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In truth, Ariados really wanted to shake its head and say "no."
However, when it saw that Sato was holding a bag of high-grade Bug-type Pokémon food of the same brand as before—and caught sight of the menacing glare in Arcanine's eyes behind Sato—its head froze mid-shake. Then, it quickly nodded.
Seeing this, Sato smiled in satisfaction. Under Ariados's eager gaze, he opened the packaging of the high-grade Bug-type Pokémon food and promptly rewarded Ariados with the fragrant treat.
This time, Ariados didn't hesitate in the slightest. As soon as Sato handed over the Bug-type Pokémon food, it began eating it with delight.
It ate very slowly this time, savoring every bite, clearly not wanting to devour it all at once like before. As it chewed, a look of bliss spread across its face.
Thanks to two bags of high-grade Bug-type Pokémon food (spicy snacks), Sato had now more or less built a basic bond of friendship with Ariados.
Sato was very pleased with this. He knew that taking the first step was always the hardest, but once it was taken, the rest would follow more easily.
"Very good. Ariados, return to your PokeBall and rest for now. I'll call on you when I need you."
Once Ariados had eaten every last bit of the food, Sato held up the PokeBall and spoke. As soon as he finished, he recalled Ariados—whose injuries were now mostly healed—back into the PokeBall.
As for this Bug/Poison-type Pokémon, Sato was actually quite satisfied.
Ariados naturally knew the powerful stat-boosting move Swords Dance, which made it a formidable Pokémon in the early and mid-stages of a journey—even if its base stats weren't high.
As long as Ariados had the chance to pull off a Swords Dance, and combined it with its web-based combat style, few Pokémon—not counting Fire-types or Pokémon with Fire-type moves—could compete with it.
In fact, the main reason Sato had managed to escape the highly dangerous Spider Forest so easily was largely because the Spinarak species had a critical weakness: they feared fire.
Ariados's webs—both sticky and resilient—were incredibly useful in the perilous forest. As long as they weren't burned by fire, they could be used for hunting, laying traps, defense, and even ambushes.
But what pleased Sato most about Ariados was its Ability: Insomnia. As the name implied, this meant Ariados could never fall asleep.
In the games, this Ability was considered fairly useless—aside from countering sleep-based Pokémon like Darkrai, it didn't serve much purpose.
But in the real world—especially in the wild—this Ability was incredibly valuable. Pokémon with this trait were typically extremely energetic and capable of recovering stamina quickly, even without sleep.
A Pokémon that didn't need to sleep in the wild was incredibly rare. It made Ariados the perfect candidate for night watch, capable of staying alert 24/7 without issue.
In Sato's plans, Ariados's main role would be to serve as his nighttime sentry.
All Ariados needed to do was spin an intricate web near Sato's sleeping area. With its Insomnia Ability, even the slightest disturbance in the night would not escape its notice.
The mysterious island was already teeming with danger during the day—at night, that danger only intensified. Numerous nocturnal, dangerous Pokémon would begin to emerge.
What worried Sato most was that—for reasons unknown—the Pokémon on this island held a deep hostility toward him as an outsider. Without a vigilant, energetic Pokémon to keep watch, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.
As for why he didn't choose Arcanine to be his night guard? That was simple—Arcanine was his only powerful Pokémon right now. If he spent his nights on guard duty, he wouldn't have the energy to fight during the day.
Taking this into consideration, Sato would never assign Arcanine night patrol duty. As his main battler, Arcanine needed full rest.
After drinking a few mouthfuls of cooled water from his solar kettle, Sato rested on the spot for another half hour. Once Arcanine had recovered most of his stamina, Sato got up and set off again with him.
It was already after 4 PM, and in a little over two hours, the sun would set. Before that, he had to find a temporary shelter that could serve as his dwelling for the night—and gather enough food for both himself and Arcanine.
Arcanine was a large Pokémon now, and his appetite had grown accordingly. Among Sato's Pokémon, he was second only to Swampert in how much he could eat.
A suitable shelter had to meet three criteria: concealment, proximity to a water source, and ease of escape.
Following these principles, Sato began searching through the Slaking Forest. Before long, he found an ideal location—a small hill near a stream.
On the leeward side of the hill, there was a cave clearly expanded by human hands. Judging by the numerous Ursaring footprints on the ground and claw marks on the trees nearby, it currently belonged to a powerful Ursaring.
Moreover, judging from how local wild Pokémon timidly left berries and fruit at the cave's entrance, it was clear this Ursaring was the tyrant of the area, with no small amount of strength.
As Sato had expected from his observations, the cave's owner was indeed a powerful and ill-tempered Ursaring—level 44.
As soon as Sato and Arcanine approached the entrance and Arcanine let out a single bark, an angry roar echoed from the cave.
"ROOOAARRR!!"
Soon after, the ground began to tremble. A massive Ursaring—twice the size of a normal one—stormed out of the cave with great momentum.
Standing upright, this Ursaring was over three meters tall, with bulging muscles and battle scars all over his body. The most severe was a cross-shaped scar slashing through the sun pattern on his belly—a clear sign of a battle-hardened warrior.
As the local tyrant, Ursaring was clearly furious at Sato and Arcanine for blocking his cave. As he drew closer, a sly glint appeared in his eyes.
Suddenly, an orange beam of light shot from his mouth—Hyper Beam! Ursaring opened with a surprise full-power move.
Unfortunately for him, Arcanine knew Extreme Speed. Just as the Hyper Beam was about to hit—
The flames on Arcanine's legs surged, and with lightning-fast movement, he vanished with Sato in tow—easily dodging the ambush.
Hyper Beam was a powerful move for Ursaring, whose type aligned with the attack. Its destructive force was overwhelming.
The golden beam tore through a nearby tree in an instant—then pierced through several more behind it—finally crashing into the ground with a deafening explosion.
"Well, since he struck first, we don't need to hold back. Let's end this quickly—use Overheat!"
Seizing the brief moment while Ursaring was immobile after using Hyper Beam, Sato leapt off Arcanine and ran to the side while issuing his command.
At his trainer's words, Arcanine's aura instantly soared to its peak. A white flame burst forth from his body, erupting into a blazing inferno over three meters high.
In the next second, under Ursaring's shocked gaze, a massive white pillar of flame shot from Arcanine's mouth—straight at it.