Seeing Itsuki and Byakuren's expressions, the black-faced leader felt a surge of rage mixed with a hint of helplessness.
There was nothing he could do. Although his strength and status were above theirs, Itsuki and Byakuren, as the Divine Cult's Black Emissary and White Emissary, reported directly to the Bishop—or Cult Master, as he was also known. He had the right to reprimand them, but not to punish them.
So, seeing Itsuki and Byakuren's indifferent attitude, he was powerless.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't be an issue, but he was the main person in charge of this mission. With his subordinates acting so disorganized and without the authority to truly command them, leading them was incredibly difficult.
For instance, the neurotic man watching from the side, accompanied by a few of his close subordinates, looked completely detached, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Aside from his direct subordinates, who were now trembling with fear at his anger, most others seed to be enjoying the spectacle.
He had anticipated so people not obeying him when he took on this mission, but he thought the task wouldn't be difficult. Even without the neurotic man's group, he was confident he could resolve the situation as long as he could subdue the people already on this continent.
He had arrived full of confidence and then, using the Divine Cult's special thods, had summoned the few Cult mbers who had been left here.
Not just them, but everyone had gathered.
However, after waiting here for five days, only four of the six stationed individuals had arrived. He had initially assud the remaining two were simply further away.
But when Itsuki and Byakuren finally arrived leisurely, he learned from them that the two missing idiots had actually been dealt with by the young people who had just arrived from the Pokémon world.
Specifically, a young man nad Aoki was responsible for both their deaths.
Upon hearing this news, the black-faced man initially thought the Alliance had learned of their plan and was preparing to act against them. Otherwise, how could a young man of only seventeen or eighteen defeat soone who had lived here for twenty-five years?
It was important to rember that these individuals, twenty-five years ago, were once considered prodigies of the Alliance. The black-faced man had personally participated in the mission to recruit that group into the Divine Cult. At that ti, the Divine Cult was still in its dormant phase, and many of its mbers might not have known anyone else besides themselves and the person who recruited them.
In fact, not everyone had only spent twenty-five years here. To achieve the Divine Cult's objectives, so had even stayed for fifty years. Those two who had stayed for fifty years were said to have been personally recruited by the Divine Cult's Bishop and were extrely loyal to the Cult.
Furthermore, their strength was terrifying, making them one of the Divine Cult's few trump cards.
The black-faced man didn't dare to overly command these two. Although he had seen them enter, fifty years could change many things, including their strength.
As for the remaining four who had stayed for twenty-five years, the two responsible for the mission with Itsuki and Byakuren had not returned.
Sotis, the flow of ti here felt so alluring, but whenever he saw those two who had only been gone for ten years reappear as old n, a chilling sensation would run through him.
"Six people, six Pokémon. Now two are missing. Who can tell how those two useless individuals managed to get themselves killed?!" However, the black-faced man's anger was irrepressible.
This matter was the result of the Bishop's years of planning. So had even willingly lived here in solitude for fifty years to complete this mission.
Witnessing their own ti passing five tis faster than others, that sense of dread was not easily suppressed.
Because the faster the ti flow, the closer one was to death.
Four people stood silently to the side. Two were old n with sowhat graying hair, each accompanied by a Flareon and a Vaporeon, respectively.
The other two appeared to be middle-aged, likely around the sa age as the black-faced man. They were accompanied by an Umbreon and an Espeon.
Including the Leafeon and Jolteon that Aoki had acquired, there were a total of six fully evolved Eevee forms.
Originally, people only knew of five Eevee evolutions, but the Divine Cult's Bishop had sohow learned of Leafeon's existence, which allowed them to gather exactly six people and six Pokémon.
The reason they absolutely needed six Eevee forms of different types was related to their main mission: breaking Dialga and Palkia's space and ti barrier required six entirely different types of Pokémon, with very high demands on them, requiring their energies to perfectly harmonize with each other.
This was also the main reason all six Pokémon chosen were Eevee evolutions.
After all, they were all Eevee evolutions, all having evolved from Eevee, so they would naturally understand each other very well. Furthermore, they had lived together for at least twenty-five years, and their trainers had deliberately honed their synergy to achieve that level.
But now, losing two Pokémon at once, making it impossible to break the barrier, was a fatal blow for the black-faced man in charge of this operation.
Anyone could be lost. Even if all his subordinates were lost, even if Itsuki and Byakuren, two people highly admired by the Bishop, were lost, or even if the neurotic man, who was watching the show but was also a cornerstone of the Divine Cult like him, was lost—it wouldn't matter.
As long as this mission could be completed!
But the problem was, it couldn't be done now.
