370. Destined To Be An Inescapable Fate

Join my p@treon for more chapters

p@treon.com/Tempest_29

"Huh? Isn't this a Poké Ball exclusive to the Safari Zone? It turns out we're in the Safari Zone! No wonder I've caught so many, but why wasn't this ball replaced? Did I miss something?"

Looking at the Poké Ball, Professor Oak recognized at a glance that it was indeed used in the Safari Zone. He also knew that after a Pokémon was caught in the Safari Zone, the special Safari Ball would normally be replaced with a regular Poké Ball during transfer.

"The others are all normal Poké Balls, so why is this the only one that hasn't been replaced?" Professor Oak felt confused.

"Well, let's see what Pokémon Ash has caught!" Without thinking too much about it, he prepared to check what Pokémon Ash had captured. However, at that moment, the Poké Balls piled on the table seemed unable to contain their occupants any longer.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!!

A series of explosive sounds echoed through the lab as streams of light poured out from the Poké Balls, merging together. The entire ground shook violently. As the light dispersed, Professor Oak saw clearly that a large herd of Tauros was charging toward him.

"AHHH!!!!"

Before he could react, the Tauros were already upon him. He didn't even have time to understand what was happening before he was trampled.

"How could you catch so many Tauros?!" Professor Oak's miserable cry was heard amidst the stampeding Tauros. The Wild Bull Pokémon didn't linger—they immediately crashed through the nearby wall and rushed outside.

Professor Oak lay sprawled on the ground, his white lab coat and face now marked with hoof prints.

"Ahem... what happened with Ash? How did he manage to catch so many Tauros?" Professor Oak rubbed his head and stood up embarrassedly. Ash's style of catching Pokémon had always been carefully selective, but this time, for some unknown reason, he had suddenly caught a whole herd of Tauros.

"Huh? Is this one the same?" After standing up, he glanced warily at the last Poké Ball remaining on the table. He looked defensive, worried that another Tauros would emerge.

Taking the Poké Ball, he carefully tossed it forward, then quickly ducked aside.

BOOM!!!

The light flickered, and soon a figure appeared before him. It had green skin, sharp silver-white scythes for arms, and piercing eyes like those of a born warrior. The scars on its body that hadn't yet faded were proof of its battling experience.

"Oh! It's a Scyther! Thank goodness, I was afraid it would be another Tauros." 

"Not bad, not bad. He finally caught a different Pokémon. Let me take a look! It has a strong body, powerful wings, very strong arms, and the sharpness of those scythes is excellent. As expected, Ash has a really good eye for Pokémon."

Relieved it wasn't another Tauros, Professor Oak's old habits took over as he began examining Scyther from every angle.

Scyther itself was already in a poor mood after having been defeated and caught. It particularly hated having its scythes touched by others. When Professor Oak first made contact, Scyther's eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously.

SLASH!!!

The dual blades swung with lightning speed. Before Professor Oak could realize what was happening, several sharp flashes of light sliced through the air, and his clothes exploded into tatters. In an instant, only a pair of pants and the remnants of a T-shirt remained.

"AHHHH!!!" Once again, a cry of pain echoed through the laboratory.

Meanwhile, in the Safari Zone...

"That's strange, is the Professor busy?" At the Safari Zone, Ash had been waiting for a while, finding it odd that Professor Oak hadn't answered the video call yet.

DING!!!

"This is Professor Oak's Laboratory. How can I help you?"

After a long wait, Ash finally heard a feeble voice. Looking at the screen, he saw cow hoof prints on the Professor's face, and his clothes appeared to have been slashed by something sharp.

Ash immediately understood what had happened and scratched his head embarrassedly.

"Professor, are you okay?"

"Oh, it's Ash! I'm fine! Are you in the Safari Zone?" Upon seeing Ash, Professor Oak waved his hand dismissively. This situation wasn't really the fault of either the Pokémon or their Trainer.

In fact, as the person who knew Pokémon best, he understood that Pokémon sometimes disliked others getting too close. However, his enthusiasm for examining Pokémon often made him forget these boundaries.

That's why incidents like this frequently occurred.

"Yes! We're in the Safari Zone right now!"

"I see! But how did you end up catching so many Tauros at once? That's not like your usual style!" Professor Oak asked, clearly confused after confirming Ash's location.

"About that, haha! It's a long story..." Ash unconsciously scratched the corner of his eye with his finger. The situation was indeed rather embarrassing.

Ash had accidentally caught two Tauros previously, and he thought that was enough. After he'd caught Scyther, he had no intention of catching more Pokémon.

Just as he was about to put away the Safari Ball used to catch Scyther, a herd of Tauros suddenly charged through the area, knocking over the box where he kept his unused Poké Balls.

The Safari Balls scattered everywhere as they fell, and by chance, some of them hit the passing Tauros. It was as if he'd activated some kind of cheat code—none of the Tauros escaped capture.

Although he didn't reach the astonishing number of thirty, he still ended up with about half the herd. Realizing it wasn't a good day for catching more Pokémon, Ash had decided to stop for the day.

While catching so many Tauros presented a challenge, Ash wasn't one to release Pokémon he'd caught. It would be troublesome to train them all, but Tauros had no evolved form—they were already in their final stage and quite powerful. Moreover, Tauros preferred to run freely. Leaving them in Poké Balls for extended periods would deprive them of needed exercise.

At least he'd managed to catch Scyther, breaking his streak of only catching Tauros.

"By the way, Professor, how is Scyther doing?" Ash asked.

"Oh, he's quite an energetic fellow!" As Professor Oak spoke, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Although the sharp cuts earlier hadn't hit his body directly, the sensation of the blade passing close to his skin had terrified him.

SLASH!!!

At that moment, Scyther approached Professor Oak, raised its scythe and gestured toward Ash on the screen.

"Well~~~~In that case, Professor, could you please send Scyther over to me?" After a moment's thought, Ash made his request to Professor Oak.