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The injuries Sato's Pokémon had suffered during the battle with the Mightyena pack were already somewhat serious. But after clashing once more—this time with the far stronger Pinsir swarm—their condition had only worsened.
Bellossom's Grassy Terrain healing was nowhere near as effective as the treatment offered by the Joys at a Pokémon Center, and it lacked their efficiency as well.
In summary, Bellossom's Grassy Terrain could help the Pokémon recover from most of their wounds, but it couldn't erase the lingering internal damage caused by intense combat.
Pokémon possessed excellent natural healing abilities, and given enough rest, they could gradually recover from internal injuries. However, such recovery took time—and only if they didn't get hurt again during the process.
Otherwise, those internal injuries might never fully heal on their own and would require external intervention to cure.
Naturally, Sato didn't want anything bad to happen to his Pokémon. He needed Arcanine and the others to steadily grow stronger—not get overtrained into uselessness.
And in a place like this without a Nurse Joy, Sato wouldn't dare recklessly push his Pokémon too hard. It would only backfire.
After all, leveling up always carried risks. This time, his training had turned passive when the Pinsir swarm retaliated—and they came too quickly and with cunning tactics.
This experience was a wake-up call for Sato. From now on, his leveling operations had to be far more cautious, or he might never make it back.
With Bellossom doing her best, Sato's most important land mount Pokémon—Arcanine—was the first to recover. As for the others, with the help of healing sprays and ointments, they also recovered to some extent.
To be safe, Sato decided to evacuate the area immediately and search for a safer place to regroup and rest.
He chose to head toward the Tauros Mountain, where he'd recently defeated a pack of Mightyena. The lingering aura of that victory still deterred the wild Pokémon in the region.
Riding Arcanine, Sato had an unobstructed path and soon reached a small hill just a hundred meters from a river.
At the base of the hill's windward slope was a small grove of short trees—one of the few areas in the Tauros Mountain that could effectively conceal someone's presence.
Originally, a group of Aipom lived in this grove. They were curious yet timid Pokémon.
As they watched the unfamiliar Sato from the trees, they kept their distance due to the oppressive aura radiating from Arcanine. Some higher-level Aipom even took up defensive stances.
After circling the grove on Arcanine and confirming there were no powerful wild Pokémon nearby, Sato dismounted under a large tree and began preparing lunch.
He left Bellossom behind to continue healing the other injured Pokémon and took Arcanine with him to hunt.
The Tauros Mountain were full of herbivores, so wild game was plentiful. Before long, Sato and Arcanine brought back nine wild water buffalo.
To Sato's surprise, when he returned with the final haul, a pile of berries had appeared at the temporary camp.
According to Bellossom and the others, the berries had been brought over by the local Aipom.
"I promise you, as long as you don't harm me, I won't harm you. Thank you for the fruit. I'll be staying here for a while. Looks like we're neighbors now—if you need anything, feel free to ask."
Sato had decided to make camp here. Since the locals had extended a hand of goodwill, it was only natural to build good relations. He picked up a berry, ate it, and smiled at an elderly Ambipom nearby.
The elderly Ambipom held a wooden staff and was clearly a tribal elder among the Aipom—a figure of high authority.
Seeing Sato eat the berry and give a friendly promise, the Ambipom nodded in approval and signaled the other Aipom on guard to stand down.
The old Ambipom was sharp. A powerful outsider had suddenly appeared in their territory. Since he hadn't yet done anything threatening, showing friendliness first was the wise move—courtesy before conflict.
Seeing the Aipom withdraw to a respectful distance, Sato nodded back at the Ambipom and resumed lunch preparations.
As Sato's Pokémon team grew—especially with the addition of a food-devouring red Shiny Gyarados—he couldn't cook for everyone himself. He personally roasted one water buffalo and left the rest to Arcanine.
By the time the simple meal ended, it was already around 1 PM. Most of the Pokémon had healed and were now well-fed and rested.
However, Sato wasn't planning on taking them back to stir up more trouble with the Pinsir swarm—at least not right away. After some thought, he rode Arcanine and began heading toward the direction of the Scyther Forest.
Of his three current missions, the training task was already overachieved. But he still hadn't made progress on collecting number tags or capturing a Scyther. Time was running out.
For now, he couldn't return to the Pinsir Forest. He had just enraged the Pinsir swarm and inflicted heavy losses on them.
If he returned now, it might provoke the appearance of their leader—a near-Elite Four level Pinsir (Level 69). A Pinsir swarm that ruled its forest certainly had strong individuals among them.
Moreover, the Scyther swarm that once lived there seemed to have vanished. Sato had searched the outer edges of the Pinsir Forest without spotting even one Scyther track.
Judging by the signs of the Pinsir invasion of Heracross territory, Sato guessed that the Scyther swarm might have already been driven out before the Heracross by the Pinsir.
If that were true, there was little point in going back to the Pinsir Forest. He had already mentally designated it as a training area—and there was no rush to revisit it.
Instead, Sato planned to bypass the forest and continue west. According to the map, west of the Pinsir Forest lay a place called Scyther Forest, home to a large Scyther population.
Although several smaller Pokémon territories lay between the two areas, Sato didn't mind. He needed to broaden his search if he hoped to find signs of other competitors.
The west was a promising direction. Sato currently stood at the eastern edge of the mysterious island. The farther west he traveled, the closer he'd get to the island's central region.
And the center was where all the rare treasures of the island were concentrated—dangerous, but rich in opportunities.
Both Sato and the other competitors knew that this was a competition where standing still meant falling behind.
He believed that if he just kept moving west, closer and closer to the heart of the island, his chances of encountering other competitors would grow.