Chapter 12: Battling Heracross
Early in the morning.
"Goldie, you have to come back early today, okay~"
Liz stood under the tree, waving at Will as he departed.
"..."
Will didn't even want to turn his head. He just kept moving forward with Milly and Wally. "Goldie" was the name Liz had given him based on his color, and it left him speechless. It was an even more dog-like name than the one he had given Wally.
"Rattata! Rattata!"
Just as Will was planning to take his crew to try and challenge the Arbok today, three Pokémon suddenly ran out from the nearby forest. It was a giant Raticate and his two little Rattata "wives." This couldn't help but make Will wonder if he hadn't been high-profile enough lately. Even a garbage little gang like this dared to come and cause trouble.
"If you want to challenge my position, you should at least bring an army of a hundred thousand Rattata, don't you think?"
Will had no memory of this particular Raticate. His sense of aesthetics was still human, which made him effectively "face-blind" in the Pokémon world. He couldn't even remember if he had beaten this Raticate before.
"Raticate! (Boss, a misunderstanding!)"
"Huh?" Will hovered in the air, looking down at the creature.
"Bzz~ (Will, this one has always lived near our territory,)" Wally, on the other hand, remembered the Raticate quite clearly.
"Oh."
Hearing Wally's explanation, Will immediately understood. This Raticate was one of the local squatters. It had been beaten by them several times but refused to move. Instead, it was one of the clever ones who had started to thrive under the protection of the Beedrill swarm. And look at it now; the once-lonely Raticate had now found itself two little wives.
"What are you here for then? Looking for a beating?" Will asked, a strange expression on his face. Surely this guy didn't have some kind of masochistic streak, actively seeking out a beatdown just to give him experience points, right?
"Rattata! (A big guy is heading this way!)" the Raticate boss squeaked anxiously, pointing in a specific direction.
"What?" Will looked in that direction.
A dopey-looking Heracross was walking towards them. This Heracross was a full 3.5 meters tall! The Pokédex stated that an average Heracross was only 1.5m tall; even doubling that would only be 3m. This wasn't a matter of high level, but purely a case of being gifted with a massive physique. He had seen this Heracross before; it was originally one of the most powerful Pokémon living in the center of this region. But since it couldn't defeat the Arbok, it proved its level wasn't exceptionally high. It was just a constitution that was prone to growing large—such individuals existed in the human race, so of course they existed among Heracross too.
A Heracross uses the horn on its head to sense smells, gathering in forests to search for sweet tree sap. The fact that it was heading this way meant it had smelled something sweet nearby.
"Oh well. Guess we're not fighting the Arbok today. Let's have a go with this guy instead," Will couldn't help but smile. He was now the local bully of this forest, beating up other Pokémon everywhere to grind for levels. The smart ones, like this Raticate, realized Will fought but didn't kill, so they stayed nearby and benefited from his swarm's protection. The not-so-smart ones would just run away sad and dejected after getting beaten, off to face the dangers of the forest elsewhere.
"Hera?" The Heracross looked at Will, who had suddenly blocked its path, and tilted its head in confusion. It didn't seem to want to fight. It shifted its feet to the side, apparently intending to walk around him.
But Will had no intention of letting it go so easily.
"You two stay out of it. I'll handle this myself."
Will waved a stinger, signaling for Wally and Milly, who were about to charge, to back off. He was going to take on this Heracross, which was definitely above Lv. 30, one-on-one.
With a massive type advantage, Will felt this was a winnable fight. He was Bug/Poison. Heracross was Bug/Fighting. Against him, a Heracross's Bug-type moves would only do half damage, and its Fighting-type moves would only do a quarter. In contrast, while Will's Bug-type moves would also be halved, his Poison-type moves would deal full damage.
[Focus Energy]
[Harden]
While the Heracross was still looking confused, Will began to layer himself with buffs. Wild Pokémon rarely had the concept of buffing themselves in battle; only a Trainer would give such a command. And Will was his own Trainer.
"A beast versus a beast... are they going to fight?" Liz, standing under a nearby tree, realized what was happening, her eyes shining with excitement.
Ptooey!!!
String Shot.
Will shot wads of silk from his mouth, aiming for the Heracross's feet and sticking them to the ground.
"Hera?" The dopey Heracross still hadn't registered what was going on.
[Poison Sting]
Pew! Pew!
When the stingers started hitting its body and it felt the pain, the Heracross finally understood that this Beedrill wanted to fight. Its expression changed, and it charged forward, intending to deliver a heavy blow with the horn on its head. But because its feet were tangled in Will's silk, its movements were not fast.
Will flapped his wings and easily flew into the air to dodge.
"Hera!" the Heracross stomped a foot in anger. The shell on its back opened, and two wings emerged. It also took flight, charging towards Will again.
"That giant bug can fly?!" Liz, the spectator, couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock. It was the first time she had ever seen such a huge insectoid Pokémon, so she was completely stunned. She couldn't even imagine the kind of damage a creature like that could do to her tribe's farmland.
[Assurance]
Will's figure flashed. He took advantage of the moment Heracross had just taken flight, before it could build up speed, and thrust both of his stingers into its chest. Although it was a Dark-type move, whose damage was reduced against a Fighting-type, the move's unique effect boosted its power, so the final damage was nothing to scoff at.
CRACK!
"HERA!!"
The dual stingers stabbed into the shell of the Heracross's abdomen, hitting a vital point and dealing massive damage. The abdomen was a Heracross's weakest point, while its head was the hardest. Attacking its stomach was the easiest way to land a critical hit.
But then, something unexpected happened. Even after taking a critical hit, the Heracross endured the pain, reached out, and grabbed both of Will's stingers. Its grip was so strong that Will couldn't break free.
[Venoshock]
With no other choice, Will sprayed a blast of poison right in the Heracross's face, dealing another huge blow of damage.
But the Heracross's counterattack was immediate. It grabbed Will and began to spin, plummeting towards the ground.
Seismic Toss?!! One of this guy's parents must have been a Volbeat!
CRASH!!!
The thought had barely formed in Will's mind when he felt a massive impact on his head. The pain was so intense he almost coughed up blood.
The Heracross quickly got to its feet, raised one arm high, and brought it chopping down on the fallen Will. A Fighting-type Brick Break!
[Fury Attack]
With no time to dodge, Will countered, rapidly thrusting with his two hand-stingers and the stinger on his tail.
SMACK!
The Brick Break hit Will squarely on the head. His mind went blank, everything started spinning, and then his eyes rolled back as he fainted.
But the Heracross, struck by Will's Fury Attack, was also defeated. Its eyes turned to swirls, and it collapsed, knocked out.