Houndoom charged into the room, but before it could even steady its footing, it retreated.
One glance through the doorway left Tetsuya overjoyed. Although the entire room was now in complete disarray, the container had been destroyed, the poison had spilled all over the floor, the floor tiles had all been corroded, and it had seeped into the foundation. It seemed this room would have to be reinforced.
However, all of this was undoubtedly "its" handiwork…
The crimson Skorupi Egg had disappeared. In its place stood a… crimson Skorupi?
According to the textbooks, this was a Shiny Pokémon!
Such Pokémon were generally mutations caused by drastic environmental changes. A crimson Skorupi like this was unbelievably rare. Not only had it resisted Koffing's Toxic poison, but the sheer power required to destroy a container like that was already beyond that of an ordinary Skorupi.
Earlier, the ten Skorupi had exhausted themselves trying to break the container after being submerged in poison, yet that special material had clearly been beyond their capabilities.
Tetsuya had finally succeeded!
He could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart.
"Skorupi… you must be starving. Come out and have something to eat~"
After speaking, Tetsuya placed the prepared Pokéfood at the doorway. The entire room was now covered in toxins. Even Houndoom dared not approach, much less Tetsuya himself. He could only lure Skorupi out first.
Having just been born, Skorupi was obviously unfamiliar with many things. It quickly rushed over and began greedily devouring the Pokéfood.
---◓---
Using the Pokéfood as bait all the way, Tetsuya gradually lured Skorupi onto the training field.
"All right, you're full now. Let's see what moves you can use," Tetsuya said.
However, Skorupi clearly paid no attention to Tetsuya. In fact, it did not even have the concept of the "bond" between a Pokémon Trainer and a Pokémon. After all, Tetsuya had not officially caught it yet.
Tetsuya shook his head. No matter how rebellious Skorupi might become in the future, he first had to catch it. That was the most basic requirement.
"Houndoom, subdue this Skorupi first. Let's test its abilities. Use Flamethrower, but keep it weak."
After all, Skorupi had only just been born, so its strength was limited. Tetsuya's main objective was to see which moves it could use. More importantly, he wanted to know whether Mr. Shellby's breeding had been successful.
Houndoom released a stream of tiny sparks. They did not strike Skorupi directly, but instead ignited the area around it.
Surrounded by flames, Skorupi immediately lost all interest in eating. It spun around anxiously in place, not knowing what to do. At that moment, it spotted Houndoom with flames coming from its mouth and instantly realized who the troublemaker was.
Skorupi leaped twice and fired rows of purple Poison Stings from its mouth. Since it had not undergone any training, the move was not yet very powerful. Even so, the force behind it was already impressive.
As expected of the little fellow that had destroyed the container with its bare strength!
Houndoom leaped backward a few steps and easily avoided Skorupi's Poison Sting.
The Poison Sting embedded itself in the ground, instantly poisoning the surrounding weeds to death and corroding a small hole into the earth.
What potent toxicity!
Tetsuya also sent out Koffing to observe the battle. When it came to measuring the potency of poison, Koffing was the best point of comparison.
Poison Sting failed to hit Houndoom at all. Skorupi was clearly unwilling to accept that. After all, as a newborn, it truly knew no fear.
Skorupi charged straight out of the ring of flames. The barb on its tail stood upright, pointing forward, with drops of blood-red odd poison dripping from it as it aimed directly at Houndoom.
"Poison Tail!"
This was the move Skorupi had inherited through breeding with Scolipede, and it had already awakened. This Skorupi's potential was immense!
Being struck by this Poison Tail was no joke. Without any orders from Tetsuya, Houndoom simply continued dodging left and right. Meanwhile, Skorupi attacked with great enthusiasm, the frequency of its tail strikes growing faster and faster. However, in Houndoom's eyes, these attacks were no more than a child's game.
Unexpectedly, after growing tired of swinging its tail, Skorupi began waving its pincers and lunged at Houndoom once again.
Tetsuya shook his head. This was Twineedle, the move inherited from Beedrill. However, for Skorupi, this move was somewhat of a burden. Those pincers were meant for clamping down on opponents, not for stabbing them.
After that, it used Leer and Knock Off, both of which were Skorupi's basic moves, with nothing particularly unusual about them.
At this point, Skorupi could use the inherited move Poison Tail from Scolipede, as well as Twineedle inherited from Beedrill. At the very least, Mr. Shellby's breeding had been a success.
"Finish the battle."
Tetsuya now had a general understanding of this Skorupi. Houndoom unleashed a proper Flamethrower, instantly engulfing Skorupi in flames and leaving its entire body charred black.
Tetsuya threw a Poké Ball and successfully caught Skorupi.
"We have a new companion!"
At that moment, Tetsuya threw out all of his Poké Balls, and all of his Pokémon appeared. He was just about to send out Skorupi's Poké Ball to introduce it to them.
Ditto, Mamoswine, Golurk, and Houndoom suddenly looked extremely tense.
"…?"
Tetsuya was quite puzzled.
"This is bad… Get farther away! The ground is shaking. Houndoom's Flamethrower must have reached that crack just now. That fissure leads directly into the mine, and there must still be residual gas down there. Get away from here. The mine is about to explode again. The ground beneath us is already trembling."
Gengar said to Tetsuya from within his shadow.
As soon as Tetsuya heard(?) that, he immediately realized how serious the situation was. He had been so excited about Skorupi that, despite all his precautions, he had completely forgotten that Fire-type moves could not be used here.
"Ditto, Rapidash!"
Now that he understood the situation, Tetsuya did not dare delay for even a moment. His life came first.
After receiving the command, Ditto immediately transformed into Rapidash. Tetsuya swung himself onto its back, recalled all of his Pokémon in one swift motion, and galloped away from the Pokémon Daycare.
From a distance, Tetsuya looked back at the training field and the old mine. He had just spent more than 700k on this place. It could not simply go up in smoke like this. If another explosion occurred, the League authorities would certainly never allow anyone to live here again.
At that point, if the League repurchased the Pokémon Daycare at its own valuation, he would lose the place where he "raised" his Pokémon. No matter how Tetsuya looked at it, it would be a losing deal.
The League's purchase price would never take into account how much he had actually paid. They would simply order him to relocate under the banner of protecting his personal safety, while the amount of compensation would be whatever the officials decided.
Booom!
A deafening boom suddenly echoed through the air. A pillar of fire more than two meters in diameter shot up from the ground, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
"… … …"
Uh… it seemed he would be making the headlines again tomorrow. Another explosion. This time, the League would undoubtedly seal off the mine for good, and the surrounding area would certainly become a restricted zone.