Chapter 46: The Rescue Operation Begins
"...So, I followed the river extending from Crescent Lake and swam all the way here."
The Shiny Magikarp (Kai) recounted the sequence of events intermittently.
"Sigh."
Rio let out a long sigh and exchanged a look with the Squirtle Boss. Both their eyes held a look of helplessness.
They had originally thought of joining forces with Crescent Lake. With two Leader-level Pokémon and numerous elite Pokémon, they would have had a fighting chance against the Pokémon from the Toxic Swamp. But now, their potential allies had been wiped out in one fell swoop. The only combat power left in the entire Newmoon Forest, among those not captured or controlled, was the remaining strength of Sunrise Valley and this Shiny Magikarp before them, who could be said to have no combat ability.
At this, even the usually resolute Squirtle Boss felt a touch of despair.
Even though the combat situation was unfavorable, Rio didn't want to give up just like that.
"Hey, Boss, cheer up! Companions can't be saved by being dejected."
The Squirtle Boss only felt a slight dip in spirits and quickly pulled himself together.
"Rio, if necessary, I'll face them alone. As long as I can hold them off, there's still a chance to defeat them..."
The Squirtle Boss couldn't continue. Although he was strong, facing the lv40 Hegemon Nidoking, multiple elite Pokémon above lv20, and potentially even the controlled Golduck Leader, Snorlax Leader, and Pidgeot Leader, even Groudon might not win—because it couldn't fly and thus couldn't fight Pidgeot.
Rio frowned, resting his chin on his right paw, his left hand holding his right elbow, pacing and thinking.
Takuma, who had been rather inconspicuous on the side, now raised his hand and said, "Um, I don't think we necessarily have to confront that group of Pokémon head-on, right? Our ultimate goal is to rescue our companions, so wouldn't sneaking in be enough? Using a dug-out tunnel or something..."
"No good. Leaving aside the fact that the opponent has many Ground-type Pokémon, it would be very difficult to dig a tunnel past them without them noticing the commotion. Furthermore, their leader, Nidoking, has that [Earthquake] move. If we sneak through a tunnel and Nidoking unleashes [Earthquake] causing the tunnel to collapse, it would be extremely dangerous."
Rio subconsciously rejected Takuma's proposal.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration.
"[Earthquake]... a tunnel dug out by Dig... collapse..."
Several key thoughts drifted through Rio's mind, various inspirations bursting forth, but it felt like something was still missing.
"Sigh, if only the Pokémon from Crescent Lake were here. After all, Water-type Pokémon have an advantage against Ground-type Pokémon."
"Yeah, even if we couldn't beat them, we could escape. It's a pity we lost such a group of helpers."
A few Pokémon nearby sighed.
"Water-type... the river flowing through the Toxic Swamp..."
Rio's eyes lit up. A feasible plan had formed in his mind.
He quickly gathered all the Pokémon. "Hey, everyone, I've thought of a good method..."
…
In the Toxic Swamp.
Some Pokémon were resting, some overly energetic ones were fiercely training against each other, and another group was tasked with guarding the captives.
It seemed that as time passed, the Pokémon's originally unreasonable berserk state gradually improved. Some Pokémon even regained a bit of sanity and began to have their own little schemes.
"Yawn~"
A Sandshrew yawned boredly. Standing guard at the entrance of the cave imprisoning the Pokémon for a long time was making it feel quite frustrated.
"The Pokémon in the cave have all been injected with poison by Lord Arbok. They can't run even if they want to. Is it necessary for so many Pokémon to guard them?"
Looking at the Rhyhorn, Nidoran♂, Ekans, and several other Pokémon beside him meticulously carrying out their guard duty, he felt somewhat disdainful.
"Sunrise Valley only has so few Pokémon left. What kind of trouble can they stir up? Sigh, I really miss my own rock cave. Squatting down to sleep is so comfortable, unlike suffering here."
Seeing that the other Pokémon weren't paying attention to him, Sandshrew decided to quietly sneak off to the side of the cave entrance.
Just then, he noticed a few ripples on the surface of the river that flowed through the Toxic Swamp.
"Hmm? Could it be..."
The fins of the golden Magikarp and the heads of several Squirtle emerged from the river's surface. They tried their best to control their movements, their eyes darting around as if searching for something.
Sandshrew's heart leaped with joy. It quickly and stealthily returned to the cave and told its companions about its discovery.
"Out in the river just now, I found several Pokémon that weren't captured before. If we catch these fish that escaped the net, the adults will definitely be very happy."
Sandshrew egged on the other Pokémon.
"But, we still have to guard these Pokémon..."
Tempted by its words, Rhyhorn and the other Pokémon still had some hesitation on their faces.
"What are you afraid of? You know about Lord Arbok's poison. This group of Pokémon, after being poisoned, probably couldn't even beat me. At worst, we'll leave one brother here to continue guarding. The rest of us will go catch them. As long as we catch them, it'll be a great achievement."
The other Pokémon thought about it and agreed. Seeing that the poisoned Pokémon in the cave were too weak to resist much, they discussed it privately. Finally, Sandshrew patted its chest, saying everyone else could take the credit, and it would stay behind to continue guarding.
"But how do we catch the Pokémon in the river?"
Rhyhorn moved its four limbs and asked Sandshrew in a muffled voice.
Sandshrew's eyes darted around, a cunning look appearing.
"Aren't those birds outside? Call them too. Let them chase those Pokémon in the water from the air, force them onto the bank, and then it'll be your time to shine."
"Makes sense."
Rhyhorn nodded and led a group of Ground-type Pokémon out.
The Shiny Magikarp (Kai) and the Squirtle in the water seemed to be startled and hurriedly swam away into the distance.
Watching the Pokémon call out to the Flying-type Pidgey, who then noisily chased after Kai and the Squirtle in the water, Sandshrew revealed a mischievous grin. It turned around, found a clean spot at the cave entrance, curled up its body, and prepared to have a nice nap.
"These stupid guys. Catching Pokémon is nowhere near as comfortable as sleeping... Zzzzz..."
Soon, it fell into a deep sleep.
After a while, a hole appeared in the ground beside Sandshrew. Rio, Machop, and Mankey quietly crawled out of the hole.
Rio rolled his eyes looking at the soundly sleeping Sandshrew. "I was originally thinking about how to deal with the guarding Pokémon without causing a big commotion. Turns out we didn't even need to make a move; this guy fell asleep on his own."
Seeing their companions groaning softly in the cave, Machop and Mankey excitedly wanted to rush in immediately to rescue them.
"Hey, no, no, no."
Rio quickly stopped his impulsive companions, pointed to the swamp shrouded in purple poisonous fog not far away, and whispered, "Don't be rash. There are still many Pokémon over there. If we try to rescue the Pokémon now, we'll easily be discovered. Not only will we fail to save them, but we'll also put ourselves in a difficult situation."
"Be patient for now."
Fortunately, Rio was also trusted by the Pokémon of Sunrise Valley. Machop and Mankey suppressed their urge to rescue the Pokémon and followed Rio to hide stealthily in the shadows of the rocks near the cave, waiting for the right opportunity.