In the southeastern corner of the Sinnoh, snow was also falling over Marina City.
Lord Kale stood atop the watchtower, his gaze fixed northwest—toward the direction of Aspiration City.
According to the information brought back by the sorcerers, the gray mist within the Abyssal Cavern had already begun to corrupt magical beasts. It wouldn't be long before those terrifying creatures launched an assault on Aspiration City.
This was exactly the opportunity they had been waiting for. In the battle against the Abyssal Beast Tide, Aspiration City would inevitably lose a large number of its elite knights, and its territory would be ravaged and left in disarray.
To the west of Marina City stretched a continuous mountain range, completely separating it from the Black Forest.
In winter, this mountain range also blocked the magical beasts of the Black Forest from crossing over, giving Marina City protection from their invasions during the snowy season.
As the snow began to fall, Kale's knights had already ventured into the Black Forest to open a path toward Aspiration City. It wouldn't be long before they found a safe route into the territory.
Once Aspiration City finished resisting the Abyssal Beast Tide and fell into a weakened state, it would be the perfect time to strike!
At that moment, the sound of uniform footsteps echoed from the square outside the castle.
Thud thud thud!
Knights clad in crude armor marched in neat columns.
Walking beside each knight was a brown, large-tailed raccoon-like creature with a pale yellow belly—these were Bibarel, dual-type Water/Normal Pokémon.
Due to the lack of fertile land in Marina City, they were unable to grow pasture crops in large quantities, which meant the city lacked formal mounts like Rhyhorn.
In fact, water-type magical beasts were the most common in Marina. Before Kale rose to power, the city didn't even have an official knight order.
But Kale was an ambitious lord. The moment he came to power, he began forming his own order of knights.
He knew that to attack Aspiration City and claim more territory, he needed a land-based force capable of waging war—and for that, a knight order was essential.
After a period of planning, he chose Bibarel from among the many water-type Pokémon. Bibarel could move on both land and water.
Their basic form, Bidoof, was a communal species with a large population in the rivers near Marina City. They bred quickly, matured fast, and had docile temperaments—exactly what Kale was looking for.
Moreover, Bibarel built dams using branches and mud to block rivers and create homes. Rivers where Bibarel built dams never flooded, so the residents of Marina City held great affection for them.
Since magical beast equipment was extremely rare and valuable in Marina due to their low production capabilities, the easily tamed Bidoof—who required no special equipment—became the best choice.
Knights could easily bond with Bidoof, and after some training, they evolved into Bibarel with decent combat capabilities.
Bibarel reached nearly one meter in size and had solid strength. While they couldn't compare to magical beasts like Rhyhorn, they could spit water to attack from a distance.
According to Kale's research, Rhyhorns were especially weak to water. This gave Bibarel a potential advantage over them, especially with their ranged water attacks.
"It's almost time," Kale thought as he watched the knights march off, clenching his fist.
He was confident about this invasion.
In his plan, if Aspiration City's knight order was crippled during the battle against the Abyssal Beast Tide, Marina City would press the advantage and attack directly.
If Aspiration City survived and retained much of its military strength, Kale would abandon the direct attack and instead seize the fertile lands in Aspiration City's southeastern region.
With such fertile land, Marina City could rapidly grow in power and gradually erode Aspiration City's territory—until it was wiped off the continent.
—
Outside Fruitvale Village, in the knights' camp.
From Leon's explanation, the knights learned that the Rock Slide Auxiliary Potion could significantly help Rhyhorn learn the Rock Slide move faster.
At that moment, their earlier embarrassment turned into pure envy. Now it seemed Leon had struck gold.
Even if Aven no longer had time to train others, and even if the potions were all used up, it would probably cost them far more to obtain the same training now.
"Aven said that even without the auxiliary potion, Rhyhorn can still learn Rock Slide—it just takes longer. Depending on its aptitude, it could take one to two months," Leon scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Also, aside from aiding in Rock Slide training, the potion can enhance a Rhyhorn's rock-type energy, which is very helpful in future training as well."
Hearing Leon's explanation, the knights silently nodded. The potion truly seemed like a valuable resource. But using such potions as regular training consumables… made their expressions twitch slightly.
In unison, they turned their gazes toward Treasurer Johnson. Two months for Rhyhorn to learn Rock Slide? That was far too long!
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll see what I can do," Johnson sighed helplessly and turned to head back—his next goal: speak with Aven again.
Aven likely couldn't make more of the potion simply due to a lack of materials. This was something Aspiration City could try to help with. The only problem was not knowing exactly what ingredients were required.
After all, Aven had already offered the Rock Slide training method for free. Asking him to also give away potions? Even Johnson felt guilty just thinking about it.
When Johnson approached Aven again, Aven was in the middle of training his six Pokémon, preparing for the upcoming battle.
Hearing Johnson's request, Aven readily agreed once more. But making more of the auxiliary potions required many materials.
Seeing Aven's agreement, Johnson breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly promised to gather the necessary ingredients from the outskirts of Aspiration City, though some would be quite rare.
"Sometimes, free things are the most expensive," Aven muttered, watching Johnson rush off. He spoke a phrase well-known in the real world—but one they would never understand.
(End of Chapter)