Although there were plenty of flaws in the plan from an outsider's perspective, for the Gloom leader—who had once been nothing more than an ordinary member of the clan—it was already impressive that he could think this far ahead.
"Ha na Ha na"
After making up his mind, the Gloom leader loudly ordered his clansmen to gather together and quietly wait for the enemy's arrival.
"Duo suo~"
"Ma na~"
"Ma na~"
The other clan members didn't think too deeply about it. They simply obeyed the leader's command and quickly gathered together.
At the same time, Pidgeotto and Houndour also noticed the movement and immediately reported it to Icarus.
"Since they've all gathered together, that saves us the trouble of hunting them down one by one."
Instead of feeling nervous, Icarus was actually pleased by the news.
Pidgeotto had already confirmed that the enemy leader's energy level had not yet reached the mid-stage. That meant their opponents were merely three low-stage Gloom and fifteen newborn Oddish.
Against enemies of that level, the three Pokémon were fully confident they could wipe them out completely.
"Sha sha sha~"
With a wave of his hand, Icarus led his three Pokémon toward the center of the area.
Soon enough, they spotted over a dozen Pokémon gathered together on the grassy field.
"Pidgeotto, charge in directly. Use Twister first, then immediately follow up with Gust.
Houndour, you do the same. Add Ember into the Twister to strengthen it. If you see any Pokémon being pinned down, finish them off with another Ember. Got it?"
Icarus calmly laid out the ambush plan.
He wasn't stupid. If he could launch a sneak attack before the enemy discovered them, why would he walk out openly and challenge them head-on?
"Bip bip~"
Pidgeotto nodded confidently, signaling he was ready.
"Woof woof Woof"
Houndour barked excitedly, flames already flickering around its mouth.
"Moo? Moo moo?"
Meanwhile, Weepinbell tilted its head in confusion, asking what its role was supposed to be.
"Weepinbell, you're responsible for defense. Rush forward while they're attacking and block anything aimed at Houndour. Use your vines to catch any Pokémon that try to escape."
Seeing Weepinbell's confused look, Icarus smiled and patted its head while explaining its task.
"Moo moo~ (???_???)"
Weepinbell waved its leaf-arms enthusiastically, indicating there was no problem.
"Then let's begin. Move out!"
Seeing that all three Pokémon understood their roles, Icarus immediately gave the order.
"Bip! Huhu~"
Pidgeotto was the first to move. Activating Quick Attack, it shot straight into the sky above the Gloom group before violently flapping its wings.
"Duo suo!"
"Ma na~"
"Ha na~"
Caught completely off guard, the Oddish clan was instantly suppressed by the violent winds. Several weaker Oddish were even swept directly into the air by the Twister.
"Woof woof Hu Huhu~"
Houndour also rushed forward and immediately fired Ember into the spinning wind current.
"Shua Zizi"
The ordinary Twister instantly transformed into a blazing fire tornado, trapping one of the Gloom inside.
"Ha na~ Na!"
Already struggling against the Twister, the additional Fire-type energy pushed the Gloom past its limit, causing it to scream in agony.
"Woof woof Huhu Hu~"
Houndour also remembered Icarus's other command.
After empowering the Twister, it immediately targeted the Oddish pinned down by Gust, firing Ember after Ember at them.
"Puchi Zizi"
"Zi Zi"
"Duo!"
"Ma na~ (? _? )"
In only a short moment, seven or eight Oddish had already collapsed onto the ground, their bodies charred black.
At that point, the first wave of the ambush finally came to an end.
Only three low-stage Gloom and six newborn Oddish still retained combat ability.
"Ha na!"
The Gloom leader never imagined the enemy would be this cunning—capable of flying and launching such a sudden sneak attack.
What shocked him even more was that both enemies possessed attacks that were super effective against them.
In just a single exchange, nearly half their forces had already been wiped out.
"Ha na~ Wa!"
But there was no time to dwell on it.
The moment he regained his bearings, the Gloom leader immediately ordered all remaining clan members to attack the dog with Acid.
