...

Birds chirping can be heard echoing through the woods. The loud cheers had died down long ago, anticipating the battle would begin soon.

Everyone is staring at the two figures in the middle of the clearing with bated breath.

Occasionally, the wind blows through the trees rustling the leaves.

A single leaf torn by the wind flew around the surroundings before finally landing on the ground.

That was the starting point.

Both Pokemon rushed towards the middle of the field and slammed into each other until Pidgey's body was pushed back by Patrat's force.

It was clear to everyone that Pidgey did not have the upper hand in the contest of strength between the two Pokemon.

'This is bad. I have to think of something quick.'

"Pidgey! Go to the sky!" Falkner shouted towards the field after being flustered, seeing Pidgey struggling to hold on to Patrat's body.

"Pek!" Following its trainer's voice, Pidgey relaxed its frame, letting Patrat's attack through its blockade before using it as leverage to fly in the air.

Patrat's figure plunged on the ground after missing its hit on Pidgey. But, it nimbly rolled over and quickly stood up, not giving the enemy an opportunity for a sneak attack while observing its opponent flying in the air.

'Great! We have the advantage now,' Falkner thought in his mind.

"Nice job Pidgey! Now, we must keep the pressure on it."

He cheered while commanding his Pokemon to attack the opponent from the sky.

Also, he mainly kept his instruction neat and straightforward because he feared that Pidgey might misunderstand his order and confuse itself.

Pidgey kept taking many sharp turns while flying in the air, trying to disorientate its enemy below.

After trying to keep up with the erratic flight of Pidgey and falling, it gave up and ran toward the surrounding trees for better cover.

Seeing this opening, Pidgey managed to land a few hits on Patrat's running figure.

Unfortunately, it managed to hide behind a big tree, losing the opportunity to weaken its enemy further.

"It's okay, Pidgey! Don't fret over it. We'll do it slow and steady."

Falkner rallied his partner's spirit after seeing its regretful expression failing to deliver the winning blow.

...

"Huh!"

"Huh!"

A few minutes had passed, both Pokemon were nearly out of breath and at the end of their deadlock.

Although Pidgey has a slight advantage due to it flying in the air, taking less damage during their exchange, Patrat suffered more injuries despite being stronger.

"Chee..."

The other Patrats watched the ongoing battle worriedly except for their leader sitting in the front.

...

"Pokemon Speech"

"You lazy piece of shit! We still don't know the final result. Now, get back to work! Let's cheer for our comrade on the battlefield."

The Patrat leader scolded its underlings and urged them to cheer for their teammate.

Hearing their leader's angry reminder, they increased the sound of their cheering to encourage their member on the field.

"Don't give up, bro!"

"You can do this!"

It nodded satisfyingly after hearing its follower's loud encouragement.

...

Back to the scene

Pidgey had just returned to the air after managing to land a direct hit on Patrat once again.

Although its feathers look a little bit ruffled with a few scars here and there due to Patrat's quick counter during their clash, overall, it still has a lot of strength to continue the fight.

On the contrary, Patrat is in bad shape at the moment. Its body is riddled with multiple injuries after being battered by its opponent.

Still, it deserves worthy applause for being able to stand its ground until now. But, if you look closely at its eyes, there's still some fight left in them despite standing on its last leg.

"Let's in this now, Pidgey! Use tackle!" Falkner said excitedly, seeing they were about to win the battle.

"Pek!"

Next, Pidgey dived from the air towards Patrat, who was standing near the tree with

Bang!

In everyone's astounded expression, Patrat succeeded in blocking Pidgey's blow and landed a counterpunch, staggering it.

But, before Pidgey could relieve itself and escape the proximity, it was struck by a malice intent, feeling flustered.

'Leer! Perfect timing too.' Edward thought, impressed with the opposing Patrat.

A red tint appeared on Patrat's eyes, making everyone who saw it tremble with fear.

After that, Patrat dealt the finishing blow with an uppercut to Pidgey's head following its previous moves.

Pidgey flew in the air momentarily as a consequence of Patrat's attack before falling on the ground unconscious.

One second, two seconds... ten seconds.

