“Murkrow, hang in there a little longer.
Maintain Tailwind!” Aoki encouraged, looking at the exhausted Murkrow.
“Gah!” Murkrow let out a spirited cry from midair.
Today’s continuous battles had made it immensely happy.
Though its body felt weary, facing this Zubat leader—who was noticeably stronger than all the previous Zubat—gave it an unprecedented thrill.
Sensing Murkrow’s excitement, the corners of Aoki’s lips tugged upward slightly.
He felt thoroughly reassured by Murkrow’s battle-hungry nature.
“Skee-skee!!” The Zubat leader shrieked.
It was this single Pokémon and this single human who had reduced it to a commander without an army.
Possessing relatively higher intelligence, the Zubat leader clearly perceived that the skinny human before it was extremely weak.
As the sun sank lower, it felt increasingly energetic, the power in its body surging.
With a fierce snap of its wings, a trace of dark aura coiled within the Zubat leader’s blood-scented maw, its two bloodsucking fangs glistening with a cold light.
Dark-type move, Bite!
Seeing the Zubat leader target Aoki, Murkrow moved swiftly as well.
Capitalizing on the final burst of speed from Tailwind, it darted in front of Aoki to shield him.
The greater the danger, the calmer Aoki became.
His mind remained crystal clear.
Having faced death once before, he could maintain absolute composure no matter what confronted him.
“Murkrow, Feint Attack!” Transforming into what looked like a black bullet, Murkrow collided fiercely with the Zubat!
*Bam!* Upon impact, both figures flew backward, evenly matched.
After a brief pause, they clashed once more.
Having lost the speed boost from Tailwind, Murkrow could no longer fully exploit its agility, but even so, its speed still slightly surpassed that of the Zubat leader.
The Zubat leader tried to bypass Murkrow to attack Aoki, but Murkrow pinned it down relentlessly.
However, as night fell, the Zubat grew more and more energetic, while Murkrow, having fought continuously, began to flag as its stamina drained.
Finally, after another collision, Murkrow failed to spring back up quickly.
The Zubat leader’s wings quivered slightly as its invisible Supersonic kept track of its surroundings.
As if eyeing a delicious delicacy, it knew battle consumed the most stamina, and now that its body was starting to tire, it desperately needed blood to replenish itself.
Charging at Aoki once more, a faint red glow wrapped around its bloodsucking fangs—the move Absorb!
“Gah!” Seeing the Zubat launch its assault, Murkrow propped its wings against the ground, its chest heaving.
Yet it couldn’t summon any strength, feeling as though its body no longer belonged to it.
Experiencing that sense of powerlessness again, Murkrow felt furious at its own weakness.
For a trainer’s Pokémon to be unable to protect its trainer was the ultimate disgrace.
Yet seeing the Zubat’s move, Aoki wore a strange smile.
This was the exact moment he had been waiting for!
“Murkrow, please hold on one more time!
Use Snatch!” Out of the corner of his eye, Aoki noticed Murkrow getting up and called out.
“Gah!” Hearing Aoki’s request, Murkrow gritted its teeth.
A surge of strength appeared out of nowhere, and its trembling wings flapped violently.
The bloody fangs sank into Murkrow, who had thrown itself in front of Aoki.
The Zubat paused, then relaxed.
Blood was blood, no matter whose it was—all it needed right now was fresh blood.
Just as the Zubat was rejoicing, however, the familiar blood failed to flow into its body through its fangs, and the long-awaited feeling of relief never came.
It was like craving an ice cream to beat the summer heat, with the ice cream right in front of your eyes and your mouth watering at the imagined taste and texture, only to bite down on nothing but air.
The Zubat leader was baffled when no delicious blood materialized.
Not only did its stamina fail to recover, but it felt its strength draining away.
Conversely, Murkrow felt a warm current spring from the bite mark, spreading through its entire body.
Its exhausted frame drank up the energy ravenously, like a parched desert absorbing water.
By the time the Zubat leader realized what was happening and tried to fly backward, its wings faltered as a wave of weakness suddenly crashed over it.
Snatch, a Dark-type status move.
Thanks to the Prankster Ability, Snatch activated faster than the Zubat leader’s Absorb, stealing the effects of the opponent’s recovery move!
“Murkrow, use Roost.” Taking advantage of the Zubat leader’s moment of weakness, Aoki quickly ordered Murkrow to use Roost.
Roost was a Flying-type move that allowed a Flying-type Pokémon to recover half its stamina in a short period once it landed on the ground.
Murkrow promptly touched down in front of Aoki.
Surging earthen power gathered on the ground, and a warm stream rose from its feet, flowing through its entire body.
Gradually, Murkrow felt its stamina return once more.
Looking at the rising Murkrow, Aoki said, “Use Tailwind again, then use consecutive Pecks!
Finish it quickly!” By the time the Zubat leader snapped back to reality, all it saw was a jet-black Pokémon appearing before its eyes.
A beak reflecting the moonlight struck its body mercilessly.
As wounds multiplied across its body, the Zubat felt its stamina draining rapidly, completely powerless to resist.
Under the barrage of Pecks, Murkrow pushed through with a burst of momentum and finished off the Zubat leader.
“Gah!” With an imposing cry, Murkrow felt its wings become sturdier, the sharp talons on its feet grow sharper, and its beak take on a brighter luster—the rising moon clearly reflected on its sleek surface.
In Aoki’s eyes, after a long stint of continuous combat, Murkrow’s level had increased from 10 to 11.
Although it was only a single level, the growth in Murkrow was palpable.
In reality, every level a Pokémon gained represented a milestone of growth.
After its spirited shout, Murkrow wobbled and plummeted from the air, only to be caught just in time by the quick-reacting Aoki.
This was the side effect of using Roost.
The reason Aoki hadn’t used Roost to recover stamina earlier in the battle was that Roost was a temporary fix.
Although it could quickly restore stamina in the short term, energy was conserved; it was merely overdrawing stamina in advance.
If used too frequently, Roost could lead to long-term stamina depletion, or in severe cases, level regression and talent degradation.
Therefore, Aoki preferred never to let Murkrow use this move unless absolutely necessary.
Fortunately, Aoki possessed the skills of a Breeder and could formulate suitable Berry Blocks.
As long as Murkrow didn’t use it too often, it wouldn’t cause significant long-term harm.
Still, it would result in a period of weakness, which was why the move served as a last resort.
Holding the exhausted Murkrow in his arms, Aoki stepped into the Zubat cave under the bright moonlight.
Withstanding the familiar foul stench and stepping through the sludge-like Zubat guano, he pushed past the discomfort to reach the deepest part of the cave.
In the faint moonlight, scratch marks could be seen vaguely on the cave walls.
Combined with the marks outside, it was evident that the Zubat colony had merely usurped this lair.
The original owner had likely died or left, allowing the Zubat clan to take over.
However, the original owner must have left long ago; the thick layer of guano piled on the ground was not something that could accumulate in just a few months.
Sure enough, the cave extended about ten meters deep.
At the innermost section, the ground gradually became dry.
Sunlight and moonlight filtered through cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the space so that, unlike the middle section, it wasn’t pitch black.
Finding a dry boulder, Aoki sat down while holding Murkrow.
This was likely where they would have to make do for the night.
Murkrow slowly regained some strength, hopped out of Aoki’s arms, and gently rubbed its beak against his hand.
Feeling the warmth of Aoki’s palm, Murkrow felt a sense of peace.
Pokémon were sometimes just that simple.
As long as they were with their favorite trainer, come rain or shine, they remained the most loyal companions and dearest friends.