"Victreebel unit, recall! Release Swellow imdiately and evacuate the periter!"
The Gardenia strike team moved with military precision. In under two seconds, the Victreebel were back in their balls, and the trainers were airborne, banking away from the ambush zone.
Just as they cleared the area, a rain of fire erupted from the sky. The lush forest, once a sea of vibrant blossoms, was instantly scorched into a blackened wasteland by Kumanokawa's Fire Blast.
Standing amidst the flas, Kumanokawa's eyes suddenly widened. A familiar, sharp chemical scent cut through the smoke, sending a jolt of pure terror through his spine.
"Dammit! Explosives! Run!"
BOOM!
A massive detonation rocked the forest. A localized mushroom cloud rose into the air, accompanied by a violent shockwave. Kumanokawa was hurled through the air like a ragdoll, slamming into a thick trunk.
Crack.
He slumped to the ground, coughing up a spray of crimson blood. Every breath felt like a hot iron being driven into his chest; his ribs were shattered.
"High explosives... buried under the mulch..." Kumanokawa hissed, his eyes burning with tears of rage as he looked at the decimated remains of his n. These were the elites he had spent years cultivating—the backbone of the Bounty Hunters' Guild.
Grimacing, he pulled a vial of green dicine from his ring and downed it. As the numbing agent took effect, his Houndoom and Magmortar limped to his side.
Houndoom was riddled with wooden shrapnel, blood oozing from dozens of puncture wounds. Magmortar had fared better; its intense body heat had carbonized the flying splinters before they could pierce its hide.
"Houndoom... Magmortar... put out the fires," Kumanokawa gasped.
Houndoom used the last of its strength to "eat" the spreading flas, absorbing the heat into its core before collapsing unconscious. Kumanokawa surveyed the carnage: out of a thousand n, barely six hundred remained. Hundreds had been vaporized or crushed in the initial blast.
"GARDENIA!!" he roared at the sky, his voice cracking with madness. "This debt will be paid in blood! I will turn your entire estate into an ash heap!"
The Relentless Gauntlet
Back in Floaroma Town, the Second Elder paced back and forth, waiting for word.
"Report! The 'Explosive Scent' tactic was a complete success!" Yuan Fu announced, landing his Swellow. "Kumanokawa's own Fire-types triggered the buried charges. Their force is cut in half."
"Excellent. The Patriarch's strategy is flawless," the Elder bead. Feng Che had calculated that the Sweet Scent would not only ground the flyers but also mask the sll of the nitro-glycerin. He knew a Heavenly King like Kumanokawa would respond to a Grass-type ambush with overwhelming fire—the very thing needed to ignite the trap.
"Next phase: Ludicolo and Torterra units, move out!"
Kumanokawa's hobbled force had no ti to recover. A Ludicolo squad imdiately invoked Rain Dance, summoning a torrential downpour that turned the charred forest into a muddy deathtrap. Flash floods swept away dozens more hunters.
When they finally broke through the mud, the Torterra units were waiting. A synchronized Earthquake tore the ground asunder, swallowing the stragglers into deep, jagged chasms.
By the ti Kumanokawa reached the gates of Floaroma Town, he was nearly alone, his clothes tattered and his eyes glowing with a manic, bloodshot light. He stared at Second Elder Yuan Tian, who stood calmly at the gate.
"I will slaughter you all!" Kumanokawa scread, his voice a guttural rasp.
"Look at you, Kumanokawa. You look like a stray dog," the Elder sneered. "Your core team is broken. What makes you think you can breach these walls? We have a Guardian."
"Hahaha!" Kumanokawa laughed, a sound of pure insanity. "You think I only have Heavenly Kings? I have a secret I was saving for the League... but I'll use it to erase you instead!"
"Co forth, HEATRAN!"
He hurled a Master Ball into the center of the path.
A massive, red-and-brown beast erupted from the light. Its body was a blend of flesh and molten tal, and the ground beneath its claws instantly turned into liquid magma.
"I exhausted the entire Guild's fortune to capture this beast in the Stark Mountain volcano!" Kumanokawa shrieked. "Your precious Shaymin is nothing but a snack for Heatran!"
Heatran opened its jaw, revealing a white-hot core of thermal energy.
Feng Che, we have a problem, wtwo's telepathic warning cut through the chaos. A powerful Fire-type Mythical has appeared. It's attempting to bridge the geothermal energy of the tectonic plates. If it successfully draws the magma to the surface, the entire town will be vaporized in a volcanic eruption.
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