On the unnamed island.
Watching all the young Trainers from various regions enter the space device, Yuan and his team, responsible for safety, were also preparing to go in.
"Should Agatha and I go in? Kikuno, you stay outside and watch over this space device. Although no one should know about it here, we can't be sure there won't be other forces coming. If the space device is destroyed or controlled, that'll be trouble," Genji said.
Kikuno froze for a moment at these words, then nodded, "That's fine. My abilities aren't suited for rescue work, you two should be enough."
As the Ground-type Elite, she was indeed not as adept in rescue operations as they were.
Beside them, Agatha glanced at Yuan with a smile, "Random teleportation, you really thought that up. This group of kids got quite a scare from you."
Yuan also burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha— They were too relaxed. They really thought this would just be like an ordinary outing? The younger generation in the Alliance is too lax now, their real combat ability is too weak, and their vigilance isn't enough. I'm just tightening that string in their hearts."
Kikuno also laughed, shaking her head, looking rather helpless, "It's not like before, we don't need so much fighting now."
But Yuan didn't think so.
"Danger can appear at any time, every region is unstable now, and you all know the Alliance's internal situation. Who can say what things will turn into in the future, when our generation is completely old, handing things over to the young people now, I can't rest easy."
"The generation after us was protected too well, few can stand on the stage now, we old folks still have to hold things up. But now it seems there are a few promising young ones," Agatha somewhat agreed with Yuan's perspective.
This trial of the Alliance didn't appear from any less than a struggle among various factions.
It was also the last insistence from strong individuals of the older generation.
The internal situation of the Alliance is more complex than imagined.
The stronger it is, the more complex the situation of the Alliance becomes. Using the words the old generation likes now to describe the current Alliance, it's just these four characters.
A tail that can't be dropped.
"Alright, let's not talk about this. The outside is left to you, Ice-type Elite Kikuno, we should head in, who knows if some of the little ones get unlucky and really encounter danger as soon as they walk in," Yuan waved and said.
"Okay."
Just as Yuan and Agatha were about to go in, an Alliance staff member ran over looking slightly flustered.
Gasping for breath, "Elite Trainer Yuanzhi, Ghost-type Elite Four Agatha, the two of you might… might not be able to go in now."
"Can't go in?" Yuan frowned.
"What's the situation?" Agatha's cane hit the ground, and a chilling voice sounded.
The staff member was sweating profusely, feeling immense pressure under the gaze of the two veteran Elite Four.
Swallowing some saliva, he explained, "There's... there's a problem, I don't know why, the originally well-prepared energy suddenly was consumed intensely, and right after the last person went in, the energy, the energy was completely depleted."
The staff member wiped the sweat off his forehead as he tried his best to explain the reason clearly.
"Excessive energy consumption? What's the reason?" Yuan asked in a low voice.
"I... I'm not sure, normally only when transporting special Pokémon or objects would such a situation occur, as long as all the Pokémon are in their Pokeballs, it shouldn't use so much energy..."
Yuan and Agatha exchanged looks.
They seemed to have faintly sensed something just now.
Except they didn't quite catch on, thinking it was a misperception caused by the nearby unstable space, but now it seemed that probably wasn't a misperception...
"Why mention this now?"
Everyone had gone in, leaving only the two Elite Four outside, isn't that a joke?
If those inside encounter danger, send out a signal but don't receive timely rescue, resulting in fatalities, it would be quite a loss for the Alliance.
This is the future of the Alliance.
Though Yuan and Agatha may look down on this younger generation with disdain, thinking they're too sheltered, it can't be denied that among them are quite a few who represent the next two or three decades of the Alliance's future.
The staff member was on the verge of tears.
"I didn't expect this situation to happen."
"What about backup energy? There's no backup energy?" Kikuno couldn't help but ask.
"This is the latest space device, just recently developed, and the way to replenish energy is also quite unique, requiring a certain amount of time to accumulate, so... so they said this trial would last two weeks, to prepare adequate energy for bringing them back," the staff explained nervously.
Originally, it wasn't a problem to transport four or five hundred people, let alone even seven or eight hundred.
They really thought it was enough, not knowing such a situation would occur.
"How soon at the earliest?"
"Ten..." Feeling the piercing gaze of the three Elite Four, the staff member trembled and braced himself to say, "Five, five days."
"Five days..."
Five days is still too long.
But cutting down from ten days to five, they knew this was already the staff's best effort.
Yuan let out a long sigh.
Too many things can happen in five days.
However, Agatha seemed to be the quickest to accept this result, casting a sidelong glance at the somewhat worried Yuanzhi, she impassively said, "Isn't this just right? Let them truly experience the distance between life and death, those with bad luck, insufficient strength, inadequate skills..."
She paused for a moment.
"Will really be eliminated."
This "elimination" wasn't being knocked out of a competition, but being "eliminated" by the world.
Yuan pursed his lips, looking conflicted, unable to be as ruthlessly decisive as Agatha.
Natsuhiko had no idea that his entry with Dragapult brought such a significant impact to this trial.
The staff member, bowing his head, cautiously glanced at the three Elite Four, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, there was one thing he didn't mention.
But thinking about it compared to the current situation, that thing seemed less important.
Which was... during transport, it seemed that one person's position deviated ever so slightly.
As to who it was.
Emmmm...
...
...
"Salandit."
Staring at the Pokémon detected via super sensing, Natsuhiko was oblivious to the events outside and unaware of the immense impact his inadvertent actions had on this trial.
If he knew, perhaps he would say... well done.
Salandits, in fact, weren't much different from the Three Bee Race he previously encountered.
Among them, only female Salandits could evolve into Salazzles, and after evolving, the Salazzle would become the undisputable leader of the group.
What's different is.
Once a Salazzle appears in the pack, any other Salandits with potential for evolution would be preemptively "dealt with" by the Salazzle leader, preventing any other Salazzles from threatening its position.
Moreover, a Salazzle would lead a group of male Salandits, forming the so-called "reverse harem."
If any Salandit fails to complete the tasks set by the Salazzle, they would face punishment.
It can be said that this type of Pokémon is not only harsh towards Pokémon outside their group but equally so within their group.
They are undeniably "villains."
However, what Natsuhiko liked most was a "villain."
Isn't there a saying?
It takes a devil to fight a devil.
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