People from Team Magma began to ascend the mountain.
For this operation, they had mobilized over thirty people in total.
It wasn't a big group, but every member was elite. In a fight, they were on another level compared to the regulars. Their strength was clear.
Even an Elite Four member couldn't handle them alone. With Maxie and two Commanders there, that was why Maxie was certain this mission would succeed.
Although their goal was the same—to reach the summit—they split into three teams to prevent Phoebe from escaping with the Orb. Maxie, Courtney, and Tabitha each led a squad, advancing toward the peak from different directions.
Even split up, the three stayed in touch over open comms. That way, if any team ran into trouble, the others would know at once and move to help.
Nothing was left to chance.
A force this size couldn't move quietly. With so many people, attention was inevitable.
Maxie didn't care.
That was just what Maxie wanted. He wasn't here to be subtle.
He wanted Phoebe to understand what it meant to oppose Team Magma.
If she was smart, she'd just hand over the Orb and save herself the pain—and everyone else the trouble.
Unfortunately, Phoebe didn't seem to get it, and Maxie was annoyed.
Why couldn't anyone see it?
Maxie sneered and pushed the thought aside, then focused on leading his team up the mountain.
At first, everything went smoothly.
Mt. Pyre made his skin crawl—as if countless eyes were watching—but it didn't matter. He'd heard plenty of Ghost-types haunted the mountain and harassed travelers, but as long as he got the Red Orb, he could put up with a few delays.
But as they walked, something started to feel off.
The fog, which usually clung to the summit, began to spread downward. They had only just reached the mountainside when they were already enveloped in dense mist.
At first, he brushed it off as weather. But after a few mishaps, he realized something was attacking them from the fog.
Just a moment ago, a huge boulder rolled down from above, knocking one of their Pokémon directly off the mountain...
Before they could recover, a large tree suddenly fell, blocking their path and nearly smashing the two Pokémon clearing the way...
And it wasn't just his team. Over the earpiece, he heard the other squads shouting over each other.
Panicked voices crackled over the comms.
By then, he knew it had to be wild Ghost-types playing tricks.
No one saw the attackers, but only Ghost-types could do this and leave no trace.
What bothered him was that Ghost-types usually only targeted lone travelers, not big groups like this. Why now?
It felt targeted.
Unease tightened in his gut, and he ordered his subordinates to blow away the nearby fog.
As soon as they cleared the fog, more rolled in to fill the gap.
Maxie frowned. This was getting out of hand.
...
On the summit, Natsui lay on the soft grass, eyes closed, soaking up the sun as he prepared for the upcoming battle.
Misty lay beside Natsui too, watching the clouds on the horizon, lost in thought.
Phoebe was nowhere in sight. After handing out assignments, she'd vanished.
They stayed like that for over half an hour until Gengar returned, breaking the lull.
The moment Gengar appeared, Phoebe swung down from a tree in the distance, landing deftly beside Gengar.
Before Gengar could speak, Phoebe asked impatiently, "Well? Did you find any signs of Team Magma?"
Phoebe was intense, and Gengar drifted back a little, then grinned at Natsui, who had just sat up. "Saw them. They're heading right this way!"
Natsui nodded. "How long until they arrive?"
"Hard to say," Gengar laughed loudly. "I asked my new friends to cause a little trouble for them. Right now, those guys should be running ragged under their constant harassment!"
"New friends? Where did other people come from?" Misty was puzzled at first, but then she suddenly realized, "Oh! You mean those wild Ghost-type Pokémon, right?"
"Of course," Gengar cackled. "There are plenty of Duskull, Shuppet, Sableye, and Misdreavus up here. They're a fun bunch. I told them what was going on, and they were happy to help!"
"As expected, sending you to scout was the right call." Natsui smiled, then turned to Misty and Phoebe. "Alright, those wild Pokémon are helping, but they can't stop Team Magma. Get ready. They're coming."
When Maxie, Tabitha, and Courtney reunited with their respective teams at the summit, they all saw the Team Magma members in each other's groups looking extremely disheveled from the torment of various pranks.
They looked rough, but no one was missing. At least they were quick on their feet.
Tabitha and Courtney looked like they wanted to complain about splitting up—not only had they failed to intercept Phoebe, but they'd suffered for nothing.
The two Commanders looked ready to protest, but Maxie's glare shut them up.
Maxie surveyed his men and scowled. "Don't just stand there like idiots. Keep moving!"
Hearing his order, the thirty-plus elite Team Magma members moved again. Under the protection of their Pokémon, they walked from the narrow entrance toward the shrine area.
