"Banette!"
A gray-black doll-like Pokémon appeared beside Alfred, the brass zipper across its mouth curving slightly upward like a sinister grin.
To avoid exposing his identity and prevent anyone from noticing anything unusual, Alfred had even recalled the ghost Pokémon hiding in his shadow before entering Twinleaf Town. That was why Unown A had failed to detect anything strange.
Now that he was going over personally, he naturally needed a Pokémon protecting him. He could not afford to make a mistake over something so minor.
Alfred waved his hand, signaling Banette to hide back in the shadows as his gaze darkened once more.
Within the invisible darkness, Banette's body stretched out several black threads that rapidly approached Shiro.
"Call it back!"
Shiro let out a low shout, lowered his raised hands, and pulled out the crystal again.
"..."
Alfred silently waved his hand, and Banette retreated into the shadows once more.
"You don't even dare come take it yourself?" Shiro said word by word.
Alfred raised his head, revealing sharp cheekbones, sunken cheeks, and a scar hidden beneath his hairline. His eyes were filled with both resentment and anxiety.
If the other man used that crystal and awakened Mesprit, everything would be over. But right now, every method he had tried was proving ineffective.
He had no choice but to approach personally.
The two stared at each other as Alfred cautiously moved forward.
The intelligence reports had clearly stated that this man possessed exceptional close combat skills and could fight multiple Fighting-type Pokémon head-on. He was not going to die like those idiots in the reports.
With Banette protecting him, there should not be any problems.
After all, Banette was Elite-level. According to the information gathered, aside from Drakloak, the opponent only had an underdeveloped Haunter left. It was even questionable whether it had reached the peak of Gym-level.
Alfred slowly approached as the atmosphere grew heavier while Shiro watched every movement carefully and slowly raised his hands again.
Seeing that, confusion flickered across Alfred's face along with a trace of surprise.
Both of them clearly understood the purpose of closing the distance. It was for close-quarters combat. At that point, everything would depend on hidden cards and personal strength.
Both sides had reservations. Neither intended to surrender easily. Otherwise, they could have simply complied with every demand from the start.
Alfred truly could not understand where this Galarian's confidence came from.
Knowing full well that a life-and-death struggle was about to begin, he still raised his hands, putting himself at a disadvantage.
Was it just to lower his guard?
Three meters remained between them when Alfred suddenly stopped.
After confirming Shiro still made no move, his right hand shot out, only to stop one meter away from the man. Banette's grinning face briefly emerged above it.
After the brief test, Alfred withdrew his arm.
The two remained silent for several seconds.
Whoosh!
A sinister wind swept through the air as Banette's gray-black evil grin rose upward. It lunged toward Shiro's bag while extending both claws at the same time.
A savage grin spread across Alfred's face.
He had never planned to personally reach in and take it. Something that dangerous naturally required a Pokémon after closing the distance enough.
Under these circumstances, any normal person would prioritize defending themselves with their Pokémon. That meant whatever was in the bag would be easy to seize…
Banette pulled open Shiro's bag.
Inside, a familiar little black round face suddenly split into a bright grin.
"Haunteeeer!" (Surprise!)
'Now!'
Shiro roared inwardly.
"Shadow Collapse!"
In a single thought, before Banette could fully react, countless twisted and torn black ghostly shadows slammed directly into its face.
The massive ghost energy combined in an unimaginable way, multiplying the damage several times over. On top of that, Banette's pure Ghost typing was naturally weak against Ghost-type attacks.
Its body shook violently among the phantoms like an actual rag doll. Holes resembling torn fabric rapidly spread across its gray-black body.
After letting out a cry like a wailing infant, it was blasted backward through the air as its body gradually faded away.
The fusion move created from Hex and Night Shade, combined with type advantage, instantly defeated Banette despite them being at the same level.
"Elite-level Haunter... fusion move..."
Alfred's eyes nearly split apart. Before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly floated upward as if struck head-on by a speeding car.
His brain spun violently. Just as he suppressed the urge to vomit and tried opening his eyes, a sharp pain exploded from his left knee.
Crack!
Bone shattered.
Alfred let out a muffled howl and dropped to one knee as the Poké Balls at his waist were instantly snatched away.
In one smooth motion, Shiro recalled the Garchomp that was about to move and locked it inside an Ultra Ball.
Witnessing this from above, Zweilous and Chandelure immediately went berserk and abandoned their battles with Drakloak and Corviknight to dive downward.
After taking a brutal Dragon Tail and Steel Wing respectively, both were recalled by red beams of light.
Shiro calmly slipped the Poké Balls into his pocket.
"Now it's my turn. You don't want Hunter A dying here either, right? Let go of the girl."
Below on the grassy slope, Bella's face darkened. She grabbed the little girl's hand tightly and silently raised the blade.
The knife swept downward as blood dripped onto the grass.
A severed little finger fell into the shallow weeds.
Half-kneeling on the ground, Anna bit her lip tightly. Tears soaked half her face, but she did not scream.
On the grass nearby, Shiro remained expressionless as the short blade hidden in his pocket was pulled out as well.
"Ahhh!!"
Alfred clutched his left wrist, now severed completely at the root, and his scream echoed through the entire forest.
Below them, Bella tightly gripped Anna's hand. Rage filled her eyes as she prepared to raise the blade again.
Shiro coldly repeated, "You don't want Hunter A dying here either, right?"
His knife hovered near Alfred's neck and left shoulder.
"Alfred!"
Bella could not stop herself from shouting. Her expression mixed panic and worry as she looked toward Hunter A.
Confusion rose within Shiro.
This woman's relationship with Hunter A was definitely unusual. Were they actually husband and wife?
"Don't mind me. Kill that... urgh..."
Alfred's expression twisted viciously, but before he could finish speaking, an overwhelming force gripped his throat.
His eyes bulged outward as he felt his neck trapped in an iron grip, frighteningly fragile.
"Let him go!" Bella roared furiously, hatred spreading across her face.
Looking down at her from above, Shiro repeated again, "Let go of the girl."
Silence immediately fell between them.
Another deadlock.
Shiro glanced up at the strange crimson-pink sky.
The battle between the five Unown had already become one-sided.
Unown A had steadily gained the upper hand against the two opposing Unown and was nearing victory.
As long as they stalled for a little more time and waited for Unown A...
While thinking that, Unown A suddenly faltered and was pushed back into a corner by the other two Unown.
"..."
Shiro silently withdrew his gaze.
At a moment like this, Unown A truly was unreliable. Fortunately, he had never placed too much hope in it to begin with.
In truth, he could completely abandon that orphan girl now and kill the woman below as well.
But since he had chosen to save someone, he would see it through to the end…
On the upper and lower slopes, Shiro gripped Hunter A by the back of his collar while Bella dragged Anna by the arm.
The two short blades remained taut as both sides slowly approached each other.
Without speaking, they reached the same understanding and began shortening the distance between them simultaneously.
**
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