"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
"Gogoat, Aerial Ace!"
Mark and Joseph gave their commands in quick succession, and their respective Pokémon charged at the opponent without hesitation.
In front of Lucario and Gogoat stood a Skuntank and a Toxicroak, both in terrible shape, clearly on the verge of collapse.
"Come on… FIGHT BACK!" a greasy-looking man shouted anxiously, but it was all in vain.
Aura Sphere and Aerial Ace hit dead-on. Skuntank and Toxicroak, who weren't that strong to begin with, both went down. The greasy man behind them collapsed to the ground in despair.
"Gogoat, use Vine Whip to tie him up," Joseph ordered.
Tks Tks
"Alright, mission complete~" Mark snapped his fingers, trying to act cool.
"You search the previous place thoroughly. I'll take care of this one. Let's find those imprisoned Pokémon as quickly as possible," Joseph said as he walked toward the meat shop, not paying the slightest attention to Mark's showboating.
"Fine… whatever you say, Mama Joe." Mark pouted, then turned around with his ever-silent Lucario and headed back toward the previous fresh meat store.
---
On the eastern side of the fresh meat market, Cynthia was currently commanding Garchomp to take on three opponents at once: the owners of three stores trying to block the investigation.
Toxicroak, Skuntank, and Golbat… again, all Poison-type Pokémon.
If Cynthia knew that Joseph and Mark's opponents were also using Poison-types, she would have immediately realized that these shop owners likely acquired their Pokémon from the same source.
But even with three troublesome Poison-types teaming up, they were still no match for Garchomp and were relentlessly beaten down.
Soon, the battle ended. The three shop owners gave up resisting, and the officers who had been waiting nearby tactfully rushed in and secured them.
Thinking about Joseph and Mark -having to deal with the store owners themselves and conduct the follow-up searches with no support- the difference in treatment compared to Cynthia was pretty obvious.
"Miss Cynthia, any further instructions?"
Cynthia glanced at the eager young officer who had come over and couldn't help but feel a little speechless.
Cynthia : I'm not your superior… Why are you asking me? Just trying to get screen time as a speaking extra?
"Search thoroughly. Rescue the Pokémon." Cynthia answered simply and to the point.
"Yes, ma'am!" The officer saluted, thrilled to finally get a couple lines.
There weren't any real strong opponents in the fresh meat market to begin with, so the situation was quickly brought under control.
After dealing with the owners who actively resisted, Officer Jenny didn't lift the blockade. Instead, she led her subordinates to inspect each shop one by one.
In the end, a total of 12 shops were found to be selling "IceSwine meat," which was actually Piloswine meat!
Not every one of the twelve shops had a freezer storing live Piloswine, but without exception, all of them had Piloswine meat in stock. So the crime of trafficking Pokémon meat was fully established.
"These twelve shops are just one part of the chain. They're only selling the meat. So where did that meat go? Who bought it? And who supplied them with the Piloswine?"
Everyone gathered at the entrance of the market, and Joseph was the first to raise the question. Judging by Cynthia and Officer Jenny's serious expressions, they were clearly thinking the same thing.
Just as they were about to interrogate the shop owners and follow the trail further, a muffled explosion suddenly echoed from the distance, and the crowd began to stir in panic.
"Something happened again…? Misfortune truly never comes alone!" Mark exclaimed in a panic.
Officer Jenny couldn't hold back anymore and shot a fierce glare at Mark before quickly running toward the source of the explosion. At the same time, she issued a command: "Continue interrogating those shop owners separately! We absolutely must root out every last one of these scumbags!"
"YES, MA'AM!"
---
Rewind fifteen minutes.
Just after Officer Jenny and the others had taken control of the fresh meat market, Sato's side also made a major discovery.
After locating the place where the Piloswine were being held, Gengar and Zoroark were a bit uneasy, but they still followed Sato's instructions and didn't act recklessly.
Zoroark snuck off and hid in a corner of the freezer, while Gengar concealed itself in the young boss's shadow and followed him out.
It wasn't until the young boss returned to the restaurant's front hall that Gengar silently notified Sato, relaying everything it had seen through Ralts.
"A big fish, huh? Gengar, [Shadow Hypnosis]!"
Sato hadn't expected to run straight into the "mastermind" behind it all, so he didn't hesitate to order Gengar to strike.
[Shadow Hypnosis] was a new technique: a fusion of Hypnosis and Gengar's unique control over shadows.
It didn't have any extra effects.
…But it made Hypnosis far more terrifying!
A dark red light suddenly rose from beneath the young boss's feet, and in an instant, his pupils lost all focus.
The most basic Hypnosis only induces sleep, but advanced Hypnosis allows flawless control and manipulation. And Gengar's was clearly the latter.
With the young boss under Gengar's control, Sato was just about to extract more information about his accomplices.
But unexpectedly, Gengar's move was detected by the Claydol in the kitchen!
Teleport. Hypnosis!
That Claydol aura was only at the beginning of Peak Elite level, but it clearly had a strong grasp of Hypnosis as well. While it couldn't overpower Gengar, it was more than capable of breaking the hypnosis placed on the man.
The young boss quickly snapped out of it. The moment he saw the Claydol guarding him, his alertness shot through the roof. Without hesitation, he sent out two more Pokémon.
Peak Elite, Skuntank.
Low Ace, Toxicroak!
With the addition of Claydol, it was clear the young boss was no pushover.
"Who's hiding and playing dirty…?I KNOW YOU'RE THERE, SO COME OUT IF YOU'VE GOT THE GUTS!"
The young boss shouted toward the surroundings. Meanwhile, the restaurant's customers looked on in confusion, wondering if the guy had lost his mind.
"Gengar, Psychic. Umbreon, Bite!" Sato's voice rang out, followed immediately by Gengar and Umbreon launching their assault!
"Toxicroak, Skuntank! Dual Night Slash!"
The young boss kept Claydol close by, clearly planning to run if the fight turned against him. Toxicroak and Skuntank both rushed to intercept Gengar and Umbreon.
Only now did the bewildered customers realize that a Pokémon battle had suddenly broken out inside the restaurant!
Some panicked and fled the combat zone, while others craned their necks with curiosity. As long as they didn't get hit, they didn't seem to mind watching…
Gengar's Psychic attack targeted Toxicroak, but the opponent clearly had experience dealing with Psychic-type moves.
Toxicroak spun into a Night Slash and somehow managed to deflect the Psychic attack.
Meanwhile, Skuntank and Umbreon were locked in a close fight. One was agile, the other calm and sturdy. Both had solid points, so it was clear the battle wouldn't be over any time soon.
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150 Power Stones = Extra chap
Romeloff[1]
[1] Patre-on :*