Pokémon: Above the Top

Somewhere in the forest south of Lake Valor, Sato had just finished lunch and was spacing out under the shade of a tree.

Zoroark and Gengar were sitting cross-legged on either side of him, making the most of every second to increase their strength.

The red Skorupi "gifted" to Sato by Wallace had begun its first awkward training session under Ariados's supervision.

"Dos!"

Ariados brought Skorupi next to a large rock, pointed at it, then at herself, as if saying, "Watch oneesan show you how it's done!"

Then Ariados turned around and launched a Spider Web, a Toxic Thread, a Sticky Web, and an Electroweb at the rock.

Soon, the rock began to sizzle, occasionally sparking with jolts of electricity.

A flying Vivillon took a liking to the now multicolored, toxin-stained rock and drifted down to land on it.

Then… Vivillon couldn't fly again. Its slender legs were firmly stuck and couldn't break free.

Paralysis and poison followed one after another, and Vivillon instantly dried up into a toxic butterfly specimen.

"…"

"Skoskosko!"

Skorupi waved its claws excitedly, filled with awe for Ariados, and now even more convinced of its "subordinate" status.

'Just one web could be used in so many ways…' This was exactly what a real boss should look like.

"Ari~"

Then Ariados pointed at Skorupi, then at another rock.

"Ari!" 'Your turn!'

"…Sko?"

Skorupi looked utterly confused. Sure, it was a Bug-type too, but it was a real scorpion.

Have you ever seen a scorpion spin webs?

But when it saw oneesan's "hopeful" eyes, with a hint of danger behind them…

Skorupi turned and stared at the rock, its claws and tail clacking together as if it had sworn not to give up until it could spin a web!

Pfft~

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

What came out clearly wasn't any kind of web. After straining hard, all Skorupi managed to spit out was a pile of Poison Sting that clinked as they hit the rock.

"Sko…"

Skorupi trembled, not daring to turn its head to look at Ariados's expression, afraid she might lash out if displeased.

"Dos…"

But Ariados didn't make any extra movements. She simply demonstrated the four types of bug webs to Skorupi again.

Skorupi was on the verge of tears!

Because once again, Ariados gave it that "hopeful" look.

But… but a scorpion really can't spin webs!

Skorupi: …Life is too hard!

Even Sato couldn't stand to watch anymore. He walked over to the two Pokémon and sat down cross-legged.

"Ariados, you're a spider. It's a scorpion. They're not even the same kind of bug. Even if you could… uh… breed, there are still things that are unique to your species."

Ariados tilted her head. In truth, she was more interested in that half-swallowed part of Sato's sentence.

Still, she understood what Sato meant. That her otouto couldn't learn the web-based moves she was most proud of.

"Ari…"

Ariados looked down at Skorupi, who was lying there a bit pitifully, and began to consider whether she should ask the "handsome" Sato to give her a new otouto.

"But although Skorupi can't learn web-based moves, it's quite good at offensive ones. Most of the attack moves you know, it can learn too."

"…Ari?"

Ariados was stunned. Although no one really knew what a stunned bug looked like, Sato could clearly feel it.

"So, you can teach it these moves properly. Start with the easy ones, take it step by step." After speaking, Sato reached out to pat Ariados on the head, and extended his other hand toward Skorupi.

"Sko!" Skorupi suddenly backed away, raising its tail in the air and watching Sato warily. It still remembered the miserable moment when it had no power to resist in this human's hands.

"Ari!" Ariados immediately got angry. 'How could this otouto be so disrespectful? Was the handsome Sato someone you could just threaten like that?'

"No rush. Skorupi is a new partner. We have to give it time to adjust." Seeing this, Sato quickly stopped Ariados.

This was the downside of receiving a Pokémon from someone else. And because this shiny Skorupi was so rare, it had likely changed hands many times, resulting in almost no sense of "friendship" toward any Trainer.

That's why, even the first time it came out and saw the three of them watching, it completely ignored them.

And if Ariados, who already had Ace level strength, were to really get angry, even a hundred Skorupi charging all at once wouldn't stand a chance against her.

"Ari…" Ariados obeyed Sato's words completely. She obediently lowered her front legs, which had been glowing with black energy, but still let out a couple of sharp clicks at Skorupi, clearly dissatisfied.

Skorupi lay flat on the ground, unmoved, going silent again just like when it first appeared.

Sato shook his head. Training a shiny Skorupi was going to be a long road, but Ariados's natural presence could help Skorupi develop some dependency.

So for now, the two of them staying close would help guide Skorupi to slowly open its heart.

"Sato, you done over there? We've got to get moving!" Joseph, who had finished cleaning up their meal, called from the riverside. Sato gave him an "OK" hand gesture, then signaled for Ariados to follow.

Skorupi would naturally follow Ariados.

Gengar jumped back into Sato's shadow, and Zoroark silently returned to its Poké Ball.

Mark also recalled all his Pokémon, leaving only the recently caught Lucario, who was also in the process of bonding.

Unlike Skorupi, Lucario was already mature, so his relationship with Mark was more like that of a father and son.

'Hmm… and Mark was the son.'

Not because Lucario was older, but because Lucario was extremely reliable. He supervised Mark even more strictly than Joseph did, now pushing him daily to train properly.

The three of them finished getting ready and set off straight for Pastoria City. With Lucario clearing the path, they didn't have to worry about getting lost or ambushed.

The power of Aura made scouting much easier and more efficient than psychic abilities.

And ever since catching Lucario, Mark no longer had to worry about getting lost. Aura could handle everything.

Three days later, they began to sense the salty, damp scent in the air. Clearly, the sea was just ahead.

At the edge of the sea they were about to reach, a group of Lapras had gathered, their eyes filled with sorrow, bodies covered in unhealed wounds.

Suddenly, a black dot quietly appeared in the distance. The Lapras assigned to stand guard immediately cried out in alarm.

A ripple of unrest spread through the group, but under the lead of their leader, they all dove into the water.

One minute later, the waters where the Lapras had been exploded. A large number of Magikarp and other small Water-type Pokémon floated to the surface belly-up, clearly dead.

After a while, a three-masted sailboat sped over, quickly inspecting the nearby waters, then made a slight course correction and sailed off.