Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

However, today's time is not enough. The sun is about to set, and fighting a swarm of Beedrill at night is not ideal for guerrilla tactics.

Although Beedrill has poor vision at night and may not see Murkrow, who blends into the darkness, Cain wouldn't be able to orient himself well in the dark either, and there are too many unknowns at night. No one can guarantee that a powerful Pokémon won't suddenly appear.

All they could do at that moment was wander around the hill, investigating which Pokémon groups lived nearby, to help plan an escape route later.

Before the sun fully set, Cain and Murkrow returned under the large tree at the top of the hill. Even now, Cain and Murkrow couldn't fully handle the dangers of the forest at night.

The area around this tree probably originally belonged to Pinsir, but now that Murkrow had defeated him, they legitimately claimed this territory, so they weren't afraid of other Pokémon coming to bother them during the night.

As for that Pinsir defeated by Murkrow, when Cain and Murkrow returned from their exploration, it was nowhere to be found. Whether it had left on its own or been taken by another Pokémon was unknown.

Around the small hill, the central territory belonged to Caterpie and Metapod. To the north was the Kakuna territory. To the east, a group of Oddish, among which there were some fairly strong Gloom.

To the south, some Pinsir lived scattered around, with a similar level to the one Murkrow defeated today. To the west, there was no particular group of Pokémon, only some weaker ones.

Setting irrelevant matters aside for now, Cain lit a campfire under the tree with dry branches and leaves, placed the Pokéblocks in a wooden bowl, and, under Murkrow's eager gaze, indicated it could start eating.

After a day of battling, Murkrow's appetite had noticeably increased. With the current Pokéblocks, the more it ate, the more it could absorb.

Watching Murkrow devour its food, Cain smiled, pulled out some strips of dried meat from his storage space, lightly roasted them over the campfire, then drank some warm water and solved his dinner simply.

Though the meal was modest, it still allowed him to replenish the energy spent during the day.

As night fell, the forest, which had been quiet, began to fill with noise, with the sounds of insects and frogs echoing everywhere. Cain and Murkrow didn't seek trouble; they climbed the tree, chose the largest branch as a bed, and soon fell asleep.

The night passed without incident. Time went by peacefully, and when the sun rose in the east, Cain and Murkrow were already awake.

After living in the forest for so long, Cain had left behind all the bad habits he'd acquired in his previous life when he reached the level of a quasi-elite trainer and began to enjoy life.

Just like the previous night, they quickly dealt with breakfast, and under the morning sunlight, they headed to the Kakuna territory, their target for the day. Today, the place to conquer was Kakuna territory.

Just like before, Cain safely crossed the Caterpie and Metapod territory and headed straight for the forest where he had previously seen Kakuna hanging everywhere.

Seeing the forest full of Kakuna, Cain was speechless. If someone with entomophobia saw this, they would surely run away immediately.

Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill are a classic example of the rapid evolution of bug-type Pokémon.

A Weedle can complete its final evolution in about fifteen days, as long as resources are sufficient and nothing goes wrong.

The final form, Beedrill, has good speed and attack power. In large numbers, few Pokémon would dare provoke them.

But when they are still in the Weedle and Kakuna forms, they are very vulnerable. As Weedle, unless they experience something unusual, they basically only know String Shot and Poison Sting, with very low defense and health.

After evolving into Kakuna, although their defense improves, the only move they learn is Harden, and they're even easier to attack due to their lack of mobility.

According to the Team Rocket map, this place should have been just Weedle territory, which is why it was labeled as such.

The treasure should have been buried before the trial participants arrived on the island, but not too long before, so based on the timing, these Kakuna shouldn't be ready to evolve yet.

Cain approached and briefly scanned the area. The Kakuna were levels 7 or 8. Though not high-level, there were enough of them to provide a good amount of experience, right?

This was part of his plan. For the defenseless Kakuna, Cain would show no mercy. Besides, if these Kakuna ever evolved en masse, they would be a great threat to everyone in the forest. This could also be seen as an act of protection for the rest of the forest.

