhyhorn entered the grassy area, both men's expressions shifted.
The Rhyhorns suddenly sank slightly into the ground. The terrain, which had looked flat, turned out to be unexpectedly soft—unable to support the weight of the Rhyhorn, causing them to sink in.
In contrast, the Mightyena moved across the terrain with ease. As the Rhyhorn were slowed, the wolves split apart and lunged at the flanks of the formation.
The ground easily supported the wolves' weight, but when the Rhyhorn attempted a Tackle, their heavy frames sank even deeper into the soft earth.
Clearly, the terrain had been manipulated to accommodate lighter Pokémon like Mightyena while trapping heavier ones like Rhyhorn.
Realization dawned on Sutter and Fessen—they looked at Aven with admiration. This had all been pre-planned.
"Excellent work, Rhyhorn."
Aven praised his Rhyhorn, who stood beside him.
After learning the move Earth Power, Rhyhorn had greatly improved its control over Rototiller, allowing it to manipulate Ground-type energy to soften terrain selectively.
"Now, for the finishing blow!"
With the Rhyhorn entangled by the Mightyena, Aven ordered the Gloom to use Sleep Powder.
Although Rhyhorn had high endurance and resistance to sleep-inducing techniques, the prolonged battle meant they inhaled more and more of the powder.
One by one, with thuds, the Rhyhorns collapsed into the earth, completely unconscious.
The Mightyena fighting them sighed in relief—then, overcome with exhaustion and the lingering effects of the Sleep Powder, they too fell asleep, some even smiling with satisfaction.
Second, third, fourth—more and more Rhyhorns and Mightyenas fell. Soon, the battlefield was littered with unconscious Pokémon.
The knights in the distance were stunned.
"Sleep Powder! All those Gloom can use Sleep Powder!" the accompanying apothecary gasped.
While many Grass-type beasts could potentially learn Sleep Powder, only the most gifted could master it.
Yet here, two hundred Gloom had used it simultaneously.
The knight order's apothecary came to a quick and unsettling conclusion: Aven must possess a method for teaching Sleep Powder en masse.
"Their supply of Sleep Powder must be limited! Send the rest of the beasts to attack!"
He shouted, panic in his voice.
Vice-captain Todd's expression changed slightly, but he issued the order.
The remaining magical beasts—mainly Mightyena, a staple of the knight regiment—charged toward the village.
As they sprinted across the grass, aiming for the Gloom, vines suddenly erupted from the ground, wrapping around the attacking beasts.
The villagers tensed for a moment but relaxed upon seeing the familiar blue vines—they belonged to Tangela.
The very Pokémon that had once attacked Fruitvale Village had now become its strongest line of defense.
Moved, the villagers felt the truth of an old saying: If you treat Pokémon sincerely, they will repay you in kind.
Peter was especially touched. Aven had always lived by that principle—and now, so many magical beasts had come to protect him.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The vines grew rapidly from the ground.
Tangela had been living peacefully for some time—and now these intruders were threatening their new home. Unforgivable.
Fueled by determination, the Tangela unleashed all the energy they had built up during their peaceful days. The battlefield was soon a sea of writhing blue vines.
Boom boom boom!
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
A massive creature burst from beneath the earth, tangled in vines.
Gasps spread among the villagers.
This beast resembled Rhyhorn, clad in gray armor, standing tall like a dinosaur, with a massive drill on its head—
Rhydon.
Aven's expression turned grim as he stared at the spinning drill on its head.
Earlier, Rhyhorn had sensed something underground using Earth Power. Now, thanks to Tangela's vines, it had been forced to emerge.
"RHYDOON!"
Rhydon let out a deafening roar.
It yanked on the vines and tore them apart, then stomped hard on the ground—triggering a quake and summoning massive rocks that it hurled at the Gloom.
"Rhyhorn, Earth Power!"
Aven's Rhyhorn charged forward and slammed the ground, raising a wall of earth.
Boom boom boom!
The wall shattered under the impact, but it bought just enough time for the Tangela to intercept with their vines, smashing the incoming rocks to pieces.
This Rhydon was of a very high level. Aven immediately judged the strength of the Rhydon. I'm afraid it is a powerful Pokémon at the elite level!
"Not a bad opponent, Petilil and Rhyhorn, both of you attack together."
He sent out Petilil to ride on Rhyhorn's back as they charged toward the enemy.
"RHYDON!"
Rhydon roared again and summoned another massive rock with Rock Slide, hurling it toward Rhyhorn.
Rhyhorn countered with a powerful Tackle, smashing the rock in midair.
"Rhyhorn, Rototiller!"
"Petilil, Toxic!"
Rhyhorn stomped the ground hard, and the terrain rippled forward, flipping the earth in a straight line—knocking Rhydon off balance.
At the same time, Petilil's leaf glowed purple and shot a toxic beam, striking Rhydon head-on.
Purple blotches quickly spread across its body—Rhydon was now poisoned.
It let out a roar of pain and charged!
Rhyhorn raised a pillar from beneath it using Earth Power, and Petilil followed up with Absorb, steadily draining its health.
Weakened by poison and repeated attacks, Rhydon was growing desperate.
It rushed in and struck Rhyhorn with a glowing Arm Thrust, knocking it backward.
"Rhy!"
Rhyhorn panted heavily—but then felt a warm flow of energy course through its body.
Petilil had channeled the energy stolen from Rhydon back into Rhyhorn.
Though exhausted, Rhyhorn felt satisfied. Once a lowly beast pulling a carriage, it was now holding its own against a mighty foe. With Petilil's support, it had come so far.
But all this shows how much progress it has made during this period of time. The Rhyhorn is full of confidence about its future!
The battle raged on.
With Tangela reinforcing the frontlines, and Mightyena blocking enemy advances, the Gloom continued to spread Sleep Powder, incapacitating enemies.
As soon as foes fell asleep, Tangela's vines would wrap around them and absorb their strength, fueling even more vines in turn.
For a moment, the entire field turned into a world of vines, constantly wrapping around and absorbing the enemy's physical strength.
As time went by, except for the battle on the Rhydon's side, the situation on the entire battlefield had become very clear. The knights were completely defeated this time!
In the distance, the knights watched the entire battle that seemed incredible.
At this time, they all had their mouths open, looking at the armored rhinos that kept falling down in disbelief.
These were the most elite group of knights in Aspiration City. In their opinion, the Rhydon would undoubtedly crush them.
However, the scene before them completely overturned their judgment. The Rhyhorns of the Knights did not even touch the edge of the Gloom line before they fell down. There was no suspense at all in their defeat.
(End of Chapter)
(TN: Hello, I just made a patreon account for anyone interested in reading 30 chapters ahead on this novel and on the Volcarona novel. I'm also adding the 30 chapters ahead of the Pokemon Lord of Fear sometime this week (currently I'm at chap 56 so probably tomorrow or the day after that.) Patreon Link: patreon.com/Blitzmain)