The door quickly opened, and when Sato saw who it was, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
"Elite Four Lorelei!"
"Mm, I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, our League talented Trainer, Sato!"
Lorelei lightly adjusted her glasses and smiled; her entire presence radiating a composed, mature charm.
Sato scratched his nose awkwardly, pausing for a moment before realizing they were still standing at the door…
"Please, come in!"
"I'll leave you two alone then~"
Nurse Joy "tactfully" excused herself, smiling as she watched Lorelei confidently step into Sato's room.
Click…
The door closed, leaving only Sato and Lorelei in the room!
Well… Ralts, Zoroark, and the others were also there, all watching Lorelei with curious eyes.
Pokémon had much stronger senses than humans, and they instinctively felt it…
This woman was not to be trifled with!
At the same time, Lorelei was also observing Sato's Pokémon through her glasses, as if carefully evaluating them.
"They all look sharp! It's what you'd expect from the talented Trainer who even Bruno owes a favor to~"
Sato pursed his lips. Three lines in, and she'd already called him a "talented" twice… how was he supposed to respond to that?
"…I've still got a long way to go(?) Elite Four Lorelei, may I ask why you're here?"
"Hehe! To protect you, of course~"
Sato: ...…?
Sato was stunned. Sending an Elite Four to protect him? Was the Pokémon League that free lately?
Then, Lorelei smiled.
She gave Sato a playful wink before saying with a grin, "Call me Lorelei, alright? 'Elite Four' sounds way too formal. After all, we'll be working together for quite some time."
"…Working together?"
Sato immediately caught the key phrase, and realized that Lorelei had indeed been joking earlier.
"Mm! The Underground has gone to great lengths to deal with you. Besides planting tons of assassins in advance to watch you, they're also secretly working on other plans. So you're in a very dangerous position right now, Sato-kun~"
Sato raised an eyebrow, almost tempted to say, "What makes you think I'm a…? 'Sigh…' never mind."
But in the end, he held it back…
Yeah… he was afraid of getting hit!
After sorting through his thoughts, Sato finally said, "So the League wants to use me as bait? Turn their plan against them and take them out instead?"
"Smart boy!"
Lorelei snapped her fingers, then said, "So, are you scared!?"
Sato didn't answer right away. He thought for a while before asking, "What's the scale of top-level power involved?"
"Sharp senses, huh? The League will always deploy one more Elite Four level Trainer than the Underground. Don't worry!"
Hearing this, Sato nodded and didn't press her on how she could be so sure. After all, that clearly sounded like one of those 'classified secrets.'
"Alright then… tell me the plan. What exactly do I need to do?"
Upon hearing that, Lorelei's smile grew even brighter.
"Just… wait to be assassinated~ Don't worry, I'll really protect you!"
"..."
And just like that, Lorelei actually moved into Sato's room. It wasn't until then that Sato realized: perhaps the Underground had no idea she was here.
She was the extra Elite Four-lvl force they had no clue about!
With that in mind, Sato no longer felt rushed. In fact, he leisurely took his Pokémon to the backyard training grounds for some practice.
Surrounded by visible and hidden stares from all directions, Sato -who wasn't worried to begin with- now felt even more unfazed.
Because Lorelei had now disguised herself as an ordinary noblewoman, she was leisurely sitting to the side drinking a cold beverage, watching Sato train Drapion and the others.
An Elite Four bodyguard… Tell me, would you be scared or not?
---◓---
Three more days passed in a flash, during which Sato finally encountered several assassination attempts.
There was a child around ten years old who challenged him to a friendly battle, then… suddenly pulled out a dagger!
There was an elderly man in his eighties who deliberately fell down in front of Sato, and at the moment of collapse, a handful of poison-coated metal spikes shot out from his back!
More assassins tried to make use of Psychic abilities or Ghost-types to approach silently and finish the job with one strike…
As if!
With Ralts and Gengar serving as two layers of life-saving protection, no one could bypass them and get close to Sato.
Not even an Elite Four or Champion could!
Of course, as more and more people aimed for Sato's head, Vermilion City -which was already not very peaceful- became even livelier over those few days.
Officer Jenny was so busy she was nearly falling apart, but she could not afford to let these criminals slip through even a little bit.