Referee: Pidgey has lost the ability to fight. The winner is Patrat from the Patrat tribe of the lake region.

(Where did that referee come from!)

Finally, a loud cheer went through the clearing, and several few Patrats went into the field to lift their winner up in the air.

"Chee!"

"Chee!"

...

"Pidgey!"

In the midst of the cheering, Falkner ran towards the figure of Pidgey, who was still not waking up after a few seconds had passed.

'Phew! It looks like Pidgey only fainted temporarily.'

He sighed in relief after carefully checking his companion's condition.

"How is it? It's rather thrilling, isn't it?"

Edward asked after seeing Falkner had finished his Pokemon's physical examination.

He doesn't know anything about nursing Pokemon back to health. You can say he has zero experience in this study.

If it weren't for Rosa to take over this role as a temporary medic, they might be in a quandary right now.

Thus, he is more assured to let Falkner inspect his Pokemon than himself as he is an ornithologist(bird-watcher) while he is just your friendly neighborhood spiderman! Where did that come from?

Edward shook his head,

Basically, he is just your typical 21st-century geek orphan transmigrated into an occasional outdoor enthusiast that got lucky. It is only with the system's help that he would be able to get this far ahead of the other contestants.

Though, he remembered seeing Nurse Joy's basic Pokemon care guide in the store. It might be helpful in the future if he has the points to spare.

'A matter that I need to look at in the future,' Edward jotted down in his mind.

"Yeah, it was. But, we still lost the battle," Falkner replied dejectedly.

"Well, it is still a beneficial experience, right? Come on, let's head back to the camp." Edward patted his shoulder and went past him to meet the Patrat's leader, who was beaming with pride.

Coming to a stop in front of them, Edward took out the wager as promised and handed it to the leader.

It took the bag and nodded affirmingly after checking the content inside.

Lastly, they both shook each other's hands and left towards their respective destination.

...

[Falkner and Pidgey still did a great job tho, even though they lost.]

[Man, that chipmunk hit like Muhammad Ali, did you see that?]

[I love the finishing blow, that red eyes. It feels like I was watching Uchiha Madara's fight again.]

[Let's call this creature Patrat! Ps: I'm Edward.]

Everyone else on the live stream discussed the battle just now, while many researchers are taking notes behind the scenes.

...

In a big tunnel near the woodland, a loud cheer reverberated throughout the surroundings startling many other inhabitants. For the sake of their sanity, they decided to steer clear of Patrat's territory today.

'Looks like those crazy-eyed chipmunks are at it again today. Ha...' Many of them thought inside their minds.

"Brothers, sisters! Tonight we party! Yeah. Bring out the nuts!"

The diminutive leader called out to his fellow chipmunks.

"Chee!"

...

"Hey, Beautifly? Do you think I need to tame a beast like Edward and Falkner?"

Rosa asked in a small voice while picking up the scattered firewood from the ground.

She decided to stroll near the periphery of the woods while collecting some firewood after seeing that it was running out.

In addition, Beautifly tagged along as her escort while Timburr was back at the camp, staying guard.

"Bree?" It replied confusedly.

"I mean, both Edward and Falkner have tamed creatures like you, Torchic, Pidgey, Timburr, and... and I that I am the most useless one in the group. Do you think I should try to tame one?"

"Bree... Bree!" It was hesitant for a moment and then replied affirmatively.

"Really! Do you think so? But I'm still a little scared of them. Uh, I didn't mean..."

Before Rosa could finished her words, they suddenly heard a strange sound.

"Slither~" (Lol, I do not know what a slithering snake sounds like)

"Slither~"

Both halted their tracks and looked at the slithering sound coming from behind a thicket just a few meters ahead of them.

They both looked at each other and nodded in a silent agreement. After that, they carefully sneak inside while keeping a lookout for any threats.

To their surprise, they saw a half-meter tall egg resting quietly inside a small opening of a tree.

While finding this egg should be a momentous joy for everyone here, including the viewers and researchers behind the scenes, it is still in a dangerous situation.

Why? Because in the corner of their eyes, they saw a snake is slithering towards it.