Tetsuya was very clear about Takuya's thoughts, fearing danger and avoiding difficulty.
"Tch, just a mere Houndoom can scare you like this…? I think you are destined to be eliminated. When the time comes and you become food for Sharpedo, you will know which one is more terrifying. Teaming up with someone like you… I must have been blind! If you won't go, then forget it, I'll go myself." After speaking, Tetsuya prepared to leave.
Only then did Takuya realize the seriousness of the situation and quickly stopped Tetsuya, saying, "D-Don't worry, don't worry, I… I'm not a-afraid at all! It's just a… a Houndoom… As long as you plan it, we will definitely listen to you!"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Tetsuya's mouth. After all, they were just eight or nine-year-old kids. A single piece of Courage Candy could easily make them go along with anything!
If they were in their teens, they probably would not be so easy to deceive. He said, "Take me to where the Cianwood City team is."
Right now, the Cianwood City team was a piece that had to be verified.
""Alright, alright!""
---◓---
Takuya and Haruto led Tetsuya through the forest.
Sure enough, the Cianwood City team was camped by a small river. This team had ten people.
"Do you two know the overall level of this team?"
Tetsuya asked. This was also one of the reasons he decided to bring them along so soon. In these three months, these two had been searching everywhere for a team that would take them in, so they naturally had some understanding of the overall strength of various teams. At the very least, these two were now "qualified" intel gatherers.
Takuya said, "Their leader seems to already have three Pokémon. Most members have two Pokémon, and the three weakest each have one. They mainly use Fighting-type Pokémon."
Tetsuya nodded. They were indeed difficult to deal with. Now the question was whether they had captured Houndoom, or whether he could obtain any information about Houndoom from them.
This made Tetsuya feel troubled. How could he obtain information?
"We'll find a place nearby to set up camp and observe their movements at any time," Tetsuya said. For now, the only option was to wait and see. If they had information on Houndoom, they would definitely be planning to take action. If they had already captured Houndoom, there would also be clues during their usual training.
Tetsuya led Takuya and Haruto to set up a tent upstream of the river.
Beedrill's training had already gotten on track. It should soon learn the move Poison Jab. The power of this move depended entirely on the strength of the tail stinger and the potency of the toxins.
Takuya and Haruto also brought Poliwag and Sandshrew, preparing to receive Tetsuya's guidance.
"Run. First train your physical condition."
Tetsuya waved his hand as he spoke. However, Takuya and Haruto clearly could not understand such words. What kind of training was this? They looked at each other.
"Didn't you see that before Beedrill started its special training, it would fly around the forest by itself? Physical condition is the core of training. Don't waste time!" After Tetsuya finished speaking, Takuya and Haruto finally began running with their Pokémon.
If Tetsuya were not holding back, he would have made you run with weights.
He understood very clearly the principle of "Rule of Two¹[1]". What he needed were two subordinates, not two people who could threaten him. Of course, with their personalities, without suffering a heavy blow, it was impossible for them to change.
To put it bluntly, it was a kind of servility. They only thought about relying on others, had no ambition, and no desire to become stronger. Being able to live well was already their greatest happiness.
"Continue."
Seeing that they wanted to stop after running for an hour, Tetsuya sent them away again to continue.
Beedrill's training no longer required Tetsuya to watch over it, so Tetsuya could focus on monitoring the training of the Cianwood City team.
The ten people were sparring with each other. Judging from the way they fought, it was nothing more than simple exchanges of moves. It was rare to see any impressive combinations or unexpected battle tactics.
Their thinking was still that by "battling" they could increase exp and lvl up -become stronger-, which was completely wrong!
Facing the same opponents and the same moves every day… how could they improve? Moreover, without reinforcing their basics and dominating their moves, if they rashly engaged in "battle training", they would find that they were fighting every day yet saw no improvement at all.
Sometimes, while fighting, they would already lose motivation, and even become incapable to battle properly, falling into such a dead end. Therefore, even though the Pokémon Tetsuya currently had, except for Golett, had already entered the stage of battle training, he still needed to spend some time every day reinforcing the basics.
Although this team currently had about eighteen Pokémon, if his Piloswine and Haunter were present, together with Beedrill and Ditto, the four of them would be able to defeat them all.
After observing their training for an entire morning, it could be confirmed that none of the Pokémon they were using included Houndoom. However, it could not be guaranteed that they did not have one among the Pokémon they had captured.
A team like this had high daily expenses. Pokémon food and human food both required capturing Pokémon to exchange. In fact, once you had a powerful Pokémon, capturing a few weaker ones was not difficult.
The key was, in such a wilderness, how would you support more Pokémon after capturing them? Capturing more Pokémon to exchange for food to support the ones you raised was not so simple.
---◓---
In the afternoon, Tetsuya had Takuya and Haruto practice the accuracy of their Pokémon's moves. As for how to practice, he let them figure it out themselves. When they truly encountered a "resource plundering" case, as long as they had the ability to help him hold off two to four opponents, it would be enough. He would never give them the opportunity to surpass him.
In the afternoon, the Cianwood City team moved out together. Tetsuya signaled Takuya and Haruto to follow closely.
The ten people, together with their Pokémon, dug a very deep pit, covered it with debris, and placed fresh meat on top.
A very perfect pitfall trap. Afterward, the ten people from Cianwood City discussed for a while and then hid in the surrounding forest.
'Could it be that there really is a Houndoom here…?' Tetsuya thought to himself. Using fresh meat as bait was naturally intended to capture carnivorous Pokémon. In the Kanto and Johto regions, there were only a few that fit that category.
While he was thinking, a black canine Pokémon poked its head out…
'…Houndour?' The pre-evolved form of Houndoom!
Such Pokémon moved in packs, so it was impossible for there to be only one. Tetsuya did not make a sound and observed from a distance.
Sure enough, six Houndour appeared one after another, constantly sniffing the air.
With a sharp, piercing howl, a tall and imposing Houndoom leaped out, its eyes fixed on the piece of fresh meat ahead.
Tetsuya told Takuya and Haruto not to make any sound no matter what happened, and absolutely not to alert the Houndour.
He could almost predict what would happen next…
•.
•.
¹. Siths.
[1] Siths