Zhang Tian, watching Cynthia's match, was unaware that someone was plotting to steal his Bondstone. Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared too much. He now had the strength of an Elite Four trainer. He could easily escape even if he encountered a champion-level enemy. All he needed to do was delay for a moment, and he could cross over into the world of Monster Hunter. No matter how strong his enemy was, they couldn't chase him across worlds. He was no longer the debutante teenager; he had the power to protect himself.
Both Bea and Cynthia successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. They had been luckier than Zhang, facing weaker opponents. Of course, "weaker" was relative; they were still quasi-Elite Four level trainers, young geniuses in their own right, the envy of most people.
"Bea, Cynthia, let's go," Zhang said after the matches were over. "I'm hungry. I want to get some roast duck." He beckoned, and the three of them rode off on his Legiana.
That night, three men in black masks crept towards the Water-type Gym's training grounds.
"Lord Magma, according to our intel, Zhang Tian is in training ground #78. He trains there every day," one of the masked men whispered to the fattest of the three.
"Got it," the man, a Team Magma cadre, nodded. He released his Chandelure.
Chandelure
Level: 67 (Elite Four)Ability: Flash Fire
"Go see if anyone is there," he ordered.
"Phew," the Chandelure nodded, then dove into the shadows and vanished. It cautiously poked its head out of the shadows in training ground #78. The area was empty. Zhang wasn't there. He was training his monsters in the Monster Hunter world. They were too numerous and too large to train here without being watched, and Zhang didn't like being watched.
The Chandelure, not trusting its eyes, extended its life sense. Ghost Pokémon were incredibly sensitive to life force, like a living radar. It found no signs of life. It slipped back into the shadows and returned to its master.
"No one there?" the Team Magma cadre frowned. "It seems our target has gone somewhere else. Troublesome. We'll come back tomorrow." He released a tall Alakazam, and the three of them vanished in a flash of teleportation. This was Bella's territory; he didn't dare to stay long.
A few hours later, Zhang returned to his room. The moment he appeared, the Gengar in his shadow sensed that something was wrong.
"Boom!" Gengar emerged and told Zhang what it had discovered.
"An Elite Four-level Ghost Pokémon was here, sneaking through the shadows?" Zhang frowned. He went outside and released his Lunagaron. "An enemy of the Elite Four level wants to deal with me. For what? The Bondstone. It seems someone has their eyes on it." It was the only logical reason.
"Lunagaron, can you find the enemy's location?" he asked.
"Roar," the ice wolf nodded, and its body began to glow. Its Qurio Blood ability activated, changing its type to Fighting/Ghost. It stepped into the shadows and, after a moment, led Zhang to the spot where the three men had teleported away.
"They teleported away?" Zhang's brow furrowed.
"Roar," the Lunagaron said softly.
"You can still find them?" Zhang was surprised. How could its sense of smell be that developed?
"Roar!" The carapace on the Lunagaron's back opened, and several blood-red Qurio flew out. It raised its claws, and a faint scent rose from them—the scent of the three intruders. Under the Lunagaron's control, the Qurio swallowed the scent, locking onto the pheromones of their targets.
"Squeak! Squeak!" The Qurio chirped, informing the Lunagaron of the intruders' general location.
"Qurio can be used like this?" Zhang mused. He didn't know the full extent of their abilities. "Lunagaron, have the Qurio take us to them. Use Dragon Dance on the way!" He mounted the ice wolf, now clad in his Nargacuga armor.
BRUSH! The Lunagaron leaped up and ran north, its massive form running silently through the bustling, moonlit city. Pedestrians stared in shock as the 21-meter-long beast passed by. The brutal aura of a top predator and the strong smell of blood stimulated their nerves, a primal warning to flee.
"It's Zhang Tian!" someone recognized him. He was a household name now.
"An Elite Four trainer... such a young one. It's scary to think about," someone sighed.
"What a vicious Pokémon. It's truly huge and terrifying," countless others murmured.
"Boss, should we chase him down?" a police officer on an Arcanine asked her superior.
"Don't worry about it," her boss replied, shaking her head. "I can feel the murderous aura coming from him. He's going to deal with someone else's trouble. Besides, I want to live a few more years." She was only a Gym Leader-level trainer. She couldn't catch up to the Lunagaron, and even if she could, she wouldn't dare to intervene.
After a few minutes, the Lunagaron arrived at a large villa on the outskirts of the city.
"Finally found them. Lunagaron, Mean Look," Zhang commanded as he released all his other Elite Four-level monsters: the Snowbaron Lagombi, Mizutsune, Astalos, Zinogre, Apex Arzuros, Redhelm Arzuros, Rathalos, Tigrex, Nargacuga, and Barioth. A dozen massive monsters appeared in an instant.
RUMBLE! The earth shook as they landed.
"Whoosh!" The Lunagaron let out a long howl, and a pair of huge black eyes appeared in the sky. Under the effect of Mean Look, teleportation was now impossible.
With his enemies trapped, Zhang didn't attack immediately. He waited as his monsters used their buffing skills, strengthening themselves for the coming battle.
Inside the villa, the Team Magma cadre frowned. "An Elite Four trainer has come to our door. How did he find us?" He quickly released his full team: Chandelure, Alakazam, Mightyena, Camerupt, Crobat, and Weezing. "Hurry up and use your strengthening moves!" he yelled. The two masked men behind him looked at the Mean Look in the sky, their faces pale. In a battle of Elite Four trainers, they could die if they weren't careful.
"Dynamax!" Zhang aimed his Poké Ball at his Seregios, which had already used Dragon Dance six times. He threw the giant ball.
"Roar!" A Seregios, now over 100 meters tall and 300 meters long, appeared, its massive form shaking the entire city.
"What is that?" someone in the city pointed and exclaimed.
"What kind of Pokémon is that? It's so big!"
"It must be Zhang Tian's. Only he has such huge, vicious-looking Pokémon."
"He's a quasi-Elite Four trainer, right? That Pokémon has to be Elite Four level!"
"Who told you he was a quasi-Elite Four? Haven't you heard of hiding your strength?"
The trainers in the city were more shocked by the Seregios's temperament than its size. It carried itself like a master swordsman, calm and confident. They knew, better than any layman, how much power that kind of self-assurance represented.
"Roar!" At the same time the Seregios landed, a 25-meter Crobat appeared before it. The Team Magma cadre had also used Dynamax.
"Team Magma," Zhang recognized the man's allegiance the moment he saw him on the Crobat's head.
"Zhang Tian!" the cadre's pupils shrank. "It's him! The intelligence department is full of idiots! They said he was just a quasi-Elite Four!"
"Roar!" The Seregios roared, and its huge red tail swung out, bringing with it a wave of fire several kilometers wide. It was Max Flare. At the same time, the Lunagaron and the other monsters launched a torrent of long-range attacks at the villa.
"Max Guard!" The Crobat used its defensive move, and a translucent barrier rose to block the Seregios's attack. But at the same time, the villa, and all the Pokémon inside it, were obliterated by the combined assault of a dozen Elite Four-level monsters.
In a real battle, no one fights fair.
"Damn it! How does this kid have so many Elite Four Pokémon?" the cadre's pupils shrank in disbelief. He had been so focused on the massive Seregios that he hadn't noticed the army of monsters behind Zhang. A normal Elite Four trainer only had six.
"Damn it! Crobat, let's go!" he yelled, retreating. He couldn't teleport, but he could still fly. He had wanted to fight the intruder, but this was not a normal Elite Four trainer. This was something else entirely.
But the Seregios would not let him escape. The moment the Max Guard vanished, it twisted its body, and its huge tail swung out again.
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