Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
Among the three-man alliance, Maitel was undoubtedly the strongest. He owned a level 53 Machamp, a Pokémon gifted to him by his father—a veteran construction worker—when it was still a Machop under level 5. It had been with him ever since and fought alongside the now 20-year-old Maitel through countless battles across the land. Its strength was unquestionable.
Maitel's rise from a no-name Rocket Grunt to his current standing was heavily aided by Machamp. With such a strong Pokémon, Maitel breezed through the early phases of the competition.
Even on this perilous Mystery Island, Maitel quickly adapted, and with Machamp's aid, he successfully captured five other peak Elite-level Pokémon with ease.
In fact, even before teaming up with Thomas and the other ally, Maitel had already stolen another participant's number tag and gained yet another strong Pokémon for his team.
It could be said that Maitel had been riding high on success before. His overconfidence started to swell, and he had even entertained the idea of challenging Ranka solo.
Fortunately, a shred of remaining rationality saved him from that fatal mistake.
That battle today not only crushed Thomas' ambitions—it shattered Maitel's pride as well, grinding it into the ground repeatedly.
Still, as the strongest among the three, Maitel retained more strength than the others even after their defeat and retreat. His mainstays, Machamp and Pidgeot, were badly injured but not lost.
In addition to those two, Maitel still had Vileplume and Scyther—both of which still had some fight left in them.
Although previously arrogant, Maitel was a cautious person at heart—very similar to Sato in that regard.
After riding Pidgeot low across the northern skies for a while, Maitel eventually veered eastward.
After fleeing for dozens of kilometers, he finally returned to one of his predetermined hideouts and began treating and recovering his Pokémon with various medical supplies and rations.
Notably, this hideout was located close to a water source.
Meanwhile, Sato had been riding Arcanine along one of the tributaries of the Crescent River. Although his path wound about, his general direction was still northward.
This time, Sato's luck was good. He soon discovered traces of Psyduck.
The Psyduck were swimming freely in the river and showed great tolerance toward Sato, a stranger.
Unfortunately, their levels were all too low—none had yet learned the specific move Sato needed, which was his main criterion for capture.
There were two moves that Psyduck and Golduck could learn by leveling up that Sato required. Without both, he had no reason to make a move.
"Where did all the wild Golduck go? Why aren't they with the Psyduck? Don't tell me Golduck actually despise their pre-evolved forms?"
Watching the flock of clueless yellow ducks foraging with their butts in the air, Sato couldn't help but feel disheartened.
This was already the sixth small Psyduck group he had encountered along the river upstream, and yet not a single Golduck had appeared among them. Sato felt not only discouraged, but also deeply puzzled.
After all, he wasn't a trained Pokémon researcher, and he had never owned a Golduck or Psyduck before—so he didn't know much about their nature.
Psyduck's seemingly dumb behavior stemmed from its inability to control its overwhelming psychic power, resulting in chronic headaches. To alleviate the pain, they learned to empty their minds—a rudimentary form of meditation.
In simpler terms, Psyduck were basically self-hypnotizing, or in a constant meditative state—it didn't mean they were actually dumb.
Of course, exceptions always exist.
Because of this, Psyduck often appeared slow and dull, and their chronic headaches also prevented them from fully using their power. That's why they needed to stick together when they were still Psyduck.
However, once a Psyduck evolved into Golduck and mastered control over its psychic power via the special red gem on its forehead, both its intelligence and strength surged. At that point, it would usually choose to leave the flock.
Though Golduck lacks the Psychic typing, its mental power rivals that of most Psychic-type Pokémon—thanks to the intense psychic discipline it developed while enduring Psyduck's headaches.
As such, Golduck also share the solitary pride of Psychic-types and prefer to live alone. They genuinely dislike spending their days around a bunch of seemingly dumb fellow Psyduck.
However, unlike typical Psychic-types, Golduck still care deeply for their kin. While they don't like being around their dopey companions, it doesn't mean they've abandoned the group that raised and protected them.
Thus, Golduck usually never stray too far from the flock. And if their group is in danger, they will receive the message and rush to help.
Sato had already searched nine Psyduck flocks without spotting a single Golduck. Deciding to change strategies, he summoned his Red Shiny Gyarados and prepared to cross to another tributary.
After experiencing several brutal battles, the Red Gyarados had long lost its former arrogance. Under Sato's command, having tasted the fruits of growing stronger, it now felt both fear and respect for Sato—and had begun to truly follow him.
The Red Gyarados was a Pokémon Sato paid close attention to. He had been watching its shift in attitude, and now, he finally trusted it.
Since the battle against the Pinsir swarm, the bloodied and hardened Red Gyarados had quietly reached level 34. Its presence had grown fiercer and more imposing with every fight.
The moment it appeared in the river, its Intimidate and special Tyrant ability automatically activated. Immediately, all nearby river Pokémon fled in terror, with quite a few even fainting on the spot.
Unfortunately, a Psyduck flock happened to be nearby. Most of them were only around level 20.
Under the pressure of Gyarados's Intimidate, many of the Psyduck quacked in panic. Their high-pitched cries rapidly echoed out in all directions.
Then—less than ten seconds later—four blue figures radiating immense psychic energy rapidly flew in from the distance.