Ten minutes passed in an instant. Raven's subordinates had already begun driving people out. Under the pressure of the Mightyena, they were quickly forced out of the iron fence, and afterward, the Shadow Team grunts locked the fence.
Suddenly being driven out of the enclosure, many people were completely at a loss. Ahead was a vast forest filled with dangers, and behind them was a group of "yōkais" who would not give them any way to survive.
The sun set in the west…
Many people directly sat down by the fence, their eyes vacant. They no longer even had the energy to cry. All they could do was stare blankly at the sky.
"Those from Violet City, come over here!" At this moment, a boy of about eleven or twelve stepped forward and shouted. Everyone looked at him with surprise.
"I have experience surviving in the wilderness! The forest ahead is dangerous and unknown. If we act alone… it will only lead to death! So we must form teams and look after each other. Only then will we have a chance to survive!"
After he said this, many people suddenly understood, as if they had found direction. Indeed, "normal" children of this age had no experience surviving in the wilderness, and now without Pokémon in their hands, even a random Pokémon could put them to death.
Although Pokémon like Caterpie fed on leaves, if you provoked it, it could trap you with String Shot. Without anyone to rescue you, who could guarantee that a Pokémon like Mightyena would not pass by?
"I am from Cherrygrove City!"
"I-I… I am from Goldenrod City."
"I am fro…"
---◓---
The ninety-nine people began grouping themselves. In this way, more than a dozen teams were formed. The larger groups had seven or eight people, while the smaller ones had only three or four.
Tetsuya stood alone to the side. Takuya, Haruto, and Aurora had already formed a team by themselves.
At this moment, Takuya walked over and said, "Hey, Tetsuya, join our team!"
Tetsuya's Ditto could not appear in front of others, and many of his things could not be taken out casually. These three people were still not worthy of his trust.
Tetsuya had "rich" experience surviving in the wilderness, and the three of them would instead be a burden. Although acting as a team had its advantages, since his Ditto was in his backpack, he could not travel with others. That would be too easy to expose.
'Sigh…'
However, Tetsuya found it difficult to directly refuse them. In such an environment, if he acted independently, he would inevitably become the target of everyone's hostility.
At this moment, Aurora said, "Bah! I don't want to be in a group with this person!"
Tetsuya was secretly delighted. Should he thank you properly…?
"T-this… Aurora, that's not good. Everyone's situation is so dangerous right now. Having one more person means more support," Takuya said.
"Humph! This person is too annoying, self-righteous and arrogant! I will not be in a group with him," Aurora said firmly.
'Self… righteous…?'
Takuya also looked troubled.
Tetsuya said, "Mm, since that's the case, I will go alone."
Without paying them any more attention, Tetsuya walked alone toward the forest. At this moment, his back looked "desolate", and many people felt that Tetsuya was especially pitiful, after all, they were all in the same situation.
At this moment, Aurora instead became the target of public criticism. Many people glared at this "vicious" girl, and quite a few groups were already secretly discussing finding an opportunity to eliminate this team first, because this girl was too ruthless. If she became stronger in the future, she would definitely show no mercy to them!
---◓---
In front of the forest were some bushes and grassland, and Tetsuya stopped there. With his current strength, he could not rashly enter the forest. This place was relatively open, and resources were scarce. Powerful Pokémon would not appear here, and in such a place, he would not be ambushed. If danger arose, he would also have time to prepare.
Tetsuya found some dry bushes nearby, started a fire, set up a tent, and prepared to spend the night here first.
Since night had already fallen, those teams had not set out either and were still by the fence, now naturally discussing strategies for catching Pokémon.
Tetsuya reached his hand into his backpack, opened a bottle of milk, and said to Ditto, "Ditto, we are already in a dangerous situation. Without my command, no matter what happens… do not come out!
And food is already scarce. You do not need to expend much energy inside. You can only drink one bottle of milk per meal."
Tetsuya reached out and touched the wrist guard that Ditto had transformed into. The wrist guard rubbed against his hand, and only then did he feel reassured and withdraw his hand.
Although it was said to be sleep, in such a situation, how could anyone fall asleep? Of course, it was not just him. The people in the distance were also sitting there in a daze.
Now Tetsuya also had to consider his next actions. Exchanging back Piloswine and Golett as soon as possible was the most basic plan, but with his current strength, wanting to catch Houndoom or Rhyhorn was simply a fantasy…
However, catching weak Pokémon and starting to train them would take too long. Half a year might not even be enough to train one "capable of fighting" Houndoom. So his only way out was to catch Pokémon with short Evolution cycles. It was undeniable that Evolution was the sign of becoming stronger.
Although there were many unevolved Pokémon that could defeat their evolved forms, that was due to unique training methods or extremely high potential. It still could not shake the fundamental principle that Evolution leads to power.
Speaking of Pokémon with short Evolution cycles… they were naturally Bug-type Pokémon!
Caterpie evolving into Butterfree could take as little as one week, and Weedle evolving into Beedrill was about the same. The climate here was extremely similar to the Johto region, so these two kinds of Pokémon would definitely be present.
As for choosing between these two Pokémon, he deliberated for quite a while.
Clearly, catching Caterpie was less dangerous, since the only move it could use to attack was String Shot. However, Weedle had a horn on its head that carried poison. If struck, it would not be something to take lightly. Although there was still Antidote in his backpack, the level of danger would not decrease much.
The most troublesome part was that Beedrill were group-living Pokémon. If the attack failed and alerted the Beedrill, then it would truly be a dead end for him.
Even so, he would still try to find an opportunity to catch Weedle first. After all, Beedrill was both Bug- and Poison-type. Tetsuya was very "familiar" with Poison-types, and raising them would be more manageable. He could quickly draw out their full potential, and their combat power would increase in the shortest time.
So unless there was truly no opportunity, he would still prioritize catching Weedle. If it really came to it, he would have to use Ditto…
When his life was threatened, there was no room to worry about future plans!
Having made up his mind, he would begin scouting the nearby area tomorrow. Exploring a forest had to be done step by step. Otherwise, if he got lost inside, he would not even know it.