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From the sickly man, Sato learned that the one who had hired them to target him was named Kees. This man was a quasi-cadre tier member of Team Magma, holding a fairly high position in their Mauville City branch—already part of the management tier.
Team Magma had considerable influence in Mauville City. The city's gray zones had essentially been consolidated under their control. Because of this, people like the sickly man—who made a living in those shadows—naturally didn't dare offend someone like Kees.
In fact, the sickly man had once been fortunate enough to curry favor with Kees. After successfully handling a few small tasks for him, he began using Kees's name as backing, gathering a group of thugs in the gray zone. Only then did his life gradually improve.
Though timid, the sickly man was cunning and sly. With the help of his Barboach, he had sharp judgment and never provoked trouble he couldn't handle.
On top of that, he served Kees diligently and even offered generous "tributes" every month.
As a result, Kees trusted and valued him greatly, allowing him to use his name to throw his weight around in the underworld. Whenever there was work to be done, he would often assign it to him.
This time was no different.
Unfortunately, Kees had severely underestimated Sato's strength.
In truth, this wasn't entirely Kees's fault—Sato had simply acted too well. Throughout their transaction, Sato had remained polite and unassuming, causing someone like Kees, who lived in the shadows, to look down on him.
In the end, Sato did not take the sickly man's life. He merely knocked him into a deep coma and took all his money before continuing to hunt down the others who had fled.
Aside from the burly thug, the rest of the sickly man's subordinates were nothing special. Using his psychic markers, Sato easily tracked them down, defeating them one by one and extracting information about Kees.
The results confirmed Sato's concerns.
Besides the sickly man, the burly thug and two other henchmen were also capable of contacting Kees.
Fortunately, they all feared punishment for failing the mission. Since they had fled without fighting, they were too guilty and preoccupied with escaping to report the situation to Kees.
This allowed Sato to proceed with his plan—to lure Kees into a trap.
Close to 10 p.m., in an abandoned building in the western outskirts of Mauville City, Sato was currently disguised as the sickly man with Ditto's help.
Earlier, Sato had already used the sickly man's communicator to send Kees a message claiming success. Soon after, Kees replied, asking to meet at their usual location.
"Why is he taking so long? It's already been over ten minutes past the agreed time…"
Sato had been waiting at the meeting spot inside the building for quite some time, yet Kees still hadn't appeared. A trace of suspicion arose in his mind.
From what he had learned, Kees was extremely punctual—someone who would rather arrive early than be late. Yet now he was nowhere to be seen. Something was clearly wrong.
Just as Sato sensed something amiss and prepared to leave, a stranger suddenly entered the building and headed straight toward him.
"Useless trash. Where's the item? Hand it over."
The newcomer's attitude was extremely arrogant—clearly someone used to throwing his weight around. He looked at Sato (disguised as the sickly man) with open disdain and immediately demanded the Toxic Essence.
"Who are you? What are you talking about?"
Although Sato had never seen Kees in person, he knew from descriptions that Kees was a scar-faced middle-aged man—not this young stranger. So he decisively played dumb.
"Cut the crap. You're one of Kees's lackeys, right? He won't be coming tonight. Just hand the item over to me."
The young man's expression turned impatient, his eyes growing vicious as he spoke.
Without another word, he pressed a PokeBall and released a level 48 Camerupt, clearly ready to attack if Sato refused.
Naturally, Sato wasn't going to trust a stranger's words. Even if the man was telling the truth, there was no way he would hand over the Toxic Essence.
Still, it seemed likely that something had happened to Kees. After all, a treasure like Toxic Essence would tempt anyone. Once exposed, it would bring massive trouble—even within Team Magma, where loyalty was far from absolute.
This young man was likely another member of Team Magma. Kees's absence probably meant he had either been eliminated or was being held back by others.
However, from the sickly man's description, Kees was extremely powerful—not yet Elite-Four level, but still a renowned Trainer in Mauville's underworld, even nicknamed "the Poison Man."
Thus, Sato guessed Kees was probably being delayed rather than killed.
"Lord Kees didn't inform me to hand it over to anyone else. Please leave. I will only give this item to him."
Thinking quickly, Sato feigned nervousness, stalling for time while maintaining his disguise.
"I didn't want to waste time, but since you're asking to die, don't blame me. Go meet Kees in the afterlife."
The young man's expression turned cold as he spoke words that made Sato's face change instantly.
At that moment, Camerupt opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of flames—Flamethrower—straight at Sato.
"Staryu, use Bubble Beam!"
Still unwilling to reveal his identity, Sato rolled to the side to dodge the flames while throwing a PokeBall, releasing Staryu.
The moment it appeared, Staryu fired a stream of bubbles from its core, shooting toward Camerupt at high speed.
"No wonder that old fool Kees valued you. Not just loyal—you've got some skill too. But you're still going to die here tonight. Blame yourself for choosing the wrong master. Camerupt, heat up and crush them with Flamethrower!"
The young man sneered, though his tone now carried a hint of recognition before turning cruel again.
Camerupt snorted, releasing two streams of white vapor from its nostrils. The volcano on its back began erupting violently, molten lava bubbling over.
Then it unleashed an even larger column of fire—far stronger than before.
In an instant, Staryu's Bubble Beam was completely overwhelmed. The raging flames continued surging toward Sato and Staryu.
Seeing this, Staryu expelled large amounts of water from its core and limbs, spinning rapidly to form a high-speed water wheel that shielded Sato.
But Camerupt seemed to have triggered some latent power—its flames grew stronger and stronger. Soon, Staryu's defense began to falter.
Just as Sato was about to reveal his true strength—
Another presence entered his psychic detection range.
"Tentacruel, use Hydro Pump!"
This newcomer was clearly an ally of the sickly man. Seeing the situation, he immediately sent out a Tentacruel and launched a powerful counterattack at Camerupt.