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He simply could not comprehend how Ariel, whom he had just seen standing behind Norman, separated by at least several hundred meters, could possibly have bypassed him to reach this hidden dense forest ahead of him amidst the chaos and dust, without even taking a breath.
This speed, which completely defied common sense, filled Sen with a fear known as the unknown.
"Are... are you a man or a ghost?"
Sen's voice trembled.
Ariel did not reply.
He merely scratched the back of his head with a hint of disgust, the stray hairs on his forehead obscuring his expression.
He truly couldn't be bothered to explain that Malamar's precise, millimeter-accurate Teleport was purely a waste of breath on a man who was about to disappear.
"Ariel! We have no past grudges or recent enmity!"
Seeing Ariel remain silent, Sen's courage grew slightly, and he questioned loudly, "You framed me, ruined my future, and now you block my path. What is the meaning of all this? Is it for your so-called sense of justice?"
In his view, every action in the world should be driven by self-interest.
In the shadow behind Ariel, a faint ripple disturbed the ground.
A Frogadier, deep blue in color and lithe in build, slowly emerged.
Its steps were extremely light, making no sound upon landing. Only its pair of golden pupils flickered with an icy light in the darkness.
It made no cry, but stared fixedly at Sen. The air sac in its throat rose and fell slightly, and the very air around it seemed to drop several degrees due to its presence.
Sen frowned, his gaze sweeping over the Frogadier.
"A Frogadier?"
He looked at Ariel doubtfully, "You went to all this trouble just to show me your Pokémon?"
"Don't you find it familiar?"
Ariel's voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable pressure. "Mr. Sen, the esteemed forget easily. Perhaps you should think back to your time at Meteor Falls."
Meteor Falls.
These four words acted like a key, instantly unlocking the dark scenes deep within Sen's mind.
At that time, he had obtained precious intelligence: traces of a Froakie appearing deep within Meteor Falls.
Sen's brow furrowed even tighter as fragments of memory began to piece themselves together.
He had led men to surround an entire colony of Froakie.
He remembered clearly that the leader of that colony was beaten to death by his subordinates while trying to protect its young.
Sen looked again at the Frogadier before him. Those eyes, filled with hatred and resolve, finally overlapped with the young yet stubborn face from his memory.
"A survivor?"
Sen's complexion shifted from deathly pale to a strange, ashen purple.
He finally understood.
There was no so-called sense of justice, nor was there any instruction from a Gym Leader.
From the very beginning, this was a long-planned revenge.
Every word Ariel spoke and every action he took inside the cave was for this moment of reckoning.
"It seems you remember now."
Ariel took a step forward, the moonlight illuminating his face. His expression was unusually calm, so calm it was unsettling.
"It worked very hard, training desperately, just to stand before you one day."
Ariel reached out and gently patted the Frogadier's shoulder.
"I promised it that I would bring it back to resolve this knot in its heart. So that its path to evolution would no longer be shadowed, and so that it could grow stronger smoothly in the future..."
Ariel stopped, his tone becoming flat and casual.
"So, I'll trouble you few to die here."
Sen laughed.
The laughter echoed through the woods, trailing a long resonance.
He sized up Ariel, who stood a few steps away, his gaze lingering on the Frogadier in front of him.
"Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"
When Sen uttered these words, he was full of confidence.
Recalling their first meeting, what strength did Ariel possess then?
He dared guarantee that any one of his subordinates could easily handle him.
How long had it been since then?
A few months at most.
Raising pokémon required resources, time, and real battles for experience.
Behind Sen stood Ah Long and Cenk.
These two lackeys had fought tooth and nail in the underground arena during this time, forcibly raising their levels past the advanced threshold and stepping into the Superior rank.
Not to mention Ah Ying, who had been standing silently in the shadows.
Ah Ying said nothing, merely standing there.
Her Hitmonchan had reached Level 50!
Gym Leader Level!
If that Hitmonchan took a single step forward, the sheer pressure of its actual level difference could make ordinary low-level pokémon's legs go weak.
With Ah Ying backing him up, Sen's breathing was even and steady.
No matter how fast Ariel grew, how fast could he really be? What did he have to seek revenge with?
Just this Frogadier that hadn't yet evolved into Greninja?
Ah Long and Cenk stepped forward. Without exchanging any greetings, they immediately threw out the Poké Balls in their hands.
Two beams of white light struck the ground.
A robust Charizard flapped its wings and let out a long cry, the flames on its tail burning fiercely, causing the surrounding air to expand from the heat.
On the other side, Sceptile planted its feet firmly. The edges of the leaves on its tail were sharp, and the Leaf Blade on its arms reflected a green sheen in the sparse sunlight.
Level 43!
The two Superior-level pokémon settled into position, and the pressure belonging to high-level pokémon crushed toward Ariel's direction.
Ah Long dusted off his hands, while Cenk stretched his neck, his joints emitting a cracking sound.
The two men looked at Ariel, waiting for him to show fear, waiting for him to retreat.
Ariel did not retreat.
His expression barely changed.
Was Superior Level really that high?
He asked himself inwardly.
What was interesting was that many people always held a blind faith in levels.
Flicking his wrist, he tossed two Ultra Balls into the air.
A flash of red light passed.
Krookodile's heavy body slammed onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble.
It stood upright, its dark red scales radiating a dangerous sheen in the dim light. As its jaw opened and closed, sharp fangs were exposed.
On the other side, Malamar hovered in mid-air, its tentacles hanging down naturally. The surrounding magnetic field was affected, and small stones on the ground began to twitch abnormally.
Without any extra movements, the mere appearance of the two pokémon caused the aura mixed with wildness and brutality to press back directly.
The flames on Charizard's tail were forced sideways by the airflow, and Sceptile subconsciously lowered its center of gravity, adopting a defensive posture.
Sen's laughter caught in his throat.
He stared at Krookodile and Malamar, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
How could this be?
This did not conform to common sense.
The concept of the newcomer surpassing the established order was not rare in the pokémon world, but such a vast gap, directly leapfrogging months of hard training by Ah Long and Cenk, completely shattered Sen's cognitive framework.
He had not expected Ariel's strength to have inflated to this extent.
Ah Ying turned her head, her gaze falling on Sen.
She did not speak, merely nodding her head in an extremely subtle manner.
The meaning was clear: I've got this.
Receiving this signal, the tension in Sen's back eased slightly.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the momentary panic.
Ah Ying was Gym Leader Level; this watershed could not be easily crossed by just a few well-developed Superior-level pokémon.
Having found his anchor, Sen's mind began to work actively.
He started looking for a rational explanation for Ariel's strength.
Such rapid improvement in such a short time—had he used prohibited potions that drained potential, or resorted to some crooked methods from the black market?
pokémon nurtured this way through external forces had unstable foundations and couldn't sustain a long fight.
Moreover, Ah Long and Cenk were using Starter Pokémon.
The innate advantage of base stats was right there; in battles of the same level, Starter Pokémon always had a high win rate.
"Deal with him quickly."