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Chapter 179: An Unexpected Harvest
🕑 Added 2025-09-04 13:43:15 +0000 UTCChapter 179: An Unexpected Harvest
The Ursaring ran for its life, panting heavily, its vision swimming with stars. That final Earthquake from Excadrill had done a number on it. It was only sheer willpower that was keeping it from collapsing. After a few more steps, it glanced back. Seeing that Basalt and his Pokémon weren't following, it let out a huge sigh of relief and began to make its way back to its lair.
But it didn't realize that Basalt had been tailing it from a distance the whole time. The Ursaring, as a Normal-type, had no special affinity for the ground. Excadrill, on the other hand, was a master. It could track the faintest vibrations, allowing it to follow its target without being detected.
After about ten minutes, Excadrill suddenly stopped and let out a low cry. "Excaaa~"
"It stopped?" Basalt asked.
Excadrill nodded.
"Hehe, then let's give it a big surprise," Basalt said with a playful smile.
The lair was a large cave, about three meters in diameter, its interior shrouded in darkness.
BOOM!
A flash of silver light from Bronzor's Flash Cannon slammed into the cave entrance, sending rocks flying.
"ROAR!"
The Ursaring, which had just collapsed in a heap inside, roared in fury. Who the hell has the audacity to disturb my rest?
But when it dragged its weary body to the entrance and saw Basalt and his two Pokémon, its entire world came crashing down. Its worst fear had come true. The great demon Basalt had followed it home. The once-mighty Ursaring cowered, its first instinct to run.
"Teddi~ Teddi~" Just then, a small, childish voice, filled with curiosity, came from within the cave.
The Ursaring's face fell. It wanted to attack, but it was terrified of Excadrill's power.
From the darkness of the cave, a small, teddy-bear-like Pokémon with a crescent-shaped white mark on its forehead and a small, round tail emerged.
"A Teddiursa?" Basalt wasn't too surprised. It was perfectly normal for an adult Ursaring to be raising a cub.
"Teddi~" The Teddiursa stood by the cave wall, its paw in its mouth, looking at Basalt with a cute, timid expression.
"You still want to fight?" Basalt asked, tilting his head. Bronzor translated.
"Rooar~ Rooar~" All of the Ursaring's previous arrogance was gone. It pleaded with them, hoping they wouldn't harm its child.
"That depends on whether I'm satisfied with what I find today," Basalt said with a grin. He and Excadrill stepped into the cave. "If you don't want anything to happen to your cub, you'll stay out here. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next."
Bronzor then used its psychic power to gently lift the Teddiursa and carry it inside, leaving the Ursaring frozen at the entrance, too afraid to move.
"Good," Basalt said. He and Excadrill waited by the entrance for a moment, and seeing that the Ursaring wasn't going to follow, they proceeded deeper into the cave.
"Alright, little guy, show me around," Basalt said, patting the Teddiursa's furry head. The little bear, completely unaware that this was the same human who had just beaten up its mother, happily led him into the depths of the cave.
About twenty meters in, they reached the end. Bronzor's Flash illuminated a rock platform covered with a thick bed of hay and dry leaves. On top of the makeshift bed was a mountain of colorful berries of all shapes and sizes.
Basalt picked up a few from the edge of the pile. An Oran Berry, a Pecha Berry, and a few common, non-medicinal berries. He quickly lost interest.
He dug through the pile, but found nothing of value. "Sigh. An Ursaring's hoard is pretty disappointing. All it collects is food. Now, if this were a Garchomp's lair, there'd be at least a few gems and treasures," he said, a little disappointed.
"Teddi~ Teddi~" Seeing his expression, the Teddiursa ran to a small crevice at the edge of the platform and pulled out a ten-centimeter-long, bright pink, cocoa-bean-shaped fruit, and offered it to Basalt.
"Teddiursa says this one is very sweet and delicious, and wants you to try it," Bronzor translated.
But the moment Basalt saw the pink fruit, his eyes went wide. "Is this... an Occa Berry?"
"An Occa Berry?"
"That's right. It's an extremely rare berry. It reduces the damage from a super-effective Fire-type attack," Basalt explained.
"It reduces Fire-type damage?" Bronzor was shocked. As a Steel-type, Fire was one of its greatest weaknesses.
"Wait a second," it thought, "my Fire resistance is already pretty good." Ever since it had consumed the "mysterious metal" Basalt had given it, its resistance to fire had increased dramatically. "Oh, never mind then."
"This is for Excadrill," Basalt said, feeding the berry to his partner.
"Exca?" Excadrill was confused, but it swallowed the berry. A look of surprise spread across its face as the berry's effect took hold.
"Little guy, are there any more of these?" Basalt asked, his voice softening as he patted the Teddiursa's head.
"Teddi~ Teddi~" The Teddiursa nodded and pulled another Occa Berry from the crevice. But this time, it was about to pop it into its own mouth.
"You're not weak to Fire. That would be a waste," Basalt said, snatching the berry from its paw.
"Waaaaah!" The Teddiursa burst into tears.
"Crying won't get it back," Basalt said, his will firm.
And just as quickly, the Teddiursa stopped crying. It had realized its tears were having no effect.
"Fake crying?" Basalt thought, flicking the little bear on the forehead.
"Any more?"
"Teddi~" It shook its head, but Basalt didn't believe it.
"Bronzor, use your psychic power to lift up all these berries. I'm going to check them one by one. And scan the area for any others you might have missed."
To his disappointment, there were no more Occa Berries in the cave.
"Alright, then. Let's go ask the Ursaring where it found them," he said, his eyes gleaming. Two berries were not enough. He would need at least five to significantly boost Excadrill's fire resistance.
BOOM!
"ROOOOAR!"
Suddenly, a violent explosion and the Ursaring's furious roar echoed from outside the cave. A moment later, there was silence.
"What's going on?" Basalt's eyes widened.
"Teddi~ Teddi~" Hearing its mother's cry, the Teddiursa ran for the entrance.
"Hey! There's a Teddiursa here too! Anyone want it?" a young, clear voice called from outside, followed by the sound of the Teddiursa's heartbroken sobs.
"Someone's out there," Basalt's heart clenched. "And more than one."
"Excadrill, eat this," he said, tossing the second Occa Berry to his partner. He didn't have time to wait for the first one to be fully digested.
"Woof! Woof!" The sound of a dog barking came from outside the cave.
"Huh? There's someone else in the cave!" a voice exclaimed in surprise.
