Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

As the ground trembled more and more violently, Reiji stopped and planted his cane firmly in the ground. At the moment the tremors peaked, he shouted to Krabby, ”Dodge! Move away from where you’re standing!”

”Krkk, krkk!” Krabby saw that just as Reiji leapt aside, a large claw burst from underground, snapping toward where he had been. It missed.

Only then did Krabby understand what Reiji meant by ”dodge.” The attacking Krabby hadn’t targeted it—that’s the only reason it had escaped unharmed.

Snap snap! The Krabby, furious that its long-planned ambush had failed, burst out of the sand and lunged at Reiji in a rage.

”Krkk! Krkk!” Seeing Reiji under attack, Krabby charged in a frenzy. It had promised Poliwag it would protect Reiji—there was no way it could let Reiji get hurt.

”Damn it, not again!” Reiji was already numb from the danger. Lying on the ground, he kicked frantically at the grass to scramble away, dragging himself back.

At the same time, he swung his cane desperately, smacking the Krabby on the head.

Crack! But the cane was caught in a claw and snapped cleanly in two.

Now all he had was half a stick. Facing that giant claw so close to his face, he had a sinking feeling that his ”third leg” was about to be lost.

Krabby was still too far away to help.

Poliwag had fainted. Glancing over, Reiji saw it unconscious beside the treehouse.

Magikarp? Forget it—that dumb fish was cowering inside a bucket, trembling with fear.

”It’s over. I’m dead,” Reiji muttered, wildly swinging the remaining stick at the Krabby that had crawled up to his feet.

Even if he was going to lose all three legs, he wasn’t going down without a fight. He swung randomly, anything to buy time—to give the Krabby no opening for a clean strike.

”Pinch me! Try it! Just try it!”

He was ranting as he flailed—but suddenly, his eyelids began to feel heavy.

Not just him. The Krabby he was beating with the stick also began to slow down, its movements sluggish.

Even Krabby, who had been rushing over, collapsed halfway through its charge.

Reiji lifted his head in confusion—and saw a butterfly flying past. His vision began to blur, and everything split into double. In a daze, he thought he saw something golden and glittering in the sky. Pretty, he thought.

That was Reiji’s last conscious thought before falling asleep.

Thud—

As Reiji collapsed, Krabby passed out too. The attacking Krabby also fell asleep. Everything fell silent.

The only one left standing was a Pokémon flapping its large white wings, veined in black, with two black spots on its lower wings.

Its body was a deep purplish-blue, limbs pale blue. It had an oval, round nose of the same color and two little fangs below it, like a pair of tiny human canine teeth.

Its compound eyes were pale red—on closer inspection, they were actually made up of countless smaller eyes.

This was Butterfree. It had put Reiji and the Krabby to sleep using Sleep Powder.

”Muu-ii-ii~” Butterfree landed on Reiji’s chest, studying him with its compound eyes. It leaned down, sniffed his cheek with its oval nose, and gently rubbed heads with him.

Then, Butterfree dragged Reiji to the treehouse and laid him in a shaded spot, away from the sunlight.

Next, it scooped up the unconscious Poliwag and dropped it into the bucket.

As for the four Krabby—two knocked out by Poliwag, two put to sleep by itself—Butterfree piled them all together and dusted them with another thick layer of Sleep Powder and Stun Spore.

That way, if they woke up and caught another whiff of the powder, they’d be knocked out again.

It wasn’t in a rush to deal with them. Once Reiji woke up, they’d handle it then.

It was just a shame the Krabby leader who had attacked Poliwag had escaped. In its rush to save Reiji, Butterfree hadn’t chased it and had to let it go.

”Yo yo…” Poliwag woke up after being dropped into the water bucket. It scanned the area quickly. Once it saw Reiji lying safely in the shade, it let out a long sigh of relief.

When Butterfree released its Sleep Powder, Poliwag had also been knocked out. It didn’t know what happened after that.

It only remembered that under its desperate shouting, Metapod had finally awakened—and not just that, it had evolved.

Looking at the Butterfree atop the treehouse, Poliwag called out, asking about Reiji’s condition. ”Yo yo, yo yo…”

”Muu-ii~” Butterfree shook its head to indicate everything was fine. Then it asked Poliwag if it wanted to wake Reiji.

”Yo yo,” Poliwag shook its head. No need to wake him. Let Reiji rest.

It needed a break too. That last battle had left it exhausted.

Fighting four Krabby at once—still too much. It wasn’t strong enough. If it couldn’t even beat four Krabby, how could it protect Reiji?

Poliwag felt a little guilty. Then it noticed Krabby lying with the other Krabby in the pile.

It didn’t have the strength to explain to Butterfree that Krabby was an ally, so for now, it left it there. Reiji could sort it out when he woke up.

Just then, the two cowardly fish—Magikarp and Wishiwashi—finally poked their heads out from the bucket after the danger had passed.

Seeing Poliwag lounging peacefully in the water, they relaxed. If Poliwag was chill, the fight must be over.

That battle had terrified both of them. Those four Krabby had been truly terrifying.

”Blurb blurb,” Magikarp spat a little water at Poliwag, asking if it was okay.

”Yo yo…” Poliwag couldn’t even be bothered. All it wanted now was to rest.

And so, the beach around the treehouse grew quiet again, filled only with the sound of waves and the chirping of bugs and birds.

It wasn’t until late afternoon that Reiji finally stirred, waking up groggily after sleeping for two or three hours.

He sat up and saw the sun sinking toward the sea. It was already evening.

”Poliwag? Krabby?” The moment his mind cleared, he shouted out loud, searching for them. He had no idea what had happened after he passed out.

Why did he fall asleep anyway?

In that situation, there’s no way he would’ve dozed off—he was terrified, his adrenaline spiking, on full alert.

How could he have fallen asleep like that?

Unless… he was forcefully put to sleep?

”Muu-ii~” Butterfree cheered as it saw Reiji awake. It flitted down from the treehouse and swooped toward him.

”Butterfree?” Reiji looked up, startled as it flew at him. He thought it was going to tackle him.

But Butterfree didn’t attack—he quickly realized something and shouted in joy, ”Metapod… you evolved?!”

(End of Chapter)

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