Chapter 14: Take This Uppercut!
At night, the bright moon already hung high in the night sky, silently overlooking the sleeping creatures of the earth.
Several short, round figures with heads full of leaves were looking around at the valley entrance, waiting until the small, dog-shaped Pokémon finally arrived late.
"Rio, you're so slow," the eldest Oddish brother said with a pout, clearly dissatisfied.
"I say, is it necessary to set out this late? Can't we go tomorrow morning?"
Rio still looked sleepy-eyed, yawning constantly with his mouth open.
It should be known that he was still a baby, a baby less than two months old. Staying up late all the time with an unhealthy sleep schedule would be detrimental to his growth.
"Of course, the later the better. After all, the closer it is to midnight, the clearer the moonlight will be, and it will be more comfortable to bask in..."
"Huh?"
"Ahem, no, that's not right. Think about it, if we go over in the middle of the night, those Pidgey and Pidgeotto will be asleep. We can strike first and catch them off guard."
Rio vaguely seemed to hear something, but after Oddish's explanation, he felt it made sense.
Just like that, Rio, still half-asleep, was dragged along by the Oddish.
As they walked, Rio gradually began to wake up.
Strictly speaking, this was his first time walking in the forest so late at night. Besides a certain feeling of dread, there was also a bit more anticipation.
The forest at night, apart from the desolate darkness, seemed to have transformed.
For example, a water pool they had just passed by had countless faintly glowing specks of light dancing on its surface, making the pool's reflection look as if it were covered with a thin layer of fluorescence. When they got closer, it seemed they had disturbed those tiny flying specks of light. For a moment, they fluttered about, the fluorescent light tracing various trajectories, dazzling Rio.
Or the gurgling streams, crisscrossing through the forest. During the day, the various noisy sounds of Pokémon had masked the sound of the streams. Now, at night, when all was quiet, the clear sound of the flowing springs could finally be heard distinctly. "Ding dong, ding dong," the crisp and pleasant sound of flowing water was endless, making Rio feel refreshed and delighted.
"I really hadn't noticed that the night in this forest is so interesting."
Rio walked along, admiring the beautiful scenery.
The Oddish at his feet, perhaps having walked night roads many times, didn't share Rio's sentiments and were only focused on quickly reaching their destination.
After walking for a while longer, the Oddish cheered.
"We're here, we're here!"
Before them was a slightly open clearing, surrounded by tall and short trees. The lush branches and leaves overhead, however, conveniently did not cover this clearing, allowing the bright moonlight to shine down, illuminating the area.
"Come, come, help us dig here."
The Oddish walked around the clearing once, finally selecting a spot near a large tree that was also illuminated by moonlight, then gestured for Rio to come and help them dig holes in the ground.
Rio was a bit puzzled but followed their suggestion and dug several holes the size of the Oddish themselves. He casually asked, "Where are the Pidgeotto you mentioned?"
"Heave-ho, heave-ho."
Seeing the holes were dug, the Oddish eagerly jumped into them one by one. The perfectly sized holes just managed to encircle each Oddish's body. Then, using the leaves that were still exposed above ground, they raked the soil, burying their entire Pokémon selves.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're not just going to stay like this, are you?"
Rio finally noticed something was wrong.
"Aiya, those birds drove us away from here last time. You should be able to see them later. Mmm, that's it, remember to keep watch for us. We're counting on you."
The eldest Oddish brother's muffled voice came from under the soil, and then he hummed comfortably, basking in the moonlight.
"…"
Rio felt frustrated. After all this, these guys had encouraged him to come out and seek revenge on Pidgeotto, and all this secret maneuvering, was actually so they could sneak out and sunbathe in the moonlight.
For a moment, Rio felt like pulling out all these tufts of leaves sticking out of the ground.
Later, he just shook his head helplessly, glanced at the large trees nearby, found one that felt suitable, and nimbly climbed up.
"Forget it, I'll just treat it as reliving my previous life wandering in the wild."
Adjusting his sleeping position, Rio used his hands as a pillow and, in this familiar atmosphere, fell asleep again.
…
It seemed not much time had passed when Rio, in his sleep, suddenly had a bad feeling.
Forcing his eyes open, he instantly became wide awake.
He saw several pairs of crimson eyes hidden in the surrounding darkness, glaring covetously at the few tufts of leaves protruding from the clearing.
"Could it be..."
Rio tensed his nerves and simultaneously opened the [Pokédex] to check the data.
"Two lv9 normal Pidgey, and one... it's that lv18 Elite Pidgeotto!"
