"How are you planning to deal with these Pokémon?" Sato looked at the four defeated Pokémon. Ariados had already tracked down Medicham and Grumpig by following the scent of the poison.
Sato removed the toxic effects from Tropius and Medicham; otherwise, they probably wouldn't have survived much longer.
Strictly speaking, these four Pokémon hadn't done anything wrong, they had merely stood in the way of Haruna.
And Sato had only helped out because he was looking for strong opponents to battle; he didn't actually care about whether the temporary route got built or not.
"Normally, we transport these Pokémon to a new forest and release them there, making sure they can't return here and take up the territory again," Haruna said straightforwardly.
Sato nodded without further questions. Elite-level Pokémon could thrive just about anywhere.
What needed consideration instead was whether their arrival would make the new environment too strong overall, leading to other risks.
As for capturing them, apart from being impressed by Medicham's clever breakthrough of the Sticky Web, Sato wasn't too interested in the rest.
Unless a non-Dark-type Pokémon possessed Elite Four potential, Sato didn't want to waste the effort raising it.
Right now, he still had one unused Dark-type Energy Crystal, and the urge to capture a new Pokémon was gradually rising within him.
He just needed a suitable target.
Seeing that things had settled down, and that both Ariados and Umbreon still looked eager for battle, Sato went straight to Haruna.
"Do you have a distribution map of the Pokémon on Dewford Island? Preferably one that includes their levels."
"Yeah. Why?" Haruna was busy writing and marking things on a map, seemingly planning something, and didn't even lift her head.
"To train my Pokémon."
Haruna looked up and stared at Sato for a moment before pulling out a smaller map from behind her back.
"This shows the Pokémon territory distribution across the island. I've also marked some of the more powerful ones. Don't go to the rocky mountains in the northwest, the terrain's unstable and prone to collapse. It's dangerous."
"Got it." Sato took the map, opened it, and skimmed through. It wasn't big, but it was fairly detailed. The cartoon-style icons were clearly part of Haruna's personalized note-taking system.
"What about you, Mark?" Sato turned to ask Mark, who was lounging around.
"Ah~ I'll head back with Miss Haruna later. A Claydol with subordinates isn't that impressive." Mark yawned. Since they'd gotten up early that morning, he just wanted to go back and sleep.
"Alright, I'll head off then," Sato agreed readily. Traveling alone actually made training more convenient for him.
Parting ways with Mark, Sato glanced at the map. The nearest Pokémon group was a Breloom colony slightly to the north.
Breloom were highly combative, there might be some decent opponents there. Without hesitation, Sato headed north with Ariados and Umbreon.
As they moved northward, they passed through the collapsed area of the road. Numerous massive pits and fissures stretched continuously across the path. It did look pretty devastated.
"Dos!"
At that moment, Ariados suddenly ran over to the edge of a large pit, seemingly having found something. It immediately fired silk to reel the object up.
"A rock?"
Sato looked at Ariados presenting the object like a prize. He took it and examined it, but didn't notice anything special.
"Is it just an ordinary rock?" Sato said uncertainly.
"Ari Ari!" Ariados anxiously pointed its front claw at the white pointed horn on its own head, then pointed at the rock in Sato's hand.
"A horn?"
"Ariados!" Ariados immediately nodded in confirmation, then looked at Sato expectantly.
Sato looked again at the rock in his hand with confusion. The stone was yellow-green overall, with a slight reflective sheen. It had five flat surfaces, and one clearly broken edge.
It did resemble something broken off from a pointed horn. But a Pokémon with a yellow-green stone horn... Sato couldn't recall anything like that.
"I can't think of it right now. I'll hold onto it for you," Sato patted Ariados's little head, telling it not to feel discouraged.
Ariados nodded, though it still looked a bit dejected as it continued leading the way.
Sato examined the item closely again, but still found no clues. He ended up putting it into his bag for now.
Rock-type Pokémon generally lacked any kind of scent. They ate rocks, excreted rocks… everything was rocks from beginning to end. Trying to track them by scent was basically hopeless.
Only during battles, when the rock's presence contrasted with surrounding scents, could anything be picked up for detection.
Out in the wild, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Luckily, that wasn't the focus of this trip. Pichu was asleep at home, Ralts was snoozing in the backpack, and Umbreon and Ariados were on either side of Sato as they headed toward the Breloom colony.
---
Before long, the group of Breloom had come into view. At the moment, they were forming a circle, excitedly watching a battle between two Breloom in the center. The whole scene was lively and energetic.
After another seven or eight minutes, the thinner-looking Breloom in the center ended up winning thanks to its superior agility.
"Bre bre loom!"
The victorious Breloom excitedly issued challenges to those around it, but none of the other Breloom dared to step forward.
After all, it was the latter half of the competition today. The one still standing in the center wasn't weak by any means.
"How about I join the fight, Breloom?"
From behind the bushes, Sato suddenly leapt out, with Umbreon and Ariados right behind him.
"Breloom!"
"Breloom!"
The surrounding Breloom immediately went on alert. How did Sato and his Pokémon sneak in here? They were clearly confused and angry.
"Calling yourselves the strongest in the forest, yet you're thinking of ganging up on one person?" Sato said calmly as he eyed the Breloom ready to pounce.
As expected, after hearing Sato say that, the Breloom stopped in their tracks. Instead, they began cracking their knuckles, clearly preparing to teach Sato a lesson.
"Breloom!"
The Breloom still in the center of the field shouted, extended its red claws, and gave Sato a slight beckoning gesture.
Come at me, then!
"Ariados, you're up for this one."
Sato didn't hold back and sent Ariados straight into the field. It stood firm in front of the Breloom, body tense, ready for action.
"Breee!"
The Breloom roared first. Its right fist lit up with a white-blue glow, and it dashed at Ariados with lightning speed.
Mach Punch!
Wham!
Ariados was knocked backward several meters. The speed of the Mach Punch made it impossible to dodge.
Fortunately, as a Bug/Poison-type, Ariados took very little damage from Fighting-type moves.