"Mr. Mime, use Barrier!"

  "Kehehehe~"

  Zorua's Taunt was faster.

  Mr. Mime was instantly provoked, pletely fetting about its wall-based defeeiques. All it wanted now was to rush forward and teach Zorua a lesson.

  Uo use Barrier, Mr. Mime hesitated for a moment before finally releasing a Psybeam—but the attack was weak and easily dodged by Zorua.

  Suddenly, the sky darkened.

  A giant, singur eye silently opened behind Mr. Mime, staring at it.

  The cautious Mr. Mime, now sensing something watg it, actually started to calm down.

  "Sucker Punch! Shadow Ball!"

  "Mr. Mime, use Substitute to block it! Finish Haunter with Psychic! Pinsir, use Brick Break!"

  Seeing Sato attack without hesitation, the middle-aged man rushed to ter. His eyes turned sharp, filled with ruthlessness, as he released a Pinsir.

  "Mime!"

  But once again, Mr. Mime igs trainer's and.

  Instead of using Substitute, it skipped straight to Psychic.

  pletely useless.

  Zorua had already sidestepped, rushing to its fnk, and smmed into it with Dark-type energy.

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter, having carefully avoided the deadly Psychic attack, stealthily floated behind Mr. Mime—Sucker Pund Shadow Ball hit simultaneously!

  "Mime!"

  Mr. Mime, having been pletely shut down from using any barrier teiques, took both attacks head-on. Instantly on the verge of colpse, it struggled to even stand back up.

  "A Fairy-type and a Bug-type?"

  As a Dark Energy user, unless it was one of his own Pokémon, there was no way he could have any fondness for them.

  "Kaka!"

  Pinsir, seeing a mere ten-year-old standing before it, didn't hesitate—it attacked immediately.

  Clearly, this wasn't the first time it had been ao go after a human. Which meant its trainer's iions were far more than just stealing Jigglypuff.

  A faint glint of bck light fshed across Sato's eyes.

  For once, he got serious.

  Pinsir was far strohan he could withstand head-on, but agility and speed were a killer's greatest strengths.

  Like a fish weaving through water, Sato easily dodged the Brick Break, his right hand gripping his dagger tightly, feigning an attack to Pinsir's back.

  Just as his bde was about to nd, he abruptly retracted it—pivoting off his left foot, twisting mid-air, and hurling the dagger directly at the middle-aged man instead!

  "Hck—!"

  The razor-sharp bde pierced straight through the man's throat.

  Blood gushed out violently.

  His wide, horrified eyes filled with disbelief as his body colpsed to the ground.

  "Kaka!"

  Pinsir, instinctively reag, turo attack Sato again—but upon seeing its trainer's lifeless body, it froze in pce.

  "Mime! Mime!"

  Pinsir and Mr. Mime pletely ignored Sato and his Pokémon, their eyes showing a hint of relief befng at Sato, who was still surrounded by lingering Dark Energy, with a plicated expression.

  "Bang! Bang!"

  Pinsir rummaged through the fallen middle-aged man's belongings, pulling out two Poké Balls, then violently stomped on them, destroying them pletely.

  Seeing this, Mr. Mime nodded lightly at Pinsir, then dragged its heavily injured body away into the forest.

  Pinsir stared bnkly at its lifeless trainer for a long moment before finally turning its fierce gaze toward Sato.

  But instead of attag, it turned around and disappeared into the forest as well.

  "Zor?"

  Zorua, still young and naive, was pletely fused by the situation.

  Weren't they supposed to fight to the death?

  "Some humans don't uand that they're not the main characters of this world. Eventually, they pay the price."

  Sato didn't bother to expin further. He simply stepped forward and began searg the man's body, while also Hauo retrieve Jigglypuff's Poké Ball.

  Soon, a small pile of miseous items was id out on the ground.

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter hurriedly tossed the Poké Ball to Sato, then immediately turned around and grabbed a piece of part from the ground.

  Sato gnced up and instantly reized it—a Spell Tag, a Ghost-type item that enhanced Ghost-type moves.

  "Kehehe~"

  Haunter floated up to Sato, attempting to butter him up. Its ghostly hands hovered over his shoulders, a pyful massage.

  "Take it. It's not anything too rare."

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter cheerfully flew off with the Spell Tag, while Sato tinued s through the loot—and the more he examihe more shocked he became.

  "Special Poké Balls, high-grade energy cubes… a Dusk Stone—now this is good!"

  Sato tucked the Dusk Stone away immediately.

  With his affinity for Dark-type Pokémon, it was only a matter of time before he , as many Dark-types required a Dusk Stoo evolve.

  "So this guy really was an underground hunter… and a reckless o that."

  Sato muttered to himself as he picked up two Pokédexes, both from the Johtion.

  rainers who received a Pokédex typically had det backgrounds or strong family es.

  Those who operated in gray areas generally preferred not to provoke them.

  Underground hunters, however, were a different breed.

  her the bck market nor w enfort had much tolerance for them. They were like sging hyenas, sniffing out opportunities wherever they could, without principles or loyalty.

  It was highly likely that Pinsir and Mr. Mime weren't even captured legally—which expined why they felt no obligation to aveheir trainer.

  Too bad for him, though—he had run into the wrong oppo.

  The hunter hadn't even had the ce to fight back before Sato had taken him out in a single move.

  Sato then turo his battle belt, where he found three more Poké Balls.

  Taking out his Pokémon Ser, he ran a quick s over them—and three sets of data immediately appeared.

  Two Pokémon were low Elite-level, specifically Sandssh and Victreebel. The third was a high Ordinary-level Fearow.

  sidering Pinsir and Mr. Mime, this team's overall strength was actually quite det.

  "Larvitar, dig a hole."

  "Larvi!"

  Without hesitation, Sato dumped the underground hunter's body—along with everything that couldn't be verted into resources—into the pit.

  Then, he had Larvitar bury it pletely.

  With Jigglypuff secured and an ued haul from the underground hunter, Sato wasted no more time. He headed straight through the forest to his destination.

  -------

  Cherrygrove City—a city with special regutions.

  For example, trainers were strictly prohibited from capturing Quagsire within city limits.

  Sato first visited the Pokémoer to restore his team's strength, then tacted the mission t and transferred Jigglypuff over.

  After firming that the Jigglypuff wasn't a lifeless bck-market Pokémon, the t transferred the mission payment to Sato.

  "Thank you for your help, Mr. Sato. My daughter finally has a wonderful partner."

  "Mm."

  Sato didn't baging in small talk. The moment he received the payment, he hung up.

  he city outskirts, he found a quiet hotel and checked in.

  Then, using a special website, he searched for information on Cherrygrove's underground trade work.

  Apart from the Dusk Stone and Spell Tag, everything else he had taken from the underground hunter would o be dealt with.

  Held items were safe to use, but man-made objects like Pokédexes and specialized Poké Balls carried potential risks.

  Sio wasn't familiar enough with their ins, he wouldn't use anything suspicious until he was absolutely certain of their legitimacy.