bookbashuk Chapter 399 Water and Fire Cannot Coexist
Chapter 399 Water and Fire Cannot Coexist
Chapter 401 Water and Fire Cannot Coexist
Just as Detective Hugo brought a new direction to the hostage rescue department's investigation, Alice's exploration in the Champion's Path Cave also made a breakthrough.
The Molten Ant Beast's injuries had been healed with medicine, and it was leading the way. However, following Alice was not the Axe Dragon she spent every day with, but the dark and ferocious Three-Headed Dragon.
These dragon-type Pokémon, which inhabit the dark abyss, rely entirely on their sense of smell to perceive the world before evolving into a two-headed Tyrannosaurus Rex. Long-term evolution has made their sense of smell far more acute than human vision, and even after regaining sight after evolution, this talent has not diminished in the slightest—the addition of two extra pairs of nostrils has actually made their sense of smell even more refined.
At this moment, the three-headed dragon was using the faint traces of life remaining in the air to track possible human activity. Suddenly, a deep growl came from its right head.
"Stop," Alice whispered, gesturing to the Molten Ant Beast.
The molten ant immediately stopped, its slender snout pressed against the right rock wall, and spewed out a cluster of flames just enough to illuminate the area.
"Huh, what's this?" The girl frowned slightly.
Under the firelight, what appeared on the ground were neither footprints nor distress marks left by hostages, but a patch of damp moss—which stood out starkly against the dry cave environment.
The flames spewed by the ant-like creature flickered, and it waved its claws in the air, indicating that it had never taken this path before.
"Three-headed dragon, are you sure you can smell the scent of humans who have passed through here?"
Alice touched the moss with her fingers, feeling the dampness on it.
There has been no rain near the Path of Champions during this period. The cave is deep and it is impossible for any creature to have brought it in from the outside. Could this cave be connected to a water source?
The three-headed dragon beside her floated forward, extending its central, brain-equipped head to sniff it once more. Then, its red eyes flashed, and it nodded firmly.
"Alright." Now that things had come to this, the girl no longer hesitated. "If there's a waterway leading to the outside world, the prisoners might have prepared transportation to get there in advance. We must hurry."
She used her phone to send photos of the moss and her current location to Officer Jenny and the others, then patted the orange-yellow patterned back of the ant-like beast: "Lead the way!"
The cave leading to the right was narrow and rugged, so the three-headed dragon could not follow for the time being.
Fortunately, there was only one path, so the pursuit progressed relatively smoothly.
"Be careful!"
Just as they were about to pass through a narrow opening, Alice's ears twitched, and she immediately grabbed the red, smoky tail of the Molten Ant Beast.
The next second, a fierce "water cannon" swept past in front of their path.
"An enemy! It's a Toad King, a combination of Water and Ground types!"
Using the sparks from the startled Antminer's cough, the Dragon-type expert got a clear look at his opponent—this was not a Pokémon commonly seen on the Champion Road, but judging from its moves, its strength was definitely on par with the enemies Iris had faced over the past month.
Judging from the fact that the opponent didn't immediately follow up with an attack after activating the skill, it seems that the Pokémon wasn't acting under the trainer's command. Wild Pokémon, because they are left unattended after battles, are particularly careful with their energy—and that Toad King's actions fit this pattern perfectly.
"Do you know Grass-type moves?" The girl took a few steps back with her Antmon. In the distance, they heard the sound of a huge creature walking on water, and it was getting louder and louder—was there an underground river on the other side of the passage?
Legend has it that Antminer evolved from a herbivorous Pokémon, and with training, its long snout can use Grass-type moves such as "Giga Drain" and "Solar Beam".
However, this wild Pokémon that Iris had just captured had not received any training, and when it heard the trainer's question, it could only shake its head in confusion.
"Damn it, I forgot to bring Excadrill this time because I was specifically training Dragon-type Pokémon. My Red-faced Dragon, which is good at moving in caves, is exhausted from a month of moves, and the other Pokémon are too big to move around in here. If only I hadn't evolved Haxorus!"
Alice checked her Pokémon and finally pulled out a berry from her nearly empty backpack.
She solemnly handed it to the molten ant beast—
"This is a dried fragrant fruit that can withstand one water-type attack. I must defeat that Toad King—the Melting Ant Beast—blocking my path."
Can you lend me a hand?
The toad king's footsteps grew louder and louder. Just as the girl was hesitating whether she should find another way, she saw the fire-attribute spirit she had just tamed suddenly lean out and, with a "poof," suck a dried, fragrant fruit the size of a chess piece into its pointed mouth.
