The Sneasel was less than a meter tall, but it was incredibly agile. It was very fast, dodging and weaving. After evading one of Dragonite's Fire Punch attacks, it immediately raked its sharp claws across Dragonite's body, leaving a long gash.
It was about to press its advantage when a shadow flashed before its eyes. The energetic Eevee charged in again.
This was very annoying. The Eevee wasn't very strong, but it was impossible to shake off. It seemed to enjoy the chase, completely absorbed in it.
At every critical moment, it would jump out and disrupt Sneasel's rhythm.
Taking a moment to check on its two underlings, it saw that they weren't doing well either.
To its surprise, even though Machop and Machoke had the type advantage, they were still no match for the human's Tyranitar and Scizor.
The power gap was just too large for the type advantage to make up for it.
Seeing this, Sneasel unleashed its full power, temporarily forcing back Eevee and Dragonite, before leaping in front of its two minions.
It snarled at Tyranitar and Scizor, then, without looking back, led its two underlings into the mountain forest.
"It... it ran away!?"
Seeing this, the staff member's face lit up with joy. Could it be... that the Sneasel that had troubled them for so long had been driven away just like that?
But he had seen it clearly. The Sneasel hadn't taken much damage, so why did it retreat on its own?
Regardless, Sneasel's departure meant the Sacred Flame shrine was back in their hands.
Natsui looked at the staff member and shook his head. "Don't celebrate too soon. Sneasel has only left temporarily. If we don't resolve this completely, it will be back sooner or later."
The staff member's face fell. He then looked at Natsui with hope in his eyes. "Then, could I ask you to help drive them out of here for good?"
Compared to the performance of the previous trainers, this man's Pokémon seemed much stronger, which gave him hope.
Natsui thought for a moment without immediately agreeing.
As a wild Pokémon, Sneasel must have come here because it had nowhere else to go, claiming the shrine as its territory.
And since it didn't come down the mountain to actively attack people, only striking when someone got too close, it clearly wasn't a malicious type. It just didn't want anyone near.
If they chased it from here, where would it go? Would it have to wander again, looking for another place?
But letting it stay here was obviously not a solution either.
He told his thoughts to the staff member, who was speechless for a while after hearing them.
"I see. I was too simple-minded before," he sighed. As a temple worker, he naturally had more compassion than an ordinary person. "I was only thinking of ways to make it leave, but I didn't think about it from its perspective. Now that you've pointed it out, I realize this Sneasel must have left its pack to make this place its home."
Erika thought for a moment and said, "In that case, why don't you call it over and try to negotiate? If it really likes this place and doesn't want to leave, as long as it agrees not to block access to the Sacred Flame, you could let it stay here and coexist peacefully."
The staff member hesitated. "But as you just saw, it's not willing to communicate with us at all."
"That's easy," Natsui said. "If it doesn't want to talk, then we'll just beat it until it's willing to talk!"
With that, he led his Pokémon into the forest. Together with Erika, they followed in the direction Sneasel had fled.
The forests of Mt. Silver were known for their dense, towering trees. If you weren't familiar with the terrain, it was easy to get lost if you went too deep.
Fortunately, Sneasel, Machoke, and Machop hadn't been gone long. Natsui could easily track them by the fresh footprints they left behind.
Of course, the footprints were mostly from Machoke. Its feet were too big and its body too muscular for it not to leave tracks when stepping on soft ground.
Perhaps Sneasel never expected anyone to track it.
Natsui and the others had only walked a few hundred meters when they saw Sneasel, Machoke, and Machop resting under a tree.
They were shocked to see someone had followed them and quickly got into a battle formation.
"Sneasel, wait! We're not here to fight. We just want to talk about the territory issue!"
Following the principle of diplomacy before force, Natsui didn't immediately order an attack, intending to resolve the issue with words first.
However, he clearly underestimated Sneasel's wild nature. As soon as he finished speaking, Sneasel let out a low cry and charged forward with Machoke and Machop.
Well, that settled it. It seemed he was right before. He'd have to beat it into submission first.
"Dragonite, you guys go too!"
With a wave of his hand, Natsui once again signaled his Pokémon to attack. But this time, to switch up the training, he didn't use the same matchups. He had Dragonite and Eevee fight Machoke and Machop, while Tyranitar and Scizor took on the leader, Sneasel.
This change in formation, combined with the strength of Natsui's Pokémon, immediately yielded different results.
Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Scizor were no longer held back by their opponents' type advantages and unleashed their true power, pushing their opponents back relentlessly.
Take Sneasel, for example. Just a moment ago, it had been fighting Dragonite with ease. But now, facing Tyranitar and Scizor, it was struggling to deal with even one of them, let alone both at the same time.
Not long into the fight, it was panting and sweating from constantly dodging their attacks.
When it got a chance to look at its two underlings, it saw they had already been defeated by Dragonite and Eevee.
This sent it into a panic. In a moment of distraction, it was caught by one of Scizor's giant pincers, which clamped around its neck and pinned it hard against a tree trunk.
With the dust settled, Natsui walked over and looked at the Sneasel.
"Well? Ready to behave now?"
Sneasel turned its head and snorted, clearly still defiant.
Natsui paid no mind to its attitude. He smiled slightly, and with a wave of his hand, Scizor, escorted by the other Pokémon, began carrying the captured Sneasel back towards the Ho-Oh-In Temple.
As for the Machoke and Machop, Natsui didn't bother with them. Now that he had their leader, why worry about two small fries?
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