Lin Fan glanced at Ekans, then raised his hand and released Weedle.
There was no referee in this informal battle; the moment both Pokémon were on the field, it signaled the start of the fight.
"Poison Sting!"
Liu Shi launched a direct preemptive strike, and Ekans sprayed countless tiny white Poison Sting from its mouth, cutting through the air with a series of "hissing" sounds as they swiftly shot towards Weedle.
As expected of a seasoned Trainer, the power and quantity of these Poison Sting were vastly different from Nidoran♂'s yesterday.
Lin Fan's gaze sharpened: "Weedle, use Poison Sting too!"
Yesterday, Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ were too weak compared to Weedle, allowing it to take the hits with its body, but facing Ekans's move, it needed to use Poison Sting to block.
Weedle's agile figure leaped backward, its head's Poison Sting continuously colliding with the incoming Poison Sting, and by the time it landed, it had perfectly deflected all the Poison Sting, which then dissipated into Poison-type energy.
Liu Shi was silent for a moment; no wonder his younger brother lost so badly. Who would have thought that a newcomer who just received their first Pokémon could train a Weedle, which was considered common, to such an extent?
"Charge forward, use Wrap!"
Ekans flicked its tongue, rapidly approaching Weedle.
If it got entangled, the outcome of this battle would already be decided.
"Want to Wrap me up? String Shot, Wrap it!"
As Lin Fan's voice rang out, Weedle took a deep breath and suddenly sprayed a pure white Silk Thread, coiling towards Ekans.
After a week of dietary conditioning, Weedle's Silk Thread had indeed improved significantly; it was no longer so easily torn.
Ekans originally intended to use its speed to bypass the Silk Thread, but it didn't expect that as Weedle's body rotated, the Silk Thread also spun with it, following Ekans like a shadow.
"That's something. Ignore the Silk Thread; directly attack Weedle with Poison Sting!"
Liu Shi's battle experience was very rich; he immediately determined the best course of action.
Lin Fan frowned: "Block it."
Weedle gave up String Shot and continued to use the Poison Sting on its head to block the incoming Poison Sting, just like the initial probing exchange. The difference was that the distance between Ekans and Weedle had significantly closed.
Weedle could unleash its strongest combat power only in close quarters, and wasn't Ekans the same?
"Weedle, how do you feel?"
Lin Fan spoke, and Weedle turned back, savoring the moment, then nodded to Lin Fan.
"Woo!"
Soon!
Seeing this, Lin Fan's eyes flickered. After a brief thought, he commanded: "Continue to use String Shot, try to entangle Ekans."
Liu Shi frowned, not understanding Lin Fan's intention in doing this. He could only brainstorm while cautiously speaking: "Continue to use Poison Sting to pressure Weedle."
The situation on the field returned to how it was just now, but Ekans had also used this opportunity to close some distance to Weedle. The distance between the two was now sufficient for them to unleash their most proficient moves.
"Ekans, Wrap!"
"Weedle, Bug Bite!"
The two commands were given almost simultaneously, and the two Pokémon rushed towards each other without hesitation, their bodies surging with intense energy fluctuations.
Ekans, relying on its slender body, directly blocked all of Weedle's Escape (characteristic) routes, powerfully wrapping it in its embrace and tightening its grip, continuously squeezing Weedle's body.
Weedle retaliated, opening its mouth wide and fiercely biting Ekans's body.
Although Poison-type resists Bug-type, Weedle's full-power Bug Bite still inflicted significant damage on Ekans, causing it to cry out in pain and instinctively loosen its grip on Weedle.
But before Weedle could get away, the enraged Ekans opened its gaping maw, its mouth wreathed in dense Poison-type energy, and bit towards Weedle.
Guided by instinct, Ekans subconsciously used its most practiced and proficient move.
"It inherited Toxic Spikes?"
Lin Fan's gaze sharpened, and just as he was about to command Weedle to react, he suddenly noticed something amiss with the latter.
Weedle's body was taut, as if all its muscles were tensed, and its originally earthy yellow body seemed to be tinged with an almost imperceptible purple hue, with energy building up inside it, ready to be unleashed.
Hiss! Hiss!
