Eric's side.
The suffocating pressure in the ruined garden intensified as the armored invader
threw two more Poké Balls.
Bang!
A massive, twin-headed Weezing and a heavily scarred Skuntank appeared in front
of them.
"Drapion, Muk, Weezing, Skuntank," the invader sneered, crossing his arms. "All
at the Advanced level. You kids have ssed around long enough. Now, die."
Eric's eyes turned ice-cold. He didn't hesitate. He unclasped his remaining
combat-ready Poké Balls. "Poliwrath, Fearow. We end this now!"
Beside him, Kai tossed two more spheres. "Zoroark, Machoke, Rapidash. Support
formation!"
Iris gritted her teeth, holding up a Max Revive to heal her Honchkrow before
sending him back out alongside Pawniard.
The battlefield was instantly crowded with Pokémon. The sheer difference in raw
levels was staggering, the invader's team averaged Level 46, while Eric, Kai,
and Iris's Pokémon hovered in the mid-to-high thirties. But what the prodigies
lacked in raw stats, they made up for with absolute, terrifying synergy.
"Fearow, Tailwind! Poliwrath, Rain Dance!" Eric commanded.
Fearow took to the sky, her wings beating furiously to conjure a massive
tailwind that enveloped her allies, instantly doubling their speed. Poliwrath
slamd his fists together, summoning a localized downpour that washed away the
corrosive smog leaking from Weezing and activated his Swift Swim.
"Zoroark, Night Daze! Rapidash, Fire Spin!" Kai shouted smoothly.
"Honchkrow, Night Slash! Pawniard, keep them distracted!" Iris added.
The invader laughed mockingly. "Fools. Skuntank, Flathrower! Weezing, Sludge
Bomb! Drapion, Cross Poison!"
The battle devolved into absolute, chaotic violence.
Haunter imdiately sank into the ground, activating his Shadow Domain. The
pitch-black arena expanded, freezing the mud beneath the invaders' feet.
"Poliwrath, intercept Drapion! Brick Break!" Eric roared over the sound of the
rain.
Moving at blinding speed, Poliwrath beca a muscular blur. He slid under
Drapion's glowing purple claws and delivered a devastating, fighting-type chop
directly into the creature's armored underbelly. Drapion screeched, staggering
backward, but Muk imdiately surged forward, extending a massive wave of toxic
sludge to engulf Poliwrath.
"Zoroark!" Kai commanded.
In a flash of dark energy, Zoroark appeared next to Muk, taking part of the
attack instead of Poliwrath, and hit it with a point-blank Night Daze that
shattered it's form.
"Watch the sky!" Iris warned as Weezing launched a barrage of highly condensed
Sludge Bombs at the airborne Fearow and Honchkrow.
"Fearow, Drill Peck! Tear through it!" Eric yelled.
Fearow shrieked, spinning like a drill to deflect the toxic bombs. But the
invader was a seasoned veteran. He had anticipated the evasion.
"Skuntank, catch the bird! Poison Jab!"
Skuntank leaped off a shattered pillar, its claws dripping with lethal venom,
aiming a fatal strike right at Fearow, who was in the middle of using Drill
Peck.
Skuntank hit the spinning Fearow from the side with a powerful Poison Jab.
SQUELCH!
"Fearow!" Eric yelled.
The Poison Jab struck Fearow squarely in the chest. The Advanced-level toxic
energy tore through her defenses, sending her crashing out of the sky and into
the muddy ground. She tumbled violently, her feathers stained with purple venom,
completely incapacitated.
She let out a weak, pained trill before her eyes rolled back.
Eric felt a spike of pure, unadulterated fury pierce his chest. He pulled out
her Poké Ball, recalling her in a beam of red light. "You did amazing. Rest
now," he whispered.
When Eric looked back up, his eyes were devoid of all emotion. It was the look
of a survivor who had just decided his enemy needed to be eradicated.
"Haunter," Eric's voice dropped to a terrifyingly quiet whisper. "Annihilate
them."
"Haunt!"
