Dustox is a Bug and Poison-type Pokémon, doubly vulnerable to Flying, Rock, Fire, and Psychic-type moves.
Slowpoke and Murkrow can serve as the main Pokémon to attack.
Sneasel and Haunter can assist offensively by restraining the enemies.
As for Skorupi, the level of the Pokémon here is too high for it, so it's not very suitable for it to participate in the battle.
And Miltank isn't quite up to the team's level, so this is a good opportunity to train it a bit more.
...
The next day.
On an unnamed island.
Cain led his Pokémon into Dustox territory.
The Dustox aren't as easy to handle as Beautifly; Cain was attacked as soon as he entered.
Additionally, the Dustox forest is filled with fine dust everywhere. If you accidentally inhale too much, you can become paralyzed, poisoned, or fall asleep.
At that moment, you would become food for the Dustox.
After defeating some Dustox acting as guards around the area, Cain finally formally entered the Dustox forest.
As they went deeper, numerous pale white cocoons could be seen on tree branches, in bushes, and even directly on the ground.
There were so many that it was impossible to count them.
Although these cocoons look very similar to the ones in the Beautifly forest, there are slight differences in color.
The cocoons in the Beautifly forest are called Silcoon, while those in the Dustox forest are called Cascoon.
Though both evolve from Wurmple, due to differences in their personality values, the evolutionary path differs.
Additionally, along the way, Cain encountered more Wurmple than anything else.
In these giant trees, every leaf has tiny bite marks.
The sunlight filtering through these small holes, already divided by the leaves, creates spots of light on the ground covered with dry leaves.
It resembles a star-filled night sky, countless and dense.
Cain did not attack the Wurmple and Silcoon, as they have not yet evolved into Dustox, their level is low, and they do not provide much experience for the Pokémon.
However, as they went further in, the number of Dustox increased, and Slowpoke and Murkrow began to attack frantically.
Sneasel used the move Icy Wind to reduce the Dustox's speed. Although Dustox isn't a Flying-type, it's still a Pokémon that can fly, so Ice-type moves have a good effect.
When its wings become slightly damp, Icy Wind forms small ice crystals on them. Although this doesn't prevent the Dustox from flying, it significantly reduces its flying speed.
Additionally, although Miltank is a Normal-type Pokémon, its Hidden Power move is Fire-type. After training this move for a long time on the S.S. Anne, it now uses it with great skill.
While the Hidden Power move might not cause many casualties, besides the Dustox in the center of the explosion being taken down immediately, the Dustox hit by the shockwave are quickly taken out by Murkrow and Slowpoke.
Cain released Murkrow from its weights, and after applying Tailwind to the entire team, a single use of Wing Attack was enough to defeat a Dustox.
The Pokémon with the fastest attack speed and strongest effects was still Slowpoke.
After using Calm Mind, it alternated between Confusion and Psyshock, dealing area damage and direct eliminations. Nearly half of the fallen Dustox were defeated by Slowpoke.
Each time it exhausted its psychic abilities, Cain gave it some high-quality Pokéblocks, and after meditating a bit, once its powers were restored, it caused even more damage.
As for Haunter, it didn't attack directly. It only took out a few Dustox that tried to attack Cain from behind, and then it obediently stayed by his side.
Sometimes, Haunter handed some dying Dustox to Skorupi, who was at Cain's feet.
Skorupi had no problem finishing off the injured Dustox.
It knew that only by growing quickly could it be useful to Cain and the whole team.
However, when Skorupi killed the second Dustox that fell before him, it paused.
It tugged on Cain's pant leg to get his attention.
Then, it used its sharp pincers to pierce the Dustox's head, slowly extracting a small, dark purple particle about the size of a fingernail.
Cain's face showed surprise as he took the particle Skorupi offered.
He took out a bottle of mineral water, rinsed it a bit, and held it in his palm. It looked like a black and purple crystal, reflecting light like a tiny diamond.
"System, scan this," Cain ordered mentally.
"Beep!"
After a "beep" sound from the system, a data graph appeared before Cain.
Object: Energy Crystal (Small)
Type: Poison
Effect: When ingested by a Pokémon, it can slightly increase Poison-type energy. If used in large quantities, it could even enhance the Poison-type abilities of the Pokémon.
Origin: After consuming a considerable amount of pure energy, there is a chance that an energy crystal will form in the body.
"A small object like this is an energy crystal? And continuous use of them can improve a Pokémon's Poison-type abilities?" Cain murmured to himself while observing the Poison-type energy crystal in his hand.
"If there are small energy crystals, there might also be medium or even large energy crystals."
Suddenly, Cain seemed to have thought of something.
"Wait, is this Dustox the only one with an energy crystal? Or do all the Dustox here have it? Could this be related to how this small island can sustain so many Pokémon?" The more Cain thought, the more his eyes lit up.
Several Dustox corpses already lay on the ground, and even more Dustox were gathering.
"Furthermore, do only the Dustox produce energy crystals? What about Beautifly? And other Pokémon here?" Cain's mind filled with questions.
However, since the Dustox were not low-level, even with the strong synergy of Slowpoke and the others, they were beginning to struggle.
"Skorupi, check the other Dustox to see if they have energy crystals. If they do, gather them all," Cain ordered Skorupi.
Skorupi kept staring at the energy crystal in Cain's hand. It could feel the large amount of Poison-type energy within it, and it knew that consuming it would be very beneficial.
But due to Cain's order, it held back and began searching through the Dustox corpses.
Probably because Dustox is a Bug and Poison-type Pokémon, and Skorupi is also Bug and Poison-type, it could sense the energy crystals within the Dustox bodies.
Among nearly a hundred Dustox corpses, Skorupi found a total of thirty energy crystals: nineteen Poison-type and eleven Bug-type, all small in size. It did not find crystals of other sizes.
As for the corpses, two Muk handled them.
"Murkrow, use Gust to the maximum. Sneasel, Icy Wind. Slowpoke, Confusion. Use all your power. We're leaving!" Cain ordered.
With more and more Dustox appearing, Cain decided to retreat.
(End of chapter)