Chapter 430: The Mysterious Mud Block

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The wild Arbok (for easier distinction) and the two Koffing saw the massive sludge hand instantly sliced into pieces by Bellossom's Leaf Blade, and their expressions immediately shifted—not to fear, but to fury.

Without any prior agreement, they abandoned their original target, Arbok, and turned to attack Bellossom instead.

In an instant, a torrent of venomous needles, glowing faintly purple, spewed from the wild Arbok's mouth. Meanwhile, the two Koffing split to flank Bellossom, launching a barrage of Sludge Bombs from their mouths.

Seeing his opponent turn away from him, Arbok was naturally infuriated, and the crimson glow in his eyes flared even brighter.

Even against his own kind, Arbok showed no mercy. The serpentine pattern on his chest instantly switched to the speed pattern, and he appeared next to the wild Arbok in a flash. With a powerful sweep of his Aqua Tail, he struck across at the wild Arbok.

A loud "Bang!" echoed through the forest as Arbok's Aqua Tail smashed into the wild Arbok's head. With a pitiful shriek, the wild Arbok was sent hurtling sideways into the grassy thicket.

Meanwhile, facing the wild Arbok's venomous needles and the two Koffing's Sludge Bombs, Bellossom immediately abandoned her twin swords. From the two blooming flowers atop her head, a flood of verdant Magical Leaves rained down.

Under Bellossom's control, these leaves rapidly wove into three shield-like barriers, forming a protective triangular wall around her.

However, both the venomous needles and the corrosive Sludge Bombs were infused with Poison-type energy, naturally countering the Grass-type Leaf Shield.

The tiny needles were manageable—the shields could still fend them off—but the highly corrosive Sludge Bombs were another story. One of the Leaf Shields shattered almost instantly, and the remaining sludge attacks pelted Bellossom directly.

Taking the full brunt of two Koffing's Sludge Bombs was clearly devastating for Bellossom. A layer of sickly purple light flared around her, signaling that she had been poisoned.

As if that weren't bad enough, just as Bellossom was reeling from the Koffing's attacks, the pit from which the giant sludge hand had emerged suddenly expanded—and a foul-smelling Muk oozed out.

Another giant, purple-glowing sludge hand materialized, slamming down toward Bellossom. This time, there was no chance for her to form another Leaf Blade from her skirt in time.

But just as the sludge hand was about to engulf her, a graceful figure flashed to Bellossom's side, yanking her out of danger.

Naturally, the one who intervened was Sato. He wasn't just standing idly by—he had already sent out his Shiny Beautifly to assist Bellossom moments earlier.

"A level 38 Muk, a level 36 wild Arbok, and two level 34 Koffing... Seems like a bunch of wild Pokémon who realized they couldn't survive alone in the depths of the forest, so they chose to stick together. Birds of a feather, I suppose."

Watching the four Poison-types regroup ahead of him, Sato narrowed his eyes slightly, the faint blue gleam in them flickering out of sight.

"Wa-la-la~~"

Before Sato even finished speaking, the Muk, full of malice, let out a furious roar at the human who had snatched away its prey. Then, it launched a hail of foul, stinking sludge balls—its signature move, Sludge Bomb—straight at Sato.

Clearly, these four Poison-types had long been used to working together; their coordination was impeccable.

As soon as Muk attacked, the two Koffing unleashed thick clouds of dark poisonous gas, while the wild Arbok vanished from sight, tunneling underground toward Sato.

This time, their coordinated target was none other than Sato himself.

But there was no need for Sato to give a reminder. With a powerful flap of her wings, Shiny Beautifly stirred up a gust that instantly dispersed the poisonous smokescreen.

Meanwhile, Arbok threw himself in front of Sato, switching his serpentine chest pattern to the defensive mode, and used his massive body to block Muk's Sludge Bomb.

"Arbok, switch to attack pattern! Use Iron Tail to smash the ground and force the wild Arbok out! Beautifly, trap Muk and the Koffing with Gust!"

The moment Sato saw the wild Arbok disappear underground, a hint of disdain flashed across his face.

He immediately barked out rapid commands to his Pokémon.

Thanks to the system's scanning feature, Sato had already gathered full information on the enemy and easily guessed their coordinated plan.

Humans survived in the Pokémon world not because of strength, but because of intelligence.

Although Pokémon were clever, the gap compared to humans was still considerable for most.

Upon receiving the command, Arbok instantly switched to attack mode. A mighty aura burst from his body, and his tail shimmered with a metallic luster as he slammed it into the ground with a mighty Iron Tail.

With a thunderous "BOOM!", the earth trembled faintly.

The next second, a battered, purple figure shot out from the ground less than two meters to Sato's left—it was the wild Arbok, who had attempted an assassination via Dig.

Although Arbok hadn't yet mastered the powerful Ground-type move Earthquake, under Sato's command, he had drastically boosted his attack with the offensive pattern and mimicked a weaker version of Earthquake with his heavy Iron Tail.

Even a weakened imitation was devastating against the wild Arbok. 

Ground-type moves were already double-effective against Poison-types—and Earthquake dealt double damage to any Pokémon underground—resulting in a brutal quadruple damage.

That Iron Tail strike almost cost the wild Arbok his life, instantly putting him into a near-fatal state.

Meanwhile, Shiny Beautifly's wings glowed with a dazzling green light. With the help of the mutated Supreme Sky Splitting Stone, her Flying-type moves grew even stronger.

A swirling white whirlwind more than four meters across rapidly took form, sweeping the two terrified Koffing into its vortex. Even the Muk, stuck firmly to the ground, was pulled in after a few seconds along with huge clumps of soil.

Inside the raging Gust, countless tiny white blades of air repeatedly slashed the three Poison-types.

Before long, the two weaker Koffing were battered into critical condition.

Muk, who had hardened its body with Harden to resist the air blades, still couldn't escape from the whirlwind's grasp.

Ultimately, Muk only managed to endure about ten seconds longer than the Koffing before its foul-smelling body was shredded into countless bits by the razor-sharp air currents.

However, something unexpected caught Sato's eye.

Even though Muk's body had been sliced into fragments, within Beautifly's white whirlwind there remained a black lump of mud, faintly glowing with a purple light.

No matter how many air blades struck it, this black lump remained completely intact—every time a blade touched it, it simply dissipated harmlessly.