Morton had already been imprisoned for over half a month.
The place where these magical beast hunters were being held was a basement cellar that used to be part of the old residential area in Fruitvale Village.
These abandoned cellars were completely empty, filled only with a foul stench wafting from the Gloom stationed there.
That's right—this magical beast hunters holding facility was guarded by a Gloom.
Under the unbearable odor they emitted, the imprisoned hunters were in constant suffering.
Even though they thought about escaping day and night, every so often, the Gloom would release a cloud of Stun Spore.
After inhaling this yellow powder, the hunters would feel completely limp and powerless—so much so that even a regular ten-year-old child could easily knock them over now.
Morton was the leader of the first group of five hunters to be captured.
Back then, they had captured a large number of Stunky in the northern Black Forest, only to be caught red-handed by Aven.
As time passed, more and more hunters were locked up in this cellar.
By now, their numbers had grown to over twenty.
…
"Damn it! How long does he plan to keep us locked up?"
A hunter with a scarred face shouted loudly.
Morton recognized him as someone who had only been captured a couple of days ago.
He himself had been the same at first—shouting and cursing—but after half a month, he had already calmed down.
"What's with this Border Earl from the southeast corner of Aspiration City?"
"We're hunters from the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild! How dare he imprison us?"
"Is he trying to pick a fight with the Gilded Fang? With the Ironblood Marquis himself?"
The scarred-face hunter kept ranting, but no matter how much he shouted, no response ever came.
"Pick a fight?" a fellow magical beast hunter sneered.
"Haven't you heard of the Earl's reputation?"
"He once fended off the entire Knight Order of Marina City. Even if the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild and the Ironblood Marquis joined forces, I doubt he'd be afraid."
After speaking, this hunter sighed deeply.
He wasn't part of the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild, nor had he intended to hunt in this territory.
He had merely chased a Poochyena too far and ended up crossing into this land—and got caught by the patrol knights.
Talk about bad luck.
As he thought about it, he kept glancing anxiously at the cellar entrance.
He had to get out of here soon.
"What did you say?!" the scarred-face hunter growled in anger.
The other magical beast hunter shrugged indifferently.
"Just telling it like it is."
…
Creak—
Just as the scarred hunter was about to argue more, the cellar door suddenly opened.
Sunlight streamed down into the darkness, causing all the hunters to instinctively shield their eyes.
"Finally! Someone's here!"
"I'm warning you—if you don't let us go right now, the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild will make you pay!"
The scarred-face hunter shouted.
There was no reply from above.
After a few moments, someone bound with grassy vines was suddenly lowered into the cellar.
As the figure landed on the ground, Simon, wearing leather armor, also climbed down from above.
"You guys are loud as ever."
"Gloom, use Stun Spore!"
At Simon's command, the Gloom immediately released yellow powder into the prison cells sectioning off the cellar.
The moment the powder floated toward the hunters, their expressions changed.
Cough cough!
Forced to inhale the powder, some began coughing violently.
Almost immediately, waves of weakness overtook them, and the entire group quickly fell silent.
…
"You too. In you go."
Simon untied the vines binding the new beast hunter and tossed him into the wooden cell.
"Thanks for the help, Gloom."
He handed out Pokémon food to the Gloom in thanks, checked on the state of the cells, then left the cellar.
"Hey, another newcomer."
One magical beast hunter leaned weakly against the wall and said,
"New guy, tell us what's going on out there?"
"Has the Gilded Fang made a move yet? Surely, they'll come save us soon, right?"
The newly imprisoned hunter was Matthew.
When he heard the words "Gilded Fang" he suddenly sat up and sneered:
"Gilded Fang Merchant Guild? You're still placing your hopes on them?"
The other beast hunters recognized his face—and several of them immediately turned pale.
"Matthew! It's you!"
Their expressions twisted with rare anger and shock.
"Matthew? You mean that legendary magical beast hunter?"
The rest of the prisoners looked over, exclaiming in surprise.
Matthew was extremely famous among magical beast hunters.
Not only did he possess two advanced-level magical beasts, but more importantly, he had a longstanding conflict with the Ironblood Fortress.