"Murkrow, use Tailwind and Gust on the Kakuna! Increase the attack range and destroy them all," Cain ordered after preparing.

"Caw! Caw!" Murkrow nodded, thumping its chest as if to say, "Don't worry, these immobile prey are no problem."

Murkrow didn't remember how scared it had been crossing this very forest before.

The situation now was different from before. Earlier, they had to cross the forest and were in the middle of all the Kakuna. If something went wrong and they triggered the premature evolution of all the Kakuna, they would have really been surrounded.

But now, the advantage was clearly on Murkrow and Cain's side. With their speed, they could hit and move easily, without anyone being able to stop them.

This forest was just a small part of Kakuna territory.

Two small whirlwinds formed in Murkrow's wings. As the whirlwinds spread, they grew in size and power. Under the horrified gazes of the Kakuna, dozens were caught and destroyed.

"Wuu... Wuu... Wuu..." The Kakuna screamed. No one knew that while they rested, they would fall into such an unexpected disaster. Seeing their companions fall, the Kakuna still hanging from the trees shook desperately and screamed.

Murkrow showed no mercy in battle. Though the opponents were weak, as long as they were enemies, they had to be defeated.

Without any hesitation, Murkrow created two more Gusts and hurled them at the remaining Kakuna, taking them down again.

Being a Flying-type move, and given the great difference in level and quality, no Kakuna could withstand even a single attack from Murkrow. Under its continuous Tailwind plus Gust attack, all the Kakuna in the forest lost their lives.

Cain was satisfied with Murkrow's capability. This territory was just the tip of the iceberg, and the task was still arduous.

"Bzz... Bzz... Bzz..."

Suddenly, Cain heard a sound approaching quickly, like the buzzing of bees.

Cain frowned. Had he miscalculated, and the Beedrill had already formed? If so, his plan could not be carried out.

He didn't have to wait long. In a moment, five red-eyed Beedrill appeared before him.

Seeing that there were only five, Cain relaxed a little. If there had been more, he would have had to retreat.

Cain was familiar with Beedrill, either from his previous experiences or from the shows and games of his past life.

Initially, when Cain saw Beedrill in the animated series, he thought their power was mediocre but that they appeared in large numbers.

Until later, when Giovanni's Beedrill, the Team Rocket leader, appeared, Cain completely changed his opinion of this Pokémon.

Suddenly, Beedrill was no longer an ordinary Pokémon but one with great speed and attack power. If enough resources were invested in its training, the results would be worthwhile.

Though it wouldn't be possible to raise a Beedrill to the level of a Champion-level Pokémon like Giovanni did, with proper training, it could reach the level of an elite trainer or even an Elite Four.

Giovanni's initial Pokémon was a Beedrill, and being the only son of the previous Team Rocket leader, and the current leader, the resources he had at his disposal were unimaginable.

Giovanni surely invested more resources than he got in return, but he had the money to do so.

It's important to remember that in the manga, Giovanni's Beedrill defeated Lance's Dragonite, the Johto League Champion. On one side, there was the Team Rocket leader, and on the other, the League Champion, both in a similar position but with Pokémon of different levels.

On one hand, a Beedrill, one of the most common Bug-type Pokémon, and on the other, Dragonite, a pseudo-legendary Pokémon. However, Beedrill was the victor.

Though much of the credit went to Giovanni, this shows that Beedrill's potential is not low.

Most importantly, with the appearance of Mega Evolution, Beedrill became a highly sought-after Pokémon. The Mega Beedrill with the Adaptability ability has impressive attack power and speed, making it a machine of destruction in battle.

With a rapid growth process, in just half a month, Beedrill can become a competent fighter, and with a little additional training, it can reach considerable power.

Moreover, with the arrival of Mega Evolution, Beedrill became one of the most popular Pokémon.

On Earth, when Mega Beedrill appeared, nearly everyone had one. Not having a Mega Beedrill meant you weren't a true Pokémon player.

In this world, Beedrill is practically the ideal Pokémon for novice trainers.

(End of chapter)