Defeatist

Virizion said, "I've given you the compensation you deserve. Let's head back."

Yuga nodded, carefully placing Turtwig back into his arms and cradling the two Pokémon eggs he had with him. He followed behind Virizion.

As they descended the cliff and reached the base, Yuga turned to Virizion and asked, "May I inquire about our current location in this underground world?"

Virizion replied, "Calculating from the entrance to here, we're already at the deepest part of the underground world. See that cliff over there? It marks the edge of the underground world."

Ah, that explains it! Yuga thought. No wonder he had encountered Virizion and Landorus here. He had unintentionally reached the farthest reaches of this underground world. It was time to head back.

Virizion, looking down, asked Yuga, "Why did you come here?"

Seeing Yuga momentarily lost in thought, Virizion continued, "I mean, what brought you here?"

Yuga regained his focus and replied, "I'm a member of the League now. My purpose for coming here was to investigate the situation."

Yuga felt that Virizion had a favorable impression of the League, so he didn't hide his mission.

Virizion nodded after hearing this. "Then it's time for you to leave. Once you return, you can report the information about me and Landorus. I believe the League will send someone to establish contact with us soon."

Yuga thought this was perfect. With information about Virizion and Landorus, his mission was essentially complete.

After bidding farewell to Virizion, Yuga began planning his journey back. He retraced his steps, avoiding the Pokémon groups he had encountered earlier by referring to his prior notes, aiming to reach the surface as quickly as possible.

By the time the fifth day arrived, Yuga had covered nearly half the distance back. It seemed likely he would make it out before the seventh day.

As night fell, Yuga, with the help of Chatot, found an abandoned cave to take shelter in, just like when he arrived. He used his special abilities to incubate the Pokémon eggs of Deerling and the unidentified Grass-type Pokémon. Yuga could sense that under the influence of his abilities, the life within these eggs was growing stronger, and they would likely hatch soon.

The next morning, as was his habit, Yuga refreshed the Trainer's Store in his system. Although today didn't bring any extraordinary surprises like the Seed of Unknown, he did manage to refresh a batch of custom Poké Balls that his system had initially rewarded him.

Yuga had always used these custom Poké Balls for his main team. Initially, the system had only granted him ten of these special Poké Balls. Surprisingly, now that he was about to capture new Pokémon, the system's store had restocked them.

This system was quite considerate!

This was the first time Yuga had seen these custom Poké Balls refresh. However, their rarity was the same as regular Special Poké Balls, categorized as green items. Yuga could exchange five of them at once.

Yuga exchanged five of the custom Poké Balls and used one to capture Turtwig. After spending these two days with Yuga, the young Turtwig had grown incredibly fond of him, making the capturing process very smooth.

After having breakfast with his Pokémon, Yuga continued his journey back. However, he hadn't gone far before a massive figure descended from the sky.

Yuga quickly retreated with Chatot, moving to the side, and then heard a loud thud as the figure crashed to the ground. He narrowly avoided the impact, and Chatot hid in a nearby thicket.

It was an Archeops, the same one Yuga had seen with Tokiwa, that brutally eat Liepard.

The Archeops lay on the ground in a disheveled state. Its once vibrant feathers were scattered, and many parts of its wings were bald. This was a far cry from the majestic and fearsome creature Yuga had witnessed earlier.

Hiding in the underbrush, Yuga and Chatot dared not make a sound. It was difficult to fathom who could have beaten such a formidable Elite level Pokémon to this state.

Fortunately, he hadn't been holding Turtwig in his arms, and the Pokémon eggs were safely stored in his system's backpack. Otherwise, he might not have been able to escape in time and would have been pinned beneath the Archeops.

The Archeops struggled to spread its wings in an attempt to take flight once more. That's when Yuga identified the "culprit" responsible for the Archeops's sorry state.

A rocky gray figure descended from the sky, and its sharp claws pressed firmly against the Archeops's neck, forcing it back to the ground. The Archeops's body immediately spewed fresh blood.

The bright red blood seemed to arouse the ferocity of the slate-gray figure. It opened its huge mouth and bit the Archeops's neck.

This rocky gray figure was a colossal Aerodactyl, similar in size and rank to the Archeops. Both were at the peak of the Elite level.

Just as the Aerodactyl was about to sink its teeth into the Archeops's neck, the Archeops's long tail whipped back and sent the Aerodactyl flying. In a state of panic, the Archeops tried to flee, but it forgot to open its wings for flight.

Observing this frantic Archeops, Yuga found it quite peculiar. After all, both of these Pokémon were at the peak of the Elite level. It seemed unreasonable that the Archeops would be beaten so badly by the Aerodactyl.

However, when Yuga noticed the Archeops's timid eyes, he immediately understood the reason.

It was the Defeatist ability! This ability likely not only lowered the Archeops's Attack and Special Attack but also affected its originally fierce personality.

Imagine two Pokémon in battle, one charging fearlessly while the other cowered. The timid one would undoubtedly be defeated, and this was evident.

The Archeops, halfway through its escape, was once again pinned down by the returning Aerodactyl. Countless trees and plants were flattened under the Archeops's weight, and the earth was scattered in all directions, revealing the immense force the Aerodactyl exerted.

The more aggressive the Aerodactyl appeared, the more timidity the Archeops displayed. In the end, the Archeops even began to whimper.

Yuga found it hard to believe that this was the same Archeops he had seen earlier, the one that had fiercely tearing apart Liepard.

This was the negative impact of the Defeatist ability. It not only affected the Archeops's combat abilities but also influenced its character.

In normal circumstances, even with reduced combat abilities, the Archeops should have had no problem escaping because Defeatist didn't affect its speed. However, when Defeatist influenced the Archeops's character, it affected its ability to think rationally. The panicked Archeops even forgot how to fly when trying to escape.

The more distressed it became, the more disadvantaged it was in the battle against the Aerodactyl.

Most Pokémon abilities have a positive impact on them, but the Defeatist ability was one of the few that had a detrimental effect on a Pokémon. Yuga used to think that this ability only affected a Pokémon's Attack and Special Attack, based on its description, but now he had witnessed firsthand that the name "Defeatist" was fitting.