With something weighing on his mind, Tetsuya inevitably could not sleep soundly and vaguely heard waves of moaning.
'Wait… moaning?'
Tetsuya climbed out of his sleeping bag and listened carefully. Once he confirmed he had heard correctly, he knew there had to be something suspicious going on, so he entered the tent.
Ezaki was fast asleep, snoring away and even letting out bursts of foolish laughter.
Tetsuya kicked him twice, "Ezaki-san, wake up."
He was trained, after all, so at least he did not sleep like a dead Snorlax… Ezaki rubbed his drowsy eyes and asked, "Haaah… what's wrong?"
"Listen." Tetsuya shushed him.
Ezaki also pricked up his ears, and his face instantly turned bright red. "Th-This…"
"Let's go. There's definitely something suspicious." Tetsuya then sent out Houndoom and followed the sound. Ezaki followed closely behind Tetsuya and said, "Isn't this a little, eh… inappropriate? Won't we be disturbing them?"
Tetsuya glared at Ezaki, truly not knowing what to say about him. A few moans were enough to leave him completely flustered. He was undoubtedly a virgin…
---◓---
Following Houndoom, the sounds grew closer and louder. Tetsuya could not help quickening his pace, while Ezaki remained embarrassed and refused to move closer.
"Do you want to find your companions or not? If you're this afraid of trouble… Hn, what kind of Ranger are you?" Tetsuya said coldly.
'…' "Th-This… Isn't this a little too intrusive, Tetsuya?" As Ezaki finished speaking, a cave flickering with light could already be faintly seen.
Tetsuya quickened his pace again. The moans grew increasingly urgent until, after one long sigh, all sound finally ceased.
"Huh~♥"
'It should be over…'
Just as they were about to approach the cave, several withered vines suddenly emerged from the ground, thrashing wildly as they lashed toward Tetsuya and Ezaki!
"What is this!?" Ezaki exclaimed in surprise.
"Tch, Frenzy Plant. Hurry up and fight back!" Tetsuya could now confirm that Aoi Maiko was inside.
This ultimate Grass-type move was not something an average Pokémon could use. He immediately threw out the Poké Balls of Drapion and the four-headed Weezing, while Houndoom was already beside him.
Drapion attacked first, extending its pincers and directly clamping onto two withered vines. However, the vines suddenly swung around and carried Drapion into the air. Drapion showed no fear and unleashed Pin Missile, intercepting the vines that continued closing in.
Houndoom directly used Flamethrower. The scorching flames broke through the darkness of the night, and fire like this was especially effective against the withered vines.
The vines that were struck instantly caught fire; the ashes looked like fireflies.
Seeing how effective Houndoom's move was, Weezing followed up with Fire Blast.
Fire Blast blasted straight through the middle of the withered vines, but without a continuous stream of flames, they did not catch fire. Compared to Flamethrower, its effect was still somewhat lacking.
"Go, Ninetales!"
Ezaki also sent out his Fire-type Pokémon. Ninetales opened its mouth and unleashed Flamethrower.
By the light of the flames, they could already see the Pokémon using Frenzy Plant, a Meganium!
Four Pokémon dealt with Frenzy Plant's assault, but Meganium had no spare energy to deal with anything else, because using Frenzy Plant alone consumed a huge amount of its energy. And this was precisely the moment for Weezing to make its "move".
Poison Gas had already begun gathering in front of headed Weezing. It quickly grew in scale, and Icy Wind enfolded the gas as it swept toward Meganium…
Meganium could only watch helplessly as the source of danger gradually approached. While using Frenzy Plant, it simply had no spare energy to do anything else, including dodge.
Poison Gas enveloped Meganium, but it was, after all, an Elite Four level Pokémon and could still barely endure.
However, this was only the beginning…
At that very instant, Houndoom's Flamethrower and Weezing's Fire Blast both blasted into the Poison Gas!
…Boom!
Boooom!
Two explosions rang out in succession as pillars of fire erupted from the ground and shot straight into the sky. Smoke shrouded a large area, forcing both Tetsuya and Ezaki to retreat.
Although "Poison Gas" was no longer "poisonous" after being burned, there would inevitably be some incomplete combustion, so it was safer to keep their distance.
Ezaki smacked his lips. "Th-This… I never expected you to be this strong. You look even younger than me, yet you're already this powerful… That's incredible!"
"It's all right."
In any case, there was no way Meganium would be able to stand again after taking that kind of damage.
Ezaki then sent out Pidgeot and had it use Gust to disperse the smoke, but Meganium was nowhere to be seen!
"That's not right… Where did that Meganium from earlier go!? How did it disappear? Don't tell me it was blown to pieces!" Ezaki asked.
"Absolutely impossible! Pokémon owns special defensive capabilities and won't die that easily. Besides, we haven't found its body anywhere at the scene."
Tetsuya said. Ezaki understood this reasoning perfectly well too, but he had been so amazed by the "move" Weezing had just unleashed that his mind had momentarily stopped working.
---◓---
There was still light inside the cave, but there was no longer any sound. Tetsuya looked around but could not find anywhere they could have escaped, leaving him extremely puzzled.
"Should we rush inside? I know the terrain here too well. It's a complete dead end, and the enemy didn't break through from the front, so they must still be inside the cave," Ezaki said.
"Houndoom, scout out the situation." As soon as Tetsuya finished speaking, Houndoom darted toward the cave entrance. It encountered no traps blocking its path. Houndoom then barked repeatedly, calling out to Tetsuya.
There had to be something unusual!
Tetsuya and Ezaki walked toward the cave. When they reached the entrance, the sight before them was indeed difficult to look at…
Two men lay flat on either side, completely naked. Ezaki hurried over, calling out both of their names, but no matter how much he shouted, they could no longer be awakened.
"They're dead," Tetsuya said.
Ezaki shook his head, unable to believe it. "Impossible… There aren't any wounds on their bodies. How could they be dead!?"
"They died after being completely drained. It should be the work of that man-eater, Aoi Maiko," Tetsuya said.
"Who's that?"
"A former Elite Four of Johto. She's naturally seductive and takes pleasure in men. She was later expelled by the Johto League, and I heard she joined Team Rocket. I didn't expect her to commit another crime here," Tetsuya said.
"…I'll definitely bring her to justice." Ezaki clenched his fists.
"Just execute her on the spot. Look." With that, Tetsuya pointed toward a passage inside the cave.
"She must have noticed the commotion we caused earlier and escaped… Let's hurry after her!" Ezaki then sent out an Arcanine to scout ahead, took out a flashlight, and advanced through the cave.
Tetsuya and Ezaki continued through the cave. The farther they went, the narrower it became. As they ventured deeper, they discovered that the rock walls were all freshly cut and smooth.
"The original cave must have ended here. The rock walls ahead are fresh, so this passage was definitely excavated recently. She really went to great lengths just to hide here," Tetsuya said.
"Let's follow the cave and see exactly where this passage leads!" Ezaki moved to the front. After all, he was a Ranger squad captain, right?