Boom! Boom! Boom!
Trees snapped and crashed down one after another. Bird Pokémon frantically flapped their wings and fled while the forest descended into chaos.
Shiro moved with agility. He sidestepped a falling giant tree, then quickly leaped upward, using a boulder as a foothold before landing ahead and continuing his advance around the mountainside.
The forest echoed with the cries of startled Pokémon. Groups of weaker Pokémon occasionally rushed past in panic.
A pair of glowing eyes quietly followed Shiro's movements and rapidly caught up.
He soon noticed the follower and abruptly stopped beside an old tree.
The glowing figure behind him also came to a halt, revealing Bibarel's somewhat dull-looking eyes and its fluffy black tail.
"Bibarel?"
Recognizing it as the Bibarel he had met by the lake earlier, Shiro waved and shouted, "Get out of here!"
As he finished speaking, he jumped forward. Using a massive rock as a foothold, he sprang onto the branch of another giant tree and barely stabilized himself.
Boom!
The old tree he had been standing beside exploded into splinters under a blast of dark purple sludge. Poison dripped from the remains of the trunk with a hissing sound.
Bibarel froze for a moment before quickly running away.
"Weezing, Sludge Bomb!"
Squatting on top of Weezing's head, Alfred barked the command.
Weezing spat out another enormous mass of dark purple sludge. It plunged into the forest and exploded into countless fragments filled with highly toxic poison.
The trees were not only flattened by the impact, but their trunks were also rapidly corroded by the poison.
"What a disgusting little rat..." Alfred snorted angrily.
His own mobility was limited. He also had no other Pokémon capable of carrying him through the air, so he could only ride Weezing.
Unfortunately, Weezing was neither particularly fast nor easy to ride, making the pursuit painfully slow.
The dense forest blocked his vision at every turn and constantly irritated him.
He knew exactly that Shiro was stalling for time.
As long as he waited until the drug's effects on Bella wore off, that old man would win his battle and come over to help.
A deep frown formed on Alfred's face. While directing Weezing to continuously spray poison, he searched for a solution.
"Toooorteraaa!"
Two green vines suddenly shot up from the ground. Just as they were about to wrap around Weezing, they were burned by poison and quickly retracted.
Among the ruined trees, a Torterra raised its massive foot with anger written across its face. Countless emerald leaves swirled around its body before gathering into a twisting Leaf Storm that surged toward the sky.
"Weez!"
Weezing spat out a lump of sludge and crushed the Leaf Storm.
"Torterra..." Alfred calmly looked down at the Pokémon below before shouting, "Ignore it. Keep chasing!"
Crackle!
The moment Weezing received the order, black lightning suddenly spread across its body as it cried out in pain and shut its eyes.
Two seconds later, it recovered and mechanically continued flying in the designated direction.
"Weeez!"
Another Sludge Bomb flew out. This time, however, it was shattered in midair by an extremely powerful stream of water.
A furious roar suddenly erupted from Lake Verity as a massive Gyarados rose from the water. Another torrent of water quickly gathered inside its mouth.
"Hydro Pump..." Alfred's expression immediately turned cold. "Wild Pokémon?"
Whoosh!
Weezing abruptly climbed higher into the air, narrowly avoiding the incoming Hydro Pump.
"Perfect!" Alfred's thoughts suddenly became clear. "Let's see whether the League Champion really cares about you wild Pokémon."
He already had an escape plan prepared, so he had no concern about wasting time here. At worst, he could simply abandon Weezing and flee on his own.
"Weezing, Gunk Shot! Send these disgusting wild Pokémon to meet the great deity of Sinnoh!"
"Weeeezing!"
Streams of dark purple poison shot out in all directions. Mixed within them were chunks of unidentifiable garbage.
Realizing the danger, Gyarados immediately roared to summon its companions while firing another Hydro Pump.
In an instant, five more Gyarados emerged from Lake Verity. Countless Water-type Pokémon above Advanced-level surfaced as well and unleashed streams of water together.
The torrents resembled a giant waterfall, intercepting every drop of poison before it could reach the lake.
Angry roars echoed across the water without end.
"Annoying pests..." Alfred's face darkened, but he chose not to provoke the lake's Pokémon any further and instead directed Weezing toward the ground.
In the forest, the slow-moving Torterra had already been struck by quite a bit of poison. The tree growing on its back had nearly been corroded away, and it now lay weakly on the ground.
The surrounding area had become a bubbling swamp of poison.
"You're watching somewhere nearby, aren't you... Shiro?"
Alfred pulled out a deep yellow Psychic Crystal from his bag. After a moment, its faint glow suddenly burst into dazzling light.
His gaze followed the areas illuminated by the psychic radiance.
* * *
At the top of an old tree, Shiro stood on a branch, leaning against the trunk while gripping a Poké Ball tightly.
He remembered this Torterra. He had seen it that very morning. It was one of the wild Pokémon summoned by Mesprit.
"Hunter A..."
Shiro quickly dropped to the ground and released Haunter.
Haunter was only Elite-level now, at Level 55.
Ghost-type Pokémon resisted Poison-type attacks. Against a controlled Weezing burdened with negative effects, it might be able to interfere with its actions. Even if it was hit, it would not instantly lose the ability to fight.
His goal was simple: buy time.
"Haunter, be careful. Just stay at a distance and harass it with ranged attacks."
"Haun! Haun!"
Haunter grinned widely, fully understanding the assignment.
Its body flashed and vanished.
* * *
"So you're only sending a Pokémon to interfere… how cautious."
A faint yellow glow covered Alfred's eyes while the yellow crystal floated before him.
"Then we'll take this slowly. Weezing, Sludge!"
Compared to Sludge Bomb and Gunk Shot, Sludge was much less destructive. It would not instantly kill the Pokémon on the ground.
Weezing opened its mouth as black smoke slowly drifted from the vents on its body. Then a smaller mass of black sludge dropped toward Torterra.
Buzz!
A fast-moving Shadow Ball shot through the air and struck the sludge with perfect accuracy.
"Haunteeeer~"
Several dozen meters away, Haunter stuck out its tongue and waved it around.
"Heh..." Alfred glanced at it and waved his hand. "Dark Pulse!"
Poison-type attacks were not very effective against Ghost-types, but Dark-type moves were a different story. They directly countered Ghost-types.
This Champion-level Weezing possessed an extremely wide move pool.
"Weeeez!"
Weezing unleashed a thick wave of dark energy.
Refusing to back down, Haunter clasped its hands together and released its strongest combination attack, Hex plus Night Shade!
In midair, Dark Pulse collided with layers of ghostly shadows.
But the dark energy quickly tore through one phantom after another and continued charging toward Haunter.
It couldn't win!
Haunter shuddered. Relying on pure battle instinct, it immediately used Phantom Force. It vanished from sight, avoiding the attack while slipping away into the distance.
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