A few days later, in the League camp inside Meteor Falls, only Drake, Glacia, Norman, Aoki, Steven, Phoebe, Wallace, and another Elite Four member remained, a total of eight Elite Four level or higher powerhouses.
Drake gathered the group together for a simple meeting. They unanimously agreed that they could not delay any longer.
Otherwise, it would not only give Team Magma and Team Aqua more time to search for things, but also give the Hunter Guild outside more opportunities.
After such a long period of silence, the Hunter Guild, which had always prioritized making money and neutrality, had instilled a sense of inaction in many people.
When they actually started operating, they found that their strength was terrifying.
It is estimated that Team Rocket would not trust the Hunter Guild 100% anymore.
Only by resolving the matter here as soon as possible could the Hunter Guild be dealt with.
As a result, the League's missions began to become more aggressive, and the missions to gather intelligence in depth became more and more frequent.
Today is the fourth day since the League entered Meteor Falls, and Aoki led his Pokémon deep into the area alone. After completing intelligence gathering and clearing out wild Pokémon over a distance, the clearing mission had been ongoing for some time. They needed to venture deeper before encountering more wild Pokémon, and these were all quite high-level.
What might be a difficult task for others was relatively easy for Aoki.
"Shelgon, Dragon Pulse!"
"Seadra, Saltwater!"
Aoki had been focusing on training Shelgon and Seadra in battles for the past few days.
Both Pokémon were growing rapidly.
Shelgon, aided by Kommo-o, accumulated power much faster than Shakira (What the Hell is this). Seadra, after evolving from Horsea, had finally shown some fighting ability.
Its synergy with Aoki was also improving.
After some more time, he might evolve Kingdra.
Boom—
Just after Shelgon and Seadra defeated several Golems encountered in the tunnel, a huge roar was heard, followed by a slight tremor in the ground.
Some falling rocks above the tunnel were blocked by Aoki's psychic abilities.
He frowned.
Logically, at this depth, he shouldn't have encountered any Team Magma or Team Aqua members, nor any particularly powerful wild Pokémon.
He extended his psychic powers to locate the source of the vibration.
He recalled Shelder and Seadra, summoned Drapion, and directed it towards the tunnel in the direction of the vibration.
It wasn't too far from his search area.
According to the mission's defined area, there should be several other League teams nearby.
Aoki controlled Drapion to travel at full speed; he had a mental map of the surrounding area and knew exactly how to get there.
Five minutes later, when Aoki reached the vicinity of the vibration's source, his psychic perception spread, confirming that it was indeed caused by League members.
However, it wasn't their doing, but rather an attack.
Two League teams, a total of eight League members, two near-Elite Four level trainers, and six Elite level trainers, had been ambushed by Team Magma and Team Aqua.
League teams capable of carrying out missions at this depth were the elite of the elite.
The personnel were far superior.
Unlike ordinary League Trainers, those Sheltered flowers, these were regular members of the League, frequently undertaking dangerous missions.
Their combat skills were comparable to those officers in underground forces like Team Rocket.
The tunnel was now filled with rubble and clearly in a state of explosion, indicating an ambush and a sudden attack by buried bombs.
This explained the booming sound Aoki heard.
The eight members were in poor condition.
Three were completely unconscious, slowly retreating with the support of the other three.
Several Pokémon lay on the ground, their condition unclear—whether they were unable to battle or were already dead. The two captains, their faces stained with blood, were still directing their Pokémon to resist the enemy's attacks as they slowly retreated.
The other members, while supporting the unconscious members, were also directing their Pokémon in battle.
They were now facing eight members of Team Magma and Team Aqua, also in a team formation.
However, their captain wasn't just a near-Elite Four trainer, but an Elite Four trainer.
All the team members hovered around the Elite Four level, making their overall strength far greater than the League's.
Moreover, the presence of traps and ambushes further exacerbated the disparity in strength.
Yet, the League members managed to hold on, demonstrating their exceptional combat skills.
Within five minutes, they were nearing their limit, all bearing severe injuries.
"Captain, let's finish them off quickly. It won't be good if others come," a female member of Team Aqua said to her captain.
The captain agreed.
The matter couldn't be delayed; a swift resolution was best.
"Captain McCree, let's deal with them quickly; delay will only cause more trouble," the Captain of Team Aqua suggested to the Captain of Team Magma.
But the Captain of Team Magma chuckled. "Captain Kevin, don't worry. The leader ordered us to clear out these League investigation teams here to prevent the League from overreaching. I estimate everyone in this area is roughly of this strength.
This will attract more teams, allowing us to wipe them out in one fell swoop!
League elite members? Pshaw!"
He then spat at the disheveled League members.
"Hahaha!! Yes! Captain McCree is right! Let's teach these League members a lesson for daring to be so arrogant..."
"Yes! Haha! Let's teach them a lesson!"
"..."
The Lava Team members echoed, making McCree's arrogance even more unrestrained.
He gave Kevin a look, meaning...
are you scared?
Captain Kevin of the Team Aqua frowned, not saying much.
He had to admit that McCree's words made some sense, and he was just being cautious.
At this time, he couldn't let the Team Aqua lose face and make people think he was a coward.
But he still sped up the speed of commanding the battle.
The two League captains were even more unable to resist.
Everything was presented to Aoki's psychic perception.
His face immediately darkened.
Boom!!!
Under Aoki's command, the Drapion directly blasted through the rock wall between the two tunnels.
"Who!!" McCree and Kevin were immediately attracted.
They saw a figure vaguely visible in the dust at the once hard rock wall.
A cold voice came from the hole, "Bullying the weak and feeling smug about it? Let me see what you're capable of!"
With that, Aoki, standing on Drapion's back, threw out several Poké Balls.
"Tyranitar!!!"
"Kok!!!" "
Chamo!!! " "
Kamamo!!!"
"Vanilla—"
Tyranitar, Aggron, Swampert, Blaziken, and Florges appeared together, along with Drapion at Aoki's feet—a total of six Pokémon.
"Lord Aoki!"
"Lord Aoki!"
"Lord..."
Upon seeing who emerged from the dust, the two captains and several League members who hadn't fainted were overjoyed.
(End of Chapter)