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"What do you want?"
The blond-haired man looked at his Flygon, which lay on the ground completely unable to battle. His expression was grim. He quickly recalled the Pokémon into its PokeBall, then, with a hint of fear, spoke to Sato, who hadn't made another move.
"Relax. I'm not going to kill you," Sato replied calmly. "Just take care of yourself. If you keep throwing your weight around like you did today, one day you'll be the one getting treated the same way."
"Phil, let's go."
Sato praised Pikachu and Kecleon, who had just returned, then looked back at the blond man. His tone was even, but the sharp light in his eyes made the man avert his gaze immediately.
As soon as Sato finished speaking, he turned around and walked away.
Phil stuck out his tongue at the blond man before quickly running to catch up with Sato.
"One day, I'm going to become a powerful Trainer just like Brother Tyler," Phil thought, gazing at Sato's back bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Admiration filled his eyes as he made a silent vow in his heart.
The two other task members who had originally planned to act with the blond man exchanged glances, then quickly followed after Sato, trying to get on good terms with Phil.
The strong rule, and the weak submit — such is the cruelty of reality.
Though Sato hadn't defeated the blond man in a one-on-one battle, what he said was true — the blond man had been relying on his higher-level Pokémon to bully others.
Now that he'd lost, there was nothing left to say. He only had himself to blame for playing his strong hand so poorly.
At the same time, the leadership of the team naturally shifted. In the wilderness, following the strong is the best way to survive — and right now, Sato clearly fit that description.
From the moment Sato left to when the two mission members went their separate ways, the blond man remained silent. But the clenched fists and bloodshot eyes betrayed his unwillingness to accept the outcome.
When Sato and the others finally disappeared from sight, he slowly moved. Instead of following their direction, however, he turned toward the edge of the forest.
The blond man was an experienced Trainer who knew his limits. With his strongest Pokémon, Flygon, unable to battle, he no longer had the strength to venture deeper into the Slateport Woods. Leaving now was the safest choice.
Not long after the blond man left, about two hundred meters from where he'd stood, a massive rock split open from the center. Beneath it, a man-made concrete staircase was revealed.
Moments later, two oddly dressed figures emerged from below.
"Seriously, didn't the surveillance feed show those guys already left? Why did the boss still make us stay here to scout? What rotten luck… I'm so sleepy… ahh~~"
The bucktoothed man yawned, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. His panda-like dark circles made him look half-dead, and his voice dripped with irritation as he complained to his companion.
"Keep your voice down, idiot! The monitors have audio sensors. You want the boss to hear you and whip you again? I don't! Don't drag me down with you."
The fat man beside him immediately turned, clamping a hand over the bucktoothed man's mouth and whispering angrily.
The bucktoothed man looked annoyed at being silenced, but when he heard that, his defiance faltered. He shrank back and nervously glanced around the trees.
A few seconds passed. When neither of their earpieces transmitted an angry voice, both exhaled in relief.
"Come on," the fat man muttered, wiping his palm — now sticky with the other's saliva — on the bucktoothed man's shirt. "We'll go collect the broken surveillance cameras from earlier and make sure those guys really left."
"You go collect them," the bucktoothed man said, shaking his head. "I'll go check if those guys are still nearby. That way we can finish faster. I stayed up all night, man — I'm exhausted. I just want to go home and sleep."
The fat man glared. "You useless slob. What's so great about that dumb drama anyway? Because of you, I nearly couldn't sleep last night! We stare at monitors all day, no breaks, and now I'm half-dead too."
"Damn it, when's that stupid Pokémon gonna lay its egg? Stuck underground with nothing good to eat — I swear I've lost a few pounds this week!"
"And on top of that, we've got to babysit those two spoiled brats. It's driving me nuts."
The bucktoothed man's rant made the fat man's already round face twist in displeasure. He rubbed his stomach and muttered, "What do you know, pighead? That's a top-rated adventure drama starring Lily, the super idol herself! Once you start watching it, you can't stop!"
"That face, that figure — flawless. She's absolutely stunning."
"And her acting's amazing too! Ah~ I'd do anything just to see her in person."
The fat man's dreamy sighs only made the bucktoothed man more annoyed. "Tch. You're a toad dreaming of eating swan meat. If Lily ever saw your ugly mug, she'd run screaming."
"Hmph! Says the bucktooth wonder himself." The fat man rolled his eyes, still daydreaming about a feast, not taking the insult seriously.
"Stupid pig!"
"Bucktooth freak!"
Soon, the two idiots were yelling insults back and forth, completely forgetting their assignment.
Eventually, they even released their Pokémon, ready to settle things by force.
"Get moving, you useless idiots!"
A furious voice suddenly roared through their earpieces.
"Yes, Boss!"
Both men froze as if shocked by lightning. They snapped to attention like soldiers and shouted in unison.
They glared at each other one last time, snorted, and then released their Pokémon, heading off in opposite directions.
"These two lazy morons… If they ruin my plans, I'll make them pay."
Deep underground, behind the re-sealed rock, a rugged man in a hunter's outfit muttered curses as he watched the two subordinates leave on the surveillance screen.
Then he turned to look at two young men tied up in the corner, their mouths gagged with cloth.
"You two better behave and stay put," he said coldly. "Once I've taken the Pokémon egg, I'll let you live. But if you resist…" His eyes flashed with menace. "Don't blame me for what happens next."
With that, he released a Mightyena and ordered it to stand guard. Then he left the room.
Meanwhile, Sato and his group were making their way toward the forest's edge. Along the way, they encountered several wild Pokémon attacks, but under Sato's protection, they managed to pass safely without major trouble.
However, just as they advanced about a kilometer, the sky suddenly darkened.
A thick mass of clouds drifted inland from the sea, blotting out the sun and the blue sky above Slateport Woods.
Then, with a crack of thunder, a torrential downpour began to fall.