Only five days remained on the clock, hanging over Trial Island like a guillotine blade waiting to drop.
For most recruits, this was the time for panic, for hiding in caves and praying the timer ran out before their supplies did. But for Enzo, the countdown wasn't a threat; it was a deadline for a project that needed to be finished. The North continued to scream with its usual brutality—wind grinding red sandstone into dust and black rock spines cutting the light into thin shards—but the team moved through it with a terrifying familiarity.
They didn't look like recruits anymore. They looked like an extermination squad.
The hunting routine had become surgical. Porygon2 initiated the sequence, hacking into the local grid to strip live routes from rival scouts. A faction scout would be staring at their TR Device, confused by a glitching map, only for the air behind them to fold in on itself.
Teleport.
Enzo would materialize five steps behind them, his presence heavy and silent. Before the scout could scream or reach for a Poké Ball, the sky would darken as Crobat cut through the wind, removing the option of escape. If they tried to hide in the shadows, Haunter was already there, turning the darkness into solid hands that held them in place.
There were no negotiations. Enzo didn't speak to them. He simply moved on, treating each encounter not as a battle, but as a transaction completed.
Ronnie's Fearow had become a legend in the worst way possible. It didn't fight with grace; it hunted with sadism, dropping out of the clouds like a ragged spear to chase targets until their lungs gave out from exhaustion.
Enzo used his Koffing exactly as he always had: as a reset button. A single, controlled detonation to clear the board.
By the time the dust settled, the North felt quieter.
Enzo sat by the fire, reviewing the data. Nero's list had started with 67 names. Now, 41 were confirmed dead. Only 26 remained.
But those twenty-six were starting to learn. They had stopped wandering alone. They were fortifying, hiding, refusing to walk into the grinder one by one.
"They're stalling," Proton noted, tossing a piece of wood into the fire. "They know we're out here."
Enzo looked up from his screen. "Then we stop chasing. We make them come to us."
The relentless pace of the last two weeks hadn't just thinned the herd.
Sandile, tired of being the smallest thing in the fight, had finally snapped during a brawl with a Rhyhorn. In a flash of white light, the quadruped lizard stood up, growing taller, its scales hardening into armor. It had become Krokorok—a bipedal thug that didn't just bite, but brawled.
Gastly had condensed, its gaseous form solidifying into the jagged, detached hands of a Haunter.
And Corvisquire… Corvisquire had grown into a nightmare that blocked out the sun.
Enzo opened the System window to review the arsenal he had built.
[ TEAM STATUS — ENZO ]
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Corvisquire (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 37
Potential: BLUE
Ability: Keen Eye
Size: 1.9m (unusually large)
Moves:
— Air Slash (Flying)
— Power Trip (Dark)
— Payback (Dark)
— Hone Claws (Dark)
— Sand Attack (Ground)
— Steel Wing (Steel)
— Leer (Normal)
Obs: "Abnormal mass density. Wing pressure output exceeds species baseline. Evolution proximity detected."
Notes: "Combat tempo: dominant. Aerial territory control: extreme."
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Haunter (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Evolution: Gastly ➝ Haunter
Level: 36
Potential: BLUE
Bond Indicator: "Increased proximity to host detected."
Moves:
— Hypnosis (Psychic)
— Confuse Ray (Ghost)
— Mean Look (Normal)
— Shadow Ball (Ghost)
— Thunder Punch (Electric)
— Fire Punch (Fire)
Obs: "Shadow density increased. Intimidation field expanded."
Notes: "Control precision improved. Ambush efficiency increased."
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Krokorok (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Evolution: Sandile ➝ Krokorok
Level: 36
Potential: DEEP GREEN
Ability: Intimidate
Typing: Ground / Dark
Moves:
— Bite (Dark)
— Mud-Slap (Ground)
— Power Trip (Dark)
— Crunch (Dark)
Obs: "Predatory posture established. Pack-leader behavior emerging."
Notes: "Energy discipline improved. Bruteforce reduced. Efficiency increased." [ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Koffing (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 28
Potential: LIGHT RED
Moves:
— Smokescreen (Normal)
— Clear Smog (Poison)
— Poison Gas (Poison)
— Self-Destruct (Normal)
Obs: "Specimen remains defective. Self-Destruct channeling: anomalous."
Notes: "Post-detonation recovery improved. Reset interval reduced."
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Porygon2 (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 30
Potential: DEEP GREEN
Ability: Download
Moves:
— Psybeam (Psychic)
— Conversion (Normal)
— Sharpen (Normal)
— Teleport (Psychic)
Obs: "Hacking load increased. Field mapping stable. Lock stability improved."
Move Focus: Teleport (Psychic)
Notes: "TR Device interception ongoing. Signal spoofing refined."
Proton didn't need the blue windows to understand the shift in power. He could feel it in the air pressure every time his Crobat took flight. The evolution had turned his reliable Golbat into a blur of speed that the human eye struggled to track. Even Grimer, despite its hideous appearance, had become a cornerstone of their defense—a wall of sludge that absorbed punishment and dissolved opposition.
Enzo checked his team's stats as well, ensuring no variable was unaccounted for.
[ TEAM STATUS — PROTON ] [ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Crobat
Evolution: Golbat ➝ Crobat
Level: 32
Potential: LIGHT BLUE
Moves:
— Wing Attack (Flying)
— Bite (Dark)
— Confuse Ray (Ghost)
— Shadow Ball (Ghost)
Notes: "Speed spike confirmed. Air dominance established. Ambush angle control improved." [ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Koffing
Level: 28
Potential: LIGHT GREEN
Moves:
— Smog (Poison)
— Poison Gas (Poison)
— Assurance (Dark)
— Clear Smog (Poison)
Notes: "Poison output increased. Control stability improved. Temper: unchanged (still toxic)."