Still, thinking about how her year-end performance evaluation would be outstanding, Vermilion City's Jenny patted her own cheeks to motivate herself and continued patrolling!
---◓---
Another two days passed. Although Sato and Lorelei appeared calm and relaxed, they had already stopped paying attention to training the Pokémon. They were simply using this routine as a means to observe the increasingly blatant gazes watching them.
At the same time, Lorelei received the League's order to begin the counterattack.
Now, all they needed was one direct clash to serve as the spark; then the city-level battle would begin.
Finally, another assassin appeared before Sato. Unlike the others, this one used no tricks. He simply strode directly toward Sato, killing intent openly blazing in his eyes!
[Sato, the Underground forces have definitely noticed the League's arrangements. They are choosing to initiate this war first!]
Lorelei's stern voice sounded slowly through the earpiece, making Sato frown slightly.
He suddenly remembered that it had already been several years since the League last launched a full-scale sweep of the Underground Organizations.
The Underground had been restoring their strength during those years, and now, unable to hold back any longer, they were stirring again.
Sato himself was merely a fuse in the grand scheme!
Just like the assassin in front of him. He was merely a self-igniting spark for the Underground.
Bang! Bang!
Two flashes of red light burst forth!
An Ace-level Scyther and Crobat appeared before Sato.
Without a moment of hesitation, both Pokémon exploded forward at top speed, attacking Sato directly.
"Night Slash. Acupressure. Shadow Ball."
Sato issued three commands in succession, and Zoroark, Drapion, and Gengar all moved at once.
At this moment, Lorelei had already started acting frightened, pretending to run timidly into the Pokémon Center.
[You hold them off. A large-scale battle is about to start. I can't make a move yet, or I'll scare them off.]
Her commanding voice came through the earpiece, and Sato couldn't help twitching his lips.
'Wasn't she supposed to be here to protect me…?'
A woman's words are lies wrapped in silk…
Especially when the woman happens to be beautiful!
"Zoroark, deal with Scyther!"
"Zoro!"
Zoroark responded, then suddenly pushed off with its legs and, in the blink of an eye, it had already appeared in front of Scyther!
'Wait… why were there two Zoroarks!?'
Everyone watching, except for Sato, was flooded with confusion.
Double Team…? Substitute?
No, neither!
When did Substitute gain the ability to launch attacks?
On the battlefield, the two identical Zoroarks worked in perfect sync, relentlessly hammering down on Scyther in turn.
Scyther clearly had sharp scythe-like arms, and each Slash attack it launched was solid; but it couldn't even touch a single hair on Zoroark.
Neither of them could be touched!
A gleam of pleasant surprise also flashed through Sato's eyes. Although he had already held high expectations, the boost that the Miragewater Orb gave to Zoroark far exceeded what he had anticipated.
The Zoroark split off by the Miragewater Orb was nearly indistinguishable from the original, and its speed and performance in all aspects reached about 80% of the real body's power!
Although the copy couldn't use Physical moves, that didn't mean it couldn't mimic and fake them…
Real and fake, true and false!
Scyther couldn't tell the difference between the two Zoroarks; both had identical presence, identical heartbeats.
So every move they launched, Scyther couldn't tell whether it was real or not.
The dumbest way was to try to block every move, regardless of whether it was fake or genuine.
But two fists can't beat four hands, and Zoroark's speed also completely overwhelmed its opponent.
Scyther was bound to lose!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Gengar was assisting Drapion in taking on the lightning-fast Crobat.
Even in such a seemingly dangerous situation, Sato hadn't forgotten to train his Pokémon.
Crobat was only a Low Ace level Pokémon, while Drapion -who had been improving rapidly- had now reached Peak Elite.
Reach Ace level using this fight was not out of the question!
---◓---
At the same time, Vermilion City suddenly erupted into chaos. On what had been ordinary, peaceful streets, many Trainers abruptly began battling right there in the middle of the roads.
At the Pokémon Center, the downtown pedestrian street, the Vermilion Gym, Vermilion Museum, and Vermilion harbor… fierce clashes between two sides broke out at many key locations around the city.
Once they removed their disguises, one of the groups was clearly composed of official League Trainers, many of them were also League Investigators.
Sina, Akira, and Sosuke were among them, each leading a team as they methodically cleared out nearby Underground forces.
