Chapter 302 – Terror in the Mine
"You… taking on Team Galactic?"
Hearing Asahi's words, the miner scrutinized the group again, pausing for an extra glance at Gary before shaking his head.
Gary: "?"
What's with that look…?
Out of all of us, why are you specifically shaking your head at me?
Do I look weak?
I'm super strong, okay?!
Unconvinced, Gary tossed a Poké Ball. With a thud, a Nidoking emerged beside him.
The massive Pokémon's landing made the ground tremble slightly.
Platinum, Pearl, and Diamond looked at Nidoking's intimidating presence with awe.
Gary's Pokémon looked so powerful!
Seeing the stunned miner, Gary smirked proudly. "It's just Team Galactic. Let me show you the strength of Kanto's Champion!"
Team Galactic? Time to wipe the floor with them!
---
Deep in Oreburgh Mine
Since they had entered the underground levels, the air had become increasingly stale despite the mine's advanced ventilation system.
But that wasn't a problem for Asahi.
He had stocked up on oxygen capsules designed for underwater breathing and distributed them to everyone.
To prevent a potential gas explosion, Pearl had already recalled Chimchar and released his Chatot instead.
However, to everyone's surprise—especially Pearl's—Chatot seemed strangely attached to Gary.
It kept circling around him, chirping non-stop, giving Gary a headache.
But as an experienced senior, Gary felt the need to set an example. So, despite his growing frustration, he said nothing—just shot a resentful look at Pearl.
Pearl: "…"
"Uh… sorry, Gary."
He quickly grabbed Chatot and held it tight.
Even Pearl didn't know why Chatot was acting like this.
Meanwhile, Asahi observed both Gary and Chatot with great interest.
If he remembered correctly, Chatot's Pokédex entry described it as having a personality that was "easily excitable and boastful."
Was this a case of like attracting like?
Gary had no idea what Asahi was thinking, but once Pearl restrained Chatot, he finally had some peace.
Just as he was about to say something, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from ahead.
Asahi, leading the group, immediately raised his hand.
Everyone froze, holding their breath—even Chatot sensed the tension and fell silent.
The dimly lit mine tunnel grew eerily quiet.
Just as Asahi was about to use his Aura to scout ahead—
"Rampardos! Zen Headbutt!"
A commanding voice rang out, followed by a dark silhouette lunging toward them.
A massive bipedal Pokémon charged forward, its muscular frame and short arms unmistakable. A ring of white spikes surrounded its head, and the blue, dome-like skull on its forehead began glowing as it launched itself at the group!
At the sight of Rampardos, Asahi immediately recognized the Trainer.
This was a misunderstanding!
But before he could explain—
Gary's eyes lit up with excitement. "So, this is Team Galactic? Nidoking!"
At Gary's call, Nidoking rushed forward, positioning itself at the front of the team.
With a powerful stomp, it raised its thick arms to meet Rampardos head-on.
Boom!
A dull thud echoed as the two Pokémon collided.
Nidoking trembled slightly but barely moved—its feet only dragged a few centimeters back before coming to a complete stop.
"What? A Rampardos!?"
From the shadows, a man wearing glasses and a safety helmet stepped into view.
Upon seeing Asahi and the others, Roark froze, clearly caught off guard. This wasn't what he expected. "You guys are…?"
Asahi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at Rampardos and said, "Not very friendly, are you, Mr. Roark?"
"…Ahem. My apologies."
Attacking the wrong people and having his Pokémon's attack completely stopped—this was an embarrassing situation for Roark.
But after confirming that the group wasn't Team Galactic, he let out a sigh of relief.
The past few days had put him on edge.
"Here's the situation…"
After a brief explanation, Asahi and the others finally understood what was going on.
Roark had been chasing Team Galactic through Oreburgh Mine for three days. He had clashed with them multiple times, but each time, they managed to escape.
Since Team Galactic had the numbers advantage, the miners could only operate in small teams of two or three.
So, the moment he heard a large group approaching, Roark had assumed they were the enemy.
"My sincerest apologies!" Roark said, looking embarrassed.
Asahi, however, focused on another detail. "You said there are a lot of them?"
"That's right… At least thirty of them, split into three squads. Every time I get close to arresting one, the others arrive to bail them out," Roark said, clearly frustrated.
That feeling of being so close to victory, only for it to slip away, was maddening.
"Leave it to us!" Gary declared.
Taking down Team Galactic was a job for professionals like them.
Seeing Gary's confidence even after learning the enemy's numbers, Roark grew even more curious.
"Who exactly are you…?"
Asahi smiled slightly and, with a flourish, produced an official-looking ID.
"International Police."
Roark froze. "Weren't you guys wiped out…?"
Asahi: "…"
Gary: "…"
Platinum, Pearl, Diamond: "…"
Slandered. Completely slandered!
Seeing their expressions, Roark quickly realized he had misspoken.
Just as he was quickly thinking of ways to salvage the situation—
Asahi coughed lightly. "We are International Police from Kanto. Although we're under the same International Police Headquarters as the Sinnoh branch, we are actually separate divisions."
"Ah, I see!" Roark quickly nodded.
Although he really wanted to ask why the Kanto International Police had come to Sinnoh, he had enough social awareness not to blurt it out.
Asahi had no intention of discussing this topic further either.
For now, dealing with Team Galactic was the priority!
With that in mind, Asahi turned to look at Gardevoir.
Gardevoir nodded.
The stone tablet that Gardevoir was holding began to float beside it as its eyes lit up with a blue glow. Those with keen perception, such as Platinum and Gary, immediately felt a wave of telekinetic energy sweep over them.
The next second, Asahi and Gardevoir's voices echoed in their minds simultaneously.