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Grimer (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 33
Potential: LIGHT BLUE
Ability: Stench
Moves:
— Sludge (Poison)
— Disable (Normal)
— Poison Gas (Poison)
— Pound (Normal)
Bond Indicator: "Ally imprint established. Primary loyalty redirected."
Notes: "Abnormal growth rate confirmed. Environmental absorption behavior increasing. Odor: unchanged (unfortunately)."
Ronnie was trailing behind in levels, but his enthusiasm filled the gap. His Fearow had developed a distinct personality—mean, loud, and relentless. And the Onix Enzo had loaned him was being used with surprising care, acting as a living barrier to control the battlefield.
[ TEAM STATUS — RONNIE ] [ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Fearow (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 28
Potential: GREEN
Ability: Keen Eye
Moves:
— Drill Peck (Flying)
— Pursuit (Dark)
— Fury Attack (Normal)
— Agility (Psychic)
Notes: "Chase instinct extreme. Target fixation behavior increasing."
[ POKÉMON PROFILE — UPDATED ]
Specimen: Onix (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 25
Potential: GREEN
Ability: Rock Head
Typing: Rock / Ground
Moves:
— Rock Tomb (Rock)
— Bind (Normal)
— Screech (Normal)
— Dig (Ground)
Notes: "Compliance stable. Territory control improving. Restraint conditioning successful."
"Forty-one down. Twenty-six left," Enzo said aloud, breaking the silence of the tent.
Ronnie looked up from polishing his magnetic belt. "If they're grouped up, that's bad math, isn't it Boss? Twenty-six against three? I mean, I trust the Captain's Crobat, but still..."
"It's only bad math if we fight fair," Enzo replied.
He pulled two TR Devices from his bag. They were trophies taken from the bodies of squad leaders—one from Ariana's faction, one from Archer's. Porygon2 had already cracked the biometrics, leaving the channels open.
Enzo began to type.
FROM: SQUAD LEADER TO: ALL REMAINING UNITSMSG:I found them. The Monster Trio. They are camped in the Blind Valley. They are injured and sleeping. We have the advantage. If we hit them all at once, we win. Send everyone. Coordinates attached.
He hit send on both devices simultaneously.
Ronnie peered over his shoulder, reading the text. His eyes went wide.
"Boss," Ronnie whispered, sounding horrified and delighted at the same time. "You're inviting twenty-six people to our camp? We don't have enough snacks."
Enzo smirked, a cold expression that didn't reach his eyes.
"They aren't guests, Ronnie," Enzo said. "They're the main course."
Miles away, in the neutral ground between the southern ridges, the leaders of the remaining factions met.
It was a tense affair. Laurence, representing Archer's interests, stood with his hand hovering near his belt. Klaus, Ariana's lieutenant, stood opposite him, his Arbok coiled menacingly at his feet. They hated each other. Under normal circumstances, they would be killing each other for a higher rank.
But fear was a powerful unifier.
"You got the message?" Laurence asked, his voice tight.
Klaus nodded, holding up the screen. "Blind Valley. Tonight."
"It's a trap," Laurence spat. "It has to be. 'Injured and sleeping'? It's too convenient."
"Of course it's a trap," Klaus replied calmly. "But look at the alternative."
He gestured to the tired, terrified men standing behind them.
"Five days left," Klaus continued. "They've been picking us off one by one. If we wait, they'll hunt us down before the exam even starts. We are bleeding out, Laurence."
Laurence gritted his teeth. He knew Klaus was right. The 'Monster Trio' was farming them like XP creeps.
"So we walk into their kill zone?" Laurence asked.
"We walk in with twenty-six Elites," Klaus corrected. "Traps only work if the prey is weak. If we hit them with everything we have—all at once—it won't matter what they planned. Three recruits cannot survive an avalanche."
Laurence looked at the coordinates again. He looked at his dwindling squad. He exhaled, the fight leaving him.
"Fine," Laurence said. "We merge. Tonight, we end this."
They shook hands. It wasn't a gesture of friendship; it was a suicide pact.
Back on the plateau, the camp was silent.
Enzo had left everything exactly as it usually was—the fire burning low, the crates stacked, the tent flap open just enough to reveal sleeping bags.
But the shadows were wrong.
Koffing was inside the tent, floating in the center, vibrating with suppressed energy. Haunter had merged with the darkness near the entrance, invisible to the naked eye but making the air freezing cold. Corvisquire was circling so high up in the night sky that it was nothing but a speck against the stars, waiting for the signal to drop.
Onix was buried underground, only the tip of its horn visible beneath the loose gravel.
Enzo stood by the fire, his back to the ravine entrance. He looked relaxed, vulnerable.
Then his TR Device vibrated.
One clean pulse.
Porygon2's icon lit up on the screen, followed by a block of hard, red text.
[ TR DEVICE ALERT — PORYGON2 ]
Signatures detected: 26
Status: APPROACHING
Pattern: Coordinated movement
Risk: High
Enzo stared at the number. Twenty-six. The exact remainder.
They hadn't split up. They hadn't tried to flank. They had done exactly what desperate people do: they huddled together for safety, thinking their numbers would save them.
They had brought themselves to the slaughter.
Enzo slipped the device back into his pocket and turned toward the darkness where Proton and Ronnie were waiting.
"They're here," Enzo said softly.
The wind howled through the ravine, louder than usual, as if the North itself was cheering for what was about to happen.