A series of sounds slicing through the air rang out, and countless dark purple Poison Sting madly shot towards Ekans's mouth, precisely hitting Ekans and colliding with the latter's Toxic Spikes.
Lin Fan was overjoyed.
Finally! Weedle could finally control the Poison-type energy within its body!
But why was the color of this Poison Sting dark purple? Wasn't it usually white?
Just as Lin Fan was wondering, Ekans suddenly let out a "hissing" scream of agony, its mouth glowing with a dense purple aura. Its Toxic Spikes, which had been ready to unleash, had already been canceled, leaving only Ekans's panicked expression.
Lin Fan's expression slightly froze.
This scene felt somewhat familiar.
If he wasn't mistaken...
Ekans, a Poison-type Pokémon, was poisoned?
He glanced at Weedle, and the little fellow looked back at Lin Fan, its face full of innocence.
It wasn't its fault; it didn't know what happened either.
On the field, Ekans was writhing wildly. As a Poison-type Pokémon, it had never known what a "poisoned state" was, and naturally, it had never experienced this unique sensation.
The Poison-type energy within its body gradually became chaotic, and the strange feeling rising from its mouth gradually spread throughout its body, continuously weakening it.
Liu Shi's expression changed. Ignoring the ongoing battle, he quickly ran to Ekans to check its condition.
Experience told him that Ekans was poisoned, but it was also experience that made him completely unable to believe this scene. What kind of Poison-type Pokémon would get poisoned?!
"Use this."
Lin Fan walked to Liu Shi's side and handed him a bottle of antidote spray.
Liu Shi was silent for a moment, then took it and sprayed it on Ekans: "Thanks. You won, Weedle is very strong."
Under the effect of the antidote spray, Ekans gradually recovered its spirits, but it somewhat nervously shrank behind Liu Shi, a hint of fear deep in its eyes, uneasily staring at Weedle.
That feeling, it never wanted to experience a second time in its life.
This Weedle was definitely poisonous! And it was a potent poison!
Liu Shi recalled Ekans into its Poké Ball, then deeply looked at Lin Fan and Weedle beside him, wondering what he was thinking. In the end, he just silently led his stunned younger brother away, hurrying towards the Pokémon Center.
Lin Fan watched the two leave, then picked up Weedle, looking left and right with a bewildered expression, unable to see anything unusual.
The Poison Sting on its head was still as pure white as jade; apart from being sharp, it seemed to have no other special qualities.
"Let me think carefully... Just now, Weedle's Poison Sting and Ekans's Toxic Spikes must have collided, causing a special energy conflict. Originally, Ekans's Poison-type energy was greatly concentrated in its mouth, but after being hit by Weedle's suspicious Poison Sting, it seemed to trigger some inexplicable change, leading to a small-scale rampage of the Poison-type energy, which resulted in Ekans being poisoned."
Lin Fan muttered to himself, thinking this was the most reasonable explanation.
The nurse had said that Weedle's poison was a bit special, and Lin Fan hadn't been clear on how special it was. Now, he completely understood.
It had transformed from poisoning itself to poisoning other Poison-type Pokémon. Goodness, was the next step going to be poisoning Steel-type Pokémon too?
After a moment of contemplation, Lin Fan spoke: "Weedle, use Poison Sting again."
Hearing Lin Fan's command, Weedle slightly charged up and quickly fired several light purple Poison Sting, which landed on the ground with a chilling "hissing" sound, corroding a small patch of the stone ground.
"The color has faded?" Lin Fan frowned, but then he suddenly understood.
This current Poison Sting should be Weedle's normal state. The dark purple Poison Sting earlier was because the Poison-type energy within Weedle's body had found an outlet for the first time, gathering in a rush, leading to an unprecedentedly strong toxicity, even causing Ekans to be poisoned.
However, even if the toxicity of Weedle's Poison Sting was reduced in its normal state, if Weedle's poison was strengthened later, there would still be a chance to reach the same intensity as during the battle against Ekans.
While Lin Fan was deep in thought, Weedle at his feet suddenly squirmed uneasily. Its muscles seemed to have a subtle tendency to harden, though it wasn't particularly obvious.
"Is this... it's going to evolve?"