In truth, ever since Lance had become one of the Kanto Elite Four, fewer and fewer Pokémon hunters had dared to cause trouble in the Dragon's Den.
Even more so because the Johto League had been quietly showing signs that it intended to establish its own Elite Four and appoint Lance as the region's Champion.
Everyone believed it was only a matter of time.
After all, Blackthorn City held tremendous importance and influence within the Johto League.
Having the head of the Dragon Clan serve as the regional Champion was considered the natural choice.
Compared to selecting a brand-new Elite Four and then choosing a Champion from among them, both the League officials and the general public overwhelmingly preferred Lance.
He was a homegrown Johto Trainer whose Dragon-type Pokémon perfectly represented the region.
Not only was the Dragon Master Lance famous throughout Kanto and Johto, but he also had an enormous number of fans and followers across the world.
For the Pokémon hunter organizations operating throughout Johto, however, this was terrible news.
Lance's personality was well known.
As an Elite Four member, he constantly traveled throughout Kanto and Johto, resolving crises both large and small.
The other three Elite Four members certainly weren't lazy, but compared to Lance, they were nowhere near as dedicated.
His overwhelming sense of justice and responsibility made him hostile toward virtually every criminal organization, and those organizations wanted nothing more than to avoid attracting his attention.
Because once Lance set his sights on them.
Disaster always followed.
Even the most powerful criminal organizations didn't want to deal with the investigation and pursuit of a Champion-level Trainer.
Against Lance, ninety-nine percent of criminal organizations had no ability to resist.
Their only destination was Officer Jenny's custody.
If he remained merely Kanto's Elite Four representative, things were manageable.
Although he was nominally responsible for both regions, there would always be practical limitations, allowing Johto's underground organizations to continue surviving.
But if Lance became Johto's Champion, the region's criminal underworld would undoubtedly be purged.
Running to Kanto wasn't an option either.
Team Rocket already controlled that region, and Giovanni's methods were ruthless.
You either fought to the bitter end and were destroyed or you surrendered and were absorbed into Team Rocket.
Although that fate was preferable to being arrested by the League, Trainers who became Pokémon hunters or criminals weren't exactly the obedient type.
Unless absolutely forced into it, none of them wanted to flee to Kanto.
Hoenn and Sinnoh were even worse choices.
Team Aqua and Team Magma were locked in an endless war.
If you weren't one of them, you were considered an enemy, and battles immediately became fights to the death.
As for Team Galactic, its history ran extremely deep, giving it nearly complete control over Sinnoh's criminal underworld.
One notable difference was that Team Galactic refused to recruit minors as future members.
Others might not understand why, but Silas knew.
Cyrus could afford that policy because of the immense wealth accumulated by Team Galactic over generations.
Across Sinnoh, the vast majority of towering office buildings had been funded by corporations owned or supported by Team Galactic.
Without exaggeration, Team Galactic's wealth was second only to the Berlitz family.
Because of all this, every Pokémon hunter organization in Johto had silently agreed on one thing:
Leave Blackthorn City alone.
Dragon-type Pokémon might be incredibly valuable. But only if you survived long enough to profit from them.
That was why Silas thought the two hunters before him had unbelievable courage.
Breaking into the Dragon Sanctuary to steal something?
Did they think Lance had grown too old to swing a Poké Ball or were they simply that full of themselves?
Silas didn't recognize them as the leaders of the Pokémon Hunter Group he had encountered before.
For Pokémon hunters, disguises were second nature.
As long as they weren't caught, their real identities could remain hidden indefinitely.
Glittering clouds of powder drifted across the Grassy Terrain toward Blaziken and Pidgeot.
Meanwhile, Exeggutor's three heads glowed brilliantly.
After a brief charge, countless green spheres the size of fists shot forward with tremendous force.
As they flew, they also accelerated the spread of Sleep Powder.
"Blaze!"
Blaziken remained completely calm and charged straight ahead.
Violent Fire-type energy gathered inside its beak.
"BOOM!"
An enormous pillar of fire instantly engulfed the sky.
Although the move was Flamethrower, its area of effect was nearly as vast as Fire Spin, while its power was even greater.
After all, besides its own strength, Blaziken was also carrying an incredibly powerful, mysterious Fire-type item.
With all those factors combined, despite only recently reaching the Elite level, the sheer intensity of Blaziken's flames rivaled those of some Elite Four-level Pokémon.
The blinding crimson fire swallowed both Seed Bomb and Sleep Powder whole.
Almost no explosion occurred.
As scorching air spread throughout the battlefield, Victreebel's and Exeggutor's attacks vanished without a trace.
Hunter R's pupils contracted.
"Impossible..."
