The lake was surrounded by splashes of water. Terrance stopped in his tracks, sensing that something was amiss.
Water Gun?
“No, it shouldn’t be,” Terrance looked around. The splashes were too scattered; it seemed like some powerful move had struck the surface of the lake, causing the water droplets to scatter.
It hadn’t been long.
Having made his assessment, Terrance immediately began to observe. Sure enough, there were still traces of battle around.
“Staryu, Goldeen, Magikarp, Barboach, Marill… Ah.”
Standing behind a tree, Terrance watched for a while and could only spot these Pokémon.
Terrance couldn’t help but smile bitterly. These Pokémon mostly had a weak foundation and inferior strength. To grow well, he would need to spend a lot of effort and money to nurture them.
If he had enough time, he wouldn’t mind capturing a Pokémon whose personality was to his liking. Even if it had a weak foundation and a low starting point, he would be willing to nurture it diligently.
But within a year, even he wasn’t confident he could raise these Pokémon into a force capable of engaging in high-intensity battles.
Patience…what he needed was patience.
It hadn’t been long since he entered the Safari Zone; he still had time to find a Pokémon with better potential.
After a brief observation, Terrance made a decision. He would dive into the lake to see if there were any Pokémon worth capturing.
Simply searching on the shore would only reveal a handful of Water Type Pokémon.
“Mismagius, don’t just idle around. Go to another place for now.”
“But don’t go too far, just 20 minutes at most, then come back here.”
Terrance instructed Mismagius and took a deep breath before releasing Beautifly to keep watch above the water surface.
Then, Terrance took off his clothes.
Anticipating such a situation, Terrance had come prepared with a backpack full of gear.
Splash!
He plunged into the water, the icy sensation instantly making Terrance shiver.
He had already learned to swim before, and after undergoing short-term training of International Police, while not perfect, he was at least proficient enough to use them without error.
Terrance didn’t dare to go deep. He just dipped into the lake to see if there were any Pokémon he hadn’t noticed.
However, after staying in the water for just a minute, Terrance gave up.
It was too blurry. While underwater, he couldn’t accurately assess the growth of a Pokémon. Even though he spotted a Gyarados, after struggling for a moment, he didn’t immediately alert it.
Gulp!
Emerging from the lake, Terrance took a deep breath, contemplating whether to throw a “bomb” into the water to flush out the Pokémon.
Blowing them all out with a bomb would give him a good opportunity to observe the Pokémon up close.
Especially that Gyarados, though not very clear, seemed to have developed well just from its physique.
So, he wanted to bring out the other party outside the water surface to see its growth.
“Buzz…”
But before Terrance could decide, two green figures flew over from far away, doing exactly what he wanted to do.
These were two bipedal insect-like creatures with three separate horns on their heads, large scythe-like arms, spiky fur on their thighs, and three clawed toes on each foot.
Scyther!
Seeing these two Pokémon, Terrance immediately got excited. Scyther was considered a relatively rare Pokémon.
And it also suited Terrance’s taste. As the two Scyther approached, Terrance finally saw what they were up to.
One of them swung its blade-like wings, unleashing a whirlwind-like wind blade that viciously struck the water.
It wasn’t done yet; one after another, as if venting frustration, it relentlessly attacked the lake’s surface.
“…” Terrance raised his head in astonishment. One of the Scyther was larger in size, while the other was smaller, bearing scars with an expression of grievance and anger evident on its face…
Meanwhile, the larger one seemed like a protective parent, vigorously unleashing its moves, continuously attacking.
Terrance paused. So, the splashes from earlier were caused by this smaller Scyther’s fight?
It seemed that this smaller Scyther had been bullied, lost in the battle, and then went to seek help.
“Who was it?”
Terrance’s mind suddenly became active. Obtaining them wouldn’t require much effort. Both of these Scyther seemed to have developed well. Even the smaller one, which appeared to be a child and had a few scars, seemed to possess some battle experience.
And the Water Type Pokémon that defeated it probably wasn’t too shabby either.
If they continued to battle, Terrance, as a bystander, would have to fulfill his duty and provide a thorough commentary.
“Was it that Gyarados?”
Due to the larger physique of the Gyarados from earlier, Terrance’s first impression led him to think so, but… it wasn’t as he had assumed.
After each Razor Wind struck the water’s surface, a faint purple figure swiftly soared upwards in a spiral.
Terrance was stunned.
“Such a high jump.”
It was Starmie, not Gyarados.
“Huh…”
Seeing the Starmie, Terrance was even more surprised than when he saw the Gyarados. Typically, it was rare to encounter Starmie in the wild because they needed a Water Stone to evolve from Staryu, and their nocturnal habits also reduce their chances of being seen.
In the wild, they were mostly found in the deepest parts of the ocean.
Encountering a Staryu in this ordinary lake wouldn’t surprise Terrance, but a Starmie… Where did it get the Water Stone?
The leaping Starmie briefly hovered in the sky. Its next move was to deliver a harsh retaliation to the two Scyther.
Terrance understood. It seemed that the culprit who bullied the smaller Scyther was this Starmie.
“Starmie…”
“Water and Psychic-Type…”
Initially, Terrance didn’t pay much attention to Starmie. Firstly, Starmie in the wild were too rare, and secondly, evolving Staryu required a Water Stone…
The last point, and the most important one, was Starmie’s nocturnal habit, which meant they appeared less energetic during the day and were more powerful at night.
This made Terrance uncomfortable.
However, the battle prowess displayed by this Starmie piqued Terrance’s interest slightly.
Dealing with two Scyther simultaneously, the Starmie showed no signs of backing down.
Psyshock!
Thunderbolt!
Hydro Pump!
Ice Beam!
The variety of moves displayed by Starmie left Terrance momentarily stunned.
Some of these moves, if not taught by other Pokémon, would be incredibly difficult for Starmie to learn on its own. In other words, to master these moves, a stroke of luck was necessary.
Moreover, it must have decent comprehension to learn these moves.
Considering that Starmie obtained a Water Stone in the wild, Terrance concluded that this fellow was essentially following the template of a protagonist, showing remarkably good luck.
You can read ahead upto 10 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!