Time passed quickly.
Three days later, Aven left the farm, riding on his Rhyhorn as he made his way toward the Black Forest.
Seated on the Rhyhorn with him were his Petilil, Cherrim, and Oddish.
This Oddish was the very first one that had joined the farm. Aven brought it along this time with the intention of having it search for more of its kind.
The Black Forest lay at the foot of Mt. Coronet. If one crossed through the Black Forest, they would reach Meteorite City—a city surrounded by rock formations.
This time, Aven's target was the outer edge of the Black Forest. He planned to gather ingredients for making potions there. Among them, the materials for making Sleep-inducing potions were his top priority.
As he neared the forest from afar, perhaps due to the approaching winter, he noticed that knights from Aspiration City frequently patrolled the forest's edge.
Aven found a narrow trail trampled out by the knights' mounts and used it to advance deeper into the forest.
After entering the forest, Aven dismounted from Rhyhorn and carefully observed the plant life growing inside.
As a Pokémon breeder, he was no stranger to wilderness exploration. However, this was a thousand years in the past—Pokémon here likely weren't as gentle as those in the modern world. He had to stay cautious.
In the dense forest, Aven proceeded cautiously. He had changed out of his linen clothes into a green, camouflage-style outfit. In his hand, he carried a hunting knife, carefully parting the obstacles in his path.
Beside him, Rhyhorn, Petilil, and Cherrim remained vigilant, while Oddish had run off somewhere—probably to search for its companions.
Soon, Aven found some useful potion ingredients, carefully harvesting them and placing them into a large linen sack strapped to Rhyhorn's back.
Perhaps because apothecaries in this world were unaware of the uses of some special plants, the Black Forest was rich in potion materials. Aven even regretted not coming here earlier.
However, most of what he found were herb-based ingredients. If there were any berries in the forest, they had either been picked already or were occupied by powerful pokemon, making them much harder to collect.
(TN: I will refer to them as Pokemon if I'm on Aven's POV but I'll change it to magical beast when its others pov or just in general.)
Gradually, with periodic stops, Aven had made his way about half a mile into the forest. Suddenly, the towering trees ahead disappeared, replaced by a vast field of grass nearly waist-high.
The meadow was so large that unless he took a long detour, he would have no choice but to cross it to reach the other side.
As Aven observed his surroundings, his ears suddenly twitched. A faint rustling noise came from the grass ahead.
Rhyhorn reacted first. Relying on its sensitivity to ground vibrations, it instantly pinpointed the direction of the sound and let out a low growl.
At the same time, Petilil fired off a beam of green light—a Leech Seed attack.
Just as the green beam was about to hit the grass, a large, yellowish-brown rat burst out from within and swiftly dodged the attack, charging straight toward Aven.
"Raticate!" Aven's eyes narrowed. He recognized the very common Pokémon and quickly retreated into the woods.
Petilil and Cherrim leapt into his arms while Rhyhorn moved to confront the Raticate head-on.
The Raticate leapt into the air, its massive front teeth glowing with a dark light as it lunged at Rhyhorn. Its narrow eyes gleamed with hunger—it clearly viewed them as prey.
'Hyper Fang... Looks like this Raticate is a high-level one.' Aven assessed the situation and muttered, "As expected, Pokémon from a thousand years ago really are much fiercer."
Perhaps it was because, in the future, Pokémon would live closely alongside humans for extended periods. By then, most had grown quite docile and rarely attacked humans.
But now, Pokémon were genuinely feral. Aven could tell that this Raticate truly saw him as food. This was likely one of the reasons Pokémon were called "magical beasts" in this era.
Facing the Raticate's attack, Rhyhorn countered with a Tackle. Using its massive body, it charged forward with tremendous force.
Boom!
The two collided midair. The Raticate's fangs bit down hard on Rhyhorn, but it was sent flying by the impact.
Spinning through the air, it landed back in the grass. Meanwhile, Rhyhorn had only a faint white scratch on its body.
With its Rock and Ground typing, Rhyhorn's defense was still solid. The Raticate hadn't been able to break through completely.
"Rhyhorn, use Bulldoze!"
Hearing Aven's command, Rhyhorn charged forward.
Its four feet stomped heavily onto the ground, releasing Ground-type energy in the form of an invisible wave!
The ground rolled outward in both directions. The grassy field ahead toppled over, revealing the Raticate lying hidden within.
The Raticate quickly scrambled to its feet. Sensing the strength of its opponent, it immediately attempted to flee.
However, the now-muddy terrain made it hard to keep balance, and it was hit squarely by another green beam of light.
In an instant, the Raticate felt its energy rapidly draining. Just as it struggled to escape, a Leech Seed landed beside it.
Thick vines sprouted from the seed, wrapping tightly around the Raticate and glowing green as they continued to drain its energy.
Seeing the Raticate fully restrained, Rhyhorn didn't wait for it to struggle free—he charged forward and used another Tackle.
The Raticate was sent flying again, landing far away, completely drained of energy and collapsing in defeat.
"Good job, Rhyhorn, Petilil." Aven praised his Pokémon.
The two of them were thrilled. This combo was something they had practiced back on the farm, and it was finally put to good use—giving the two little ones a strong sense of accomplishment.
Aven then turned to the defeated Raticate in front of him and hesitated.
If this were his previous life, encountering a Pokémon that attacked humans in the wild, he would have immediately captured it in a Poké Ball and handed it over to the League for training or containment.
But in this world, there was no such organization to deal with violent Pokémon. If he let it go, it would surely attack other humans again. And this was only the outer edge of the Black Forest—things could get even worse from here.
(End of Chapter)