Compared to the last time he was chased by that large flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto, this time there were only two Pidgey, and their levels were even lower than before. However, the Elite Pidgeotto from last time had also appeared this time.
"Chaa-chaa," letting out agitated cries, the Elite Pidgeotto stared fiercely at the uninvited guests in the clearing. In its crimson vision, the inexplicable Pokémon auras in the clearing filled its heart with frenzy, and the urge to tear these damned things apart kept surging.
Finally, Pidgeotto couldn't hold back any longer. With a vicious screech, it spread its wings, talons fully extended, and lunged towards the Oddish buried in the soil.
"Swish—"
Suddenly, a dark shadow leaped down from a nearby tree. Spreading its legs, it accurately landed on the back of the rapidly diving Pidgeotto.
It was Rio, who had been hiding in the tree waiting for this moment.
He grabbed Pidgeotto's neck feathers with his left hand, raised his right hand high, and with a "shing," claws popped out from between his fingers. As silvery-grey energy flowed, it infused the claws, covering them with a steel-metallic sheen.
"[Metal Claw]!"
Shouting the new move's name loudly, the metal claws slashed fiercely at Pidgeotto!
Feathers flew instantly. Pidgeotto, pained, flew into the air, frantically shaking its body, trying to throw off the fellow riding on its back.
"Whoa, ahhh—"
Carried high into the air, Rio panicked, gripping Pidgeotto's feathers tightly with his hands, swaying left and right amidst Pidgeotto's frantic movements.
Suddenly, he felt the feathers in his hand loosen.
"Oh no, it's over... ahhh..."
Pidgeotto's neck feathers were forcefully plucked out by Rio. Rio felt his legs go empty, and his entire Pokémon self let out a miserable scream as he fell straight down.
Pidgeotto, finally having shaken off Rio, paid no mind to the pain of its plucked feathers. Seeing the figure continuously falling, it dived fiercely towards it.
"Oh god, calm down, calm down, think, what to do."
Watching himself get closer and closer to the ground, about to be smashed into a meat paste, various thoughts flashed through Rio's mind like lightning. Until his foot scraped against a tree branch, an idea instantly arose in his mind.
"[Qu-Quick Attack]!"
The moment Rio's feet could briefly touch a branch, he tapped off with the tips of his toes. His entire Pokémon body erupted in a lightning-like white glow. His vertical fall transformed into a rushing charge, and he leaped back and forth among the dense trees.
When the two Pidgey flew out intending to grab the Oddish, they inadvertently noticed a rapidly approaching white light. Startled, they thought of flying back into the air, but it was too late. They were hit hard by the white light and fell to the ground, wailing.
And the white light, using the rebound force, flashed towards the diving Pidgeotto.
The moment the white light was about to meet Pidgeotto, it suddenly dispersed, revealing a grimacing Rio.
Rio clenched his right fist, pulled it to his waist, and using the upward momentum, swung his right fist upwards forcefully from below.
"Take this, uppercut!"
"Bang," "Crack."
Pidgeotto tried to turn sideways to dodge, but its spread wings couldn't be retracted. It took the hit directly. A sound like something breaking was heard, and both Pokémon fell downwards simultaneously.
"Chaa-chaa—ooo—," this was Pidgeotto's mournful cry.
"Awooo, ahhhhhhhhhh...," this was Rio's miserable scream.
"Thump," "Thump—Plop."
Pidgeotto crashed heavily onto the ground, while Rio was caught by several Oddish who had used the [Growth] skill to significantly increase their size, their head leaves strenuously supporting him.
Rio shakily climbed down from the leaves, his usually blue face now deathly pale.
"Oh my god, that was too thrilling."
Recalling the experience of the high-altitude rapid descent, Rio clutched his heart with his left hand, feeling like he couldn't take it anymore.
Rio was fortunate to have the Oddish to cushion his fall, but Pidgeotto had no such luck. It dizzily struggled to get up, no longer daring to fight Rio. Dragging a broken wing, it staggered away, and the two Pidgey also fled in panic.
The Oddish, having returned to their normal size, happily high-fived each other with their leaves.
"Yay, we won."
"Now no other Pokémon will come to disturb us."
"Rio, you're amazing!"
The eldest Oddish brother excitedly patted Rio's right hand with a leaf, not expecting it to make Rio break out in a cold sweat from pain.
"Don't, don't pat it, it's broken..."
Looking at his right hand dangling by his side, Rio felt that this time, he had truly suffered a great loss.