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Roserade was shocked the moment she saw this. A strong sense of danger surged within her. She wanted to dodge, but there were too many ice shards, and they were fired at incredible speed. Even though she tried her hardest to evade, she was still struck by several of them.
Because of the rain, Roserade's entire body was drenched.
Those ice shards, each radiating terrifying cold, struck Roserade's delicate body and immediately left behind streaks of frostbite wounds.
At the same time, a thin layer of ice quickly spread from the frostbitten spots across her body.
In that instant, Roserade felt as if her entire body had frozen stiff. Her limbs no longer obeyed her.
"Her temperature should be low enough now. Nidoking, finish her—Ice Beam."
Seeing this, Sato smiled faintly and immediately ordered Nidoking to deliver the final blow.
The next second, another icy-blue beam blasted from Nidoking's horn. Roserade could only watch helplessly as it struck her.
Immediately afterward, her entire body was sealed inside solid ice.
"Go, PokeBall."
Seeing Roserade subdued by Nidoking, Sato took out an empty Great Ball and threw it at the frozen Roserade.
The moment the PokeBall touched her, it popped open, and Roserade turned into a beam of red light and was absorbed inside.
Thud~
A few seconds later, with a final heavy shake, the wobbling PokeBall stilled. The red light on its center button faded.
But the instant the PokeBall stopped shaking, a strange shadow detached itself from the shade of a nearby large tree and slid rapidly across the ground, heading straight toward the PokeBall.
At the same time, a Banette with a sinister grin suddenly appeared behind Sato, its ghostly claws—filled with powerful Ghost-type energy—swiping straight for his head.
"Hmph. Trying to steal the fruit of my labor? Keep dreaming."
"Kecleon—Lick! Crobat—Shadow Ball! Nidoking—Earth Power!"
Sato had been using his psychic sense to monitor the surrounding area the entire time. Naturally, he had already noticed the arrival of the two uninvited guests. When they finally made their move, a blue gleam flashed through Sato's eyes, and he immediately issued telepathic commands to his Pokemon.
In the next moment, the Kecleon that had been invisible on Sato's shoulder turned pitch-black.
A tongue infused with Ghost-type energy shot from her mouth like lightning, striking Banette before its Shadow Claw could land.
Meanwhile, Crobat and Nidoking also launched their attacks.
Countless baby-fist-sized Shadow Balls shot from Crobat's mouth, targeting the fast-moving shadow on the ground.
Nidoking slammed a fist into the earth, and pillars of earth-colored energy erupted from the ground, forming a protective barrier around the PokeBall.
The shadow sliding along the ground trembled upon seeing this terrifying assault. It immediately backed off, stopping its approach to the PokeBall, then shot upward.
A Gengar, face full of panic, materialized before Sato.
After knocking Banette back with its tongue, Kecleon instantly retracted it—then shot her tongue again, this time aiming directly at the now-still PokeBall.
Thanks to Kecleon's assistance, Sato successfully retrieved the PokeBall containing Roserade.
"Impressive, sir. To think you could see through both Banette and Gengar. But everything follows the rule of first come, first served. That Roserade was originally prey we, the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group, had our eyes on. Please return her to us."
"That's right. I advise you to hand over Roserade. Otherwise, our Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group will not let this matter go."
At that moment, two figures wearing black clothing and oni masks stepped out of the nearby bushes, speaking to Sato in eerie, nasal tones.
Sato understood Roserade's value—but so did the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group. They knew exactly how precious a Pokemon capable of using Grassy Terrain was.
In fact, in order to seize Roserade, the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group had even offered benefits to the other three major poaching groups, gaining the right to pursue Roserade first.
Unfortunately, things had not gone according to plan. Roserade had escaped with the help of other wild Pokemon, catching them off guard.
And since the wild Pokemon guarding the cliff were gone, all four large poaching groups immediately rushed toward the cave in the cliff to avoid being beaten to the prize. None of them wanted to fall behind.
Roserade was valuable, yes— but compared to the Altaria and her newly-laid egg, the difference was massive.
The Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group's sickly-looking team leader knew this well, so he brought his squad to Altaria's nest as fast as possible.
But he still could not fully let go of Roserade. So he sent two trusted subordinates to chase her down.
Those two were talented trackers. They quickly found the traces Roserade left while fleeing and soon witnessed her battle with Sato.
The two were cunning. Hoping to reap the fisherman's profit, they quietly released Banette and Gengar and waited to strike once both sides were weakened.
However, they had never expected Sato to be so powerful. Roserade had been suppressed the moment she faced Nidoking and was quickly defeated.
But because they needed to complete their mission, the two could only grit their teeth and attempt to snatch the PokeBall.
Unfortunately for them, the sneak attack tactic that had never failed before—failed today.
Now that their ambush had failed and they couldn't steal the PokeBall, they resorted to using the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group's fearsome reputation to intimidate Sato.
Unlike the Blackcloud Poaching Group, the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group had a terrible reputation. Their leader was known for his ruthlessness and extreme protectiveness of his own.
As a result, all their members were vicious by nature. Ordinary bounty hunters rarely dared to target them.
"Give her back to you? What a joke. That Roserade escaped from your hands. Since your Poaching Group failed to catch her, that means she was ownerless."
"Heh heh heh~ Let me guess—your main forces are already inside Altaria's nest, aren't they? And now you two small fry dare to threaten me? Bastards, where exactly do you get that kind of courage?"
Hearing their words, Sato laughed in fury, his killing intent rising as he spoke to them.
The two Malevolent Ghost members stiffened under their masks. They instantly realized that Sato didn't fear the Malevolent Ghost Poaching Group at all—and had already developed the intent to kill them.
"Banette—Curse!"
"Gengar—Curse!"
Without hesitation, the two commanded their Pokemon to attack Sato.
At the same time, they turned and fled in opposite directions. They knew full well that anyone capable of detecting Ghost-type sneak attacks was no ordinary person—certainly not someone the two of them could handle.