It was said that, long ago, Matthew wasn't even a magical beast hunter—he had been the vice-captain of the Ironblood Knights.
But after growing disgusted with the way the fortress treated magical beasts, he left the knight order and became a lone hunter.
Moreover, he had never worked with the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild.
Instead, he focused solely on catching rare magical beasts and selling them secretly to various noble houses.
As a result, he was now wanted by the Ironblood Fortress.
…
"So, it really is you, Matthew! But how did you get captured?"
After the initial surprise faded, confusion set in.
With Matthew's strength, there shouldn't be many people capable of taking him down.
"I had no choice… I was outmatched."
Matthew let out a sigh, the recent battle flashing through his mind.
"By the way, who exactly is this, Earl Aven?"
…
Back at the Pokémon Breeding House backyard—
Aven stared in amazement at Luxio, who had just mastered the move Electro Ball.
This move was quite unusual. Its power was tied to the user's speed—the faster the user compared to the target, the stronger the move became.
Because of this, Electro Ball was notoriously difficult to master.
To perform it, a Pokémon needed excellent electric type energy control, and also had to channel their speed into the ball, causing the electricity inside to spin at high velocity.
Originally, Aven hadn't even planned for Luxio to train in Electro Ball.
He hadn't expected Luxio to figure it out on its own.
"Seems like my Pokémon all have great potential."
Aven glanced at Petilil, who was practicing Energy Ball nearby, and nodded.
Luxio had recently been focusing on electrical sensing and using electric currents to stimulate speed—both of which greatly improved its control over electricity.
Then, by observing how Energy Ball and Ancient Power condensed energy, it had accidentally comprehended Electro Ball.
A surprise, yes—but a welcome one.
"Luxio, go ahead and use Electro Ball!"
Now that Luxio had learned the move, Aven decided to adjust its training plan.
Although Luxio's Special Attack wasn't as strong as its Physical Attack, its innate speed was exceptional—making Electro Ball a perfect fit.
Even with just decent Special Attack, its speed could more than make up for it.
In fact, Electro Ball might even hit harder than its physical moves.
Aven sighed lightly—not because he disliked the new development, but because it threw off his careful planning.
As a Pokémon Breeder, he felt a bit overwhelmed.
But in truth, this was a very good sign.
It meant his Pokémon were beginning to realize their full potential.
Now, his job was simply to support them.
"Meow! Meow!"
Upon hearing Aven's command, Luxio let out a cry.
Electricity surged across its body and began gathering at the tip of its tail.
Originally, Luxio had been forming Electro Ball near its mouth, but forming it at the tail was Aven's suggestion.
Since Electro Ball's power depended on speed, swinging the tail could add extra momentum—enhancing the move's force.
Plus, Luxio's tail naturally absorbed electricity, which made it faster at generating the attack.
As the current intensified, a glowing Electro Ball began to form, spinning rapidly.
The faster it spun, the more intense the energy waves it emitted.
Finally, when Luxio sensed it could no longer maintain control—
"Meowr!!"
It whipped its tail and launched the Electro Ball!
Zzzzzz-BOOM!
The ball shot forward and struck a large rock—shattering it instantly!
"Excellent power."
Aven nodded in satisfaction.
In theory, Electro Ball could reach a base power of 150, which made it stronger than many high-tier moves.
…
"Lil lil~"
Petilil, watching nearby, was startled.
Sensing the residual energy, she realized that Luxio's Electro Ball was almost as strong as her Energy Ball.
Even if her move was still unrefined, Luxio had only just learned his too!
"No way I'm falling behind!"
Petilil shook her head fiercely and resumed her energy gathering.
She was currently trying to use Energy Ball without relying on Nature Power.
But it wasn't going smoothly.
Normally, she channeled Life Energy through her healing leaf, and this was her first time trying to draw raw life energy from nature itself.
…
"Ralts~"
At that moment, Ralts exited its meditative state.
Seeing its new companions show off such powerful attacks, it clenched its little fists in determination.
Through its emotional-sensing ability, it could feel their competitiveness—and it was moved, too.
Its heart filled with motivation to train harder.
(End of Chapter)