Despite everything, they'd made it. Now all that was left was to defeat Phoebe and take the Orb.
Still, the string of surprises before the big fight left Maxie uneasy.
He had a bad feeling this operation wouldn't go as smoothly as planned.
Thinking of this, he narrowed his eyes and waved Tabitha over.
When Tabitha reached him, Maxie whispered a few words. Tabitha looked surprised, but he nodded and left with a few trusted subordinates.
Courtney, standing nearby, took all of this in.
Courtney didn't question it.
The group soon arrived at the fog-free zone and saw Phoebe's grandparents' house in the distance.
After checking it and confirming the Orb wasn't there, they continued forward and finally arrived in front of the stone shrine.
There, Maxie spotted Phoebe waiting, unruffled.
Shifting his gaze from her, Maxie looked into the shrine at the Red Orb, which was emitting a soft glow!
There it was.
A surge of triumph rushed through him. Just as he was about to step forward, Phoebe blocked his view.
"Team Magma, this isn't your place. Leave now, or I'll make you."
Maxie saw she was alone, and smiled. "Kid, don't you get it? There's too much ocean. People need space to live. Wake up Groudon, expand the land—it's the only way forward."
Despite her young age, Phoebe was not someone easily swayed by such twisted philosophies.
"Are you hearing yourself?" Phoebe shot back. "I like Ghost-types, but even I know the ocean is what lets us live here. No ocean, no climate, no ecosystem. You'd doom us all."
"Shame," Maxie said, all false regret. "I was willing to give you a place with us. But you're not thinking big enough. Enough talk—hand over the Orb."
Unfortunately, his words were met not with the Orb, but with Phoebe's Pokémon.
As Phoebe threw out her Poké Balls one after another, six Ghost-type Pokémon instantly appeared in front of Team Magma.
Maxie took them in at a glance.
Mismagius, Banette, Drifblim, Chandelure, Dusknoir, and Sableye.
Although he hadn't dealt with Phoebe before, he knew that the young girl before him was a Ghost-type Elite Four member. Seeing her Pokémon now confirmed it.
Maxie snorted. "Elite Four or not, you really think six Pokémon can stop us?"
At his words, the elite Team Magma members grinned and released their Pokémon.
Poké Balls opened one after another, bursts of blue light filling the air. In moments, sixty or seventy Pokémon had completely surrounded Phoebe!
Most trainers would have panicked at the sight. But Phoebe showed no fear. She attacked first!
Even Maxie hadn't expected that, facing such a situation, the girl before him would dare to strike first!
Then don't say I didn't warn you, Maxie thought.
He cursed silently. Without needing his instructions, his subordinates were already commanding their various Pokémon to meet the attack.
He wasn't worried about Phoebe's resistance at all. He and Courtney didn't even need to act; the Pokémon of these elite members would likely be more than she could handle!
In fact, it went just as he thought. Although Phoebe's Pokémon achieved a good start thanks to their superior individual strength, knocking several of their Pokémon to the ground...
Once surrounded, these few Ghost-type Pokémon struggled to cope with the situation.
There was no helping it; there were simply too many opponents!
Team Magma couldn't block their moves, but likewise, her Pokémon couldn't deal with attacks coming from behind or the sides.
Moreover, the Pokémon of these elite members were not weak at all. Fighting them wasn't as easy as dealing with wild Pokémon!
At this rate, defeating this Elite Four member seemed only a matter of time.
But for some reason, the more it went on, the more uneasy Maxie felt.
He glanced at the situation on the battlefield, then at Courtney beside him, who also had no intention of intervening and chose to watch from the sidelines. He couldn't spot exactly what was wrong.
I hope I'm just overthinking it...
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly heard two explosions coming from the left and right simultaneously!
Along with the explosions, several of his members' Pokémon were blasted into the sky together!
Hmm?
Maxie frowned and quickly scanned both sides, only to see over a dozen more Pokémon suddenly rushing out from the forests on both flanks, joining the battle!
So there was an ambush!
Seeing this scene, Maxie was startled but also finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had vaguely felt that things weren't that simple before. Now, looking at it, it was exactly as he expected. And with the ambushers revealing themselves—although they had caught him off guard—the opponent's trump cards were fully exposed, so there was nothing left to worry about!
However, glancing inadvertently to his side, he realized Courtney's expression was very wrong.
"What's the matter?"
Courtney looked at the familiar male figure standing behind those newly arrived Pokémon and said in a low voice:
Courtney's voice dropped. "We've got a problem. Natsui's here."
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