She had never seen a Fire-type Pokémon completely erase multiple attacks with Flamethrower under such conditions.
With Venusaur's Grassy Terrain boosting it, Exeggutor's Seed Bomb was already comparable in power to a Normal-type Pokémon's Hyper Beam.
Even holding a Charcoal with a twenty-percent boost shouldn't produce something like this.
Hunter R suddenly realized, their intelligence had been wrong.
"Damn it."
Anger flashed across her face.
For Pokémon hunters, faulty intelligence was unforgivable.
One mistake could cost them their lives.
They had already encountered unexpected problems inside the Dragon Sanctuary.
Now came the second.
"Venusaur, Solar Beam!"
Looking toward the massive tornado Pidgeot had created with Hurricane, Hunter R immediately ordered her ace to destroy it head-on.
As one of Flying-type's strongest moves, Hurricane was devastating against Grass-types, every bit as dangerous as Fire-type attacks.
To destroy a fully formed Hurricane, only a powerful Grass-type move like Solar Beam or Leaf Storm stood much chance.
Compared to Leaf Storm, whose harsh side effect lowered the user's Special Attack, Solar Beam was the far superior choice despite its charging time.
"Exeggutor, Sunny Day!"
At the same time, Hunter R ordered Exeggutor to summon sunlight, dramatically shortening Solar Beam's charging time.
Silas smiled.
A desperate measure.
Sunny Day also massively strengthened Blaziken's Fire-type attacks.
High temperatures and flames were the perfect combination.
Ignoring Pidgeot, which continued controlling Hurricane on its own, Silas trusted his partner to find the perfect opportunity.
Instead, he issued another command to Blaziken.
"Flame Charge!"
Their years of teamwork meant Silas didn't even need to specify the target.
Blaziken understood instantly.
Roaring flames immediately engulfed its entire body.
A blazing afterimage remained in the air as its incredible speed made it impossible for Hunter R to track.
BANG!
A massive tree-like figure flew backward and splashed into the river.
It was Exeggutor, which had just finished using Sunny Day.
Although Hunter R had ordered Victreebel to intercept, the two whipping Vine Whips were laughably ineffective in Blaziken's eyes.
The openings between them were enormous.
Blaziken joked it could practically walk through them.
Of course, that was an exaggeration.
As an Elite-level Pokémon, Victreebel's Vine Whips were incredibly fast, creating an almost impenetrable defense.
But no defense was perfect.
With Flame Charge's speed boost and Aura sensing every opening, slipping through wasn't difficult for Blaziken.
"Victreebel, Razor Leaf!"
"Exeggutor, Bullet Seed!"
Sweat covered Hunter R's forehead as she hurriedly counterattacked.
Thanks to the river cushioning its fall, Exeggutor had suffered less follow-up damage than Silas expected and hadn't been burned.
No matter.
The towering, pitcher-plant-like Victreebel swung its enormous mouth.
Sharp leaves erupted from its body like countless spinning blades, slashing toward Blaziken.
Behind Blaziken, Exeggutor had already used Psychic to pull itself back onto land and began preparing Bullet Seed.
Facing attacks from both sides, Blaziken remained fearless.
"Boss, save me!"
Its joking voice echoed through Silas's Aura.
Silas rolled his eyes.
"Dodge."
"Then use Blaze Kick."
Blaziken grinned.
With a powerful leap, it vanished.
After Flame Charge's Speed boost combined with two activations of Speed Boost, Blaziken's speed had nearly reached its peak.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Victreebel wasn't weak either.
Although its Trainer couldn't follow Blaziken's movements, it desperately controlled Razor Leaf, attempting to predict where Blaziken would appear.
It failed.
Countless Razor Leaves struck the ground, sending clouds of dust into the air without hitting anything.
Worse still, the dust completely concealed Blaziken's location.
By the time Razor Leaf ended, Blaziken had disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Stay on guard!"
Hunter R shouted nervously.
Victreebel swayed its leaves in acknowledgment.
Exeggutor finally climbed back onto the riverbank.
It hadn't even found a chance to use Bullet Seed.
"Use Psychic! Drag it out!"
Once Exeggutor had recovered slightly, Hunter R gave another command.
They couldn't afford to remain on the defensive forever.
They were already at a type disadvantage.
Being completely overwhelmed would only make matters worse.
"Exeggutor!"
Exeggutor cried loudly.
The overlapping voices from its three heads made Silas frown.
Blue-purple Psychic energy lit up all six of its eyes.
Then—
BOOM!
Victreebel, which had been standing guard, was suddenly blasted straight into the sky.
Directly beneath it, Blaziken lowered its right leg after delivering a devastating kick.
Its feet ignited with flames once more.
