Although they intended to enter, their current state was not suitable. So, Icarus first took a bottle of water from his backpack and splashed it over them.
Splash!
"Ah! Brother Icarus, what are you doing?!"
"Brother Icarus?"
"Master?"
Drenched with water, they all looked bewildered, unable to understand why he had suddenly done that.
"Alright, think carefully about how you were acting just now. Didn't it feel like you were being bewitched, completely focused on rushing forward? This isn't normal. It's probably Team Rocket's doing."
Seeing their shocked expressions, he immediately explained.
"It does seem like it. I just wanted to charge straight up the main mountain."
"Yeah. I felt like if I hesitated for even a second, everything would be taken by someone else."
"That's terrifying. Should we retreat, Brother Icarus?"
After being reminded, they quickly regained their senses.
Having followed Icarus for several years, their habits had gradually become similar to his. They were all cautious people. Even if greed tempted them, they normally wouldn't recklessly throw themselves into danger without thinking.
Especially Luna. She disliked fighting and hated dangerous situations. The fact that she had been affected so easily showed that something was definitely wrong.
"No, we're still going in. The way you were acting before was dangerous, but now that you're aware of it, you should be fine. Just remember this: no amount of money or resources is more valuable than your life."
As he looked toward Mt. Moon's main mountain range, a trace of excitement flashed through his eyes.
In truth, he had just received a telepathic message from Sabrina, informing them that it was time to move. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to go.
Besides, this really was a rare opportunity.
"Understood!"
"We'll remember!"
Airi and Stone both nodded seriously.
"Um… Master… can I stay here? I'm afraid I'll only slow you down…"
Now that she had recovered her senses, Luna clearly had no desire to join the chaos. She lowered her head and asked timidly.
"That's fine.
Luna, stay here and wait for us. It's still morning. If we haven't returned by midnight, head back on your own. Here, take these disposable defensive talismans. Stay alert and protect yourself."
Seeing her frightened expression, Icarus didn't force her.
He gave her several instructions and handed over a few defensive talismans.
With those talismans and her Ordinary-level Miltank, protecting herself shouldn't be difficult.
Besides, Icarus estimated Team Rocket would retreat within half a day. After all, once something this big happened, the Brock Family would undoubtedly call for reinforcements.
"Okay. Thank you, Master~"
Taking the talismans, Luna thanked him gratefully.
"Alright. Let's move!"
With everything settled, Icarus led the other two toward Mt. Moon's main mountain range.
Boom!
Whoosh!
"Sandslash, Slash!"
"Hahaha! It's all mine! Mine!"
They entered the main mountain range without encountering any obstacles.
The entire area had already descended into complete chaos.
Ordinary-level Trainers, their eyes bloodshot, were frantically looting anything they could find. Many were openly fighting one another.
Seeing this scene, Icarus had already recalled his Wartortle.
Airi and Stone had also recalled their newly advanced Ordinary-level Marshtomp and Kangaskhan.
Honestly, anything weaker than an Ordinary mid-level Pokémon was at extreme risk here. Explosions and aftershocks filled the mountain paths.
What Icarus and the others saw most often were corpses of low-level Ordinary Pokémon and Newbie-level Pokémon.
They didn't waste them.
Dead or alive, they delivered a finishing blow and stuffed the bodies into their large spatial backpacks.
There was no time to butcher materials on-site. That would only waste time and leave them with little more than Pokémon meat to sell later.
Still, free loot was free loot.
Stone, in particular, was having the time of his life collecting bodies.
Fortunately, they had brought large spatial backpacks for mining and several medium and small ones as well.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to gather loot so efficiently.
Of course, in this kind of battlefield, if you killed another Trainer, you could simply take their supplies too.
Not that Icarus intended to go around hunting people.
"None of this is the real prize. The biggest opportunity is inside the Lunatone Cave. Even if we don't obtain fragments of the giant Lunatone, catching a few ordinary Lunatone would be worth far more than killing each other here."
To prevent the others from becoming distracted by minor gains, he explained his reasoning while steadily advancing toward the cave.
"Makes sense."
"We'll follow your lead, Brother Icarus."
The two nodded.
They had already noticed that Icarus was leading them straight toward the Lunatone Cave.
The closer they got, the more Trainers and fallen Pokémon they encountered.
Clearly, many people shared the same idea.
Unfortunately, even if Icarus didn't want trouble, trouble often came looking for him.
As he bent down to collect a dead Venonat, a stone suddenly shot toward him.
Whoosh!
Smack!
The Weepinbell following closely behind immediately shattered it with a vine whip.
But that was only the beginning.
A barrage of rocks flew toward them from all directions.
They had been ambushed.
