"Para—la hiss—!"
Seeing their two companions go down, the remaining Paras charged forward in anger, raising their claws to tear apart Weepinbell.
But the moment they moved, both froze.
Pain.
They looked down—only to realize their claws had already been scratched by the poison thorns earlier. Combined with the poison powder they had inhaled…
The toxin had already spread deep into their bodies.
Weepinbell's poison had grown far stronger after evolving. On top of that, it had absorbed a high-quality Poison-type energy crystal recently. Its toxicity was now comparable to that of dedicated Poison-type Pokémon.
Still, the two Paras didn't retreat.
They knew they couldn't outrun their enemies anyway.
"Shu-sha—!"
A large amount of Spore burst out from the mushrooms on their backs, drifting toward Weepinbell and Houndour.
If we can't win… then we'll drag you down with us!
If it were just Weepinbell alone, this might've worked.
But unfortunately—
They were facing a team.
"Woof! Huu—!"
Houndour stepped forward and spat out two bursts of Ember, instantly burning away the incoming spores.
Crackle—!
The spores turned to ash mid-air.
The Paras were stunned.
Their spores—normally unstoppable—had just been completely countered.
"Moo!"
Weepinbell didn't hesitate.
Two Vine Whips, covered in poison thorns, shot out instantly—binding both Paras tightly.
"Gulp—!"
It followed up with two blobs of Acid, landing directly on their bodies.
"SSSS—!"
The Paras screamed as their bodies were corroded.
And then—
"Woof—!"
Houndour added two more Embers.
"Para—!!"
Under the combined assault of poison and fire, the two Paras collapsed.
After dealing with them, Weepinbell and Houndour rushed to support Airi.
On her side—
The battle was going badly.
Her Poliwhirl, being a pure Water-type, was heavily restricted against the Grass-type Paras.
Even with Shitou's Graveler assisting, they were barely holding on.
"Huff… this isn't working…"
Airi was already running low on energy, directing her injured Poliwhirl.
Meanwhile, the two Paras were getting more aggressive.
"Para!"
They lashed out continuously with Fury Cutter, forcing Poliwhirl into a defensive state.
"Yo—bo!"
Poliwhirl cried out in pain after taking multiple hits.
"Graveler! Go help!"
Shitou quickly redirected Graveler.
"Gravel—!"
Graveler rolled forward—
Bang!
—but one Paras blocked it mid-roll using continuous Fury Cutter strikes, stopping its momentum.
Then—
It used Absorb.
Green energy wrapped around Graveler, draining its power.
"Gravel—!"
Graveler cried out in pain as its energy was siphoned away.
The Paras, however, visibly recovered.
At the same time—
The second Paras rushed in from behind, claws glowing.
Airi's face went pale.
We're too weak…
"Moo!!"
Suddenly—
Weepinbell's cry rang out.
Crack!
Two poisoned vines slammed into the Paras, knocking it away.
"Woof—!"
Houndour followed with Ember, hitting the second Paras directly.
"Para—!"
It dropped instantly.
The other Paras didn't last much longer.
Weepinbell bound it again and used Absorb, draining the rest of its strength.
Soon—
It collapsed.
"Moo…"
Weepinbell walked over and handed Airi a large water bottle.
Airi smiled faintly.
"Thank you… Weepinbell… and you too, Houndour."
She immediately began treating Poliwhirl.
"Poliwhirl, absorb this."
She poured water over it while channeling her own energy to convert it into usable Water-type power.
"Yo—bo…"
Poliwhirl let out a relieved cry as it recovered.
Nearby, Shitou treated Graveler with some medicine and iron ore.
It recovered quickly.
At that moment—
Pidgeotto returned, dropping the defeated Parasect nearby.
"Looks like it's done."
Icarus walked over.
"Good job. Shitou, let's split the materials. Airi, keep focusing on recovery—you had the hardest matchup."
Airi hesitated, then spoke quietly:
"…Icarus… am I too weak?"
"I got completely suppressed… If you hadn't helped… Shitou would've been dragged down too…"
Icarus shook his head.
"No. That's not it."
"Think about it—back in the Diglett cave, your Poliwhirl dominated everything, right?"
"It's the same principle."
"You're a pure Water-type. Against Grass-types, you're naturally at a disadvantage."
"This outcome was expected."
He paused, then added:
"You just need better coverage."
Airi nodded slowly.
"…I was thinking the same."
"I want Poliwhirl to learn an Ice-type move."
Icarus considered it, then said:
"I'd recommend Icy Wind."
"It's around mid-range in cost, and more importantly—it opens possibilities."
"If you expand its range, it could become Blizzard."
"If you compress it, it could evolve into Ice Beam."
Airi's eyes lit up.
"That actually makes way more sense than Ice Punch…"
Icarus nodded.
"Ice Punch is strong, but it forces close combat."
"And against Grass-types? That's exactly where you don't want to be."
"Ranged control is safer—and more useful for you right now."
Airi didn't hesitate.
"I'll go with Icy Wind."
"Good."
Icarus stood up.
"Once Poliwhirl recovers, we move again."
Airi quickly finished treatment.
"Sorry for the delay!"
Icarus waved it off.
"Just be ready next time."
The team regrouped—
and prepared to continue deeper into the forest.