Just as Lapras had said, the bottom of the lake was indeed filled with Absorb Bulb. However, the number of Basculin swimming back and forth in groups was truly enormous. For ordinary Pokémon, it would be very difficult to break through their blockade.
But for Dragonite, this was no big deal at all!
Dragonite gathered Electric-type energy, and soon its whole body was surrounded by arcs of electricity. The moment those Basculin saw it, they fled far away and didn't dare come near, fearing they'd get electrocuted and turned into grilled fish.
So Dragonite happily began collecting the Absorb Bulb.
There really were a lot of Absorb Bulb growing at the bottom of the lake—some had even rotted due to over-maturity. So the space backpack Yuga had given was soon filled to the brim by Dragonite.
The Basculin didn't eat Absorb Bulb. They gathered near the Absorb Bulb plants simply to absorb the Water-type energy accumulated there. That was why so many ripe Absorb Bulb had rotted at the lake bottom.
Since it was impossible to collect them all, Yuga shared some with Yoshino and the other two, which made the three of them smile so wide their mouths were crooked—especially Allard.
Allard was an Ice-type Trainer, but more than half of Ice-type Pokémon also belonged to the Water-type. So he had many Water-type Pokémon too. These Absorb Bulb were perfect for training them.
Though Yoshino and Raizo were not Water-type Trainers, these Absorb Bulb could either be turned in to exchange for merit points or traded with other Trainers for resources—either way, a great deal.
After collecting the Absorb Bulb, Yuga and the others saw that it was getting late, so they decided to return to base.
Likewise, the other squads returned one after another. On the way, Yuga and the others encountered several other teams, all of whom greeted them very warmly.
However, Yuga noticed that some of the teams didn't look so good. Regardless of what they had gained, quite a few of them were injured.
After returning to base, Yuga saw that there were indeed far more injured people than the day before. Because the League had only arranged two Pokémon doctors, medical resources had suddenly become tight.
As the commander-in-chief of this mission, Yuga saw the Pokémon doctors were overwhelmed and took the initiative to help with his own Pokémon.
Not only did Yuga possess special healing abilities himself, but Pokémon like Chimecho, Florges, and Bellossom were also experts in healing. The two doctors immediately felt a huge reduction in pressure.
Conditions here were very basic, and many medical devices were unavailable. At times like these, healing-type Pokémon became incredibly useful.
Seeing this, Yoshino and the other two could only exclaim internally how lucky they were. If they hadn't been by Mr. Shimizu's side, they might've been among the many injured themselves.
Allard, while feeling lucky, also felt a little disappointed. Actually… getting just a little injured wouldn't have been so bad…
The next day, Yuga got up early. After finishing his morning exercise, he went to check on the injured from the day before. Some of those with more serious injuries hadn't recovered overnight and likely wouldn't be able to continue the mission today—they'd have to remain at base to rest.
Since there were a lot of injuries the day before, Yuga and General Toyama once again warned everyone before they set out: do not be reckless or greedy. If you run into a situation you can't handle, you must call for help immediately.
After the other squads had departed, Yuga informed General Toyama of the vast Absorb Bulb he found at the lake bottom the day before. If the League was interested, they could organize personnel to collect them.
Yuga had come this time because of a system mission, so he couldn't devote all his energy to collecting Absorb Bulb. That's why he didn't plan to return to that lake today. Rather than let all those Absorb Bulb rot underwater, it was better to report it to the League.
Moreover, while Dragonite was collecting the Absorb Bulb, Yuga had already instructed it to secretly collect a few of the Absorb Bulb seed themselves. They were now safely stored in the system backpack, and each plant was preserved perfectly.
After returning home, Yuga could plant the Absorb Bulb seed in his Ecopark. With careful cultivation, he might never run out of Absorb Bulb again.
General Toyama was indeed very happy to receive the news from Yuga. But at present, they really didn't have the manpower to handle it. They could only record it for now and deal with it after this cleanup mission concluded.
Yuga and the others returned once again to the swamp area. In the blink of an eye, the whole morning had passed. The four of them didn't gain as much today as they did yesterday. The journey had been quiet the entire time, and they only occasionally encountered a few lone Pokémon.
At noon, the four of them stopped to rest and have lunch.
But they had only eaten about half of their lunch when their communicators suddenly began to beep. Yuga took his communicator out for a look, and his expression instantly turned serious.
