Hearing Roy's command, Butterfree flew forward gracefully.
It hovered in mid-air, its Compound Eyes flickering slightly, precisely locking onto every restless Zubat.
Butterfree let out a soft cry, and its wings began to flap at high frequency!
Pale yellow powder quickly spread toward the group of Zubat along with the airflow generated by the flapping wings.
Sleep Powder!
With the enhancement of the 'Compound Eyes' ability, the distribution range of the powder was wider and more even.
The levels of those Zubat weren't high to begin with, and they seemed to be in an excited and restless state for some reason, leaving them completely off guard.
The pale yellow powder silently clung to their wings and bodies.
The movements of the first few Zubat charging at the front suddenly stiffened.
Immediately after, the frequency of their wing flaps slowed down visibly to the naked eye.
Their eyelids began to droop.
Their cries also became weak and listless.
Thud!
The first Zubat, Seymour a kite with a broken string, fell straight down from the low altitude, hitting the grass and letting out a faint snore.
With the first one, there was a second, then a third... one after another, the Zubat fell from the sky Seymour dumplings dropping into a pot, landing around Seymour and sleeping soundly.
Barely a dozen seconds had passed.
The dozen or so Zubat that were aggressively swarming and attacking him just moments ago were now all lying on the ground, their snores rising and falling.
"Ah... this..." Seymour, who was surrounded in the middle, was stunned, even forgetting to cover his nose and mouth.
It wasn't until a trace of Sleep Powder drifted in front of him that he suddenly snapped out of it, quickly covering his nose and mouth tightly, his face turning red from holding his breath.
Roy looked at the effect and nodded with satisfaction.
The Compound Eyes ability combined with area-of-effect control skills really yielded high clearing efficiency.
Against a group with high numbers but weak individuals, Butterfree was simply a godsend.
"Well done, Butterfree," Roy praised.
Free~
Butterfree happily flew back to Roy's side and nuzzled him affectionately.
At the same time, a system notification that only Roy could see flashed before his eyes.
[Pokémon: Butterfree, Level: lv10 → lv13]
This was the advantage of having a short experience bar; this group of Zubat directly allowed Butterfree to level up three times.
At such a fast speed, it might even catch up to Pikachu and the others later... The rescued Seymour cautiously moved out from the middle of the sleeping Zubat, patting his chest with lingering fear.
His face and white lab coat were covered in dust and grass clippings, and his glasses were crooked, making him look quite pathetic.
After confirming he was safe, he immediately turned around, his gaze locking onto Roy, and tears suddenly gushed out.
"Benefactor! My benefactor!!"
He let out an exaggerated wail, spread his arms, and rushed toward Roy with great excitement, looking Seymour he wanted to give Roy a solid bear hug.
Roy's eyelid twitched.
The moment Seymour was about to pounce on him, he calmly extended a hand and firmly pressed it against Seymour's shoulder, stopping his further approach.
"A verbal thank you is enough," Roy said flatly. "I don't have the habit of hugging people passionately."
Beside them, the Eevee next to Delia tilted its small head, its eyes filled with confusion.
(Doesn't this human often snuggle and pet my master? What is he talking about?)
Seymour awkwardly withdrew his arms, hurriedly straightened his glasses, and wiped the dust and tears from his face.
"Cough... Sorry, I was too excited." Seymour cleared his throat, trying to regain the demeanor a researcher should have.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Seymour, and I am a researcher at the Pewter City Museum of Science."
"Mt. Moon has always been my primary research project!"
"The ecology here is unique, inhabited by rare Pokemon, and there are precious Moon Stone veins hidden underground... It should have been a protected sanctuary!"
"But, I don't know when it started, but news of Moon Stones and rare Pokemon here leaked out."
"It attracted a large number of greedy Trainers and outlaws! They've been digging recklessly here, destroying the environment, and disturbing the Pokemon!"
"After much effort and persuasion, I managed to apply for a Temporary Protection Order from the League and the Government, banning large-scale mining and capturing. This allowed Mt. Moon to be peaceful for a few months..."
"But recently, even though the protection order is still in effect, clear signs of destruction have appeared inside Mt. Moon."