The bird flying in the sky was too far away, and their attacks might not even hit it. It was far more practical to focus on the equally dangerous Houndour first.
To be fair, the Gloom leader really did possess some tactical awareness.
The instant the order was given, over ten streams of Acid shot toward Houndour simultaneously.
"Moo moo!"
At that moment, the rushing Weepinbell was still one step too late to fully shield Houndour, causing it to cry out anxiously.
"Poison Bullet Barrage!"
Fortunately, Icarus's command rang out from behind just in time.
"Moo moo! Xiuxiu~"
After hearing the command, Weepinbell immediately calmed itself and unleashed its newly learned move.
One poisonous bullet after another shot through the air.
"Bang bang bang Bang bang"
Having specifically trained for precision, Weepinbell accurately detonated several streams of Acid midair.
"Woof woof Woof woof"
As for the remaining attacks, Houndour easily dodged them.
Dodging more than ten attacks at once might have been difficult—but only three? For an agile canine Pokémon like Houndour, that was no problem at all.
"Pidgeotto, Houndour, continue attacking!"
After successfully avoiding the assault, Icarus immediately ordered Pidgeotto to continue suppressing them with Flying-type moves so Houndour could finish them off more easily.
"Bip Huhu"
Pidgeotto flapped its wings again, though it was visibly more tired now. The power behind this Gust was noticeably weaker than before.
After all, it had already used several moves in rapid succession to launch the ambush.
"Ha na! Ha na!"
"Ma na~"
Even though the attack was weaker than before, the number of remaining defenders had also decreased dramatically.
To them, the pressure still felt overwhelming.
"Ha na Ha"
The three Gloom suddenly stepped in front of the surviving Oddish, gritting their teeth as they ordered the younger Pokémon to flee.
At the very least, they had to preserve a spark of hope for the clan.
They couldn't allow their branch to be completely exterminated because of the leader's mistake.
"Woof woof Huhu"
Seeing the three Gloom gathered together, Houndour's eyes lit up.
It immediately unleashed three consecutive Embers.
As for the escaping Oddish, it trusted Weepinbell to deal with them.
"Xiuxiu~"
A barrage of Seed Machine Gun shots instantly rained down upon the fleeing Oddish.
"Bang bang bang~"
The seeds struck with tremendous force, accurately smashing into the running Pokémon.
"Duo suo~"
"Ma na!"
Several Oddish were blasted straight to the ground, and some immediately lost consciousness from the heavy injuries.
"Pa pa! Pa pa!"
Weepinbell didn't give them any chance to recover.
Its thorn-covered Poison Whips lashed down immediately afterward, knocking out the few remaining conscious Oddish.
In only a few moments, all six fleeing Oddish had been dragged back by Weepinbell before they could even escape properly.
"Ha na Ha"
Meanwhile, only the Gloom leader was still barely standing.
However, he was already at the end of his strength.
Although he was stronger than the other two Gloom, he still remained within the low-stage range.
By the time the other two had already collapsed, he only had a sliver of energy left.
"Pidgeotto, finish it with Gust!"
Icarus had no intention of showing mercy.
Seeing that Weepinbell had already dealt with the escaping Oddish, he immediately ordered Pidgeotto to end the battle.
"Bip Huhu"
Pidgeotto flapped its wings one final time, unleashing a powerful gust of Flying-type energy directly at the Gloom leader.
"Ha na~"
This time, the Gloom leader didn't resist.
He already knew he could no longer block the attack.
At the very last moment before losing consciousness, he looked back longingly at the remaining members of his clan.
"If only I hadn't been greedy… if only I had chosen to retreat… could the clan have survived?"
Unfortunately, there were no "what ifs."
"Finally done. Same as before—you three stand guard while I clean up."
Unlike the defeated Gloom leader, Icarus felt no sentimental attachment.
After instructing his Pokémon, he immediately took out his Poké Balls and began capturing the fallen Oddish.
After all, anything with decent aptitude could still be sold for good money.