"It's a distress signal. It's nearby."
The group quickly got up and packed their things, not even bothering to finish eating.
"Let's get going, quickly!"
The communicator also served as a navigation device. The four of them followed its guidance toward the direction where the distress signal had been sent. But halfway there, they suddenly saw a man covered in blood staggering toward them.
When he saw the four of them, he first let out a sigh of relief and then collapsed headfirst onto the ground. Yuga and the others quickly dismounted their ride Pokémon, helped him up, and asked, "What happened? Where are your teammates?"
"Save... save them…"
He pointed in one direction and barely managed to say a word before he fainted.
Seeing this, Yuga said to Yoshino, "You stay here and take care of him. We'll go check it out."
"Yes!"
Yoshino responded and took over caring for the unconscious man.
This person was seriously injured. After some thought, Yuga released Bellossom, intending to leave her behind to help Yoshino take care of the man. He also left some healing medicine with her.
Yuga and the others got back on their Pokémon and rushed toward the direction the man had pointed out. Before long, they exited the swamp and arrived on a stretch of grassland.
From far away, Yuga, Raizo, and Allard could already hear sharp and piercing howls. As they got closer, they discovered that a group of Liepard was attacking five people. These five were protecting four others who had already lost consciousness.
The Liepard had the upper hand. They didn't seem in a rush to finish off their prey, instead leisurely toying with them.
Seeing this, Yuga immediately jumped off Absol, patted it, and said, "Absol!"
Absol understood at once. It opened its mouth wide and let out a furious roar. Waves of sound spread with the roar, and more than twenty Liepard in front of them were instantly blasted into the air by Absol's Hyper Voice, rolling several times across the grass and wailing in pain.
These Liepard were extremely arrogant. The noise from Yuga's side quickly drew their attention, and in a flash, dozens of them dashed over and surrounded the three of them completely.
But because of this, the people who were previously under siege finally got a breather. Seeing from afar that it was Yuga who had arrived, they all breathed a long sigh of relief: We're saved!
These people were responsible for the region adjacent to Yuga's group—one of the more dangerous regions. If it had been a distress call from a different area, Yuga might not have made it in time.
Yuga released Florges. With a gentle wave of her arms, green light seeped into the ground. The grass on the field instantly grew wildly, and the charging Liepard were immediately entangled by the grass-formed ropes, falling to the ground in disarray, legs splayed in all directions.
Raizo and Allard were stunned by the sight, especially Allard, who had previously doubted whether Yuga was truly a Grass-type Trainer. He muttered to himself:
"I believe it now… Mr. Shimizu is definitely a Grass-type Trainer!"
By this time, Absol had already rushed forward. It ran to the bound Liepard and, one by one, slapped each of them down. Before long, all the Liepard had collapsed.
Seeing this, Raizo and Allard quickly commanded their own Pokémon to join the battle. With Florges's support, they barely needed to exert much effort and soon wiped out the surrounding Liepard.
The other Liepard, who had initially planned to support the attack, immediately took a few steps back, now staring at Yuga and the others with cautious expressions.
"Roar~"
At that moment, the Liepard group suddenly split to the sides, and a Liepard that was clearly a whole size larger than the others slowly walked out. Its gaze was arrogant, its steps graceful, and the way it looked at Yuga and the others was as if it were staring at dead men.
This was the leader of the Liepard group.
...
[ Liepard ]
Type: Dark
Ability: Limber
Gender: Female
Potential: Blue
Level: 79
Moves: Sand Attack, Fury Swipes, Hone Claws, Fake Out, Slash, Attract, Feint Attack, Nasty Plot, Sucker Punch, Play Rough, Shadow Ball, Double Team, Aerial Ace, Shadow Claw, Dark Pulse, Baby-Doll Eyes, Iron Tail, Giga Impact.
...
Yuga was surprised to discover that this was actually a pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon. If these Liepard hadn't been playing with their prey, those few Trainers would have long been dead.
Absol, also a Dark-type Pokémon, couldn't stand the sight of Liepard acting like the boss in front of it. With a leap, it jumped in front of Yuga and activated its Pressure ability, immediately releasing a formless, oppressive aura that spread outward.
Feeling Absol's pressure, the Liepard leader froze completely. Its eyes widened in disbelief—it had only ever felt this kind of force before from the lord of the grasslands.
This Liepard had taken part in the previous sneak attack on the pioneer army base. The one who had led and incited them was the lord of this grassland, and it had once been one of the overlords of this area.
