When the person in front of him began questioning him, David simply smiled and pointed at the First High school badge on his uniform.
"You only know how to shout. Can't you use your eyes?" David said calmly. "Isn't this what you've been looking for? Here I am, practically handing myself over on a silver platter, yet you don't recognize me?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about," the trainer replied.
"You're from First High? What exactly do you want? There's no grudge between us. This is our campsite—if you really want it, we can give it to you. But there's a rampaging Onix heading this way right now, and we don't have time to waste here. Just let us go..."
The trainer leading the group—let's call him the Flaaffy Trainer for now—continued to feign composure even at this point, attempting to use the "Onix" threat to intimidate David.
When David first spoke, a flicker of panic crossed the Flaaffy Trainer's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and put on an expression of genuine confusion.
Ralts, seeing this trainer still lying to them despite the situation, puffed out her cheeks indignantly and wanted to teach him a lesson. However, Riolu stopped her. Ever calm and collected, he hadn't forgotten the rule against Pokémon directly attacking Trainers and quickly stepped forward to restrain Ralts.
Watching the performance unfold before him, David felt like laughing. The trainer thought he was hiding his emotions well, but with David's Aura abilities, every subtle expression had been noticed.
"Oh? Is that so? Then why did I already hear from students on the outskirts that several middle schools have joined forces? It seems the target you want to deal with is us from First High, right?"
The man's expression instantly changed, and all his prepared excuses caught in his throat. He could only curse internally, wondering which loose-lipped person had spread the news so quickly—it had only been one day since they arrived.
David was quite principled. He didn't reveal that he'd learned this information from those two students, fabricating an excuse instead to clear them of suspicion.
Feeling the conversation had lost its entertainment value, David stood up and picked up the score armband lying before him. Tsk, only a little over 70 points total. Still, following the principle that even small gains are worth taking, he transferred 30% of the points to his own watch.
Ding-dong~
With the notification sound, David's points moved one step closer to the 1,000 mark. Then, under the furious gaze of the defeated trainer, he pressed the rescue call button.
"Let's go. It's time to meet up with Zorua. I hope these trainers enjoy the surprise we have waiting for them," David said, walking away without looking back.
Riolu quickly found some rope used for tying packages and securely bound the captured trainers. Following the method David had taught him earlier, he returned all their Pokémon to their Poké Balls and locked them. Ralts then used Psychic to carry everything along as they followed David.
"What's going on? What is this thing? It's taken so many Water Guns and Bubble Beams—why isn't it going down?"
"My Supersonic isn't working either! Nidorino, keep focusing your energy and use Poison Sting! I refuse to believe..."
"No, we can't let it get any closer!"
Outside, not far from the campsite, two trainers frantically ordered their Pokémon to attack the Onix as if they'd been injected with adrenaline.
Krabby and Nidorino's attacks never ceased, raining down on the Onix in a relentless barrage. Strangely, despite their exhaustion, the Onix appeared completely undamaged.
The Onix's behavior was even stranger. It acted like a mere target, maintaining its distance while simply taking hits from afar. The two trainers didn't notice anything amiss and kept ordering their Pokémon to continue attacking.
It was a bizarre situation, yet neither the Pokémon nor their trainers seemed aware of the oddity—they just kept attacking mechanically, making the whole scene increasingly eerie.
However, if one observed carefully, they would notice that apart from the Onix, everyone present—both trainers and Pokémon—had a faint red glow in their eyes.
Soon, when David arrived outside and witnessed this scene, he clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Excellent work, Zorua. That's enough. Release them!"
The instant David spoke, the peculiar Onix that had been absorbing attacks in the distance suddenly vanished. The red glow in the eyes of the two trainers and their Pokémon faded immediately, and they recovered their senses.
"What happened? What is this...?"
"Where's the Onix? I remember we were fighting a huge Onix, right? That Onix was like a ghost, and then... I can't remember anything after that..."
"Who are you? And where's the Onix?"
Suddenly noticing David standing before them, one trainer immediately sensed something was wrong. He quickly retreated behind his Pokémon and demanded answers.
David had no intention of becoming the type of villain who fails because they talk too much, so he didn't bother explaining. He simply pointed behind them and said flatly, "Look. Isn't that the Onix you're looking for?"
When the two trainers turned to look, they were met only with the Payback that Zorua had already prepared. How could their two Pokémon, already severely depleted of stamina, possibly withstand Zorua's attack now?
Amid the chilling energy of resentment, a wave of purple flames completely engulfed both Pokémon. The two trainers were then controlled by the arriving Ralts.
They, too, became recipients of Riolu's "rope art," just like their companions earlier.
The three trainers who had been bound first saw two familiar figures join them and hung their heads in complete dejection. Their entire campsite, aside from two people who hadn't returned yet, had been completely wiped out by a single opponent.
At this point, everyone at the campsite had been defeated, and this prime location had officially been handed over to David and his team.
After dealing with the last two trainers, the long-awaited system notification finally sounded in David's mind. However, he clearly had no time to check it now.
David seemed to sense something. He turned around and caught the little fox that had rushed over, gently stroking its head while praising it amid its proud cooing.
"Excellent work, Zorua. You were our biggest contributor this time!"