For the Toxicroak team.
The worst part wasn't the giant beast falling from the sky, leaving the dispatched teams with no return, but rather that after their officers and subordinates were captured, their Pokémon were brazenly turned against them!
"Damn it, what method did they use?"
A Toxicroak team officer paused at the boundary of their territory, glaring ahead fiercely.
At the street corner set up with a sentry post, behind the huge unknown pit, Skorupi, Stunky, and many human children who once belonged to the Toxicroak team were playing there.
Don't be fooled by how things seem unaffected now, but if the Toxicroak team dared to cross, these guys would immediately form a line of resistance against them.
Anyone who dared would be mercilessly sprayed with toxic gas and Poison Needles.
Especially the former, whose poisonous gas, once sparked, could turn into a flamethrower!
A neat row of flames left them burnt and battered. Even when they went back to try and replicate the technique, they couldn't manage it, as if there was a decisive difference between the Pokémon on both sides.
Putting Stunky aside.
The Toxicroak team was well aware that a terrifying Giant Steelix was hidden underground, capable of sending them flying dozens of meters, along with their vehicles, just by exhaling, more terrifying than a construction truck accelerated to the extreme when causing havoc.
These Trainers who excelled in using Poison-type Pokémon stood no chance.
"Demon Wood..."
Recalling that terrifying experience, many low-ranking soldiers of the Toxicroak team were unwilling to seek their own demise again, feeling that even ten lives wouldn't be enough.
The higher-ups of the Toxicroak team also had headaches. They initially planned to start with the soft targets, but unexpectedly, they ran into a hard nut right away.
But at this moment, they were still unwilling to give up.
Or rather, since they had already taken action, retreating would make other forces think them weak and easy to bully, emboldening other forces, even the shattered Quicksand team, to invade.
Therefore.
They decided to collaborate with several neighboring forces to invade simultaneously from multiple directions.
No matter how strong Demon Wood was, he was just one person with a few Pokémon, could he really dash back and forth?
He'd die from exhaustion!
With the mindset of going big since they'd already started, the Toxicroak team decided to go all out, rallying almost all their combat power within the team, combined with neighboring powers, to invade the territories originally belonging to the Evil Dog Team, clearly planning to crush them with sheer numbers.
But they never expected that without sending out many Trainers, just a swarm of Pokémon would hold them back.
Despite the lack of Trainers commanding them, those Pokémon displayed power far surpassing those with Trainers.
The collective unity made their invasion suffer unprecedentedly staunch resistance.
Even the civilians dared to use makeshift weapons, launching attacks against them!
In times of conflict among major factions before, civilians would only scurry in panic, fleeing in embarrassment or cowering indoors, anxious and frightened.
Now they dared to fight back against them.
This was something the invasion forces, led by the Toxicroak team, never expected.
The civilians and highly autonomous Pokémon leveraged the terrain, pulling the invaders into a street-fighting quagmire, the fierce resistance causing significant losses to the invaders time and again.
The back-and-forth struggle that even the Quicksand team hadn't experienced inflicted unprecedented blows upon the Pyrite Town ragtag forces, both physically and mentally.
Of course, Baimu, riding the Giant Steelix, was also a nightmare for all invaders.
Whenever the ground started trembling, they knew it had to be the Giant Steelix approaching, but once they began to determine Baimu's position based on the ground tremors.
The latter would stealthily have the Giant Steelix soar into the sky, launching attacks like an aerial battleship.
By the end of the day, they hadn't gained much, instead losing quite a few people.
However.
Just as they prepared to sound the retreat and fight another day, their stronghold was robbed.
The cause was a group of unidentified individuals striking their remaining members, while previously docile civilians suddenly went crazy, shouting "Punish the chief villains and return our home", as they took over numerous key facilities.
The Toxicroak team immediately considered turning around for defense, while Baimu, who had just returned from raiding the lair, went to intercept them, only to be stopped by a group that even surprised him.
High above.
Baimu stood atop Steelix's head, overlooking the firefight scenes below. Beside him, N watched with a calm expression, like a mastermind.
"Arena people?" He looked below, somewhat surprised.
N: "Arena?"
"The strongest force in Pyrite Town, the one I mentioned to you before, and they're actually abandoning internal strife and striking at other forces."
Baimu inspected closely, "It doesn't seem like other forces are pretending, I recognize the leader, often saw him in the arena, a sort of manager figure."
N didn't respond, as he was extremely weary of such human struggles; it was nowhere near as stirring as the sight of civilians and Pokémon uniting against a common foe.
That's right.
The Toxicroak team's Pokémon turned their coat on the spot and numerous Pokémon exhibited strength far exceeding that of those with Trainers, all thanks to this Pokémon child.
Perhaps some of his unique tricks meant nothing to mainstream Trainers, but in this "backwater," dealing with people wielding high-tech yet stuck in tribal civilization was enough to wreak havoc.
The reason these techniques were effective in such a short time was—
"Belief."
N told Baimu, Pokémon are life forms capable of creating miracles, each possessing nearly limitless potential. If you extend trust to it, it will exert every effort to repay your trust.
You may not trust anyone else, but you must trust your own Pokémon.
Baimu agreed deeply with this.
Aggron and the others have allowed him to experience enough of this.
Before long.
The battle below had already ended.
The mob, no matter how many, remains a mob, especially on foreign turf, after playing "hide and seek" all day with the civilians and Pokémon from the Toxicroak team and other forces.
Before they could even disband, the so-called coalition had already vanished into thin air.
——
Shortly after the battle ended.
Baimu received a call from Flop.
The latter mentioned that they had just discussed specific cooperation matters with Ying Yuan, and reinforcements would be sent to help, supposedly already arrived.
Not only had they arrived, but they had already finished the battle.
Baimu helplessly relayed the news to Flop.
Flop felt somewhat awkward, immediately noting that this was likely Ying Yuan's one-sided decision, leading to them only becoming aware of the action after the dust had settled.
It wasn't his side trying to trip anyone up.
"This person is somewhat autocratic."
"Those who have held high positions for a long time become like this, shaped by their environment. I'll tell you secretly, Leo is the one who convinced Ying Yuan by beating him."
"Beating as in… Pokémon battling?"
"Including but not limited to."
"Leo is quite imposing."
"After all, he singlehandedly took down the Shadow Team, so he has that capability."
Singlehandedly causing a storm...
Baimu was filled with admiration for Leo, as in the games, the Shadow Team consisted of only a few people, while in the animated world, the Shadow Team must have been over a thousand strong.
Even if only the main villain was defeated in the end, being able to strike down the chief villain was already remarkable.