Seeing that Rex had only sent out a single Swellow, the Ariados group didn't all attack at once. Instead, they sent just one forward to battle Swellow.
"Swellow, show your spirit—use Peck!"
This was Karen's first time battling wild Pokémon, and she was bursting with excitement, practically on fire with adrenaline.
At her command, Swellow shot through the air like an arrow, diving straight at Ariados for what it hoped would be a decisive strike.
But against an experienced predator like Ariados, such a straightforward attack was far too easy to read. Ariados launched a stream of webbing from its tail, which wrapped tightly around Swellow mid-flight, binding it like a cocoon and slamming it to the ground.
Seeing this, the other Ariados grinned with satisfaction, clearly pleased at how weak their opponent appeared.
"No! Swellow, don't give up—break free!"
Karen panicked upon seeing Swellow trapped, but still called out, hoping it could escape.
Unfortunately, the more Swellow struggled, the tighter the web became. It couldn't break free no matter how hard it tried.
Ariados didn't waste time. It unleashed a barrage of tiny, venomous needles from its mouth, targeting the helpless Swellow.
Swellow couldn't dodge while bound—it had to take the attack head-on. But the force of the poison stingers also tore through some of the webbing, allowing Swellow to finally break loose.
"Are you okay, Swellow?"
Karen's voice was filled with worry. Swellow was clearly in bad shape—the poison had taken hold—but that pain also triggered its Guts ability, granting it a surge of strength.
But time was not on their side. If the poison continued to sap its stamina, Swellow wouldn't last long enough to win.
"Swah!"
Letting out a cry, Swellow lunged again, diving at Ariados without hesitation. It understood it had to end this quickly.
"Swellow, use Aerial Ace!"
Ariados tried the same trick again, spitting webs in an attempt to trap Swellow a second time. But Karen had learned from earlier and gave her command before it could react.
Just as the web was about to catch Swellow, it vanished from Ariados's sight. In the blink of an eye, Swellow reappeared behind it and struck with a powerful Aerial Ace, sending Ariados flying.
With type advantage and its Guts ability boosting the attack, the move was more than enough—Ariados hit the ground hard and didn't get back up.
"Swellow, you were amazing!"
Karen cheered, thrilled at their victory.
Suddenly, a bright white light enveloped Swellow—signs of evolution. The win had triggered its growth.
The remaining Ariados saw this and realized their prey wasn't as easy as they thought. While everyone was focused on Swellow evolving, they quickly gathered the unconscious Ariados and vanished into the forest.
Rex noticed them fleeing, but didn't stop them. There were plenty more challenges to find in the jungle.
When the light faded, standing before them was a full-sized Swellow. Though it had evolved, the poison still lingered in its system, and it looked visibly drained.
"This is great! Taillow, you finally evolved into a majestic Swellow! Now you can fly me through the sky!"
Karen couldn't hold back her emotions. She ran over and hugged her newly evolved Swellow, tears streaming down her face.
"Shaymin, could you help heal Swellow?"
Rex turned to the Pokémon in his arms.
"Mii!"
Without hesitation, Shaymin released a soft green light that floated over to Swellow. In just a few seconds, Swellow looked completely revitalized.
"Thank you, Shaymin!"
Karen, now calmer, gratefully thanked the little hedgehog Pokémon.
"Swellow, let's work hard too!"
Yui looked up at her own Swellow circling overhead and called out.
Of course, she was mostly just jumping on the excitement bandwagon. She had actually caught her Swellow even before Karen, but she had never been very serious about training it. Most of its progress came from Karen dragging her along for joint sessions.
On her own, Yui rarely ever trained with Swellow.
With Swellow's evolution behind them, everyone was even more excited for what lay ahead in their jungle adventure, eager to see what other Pokémon they might encounter.
After pressing forward a bit farther, they reached a grassy clearing. At its center stood an enormous tree—so wide it would take several people holding hands to wrap around it. Beneath the tree lived a large number of Shroomish.
"I think we've entered the Shroomish's territory. Let's circle around before they release Stun Spore on us—it won't be fun if that happens."
Realizing where they were, Rex quickly warned the others.
But it was already too late. The group had been spotted, and from a hole in the massive tree emerged a Breloom—it was clearly the leader.
"Sorry, Breloom, we mean no harm. Can we just pass through peacefully?"
Rex called out to the Breloom, who was now leading a group of Shroomish that had surrounded them.
But Breloom clearly didn't believe them, treating the group as intruders rather than visitors.
"Mii!"
Just as Rex was about to release his Pokémon to defend them, Shaymin let out a cry.
That one sound stopped Breloom in its tracks. It called off the Shroomish and signaled them not to use Stun Spore.
Breloom hadn't even noticed Shaymin until it made a sound. Shaymin had been suppressing its presence so well that any creature other than Rex and their companions would naturally ignore its existence.
Now aware, Breloom approached Shaymin, chirping gratefully. It then extended an invitation to the group, guiding them under the large tree.
"Shaymin… do you know Breloom and the others?"
Rex asked, curious at the sudden change in attitude.
"Mii!"
Shaymin responded and simultaneously sent a series of mental images to Rex, showing the story of how it came to know Breloom and the Shroomish.
After sorting through the images, Rex understood why Breloom had changed its attitude so quickly upon recognizing Shaymin.
(End of Chapter)