Why was Eichi so surprised? He felt someone nearby, and that person was none other than Asen.
"Scizor, Heracross, both of you come back."
After recalling them into their Poké Balls, he said to Beedrill, "Beedrill, follow me."
He ran toward the north. The jungle was overgrown with weeds nearly a meter high. Eichi quickly pushed through the brush, rushing forward.
As the distance closed, he began to hear the roars of Pokémon and the sounds of moves exploding. He even saw Pokémon fleeing toward his direction.
They were all Experienced and Elite rank Pokémon. On some of them, the collars were empty; their badges had likely been taken by others.
Eichi didn't bother with them even if the badges were still there. Right now, only a Gold Badge held any appeal for him.
Seeing he was close, he used Bug Force to mask his presence. Beedrill didn't need his help, as it could conceal its own aura.
With a powerful kick, he leaped onto a tree and moved lightly across the branches.
Hiding in a towering tree, his vision—honed by the refinement of Bug Force—was excellent. He could clearly see everything happening within twenty meters.
On a patch of grass not far away, several Pokémon were besieging a single opponent.
Standing a short distance from them was Asen.
The besiegers were Nidoking, Slowking, Aerodactyl, and Gengar.
Surrounding one Pokémon with four others... especially since Asen actually brought a Gengar in. That's impressive, Eichi thought.
The Pokémon they were attacking was an Ursaring. Eichi didn't even need to look to know that Ursaring was Gym Leader rank.
Nevertheless, he activated his Eye of the Bug Emperor to check. This Ursaring had Excellent talent and was at the mid-stage of the Gym Leader rank.
Its strength was formidable. Currently, Nidoking was in the front pinning Ursaring down, while Aerodactyl, Slowking, and Gengar released moves from a distance.
He had to admit the tactic was sound, though Nidoking looked a bit worse for wear. Even though it was now at the Elite rank, the massive level gap between it and Ursaring couldn't be fully bridged.
It was covered in wounds. Now, it was just a matter of who would collapse first.
Ursaring was truly driven to madness. The three Pokémon in the distance were simply too annoying.
It wanted to rush them, but this Nidoking kept blocking its path. It had to knock it down first.
No matter how Ursaring attacked, Nidoking refused to retreat. Furthermore, Ursaring had been poisoned.
It couldn't hold on much longer. Sure enough, three minutes later, Aerodactyl, Slowking, and Gengar simultaneously used moves against Ursaring.
Hit by the three moves, Ursaring could no longer endure. Its body stiffened, and it collapsed to the ground. Gengar instantly appeared beside Ursaring and pressed the button on its arm collar.
A gold badge popped out. Gengar reached out to catch it and, in the next second, reappeared in front of Asen.
It handed the badge to Asen, who examined it before placing it into his waist bag.
Afterward, he took a bottle of Antidote from his backpack and sprayed it on Ursaring's poisoned wound.
Once sprayed, the poison in Ursaring's body was neutralized. Asen then took out a Full Restore.
This Full Restore was similar to the ones in the games; it could restore a Pokémon to full health and cure all status conditions in the shortest time possible.
While the effect was good, it was expensive, costing 30,000p a bottle.
It's practically robbery, Eichi thought. He had also bought two bottles just in case his Bug Force was insufficient.
Asen sprayed the Full Restore on Nidoking's wounds. As soon as it was applied, Nidoking's whole body trembled.
However, it didn't cry out in pain, gritting its teeth and enduring it silently.
After the medicine was applied, the wounds on Nidoking's body healed at a visible speed.
After treating Nidoking, Asen took a circular radar-like device out of his pocket.
Eichi's eyes narrowed. What is that?
The machine's screen looked like a spiderweb. A blue dot flashed continuously, while several red dots flashed around it.
What is this thing?
Eichi had doubts in his mind. He turned his head and suddenly saw a red dot rapidly approaching the blue dot on the screen.
Eichi suddenly thought of something and closed his eyes to release his Bug Force.
His perception spread out, continuously crawling through the surroundings—trees, flowers, Pokémon...
Suddenly, Eichi saw a drone flying this way. So that's it.
Eichi realized the purpose of that device.
Seeing the drone, Asen said to Gengar, "Gengar, go back."
Gengar gave a "hee hee" laugh and slowly sank into Asen's shadow.
Asen then hopped onto Aerodactyl's back. Suddenly sensing something, he snapped his gaze toward a nearby towering tree.
"Gengar," he said, turning his head.
The shadow beneath Asen on the ground moved, quickly disappearing into the forest.
After a moment, Gengar returned. Its face surfaced from the ground, and it shook its head at Asen.
"Nothing?" Asen said. "Maybe I'm just being too sensitive."
"Let's go, Aerodactyl."
Asen recalled his Slowking and gave the command to Aerodactyl.
"VWA-HOOO!!!"
Aerodactyl let out a loud roar, vibrated its wings, and flew into the distance.
A moment later, a drone passed through the area, capturing the image of the collapsed Ursaring.
Outside, Director Yanagi and the others also saw the Ursaring on the screen.
"Oh?" Director Yanagi let out a sound of surprise.
Someone had obtained a Gold Badge. Director Yanagi knew this Ursaring was Gym Leader rank based on the collar on its arm.
Each type of collar was different, just like the badges. The collar Ursaring wore was specifically paired with the Gold Badge.
Director Yanagi watched the screen and thought, I wonder who took it.
Eichi was running fast. Just now, while he was observing Asen, his attention had been entirely focused on the boy, and he was actually ambushed by a Sableye.
Fortunately, Beedrill reacted quickly and blocked the Sableye for him.
However, the moment of the attack allowed Asen to sense something. Eichi realized he had to leave the scene immediately.
After leaving, that Sableye didn't escape either; it was beaten soundly by Beedrill.
The badge was also confiscated by Eichi. He was currently reflecting on himself. He had been a bit overconfident lately, and his vigilance had slipped.
This wouldn't do. He had to remember this lesson and not make the same mistake again.
After reflecting, it was time to get down to business. Asen already had a Gold Badge; he couldn't afford to fall behind.
He released his Bug Force, letting it spread out into the distance.