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"Curse… damn it. Nidoking, use Earth Power one more time and retreat immediately!"
Seeing Gengar successfully plant a curse on Nidoking, Sato's expression darkened slightly. While recalling Aggron into its PokeBall, he immediately issued orders to Nidoking through telepathy.
After being afflicted by Curse, an intense pain surged through Nidoking's body. Even so, he gritted his teeth and carried out Sato's command, slamming the ground once more and unleashing Earth Power.
Under the force of Nidoking's Earth Power, several Pokémon belonging to the poaching group were blasted into the air by towering columns of yellow-brown energy. Amid screams, they crashed heavily back to the ground and lay there, completely incapacitated.
However, the moment Nidoking finished using Earth Power, the curse inside him fully erupted. He let out a pained roar and began rolling violently across the ground in agony.
"Perfect chance! Mienshao, finish him with Ice Punch!"
Seeing Nidoking in this state, the burly man instantly realized that an opportunity had arrived. He immediately ordered Mienshao—who had just defeated Aggron—to launch a follow-up attack.
Mienshao transformed into a blur, charging straight toward Nidoking. Frosty energy rapidly condensed around his fists as he aimed a crushing blow at Nidoking's undefended, soft abdomen.
"Hmph, you fell for it. It's your turn, Abra—Ally Switch."
Just as Mienshao's Ice Punch was about to land, a strange smile appeared on Sato's face. A blue gleam flashed in his eyes as he issued a command to Abra, whom he had released at some unknown point.
"I'm already this weak and you're throwing me against someone that strong—is that really okay? Man, this feels awful."
Appearing several meters to Sato's left, Abra complained via telepathy. Despite his grumbling, his actions didn't slow at all as he immediately activated his psychic power to execute the order.
In an instant, a powerful psychic fluctuation flashed across Abra's body—Ally Switch activated. His figure vanished from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was now standing exactly where Mienshao was about to reach Nidoking.
In the next moment, another psychic pulse surged forth. Abra vanished again, using Teleport to return safely to Sato's side.
At the same time, Mienshao was horrified to find himself suddenly standing where Abra had been moments earlier.
In that split second, Nidoking's crisis was completely resolved, while Mienshao instead fell straight into a trap Sato had laid long ago.
At that moment, Crobat—already waiting in the air above Abra's former position—spread his four wings wide. Three massive white tornadoes instantly formed in a triangular formation, trapping Mienshao inside as they rapidly compressed inward.
Whirlwind Shield activated.
At the same time, Kecleon, who had been lurking nearby in invisibility, made his move. His body instantly turned deep pink as a beam of the same color shot from his mouth, threading through the narrow gaps between the raging winds and striking Mienshao directly.
Psybeam.
"Break out from the back!"
Seeing Mienshao suddenly trapped in danger, the burly man's face changed drastically. He shouted frantically toward Mienshao.
But Mienshao had already used Protect earlier while fighting the sickly old man's Pokémon. With no defensive move left to rely on, there was no way he could escape Crobat's vortex prison.
Left with no other option, Mienshao chose to gamble everything—leaping into the air and striking Crobat with Ice Punch.
The battle shifted in an instant. With no time to think, Mienshao followed his combat instincts, enduring Kecleon's Psybeam as he jumped upward and hurled both fists toward Crobat overhead.
Seeing the enemy rush him midair, Crobat let out a disdainful screech. His four wings snapped open as he vanished into a blur, causing Mienshao's attack to miss completely.
In the next second, Crobat appeared behind Mienshao and struck him heavily with Aerial Ace.
A sharp "whoosh" rang out as Mienshao slammed into the ground, carving out a deep crater.
"So he even had an Abra hidden away… no wonder he's been so confident."
Seeing the burly man's Mienshao taken down so decisively, the sickly old man's expression twitched. With a dark face, he quietly instructed the Weavile nearby:
"Weavile, tunnel over and take out that Abra. Use Taunt first to seal its Teleport before the ambush."
Weavile responded with a sly grin. Under Dusknoir's cover, he burrowed into the ground, silently tunneling toward Abra's position.
With Mienshao defeated, the disadvantage caused by Nidoking being cursed immediately vanished. The poachers hurriedly ordered their Pokémon to halt, fearing Sato might have Abra repeat the same trick.
For a time, the poachers became extremely wary. None dared attempt close-range attacks anymore, choosing instead to rely solely on long-range moves.
In fact, at this point, each poacher had very few Pokémon left that could still fight—at most, no more than two.
They understood clearly that once they ran out of Pokémon, death would be all but guaranteed in this place. Escaping this dragon's den would be nearly impossible.
Thus, although they were anxious, they didn't dare to expend their remaining "bullets" recklessly.
After all, life only came once—money was useful only if you were still alive to spend it.
As a result, for the next minute or two, both sides exchanged long-range attacks, and the battle fell into a stalemate.
However, this situation was extremely unfavorable for Sato.
Nidoking was no longer able to fight due to Curse, and in terms of ranged firepower, Sato's side was vastly inferior. Combined with the numerical disadvantage, he was in a clearly losing position.
That was precisely why the poachers were willing to stall—afraid that Sato might resort to a desperate counterattack.
"Still not awake? I can't hold on much longer. Everyone, listen—be ready to retreat at any moment."
Sato recalled Tentacruel, who had just lost the ability to fight. Turning to look at Altaria, who was still unconscious, his expression turned grim as he issued instructions to his remaining Pokémon via telepathy.
He had agreed to help Roserade protect Altaria—but he never agreed to stake his own life. His goal of looting Dragon-type training resources from Altaria's nest had already been achieved. There was no reason to stay any longer.
As for the Pokémon Egg, Sato had never planned to get involved. Let the poachers fight each other to the death over it—he wouldn't interfere.
Unfortunately, just as Sato was about to have Abra use Teleport to escape with him, a Weavile suddenly burst out from the ground nearby and instantly used Taunt on Abra.
Immediately after, Weavile followed up with Ice Shard, knocking the low-level Abra straight to the ground before turning and fleeing.
"Tch… are you forcing me to send out every Pokémon I have? If I do that, everyone here will die."
Seeing Abra—his fragile key piece—taken down by Weavile's ambush, Sato's face turned icy as killing intent surged from him. He stared at the poachers, who were now showing looks of delight.
Fortunately, just as Sato was about to release Pikachu, Cloyster, and the rest into battle—
The long-unconscious Altaria finally opened her eyes.
"Chirp—!!!"
In an instant, accompanied by a clear, resonant cry, an overwhelming draconic pressure swept across the entire battlefield.