"Is there anyone here with a Jolteon that isn't being used? If so, step forward. This is your chance." The black-faced man shouted to everyone.
"Th-this… here, sir, I have a Jolteon, but it's not a main battle Pokémon, so its level is quite low." At this, one of the black-faced man's subordinates nervously stepped forward.
At the black-faced man's signal, he imdiately summoned his Jolteon.
It looked reasonably healthy, but it was clear from its appearance that it hadn't been well-trained.
When the black-faced man saw this Jolteon, which only had Quasi-Elite strength, his face grew even darker. But after waiting for a long ti and no one else stepping forward, he could only resign himself to fate.
The only thing he could be grateful for was that, after testing, this Jolteon, despite its low level, had decent potential. It certainly wasn't as good as the original Jolteon, but it was barely acceptable.
Fortunately, he had brought quite a few good items and resources with him this ti, and this continent was certainly not lacking in resources.
The black-faced man's subordinate was initially scared, but when he saw the black-faced man's expression of resigned acceptance, a surge of wild joy welled up within him.
He knew he was in luck. His Jolteon might be chosen as a substitute. Although it would certainly not reach the level of the original Jolteon, for his current strength, this was already a stroke of incredible luck.
In this situation, the black-faced man was completely helpless.
Jolteon was relatively easy to acquire, but Leafeon was truly impossible. The black-faced man didn't even know how Leafeon evolved, let alone how to cultivate a powerful one.
However, one good thing was that there were many Grass-type Pokémon here. He could try to see if any of these Grass-type Pokémon had high compatibility with the Eevee forms, allowing their energy to combine and substitute for Leafeon.
But achieving that level of perfect combination wouldn't be easy, otherwise, the Bishop wouldn't have insisted on arranging six Eevee forms. He must have known that the barrier had extrely high requirents for energy combination.
After all this preparation, if the Bishop knew it was all because those two were too foolish, even he, who enjoyed strategizing, would probably be infuriated.
"Prepare for two scenarios. Anyone with a Champion-level Grass-type Pokémon, co and try to combine with the Eevee forms. Everyone else, go out and bring that person nad Aoki!" The black-faced man looked around. Aside from his own subordinates, who obediently listened, everyone else had a perfunctory attitude.
Thinking of the na Aoki again, the black-faced man suddenly felt it sounded familiar, as if he had heard it sowhere before.
Then it clicked: wasn't Itsuki's predecessor, the forr Black Emissary, the Second Legion Commander, who was so difficult to poach from the Alliance, killed by this young man nad Aoki?
By this reckoning, quite a few powerful individuals from their Divine Cult had already fallen at the hands of this "Aoki." The black-faced man suddenly developed a great interest in Aoki.
However, since he was still officially in charge of this operation, they still had to show him so respect.
Led by the neurotic man, his direct subordinates disappeared from their original spot with him. Teleportation was no problem for Psychics of their level.
As for the four individuals who were already here, vaguely led by the two oldest n, they clearly wouldn't participate in this search operation.
Itsuki and Byakuren also slowly left. Anyway, with their strength, even if they found Aoki, they couldn't defeat him. Moreover, Itsuki and Byakuren knew that Aoki wasn't alone now. If he had indeed gathered a large number of Alliance mbers around him, even if individual strengths were slightly weaker than the Divine Cult mbers, gathered together, they would still be a very powerful force.
And there was an even more important point: the Divine Cult mbers, while seemingly part of one organization, were actually disunited, with each having their own hidden agendas. Perfect cooperation was impossible. If a small group encountered a large group of Alliance mbers, it was truly uncertain who would win.
As for Aoki's identity as a Team Rocket mber, in their eyes, it was no longer important. No matter what they said, the other party wouldn't believe it anyway.
The most important thing was that Aoki, as a Team Rocket mber, was actually able to befriend so many direct Alliance mbers and gain their trust. This was sothing Itsuki and Byakuren could not fathom.
If they knew that Aoki, a Team Rocket mber whom they considered a perfect infiltrator, had now beco the temporary leader of all Alliance personnel here, their surprise would likely be even greater.
In fact, Aoki's ability to achieve this was also largely due to his way of handling affairs and Sakaki's care within Team Rocket.
Aoki treated Steven and others with genuine sincerity, except for certain things he deliberately concealed.
Team Rocket was a powerful underground organization in the Kanto and Johto regions. At that ti, the Hoenn region was controlled by Team Magma, Team Aqua, and nurous other smaller factions, making it extrely exclusive. It was difficult for Team Rocket to interfere in Hoenn's affairs.
