"Hahahaha."
Footsteps followed.
A man emerged.
Silas recognized him immediately as the person whose presence he had sensed earlier.
The black-haired man smiled.
"Wow."
He slowly clapped.
"Your reputation preceded you, kid. To think you could detect my presence. Your natural senses are Pokémon like."
Silas remained silent.
"Given enough time, you'd probably become a powerful figure. Unfortunately…"
The man reached for 2 Poké Balls.
"Your legend ends here. Potential is nothing before real strength."
Light flashed and 2 dangerous Pokémon appeared.
A Hypno and Gengar.
The moment they materialized, Silas' casual expression disappeared.
These weren't like Ricky's Pokémon.
Silas could immediately feel the difference.
They exhibited real pressure and a sense of danger.
He immediately activated his scan ability.
Hypno (M) — Level 65
Ability: Inner Focus
Potential: B+
Moves: Rank A Psychic, Rank A Drain Punch, Rank A Calm Mind, Rank A Psycho Cut, Rank B Psybeam, Rank B Ice Punch, Rank B Fire Punch, Rank B Thunder Punch, Rank B Hypnosis, Rank B Dream Eater, Rank B Nightmare, Rank B Poison Gas, Rank B Disable, Rank B Protect, Rank B Torment, Rank B Wish, Rank B Taunt, Rank B Reflect, Rank B Light Screen, Rank B Barrier, Rank B Tri-Attack
Gengar — Level 63
Ability: Levitate
Potential: B
Moves: Rank B Lick, Rank B Confuse Ray, Rank B Night Shade, Rank B Hypnosis, Rank B Dream Eater, Rank B Spite, Rank B Mean Look, Rank B Curse, Rank B Destiny Bond, Rank B Shadow Punch, Rank B Sucker Punch, Rank B Payback, Rank B Shadow Ball, Rank B Dark Pulse, Rank B Hex, Rank B Nightmare, Rank B Perish Song, Rank B Grudge, Rank B Psychic, Rank B Ice Punch, Rank B Fire Punch, Rank B Thunder Punch, Rank B Thunderbolt, Rank B Sludge Bomb
Silas' eyes narrowed.
Level 65 and 63.
These 2 Pokémon were beyond the current strength of most of his public team.
If he tried to fight conventionally, the situation could become extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, Silas had never planned to fight fairly.
His eyes widened.
His face was seemingly filled with fear as he ran for his life.
Silas turned around and bolted in the opposite direction at full speed.
The man stared for half a second but then he burst out laughing like a madman.
"Hahahahaha!"
Hypno and Gengar immediately followed.
Both Gengar and Hypno mercilessly shot Shadow Balls at him but Silas could tell they intentionally held back.
The attacks would barely miss and the shockwaves would knock him off his feet.
Silas would roll over and get up then start running again. Not once did he look back or send out his own Pokémon to fight.
It was as if he knew it would be a futile effort.
"Is this the power of the new generation of Elite Officers?"
Silas continued running.
"How laughable, you sully the name of Team Rocket with your cowardice!"
The man chased after him.
"Hahahaha! At least face your final moments like a man. Get ready to die!"
Silas suddenly stopped.
The man slowed. Hypno and Gengar stopped with him.
The man grinned.
"Oh? Didn't know you'd grow a backbone at the end like this. You know they say a man only knows who he is when faced with the crisis of death."
He casually walked closer.
"Ready to make your final stand?"
Silas slowly turned around.
"Why are you targeting me?"
The man raised an eyebrow.
Silas continued.
"You're clearly a Rocket just like me. I haven't offended anyone, I just came back from the trial so why come after me like this?"
The smile returned.
"You really don't know?"
Silas remained quiet.
"You shouldn't have offended Hun. Those that do, rarely have a good end."
Silas' expression changed slightly.
There it was.
The confirmation he needed. Up to this point, Silas was unclear on who was really targeting him. Now he knew who to be on guard against.
The man pointed toward him.
"For your transgressions against Lady Hun, you must die."
Gengar moved first.
It shot through the air toward Silas' right side. This time, it moved seriously and Silas had no time to react.
Almost simultaneously, Hypno disappeared.
It had used Teleport.
It reappeared on Silas' left. These Pokémon had perfect timing and positioning.
Silas instantly understood that this wasn't the first time these Pokémon had surrounded and killed someone together.
Gengar's arm extended into sharp claws made of shadows and Hypno produced a blade made of pure psychic energy.
Gengar attacked from one side. Hypno from the other.
Silas stood directly between them.
The attacker smiled.
Then, something moved inside Silas' shadow.
Drapion erupted from the darkness.
The large scorpion Pokémon appeared at exactly the right moment.
Dark type energy covered both of her claws and they extended in an instant to attack Gengsr and Hypno.
This was Crunch. Pokemon like Drapion could use biting moves with their limbs and even tail due to the pincer claws.
One claw intercepted Gengar and the other caught Hypno.
BOOM!
Both Pokémon were smashed out of their attacks.
Gengar was grabbed by the arm and Drapion pierced into its eery body. The Shadow Claw couldn't be maintained.
Hypno faced a similar situation but his psychic blade was directly neutralized by the dark type energy.
Their trainer's smile disappeared.
"What?!"
Drapion didn't stop.
Her claws tightened.
Dark type energy surged directly into both Pokémon and ravaged their bodies.
Gengar let out a ghostly cry while Hypno's own wa equally strange sounding.
