Raven looked at those who had rushed out with a sideways glance. No one dared to meet the gaze of this demon. Their hearts were already in their throats, and their bodies trembled even more violently. Some kids had already soaked themselves, yet they did not dare to make a single sound, afraid that Raven would notice them.
"Run… Why aren't you running anymore!? Want to get on the ship!? There will be a chance… when you are sent onto that ship again, that will be the time you are… buried at sea!"
Raven's roar grew increasingly fierce, and no one dared to show the slightest resistance.
At this moment, Raven walked up to a boy, stepped on his face, and shouted, "Do. You. Still. Dare. To. Ruuun!?"
The boy was already trembling all over in fear. How could he dare to respond?
"Speak! Are you mute?" Raven asked again sternly.
"N-no no… I don't dare a-anymore!" A trembling voice came out.
Only then did Raven move his foot away. The boy lay on the ground and did not dare to move.
Just like that, Raven questioned several more people, and the situation was naturally the same as with the first boy.
Now no one dared to run anymore…
Seeing that these kids had been completely intimidated by him, Raven was already at ease. At this moment, he walked into the iron fence. There were still more than twenty people who had stayed behind and had not moved.
"Why didn't you run just now…?" Raven asked while pacing back and forth. At this moment, he stopped in front of Tetsuya.
"You! Tell me, why didn't you run?"
Tetsuya said, "…Why would I do something meaningless like that?"
His indifferent tone made many people break into a cold sweat for him. Takuya beside him could not help but take a step back, afraid of being implicated.
Suddenly, Raven burst into laughter and said, "… …Rahahaha! Good. Did you all hear that!? Running away is meaningless. So from now on, all of you listen to me obediently and behave yourselves. Whoever dares to have any… crooked, thoughts again will only have a dead end."
Everyone nodded submissively, lowering their heads even more.
"Tch. Bring over the backpacks taken from these people," Raven said to his subordinates.
After a while, dozens of backpacks of various colors were piled up in front of everyone. These were the backpacks of the hundred people, confiscated when they were captured.
Tetsuya spotted his own backpack at a glance. Inside not only was there a large amount of Pokéfood and supplementary materials for Golett's food, but most importantly… Ditto was still inside!
"You who did not run can each choose any one of these backpacks. This is your reward!"
Raven said it openly. In fact, most of these people had never traveled before, so they would not have anything of real value. The so-called reward was merely a gimmick.
However, Tetsuya would not let such an opportunity slip by. The more than twenty people here shrank back, not daring to step forward, but Tetsuya was the first to walk up.
With someone taking the lead, the people behind finally dared to step forward one after another.
Arriving in front of the pile of backpacks, Tetsuya pretended to choose for a moment, then casually took his own backpack and returned to his original position.
Many people were checking the contents of their backpacks. In this place, money and valuables were completely useless. Backpacks with food and Potions were the most valuable.
After the more than twenty people finished selecting, Raven gathered everyone together. Now there were ninety-nine people left.
"Did you see the forest behind…?" Raven said, pointing.
When they had just landed on the island, such a vast forest had already appeared before them. There was no need to look again. Everyone nodded.
At this moment, Raven's subordinates were carrying out a large basket of Poké Balls.
"Each person gets five!"
After Raven finished speaking, his subordinates began distributing Poké Balls to everyone.
After receiving the Poké Balls, everyone was very puzzled. What were they supposed to do with Poké Balls?
"Explain to them the purpose of coming here."
Raven beckoned, and a grunt beside him stepped forward.
"All of you listen carefully! This place is the Johto sub-island of the Shadow Team, deep in the vast ocean. Without a giant ship like the one that just left, it is impossible to reach here. Hmph! So get rid of any thoughts of escape.
If you want to survive, you must become one of the strongest ten people. That means that after three years, out of all of you… only ten will survive, hehehe…!"
As the Shadow Team member spoke, he revealed an eerie smile.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at each other. Those who had originally been leaning together unconsciously separated a little. Now no one had true friends, only temporary comrades and permanent enemies.
Tetsuya had already been well aware of these rules. Perhaps it was because his impression of Catherine in his previous life had been too deep…
Next, they should be talking about the elimination rules.
"You've seen the Poké Balls in your hands. Within half a year, you must catch three Pokémon. Five is the upper limit. Those who fail to catch them will become the first batch to be… mmm, eliminated, yes.
There will also be three-on-three battles. Those who perform too poorly will also be 'eliminated'. Of course, the extra Poké Balls can also be used to catch Pokémon. Pokémon that you catch can be exchanged here for food and medicines."
As this grunt was speaking, another one brought over a list and handed it to Raven.
"Those who have Pokémon in our possession, step forward!" Raven said, interrupting the grunt as he held the list.
These captured children were all people who had shown "outstanding" potential in certain cities or towns, so many of them had Pokémon in their possession. Out of the ninety-nine people, nearly sixty to seventy stepped forward.
"There are two lists here. One is a Pokémon exchange list. If you want your original Pokémon, you must exchange them with the corresponding Pokémon on the list. Otherwise, your former partners will be trafficked elsewhere, and you will never see them again in your life… Rahaha~!"
Many people could not help but shed tears upon hearing this. At their age, among those Pokémon there must be their Starter Pokémon, the one with the most special meaning to them. It was inevitable that they would feel heartbroken.
What the Shadow Team exploited was precisely this point. So there was no need for Tetsuya to look. The exchanges on it were all unequal. Perhaps even a Rattata would require something like a Rhyhorn in exchange.
However, Tetsuya was determined to exchange back Piloswine and Golett. Those two Pokémon were both crucial to him. One would be the core Pokémon of his future "Ice-type team", and the other would be an important guarantee for his future escape.
Although he currently had Ditto in his backpack, he could not let it appear in front of others. It would only appear in the form of a wrist guard or a dagger. When near water, he would let it use Transform into Lapras to further coordinate and adapt his body.
Although he had trained Ditto for a long time using Lapras's body under glacier falls and was already very familiar with that body, reinforcement training was still necessary. In short, this would become one of his "hidden trump cards" and another layer of protection for escape.
The only thing that worried Tetsuya the most was Haunter. It had been put under Hypnosis by Yamamoto's Hypno and was still in that forest. Even if he could escape from the clutches of the Shadow Team "five" years later, he did not know whether it would still be there.
'Haunter, was the bond between us really only those short three months…?'
Deep in Tetsuya's heart, there was always a voice telling him: he would meet Haunter again…perhaps very soon!