Chapter 580: Needing Each Other—Getting Better and Better
When more than a dozen Pokémon, nearly five meters tall and shaped like Pachycephalosaurus, appeared at the end of the field of vision.
Kazuya's eyes also showed a look of understanding.
"I knew it, Rampardos."
Kazuya pursed his lips, his eyes showing no surprise at all.
Although Rampardos is a carnivorous dinosaur, having many differences in living habits from Bastiodon.
But they happen to have the same requirements for their living environment.
Bastiodon needs more open space for activities, and the food on the grassland is quite abundant for them; there is food almost everywhere.
And Rampardos goes without saying.
They are simply the Tauros of the League Era.
They need space to rampage and run wildly, allowing them to consume that excess energy.
"Floette, Charmeleon, let's help out together. Brother-kun, don't use Fire-type moves, and don't rush up. You can use Dragon-type moves and Swift. The three of us just need to prevent them from circling around behind the Bastiodons."
Kazuya turned his head and said to the two beside him.
Their strength was too weak.
Except for Floette, the help he and Charmeleon could provide was very limited.
In the games, the level requirement for Cranidos to evolve into Rampardos is Lv. 30.
In the real world.
This level condition isn't absolute.
But the levels of this group of Rampardos are definitely all heading upwards of Lv. 28.
With his and Charmeleon's strength, it would be tough for them to play a role in this battle.
At most, relying on their size and appearance, they could slightly intimidate and help the Bastiodons guard their rear.
As long as no flaws were caught from behind.
Rampardos couldn't break through Bastiodon's defense line.
"Bastio!"
The Bastiodon patriarch let out an intimidating roar.
But unfortunately.
It was of no use.
Rampardos's brain is pressed down by an extremely thick skull, thus failing to grow, even inferior to Cranidos.
The downside is that they aren't smart.
To the point that there are rumors in the League Era saying Rampardos went extinct due to stupidity.
The upside is that they are thick-nerved.
Completely immune to certain special moves of enemies and intimidating or fear-inducing language.
Just like right now.
The roars of over a dozen Bastiodons didn't have any effect.
This group of Rampardos were like reckless hotheads; they didn't even turn, charging straight over with Headbutt.
Kazuya somewhat understood why the Bastiodons had been able to hold out for so long.
These idiots had no idea where Bastiodon's weaknesses were at all, wasting their exaggerated physical attack capabilities.
Kazuya's plan completely lost its use.
The three of them were completely useless.
Rampardos didn't want to circle behind to attack at all; they just wanted to force a frontal assault.
But they couldn't break through.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Heavy muffled sounds continuously rang out between the two ancient dragons.
Floette didn't like fighting.
But because she wanted to help the Bastiodons who had accepted the three of them, she proactively attacked Rampardos.
And Charmeleon's desire to fight was full to the brim.
Even though his older brother didn't let him rush up to fight, standing in the back and spitting Dragon Breath was also quite satisfying.
"Don't attack their heads, attack their stomachs and backs."
Kazuya turned his head and said to sister-kun and brother-kun beside him.
The heads of the vast majority of Pokémon are more fragile.
Rampardos is one of those exceptions.
Proportionally speaking.
Adult Rampardos of this era have skulls nearly a meter thick, harder than steel.
The head can be said to be their toughest spot.
Plus, Rampardos usually frequently use their heads to launch attacks; this is also the most powerful weapon they train.
Hitting their heads is completely painless for Rampardos.
On the contrary, their stomachs and backs are more fatal,
More accurately speaking.
It's the intestines, stomach, and spine.
But Floette and Charmeleon definitely didn't know what these two terms meant, so Kazuya could only use stomach and back instead.
"Flo-ette!"
"Roar~"
The two ones-kun nodded.
Floette grasped the main point at the first moment.
Beating the Rampardos until they cried out in pain.
Foolish brother-kun completely didn't understand, fiercely spraying at the Rampardos' butts.
However, it had a miraculous effect.
The Rampardos all tucked their tails tightly, not daring to expose their butts at all. Even their rhythm of attack was disrupted, starting to care for their behinds while ignoring their heads, to the point of being frequently knocked back.
After the Rampardos rammed a few more times, they noticed something was wrong.
Completely different from the passionate clashes of the past.
Today's battle made them very uncomfortable,
This group of stone blocks actually found external help. One moment it was sharp leaves, the next it was stinging stars, annoying the Rampardos endlessly.
To make matters worse, the Bastiodons were blocking the front.
They also couldn't hurt the trio of Kazuya harassing from the back.
"Roar!"
The Rampardos patriarch irritably pawed the ground with its right leg, roared at the sky, turned around, and led the other Rampardos away.
Even knowing that once the Rampardos went back and recovered, they would launch another attack.
They also had no choice.
With Bastiodon's speed and attack methods.
They couldn't stop them.
They could only watch helplessly as the Rampardos escaped.
Bang xN!
A few heavy thuds of falling to the ground rang out.
A few relatively weaker Bastiodons slumped onto the ground one after another, panting heavily, and their wall-like faces also had quite a few injuries.
"Must find a way to solve the Rampardos problem."
