Searching for Linoone

Robert looked at the blocked passage and said worriedly, "Now how are we going to get out?"

At this moment, Yuga wasn't really thinking about getting out; he was more concerned about Linoone.

"Let's focus on finding Linoone first. There must be other ways out, otherwise, how did the Corphish and the Crawdaunt get in?" he said.

Robert nodded and said, "You're right."

Yuga used his flashlight to illuminate the damp surroundings they were in. It was a rock-carved passage, and the walls were wet with water marks.

The passage wasn't very wide. Yuga and Robert could only walk side by side, accommodating three or four people. The previous Crawdaunt that entered the passage nearly blocked half of it.

Since there were no light sources around, it was pitch black.

"Let's keep moving forward. We don't know if Linoone went this way or the opposite direction from the Corphish," Yuga said, worried they might take the wrong path.

"It's no use worrying about that. The path on that side is already blocked. Even if it weren't, we'd have to choose one direction. Hopefully, luck will be on our side," Robert comforted Yuga, knowing he was concerned about the Linoone's safety.

Yuga realized he was right. Instead of getting stuck in indecision, it was better to let fate decide. So, he followed Robert's lead and continued forward.

They continued down the damp passage for what seemed like a long time. Suddenly, they saw numerous yellow lights moving ahead.

"What are those?" Yuga whispered softly, afraid of alerting the Pokémon ahead.

"Too far to see clearly. Let's catch up and take a look," Robert replied quietly. He was wary that if the Pokémon were too powerful, a large group of them appearing at once would be overwhelming.

To avoid attracting attention, Yuga and Robert turned off their flashlights and proceeded, guided by the lights emitted by the Pokémon ahead.

"It's a school of Lanturn!" It wasn't until they were close enough that Yuga and Robert could see the true identity of the Pokémon.

The number of Lanturn wasn't that large, around twenty or so. However, from a distance, the lights they emitted dazzled Yuga and Robert's eyes, making the number seem larger.

So, Yuga and Robert quietly followed the Lanturn, hoping they would lead them to Linoone.

But as they followed the Lanturn around a corner, they eventually saw them arrive at a pool of water and one by one, they jumped into the pool and disappeared.

Yuga and Robert switched on their flashlights again, exchanging glances, shaking their heads in resignation.

Robert used his flashlight to circle around the pool. Then he turned to Yuga and said, "This pool might connect to the outside ocean. If we can't find a way out later, we can try from here."

"Okay," Yuga agreed with a nod.

Leaving the pool, Yuga and Robert returned to the place where they had encountered a fork in the path earlier and chose another direction to proceed.

However, as soon as they entered, the light from their flashlights revealed countless wings flapping above them.

It turned out that there were numerous Zubat roosting above the passage. Accustomed to living in darkness, they were startled by the flashlight's beam and woke up from their slumber.

The cries of the Zubat were piercing, and when they all called out together, it felt like they were trying to pierce Yuga and Robert's eardrums. The awakened Zubat started to launch attacks at them.

"Chimecho, Heal Bell! Absol, Psycho Cut!"

The distant sound of Zubat calls and the flapping of their wings didn't disrupt Chimecho and Absol's attacks.

Despite the chaos, Yuga and Robert tried their best to fend off the attacks. They soon realized that the sheer number of Zubat would overwhelm them.

"Let's retreat for now!" Yuga shouted over the noise.

Robert agreed, and they quickly turned back, escaping from the swarm of Zubat.

Facing the assault of the Zubat, Yuga also launched a counterattack against them.

The reason Yuga had Chimecho use Heal Bell was because these Zubat were all starting to use Supersonic in panic. Without Heal Bell, Yuga and Robert might have fallen into a confused state.

At this moment, Robert released his Baltoy, and following Yuga's lead, had Chimecho use Mysterious Guardian to defend, while Baltoy took care of the attacking.

Fortunately, despite their number, these Zubat weren't very strong. With the combined efforts of Yuga and Robert, they scattered and fled in no time.

Taking advantage of the situation, Yuga managed to pick out two green-quality Zubat from among them and easily tamed them. This unexpected gain was a nice surprise.

Robert didn't comment on Yuga's actions. He knew Yuga ran a daycare, so trying to capture Pokémon encountered along the way was a natural thing to do.

After dealing with the Zubat, the two continued moving forward.

They didn't know how long they had walked when they encountered several solitary Pokémon that attacked them. Just then, they heard the sounds of battle.

Because the passage was deep and quiet, some sounds echoed loudly, causing a chain reaction of echoes.

"Could it be Linoone?" Yuga asked Robert excitedly.

For the environment here, Linoone was an outsider, and conflicts with other Pokémon were more likely. Many Pokémon were territorial, which was why Yuga and Robert had been attacked by other Pokémon along the way.

"It's very possible. Let's go take a look," Robert also thought it was quite likely that it was Linoone, so he immediately ran over with Yuga.

Following the sound, Yuga and Robert arrived at the scene. Sure enough, they saw a Linoone battling, and its opponent was unexpectedly a Clauncher.

"Why would there be a Clauncher here?" Yuga exclaimed in surprise.

Robert shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.

This Clauncher was only around level 30, much lower than the 46-level Linoone. However, its naturally large cannon-like arm used a powerful move, Dragon Pulse. Linoone had already suffered several losses in a row.

Clauncher's ability was Mega Launcher, and it was the only ability it had. It greatly amplified punching-type moves, making it quite practical.

Furthermore, Clauncher was a species that could easily learn Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse, Heal Pulse, and Aqua Jet solely through evolution, in addition to learning Water Pulse through leveling up. Once cultivated properly, this species was a natural turret.

And this Clauncher seemed to be particularly skilled in using Dragon Pulse.

Struggling to defeat a Pokémon weaker than itself, Linoone was getting annoyed. Just then, it heard the voice of its trainer from behind and felt relieved.

"Linoone, Play Rough!" Seeing another Dragon Pulse about to hit Linoone, Yuga couldn't help but remind it.

Upon hearing Yuga's reminder, Linoone's body transformed into a straight pink arrow, breaking through the dragon-shaped energy formed by Dragon Pulse. It collided heavily with the Clauncher, rendering it unable to continue fighting.