The leader shot a contemptuous look at his ownlittle bro. "Make a move? Of course we're making a move, you cheap bastard! Couldn't spring for a proper military coat instead of that sackcloth garbage?"
Thelittle bro's face went dark. "Boss, that's not what I meant—I was saying those two guys took their two strongest Charizard off to take a leak. We can rush their camp, clean out everyone there, and turn around and threaten those two."
The boss stroked his chin, staring at the small grove. "Hm. Not a bad plan. Greenhorns never abandon their teammates."
He turned to hislittle bro. "But what if it's a trap?"
Thelittle bro froze. "A trap? No way."
"Right, Boss, what a perfect opportunity!"
Anotherlittle bro was also itching to move. They'd been crouching here so long, they were about to freeze into ice blocks themselves.
Actually, last night they'd almost made their move—except Gengar had been on night watch at the time.
Gengar had gotten restless, so it had wandered out past where the Golden Spray's effect ended and wiped out some Oddish for fun.
And that right there was what the would-be ambushers had witnessed.
Since they weren't confident they could take Gengar out silently without raising an alarm, they had scrapped last night's ambush plan.
No good sleep last night, plus a whole day stuck in Ice Land with no proper cold-weather gear—thelittle bro were barely holding on.
The boss shot a glare at thatlittle bro. "Men who do great things must endure! We wait!"
He turned back to watching the grove, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Auron Vale was crouching in the small grove, using his Aura to sense the group's movements.
"Still not moving?"
"No. They seem to be hesitating about something."
"Then? Activate Plan B?"
"Mm."
Auron Vale agreed to start Plan B and gestured to Crobat.
Crobat understood immediately and flew off, returning shortly with a massive swarm of Ice-type Pokémon.
The small grove instantly became a battlefield.
The two Charizard hovered overhead, continuously firing off Flamethrower and Heat Wave.
Crobat assisted from the side—Heat Wave for area denial, Air Slash for precision strikes.
Su Tingxi and Fugui in camp reacted quickly. They exchanged a look with You Yu You, who immediately stood up and released Duskull and Gengar, calling out loudly:
"I'm going to back them up."
Su Tingxi snickered and nodded. "Go!"
What the people watching from outside saw was You Yu You charging into the small grove with Duskull and Gengar.
"Boss—this is our chance!"
The boss gave a small nod. "Yeah. Hang on—get ready, then we charge!"
"Yeah!"
Thelittle bro were pumped too, starting to put on their ice-skate shoes, ready to move at any moment.
Auron Vale's Plan A had been: the two of them leave, taking the two Charizard and Crobat with them.
If the enemy attacked directly, Auron Vale and Jace Rowan would rush back and encircle them.
If they didn't attack—then Plan B.
Lure some Pokémon over to create the illusion of a full-scale battle.
Then have You Yu You bring Duskull and Gengar over to "help."
Because last night, the ones on watch had been Duskull, Gengar, and Crobat.
And they hadn't attacked last night when conditions were perfect—so they must have seen or learned about the strength of one, two, or all three of those Pokémon, and lacked confidence.
Now, Auron Vale was drawing out all three of those Pokémon—the ones they had no confidence in—giving them their chance.
In the small grove, the battle still raged. After Duskull and Gengar joined, the pressure eased slightly.
But the Pokémon were still holding back, afraid they'd accidentally wipe out all the lured enemies at once.
"Boss, let's move now—if they finish over there, we lose our shot again!"
"Yeah, Boss! Give the order! The brothers are ready!"
The boss, despite still having his doubts, saw such a golden opportunity in front of him, stirred up by hislittle bro—finally made his decision.
"Charge!"
He stood up, waved his hand, and slid toward the low spot where Su Tingxi's group was.
"CHARGE!"
"CHARGE!"
"CHARGE!"
Thelittle bro were pumped. A full day and night's worth of stalking—and finally, the moment had come!
Two hundred meters. One hundred meters. Fifty meters. Ten meters.
Once they closed the distance, the boss andlittle bro all released their Pokémon at once.
But Auron Vale's reserved Poké Balls quietly opened.
Snorlax, Crawdaunt, Milotic, Dragonair, Cloyster, Mismagius, and Arcanine all appeared.
Snorlax's massive frame appeared—and with one punch each, knocked out both the startledlittle bro and his M Muk.
One man, one Pokémon, both out cold.
Crawdaunt, Milotic, Dragonair, and Cloyster's Ice Beam fired simultaneously, striking each enemy's Pokémon from behind.
"Ambush! Pull back!"
The boss had no idea what went wrong—but with this scene, there was only one explanation.
"Can' run~ Charizard, Flamethrower!"
Right then, Auron Vale and Jace Rowan rode their Charizard back from the sky, and loosed a Flamethrower across the entire group.
Auron Vale and Jace Rowan had come back to encircle them. You Yu You led Gengar and the scattered Duskull, banette—to make sure none of the enemy escaped.
"I'll fight you!"
Onedio's trainer screamed, about to order his Onix to use Explosion—but Mismagius appeared out of nowhere and hit him with Hypnosis.
Then, worried the hit might not stick and he'd still try Explosion, Mismagius followed up with Dream Eater on both the trainer and Onix.
Thelittle bro was completely out cold. Onix, though, managed to hold on.
Mismagius glanced at Onix weirdly, then turned and drifted away after hitting it with a Dark Pulse.
Behind it, Onix predictably spun in a circle and flopped over with spiral eyes.
"Damn it! Onix, Hyper Beam!"
The boss clenched his teeth. So that was it—these little bastards had set a trap!
Facing Onix's Hyper Beam, the two Charizard weren't afraid at all. The speed and power—both were a far cry from the big sis's Hyper Beam, obviously.
The two Charizard twisted mid-air and dodged the sweeping Hyper Beam with ease.
"Charizard, Dragon Breath!"
Auron Vale and Jace Rowan commanded in unison.
Two emerald-green pillars of light shot toward the Onix on the ground below.
———
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