Tetsuya did not plan to enter the forest from the very beginning. In this kind of shrub area, the most common Pokémon were Caterpie, Weedle, Rattata, Pidgey, and… Spearow.
As long as he did not provoke Spearow, his situation would still be relatively safe…?
'…'
The next day, the various teams had already begun moving into the forest one after another. Tetsuya tidied up everything in his hands and carefully explored the grassland.
During this time, he would inevitably hear many idle remarks.
"Is this guy not going into the forest…? Can there even be Pokémon here? Doesn't he want to exchange back his Pokémon…?"
"Huh? Oh, he's alone. What can he do in the forest? Without a team, how can he survive? Tch, looks like he'll be the first to be eliminated."
Although Takuya wanted to team up with Tetsuya, due to Aurora's… unreasonable behavior, he had no choice but to leave Tetsuya and head into the forest.
---◓---
In just one morning, everyone had entered the forest. The shrub area had instead become the quietest place, but Tetsuya knew very well that most of these people would still come back.
Tetsuya surveyed the surroundings. With his current assets, the only Pokémon he could catch were Caterpie, Weedle, or Rattata. Pidgey could fly, making it difficult to catch.
Among the dense shrubs, Tetsuya took out the dagger from his backpack and began cutting. In the densest patch of shrubs, he cleared out a square space about half a meter wide. Except for a small passage, the surroundings were all shrubs. In places with small gaps, Tetsuya inserted the cut shrubs, forming a closed space with only a small entrance.
With the tools he currently had, this was the only kind of simple trap he could make. If he had a shovel, he could dig a pit, which would have a much higher success rate.
He placed his lunch inside the cleared space and now waited for a Pokémon to enter. Once one did, he would use the bundle of cut shrubs to block the entrance, giving him a high chance of capturing it.
Tetsuya sat at a distance on the grass, closely watching the trap he had set…
'…'
Since it was normally lunchtime, two Rattata quickly caught the scent of food. They looked around at the entrance for a moment, then entered the trap he had set.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tetsuya rushed to the entrance and sealed it!
The two Rattata were still enjoying his food, completely unaware that their escape route had been cut off.
The shrubs were about half a meter high. Rattata were not good at jumping, so there was no way for them to escape. Tetsuya already had great confidence!
Picking up a shrub branch from the ground, he swung it forcefully at the Rattata.
The Rattata that was hit by Tetsuya immediately let out a sharp cry, only then realizing that it had been trapped and that a strange human intended to harm them.
After the successful strike, Tetsuya once again raised the branch and attacked the Rattata. This time, the prepared Pokémon would not sit and wait for death!
A human's speed was far inferior to that of Pokémon. Rattata's speed was considered quite good among Pokémon. Under Tetsuya's swinging branch, it handled the situation with ease, and suddenly, one Rattata bit onto the branch in Tetsuya's hand.
This, of course, was extremely bad. Tetsuya had no strength to pull it back!
The result of the Rattata biting onto the branch was that it used the branch to counterattack. If he were bitten by Rattata, although it would not be fatal, without proper treatment it would easily lead to infection.
Startled, Tetsuya immediately threw away the branch. His attacks could not hit the Rattata at all, and there were no thicker branches here either. Tetsuya had no choice but to give up.
Without his interference, the Rattata could easily climb up along the bundled shrubs. This attempt had failed, and his lunch had been wasted for nothing…
'Sigh…'
After eating a little at random, Tetsuya lay on the grass and continued thinking about his next plan.
He had originally used this "method" with a fluke mentality. If what entered had been a Caterpie or a Weedle, his chances of catching it would have been relatively high, because these two were not very fast and would not be able to deal with his attacks as easily as Rattata.
Unfortunately, what came in was a Rattata.
In the wilderness, relying solely on his own strength to catch a Pokémon was truly too difficult. In his previous life, it was thanks to Mr. Shellby giving him a Spinarak. Otherwise, his dream of becoming a "Pokémon Trainer" would have been delayed even further.
---◓---
He wandered around the shrub area for two consecutive days but gained nothing.
His food was about to run out. If there was still no progress, he would have to enter the forest. Without food, he had to look for Berry trees. Here, there were only dry astringent Berries, which were difficult to swallow.
He moved one step closer to the forest.
At the outermost edge of the forest, there were only scattered trees, and the Pokémon active there were mostly weaker ones. After all, resources here were scarce and food was limited, so powerful Pokémon generally would not appear here.
He saw several Berry trees, but each of them was occupied by groups of Pokémon. This was the food they relied on to survive. If he picked them without their permission, they would definitely attack him together.
After scouting the environment for a whole day, there was still no suitable target.
Tetsuya was already becoming somewhat impatient. This could not continue!
---◓---
In the blink of an eye, three or four days had already passed, and he still had nothing to show for it. Catching Houndoom and Rhydon to exchange back his Piloswine and Golett felt even more distant.
With no other choice, he could only resort to using Ditto. However, every day, two grunts patrolled various parts of the forest with Mightyena.
In reality, they were checking whether anyone was trying to escape or if there were cases of mutual killing. After all, these people were goods of the Shadow Team. Losing ten or so did not matter much, but if too many died, how much would the Shadow Team lose each year? This was something that had to be considered.
The patrols were the most frequent during the first half year, because no one had Pokémon yet. Under such harsh conditions, the danger was extremely high. After half a year, those who remained would all have Pokémon, and survival in the wilderness would naturally become much safer. At that time, the so-called patrols would only occur occasionally.
As time went on, cases of mutual killing would become more and more intense, because only ten people could survive. Everyone wished that only ten people would remain on this island. At that time, new rules would naturally be established, and mutual killing would definitely be strictly prohibited. Patrols would then become frequent again.
However, the current patrols by the Shadow Team made it very difficult for him to bring out Ditto to fight. Secretly keeping a Pokémon was a major taboo. Ditto would definitely be confiscated, and he might even be punished.
If he claimed it was newly caught, the Poké Ball and the Shadow Team's "special" Poké Balls were completely different, so it could not be faked at all.
It seemed that he could only shift his schedule to late at night…
As he walked, Tetsuya arrived beside a small stream, which was just right for replenishing his water reserve.