Bang!
Garchomp's eyes lost focus as its hammerhead-shaped head tilted slightly backward, its consciousness becoming momentarily hazy.
A Shadow Punch had landed squarely on its face, leaving it stunned in midair. Its body arched backward and began to fall.
"Garchomp!"
Alfred's deep roar reached its sensory organs, causing its whole body to shudder.
It forcefully stabilized itself and stopped its fall, but just as it was about to raise its head, a flash of red mist appeared before its eyes. Another familiar fist emerged from the mist, carrying cold strands of Ghost-type energy.
Bang!
A burst of white shockwaves exploded across the night sky, and after only the briefest pause, Garchomp crashed into the forest below at an even greater speed.
On the other side, Lance stood frozen for a moment.
He immediately recognized Mega Evolution, so he wasn't particularly shocked at first. After all, he himself possessed a Key Stone given to him by his clan. But Gengar... no, Mega Gengar, was this strong?
It was clearly at the same Champion-level as Dragonite. In fact, it had only temporarily reached that level because of Mega Evolution, yet it had defeated that Champion-level Garchomp in just a few moves.
Even more astonishing was that Shiro, the trainer, hadn't made a single move throughout the entire battle. Not even one command had been spoken.
Having watched the Galar Champion Cup Finals, Lance instantly thought of psychic powers. Being able to coordinate flawlessly through psychic communication from such a distance was terrifying, and from what he had heard, Shiro would most likely be one of his opponents at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Lance discreetly wiped away the cold sweat forming on his forehead.
With Garchomp defeated, the three League trainers gradually closed in on Hunter A from different directions.
Although Alfred's expression was somewhat grim, he remained relatively calm. The combat power of that Mega Gengar had far exceeded his expectations. Even so, capturing him was still unlikely.
His hand tightened around the yellow crystal inside his pocket.
"Lance! Don't you want to know why I attacked this Galarian?" Alfred asked, shifting his focus toward him.
Lance's body stiffened slightly as he turned to look at Shiro.
Attacked...
Hunter A had prepared in advance and deliberately targeted him?
It was said that among all people on the wanted list, Hunter A carried the highest bounty. What made him so feared and hated was that he had never failed a mission once he chose a target. Whether human or Pokémon, his victims were always discovered dismembered and brutally killed, and among them were even high-ranking League officials.
Rumor had it that the previous Champion of Hoenn had been ambushed and killed by Hunter A. The region had been forced to temporarily appoint someone from the Battle Frontier as a replacement.
Even now, the Hoenn League continued increasing Hunter A's bounty while constantly organizing operations to eliminate the Hunters Guild within its territory.
Lance had always despised the Hunters Guild and strongly supported Hoenn's policy. As one of the main League's Elite Four and a League Investigator, he had long regarded the Hunters Guild as an evil organization that had to be eradicated, so he gave no response to Hunter A's words.
This time, Hunter A had completely failed. He had caused such a massive disturbance, yet Shiro didn't appear seriously injured at all. Having been pushed into such a desperate situation, how much truth could possibly remain in his words?
Countless thoughts flashed through Lance's mind before they were interrupted by a loud shout.
"My target is the Unown on him! You've all heard of Unown, haven't you...?" Alfred said with a raised smile.
The three exchanged glances, their expressions complicated.
Jan had personally witnessed five Unown fighting each other. He had also seen Unown G that Shiro had released.
At his age, he wasn't overly concerned about such things. Still, how could anyone not be curious about a Pokémon as mysterious as Unown? They were comparable to Legendary Pokémon, perhaps even more enigmatic.
After a brief hesitation, Jan clenched his fist and suddenly roared before Hunter A could say another word, "Take down this lying hunter now! Aerodactyl!"
Acting on instinct, Aerodactyl opened its mouth and fired a Hyper Beam.
In Lance's slightly widened eyes, the beam streaked across the night sky while the hand he had just raised slowly lowered again.
A strange mass of black water... black sludge transformed into an unidentifiable bird Pokémon and flew from the ground into the air, intercepting the Hyper Beam perfectly.
The black bird was slowed for a brief moment, but the massive hole blasted through its body rapidly regenerated.
Alfred slightly relaxed the grip of his right hand around the crystal in his pocket and remarked with some surprise, "So you're still alive, Bella."
Under normal circumstances, the Divine Medicine would completely devour the Pokémon that consumed it. The victim would then become a pitch-black zombie Pokémon with no thoughts remaining except violent destructive urges.
But a Ditto, especially a Champion-level Ditto, consuming the Divine Medicine was a first in all of his experiments. To retain consciousness was completely unexpected.
"Alfred... Alfred..." The black bird opened its beak as black liquid dripped from it. "I want to go home... take me home, Alfred..."
Alfred glanced around but gave no response.
After taking a deep breath, he shouted once more, "Lance! Arceus is dead! Unown will inherit His authority and become the key to controlling the world!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the three people present had not even finished reacting before the surrounding sky suddenly distorted and fractured. Space itself seemed to twist and tremble under some immense force as strange cracks spread through the air.
Buzz!
Violent winds erupted, and a powerful suction force poured endlessly from the cracks. Feathers scattered through the air while clothes and capes fluttered wildly.
Standing at the center of it all, Alfred's smile widened.
With space collapsing like this, the distance achievable through psychic teleportation would increase dramatically.
Before anyone could understand what Hunter A intended to do, both Jan and Lance remained trapped between shock and disbelief after hearing his claims. Neither immediately ordered their Pokémon to act.
Only Shiro kept his eyes locked on Hunter A. There wasn't the slightest ripple in his heart. Beside his increasingly trembling body, red mist began to surge.
At the center of the chaos, Alfred took out the still brilliantly glowing yellow psychic crystal.
"Alfred... Alfred..." the bird formed from black sludge continued murmuring. "Take me home..."
Alfred's movement paused for an instant. After observing the black mass that could only mechanically repeat the same words, he withdrew his gaze.
There was no way he would take that puddle of filth with him. The psychic crystal had already consumed a tremendous amount of energy from its frequent use not long ago. If he carried another Pokémon along, the teleportation distance would be drastically reduced. At that point, the Galarian might very well be able to track him down.
Besides, the Divine Medicine had already completely devoured Bella. The tiny fragment of consciousness that remained was nothing more than instinct.
It had died long ago.
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