At the same time, after hearing what the Rocket grunt had said, everyone's expressions grew tense.
Bishas—that name was one no League member could fail to recognize.
Evil, deceitful, utterly self-centered—that was how anyone who had crossed paths with Bishas described him.
If ordinary Team Rocket operations weren't unforgivable enough—merely brushing against darkness, then Bishas was the embodiment of a complete villain. He had never placed any value on Pokémon's lives; that was one of his defining traits.
This device truly seemed like his handiwork.
The only stroke of luck was that he hadn't personally joined the battle.
Otherwise, as one of Team Rocket's highest-ranking Executives, he was not someone anyone here could possibly confront or withstand.
"Search him—strip him of everything he's carrying," Silas said from the side.
The Trainers of the Dark Venusaur and Dark Charizard exchanged a look, then nodded.
They worked in tandem, one on each side, quickly stripping the Rocket Grunts of all his possessions.
"This guy… had so many devices on him?" Everyone was startled by the sheer number of items recovered.
Leaving aside other things, he was carrying over a dozen Dark Balls alone.
"They're fake! All fakes—just a precaution, that's all." The underboss gave a sheepish laugh.
His original plan had been to use them to spook opponents while fleeing.
"So those two devices you threw just now—were they fake as well?" asked the Kadabra Trainer, holding the case his Pokémon had just confiscated, which contained two balls.
"One of them was real. I think it was the one in my right hand… as for now, I can't be sure anymore."
The Grunt spilled everything in a rush.
The Kadabra Trainer silently pulled one of them out. With a Psychic-type, he was confident he hadn't made a mistake.
"Then it looks like the two balls in that other person's hands—one of those must've been fake too. I was wondering why only one Dark Pokémon appeared from the pair."
One Trainer muttered this—only to be glared at by the Dark Charizard's Trainer.
He quickly retreated to the back of the group. This wasn't the time to poke a powder keg.
He hadn't meant anything by it, but it always seemed like he was enjoying someone else's misfortune.
"I don't think all of these balls are fake," another Trainer voiced.
Not only Silas but others shared the same suspicion. Someone immediately stepped forward with a scanner to test them.
"Six of them show different energy fluctuations compared to the other nine. By count, the nine should be the fakes."
The results came quickly.
"You're still putting on an act? Even when you're bound and headed for prison, you can't stop pretending? Don't you know honesty gets you leniency?" one Trainer crouched in front of the tied-up underboss and said in exasperation.
"So what do we do with these things?" someone asked, uncertain.
"If these devices are what's controlling the Pokémon, we should just smash them," one Trainer suggested carelessly.
They had already tried—the devices looked like Poké Balls, but they couldn't recall a Pokémon at all.
Their only function seemed to be driving Pokémon insane and destructive.
"No. What if smashing them triggers a complete berserk rampage instead?" another Trainer immediately countered, frowning.
Many others nodded. That was exactly what they feared most.
The battlefield was still under control for now—but if another surge of berserk power broke out, things could spiral quickly.
Of course, there were ways to test it.
They could, for example, toss one onto a nearby Caterpie and see the result.
There was still one ball unused, after all.
And even if Caterpie went berserk, how bad could it get?
But that wasn't a particularly good idea.
"Sam, give me the ball." The Dark Venusaur's Trainer walked over to the Kadabra Trainer.
The tone suggested the two were close. After all, they were the only two Kadabra Trainers present.
The Trainer called Sam gave a bitter smile, holding the Dark Ball firmly behind his back.
He couldn't let his friend do something like that. He understood his pain—but understanding didn't mean agreement.
"Kadabra." The Dark Venusaur's Trainer's eyes were red as he looked at his friend, uttering a command that shocked everyone.
"Hey—you need to calm down."
All the Trainers were startled. Ordering a Pokémon to attack a human was a strictly forbidden act.
The Dark Venusaur's Trainer's Kadabra teleported behind Sam in a flash and snatched the Dark Ball from his hand.
Then, with Kadabra and his Skarmory, he mounted up and looked around at the others. "Thanks."
In the next moment, he took off into the sky.
"Hey, hey! Stop him—stop him!" several shouted, but not one moved to act.
Sam stood frozen, his expression conflicted.
His own Kadabra stood silently behind him.
"What do we do now?" someone asked at the worst possible moment—only to be snapped at in return.
"What else? We wait for him. Best case, destroying the device solves the problem. Worst case, it triggers another berserk outbreak."
"All right, all right—send a few Blastoise to reinforce the Dark Charizard battlefront."
Someone began barking orders.
Order was restored as the Trainers moved efficiently again.
"Graveler No. 1 at the Dark Scyther field is badly injured—prep a substitute.
At Dark Graveler Field No. 3—can Venusaur still hold the line? If not, push the battle closer this way to get within Grassy Terrain's area.
