There's trouble in the cave!
The attacks from the Beedrills are about to land, but right now, Noivern is ignoring the danger ahead.
Frankly speaking, if Noivern had to take on this round of attacks from the four, even if it wouldn't immediately lose its ability to fight, it would suffer substantial damage.
However, Natsuhiko intervened at the last moment to stop their attack.
Watching Noivern quickly disappearing into the cave, Natsuhiko squinted his eyes.
"Let's go in and take a look."
He wanted to see who took advantage of the moment he was tangling with Noivern to sneak inside.
Entering the cave in the dark.
Since the cave needed to accommodate Noivern's flight, it wasn't small.
But in the dim outside light, only a part of the entrance could be seen, and being located in a mountain ravine, already lacking in light, further deepened the cave's darkness.
Noivern can navigate the cave like a bat, relying on sound waves, but obviously, others cannot.
Though Natsuhiko isn't worried about the light problem, having merged with Yujira's psychic powers, he can clearly discern what's inside the cave.
Moreover, by the way Noivern quickly rushed in, there's likely no chance for an ambush.
The only thing to worry about might be the shadow that just rushed in.
In the wild, humans are far more dangerous than wild Pokémon.
Thus.
With enough caution and a steady speed, Natsuhiko gradually approached the deepest part of Noivern's cave.
This is a large rock cavern, even allowing Noivern to freely turn around inside.
Where it should be pitch-black, the cave now flickers with bright yellow light.
A silhouette stands in the cave.
By its feet lies an injured Noivern, surrounded by a peculiar purple aura.
Its curled tail tightly protected two crystalline Pokémon Eggs beside it, its pleading eyes fixed desperately on the item the person in front was holding.
A Pokémon Egg lies quietly in the hands of the silhouette.
Opposite him is the male Noivern that previously clashed with Natsuhiko's Pokémons.
It growled lowly, apparently threatening, its eyes red and full of hostility.
But looking at the Pokémon Egg in the person's hand, and the female Noivern at his feet, it hesitated to act.
The man standing in the cave.
He has short black hair and half his face covered with a red silk cloth, wearing black ninja garb. Despite the face cover, a smile can still be seen, admiring one of the Noivern's Pokémon Eggs in his hand.
Aju?
Seeing the man, Natsuhiko instinctively thought of this name.
The Dojo Leader of Light Red Dojo in the Kanto Region Light Red City, a notable Trainer within the Kanto Alliance, and also an Iga School Ninja, a Ninja Master, and expert of Poison-type Pokémon.
Additionally, behind the scenes, there is another identity, which is one of the three Rocket Team executives, one of Giovanni's undercover agents in the alliance.
The reason Aju is quite famous at the moment is due to numerous voices within the Kanto Alliance supporting his potential ascension to become one of the new Elite Four.
Even if he cannot become one of the Elite Four right now, nobody can deny Aju's strength and capability. He might very well have a place in the next lineup or even the one after that.
However, after closely examining the person, Natsuhiko shook his head.
No, that's not right.
With Aju's current status, he surely wouldn't and doesn't need to participate in this trial; his age is also considerably older than Natsuhiko's generation. It's said his daughter Axing has already gained prominence in the alliance, inheriting Aju's true skills.
The person in front isn't Aju, but is definitely connected to Aju!
"Come out." From beneath the mask, a muffled voice emanated, the man's gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over the shadow where Natsuhiko stood.
Trying to hide from a qualified ninja is evidently impractical.
Natsuhiko didn't intend to conceal himself, but encountering a ninja in the wild, especially one skilled in using poison, is indeed a bit troublesome.
The purple aura around the female Noivern on the ground clearly indicated poisoning.
Illuminating the dark cave is a particularly dazzling Weezing, emitting continuous glow from using "Flash" technique.
Seeing Natsuhiko walking out, the person's mouth beneath the mask slowly widened.
"Friend, though exploiting you slightly is regrettable, this Noivern couple and their Pokémon Eggs are prey I've targeted much earlier. So, even if it's first-come, first-served, you intervened in my hunting plan." The person spoke with a friendly expression, but his tone was incontrovertible.
"Let me introduce myself, Light Red City, Atuo, apprentice of Light Red Dojo Leader Aju. The name should be familiar to you?"
With Aju's notable calls to become an Elite Four, Atuo, a disciple of Aju, is naturally quite proud.
This leads back to Aju, who, as a descendant of the Iga School, loves studying various toxins, extracting many poisonous substances from different Pokémon and plant life, some of which regular antidotes cannot neutralize.
Another passion of his is taking students.
It seems he carries the responsibility of promoting the Iga School's legacy.
Thus, Aju actually has quite a few disciples.
But being sent to this trial likely speaks to Atuo's high stature in Aju's regard.
Having stated his identity and stance, Atuo didn't appear very concerned about Natsuhiko's presence.
"Oh? You say it's your target, hence it's your target? I would say you disrupted my hunting plan." Natsuhiko shrugged, speaking calmly.
"What? You don't believe it?
You can look at the ground in this cave, the eggshell fragments, all from Shroomish and Breloom. I was the first to offer them Pokémon Eggs for sustenance. You probably don't know, Breloom's Pokémon Egg, while rich in nutrients, its spur produced during development has a slight catalyzing effect."
Atuo glanced at the eggshells on the ground, seemingly very satisfied with his arrangement.
He was initially the one who offered the Pokémon Eggs to Noivern, making them aware of the Egg's effects, which led Noivern to steal Pokémon Eggs each night.
Upon hearing this, Natsuhiko finally understood the course of events.
It turns out, Breloom was not lying; the first to steal their Pokémon Egg was indeed a human.
Only the male Noivern saw its mate consume the Breloom's Pokémon Egg, regaining its previously exhausted body, and therefore became a "thief" to steal Pokémon Eggs at regular intervals thereafter.
Breloom's Pokémon Egg also has catalyzing properties?
This Natsuhiko indeed didn't know.
As expected, not only versed in inducing human reproduction and miscarriages, Atuo, as Aju's disciple studying diverse toxins, also knows how to accelerate wild Pokémon reproduction…
However.
Even if he proved that these two Noiverns first targeted them, so what?
Glancing at the eggshells on the ground, Natsuhiko calmly stated, "So?"
Hearing Natsuhiko's indifferent words, Atuo's smile gradually turned cold, spoke slowly, "You may not know, but I'll give you this message free of charge as a 'benevolent' reminder."
Pausing briefly, he continued, "In this Alternate Space now, the so-called rescue device given by the three Kings is useless."
Implying that the rescue device is unusable, so beware, even if I kill you now, no one would know.
A heavy threat implied.
"That message..." Natsuhiko's voice sounded, hesitating slightly.
Just as Atuo was about to smile again, Natsuhiko slowly lifted his head, revealing a broad smile.
"I've known for a long time."
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The fifth update! Asking for monthly votes~~