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A warm current rippled through the field as the healing wind swept across the convoy.The soldiers stirred, their pain easing, their strength returning.
The air carried the faint scent of Vivillon's soothing pollen a reminder that hope still lingered.
Scarlet Thorn stood at the front, her red hair whipping in the wind, golden eyes locked on the towering Golisopod ahead.
"So it's really a Golisopod…" she murmured, tension etched into her face.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The creature's heavy footsteps echoed like a clock's slow ticks.
With every step, the ground cracked under its weight.
The earlier storm of bullets hadn't slowed it down for even a heartbeat.
Even the psychic haze it had cast over the convoy broken by Vivillon's [Aromatic Mist] barely seemed to irritate it.
Its antennae twitched once, and it kept walking.
Scarlet could feel the pressure now.When she'd first arrived, she'd been all confidence.
But standing before it face to face she finally understood the overwhelming dread that had paralyzed the guards.
Every instinct screamed that this monster could tear her apart at any moment.
No, she thought sharply. I can't let fear take control.
They had to fight on their terms. Human weapons were useless. If they waited, if Golisopod reached the convoy, even its stray attacks could turn the trucks and everyone near them into shrapnel.
She turned to Aiden, voice firm. "Get ready. We can't stay defensive we strike first!"
Behind them, Buneary sat motionless, eyes closed, wrapped in a brilliant white glow.Energy pulsed across its fur, building to dangerous levels.
The [Focus Energy] it had been charging all this time was nearing its peak almost too much for its small body to contain.
Aiden clenched his fists and nodded. "Ready."
Scarlet gave him a brief, steady look.
He was young, unpolished, and terrified but he'd held on. That was enough.
"On my mark," she said quietly. "We go together."
Scarlet's mind was clear now. She hadn't taken this job for glory or extra credits.She'd taken it because this route passed through Summerset Town where her family lived.
After two years of confinement and training inside Ignis Academy, this mission had been her one chance to see them again.
She'd never expected to be fighting for her life instead.
"Three…"
Vivillon fluttered above, its wings shimmering faintly in the drizzle.
"Two…"
The light around Buneary grew blinding, its long ears coiling tightly, gathering every last spark of strength.
"One—Go!"
Whmmm!
Vivillon's eyes flashed pink.
"[Psybeam]!"
A spiraling burst of prismatic light shot forward waves of color mixing and twisting like liquid rainbows.
The air warped under its pressure, distorting sight and balance.
Even Golisopod faltered, its claws hesitating mid-step.
"That's our opening!" Scarlet shouted.
Buneary vanished from sight.
A streak of white light ripped through the air, cutting straight toward the enemy.
Its body shone like a meteor, ears drawn back, energy compressed to the limit the culmination of all that charged power.
A perfect strike.
The impact was blinding—
BOOM!
The explosion cracked the air like thunder.Aiden's eyes widened. For a heartbeat, hope flared—
—and then it died.
Golisopod hadn't even flinched.
Its black eyes glimmered with mockery.A faint shimmer ran along its carapace as dark energy gathered around one claw.
In that instant, Aiden realized it. It had been pretending luring them in.
It was playing with them.
"[Rock Smash]!"
The Golisopod's claw lashed out, colliding head-on with Buneary's charged strike.
The shockwave blasted through the rain.The light around Buneary shattered like glass, scattering into countless white motes.
"Buneary!" Aiden screamed.
The little Pokémon coughed blood, its body flung backward through the air but before it could even hit the ground, Golisopod's claw snapped forward again.
It caught Buneary by one ear and lifted it effortlessly.
"Let go!" Aiden shouted, rushing forward.
Golisopod didn't even look at him.
It raised its arm, the limp, unconscious Buneary dangling helplessly.
Blood dripped steadily from its claws, pattering into the mud below.
It stared at the small Pokémon for a moment,then turned its cold gaze toward Aiden and smiled.
To Golisopod, it wasn't an opponent.
It was a toy.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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