It was nearly the worst possible situation for both of them.
Dark type energy naturally suppressed Psychic and Ghost type power.
Neither Pokémon had expected another opponent to suddenly emerge between them.
The dark type interference also prevented both Pokemon from using their escape abilities.
Gengar could normally phase in and out using his ghost powers while Hypno could use Teleport.
The dark type energy prevented them from circulating their energy and thus they couldn't use those skills.
Drapion had recovered tremendously since leaving the Trial Continent.
She was at Level 70.
Against these 2, she held a clear advantage.
In a normal 2-on-1 battle where Hypno and Gengar knew Drapion was present from the beginning?
The result might have been very different.
This wasn't a normal battle.
They had rushed directly into an ambush.
Drapion's opening attack grievously wounded both Pokémon before either could properly defend.
Hypno suffered even worse.
Unlike Gengar, it lacked Poison typing.
Drapion attacked with her tail striking towards the weakened Hypno but Gengar repelled the attack using Protect.
"Be careful of those stingers. Gengar, use Thunderbolt. Hypno, use Drain Punch."
Electricity exploded from Gengar's body and surged towards Drapion.
Meanwhile, Hypno was charging a Drain Punch while running forward.
""Drapion, use Shadow Ball to block Thunderbolt and Knock Off to strike at Hypno.
Drapion launched a Shadow Ball that clashed with the incoming electricity and exploded in the air.
Drapion then swung her arm like a whip while coating it in dark type energy.
The strike knocked Hypno back several feet and left a laceration on its body.
He cried out in pain and let out a strange roar.
Drapion's stinger struck at this moment. She had used Poison Jab.
Powerful venom entered Hypno's body. Its face immediately twisted in pain.
It struggled desperately to resist the poison but to no avail.
"Drapion used Knock Off again and this time, Hypno was shot like a cannon through several trees before stopping in a pile of debris.
The man finally realized what had happened.
Horror spread across his face.
"No! What the hell did you do to my Hypno?"
Gengar was equally furious and appeared besides Drapion.
She struck out using Crunch but Gengar avoided the attack with its strange eery movements and connected using Fire Punch.
Drapion was reeling from the attack but she stuck it out.
Using her arms as whips, she used Knock Off and Gengar suffered the same fate as Hypno.
Seeing this, the man began to panic and he threw another pokeball.
The ball was a special color, all silver and black. It contained an Ursaring.
The bear Pokémon unleashed a savage roar when it appeared and immediately attacked.
Something about it seemed off.
Although its level was high at 68 and high potential of A+, Silas could tell this Pokemon was crazy.
It attacked in a wild and erratic manner.
"Drapion, use Poison Fang."
Its 2 pincers and tail all struck Ursaring.
They bit in simultaneously and injected Ursaring with significant poison.
His Guts ability activated and his attack power skyrocketed.
Ursaring once again charged at them.
"Drapion, combine Knock Off and Poison Tail.
She turned in a swift motion then her glowing tail of dark and purple energy struck Ursaring in the chest and opened a bloody wound.
Because he was charging forward, Ursaring was able to avoid being blown away by the attack so he immediately followed up with Hammer Arm.
The Hanmer Arm smashed into Drapion and pushed her into a crater.
However, Drapion was tough. She had used Crunch to bite into Ursaring and used the connected limbs to pull herself out while maintaining the grip.
"Drapion, use Venoshock."
Purple electricity electrocuted the maddened Ursaring for nearly 20, seconds before it fell unconscious on the ground.
Another shadow moved.
Greninja appeared like a phantom.
Before the man could reach his belt, Greninja was already beside him.a
Several Poké Balls vanished from his possession.
Greninja retreated with all of them.
Silas calmly received the Poké Balls.
He began sealing them one by one. He had no idea what other Pokémon this man possessed. There was no reason to find out the hard way.
The attacker stared helplessly at the scene. His 2 powerful Pokémon had been crippled in seconds.
His remaining Poké Balls were gone.
Silas' fear disappeared completely. His posture relaxed. Even his expression changed.
The terrified junior Elite Officer had vanished.
Silas smiled.
"You were overzealous and careless. How could you be so dumb? You should never assume that as a hunter you cannot become prey."
The man clenched his fists. He knew Silas was right but he hated him to the bone.
"I appreciate you going easy on me as a junior though. If you had any kind of common sense or sense of caution, this fight would have been treacherous."
Silas looked toward the heavily wounded Hypno and Gengar.
"But I don't think I can return the favor."
His smile widened slightly.
"I hope you understand. Mercy to my enemies is really cruelty to myself. We can't have that, now can we?"
"You sneaky bastard!"
The man's face reddened.
"If it wasn't for you sneak-attacking me, I'd have killed you for sure!"
Silas nodded.
"I agree, that's why I think you are a fool."
The answer caught him off guard.
Silas continued.
"But I have no shame in sneak-attacking a fool who came here specifically to bully someone he believed was weaker than him."
Silas' expression cooled.
"What I hate most are people who bully the weak while fearing the strong."
His eyes remained fixed on the man.
"You are one such person. Our organization has no place for people like you. I'll make sure to do my part in the cleanup efforts."
"Our organization? You are still a child. You know nothing of the true nature of Team Rocket."
"What I do know is that you are close to death. Let me repeat what you said earlier. One knows who they are when death is approaching. So are you a coward or not? I am curious how you will spend your final moments ."