Haunter's eyes flared with a blinding, demonic red light. The Shadow Domain
pulsed violently, the Grade 4 Ghost energy reaching its absolute limits.
"Kai, Iris! Pin them down!" Eric ordered.
Kai and Iris felt the shift in Eric's deanor and didn't hesitate. "Machoke,
Submission! Rapidash, Flare Blitz! Zoroark, Foul Play!" Kai commanded.
"Honchkrow, Brave Bird!" Iris shouted.
The coordinated assault overwheld the invader's senses. Machoke grappled
Skuntank to the ground, while Rapidash and Honchkrow slamd into Weezing with
incredible force.
With the enemy pinned, Poliwrath, having his speed boosted by the rain, grabbed
Muk's shapeless body, spinning and launching the sludge monster directly into
Drapion.
They were grouped up.
"Haunter. Max Power Shadow Ball."
Haunter materialized right in front of the four tangled Advanced-level Pokémon
and released a powerful Shadow Ball that detonated on contact with the four
Pokémon.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion tore the garden apart. The shockwave shattered the surrounding
stone walls, sending Eric, Kai, and Iris skidding backward.
"Now is the chance! Everyone, attack!"
Haunter fired a barrage of Shadow Balls as the other Pokemon joined in, firing
off their ranged attacks.
The entire area was covered with smoke by the ti they stopped, panting.
When the smoke cleared, the invader was on his knees, his helt cracked. He was
caught up in the aftershock of one of the attacks. All four of his Pokémon lay
scattered across the cratered earth, completely unconscious.
Haunter hovered above them, panting heavily, his form flickering with
exhaustion. Poliwrath stood nearby, clutching a bruised arm, while Kai and
Iris's Pokémon dropped to the ground, utterly spent.
They had done it. They had defeated an Advanced-level opponent.
Eric exhaled a shaky breath, his body aching from the sheer tension. But there
was no ti to celebrate.
High above the island, outside the massive spatial barrier, the sky was blood
red.
The Red Knight gripped the reins of his Corviknight, his armor scorched from the
residual heat of Salance's earlier Draco teor. Despite losing a significant
portion of his vanguard, the envoy of the Ancient Kingdom had regained his cold
composure.
He still had his ace Pokémon, and his two generals were repositioning their
remaining King-level beasts to flank the lone Champion-level dragon.
"You are strong, Williams. I will concede that," the Red Knight called out, his
tallic voice echoing across the separated dinsion. He gestured downward,
toward the translucent black floor of the barrier that showed the war raging on
the island below.
"But look down," the Red Knight mocked, trying to regain the psychological
advantage. "Your estate is burning. The League's forces are stretched to their
breaking points. Your guests are fighting for their lives in the mud."
Seth stood perfectly still on Salance's back, his white suit unblemished, his
expression completely unreadable.
"And your precious daughters," the Red Knight pressed, his tone dripping with
venom. "How long do you think they can survive against my Advanced squadrons? A
minute? Two? You locked yourself in this cage with , Seth, but in doing so,
you abandoned them to the slaughter."
The Red Knight hoped for Seth to get angry.
Instead, he let out a slow, deeply lodic chuckle.
He reached a hand up to the collar of his suit and undid the top button.
From beneath his crisp white shirt, Seth pulled out a simple silver chain.
Resting at the end of it was a spherical stone that glead with a brilliant,
swirling rainbow light.
A Key Stone.
The Red Knight's breath hitched. "No...!"
"Well, if you're so worried about what's happening down there," Seth smiled, his
thumb resting gently over the gleaming stone. "Then we should wrap things up
here faster, don't you think?"
Seth's aura exploded, connecting instantly with the draconic beast beneath him.
A blinding, prismatic light erupted from the Key Stone, shooting out as a
physical tether of energy that locked onto a matching ga Stone strapped to
Salance's forearm.
The very fabric of the spatial barrier groaned under the sheer, impossible surge
of power.
"ga Evolve, Salance!"
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Character images available on Patreon (free access).
If you want early access to the upcoming chapters (25 chapters) or just want to support , you can do that at:
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