"Graveler, Rock Shield!
Raticate and Rattata, Magnitude! Force them out!"
Reacting instantly, Stone had Graveler protect the group while launching a counterattack.
"Pidgeotto, Gust!
Weepinbell, Bullet Seed!
Houndoom, Ember!"
"Poliwag, Icy Wind to support Pidgeotto!
Staryu, Water Gun!"
Airi and Icarus followed immediately.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whoosh!
Flames, rocks, ice, and water filled the battlefield.
Soon, cries of pain echoed from hidden positions.
Against their coordinated attacks and favorable type matchups, the miners' hastily assembled team quickly collapsed.
"Run!"
"Retreat!"
Seeing their side reduced to three Graveler and one Sandslash, the attackers scattered in panic.
"Trying to run?"
A cold smile appeared on Icarus' face.
"Chase them down."
He hadn't planned on causing trouble.
But if someone attacked him first, that was a different matter.
"You bastards forced my hand!
Graveler, Self-Destruct!"
One fleeing miner gritted his teeth and gave the order.
"Heh-cha…"
The Graveler looked at its Trainer one last time before charging toward Weepinbell and the others.
"I'm sorry, Graveler…
But with these supplies, I can start over!"
The middle-aged miner clutched his spatial backpack and fled desperately.
His heart ached.
But the contents of the backpack were worth millions.
For his child's future, he chose to sacrifice his longtime partner.
Yet no explosion came.
After running for a while, confusion appeared on his face.
Meanwhile, the Graveler had already collapsed into a pile of shattered rock.
Just as it was about to explode, Poliwag had used Damp, completely suppressing Self-Destruct.
Then an Ice Punch landed.
The freezing impact shattered the Graveler, killing it instantly and preserving its valuable ore core.
At that moment, Icarus used his movement technique to catch up to the fleeing miner.
Three throwing knives flashed through the air.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
They embedded themselves directly in front of the man.
"Ah!"
The miner stumbled and fell.
At the same time, Pidgeotto launched an Air Cutter.
The desperate man rolled away at the last moment.
The attack sliced open his protective suit instead of his throat.
"Spare me! Please spare me!
I have elderly parents and a child at home!
My son is only fourteen! I just wanted to buy him a good starter Pokémon!
I'm a good person!"
The miner immediately dropped to his knees and begged.
"Heh."
Icarus looked at the bloodstains covering the man's clothes.
"When you choose this path, you accept the consequences."
Judging from the backpacks and blood on him, he had killed multiple people already.
If they had simply passed each other, Icarus wouldn't have cared.
But the man had chosen to ambush him.
Now he wanted mercy?
Ridiculous.
"I'll split everything with you! Half! Half!
Please let me go!
My mother is over seventy! My son isn't even an adult yet!"
The miner hurriedly placed two small spatial backpacks on the ground.
"Heh."
Icarus ignored the performance.
Without another word, he flicked a poisoned throwing knife.
Pfft!
"W-Why…
I only did it for my family…"
The toxin spread rapidly through the man's body.
His eyes widened with hatred.
At the same time, a concealed dagger slipped from his sleeve and clattered to the ground.
He had planned to launch a final sneak attack.
Unfortunately, Icarus had never intended to approach him.
"Then what about the people you killed?
Didn't they have families too?"
After confirming the man was dead, Icarus collected the backpacks and searched the body thoroughly before returning.
When he arrived, Airi and Stone had also finished their pursuits.
Each carried several additional backpacks.
"How did it go? Everyone alright?"
"Yeah. The others didn't dare use Self-Destruct. Only the one with Sandslash put up a decent fight."
Stone briefly explained.
Earlier, they had split up.
Icarus pursued the miner carrying the most loot, while the other two chased the remaining targets.
For safety, Airi had temporarily lent Poliwag to Icarus, while Icarus had lent Houndoom to them for tracking.
With Stone's Graveler present, they had confidence in handling any emergencies.
"Good."
Icarus nodded before changing the subject.
"Let's consolidate the backpacks. Carrying this many will slow us down."
"Seriously, we struck gold this time!"
Airi's eyes sparkled.
"Twelve backpacks from them, plus our six…
That's almost twenty million worth of goods!"
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Stone nodded so enthusiastically he could barely speak.
With his larger build, he was carrying the most loot—nine backpacks in total.
"Don't waste time organizing everything properly.
Just transfer the contents of the small backpacks into the large ones.
If those fill up, use the medium-sized ones.
Keep the empty backpacks too. Fold them up and carry them."
The battlefield was still active.
There was no time for careful inventory management.
They needed to move quickly.
After all, the true treasure of Mt. Moon still lay ahead.
-------------Author---------------
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