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For reasons unknown, Sato was the third-to-last person to enter the teleportation gate. By the time he stepped through, it was already past 3 PM.
Before entering the gate, most of Sato's belongings were temporarily confiscated, and he was issued some standard-issue equipment.
These standard items included: a numbered badge, a camouflage-patterned storage backpack of about five cubic meters of space, a special device for spatial positioning, a scanner, and six black PokéBalls manufactured by Team Rocket.
What Sato was allowed to keep was minimal—just a few essential living supplies (like oil, salt, a pot, a tent, etc.), his Arcanine, and some items that would be practically useful: three sets of specialized fabric suits, high-tech shoes, a high-tech sleeping bag, a small Berry Mixer, a map, and a roster.
Of course, the valuable Reverse Dragon Scale was also something Sato kept on him.
As Sato passed through the teleportation gate, a familiar wave of dizziness surged through his mind. His vision went dark, and his consciousness briefly faded.
A few seconds later, as he came to, he found himself in the middle of a dense, ancient forest, lying beneath the trunk of a massive tree—so large that it would take five or six people to wrap their arms around it.
"Come out, Arcanine. Stay alert."
As soon as he regained consciousness, Sato immediately released Arcanine, his expression turning cautious as he stared up at the treetop. The moment he had rolled over upon waking, he'd already noticed six large, vividly-colored Ariados resting on the tree trunk above him, spinning webs.
Besides the six Ariados weaving their webs, there were at least a dozen smaller Spinarak scattered on the massive tree.
At that moment, these Ariados and Spinarak were glaring warily at Sato, this unexpected intruder. Their compound eyes were filled with suspicion.
Sato also noticed that the nearby trees were similarly infested with large numbers of Ariados and Spinarak.
By sheer bad luck, it seemed that the moment he was teleported to the island, he had landed right in the middle of a venomous spider nest.
Fortunately, these spiders were naturally cautious. Since Sato hadn't landed on any of their webs and appeared physically unimposing, they didn't immediately attack him.
Otherwise, Sato might've already been bound up like a rice dumpling and stored away as emergency rations.
However, the moment Sato made a move and released Arcanine, the spiders immediately reacted. A barrage of slender venomous needles shot from their mouths.
In an instant, a rain of poison needles poured down from the treetops, sending shivers down Sato's spine.
Thankfully, Arcanine's instincts were sharp. The moment he emerged from the PokéBall, he positioned himself to shield Sato with his body. A layer of pale flames flared up, covering his upper body in a protective blaze.
Despite the overwhelming number of venomous needles formed from concentrated Poison-type energy, none of them could get close. The high-temperature flames incinerated them all to ash before they could reach Arcanine.
"Nice work. Use Flamethrower—drive them off!"
From beneath Arcanine's belly, Sato immediately understood what Arcanine was doing. He smiled in approval and gave the command.
The next second, Arcanine let out several blazing jets of fire, each aimed at the treetops above and the canopies of nearby trees.
In a flash, the treetops—nests for the Ariados and Spinarak—were turned into blazing torches.
The spiders, scorched and shrieking, instantly gave up any thought of resistance. They fired strands of silk at surrounding trees and fled in panic, swinging away like frantic acrobats.
Of course, some Ariados and Spinarak didn't escape in time.
Those hit by Arcanine's Flamethrower were knocked out on the spot, their scorched bodies dropping from the trees like dumplings.
"That's enough, Arcanine. Extinguish the flames."
Sato crawled out from under Arcanine and, seeing that the spiders had all been repelled, patted his companion's side and gave the order.
"Woof!"
Arcanine turned to nod at Sato, then gave a loud bark toward the burning treetops.
What happened next was incredible—the flames atop the trees, as if responding to Arcanine's call, transformed into blazing firebirds that flew down and were absorbed into Arcanine's body.
Soon, the tree canopies were completely extinguished, leaving only wisps of black smoke drifting into the air.
Since evolving, Arcanine had further developed his Flash Fire ability. Thanks to this trait, he could easily absorb the flames from small-scale fires, effectively extinguishing them.
With the crisis resolved, Sato didn't leave immediately. Instead, he used his system's scanning function to examine the Ariados and Spinarak that had fallen to the ground, now unconscious.
Currently, Arcanine was the only Pokémon on his team, and that left Sato severely lacking in combat power. He needed to temporarily capture some Pokémon from this mysterious island to make up for the deficit.
After scanning the fallen Pokémon, he found that the average aptitude of these Ariados and Spinarak was shockingly high. Almost every one of them hovered just on the edge of a purple-grade rating. One particular Level 32 Ariados had an individual value score as high as 159.
Ariados – Data:
Pokémon: Ariados
Level: 32
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Insomnia
Gender: Male
Known Moves: Swords Dance, Focus Energy, Venom Drench, Poison Jab, Bug Bite, Poison Sting, String Shot, Constrict, Leech Life, Struggle Bug, Scary Face, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Fury Swipes, Feint Attack, Sticky Web
Egg Move:Twinneedle
Tutor Move:Venoshock
Held Item: None
IVs:
HP: 27 (out of 31)
Attack: 26
Defense: 27
Special Attack: 25
Special Defense: 26
Speed: 28
Overall IV Rating: Purple (Total IV score: 159)
...…
Unsurprisingly, after thoroughly reviewing all the data, Sato swiftly pulled a black PokéBall from his belt and tossed it at the Ariados with the highest rating.
With a soft "thunk," the PokéBall stilled on the ground, its red indicator light switching off. Just like that, Sato successfully captured the Ariados.
After capturing it, he pulled out his map and compass and quickly identified his current location.
His previous base was situated along the eastern coastline of the mysterious island, so Sato concluded that he must've landed somewhere in the eastern region.
According to the map, there was only one area in the eastern jungle heavily populated by Spinarak—the Spider Forest. From the look of it, this forest wasn't far from the eastern shoreline of the island.
With his location confirmed, Sato immediately mounted Arcanine and directed him to head east.