After catching five Murkrow and two Sandslash, there was no longer any need to worry about food expenses. It was enough for two months.
After going to the Shadow Team camp to exchange for food, Tetsuya returned once again to the poisonous forest.
Strangely, he had only left for one week, yet all the corpses of the Nidorino and Nidorina killed last time had disappeared. Only the corpses of that Nidoking and Nidoqueen remained.
Logically speaking, no one would dare touch the dead bodies of these Poison-type Pokémon, because there were residual toxins within the corpses; and those toxins would continue raging inside the dead bodies unless one possessed sufficient ability to deal with them.
With the bodies of Nidoking and Nidoqueen still present, if there really was something capable of handling them, it would naturally return again, so there was no need to stay here.
More than half of the entire forest had already been dispersed by him.
Piloswine continued using Blizzard to clear the miasma, but after an entire day of exhausting work, not a single Poison-type Pokémon was discovered…
Sure enough, the Poison-types in this area had also scattered in all directions because of the environmental changes and the deaths of their "family" members. Now things had truly become troublesome. Without Poison-type Pokémon, how was his Haunter supposed to evolve!???
Logically speaking, during these past four months, Haunter had already received stimulation from quite a lot of Poison-types. Only the poison from that Nidoking and Nidoqueen last time had caused Haunter's Poison Core to react again.
It seemed that now, the poison and toxins of ordinary Poison-type Pokémon was already very difficult to use in stimulating Haunter's Poison Core.
Tetsuya began thinking about Haunter's situation. When Gastly had activated its Poison Core, he had used two Swalot.
To stimulate Gastly into evolving into Haunter, he had even used Koga's golden Arbok. That had been an existence worthy of the title Poison King…
Perhaps it was precisely because the poison and toxins originally used to stimulate Haunter had been too intense that some ordinary ones were now completely incapable of affecting Haunter at all…
---◓---
Another week of miasma clearing passed, and the entire poisonous "miasma" forest was already close to disappearing. During that time, he had also caught six or seven Poison-type Pokémon, yet Haunter still showed no reaction.
At the very end of the forest was a concave mountain terrain. Inside, miasma also lingered everywhere. However, the sky had already darkened, and Piloswine was exhausted as well, so they could only wait until tomorrow to continue clearing it.
Moreover, this kind of mountain hollow terrain was the most troublesome to clear. If Blizzard were used to blow it away, the miasma would surge back because of the mountains blocking it, very likely affecting himself instead.
This time, the speed definitely could not be fast, so Tetsuya might as well take it slowly starting tomorrow.
---◓---
When Tetsuya returned once more to the place where the Nidoking group had originally been killed, he discovered that the corpses of Nidoking and Nidoqueen had also disappeared.
Thinking about it, an entire week had already passed. If some Pokémon truly fed on them, then it was normal for them to be gone.
Tetsuya found a clean and dry place and slept for the night.
The next day, he once again arrived at the deepest part of the forest. The miasma within the mountain hollow could only be blown from the center so that it would discharge from both sides, and the potency could not be too strong.
"Mm, Piloswine, use Icy Wind, make it weaker."
At this moment, Tetsuya had already put on his gas mask and retreated behind Piloswine. Golett and Ditto would both become poisoned, so Tetsuya recalled them. Haunter, Houndoom, and Beedrill remained beside Piloswine as protection. If any miasma invaded Piloswine's position, Beedrill would also flap its wings to clear it away, guaranteeing Piloswine's safety.
This time, Icy Wind gently blew outward. The miasma did not surge out with the wind, but instead began retreating backward.
'This…'
That also meant there was still space behind this miasma, otherwise how could there still be somewhere for the miasma to be drawn inward?
Tetsuya had Piloswine increase its power, and sure enough, the speed at which the miasma retreated became even faster!
There was definitely something hidden inside…
"Blizzard!"
Now that he knew the miasma would not surge outward, there was only one thing to do, increase the power.
The power of Blizzard was many times stronger than the earlier Icy Wind. The violent snowstorm swept forward, and the miasma rapidly retreated backward at an extremely fast speed. Moreover, it all formed into vortex shapes, proving there was a cave entrance inside.
Piloswine prepared to continue exerting force and was in the middle of gathering power…
Suddenly, two enormous Sludge Bomb shot over, heading straight toward Piloswine!
'Dangerous!' "Haunter use Shadow Ball, Houndoom use Fire Blast!"
Tetsuya shouted.
Haunter and Houndoom also discovered the imposing Sludge Bomb and did not dare show the slightest carelessness. Shadow Ball and Fire Blast were hurled out, barely managing to offset the Sludge Bomb.
Extraordinary power.
That was Tetsuya's first impression.
Sure enough, the strongest always stayed in the deepest places?
At this moment, Piloswine used Blizzard once again, and this time all the poisonous miasma completely disappeared.
The truth was finally revealed!
Two Swalot appeared in the deepest part of the mountain hollow. Beside them were the corpses of Poison-type Pokémon, including that Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
There was also a cave inside the mountain hollow. Both the poisonous miasma and the Blizzard entered that cave. Judging from the terrain of this forest, most of the poisonous miasma gathered here before entering that cave from this location.
For four and a half months, most of the miasma cleared by Tetsuya had entered this cave, along with the bone-chilling cold aura from Blizzard. Unless this cave was ventilated, it was impossible for any creature to survive inside it.
The power of the moves these two Swalot had just used, combined with the fact that they even dared to eat the corpses of Poison-type Pokémon, already made them existences worthy of the title Poison Kings. Even so, it appeared they still did not dare enter the cave, which was why they placed all their food at the entrance.
These two Swalot had skin so purple it was nearly black!
Black to the point of glossiness, glossy to the point of shining.
The liquid secreted from the sweat glands on their bodies even corroded the rocks. These two "Poison Kings~✨" absolutely had to be subdued. One could say they were Haunter's final hope for Evolution.
"Houndoom and Beedrill will handle the Swalot on the left. Piloswine and Haunter will handle the Swalot on the right!"
Two against one. Tetsuya was aiming for slaughter, seeking a quick resolution.
At this moment, the Swalot launched Sludge Bomb once again. The momentum was fierce, completely not inferior to any of his Pokémon.
"Houndoom, use Fire Blast to block it. Beedrill, use Pin Missile to attack. Piloswine, use Icicle Crash to block it. Haunter, attack with Psychic."
After Tetsuya spoke, Houndoom pushed out a Fire Blast, colliding directly with Sludge Bomb. An explosion rang out, and neither side gained any advantage. Beedrill's Pin Missile shot out like a torrential rainstorm, but the instant they touched Swalot's body, they were all corroded and fell to the ground, completely failing to inflict any damage upon Swalot.
What terrifying poison. In that case, these two Swalot were basically immune to Contact moves. With such deadly toxins, if a Pokémon made close contact, would it not immediately become poisoned and very likely suffer damage to its own body?
That meant Beedrill's role had practically disappeared. The only thing it could do now was use Double Team to divert Swalot's attention…
Now it depended on Haunter's methods!