"That's why I came here personally to patrol and check... I didn't expect that shortly after entering, I would startle this group of Zubat..."
After listening, Roy remarked expressionlessly, "So, you came to patrol without bringing a single Pokemon for self-defense?"
"Ah, that..." Seymour was choked by the question, but then a nearly pious glow appeared on his face.
He pushed his glasses and said in an idealistic tone, "You don't understand! What I pursue is the most harmonious state of coexistence between humans, Pokemon, and nature."
"Carrying aggressive Pokemon by my side would make the sensitive Pokemon here feel uneasy and fearful."
"That goes against my research philosophy! I hope to move them with my sincerity..."
Misty couldn't help but roll her eyes, pointed to the ring of Zubat sleeping Seymour dead pigs on the ground, and said speechlessly, "Yeah, it's definitely 'harmonious.' You were 'dancing' with them for quite a while."
"If it weren't for Roy's Butterfree, you'd probably still be dancing right now, wouldn't you?"
"Uh..." Seymour's lofty expression instantly collapsed, turning into embarrassment.
Delia looked around and asked a very critical question: "Mr. Seymour, you don't bring Pokemon for self-defense, but if you really find the villains destroying Mt. Moon, how do you plan to stop them?"
"Are you going to use your 'research philosophy' to verbally persuade them?"
Delia's question hit the nail on the head.
Seymour froze instantly, opening his mouth but unable to say anything for a long time.
It was true. He only thought about not disturbing the wild Pokemon and maintaining 'harmony,' but completely failed to consider what to do if he encountered villains with ill intentions.
Was he really going to rely on talk alone?
"I... I..." Seymour frantically scratched his already messy hair, his face full of embarrassment and regret.
"I was so focused on the ultimate ideal of ecological harmony... that I, I forgot about the part where I have to fight villains..."
He suddenly looked up at Roy and the other two, especially Roy, who had just commanded Butterfree to easily deal with the Zubat swarm, and a light of hope instantly erupted in his eyes!
His eyes welled up with tears again: "Trainers! I can tell you're good people with a strong sense of justice."
"Please, you must help me, help Mt. Moon. Find the culprits destroying this place and stop them! I beg of you!"
Roy and the others were inclined to protect the Pokemon's ecology, and besides, there were mission rewards.
So Roy agreed to Seymour's request.
According to the 'original script' in his memory, the ones causing trouble in Mt. Moon were ninety-nine percent likely to be those three buffoons from Team Rockets.
However, along the way, Roy noticed that the plotline regarding the Team Rockets trio didn't appear strictly step-by-step.
It was probably because those three were too erratic in their thinking and acted entirely on a whim, doing whatever came to mind.
But no matter how erratic they were, calculating the time, those three must have been bailed out by now.
Giovanni didn't necessarily expect those two to accomplish anything great.
But keeping them as mascots to show care for the descendants of 'old subordinates' and concern for the young master of an 'investor's' family was a good choice for winning people over and maintaining the surface harmony of the organization.
Therefore, the probability of them being released to continue causing trouble everywhere was extremely high... Following Seymour, the three entered the interior of Mt. Moon.
Before they had gone far, signs of destruction clearly appeared before them.
The originally intact rock walls had been crudely chiseled open, with gravel and marks left by tools scattered on the ground.
Some places that might have been Geodude or Diglett's Cave were completely dug out, and there was discarded trash around.
"Look! It's here!" Seymour pointed to those marks and said painfully, "They just appeared recently! And they're still spreading deeper!"
Roy knelt down and carefully examined the chisel marks and scattered gravel.
The tool marks were quite messy, not looking Seymour a professional mining team, but rather Seymour... someone had haphazardly gathered a few shovels and pickaxes and was just winging it.
It fit the style of a certain trio perfectly.
Roy quietly expanded his Aura auxiliary detection.
Invisible perception crossed the rock walls.
Soon, he 'saw' three familiar soul Auras deep in the winding passage not too far ahead, buried in hard work.
-=-=-=-=-=-
50 power stones for extra chapter
-=-=-=-=-=-
۞۞۞۞
p-atreon.com/PokeFicLord
40+ Chapters in p-atreon.com.
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)