"Stop making so much noise. Don't worry and stay calm. It won't hit you," Eddie said with irritation, scratching his ear as Bill continued to shout. "Grovyle, knock it down!"
"Calm down? Easy for you to say!" Bill protested. "You're not the one being carried away! I—"
Before Bill could finish, Grovyle had already launched its attack.
A blindingly bright beam of concentrated light shot forth from Grovyle's mouth.
The terrifying energy contained within that beam was so intense that even Eddie and Bill, as humans, could sense its raw power.
The Fearow desperately tried to dodge, but no matter how fast it was, nothing could outspeed a beam of light.
With a miserable shriek, Fearow's wing was struck directly, creating a gaping hole in the membrane. It immediately lost altitude and plummeted toward the ground.
Its talons could no longer maintain their grip on Bill, who began falling alongside it.
"Ahhhhh!!! I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."
Bill squeezed his eyes shut and continued screaming, even after Riolu had leaped up and caught him mid-air.
Even safe in Riolu's grasp, Bill believed he was still falling and continued shouting in terror.
"Stop shouting. You're safe now," Riolu communicated directly into Bill's mind using telepathy, frowning at the researcher's continued panic.
"Huh? Is this voice coming from inside my head?"
Bill, being a Pokémon researcher, heard this and his scientific curiosity instantly overwhelmed his fear.
He immediately fell silent and stared at Riolu with eyes sparkling with academic interest.
"Is this Riolu? A telepathic Pokémon from the Sinnoh region? So what I just experienced was the rumored Aura communication?"
Eddie, seeing that Bill had been rescued safely, ignored the researcher's excited questions and turned his attention back to the ongoing battle.
The Fearow that had been struck by Solar Beam had seemingly lost its ability to fight.
When it had been hit moments ago, although severely injured during its fall, it actually still retained enough strength to continue battling.
It planned to feign unconsciousness, lure Grovyle closer, and then launch a surprise attack.
However, Eddie understood the importance of confirming a knockout. When training his Pokémon, he always emphasized the need to verify an opponent's status rather than assuming victory.
Grovyle remembered Eddie's teachings well. Though it saw Fearow fall, it couldn't be certain whether the opponent had truly lost its fighting ability.
So without hesitation, Grovyle approached and delivered a Thunder Punch, genuinely knocking out the Fearow that had been pretending to be unconscious.
The first Fearow was defeated due to its lack of battle experience against trained Pokémon.
Seeing their companion fall, the remaining two Fearow began fighting with desperate intensity.
The Fearow facing Charmeleon decided to make one final, reckless charge.
No longer attempting to dodge Charmeleon's attacks, it unleashed Sky Attack and rushed straight toward its opponent.
According to its desperate strategy, although it would certainly be severely injured by Flamethrower, Charmeleon would definitely be struck by its attack and lose the ability to fight.
Then, it might have a chance to escape.
The other Fearow wasn't quite as brave. While Fire-type moves didn't hit Flying-types for super-effective damage, at least giving it a chance to endure.
But it was facing Frogadier, whose Ice Beam posed a serious threat to any Flying-type Pokémon.
So it chose to use Mirror Move, attempting to counter with the same technique and hoping for a miracle.
Mirror Move: A Flying-type move that mimics the opponent's last attack.
This move functioned similarly to Riolu's Copycat, except that Riolu's was a Normal-type move, while this was Flying-type.
The battle had reached its critical moment. The outcome would be decided in the next few seconds!
One Fearow used Sky Attack to charge toward Charmeleon, while the other employed Mirror Move to counter Frogadier's Ice Beam with an identical attack.
Charmeleon's response was straightforward. If one Flamethrower wasn't enough to defeat Fearow, then a Fire Blast would certainly do the job.
So, the Fire Blast—significantly more powerful than Flamethrower—hit the charging Fearow directly.
The bird Pokémon never expected Charmeleon to possess a move even more devastating than Flamethrower. Its strategy had been based entirely on surviving the flame attack it had witnessed previously.
But when faced with Fire Blast, it simply couldn't withstand the overwhelming power.
The second Fearow collapsed, its scorched feathers clear evidence that it had lost all fighting capacity.
With Charmeleon's opponent defeated, only Frogadier's battle remained.
In the clash of Ice Beams, Frogadier clearly dominated the Fearow.
When Fearow used Mirror Move against Frogadier, the situation resembled when Riolu had used Copycat against Gyarados in an earlier battle.
The former obviously couldn't overcome the latter because their respective situations were entirely different.
Frogadier's Protean ability meant that when using Ice Beam, it temporarily became an Ice-type, giving its attack a same-type damage bonus.
As a Flying/Normal-type Pokémon, what bonus could Fearow possibly gain from using Ice Beam? Additionally, its Special Attack stat was significantly lower than Frogadier's.
The result was inevitable. Fearow's copied attack was overpowered, and then it was struck directly by Frogadier's genuine Ice Beam.
Unlike Riolu in its earlier battle, Fearow had no opportunity to retreat strategically.
When Riolu had been hit by Hydro Pump, it had managed to partially weaken the attack beforehand, and Water-type moves weren't super effective against it, allowing for a tactical withdrawal.
Fearow enjoyed no such luxury. Not only was it vulnerable to Ice-type moves, but its wings were now partially frozen.
It could no longer maintain its aerial advantage and plummeted toward the ground.
Frogadier, also remembering Eddie's instructions about confirming knockouts, continued using Ice Beam until the Fearow's entire body was encased in ice.
And so, the final Fearow also met defeat.
"Ding! Charmeleon gained experience, level +1, reached level 35!"
"Ding! Frogadier gained experience, level +1, reached level 35!"
"Ding! Grovyle gained experience, level +1, reached level 35!"
"Ding! Riolu gained experience, level +1, reached level 35!"
The game system seemed to recognize this as a group battle, waiting until all Fearow were defeated before issuing the experience notifications.
"That was fast. They've already reached this level, and they only need one more level to evolve," Eddie muttered to himself.
On just the third day since the server opened, Eddie's Pokémon had reached a level that in his previous life he wouldn't have dreamed possible so quickly.
"I'll need to push on to the next city later. I should be able to evolve them all tomorrow."
"There should be enough time. For now, let's finish this task."
With that, Eddie gestured for Riolu to bring Bill along as they headed toward the Sea Cottage.