[Gardevoir Is the Best: I'm communicating with you via telepathy. Next, I'll have Gardevoir send you Team Galactic's locations.]
[Gardevoir: Garde~!]
A three-dimensional map materialized in everyone's minds.
A blue marker indicated their current position, while three separate red markers pinpointed the locations of Team Galactic squads scattered throughout the labyrinthine tunnels of the coal mine.
As Roark examined the clear map in his head, he felt as if he had been a headless fly for the past three days.
[Gardevoir Is the Best: There are three Team Galactic squads. To prevent them from assisting each other, we'll split into three teams.]
[Gardevoir Is the Best: Roark, you take one team. Gary, you take another. I'll team up with Platinum, Pearl, and Diamond... and supervise them as they finish their homework! If there are no objections, let's move out!]
...
A Hidden Tunnel in Oreburgh Mine
A group of Team Galactic grunts was resting.
"Where exactly is the ore that the Commander is looking for? We've been searching for three days and haven't found a trace of it," one grunt complained.
After three days of staying in the mines, cut off from the outside world, he felt like he was on the verge of depression.
Their supplies were running low, yet they still hadn't found what their commander sought. What were they supposed to do next?
His words resonated with most of the other Team Galactic members.
Especially since, over the past three days, not only had they been searching for the mysterious ore, but they'd also been constantly evading pursuit from a Gym Leader. It was utterly exhausting.
The squad leader, although silently agreeing with his subordinates, still reprimanded them. "Shut up! Do not question the Commander's decisions!"
In the rigid hierarchy of Team Galactic, the will of superiors was absolute!
Hearing the squad leader's words, the grunts immediately fell silent.
After a brief rest, the group stood up and resumed their task.
However, as they passed through a tunnel, a voice suddenly called from the back of the group.
"Wait, did anyone notice? I think... we're missing someone!"
At these words, the entire team came to a halt.
The squad leader, at the front, frowned as he turned to glare at the grunt who had spoken. He suspected that his subordinates were trying to slack off and cause trouble.
But when he carefully counted their numbers, he realized the truth—someone was missing.
Originally a twelve-man team, now there were only eleven.
"What the hell? Where's Ōkawa?" The squad leader turned to the grunt who had first spoken.
"I... I don't know. I was just chatting with Ōkawa earlier, but when we passed a junction, he suddenly went silent. At first, I didn't think much of it, but now I realize he's completely gone!" the grunt replied.
The squad leader's frown deepened. "Turn back! Find Ōkawa!"
The team immediately turned around, retracing their steps. However, even when they returned to their last resting spot, there was no sign of the missing Ōkawa.
An eerie tension settled over the squad.
Sensing the unease, the squad leader quickly attempted to dismiss it. "He probably couldn't handle this mission and ran away. Don't overthink it!"
"We'll search for one more day. If we still can't find him, we leave the mine!"
These words reassured the remaining members.
The squad pressed on.
But before they had gone much further, another problem arose.
"Captain! Two more are missing this time!!"
The team stopped again.
The squad leader's expression turned grim. He counted their numbers once more—just moments ago, there were eleven of them. Now, only nine remained.
Two more had vanished.
And the most unsettling part? There had been no sounds, no signs of struggle—nothing.
It was as if they had simply ceased to exist.
Panic spread among the team. Fear crept onto their faces.
"This... this isn't ghosts, right...?" one grunt muttered.
Instantly, that idea took root in everyone's mind. The remaining grunts nervously scanned their surroundings, eyes darting toward the surrounding darkness as if expecting a vengeful spirit to leap out at any moment.
Seeing his team descend into fear, the squad leader immediately shut down the notion. "Nonsense! It's just a Ghost-type Pokémon!"
"Send out your Pokémon! Even ghosts are afraid of Dark-types!"
His words snapped the team back to reality.
A flurry of Poké Balls opened in flashes of white light.
Each grunt called out their Pokémon, surrounding themselves with a sense of security.
Reassured, the team resumed their march.
That was when the grunt at the very back heard a familiar voice whisper in his ear.
"What exactly are you guys doing?"
Startled, the grunt instinctively responded, "Obviously, we're carrying out the Commander's orders!"
But as soon as the words left his mouth, a horrifying realization struck him—
That voice... sounded just like Ōkawa!
He immediately tried to command his Pokémon to attack. However, when he glanced at his Pokémon, he saw his Mankey struggling in the grasp of shadowy hands, its mouth covered.
Cold sweat drenched his back. Without daring to turn around, the grunt screamed, "Captain! Ōkawa is talking! Ōkawa is talking!!"
The squad leader's temper flared.
That guy had disappeared—how was he suddenly talking again?!
But when he turned to look—
There were only seven left.
No, wait—six.
Because one of them was being dragged into the darkness by a pair of hands.
"I finally caught you!" The squad leader reacted instantly, commanding his Houndoom to attack the shadows with a Flamethrower.
The flames illuminated the tunnel, revealing the culprits—
Two mischievous-looking kids, hauling the terrified grunt into a side passage.
Seeing the incoming fire, the two froze, seemingly too scared to move.
The squad leader smirked coldly, confident that he'd soon take down the troublemakers—
Until he heard a voice from behind.
"Piplup, Bubble Beam!"
"What?!"
He barely had time to turn around before he was struck by a shower of iridescent bubbles.
The exploding bubbles knocked him unconscious instantly.
Houndoom's Flamethrower was swiftly blocked by a Chatot mimicking an attack and a Munchlax standing in its path.
With their captain down, only five ordinary grunts remained.
"Damn it! Captain!"
"Those brats dare to attack Team Galactic?!"
"Take them down!"
The five remaining grunts charged forward, Houndoom lunging at Platinum—
Yet, there was no trace of panic on Platinum's face.
....
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