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"Such an infuriating bunch of villagers. You brought this on yourselves—don't blame me for being ruthless."
"Pikachu, Hidden Power! Kecleon, Flamethrower!"
"Come out, Tentacruel, Staryu. Use Reflect Type on Roselia, then block the enemy's attacks."
When the villagers truly chose to make a move, Sato's expression turned ice-cold. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out his PokéBalls and commanded his Pokémon to counterattack.
In the next second, Pikachu leapt up from Sato's shoulder. Large numbers of icy blue orbs composed of Ice-type energy gathered around its body, then—at Pikachu's command—shot forward like a raging storm toward the enemies ahead.
At the same time, Kecleon's body instantly turned crimson. A long stream of fire burst from its mouth, and under Sato's precise guidance, it rapidly swung its head from side to side, turning the flames into a fiery whip and greatly expanding the attack range of Flamethrower.
As soon as Tentacruel and Staryu appeared, they immediately used Reflect Type on a nearby Roselia, instantly changing their own attributes to Grass + Poison. One in front and one behind, they positioned themselves before Sato, blocking the incoming attacks.
Most of the Pokémon owned by the Flower Village villagers were Grass-type Pokémon. While they had an overwhelming type advantage against Tyler's Water-type Pokémon, they were just like their owners—greenhouse flowers. Their levels and combat power were abysmally low.
With just a single sweeping attack from Pikachu's Hidden Power · Ice, a large group of Grass-type Pokémon fell like harvested wheat. As for Kecleon's same-type Flamethrower, it likewise knocked out another large batch of Grass-type Pokémon.
However, the villagers held an absolute advantage in numbers. Though their Pokémon were weak, sheer quantity could still pose a threat—after all, ants could sometimes bring down an elephant.
Despite being struck head-on by Sato's counterattack, they relied on their numerical superiority and continued to command their Pokémon to assault him without fear.
Unfortunately for them, these villagers were not professional Trainers. They had no idea that Tentacruel and Staryu had already transformed their attributes through Reflect Type into the Poison–Grass dual type that most strongly countered Grass-type Pokémon.
Moreover, both Tentacruel and Staryu possessed recovery moves as well as defensive enhancement moves. At this moment, they had become two extremely solid bulwarks in front of Sato, blocking most of the enemy's offensive firepower.
Meanwhile, under their protection, Pikachu and Kecleon were free to unleash their attacks to their hearts' content. Before long, a large pile of enemy Grass-type Pokémon had fallen at their feet.
Even a pack of hyenas finds it hard to defeat a healthy male lion—and a large part of that is because the lion understands the tactic of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys.
Sato was doing exactly that right now. As for the few villagers who had been the most aggressive earlier, he deliberately used the most direct means to show them the cruelty of reality.
Under Sato's explicit commands, Pikachu and Kecleon immediately focused their attacks on those villagers, severely injuring both them and their Pokémon.
With these most unruly villagers serving as examples, the courage in the hearts of the remaining villagers evaporated instantly. As more and more Pokémon collapsed, the confidence they had built from sheer numbers began to crumble.
"H–How could this happen? How can this guy be so strong?"
"Ah! My Roselia—run, Bellsprout!"
"Stop! Please stop hitting us! Come back, Vileplume!"
Before long, when one villager chose to flee out of fear that his beloved Pokémon would be gravely injured, the others—already terrified—quickly followed suit.
In no time at all, the villagers who had moments ago been brimming with aggression vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a few injured people lying on the ground, unable to escape.
"Hmph. A bunch of rabble—and you thought you could make me surrender?"
Watching the villagers flee in panic, Sato sneered in disdain.
In truth, he had known from the very start that he wouldn't lose. Their strength was simply too weak—this was nothing more than a group delivery of experience points for his Pokémon.
After this overwhelmingly one-sided battle, Pikachu and Kecleon both leveled up, reaching Level 44 and Level 47, respectively.
Meanwhile, under the shade of a large tree a dozen meters away, Takeda Jiro and the old woman were watching the entire fight with great interest.
"See? I told you this young man wasn't simple. He didn't need our help at all—you were worrying for nothing."
The old woman spat out a plum pit from her mouth and spoke smugly to Takeda Jiro beside her, popping another preserved plum into her mouth as she finished.
"I wasn't worried about that kid at all. I was worried about the neighbors. Look at how badly they're hurt—if you'd let me step in, this wouldn't have happened."
Takeda Jiro rolled his eyes at his wife, then spoke with a worried expression.
"They brought it on themselves. Who told them to provoke a powerful Trainer? The young man spared their lives—that already counts as good fortune. If this were thirty or forty years ago, they'd all be dead."
"I didn't let you intervene so they'd learn a lesson. Honestly, what's there to worry about? Shaymin got frightened last time and already ran off."
"And those Pokémon hunters aren't idiots. They've alerted the League—how could they come back again so soon? The younger generation in this village really is getting worse with each passing generation."
As she spoke, the old woman spat out another plum pit, her face full of contempt.
"Sigh… you're right. These old bones of mine are better off staying out of it. It's the young people's world now."
Takeda Jirō could only sigh helplessly and speak in resignation.
After teaching the rude villagers a lesson, Sato didn't pursue the matter further. He even tossed the cheapest healing spray to each of the villagers who had caused the most trouble, then led his Pokémon toward the village entrance.
This time, no one dared to stop him from leaving. Many villagers hid inside their houses, trembling in fear, terrified that Sato might suddenly come knocking to settle scores.
Within minutes, Sato arrived smoothly at the village gate. He glanced at the flower fields before him and breathed in the fragrance drifting from them, his mood lifting considerably.
However, just as he was about to step forward and resume his journey, a small figure suddenly flashed through the flower fields ahead—then was carried away by the wind to some unknown place.