Chapter 13: Bug Catcher  

After Gary left, Mia sat down, waiting for him to return with food.

"Gary is so slow... I'm starving," she muttered as she touched her rumbling stomach.

"There's so much food in Viridian Forest that I lost track of time. I'm sorry for being late. Here, try these and see if they're any good," Gary said sheepishly when he finally returned, scratching his head with an embarrassed expression.

Mia didn't care about his excuses. She was so hungry that she immediately grabbed the food Gary had gathered and began eating voraciously.

"Slow down, no one's going to take the food from you. Be careful not to choke," Gary advised, watching her with concern.

But Mia ignored him and continued to eat quickly, clearly famished. After about twenty minutes, she patted her now-full stomach and said, "I'm stuffed. That was so satisfying."

"Feeling better now?" Gary asked with a smile.

"You still have the nerve to ask! If you hadn't taken so long, I wouldn't have been this hungry!" Mia snapped, giving him a resentful look.

Gary looked at her, feeling a bit guilty but unable to argue. After all, he had indeed forgotten the time, which led to Mia being so hungry.

Suddenly, a system prompt sounded:

"Ding! A battle option has been detected. Please choose from the following options:

Option 1: Reject the Bug Catcher's challenge. Reward: 1 Poké Ball.

Option 2: Accept the Bug Catcher's challenge, persuade him to stop, or defeat him. Reward: Rare Candy (grants 3000 experience points)."

"The system is giving me another choice? Rare Candy and a Poké Ball? As expected, I'll go with the second option," Gary thought, already familiar with the system's patterns. Without hesitation, he chose the second option.

"I want to challenge you, the one who disrespected Bug-type Pokémon!" a voice suddenly called out from behind them.

"Who's there?!" Gary tensed up and quickly turned to see who was speaking.

Behind them stood a boy in ragged clothes, glaring at Gary with hostility.

"What do you mean by 'disrespected Bug-type Pokémon'?" Gary asked, puzzled by the boy's accusation.

"You disrespected Bug-type Pokémon, and I'm here to challenge you. It's that simple," the boy replied coldly.

"If you don't explain why, I can't accept your challenge," Gary said, motioning for the boy to explain himself.

"Don't you remember what you did to those Caterpie?!" the boy exclaimed.

Gary was taken aback. Could it be that this boy was angry because of what he did to help Mia overcome her fear of Caterpie?

"Remember now?" the boy sneered as Gary remained silent, trying to process everything. "Since you remember, accept my challenge. I'm a Bug Catcher, a guardian of Bug-type Pokémon. If you win fair and square, that's one thing, but bullying them is something I won't tolerate."

"I have my reasons. Let me explain," Gary said, realizing that this was likely the system's challenge. He didn't want to fight, preferring to clear up the misunderstanding peacefully.

"Explain? There's nothing to explain! Go, Metapod, use String Shot!" the boy ordered, ignoring Gary's attempt to talk.

Gary sighed, realizing he had no choice. "Charmander, use Ember!" he called out, sending Charmander to counter the Metapod's String Shot with flames.

Charmander had learned Ember after reaching level 5, and it easily burned through the sticky threads. If Charmander hadn't learned Ember, those String Shots could have been a big problem.

However, even though Metapod had evolved once, its combat power and rarity were still no match for Charmander. Charmander was one of the starter Pokémon given to new trainers in the Kanto region and represented a much stronger class of Pokémon. Even with a level difference, Charmander was more than capable of handling the challenge.

"Your Charmander is strong, but I won't give up! Metapod, use Harden!" the Bug Catcher commanded, determined to fight on.

"Why are you doing this? Metapod only has Harden and String Shot left. You should know that Harden isn't going to stop Charmander. Can't we just talk this out?" Gary tried once more to reason with the boy.

"I've already told you, there's nothing to discuss. Let's finish this!" the Bug Catcher insisted.

Gary realized that there was no avoiding the fight. "In that case, don't blame me. Charmander, use Ember!" he ordered.

Charmander's Ember struck the stationary Metapod directly, knocking it out with ease. Metapod, unable to move while in its hardened state, was defeated.

"Ding! Charmander defeated a level 25 Metapod and gained 500 experience points. Charmander's level has increased to level 6."

"You're strong, but I'm not done yet. Luckily, I borrowed a Pokémon from my dad today. Go, Beedrill!" the Bug Catcher declared, sending out a Beedrill.

Gary's expression grew serious. "A Beedrill? This could be tough. Beedrill is a third-stage evolution. Even though its power isn't overwhelming, it's not something my current Pokémon can easily handle," he thought as he prepared for the next challenge.