Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

It didn't take long before Murkrow repeatedly dodged Koffing's attacks and then struck Zubat. After a series of blows, Zubat was also knocked out, lying on the ground.

Cain flashed a cold smile. Once Zubat was dealt with, Koffing, which was slower, wouldn't pose much of a threat.

The chubby boy gritted his teeth, desperately wanting to face Murkrow, but he couldn't even touch a feather of the Pokémon.

The boy in green looked at Zubat lying on the ground, his face pale, not knowing what to do.

"Idiots, what are you standing there for? It's just one person! Why don't you attack him directly? Are you waiting for him to kill you?" the chubby boy shouted, his neck reddened with rage.

If Koffing lost the ability to fight as well, the fate of the three would be clear. Thinking about this, sweat started running down his forehead.

Hearing the chubby boy's words, the boy in green gritted his teeth and pulled a knife from his belt, gripping it tightly in his hand. He too knew very well what would happen if Koffing fell.

Even the small boy, who had been in shock, recovered, stood up trembling, and his eyes began to redden slightly.

As if in agreement, both of them rushed toward Cain at the same time.

Cain remained impassive. As a former member of Team Rocket in his past life, he had seen it all; these were just two inexperienced teenagers.

Though his body was still somewhat weak, thanks to his training in combat techniques, he had nothing to fear from these two boys.

But, since it had come to this, the three of them no longer posed a threat to him.

"Murkrow, finish off the chubby one first," Cain said as he knocked the two boys to the ground and addressed Murkrow.

"Caw!" Murkrow screeched while flapping its wings.

Under the terrified gaze of the chubby boy, Murkrow's sharp claws slashed his throat. The chubby boy tried to say something as he grasped his throat with both hands, but he couldn't utter a word and slowly fell to the ground.

Without anyone to guide it, Koffing became an easy target, and under Murkrow's consecutive attacks, it too lost its life.

In the end, the three boys and their Pokémon fell under the attacks of Cain and Murkrow.

Cain ignored the desperate looks of the three. He was used to death and knew very well that this wasn't a kind world. This was a cruel world, a real world where only those prepared for death could survive.

Showing mercy to the enemy was being cruel to oneself.

In this trial, those who survived would be the winners.

With skill, Cain removed the storage belts from the three and, together with Murkrow, quickly left the scene. The smell of blood would soon attract wild Pokémon from the forest, and their bodies would satisfy the appetites of those Pokémon.

He didn't know how long they had walked when Cain and Murkrow sat under a tree. Cain took out some black Pokéblocks for Murkrow to recover energy, and then emptied the contents of the three belts, leaving a pile of miscellaneous items scattered on the ground.

There wasn't anything particularly useful among the items, so Cain kept a knife, some food, and a few survival tools.

What surprised him the most was finding a healing spray bottle among the green-clothed boy's belongings; he had no idea where he had gotten it from, probably stolen from someone else.

Looking at the crumpled treasure map in his hand, Cain felt speechless.

Though he knew these treasure maps had been placed by Team Rocket as rewards for newcomers, the quality of the drawing left much to be desired. Even the letters were crooked, which wasn't surprising considering they could be redeemed for just a hundred points.

Based on the earlier conversation of the three, the direction of the treasure map should be south of the cave, and according to the map's information, after passing through two Pokémon territories, they should reach the location.

The chubby boy had said they had already passed through Rattata territory, so the next step would be entering Weedle territory. The exact location of the treasure was probably within Caterpie territory.

Compared to Caterpie territory, where the treasure was buried, Weedle territory was much more dangerous.

It's important to note that Bug-type Pokémon usually grow quickly, which means that in Weedle territory, there were almost certainly Beedrill.

A group of Beedrill dominates any forest, not because they're extremely strong, but due to their strong sense of community. If you provoke one Beedrill, you'll face an endless pursuit from the entire swarm.

Additionally, Beedrill is an extremely territorial Pokémon with a strong urge to attack.

"I hope there are few Beedrill in this group; otherwise, I'll have to take another route," Cain said with a sigh. At this moment, both he and Murkrow shuddered at the thought of facing a swarm of Beedrill.

However, the map only showed a simple path, and no one knew what they might encounter if they took an alternative route. They could run into a river that would push them further away from their goal, or they might meet an even stronger Pokémon.

Faced with unknown dangers, known dangers were much more acceptable.

Since he already had the treasure map, not seeing what was there wouldn't be in Cain's character.

He stored the treasure map in his storage space, stood up, and dusted off his clothes. He had Murkrow dig a small hole in the ground and buried the three belts along with all the useless items, covering them with a layer of dirt and stomping it down a bit.

Shortly after, in a dense forest, Cain held a knife in his right hand, cutting through the thorns and branches blocking his path as he crouched. Murkrow flapped its wings softly in the air, not making much noise, a scene that looked a bit comical.

Cain and Murkrow had entered the Weedle territory shown on the map.

After their battle with the three, they had traveled about seven or eight kilometers, entering Weedle territory.

Once inside this zone, both Cain and Murkrow moved cautiously, hoping to cross without drawing the attention of the Beedrill.

After carefully advancing for a kilometer, Cain let out a small sigh of relief; up until that point, he hadn't seen any trace of Weedle, Kakuna, or Beedrill.

However, just as he was beginning to relax, he spotted an area of the forest where trees large enough to be surrounded by a person were covered in golden cocoons.

Almost every tree had three or four cocoons hanging from them, and from a distance, the green of the forest was speckled with golden spots.

Cain took a deep breath and stopped to observe for a moment.

Fortunately, he didn't see any Beedrill. However, he couldn't afford to let his guard down; if Kakuna was startled while in its cocoon, it would immediately evolve into Beedrill. Given the current situation, if one appeared, an entire swarm would soon follow.

Although the newly evolved Beedrill wouldn't pose much of a challenge for Murkrow, the sheer number would be enough to make Murkrow feel intimidated.

Moving even more cautiously, after two hours they finally managed to cross Weedle territory.

However, it wouldn't be long before this area became Beedrill territory. Given the nature of Beedrill, if no unexpected events occurred, they would soon become one of the most powerful groups in this forest.

(End of chapter)