Vermilion City had completely become a battlefield! A preliminary clash between the Pokémon League and Underground Organizations to test each other's strength.
---◓---
At the gates of the Vermilion Gym, Lt. Surge's expression was grim as he directed Gym Trainers to wipe out the group of Underground grunts that had appeared out of nowhere…
If he still wanted to remain the Leader of Vermilion Gym and continue his undercover role in the League, then he had to prove his worth.
When the city was in crisis, he, as the Gym Leader, had to be capable of protecting it.
"Cass, take a squad to support the museum. Rosan, head to the pedestrian street. Jet, take your team to back up the harbor.
Anyone from the Underground… treat them all as enemies!"
"Leader…"
"DO AS I SAY, MOVE NOW!"
Lt. Surge roared angrily, and his three subordinates dared not argue. They each took a team and quickly set off.
Watching the three of them leave, Lt. Surge looked at the few remaining Gym Trainers and trainees beside him, gritted his teeth, and continued, "You come with me to support the Pokémon Center!"
"YES, LEADER!"
As an undercover, he wasn't supposed to go all out like this; but when the entire city was already consumed by war, and he, Lt. Surge, only learned about it when the fighting reached his doorstep…
A Gym Leader of Vermilion Gym, clueless about what was happening on his own turf?
That could only mean one thing: he had been abandoned… by both the Pokémon League and Team Rocket!
Ever since Sato's movements had been leaked, the Pokémon League had already started to view Lt. Surge with growing suspicion.
This time, they didn't even consult him as the Gym Leader, they just placed the battlefield here without any prior notice.
And everyone knew…
A city-level battle brought enormous impact to all aspects of the city!
With the exposure of Base A-12 and the live capture of Carr, one of the Three Beasts, Team Rocket had already taken a heavy blow.
And yet, Lt. Surge had played no role in it at all. Worse, he ended up becoming the frontline scapeGogoat!
Were they saying Lt. Surge was pulling some double agent within a double agent stunt?
Now the Underground Organizations were mobilizing together in secret, there was no way Team Rocket wasn't involved.
And yet, Lt. Surge had received nothing. Clearly, they no longer intended to use him and were just waiting to settle accounts later.
The only way to salvage his position now was to fully demonstrate the strength of Vermilion Gym and help the League crush the Underground forces as quickly as possible.
Only then might he regain the League's trust…
And only by regaining that trust could he continue his undercover role, otherwise, even Team Rocket would stop valuing him.
As for the people the Underground sent in? Lt. Surge saw right through them.
They were just fodder, fresh meat every year. Team Rocket wouldn't care about them at all!
Having come to terms with this, Lt. Surge quickly arrived at the Pokémon Center and began striking down the Underground members without hesitation.
In a flash of lightning, those enemies fell like rows of chopped-down weeds.
His fierce and efficient sweep soon caught the attention of the Underground commanders.
"Ghost Ship, send your Silver-Rank Assassin to block that mad dog Lt. Surge; but don't kill him."
"Hehehe… we at Ghost Ship know how to kill best. Holding back? Not happening~"
The Ghost Ship representative grinned wickedly, clearly unhappy about having to work with this hastily assembled coalition.
"Lt. Surge's ties with Team Rocket are murky. If you still insist on killing him… I won't stop you."
The commander said it slowly, but those words instantly killed the Ghost Ship rep's laughter.
In the end, the Ghost Ship representative obediently sent out a poised Silver-Rank Assassin.
"…Try to hold back a little."
The assassin, with cold, lifeless fish eyes, nodded without emotion, then left the temporary command station.
"Tch, no wonder he's one of Ghost Ship's assassins. Those eyes are seriously icy!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Aren't you afraid-"
---◓---
The Silver-Rank Assassin's target was clear: Lt. Surge at the Pokémon Center. He immediately sent out a Pidgeot and raced straight toward the center at full speed.
At that moment, Sato had just defeated the assassin targeting him when Gengar gave him a mental warning.
An enemy was approaching!
Sato turned his head…
And his pupils instantly shrank.
'Fish-Eyeds!'
•
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🅿️🅰️✝️🆁 🅴🅾️🅽 / 🅁🄾🄼🄴🄻🄾🄵🄵