"A Champion-level Dragonite..." Alfred's face twitched slightly.
He did not need to think to know where it came from. This was definitely a guardian Pokémon given to Lance by the elders of the Dragon Clan. That made leaving quickly much more difficult.
Hovering in the air, Lance flicked his cloak and asked in a serious tone, "You seem to know quite a bit about me. Have we met before?"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar to him.
Alfred lowered his voice until it became rough and hoarse. "Heh. The famous genius of the Dragon Clan. The Dragon Master of this generation. Kanto's newest Elite Four member. With a reputation like yours, who wouldn't know you?"
After hearing that, Lance frowned in thought, then he suddenly shouted.
"Dragonite, Hurricane!"
"Weezing, Gunk Shot!"
After a brief standoff, both men gave their orders at the same time.
* * *
West of Lake Verity.
The pitch-black Claydol floated silently above the forest. The ring of red eyes atop its head flashed continuously as blades formed from psychic power sliced through everything around it.
From time to time, Drakloak would appear nearby and launch a quick attack such as Shadow Ball before immediately retreating. This hit-and-run battle had already lasted nearly half an hour.
The shapes of Claydol's red eyes changed rapidly, revealing its growing irritation and anger. Its large body and relatively slow movement speed had caused it to take quite a few hits, and the movements of its body were becoming increasingly stiff.
Even though it could use Teleport and rush over the moment Drakloak appeared, it could never catch the ghostly dragon before it slipped back into the shadows.
"Claaay..."
Claydol flashed again and teleported between several trees. Yet Drakloak had only poked its head out briefly. Dreepy on top of its head even giggled and mocked it before vanishing once more.
"Claydooool!"
Claydol was furious, but the only order it had received was to pursue this Drakloak. It was becoming more and more helpless.
Then a strange white light flashed across the distant sky.
"Mega Gengar, Shadow Collapse!"
Claydol seemed to hear those words. An instant later, countless shadowy figures suddenly appeared throughout its wide field of vision.
Its body began floating upward.
Then its consciousness faded away.
"Gengengengen!"
Gengar emerged from the red mist overhead and reverted from its Mega Evolution. Grinning happily, it floated down and curiously examined Claydol's strange body.
"Cough... cough..."
Sitting on Corviknight's back, Shiro coughed twice and looked at the unconscious Claydol lying in the forest with swirling eyes. His brows furrowed.
He did not have Claydol's Poké Ball, and ordinary Poké Balls could not forcibly capture a Pokémon that already belonged to a trainer. Claydol was also far too large. Unown A was not here either.
For the moment, there was not much he could do with it.
"Forget it. Let's go for now. We can come back later."
Shiro decisively waved his hand. Finding Unown A and Unown G and capturing Hunter A were the most important priorities. Besides, Claydol would not be waking up anytime soon.
"Let's go!"
He recalled Drakloak with a Poké Ball and gave the order. Corviknight spread its wings and flew toward the grassy slope.
A short while later, he could already see the crimson psychic clouds in the sky gradually dispersing.
"A!"
Shiro called out while extending his psychic power into the area. Very quickly, he located Unown A at the center of the red cloud and Unown G drifting nearby.
A flash of light appeared. Unown G immediately brought Unown A over to him. However, Unown A's single eye remained tightly shut. Its body drooped limply as though it had not fully recovered from the previous psychic freeze.
'It has completely exhausted its energy for now. It'll probably sleep for several days,' Unown G spoke weakly. 'The person who attacked us came back. He used three metal boxes to suck those three away.'
As he listened, Shiro took out another bottle of healing spray from his backpack. After spraying a generous amount on both Unown G and Unown A, he asked, "Which direction did he go?"
'That way…' Unown G pointed into the distance.
"Good."
After letting Unown G carry Unown A into his backpack to rest, Shiro prepared to set off.
Just then, the communication device at his waist began vibrating.
* * *
"Shiro! Are you still able to move? Hurry north..."
Near the edge of Twinleaf Town, Looker spoke anxiously.
"Jan is trying to stop that Ditto... No, I don't even know what kind of Pokémon it is anymore. It's trying to enter Jubilife City!"
"I understand."
The call ended immediately afterward.
Looker bared his teeth and took a deep breath before anxiously scratching his head. "Shiro is seriously injured too. I'm afraid..."
He sucked in a sharp breath. "I'd better call someone else."
He quickly started dialing another number.
"Elite Bertha? Yes. No need to come here anymore. Head to the south side of Jubilife City first..."
"Sigh..."
Looker sat down heavily on the stone steps outside a building and covered his head.
If something happened to a major city, then as the headquarters special agent, he would bear the primary responsibility.
* * *
South of Jubilife City.
In the wilderness, atop the mountain closest to the city, an Aerodactyl briefly charged up before unleashing a Hyper Beam.
The terrifying attack, powerful enough to instantly defeat most Elite-level Pokémon, exploded within the valley behind it and kicked up a massive cloud of dust.
BOOM!
The earth shook violently. Even Jubilife City itself seemed to tremble twice.
In the residential districts near the southern suburbs, lights turned on one after another as confused residents searched for the source of the explosion. Those with connections had already begun contacting relevant authorities.
When the dust finally settled, Jan's expression grew even more serious as he stood atop Aerodactyl.
"Still not enough..."
Inside the valley, a massive pool of black liquid continued crawling northward. It was impossible to tell whether it resembled mud, sludge, or infected pus.
The substance seemed alive. It continuously wriggled and climbed forward, already covering nearly half of the mountainside.
Even Aerodactyl's Champion-level Hyper Beam could only delay its movement for a brief moment.
"Home... I want to go home..."
A mournful wail echoed endlessly. The voice sounded as if it had risen straight from hell itself.
Ordinary humans and Pokémon developed headaches simply from hearing it.
Looking at the scene, Jan could not help muttering to himself, "This is that Ditto? This..."
Is it really still a Pokémon? What kind of drug could create something like this?
Throughout the prolonged battle, the original Ditto had indeed grown weaker and weaker. Its body had gradually begun to dissolve. Or more accurately, it seemed to be getting devoured by something.
According to the most basic principles, nothing should be capable of producing more energy than it possesses.
By all logic, that Ditto should have already collapsed from energy depletion, lost the ability to fight, or died from its injuries.
But now, its original body had vanished and transformed into this thing.
Its consciousness seemed to remain intact, though no longer entirely clear. Most importantly, this extremely dangerous monster was automatically heading toward the nearest major city with the highest population density.
If it actually entered the city, nobody knew what kind of disaster it might cause.
Jan had already tried numerous methods. Whether he used Rock-type moves to block its path or special moves like Taunt, nothing worked.
The black sludge could pass freely through solid rock as though it encountered no resistance at all. Instead, direct attacks were the only thing capable of slowing its advance to any meaningful degree.
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!