Facing the killing intent rushing straight at him, Chen Mo did not panic.
"Pichu!"
The small yellow figure leapt from his shoulder. Brilliant electricity gathered in its fist, colliding head-on with the scythe gleaming with cold light.
The two forces clashed briefly. Pichu gained the upper hand—under the glow of Thunder Punch, it blasted the opponent back several meters, sending it skidding to the edge of the crater.
Chen Mo looked at the brown Pokémon that quickly scrambled back to its feet. Standing upright like a mantis, it maintained its battle stance.
He slowly spoke its name.
"Kabutops."
When Chen Mo first saw this massive crater, he had already formed a rough guess about Aerodactyl's appearance.
In the original anime series, Ash and Team Rocket once fell into an underground cavern after an explosion. There, they encountered Kabutops and other ancient Pokémon believed to be nearly extinct.
Those Pokémon had not died—they had merely been slumbering deep within the cavern. Ash's intrusion awakened them… along with a far more terrifying presence.
Aerodactyl.
The similarity to Chen Mo's current situation was uncanny.
If Aerodactyl had flown out of this crater, then Kabutops leaping out from below made perfect sense.
But…
As Chen Mo stared at the lone Kabutops standing before the crater, a question arose in his mind.
Just one?
The thought had barely formed—
when more figures began leaping out of the pit in quick succession.
Behind them, other Pokémon with snail-like shells on their backs slowly crawled up the rubble path.
One. Two. Three…
Until the entire perimeter of the crater was filled with their forms—more still emerging from below.
Chen Mo stared at the gathering clans of Omanyte and Kabuto, along with their evolved forms Omastar and Kabutops.
His heart sank.
At the same time—
back at the temporary camp kilometers away, Ah Hui and Brother Yi watched the livestream, their faces paling.
"Brother Mo… this is bad…"
Earlier, Pichu had dominated in a one-on-one clash.
But now there were dozens.
Even with Haunter, Pidgeotto, and Absol, the numerical gap was overwhelming.
"Big trouble…"
Chen Mo looked into the sea of crimson eyes.
His heart had initially raced—but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
It was true.
These ancient Pokémon had just awakened from long slumber. Their mental states were unstable, and they harbored extreme hostility toward any moving creature.
But there was one piece of good news.
Using his Insight Eye, Chen Mo had noticed that—likely due to prolonged starvation—most of them were afflicted with a Weakened debuff. Only a few exceptions were in better shape.
That was precisely why Pichu had been able to overpower a Kabutops whose level clearly exceeded its own.
Chen Mo let out a soft sigh.
If that was the case—
there was only one option.
Fight.
His gaze hardened.
"Pidgeotto, use Twister to restrict their movement! Haunter and Pichu—focus on the faster Kabutops first!"
Strike first.
"Pidge!"
Without hesitation, Pidgeotto moved the instant it heard the command.
Its wings beat powerfully, whipping up a violent storm. Loose stones and debris spiraled into a massive twister near the crater, trapping several Kabutops at the front.
Immediately after—
a dazzling bolt of lightning and a dark violet shockwave burst forth from Pichu and Haunter, slamming into the immobilized targets.
Against Rock/Water types like Kabutops, Pichu's electricity held a natural advantage. Combined with recent intensive training—and standing on the brink of evolution—Pichu was drawing more power from its Light Ball than ever before.
The moment the lightning struck, one Kabutops collapsed, unable to continue.
Meanwhile, though Haunter lacked a type advantage, its strength was undeniable. With its vast movepool, it could arguably be considered the most versatile Pokémon on Chen Mo's team.
Under the sweep of Dark Pulse, several Kabutops fell in succession without even managing to struggle.
The livestream audience was stunned.
Ah Hui and Brother Yi, who had been bracing for disaster, stared in disbelief.
[Who said this would be a brutal fight? You call this brutal?!]
[From the numbers alone, it should've been!]
[We underestimated Mo-baby's team. Pichu's not just a cute mascot anymore. Haunter's ridiculously strong. Pidgeotto's always been a rock-solid ace. Add their coordination and Mo-baby's command—this outcome actually makes sense.]
[Damn. Why was I panicking? The clown was me all along?]
[Don't celebrate too soon! Look—the pit's still spewing more Pokémon!]
As the viewers pointed out, Chen Mo was far from relaxed.
Absol and Roselia were helping hold the line, but the stream of ancient Pokémon climbing out of the cavern seemed endless.
Every time Chen Mo's team knocked down several Kabutops and Omastar, more replaced them.
And that wasn't even counting the unevolved Kabuto and Omanyte swarming in even greater numbers.
"This can't go on…"
Chen Mo frowned, noticing Pichu beginning to tire from constant electric output.
The best solution—
was to somehow reseal the crater and stop more ancient Pokémon from emerging.
But the crater was enormous. None of his five Pokémon had the means to block it in a short time.
Just as Chen Mo was running out of ideas—
a pained roar echoed overhead.
The next second—
Aerodactyl plummeted from the sky, crashing down beside the crater.
At the sight of it, the once-frenzied ancient Pokémon froze.
Fear filled their faces.
One by one—
they retreated back into the depths of the underground cavern.
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