Aoki was active in the Hoenn region at the ti, and all his actions had a very high degree of autonomy. Team Rocket rarely assigned him missions, and even if there were missions, Sakaki tried to keep him from contacting the Alliance. So, although Aoki was part of Team Rocket, his activities actually never encroached upon the Alliance's interests.
It was precisely because of this that even though many said Aoki's origins were questionable and he might have a Team Rocket background, the Alliance largely chose to turn a blind eye.
As for Team Sky in the Hoenn region at this ti, except for a few who knew that Team Sky had so connection with Team Rocket, even Rose, the current temporary leader of Team Sky, and Shelly, the leader of Team Sky's sea division, did not know about the connection between Team Sky and Team Rocket.
Except for Sky, Miyamoto, and Alec, who had initially followed Aoki, no one else knew that Team Sky had so connection with Team Rocket. And now, Team Sky had replaced Team Magma and Team Aqua to beco the largest underground force in the Hoenn region.
Under Aoki's operation, Team Sky had even beco the "official" underground force of the Hoenn region. This should be what is called official permission.
Therefore, although Aoki's identity was Team Rocket, his usual activities were actually very "clean"!
After Itsuki and Byakuren also left, the black-faced man took the Jolteon's Poké Ball and led his subordinate towards their living quarters on the other side of the mountain. As for his other subordinates, after seeing him off, they all set out to search for Aoki and his group.
...
Aoki and his group were unaware of the Divine Cult's actions on the mountain.
However, Aoki could sense that the powerful psychic energy previously gathered on the mountain had now completely dispersed.
Such a situation could only an one thing: these Divine Cult mbers had finally begun to scatter, and now this continent had truly beco fraught with danger.
However, once they separated, even if the Unown were special, they couldn't sense the location of every Pokémon. For Aoki, his advantage had suddenly disappeared.
Aoki inford Steven and the others about this developnt.
People like Lance and Cynthia, who were not afraid of battle, decided to use this valley as a center and gradually venture out to explore, leaving special markers to gather personnel.
Since the Divine Cult mbers were also operating separately, while it ant the probability of encountering Divine Cult mbers would increase, the danger was actually not as great.
In one-on-one combat, even if one's strength was inferior to the opponent's, a temporary retreat should be possible, as everyone still had their trump cards.
Especially after obtaining ga Evolution from Aoki, their confidence grew even stronger.
So, they decided to rest for a day and then proceed with their exploration as planned on the second day.
Under such multifaceted pressure, their adrenaline was sowhat uncontrollable, and their fighting enthusiasm grew even higher, which might an that everyone had a mindset of growing stronger when facing a stronger opponent.
A high-pressure environnt would more rapidly promote their strength improvent.
The people here were not ordinary, which was why Aoki did not restrict their actions. If everyone here were to reach their peak, then at the very least, they could certainly flatten a regional league without any problems, even if that regional league had hidden strength.
Thus, this tense and exciting life began. What they did every day was eat, sleep, and fight monsters, occasionally having so contact with the cult mbers.
However, after a brief contact and confirming the opponent's strength, everyone would still temporarily choose to retreat.
A retreat without leaving any traces, with the help of Aura power, allowed them to have a place to live peacefully.
Aoki initially gave his Pokémon so ti to rest, and then arranged another period for them to digest the gains from battles. After that, like Steven and Lance, he gradually set off from the valley to find wild Pokémon for battle training.
anwhile, Fantina spent at least an hour every day helping Darkrai adjust the Ghost-type energy within him. The speed was a bit slower than expected, but Fantina's Aura power was continuously improving, her control was strengthening, and the duration she could maintain it was getting longer and longer. The speed would definitely accelerate later on.
A month passed in such a tense and exciting environnt.
The cult had not exposed Aoki's location, but because of a few encounters with cult mbers, the frequency of their searches in this area slowly increased.
However, it wasn't to an exaggerated extent, as they still had many people scattered in various places across the continent, so the cult mbers couldn't be certain that this was their gathering place.
This allowed Steven and the others to gradually understand who the cult's true target was: Aoki, who had dealt with two of their mbers!
However, one day after this month, Aoki's Aura Valley finally welcod its first companion. Lance, Cynthia, and others had worked day and night to leave special marks and symbols in various places, and it finally paid off.
The arrival was an old acquaintance of Aoki's: Lorelei from the Kanto region, Lance's old rival, who specialized in using Ice-type Pokémon.
However, Lorelei's condition was truly not good. Her arrival was not in a conscious state; instead, with the help of her Slowbro, she barely managed to reach the valley. But the mont she entered the valley, Lorelei fell into a coma due to severe injuries.
