Chapter 45: Arbok Leader

Mark and the Caterpie didn't delay too long and continued to accelerate towards Caterpie's territory.

Along the way, Mark saw more Arbok snakes.

Unlike the Arbok snakes encountered before on the journey, some of these Arbok snakes were very aggressive, and there were even scenes where Arbok snakes fought and killed each other.

Occasionally, some green caterpillars will flee in panic in the grass and bushes, and you can also see some scattered Caterpie corpses.

Not only Caterpies, but also some Rattatas living in harmony with Caterpies in their territory. These Rattatas are also constantly fleeing outwards and are becoming more panicked.

Just like Caterpie is naturally afraid of Pidgey and Spearow, Rattata, as a mouse Pokémon, is also naturally afraid of Arbok, especially a large group of them.

A few spying sparrows circled in the sky, chirping from time to time, as if watching the fun, and then flew towards the north.

Mark frowned and pondered, wondering why these Spearows were flying north.

"What did these Spearows say?"

Mark asked Caterpie, the Pokémons have a unique communication system that can communicate across species, so Caterpie can understand the meaning of Spearows's call in the sky.

Caterpie did not answer immediately. Instead, its body trembled slightly as if it sensed something.

"The [Escape] trait is working again?"

Mark frowned slightly, and saw that Caterpie had recovered, and looked in the direction where the Spearows flew away.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss."

"You mean, there's a fight going on there, and it could be dangerous?"

"Hiss."

Caterpie nodded continuously. Mark looked to the north and then to the west.

The west is the location of Caterpie's territory, and the habitat of the Arbok is even further west of Caterpie's territory.

"Let's go to Caterpie's territory first and see what the situation is there."

The man and the insect accelerated further.

The closer to Caterpie's territory, the more Arbok snakes there are, and the more aggressive they become.

In addition, Mark and Caterpie saw more Caterpie corpses.

Unlike normal food chain predation, the corpses of these Caterpies were exposed in the wilderness and no one cared about them. Mark also saw some arboreal snakes gnawing on the roots of some trees, while spitting out some lavender liquid with a pungent smell.

It looks like they are marking their territory.

Mark took a deep breath and led Caterpie forward.

Finally, Mark and Caterpie arrived at Caterpie's territory, the sweet and spicy fruit tree that the Caterpie had always been thinking about, and the green stone that was full of memories for the Caterpie.

The surroundings were in a mess, with many dead Caterpies scattered around. A strong, pungent poisonous smell was overwhelming. Some aggressive Arbok snakes were wandering around, and when they saw Mark and Caterpies, they immediately let out low roars.

[Impact (Seven-stage Combo)]!

[Impact (Quick Attack)]!

[Impact (Powerful Attack)]!

Caterpies quickly cleared the field. Although these Arboks looked aggressive, their strength was not much stronger than that of ordinary Caterpies. The strength of one Arbok was roughly equal to that of three Caterpies.

Without holding back like he did to his own kind, more than twenty nearby Arbok snakes lost consciousness one after another. Two of them were in danger of death because they struck too hard, but Caterpie didn't think about that.

During the years of living in the forest with Mark, Caterpie had seen the death of its own kind. It had even seen four dead bodies of its own kind at the same time.

But it was the first time that it saw more than a hundred corpses of its own species at the same time.

Caterpie looked at the corpses of its own kind in a daze, unable to describe its inner feelings for a moment. In short, it felt very uncomfortable.

"Ss ...

After watching the corpses of its fellow Caterpies for a while, Caterpie questioned Mark, asking why so many Caterpies died.

Mark frowned and said, "It looks like a dispute over territory. But from what I know, the Arbok snakes in Clear Creek Forest don't have the concept of territory. Similar to the bird Pokémons Pidgey, the Arbok snakes only have habitats in the swamps in the west. The environment there is most suitable for the survival of the Arbok snakes, so most of the Arbok snakes are concentrated there. For a dispute over territory to occur, unless..."

Mark stopped, he had realized the reason for this situation.

Mark took a deep breath and continued, "The reason why these Arbok snakes have such changes is that a leader similar to Caterpie has appeared among them, leading the tribe to expand their territory.

There is also a reasonable explanation for the Arbok snakes we saw on the road, that is, group rejection.

Just like the leader's guards expelled you, the leader of the Arbok snakes also expelled some Arbok snakes from their habitats, causing many Arbok snakes to migrate in all directions. Some Arbok snakes even migrated to the vicinity of Clear Creek Village. This is also the reason why we saw Arbok snakes fighting each other before."

Mark pinched his chin lightly, and was about to explain further about the fact that the Arbok snakes spit out pungent venom, but suddenly he remembered something and his face froze.

Mark took a deep breath and said, "We can't stay here, let's go to the place where you sensed danger before.

The arbok snakes should have occupied all of Caterpies' territory, but they did not stop and continued to expand. If my guess is correct, the Caterpies should have been driven there now."

Caterpie looked around in confusion.

It hadn't quite grasped the idea that this was no longer Caterpie's territory when it saw Mark heading northeast.

After taking a look at the corpses of its own kind nearby, Caterpie quickly followed.

Along the way, the scenes became increasingly chaotic.

The angry Arboks kept roaring, and some scattered Caterpies were running around in panic like headless flies.

Finally, Mark and Caterpie arrived near the center of the battlefield and saw the protagonist who was very conspicuous in the center of the battlefield.

It was a dark purple Arbok with its body raised, nearly four meters tall. The facial pattern on its abdomen was hideous and terrifying, giving people an extremely depressing feeling.

As he got closer, Mark felt a palpitation and goose bumps all over his body. Caterpie also seemed to be frightened and its hair stood on end.

It looks like this is Arbok's [Intimidate] attribute, and the effect is so strong that even Mark is affected.

Near the giant Arbok, there are not only many Arbok Snakes, but also more than a dozen normal-sized Arboks.

Opposite the giant Arbok and the group of snakes, there is a gigantic Butterfree, which is nearly 2.5 meters tall.

The butterfly's wings look a little damaged, but it still cannot conceal the beauty of this butterfly.

I saw the butterfly dancing in the air, performing a mysterious and elegant dance, with faint colorful lights lingering around the butterfly.

From time to time, one or two Arbok snakes and Arbok monsters would fly into the sky and try to attack, but they were never able to touch this elegant butterfly.

The butterfly dancing in the air was visibly getting faster and faster, and the colorful fluorescence surrounding the butterfly became more and more intense.

"[Butterfly Dance]? So the [Butterfly Dance] used in the real world looks like this." Mark looked at the moves used by Butterfree thoughtfully, and suddenly realized something. He said in surprise: "... No, this Butterfree, could it be the leader of Caterpies?"