Leaving aside the fact that the two quests combined offered a total of ten thousand gold coins, this was Ace's first time seeing a quest that could actually enhance his abilities.
"Getting stronger, huh..."
Ace muttered, a flicker of struggle in his eyes, but ultimately, he couldn't resist the temptation.
He opened his backpack and, at some point, found a wrapped scalpel inside.
With a trembling hand, Ace picked up the scalpel and turned to look at the Tangela.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean for this to happen..."
With that, the hand holding the scalpel slowly descended. Under Zubat's somewhat bewildered gaze, Ace dissected the Tangela.
"Side Quest (Face Death) completed. Quest evaluation: A. Reward: 8000 gold coins, ten task points, cooking skill enhanced."
"Cooking skill is increasing, please wait..."
"Cooking skill enhancement complete."
Half an hour later, Ace looked at the scattered vines on the ground but surprisingly found that he felt neither disgust nor guilt.
Perhaps it was because it wasn't a human, combined with the more gruesome scene he'd witnessed when escaping earlier, that Ace had become more resistant to such sights.
With his cooking skill enhanced, many recipes for dishes made from Pokémon ingredients flashed through Ace's mind.
Among them was Tangela!
"Tangela: Protects its body with vines. Its muscle tissue is closer to fruit fiber, sweet in taste, suitable for making salads."
Ace inexplicably recited the cooking method for Tangela that appeared in his mind. He strangely felt as if he was possessed.
He picked up a sliced piece of Tangela meat, directly cut a small piece with the scalpel, and popped it into his mouth.
As he slowly chewed, Ace's eyes gradually brightened!
"Sweet, truly sweet! And it has the texture of an apple when chewed, but tastes a bit like a mandarin orange."
Ace looked at the remaining meat in disbelief. At this moment, he had no other thoughts; he truly saw Tangela as an ingredient.
It was like in Ace's previous life: rabbits were cute, and most people wouldn't easily kill them, but spicy rabbit meat was also delicious.
Facing a plate of rabbit meat on the dining table, would you still feel pity or revulsion?
No!
Because it was just a dish!
Ace used the scalpel to cut Tangela's meat into small pieces, then packed the meat into the bag that had originally held his dry rations.
A simple "salad" was complete.
"Side Quest (Pokémon on the Plate) completed. Quest evaluation: C. Reward: 2000 gold coins, two task points."
Tangela's meat was scarce; or rather, most of it was fibrous tissue and completely inedible.
But the rarer it was, the more it highlighted the deliciousness.
The sweet taste was somewhat addictive. Ace shared this "salad" with Zubat, and the human and Pokémon quickly finished it.
But right after they finished eating, Zubat let out a cry towards Ace.
Because Ace had dissected Tangela, the special scent attracted many Pokémon to the area.
They resented Ace for intruding on their territory, but also showed eagerness for the scraps on the ground.
In the current wilderness, berries weren't everywhere; every berry tree was a fiercely contested territory for wild Pokémon.
Thus, the Pokémon near berry sources were usually relatively strong.
As for those Pokémon not privileged enough to enjoy berries, they still followed the law of the jungle: survival of the fittest.
A dead Tangela, in their eyes, was a grand feast!
"How many?" Ace asked Zubat. If there were too many, he would retreat from the forest and wait for the commotion to pass.
Zubat cried out twice, indicating that there were currently two close by.
"Two, then we can try."
Ace nodded and said to Zubat, "Zubat, use Supersonic to make them come out!"
Zubat nodded, opening its mouth wide. An invisible Supersonic wave rapidly shot towards the location of the two Pokémon.
Less than a minute later, two staggering figures emerged from behind a nearby tree.
A Raticate and a Rattata.
Perhaps it was because they were wild Pokémon, but these two, including the one that was confused, weren't very wary of invisible attacks.
They were caught off guard by Zubat's Supersonic while they were still lurking.
"Steel Wing!"
Since he had the initiative, Ace naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. Zubat's wings glowed with a metallic sheen, and it suddenly swooped down towards the two Pokémon. Its Steel Wing fiercely struck both Pokémon, sending Raticate and Rattata flying.
Rattata collapsed instantly, falling unconscious to the side. Raticate stood up again, its eyes gradually clearing. With a spring, it leaped towards Zubat, its sharp incisors rapidly closing in on Zubat.
"Hyper Fang? Or Super Fang?"
Watching Raticate use its move, Ace frowned slightly. He couldn't seem to distinguish which move it was using.
"Indeed, no matter the world, reading more is beneficial," Ace thought silently, simultaneously telling Zubat to ascend, dodging Raticate's attack.
Raticate couldn't fly. Facing Zubat, which had wings and could fly, Raticate's mobility was completely outmatched!
Raticate's attack missed. It looked up at Zubat high in the sky, then turned its gaze towards Ace.
"...Huh?"
Seeing this, Ace immediately took a step back. This was quite different from the battle he had imagined!
But it was too late to react. Raticate couldn't deal with Zubat, but facing Ace, it could easily bite him to death!
Watching Raticate charge at him, not only was Ace startled, but even Zubat in the air panicked a bit.
With a sharp retraction of its wings, Zubat rapidly dived downwards, crashing into Raticate, who was charging at Ace.
Raticate's face showed disdain. Its limbs suddenly pushed off, scattering grass, and its speed instantly increased a notch, powerfully crashing into Ace.
"That's Quick Attack..."
Ace recognized this move, but it was already too late.
Raticate slammed hard into Ace, sending him flying. Ace immediately gasped, and blood splattered into the air.
"Squeak!!!"
Feeling Ace's injury, Zubat was instantly filled with rage. It violently opened its mouth and savagely bit the now-stopped Raticate.
Raticate saw Zubat coming again and, instead of retreating, advanced. It lunged forward and collided with Zubat.
Crunch!
Raticate's incisors bit into Zubat's wing. The wing bone snapped, and Zubat's left wing instantly went limp.
But Zubat's venom-filled fangs, in that same instant, pierced directly through Raticate's skull with a furious bite. As Zubat bit down hard, a large amount of venom was injected into Raticate's brain.
Thump.
A falling sound echoed as Zubat and Raticate both crashed to the ground.
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