She was discovered because Aoki's psychic power constantly perated the entire valley, and every movent within the valley was under his control.
This was a huge consumption, subtly training Aoki's own psychic power, and was also a form of training.
When Aoki noticed Lorelei's arrival and appeared before her with a few Pokémon, he saw Lorelei already in a coma, and a Slowbro covered in wounds but vigilantly standing by her side.
There were many wounds on its pink skin, with blood gushing out. However, at this mont, Slowbro did not have its usual dazed and foolish appearance; its eyes were full of solemnity, constantly paying attention to its surroundings.
When Aoki, with the help of Slowking, suddenly appeared before them, he was t with a huge ice ball.
Fortunately, Slowking's reaction speed was fast enough, and it once again used a short-distance teleportation with Aoki, dodging the attack.
After the attack ended, Slowbro realized who had co and imdiately stopped attacking, but still watched Aoki warily, afraid he would do sothing.
Slowbro rembered Aoki, but it actually rembered Aoki's Slowking the most.
It was dayti, and Lance and the others had all gone out, leaving only Aoki to guard. According to their current task, each person took turns guarding the valley for a day, not only to protect their base but also to train their Pokémon and prevent them from engaging in excessive high-intensity battles.
Aoki subconsciously scanned the data of Lorelei's Slowbro.
Pokémon: Slowbro (Blue) — Weakened
Gender: Female
Level: 79
Type: Water Psychic
Ability: Oblivious
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Future Sight, Sleep Talk, Wonder Room, Belch
Base Moves: Withdraw, Heal Pulse, Curse, Yawn, Tackle, Growl, Water Gun, Confusion, Disable, Headbutt, Water Pulse, Zen Headbutt, Slack Off, Amnesia, Psychic, Rain Dance, Self-Actualize
Tutor Moves: Aqua Tail, Foul Play, Iron Tail, Water Pulse, Telekinesis, Icy Wind, Block, Magic Coat, Snore, Iron Defense, Trick, Drain Punch, Ice Punch
TMs/TRs: Protect, Psyshock, Hail, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Light Screen, Earthquake, Rest, Scald, Substitute
Champion-level strength, blue aptitude. This Slowbro should be one of Lorelei's main Pokémon.
However, this Slowbro was extrely weak now. It was clear from its appearance that it was barely holding on, strong on the outside but weak on the inside, capable of collapsing at any mont. Its ability to persist at this mont was largely due to it being a Psychic-type Pokémon with a relatively strong will.
But this was its limit.
If it had been Lance who arrived, Slowbro probably wouldn't have been so resistant. Although Lorelei and Lance constantly battled, their Pokémon knew that Lorelei was just throwing a tantrum.
"Slowbro, you rest first. Leave the rest to . If you keep pushing like this, it might damage your foundation.
Please trust ." Aoki spread his hands, indicating that he posed no threat.
The more critical the mont, the less one should rush, otherwise it might trigger Slowbro's final desperate resistance.
"Yadon!" Slowking also called out to Slowbro. Its psychic power had long sensed Lorelei's and Slowbro's conditions. If they weren't treated in ti, there would definitely be a life-threatening danger. Even if they were cured, if the delay was too long, it was very likely to affect her potential.
As a Pokémon of the sa species as Slowbro, and with Aoki's Slowking carrying a leader's aura, Slowbro slowly lowered its guard.
Aoki threw out three Poké Balls, summoning Florges, Magearna, and Diancie.
Without Aoki needing to say much, the three Pokémon simply glanced at the scene and understood what Aoki had called them out for.
Florges created a lush, green grassy terrain beneath Slowbro and Lorelei. Large amounts of pure, erald-green energy slowly seeped into their bodies through their wounds.
Magearna took small steps and ran to Slowbro's side, holding her hands out flat. A large amount of life energy emanated from her, entering Slowbro's body to help her recover from her physical injuries.
However, Slowbro only briefly glanced at Magearna before continuing to watch Aoki, who was treating Lorelei's injuries. Although she no longer refused Aoki approaching Lorelei, she was still a bit uneasy.
Aoki walked to Lorelei's side with Diancie, looking at the scratches and abrasions on her body caused by running through forests or other complex terrains. These superficial wounds would quickly heal under Florges's Grassy Terrain.
Aoki frowned as he looked at Lorelei lying on the ground. He was a breeder, and his job was to treat Pokémon; he wasn't as skilled with humans.
However, having survived in the wilderness for so long, he still had the ability to handle so special and sudden situations.
Aoki first checked if Lorelei was poisoned. So poisoning symptoms couldn't be seen on the surface, such as certain neurotoxins.