Has Aggron finished tying down that Dark Beedrill yet? Hurry it up.
…"
Though nobody knew where their field leader Looker had gone, the Trainers still fought in an organized and orderly fashion under the guidance of experienced members.
What's more, that Croagunk was still fighting—already taking on its third Dark Pokémon, with absurd strength.
That was one of the reasons why, even after a Dark Charizard appeared, the Trainers didn't panic. The enemy's numbers fluctuated, but the overall balance wasn't too different.
The Dark Charizard was indeed strong, but it still had limits.
Within this section of the forest, the only sounds were the booming collisions of moves and the shouts of Trainers giving commands.
Silas's Pidgeot and Blaziken, though among the strongest of Advance-level Pokémon, still fell short compared to quasi-Elite opponents.
Let alone when facing these Dark Pokémon that seemed to possess "Elite" levels of power.
So, they could only play a supportive harassment role on the sidelines.
Even so, the fact that Silas's two Pokémon were clearly stronger than most other Advance Tier Pokémon had already drawn quite a bit of attention.
And needless to say, his Servine stood safely in the rear. As one of the few cute little "supporters," it stayed in an absolutely secure zone.
While maintaining Grassy Terrain alongside several Bellossom and Venusaur, it even found time to fire off a few attacks to lend support to the battlefield.
A heavy five minutes passed.
The Trainer riding a Skarmory soon returned to the battlefield.
"Destroy the Poké Balls—that's all it takes." A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Crack, crack, crack, crack...
The sound of shattering rang out. Those who had been prepared immediately ordered their Pokémon to destroy the Dark Balls.
Looking at the battlefield, the eight remaining Dark Pokémon suddenly froze in place.
The black aura covering their bodies began to fade, and with a thud, they collapsed to the ground.
The Pokémon that had been fighting them were panting heavily, covered in injuries.
"This is bad."
The faces of the remaining Team Rocket members hiding nearby changed drastically.
Inwardly, they cursed their useless former superior. Not only had he been captured, but he had even allowed the method of freeing Dark Pokémon to be discovered.
"Found you, scum."
A male voice rang out.
The Team Rocket members stared in shock as a trench coat–wearing man stepped out from the very rock they were leaning against.
The next second, they found themselves restrained.
"This is International Police Utility Tool No. 3—Stealth Rock!!"
A sharp gleam flickered in Officer Looker's eyes.
"So it's as simple as destroying the Poké Ball... That's a huge help." He spoke calmly as he pulled out a rope and swiftly bound the Rockets.
From their bodies, he searched and retrieved over a dozen Dark Balls. Examining them carefully, he somehow identified the real ones, picking out ten genuine Dark Balls.
But unlike the other Trainers, he didn't just have the Pokémon break them. Instead, he set the Dark Balls on the ground and clenched his fist.
The Rocket member sneered inwardly.
He didn't know exactly what material Executive Bishas had used to craft these Dark Balls, but there was no way an ordinary human could—
Crk-rrrk
The sound of strain came from where his fist met the Dark Ball.
The Rocket member choked on his words, staring at the trench coat man, swallowing hard.
"Pretty sturdy, huh?" Officer Looker muttered, though his fists never slowed.
Punch after punch came crashing down, until the sound of shattering filled the air.
As he continued destroying the Dark Balls, the Dark Pokémon on the battlefield reverted one after another to their normal states.
"Phew... that wasn't easy."
Expression unchanged, Officer Looker pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped his bleeding fist.
While doing so, he surveyed the area, now in total ruin.
Towering trees, their trunks snapped midway, lay toppled on the ground, surrounded by scattered rubble.
The Trainers themselves were mostly fine, though their Pokémon had taken heavy injuries.
Dragging the captured Rocket member, Officer Looker returned to the group.
"Hmm? Did those two return first?" he asked.
"Yes. Both the Venusaur and the Charizard need thorough examinations. Judging by their condition, it doesn't look good," someone replied.
At the same time, everyone's eyes turned to the nineteen Pokémon that had collapsed after being freed from the Dark state.
They all appeared ancient and frail, giving the impression that their lives were already at their end.
A flash of pity crossed their eyes.
"My battle recorder has logged everything. I'll report it to the League," Officer Looker said, not in the mood for his usual catchphrases.
He stomped lightly on the ground.
"As for the research facility—some of you left your Pokémon down there, didn't you?" His gaze locked onto a few Trainers.
"My Onix is still below, guarding."
"Mine too."
"My Graveler's down there."
"My Gigalith as well," came the replies.
Four Trainers stepped forward—Silas among them.
"Good. Then I'll see for myself what exactly Team Rocket has been researching underground."
The flames of justice burned in Officer Looker's eyes.
....
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