Each person entered that primeval forest with only their original backpack and a single book.
This time, they entered without even Poké Balls. If they encountered wild Pokémon, the only option was killing.
Tetsuya entered the forest. Right now, his primary objective was to find the reason this island was destroyed.
Of course, increasing his combat power was also a top priority. He still did not know Raven's true strength. As long as there were people on this island stronger than himself, they would always be unstable factors.
This was also Catherine's way of thinking, so ever since entering the forest, she had always been following Tetsuya from afar. He was the only person stronger than her.
What Catherine' wanted to know was exactly how Tetsuya trained, and why he could be stronger than her.
However, it was very easy to get lost in such a forest, and Pokémon Clans "wars" were frequently encountered. In merely one month, the various teams that had originally gathered together had already completely fallen apart.
Tetsuya also walked alone through the forest, and Catherine's traces were no longer behind him. It seemed she had lost track of him.
Right now, the only one not lacking "food" at all was Gengar. The forest was filled with living creatures everywhere, providing endless vitality. Beedrill also did not lack nectar, and Grass-type Pokémon could be seen everywhere. Ditto could only eat Berries pulp, while Piloswine and Golurk's food mainly consisted of Berries.
However, from time to time, he could still see "food Pokémon" such as Tauros, Farfetch'd, and Stantler…
Every time he passed through a place, Tetsuya would leave behind markers. Right now, he needed to explore this entire forest as quickly as possible. With Houndoom's keen sense of smell leading the way, they avoided many unnecessary detours.
---◓---
Houndoom opened the path, then all of Tetsuya's Pokémon would clear out those "Pokémon Clans". An entire month had been spent in constant fighting.
"Help… heeelp..!"
"P-Please… save… us…!"
Tetsuya continued exploring the path ahead when he heard cries for help.
Following the sound, he saw more than a dozen Ursaring baring their fangs and claws around three people. The three had already been surrounded and were resisting with their Pokémon, but they could not withstand the overwhelming number of Ursaring.
Tetsuya climbed onto a tree in just a few moves and looked at those three people. 'They seemed to be from… Sinnoh?'
He only heard one of them shout, "Catherine! It's Catherine!"
Following the voice, sure enough, there was a young girl standing on a tree branch gnawing on a Berry.
On a tree not far opposite them, Catherine was leisurely watching the scene unfold. When the three from Sinnoh saw the strongest person from their region, it was as though they had seen hope for survival.
The three immediately started running toward Catherine, while the Ursaring relentlessly chased after them from behind.
They arrived beneath the tree where Catherine was located.
"Yokatta… Catherine! Quick, quick save us!"
"Save us, we're all from Sinnoh!"
"Right, right, we're one team."
Hearing these three people's words, Tetsuya could not help finding it amusing. In a place like this, where was there any team? If everyone from the same place was considered one team, then everyone came from the same world. Such "team logic" would never move Catherine.
(ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ) Catherine slightly smiled, tossed down the Berry she was holding in her arms, then directly leaped onto another tree…
"""…"""
The three people blankly stared at the Berry in their hands. Catherine had not spoken. What exactly did this mean?
The Ursaring became even more excited upon seeing the Berries in the three people's hands. With a loud roar, they all charged forward!
Only then did the three understand that Catherine had accelerated their deaths…
The three people's Pokémon had almost completely lost their combat ability. Right now, they could only force themselves to send them out to fight.
At this moment, Catherine also noticed Tetsuya. The two stood on the trees quietly watching this "battle".
---◓---
After the more than ten Ursaring dealt with the Pokémon, they turned and attacked the three people themselves.
The three were not too stupid. They threw all the Berries in their hands over.
The Ursaring, who had struggled for so long without obtaining anything, were already starving. They picked up the Berries and began eating them. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the three had already escaped far away.
"You can't let them leave," Tetsuya said.
"No need for you to remind me."
After speaking, Catherine threw out Skarmory's Poké Ball. Skarmory flew out using Steel Wing, energy gathering upon its wings.
Just when the three had prepared to sigh in relief, they saw a Skarmory flying toward them!
"Hey, that's Catherine's Skarmory, what does she want to…-?"
Before the leading person's words had even finished, Skarmory's Steel Wing had already slashed a wound from his throat to his chest. Blood instantly poured out!
Although every person here had witnessed death before, seeing someone hacked apart alive like this still left them panicked and overwhelmed.
"Ruuun! That monster wants to kill us!"
The other two finally realized Catherine wanted to kill them and could not help loudly cursing.
"Shine¹[1]."
Catherine coldly said. Skarmory swung its wings once again, and the other two people also crumbled into pools of blood.
"Skarmory, deal with these Ursaring." Even while killing, Catherine did not forget to use battle as training. Skarmory flew out and directly charged into the group of more than ten Ursaring.
"You better not hog all this exp bags for yourself."
After speaking, Tetsuya also sent out Golurk. "Attack those Ursaring."
Golurk and Skarmory carved through the Ursaring group from both sides. Very quickly, the entire Ursaring group was taken down.
Tetsuya leaped down from the tree.
"Golurk, use Hammer Arm on these Ursaring's heads."
Tetsuya ordered.
"What are you trying to do?" Catherine asked.
"What's the point of leaving these Pokémon alive? The fewer of these clans there are, the more safety we have ourselves."
After Tetsuya spoke, Golurk smashed down one punch after another.
"Steel Wing."
Catherine also ordered Skarmory to use Steel Wing and slash through them.
More than ten Ursaring had all died at the hands of Tetsuya and Catherine.
Afterward, Tetsuya began using a dagger to cut off the Ursarings' paws.
Catherine laughed. "Oya oya, you really know how to eat~"
"If you don't eat, can you survive?" Tetsuya rolled his eyes. Just now, Catherine had killed those people decisively and cleanly. She clearly did not look like it was her first time.
Actually, as long as everyone simply survived on this island for three years, they could stay alive. There was absolutely no need to kill others anymore. However, she killed them anyway, which meant her thoughts were the same as his.
She wanted to leave this place.
This "training" organized by Shadow Team, to put it bluntly, was merely specifically separating who could become elites and who could only become grunts.
Those who truly passed through wilderness training would definitely become stronger, and their survival methods would also become more diversified.
Meanwhile, more people would only choose a safe location, gather in teams of three or five, and stubbornly hold out for three years. For them, they could also survive quite well that way. However, naturally, they would fall far behind those who possessed the ability to cross this primeval forests.
But Tetsuya and Catherine were different from both types of people.
•.
•.
¹. DIE! Japanese bro.
[1] DIE! Japanese bro.