If Lorelei was affected by a special poison, Aoki would need to first find a way to suppress the poison, and then slowly figure out a way to detoxify it. Being poisoned in the wild was truly a very fatal thing.
If a Pokémon was poisoned, it was manageable, but if it was the trainer themselves, without the Pokémon's strong body, it was very deadly.
Aoki looked at his instrunt with a solemn expression.
Indeed! Lorelei was poisoned, but fortunately, this toxin was not complex. It might have been directly obtained from a certain Pokémon, unlike Koga's specially formulated, complex and ever-changing toxins, one after another.
The reason Lorelei fainted was partly due to the poisoning, but it wasn't the main reason. Her body had so not-so-serious contusions, but the most severe was her ntal will.
It looked like she had been impacted by a powerful psychic attack, and this was the main reason for her unconsciousness.
"It was indeed the cult mbers who did it!" Aoki thought to himself.
But then he felt a sense of relief. As long as the root cause was found, it would be much easier to handle. Except for ntal trauma, which was relatively difficult to recover from, everything else was manageable.
Knowing they had to fight the cult mbers, and that the cult mbers were all proficient in psychic abilities, Steven and the others were different from Aoki and didn't have their own psychic abilities for self-defense. If they were ambushed by the cult mbers with psychic attacks, it would be very troubleso.
So Aoki spent a few days, combining so Dark-type materials, to specially develop a unique potion that could resist so psychic impacts and also, to a certain extent, heal ntal trauma.
Lorelei was lucky, otherwise, if Aoki had to prepare a special potion on the spot, it would really take so ti.
First, he removed the poison from Lorelei's body, then administered a spiritual recovery potion, and also gave her so pills that could accelerate physical recovery.
Seeing Lorelei's breathing gradually stabilize, Aoki quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Slowbro also noticed Lorelei's change and imdiately relaxed, directly falling into a coma, officially losing its combat capability.
Once Slowbro lost its combat capability, Magearna's treatnt beca even more effortless, no longer encountering any obstacles.
Aoki slowly stood up, looking at the unconscious Slowbro and Lorelei, whose condition was gradually stabilizing. He then waved his hand, and Slowking used Teleport to make them all disappear from their original spot, arriving inside the valley.
Since Lorelei was stable, Aoki didn't plan to handle these matters at the valley entrance.
Back inside the valley, Aoki placed Lorelei aside. At this point, she was no longer in any danger, but her Pokémon had not yet escaped the critical period.
Aoki didn't know who Lorelei had fought. Not only was she so severely injured, but even all her Pokémon were heavily wounded.
He took out all the Poké Balls from Lorelei's body. Every Pokémon summoned was severely injured, with none being less injured than Slowbro.
Seeing this situation, Aoki was truly speechless.
Fortunately, Lorelei arrived at this valley before falling into a coma, otherwise, let alone gaining anything, probably only a few of her Pokémon would have survived.
However, when Aoki took off Lorelei's Poké Balls, he found another spatial item on her body.
It didn't match her current attire at all. Aoki guessed it was very likely the spatial item of the person she had fought.
So, even though Lorelei was severely injured and all her Pokémon had lost their combat capability, she still managed to defeat a cult mber?!
Only this could explain why Lorelei had soone else's spatial item on her.
Aoki didn't move; he just suppressed his curiosity and first helped all of Lorelei's Pokémon get out of the critical period.
It was also fortunate that Aoki, a breeder much stronger than an ordinary senior breeder, was here, otherwise it would have been really difficult.
The facts also proved why Steven, Lance, and others desperately wanted to stick with Aoki and act together.
This way, even if a fierce battle occurred, they wouldn't have to worry about themselves and their Pokémon. Even if injured, they could quickly recover to normal.
Aoki put aside everything else and systematically treated the Pokémon. As ti passed, even without a sun here, the sky gradually darkened.
Steven and the others, who had gone out for training, also returned one by one.
When they saw the bloodstains at the valley entrance, they were truly startled. But when they saw Aoki, soaked in sweat from exhaustion, and the Pokémon lying everywhere, as well as the still unconscious Lorelei, everyone fell silent, especially Lance. Steven, standing next to Lance, got goosebumps all over.
He could feel the anger in the expressionless Lance's heart at that mont.
No matter how much Lorelei disliked him or troubled him, in Lance's eyes, it was indeed because he hadn't done well initially, and he had long considered Lorelei a good friend and partner.
Now, seeing his partner injured like this, how could the always proud Lance endure it?
"Who did this?!" Lance's voice rang out, and anyone who heard it could understand the anger in his words.
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