At the foot of the mountain in Boshire Town, Sato sent out Zoroark to help search for Joseph.
After all these years of living together, Zoroark was already very familiar with Joseph's scent, there was no way it would miss even the faintest trace.
It seemed Joseph hadn't taken any complicated paths, so Zoroark quickly picked up his trail and led Sato up the mountain.
"Joseph!"
"Cough, cough… Sato, is that you?"
They had barely climbed for a few minutes when Sato spotted a staggering figure up ahead; who else could it be but Joseph?
"Bay! Bay!"
Bayleef's anxious cries echoed out, making Sato's heart sink.
As the last Pokémon Joseph had caught, Bayleef didn't have much combat power, it had always been trained for support.
And now, the fact that Bayleef was the only one left guarding Joseph clearly meant the rest of his Pokémon had already fallen in battle.
Sato rushed forward and soon saw Joseph's pale face. Before he could even ask anything, Joseph spoke first.
"I'm fine… I just overused the Viridian Power. I'll be back to normal after some sleep…" As soon as he said that, Joseph passed out.
"BAAAAY BAY!" Bayleef called out in panic, its big eyes instantly welling up with tears.
Sato said nothing, lifted Joseph onto his back, and turned around to sprint down the mountain.
"Zoro!" Zoroark signaled to Bayleef and then followed after Sato.
Bayleef shook the tears from its eyes and followed with heavy steps. 'If all the others are down, then it's my job to take care of everyone now!'
Clack~
"Boss, you're back… what happened to Joseph?" The sound of the door startled Mark. He had just gotten up and was stunned to see Sato carrying Joseph on his back.
"Overused his power. Go get Bayleef from outside, it can help us." Sato gave a quick order and darted upstairs.
"Oh- got it!" Mark nodded quickly and turned to head out the door.
"Is everyone back?" Miyu also came hurrying over when she heard the commotion, worry written all over her face.
"They're back, they're back. Don't worry, Miyu…" Mark answered while glancing out the door.
---
The next morning, Joseph slowly woke from his deep sleep. His head was pounding, and just as he tried to shift, a firm voice came from beside him.
"Don't move."
Joseph blinked and saw Sato walking over with a cup of water, and saw Mark dozing at the bedside, head resting on the mattress.
"I didn't move… I wasn't disturbing you, Joseph…" Mark mumbled sleepily, showing no signs of waking up.
Sato: "…"
Joseph couldn't help but laugh, though the chuckle tugged at his nerves and made the headache worse.
"…Drink some water first." Sato tugged the corner of his mouth into a smile, walked around the sleeping Mark, and brought the cup to Joseph, there was already a straw in it.
"It's warm, not hot."
Gulp gulp gulp…
"Thanks~"
"Go back to sleep. I'm going to check if the porridge is ready." Sato nodded and left the room.
Joseph watched him go, then turned to look at the still-sleeping Mark and smiled helplessly.
Ow… his head hurt!
"Bay~"
Not far away, Bayleef let out a soft whisper, and a floral fragrance slowly spread through the room. Joseph breathed it in and his headache eased considerably.
"Mmm~ Morning already? Joseph, you're awake!"
Aromatherapy could heal status conditions… and sleep was one of them.
So Mark had also been awakened, but the moment he woke up he started making a racket again, and Joseph felt his headache returning.
By noon, Joseph's body had finally recovered, and his complexion was no longer pale.
"What exactly happened yesterday? You looked terrible," Sato asked, frowning.
"I encountered a really powerful Totem Pokémon. Gogoat and Gallade were completely countered. I barely escaped," Joseph replied, his expression turning heavy as he recalled the intense battle from the day before.
"What kind of Totem Pokémon was it?" Mark asked eagerly.
"It was a giant Gliscor! Its stamina seemed endless. I was actually beaten by its attrition tactics!"
Even now, Joseph still found it hard to believe. His lineup specialized in endurance battles, yet he had been schooled by a Gliscor.
Even if it had already reached Pseudo-Elite Four level, that was still an absurd level of strength.
Sato quickly made the connection to something that could explain Gliscor's performance.
Poison Heal Ability + Toxic Orb.
Poison Heal: restores health/stamina every turn while poisoned.
Toxic Orb: causes the holder to become poisoned.
If it had the hidden ability Poison Heal and also somehow acquired a Toxic Orb, that Gliscor was truly built for survival. No wonder it was so strong.
"Me too, me too! Yesterday I also ran into a super strong Floatzel. I think it had also reached Pseudo-Elite Four level!" Mark added right away.
"If that's true, then it means Boshire Town is surrounded by extremely dangerous threats… and yet nothing's ever happened?" Joseph asked in disbelief.
"Could it be that the Floatzel and Gliscor have already received orders from someone, not to harm the residents of Boshire Town?" Mark, thinking for once, made a surprisingly reasonable guess.
"But based on what we've seen these past two days, Boshire Town has been like this for a long time. There aren't many people older than Miyu in the towb, right? So who has that kind of power, to make two Pseudo-Elite Four Pokémon uphold a promise for so many years? And don't forget… Pokémon lifespan is another issue."
Sato raised one question after another, and all three of them fell into silence.
This little Boshire Town… just kept getting harder to understand.
"By the way, boss, didn't you send Gengar to check on Komachi yesterday? Anything suspicious?"
"Gengar came back last night and reported that there was nothing unusual. I had it continue tracking her."
Sato shook his head. If anything had come up last night, they wouldn't still be sitting here wondering today.
"The only option now is to go find Floatzel and Gliscor again. Maybe we can get something out of them," Joseph said, thinking it through.
"Yeah. This time, let's go together. We'll start with Gliscor, fighting in the ocean limits us too much."
"Yes yes! I can't wait to get moving!" Mark shouted, pumping his fists with excitement.
"…Its here," Sato suddenly said in a low voice.
"Who's here?" Mark asked dumbly.
"Geng~"
From beneath the floorboards, Sato's Gengar slowly floated up, giving a small nod before reporting back to Sato in a series of eerie murmurs.
"Boss, what's Gengar saying?" Mark asked, jittery with impatience.
"Komachi… went to the back mountain."
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150 PS = Extra Chapter
Pat-re0n/Romeloff