"Come out, Golurk."
Now that he knew which direction Aoi Maiko had gone, naturally he had to pursue her by the fastest means possible. Moreover, his objective was to eliminate her, while Ezaki's objective was to apprehend her and "bring her to justice". There was a crucial difference between their objectives.
If Maiko really was captured, Giovanni certainly would not allow her to speak, and Tetsuya would lose the "value" he was supposed to demonstrate. Maiko might have something on her that interested him. At the very least, those Pokémon of hers were worth a considerable amount.
"I'll go on ahead."
With that, Tetsuya mounted Golurk and flew off.
"Eh? Hey! Wait for-!" Before Ezaki could even finish speaking, Tetsuya had already disappeared into the distance.
"…"
---◓---
After flying for about two hours, he finally crossed the grassland. Ezaki's flying mount was Pidgeot, which was also extremely fast, but even it would take four hours to reach this place. Tetsuya had to find Maiko before he did.
Ditto Transformed into Rapidash, and Tetsuya traveled through the forest.
This forest was already outside the area planned by the League. Ferocious wild Pokémon appeared frequently, and Trainers generally would not dare enter a forest like this so easily.
Upon entering the forest, towering trees reached into the clouds, and not a trace of sunlight penetrated between them. It was dark and terrifying…
Houndoom scouted ahead. Although Tetsuya was riding RaDittash, he could only advance slowly. There were no proper paths in a forest like this, and for now, he had no leads on where to find Aoi Maiko.
Before he knew it, night had already fallen. By now, Tetsuya had ventured deep into the forest and completely lost his sense of direction, so he could only take things one step at a time.
Between several trees, Tetsuya pitched his tent and had Spinarak cover the surrounding trees with Spider Web, while Toxic Spikes were scattered across the ground around the web. With this, he could sleep peacefully.
Even if a Pokémon attacks by surprise, it would not be able to easily overcome Spinarak's Spider Web. And if some decent Pokémon happened to come along, that would be another nice source of income.
---◓---
It was nearly dawn when he suddenly heard a scream, immediately followed by Houndoom barking repeatedly. Tetsuya hurriedly crawled out of the tent and saw a beam of light.
It was Aoi Maiko!
The scream had come from her Meganium, which had stepped on the Toxic Spikes and then gotten stuck in the Spider Web.
The forest was dark even during the day, let alone at night. Even with a flashlight, it was impossible to see the transparent web clearly.
Tetsuya sneered. "Woah~ An 'illustrious' Elite Four actually attempting a sneak attack on a nobody like me in the middle of the night… If word got out, people would laugh their heads off."
Even so, Tetsuya could not help feeling a lingering sense of fear. The fact that Maiko could initiate a sneak attack while he was at his deepest sleep meant that she knew his whereabouts perfectly!
Could she possibly have some informant in this forest? Thinking about it that way… wouldn't Ezaki be in serious danger?
Aoi Maiko could not help covering her mouth as she giggled seductively. "Mhm~hehe♥! Don't think that just because you've followed that old bastard Pryce for a few years and defeated a few people, you no longer know your place.
If you submit to me today, I'll guarantee you'll experience a legendary bliss in this forest, fufufu~ Otherwise, don't blame me for being… ruthless♥"
"…"
Tetsuya focused and did not dare let his guard down in the slightest. Someone at the Elite Four level would generally have some means of protecting themselves.
What he knew now was that her two strongest main Pokémon were already dead. Otherwise, he definitely would not be her match. Now, his only choice was to fight.
Without warning, Tetsuya directly used his psychic powers in an attempt to succeed with a single hit, sending the energy spreading toward Maiko. However, as an Elite Four, she naturally had an extremely keen sensitivity to "energy".
With a sweep of her kimono sleeve, glowing "Magical Leaves" flew out from it and directly shattered Tetsuya's attack. Fortunately, he withdrew in time, or he would certainly have suffered a backlash.
Maiko's sleeve had to be hiding a Pokémon that protected her…
Judging from that Magical Leaf just now, it was also quite strong.
Sure enough, he had still been clinging to a stroke of luck. Sneaking up on a Trainer of this level was almost impossible.
"Boia… you can actually use psychic powers too. Heh, you almost got me there~" Aoi Maiko looked completely fearless.
"Hn." Tetsuya had already prepared himself. A battle was inevitable, but he could absolutely set up a sneak attack while Maiko was concentrating on the battle. First, however, he had to force out the Pokémon protecting her…
Pokémon like that were usually small but powerful. Most importantly, they had a keen capacity to sense danger. If he rashly made a move, it would certainly notice.
Having made up his mind, Tetsuya threw out all of his Pokémon's Poké Balls except Mamoswine's.
At this moment, Maiko also sent out Sceptile. With a few leaps, it cut through Spinarak's Spider Web and freed Meganium. Its movements were clean and precise, and Tetsuya had not even clearly seen how it had attacked.
'That's not right… Sceptile also walked across that field, so why wasn't it affected by the Toxic Spikes?'
Just as he was wondering, he felt the ground tremble, and a Torterra carrying its heavy body appeared within his field of vision.
Now he understood. This Torterra's control over the ground was actually this powerful. By making the ground shift, it could turn the Toxic Spikes beneath the ground. This was also one of Maiko's tried-and-true methods for dealing with her nemesis, Poison-types.
There was a Gloom on Torterra's back. It hopped down and walked over to Meganium, dripping a drop of saliva into Meganium's mouth. Meganium immediately regained its vitality, and its poisoned status was removed just like that.
"Do you have anything else?" With such Pokémon as her backbone, Maiko's confidence was only natural.
Tetsuya did not answer. He looked at Maiko's Pokémon before him: Meganium, Torterra, Sceptile, and Gloom… plus the Pokémon hidden inside the sleeve of her kimono. Five Pokémon in total.
On his side, the Pokémon prepared for battle were Golurk, Houndoom, the four-headed Weezing, Miltank, and Drapion. Ditto had also Transformed into Golurk, simple and brutal. Spinarak remained on his shoulder, as Tetsuya had another use for it.
His side held the "advantage" in numbers, while he had no way of knowing whether Maiko still had any main Pokémon capable of fighting.
As for the Pokémon she had stolen from the Laramie Family, they had little combat power. Pokémon like those, just like Miltank, were specialized Pokémon suited only for support.
The Pokémon on both sides entered a deadlock. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, with neither side making the first move. Torterra broke the "silence", moving its heavy body to the very front of the team.
"Drapion, hurry!" Tetsuya sensed that something was wrong.