Kazuya frowned deeply.
According to his observation just now.
The degree of injury of the Rampardos was definitely much lower than that of the Bastiodons.
After all, the attack methods of Bastiodons are very limited.
If only the Rampardos were a bit more diligent.
Or a bit smarter.
Or came in slightly larger numbers.
The Bastiodons' situation would be very dangerous.
"You guys rest here first; we'll go nearby to find some herbs and berries."
Kazuya reached out and patted the back of the Bastiodon patriarch.
"Bastio?"
Bastiodon called over two subordinates in relatively better condition.
Intending to let them follow and protect Kazuya and the others.
"Mm, that works too. Sorry to trouble you."
Kazuya nodded, not refusing.
He planned to find some herbs or berries that could accelerate the recovery of the Bastiodons' injuries.
Ideally, they could stock up and hoard some, making it convenient to access at any time.
As a Pokémon who had once served as an Alpha, leading an entire clan's survival and development, Kazuya was quite experienced in how to improve the survival rate and quality of life in the wild.
It was just that.
The eras were different.
What plants have what kind of effects.
That all had to be tested personally.
This point was rather troublesome.
It might take a few more days to clearly taste and figure out the effects of some plants nearby.
"Flo-ette?"
Floette, hearing his words, leaned over.
Kazuya turned his head and glanced at her, his eyes lighting up:
"Oh right, Floette, you should be quite familiar with the plants on this grassland, right? Take me to recognize some plants?"
He had forgotten.
The Florges lineage specifically dealt with plants.
"Flo-ette."
Floette nodded, confidently waving the Eternal Flower in her hand.
Leave it to her!
The three ones-kun took action, bringing along two big bodyguards.
Shieldon-kun wanted to follow Kazuya, but was suppressed by Kazuya with one hand and pressed back.
The guy-kun was quite stubborn.
Like a stubborn calf-kun, forcefully pushing against Kazuya's palm without backing down.
The Bastiodon clan seemed to innately not know what retreating meant.
When Kazuya and the five Pokémon set out, it was afternoon.
They headed all the way north, picking many weirdly shaped plants and berries along the way.
Many of them even Floette didn't recognize.
Upon arriving at the distinct border between the grassland and the swamp.
Kazuya gazed from afar.
In the grayish-yellow rainforest swamp area to the north, there was various unusually bright vegetation inside.
Presumably, they were all highly toxic things.
Evening.
Kazuya and the others returned smoothly.
They brought back many berries and plants. Of course, they also conveniently busted an animal nest resembling voles, catching a few plump and large voles for Charmeleon to eat.
Kazuya himself couldn't bring himself to eat those voles.
Choosing to eat berries together with the Bastiodons.
Actually.
The Bastiodons could completely just eat the grass beneath them.
But as the saying goes, a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its own burrow.
Bastiodons and Shieldons naturally didn't want to eat their own beds either. When they wanted to eat, they would run to a place slightly farther away to feed.
Moreover.
Having delicious berries to eat.
Why still eat grass.
They ate grass just to survive; eating berries was called enjoyment.
Everyone was very happy to be able to eat delicious berries.
"Bastio~"
The Bastiodon patriarch looked at the happy appearance of her clansmen and nodded to Kazuya, expressing gratitude.
"No, we are the ones who should thank you for being willing to accept us three."
Kazuya smiled and shook his head.
Looking up to glance at the increasingly dim sky.
If it were the previous two weeks.
He would unconsciously feel his nerves tensing up as the sky darkened, constantly worrying that the flame on his tail would attract those dangerous Pokémon.
Now he didn't need to worry anymore.
Looking at this fortress-like, impregnable defensive force around him.
His heart was full of a sense of security.
"Shiel~"
A tender cry came from beside him.
Shieldon-kun leaned against Kazuya's side for warmth, looking at the firelight on his tail. His eyes sparkled brightly, not knowing what he saw from the firelight.
The other several Shieldon-kuns also gathered around Kazuya and Charmeleon.
Their innately higher body temperatures and the flames on their tails brought warmth and brightness to this group of guy-kuns on the increasingly cold night grassland.
This feeling of mutually needing each other.
Was really great.
It seemed.
From now on, they wouldn't need to bury the flames on their tails into the soil to sleep at night anymore.
Thinking of this point.
The string that had always been taut in Kazuya's heart finally got to relax slightly.
He began to try out those herbs one by one for the future of the entire clan.
This process truly couldn't be considered wonderful.
Just after tasting a dozen plants, Kazuya felt as if he had lost his sense of taste. He hurriedly stopped, allowing his mouth to recover as night fell.
The Bastiodons formed a circle, aiming their heads outwards, everyone huddling together to sleep.
Kazuya and the others snuggled together with the Shieldon-kuns.
To say it was entirely comfortable.
That was definitely not the case.
But the sense of security was full.
Kazuya lay flat on the ground, looking up at the night sky.
Floette, holding her flower, had already fallen asleep on his stomach.
Charmeleon and Shieldon-kun snuggled beside Kazuya, having already fallen into dreamland.
Life was finally starting to get better.
Hopefully, the future could get better and better.
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