However, when they were defeated and tried to retreat, they didn't withdraw in time, and their escape route was blocked by the pioneer army. This group had no choice but to remain in hiding here.
But the pioneer army didn't know that they had left behind such a high-level Pokémon.
Previously, the Liepard leader had heard that the pioneer army had already moved deeper into the grasslands and thought that from then on, it could be in charge of this place. It never expected the humans to send more top experts over.
The Liepard leader instinctively wanted to retreat, but seeing so many of its subordinates present, it hesitated—it couldn't lose face. After all, it had always been authoritative before its followers. If it backed down now, how humiliating would that be?
While the Liepard leader was still hesitating, Absol had already lunged forward. The other Liepard immediately tried to intervene, but as soon as they moved, they realized their feet were surrounded by green glowing circles. Within the circles, grass rapidly shot upward and instantly bound them like bundles of rice dumplings.
Seeing its subordinates restrained in an instant, the Liepard leader became even more frightened. It turned around and tried to flee, but Absol's massive body had already loomed over it, stomping a heavy foot down onto its back.
Absol was too large and had immense strength. Liepard was not a physically strong species to begin with—how could it possibly withstand such suppression?
The Liepard leader struggled violently, trying hard to support itself on all fours and get up. But the level gap between it and Absol was far too wide. No matter how it thrashed, it simply couldn't shake off Absol's crushing foot. Instead, it only exhausted itself even more.
By the time it came to its senses, its subordinates had already been completely taken care of by Raizo and Allard, who had worked in tandem with Florges—there wasn't a single one left.
In the end, the Liepard leader gave up struggling, was slapped unconscious by Absol, and then went into Yuga's Poké Ball.
After defeating the Liepard pack, the group of Trainers quickly came forward to thank Yuga.
"Mr. Shimizu, thank you so much," said the team leader with a weary face.
Yuga waved his hand and said, "Save the thanks for later. Let me take a look at your injuries first."
The team leader didn't try to be polite. Their group really was badly injured—none of them were unharmed, especially the ones who were unconscious.
Yuga quickly checked their injuries, treating them while applying medicine. With injuries like these, there was no way they could continue the mission. They had to rest and recover properly, so returning to base was the only option.
Each of these people was seriously hurt and couldn't return to the base on their own. Yuga and his group had no choice but to abandon today's search and decided to escort them back to camp.
They successfully regrouped with the previously fainted person, and together they set off on the journey back to the base.
However, halfway there, with more than ten people walking together, Yuga suddenly stopped in his tracks, frowned, and asked, "Did you hear something?"
"It sounded like... insect chirping…" Yoshino said uncertainly.
Just then, the sharp-eyed Allard suddenly cried out, pointing ahead and shouting, "Look over there!"
Everyone looked ahead and saw a vast, dark mass—countless insects swarming forward like a cloud. As the swarm drew nearer, the unsettling insect cries became louder and clearer.
Seeing this swarm, Yuga thought to himself: Finally, I've run into them.
His purpose for joining this mission was to capture Bug-type Pokémon. But at this moment, the arrival of the swarm couldn't have come at a worse time—he had so many injured people with him, and the number of Pokémon in the swarm was overwhelming...
The number of Pokémon in this swarm far exceeded what Yuga's group had encountered in the Tympole, Mandibuzz, or Liepard group. In terms of sheer numbers, those other Pokémon groups didn't even deserve to carry this swarm's shoes.
Not only did Yuga's face change, but the expressions of the others also shifted drastically.
Yuga turned to the others and said, "You all escort the injured away, quickly. Leave this to me!"
"But..." It was too dangerous!
Raizo hesitated as he spoke. Facing a Pokémon swarm of this size, even if it was Mr. Shimizu, Raizo felt unsure. These past two days had already shown him the vast difference between the wild Pokémon and those in the human world.
"That's right, how can we just leave you behind? I'll stay too!" Allard looked eager to go, his heart beating faster with excitement.
Yuga scolded him: "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He was confident in handling the insect swarm while protecting himself—but having someone drag him down would change everything.
"Trust Mr. Shimizu. If we stay, we'll only make things worse for him," the team captain spoke up at that moment.
Though Allard was a thrill-seeker, he understood that Yuga was doing this for their sake. He didn't dare to go against him and had no choice but to reluctantly leave with the wounded.