Even the tiniest opening couldn't escape its Aura.
"Dig?!"
Hunter R's face darkened as she stared at the spot where Blaziken had emerged.
The blue glow in Blaziken's eyes made it obvious how it had avoided detection.
With Aura guiding it, Blaziken could burrow deep underground before bursting out in an instant to launch a surprise attack.
Blaziken's mastery of Aura wasn't exactly a secret. Hunter R already knew about it.
What she hadn't expected was that in less than half a year, Blaziken's control over Aura had improved this dramatically.
Unconsciously, she touched the two shrunken Poké Balls hidden inside her pocket.
"If it really comes to that then I'll have to use these. I just hope that guy wasn't lying to me."
Silas's appearance had completely thrown a wrench into their mission.
But Hunter R was an experienced Pokémon Hunter. She always prepared a contingency plan.
Otherwise, she would have long since been eating free meals in a League prison.
Glancing over at Garchomp's battle against Hunter K, she saw that, despite fighting two opponents at once, Garchomp was only at a slight disadvantage thanks to its trainer's commands.
"Three minutes. At most, three minutes. If this isn't over by then, we'll have to use that."
Hunter K's lips barely moved as his voice was transmitted through the communicator in Hunter R's ear.
Hunter R gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"So their trump card has serious side effects."
Neither of them realized that Silas had heard every word.
Even amidst the chaotic battle of eight Pokémon, his enhanced perception allowed him to catch their quiet conversation perfectly.
"But don't you think you're a little too confident?"
Silas grinned.
"Blaziken, Fire Punch!
Pidgeot, attack!"
"Blaze!"
"Pidgeot!"
Both Pokémon immediately responded.
Boom!
The long-charged Solar Beam erupted from the massive flower on Venusaur's back.
The overwhelming light and energy forced every Pokémon nearby to instinctively avoid its path.
Empowered by Grassy Terrain, Sunny Day, its lengthy charge, and Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), this Solar Beam was undoubtedly Venusaur's strongest attack.
Hunter R watched with shock and a hint of delight as Pidgeot directed its raging Hurricane straight into the Solar Beam.
"Just a bunch of kids."
She sneered.
"They don't even know when to avoid a head-on clash."
For a brief moment, she relaxed.
Then her heart jumped again.
The Hurricane wasn't blasted apart immediately.
Instead, the two attacks collided in midair, locked in a deadlock.
The violently spinning tornado was actually beginning to wear down the Solar Beam itself.
"How is that possible?!"
Hunter R nearly ground her teeth to pieces.
This made no sense.
Every one of Silas's Pokémon was ridiculously overpowered.
A Hurricane actually matching an overwhelmingly strengthened Solar Beam?
She couldn't understand it.
If Silas had heard her thoughts, he would have simply shrugged.
Although Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire primarily enhanced Pidgeot's Fire-type abilities, their recent training had uncovered another benefit.
It also strengthened Pidgeot's control over the wind or, more accurately, over the atmosphere itself.
For a Flying-type like Pidgeot, that was even more valuable than enhanced firepower.
Not only had its flight speed surpassed almost every other Pidgeot, but its mastery of Flying-type moves had also improved dramatically.
Neutralizing a Solar Beam with Hurricane was merely one of its medium-level breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, Victreebel and Exeggutor were having an utterly miserable time dealing with Blaziken's close-range assault.
The two Pokémon were repeatedly kicked and punched high into the air, unwillingly experiencing what flying felt like.
Psychic and Vine Whip struck Blaziken again and again, but each restraint lasted less than a second before Blaziken shattered it through sheer strength.
Boom!
Blaziken slammed Exeggutor headfirst into the ground with a flaming headbutt.
Then it grabbed Victreebel by its two large leaves and swung it like a hammer, smashing it directly into Exeggutor.
The two teammates ended up injuring each other and cried out in pain.
"Finish them with Fire Spin."
While continuing to direct Pidgeot against Venusaur, Silas casually called out another command.
As far as he was concerned, the battle was nearly over.
"Blaze!"
Blaziken nodded.
After several rapid backflips to create distance, it opened its mouth once more.
Hunter R's hand tightened firmly around the two Poké Balls hidden in her pocket.
Just then—
"ROOOAAARRR!!"
An enraged dragon's roar exploded across the battlefield.
The entire waterfall burst apart.
A blur too fast for anyone to see smashed straight through the curtain of water, carrying an overwhelming aura that made everyone present struggle to breathe.
Smack!
In the blink of an eye, Victreebel and Exeggutor were sent flying.
Even Blaziken, which had been preparing Fire Spin, couldn't escape.
Before it could even react, it was blasted backward and slammed into a massive rock.
"What the hell?!"
..
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