"Whoosh whoosh!" The tongues of flame, burning at high temperatures, danced through the air.
To Alice's astonishment, the Molten Ant Beast resolutely leaped out of the cave entrance, confronting the Toad King, whose attributes were advantageous to it, its figure resembling a red crescent moon.
Battle begins!
"Purgatory!"
Although the incident happened suddenly, Alice's fighting instincts faithfully came into play, allowing the Antmon to use a fire-type move it had used against her the moment it emerged from its cave.
As a powerful Fire-type move with a wide area of effect, "Inferno" has a low accuracy rate, but the close proximity between the two Pokémon negates this disadvantage.
"Gu-ga-wa!"
The blue toad covered in tumors stomps the ground heavily with its webbed paws – a common "earthquake" move!
The Molten Ant Beast had no choice but to take the attack head-on. However, the Toad King was already bound by a layer of will-o'-the-wisps, and the burns greatly reduced its physical attack power.
Alice leaped out of the cave at that moment: "Now! Tie it tight!"
In the darkness, the Molten Ant Beast flicked its tongue of fire, several meters long, firmly restraining its opponent's hands and feet.
The Toad King struggled fiercely, its fleshy tumors throbbing as it mobilized water energy to unleash "Turbid Current".
"It's not time to use the tree fruit yet, 'Hold on!'"
Alice's loud command seemed to have caught the attention of the Toad King, which bypassed the barrier of the Molten Ant and hurled a neurotoxin-laden "dissolving liquid" at the trainers behind it using its tumor-like appendages.
"Ugh—. Flame—Whirlpool!"
In her haste, the girl used her empty backpack as a shield, throwing it in front of her to block the poison-type attack.
At the same time, flames erupted from the Molten Ant Beast, which was entangled with its opponent, and wrapped around the Toad King like a whirlwind.
With "Binding," "Flame Vortex," and the burn status, despite its type disadvantage, this water-type Pokémon is currently being drained of its stamina by three different attacks.
If this were a battle on land, the toad king should have been exhausted by now, given the intense pain and entanglement it was enduring. However, it was standing in the water.
The toad king, which had been croaking incessantly, suddenly fell silent, and the fleshy growths covering its body began to slowly swell.
"It's sucking water! Watch out, Molten Ant!"
Before Alice could finish giving the order, like a bomb exploding, the "Water Cannon" attack, like a towering column of water, swept up from the Toad King's feet and directly struck the Molten Ant Beast that was intertwined with its flesh, then continued to rush towards the top of the cave, creating a brief drizzle in the narrow passage.
"Hold on!" The dragon expert's command came belatedly—no, not really!
As the water splashed down, the Molten Ant Beast wrapped around the Toad King still stared with its dead fish eyes, which had more white than black. The Dried Fruit, which resisted the water-type moves, blocked the initial attack of the "Water Cannon," giving the Molten Ant Beast enough time to use its own moves!
Even now, even though this fire-type Pokémon's stamina is nearing its limit, the effects of "Flame Vortex" and "Binding" continue!
"Quack quack—Goo quack quack quack!"
The Toad King beneath the Molten Ant Beast completely lost its mind, randomly spraying "Mud Shot" upwards, only to be calmly blocked by its opponent's "Protect" move.
Finally, the wild Pokémon went all out and crashed into the rock wall along with the Pokémon on its body. At that moment, the MagnaEagle broke free from its opponent and used a simple Normal-type move, "Slash," to further fuel its self-destructive act.
With a loud bang -
The giant toad, which had crashed into the rock wall, collapsed unconscious.
Meanwhile, its opponent, the Molten Ant Beast, staggered back to Alice's side, sitting exhausted in a pile of muddy rubble, its chimney-like tail emitting wisps of unburned ash, clearly also unable to fight any longer.
"You did a great job." Iris placed a Poké Ball, which would allow the Pokémon to rest peacefully, on the forehead of the Antminer. "That fearless figure was just like a legendary dragon from mythology."
The girl collected her exhausted partner into the goal, ignoring the toad king lying by the water.
The hostage was in imminent danger, and the urgency of the kidnapping meant she couldn't waste any more time—she was preparing to run along the direction the river was flowing to wait!
Just as Alice was about to leave, she suddenly saw a round, hairy creature on the other side of the battlefield.
It looks like a rolling bat—
"That looks like the Toad King's lair. Could it be one of the spirits it captured before?"
Alice hesitated for a few steps forward, turned on her phone screen, and glanced at it with the dim light. In that instant, the girl's expression changed drastically.
Because, right next to that rolling bat, lay the remains of a red and white Poké Ball.
It's the hostage's Poké Ball!