"Ariados, Archie is yours!"
Once inside Archie's room, Ariados immediately unleashed a flurry of sticky silk, wrapping him completely into a giant cocoon, only his eyes and nose left exposed.
While Ariados worked, Sato began searching the room for anything valuable or clues about how to break the mental control.
Gengar called out to Sato and pointed to a picture frame hanging on the wall. Sato walked over, took the frame down, and revealed a flush-mounted button hidden behind it.
"A hidden chamber in the room?"
"Geng geng~" Gengar nodded, then pointed to the wall beneath the button, outlining a rough area.
"Ariados, Poison Sting... lightly!"
Ariados, who had already hung Archie upside down from the ceiling beam, followed Sato's command and carefully pierced the outlined area with a tight ring of Poison Sting.
A wave of corrosion followed, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside were two delicate boxes placed side by side. Sato casually picked up one and opened it.
Sato was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to find a Mega Stone among Archie's collection. At the same moment, his Dark Energy responded to it.
Grinning, Sato closed the box and immediately lost the Dark Energy feedback.
"This box is pretty good, it blocks energy detection!"
He stored it in his spatial backpack, then picked up the second box. Inside was a blue gel-like substance shaped like a water droplet. It was soft and elastic.
'This thing... why does it feel so familiar?' Sato toyed with it in his hand. Before he could remember what it was, a few muffled grunts came from behind.
Sato turned around and looked at the upside-down Archie, greeting him with a smile.
"Mmph! Mmm!" Archie squirmed violently, struggling hard.
"That's Ariados's silk, you won't break free. Gengar, put him back to sleep."
In no time, Archie quieted down again. Sato packed both boxes and moved on to Maxie's room with Gengar, but unfortunately found nothing there.
"Let's go. On to the next one."
Sato jumped off the ship, with Gengar and Ariados by his side. Ariados was still carrying the cocooned Archie, though it didn't seem burdened at all.
"Gengar, lead the way!"
Gengar flew ahead in a straight line toward a specific area of Tower Town, with Sato and Ariados following close behind.
Compared to Rosen Island, Tower Town was slightly more prosperous. However, Maxie's control here was clearly weaker than Archie's control over Rosen Island.
One human and two Pokémon moved swiftly through the town's streets, soon arriving at their destination.
It was a small two-story villa. As usual, Gengar slipped in first to scout the area.
Long ago, Sato had taught Gengar many essential assassin skills. Thanks to its Ghost-type advantages, Gengar had far surpassed its "mentor" in this field.
In today's operation, Sato wasn't even taking on the main tasks. Gengar had already executed them flawlessly on its own!
A window shattered, and a Mightyena came flying over Sato's head.
"...Zoroark, Brick Break!"
Sato paused for a second, then sent out Zoroark, who immediately finished off the fallen Mightyena with a precise strike.
Gengar had been exposed. That Mightyena clearly belonged to the enemy. Better to take it out immediately!
"Zoroark, Ariados, let's go!"
Zoroark, having taken down Mightyena, leaped back to Sato's side, grabbed him, and sprang up to the second floor.
Just as Sato reached the upper floor, Gengar's cry for help echoed in his ears. Looking toward the sound, he saw Gengar surrounded by three Pokémon: Camerupt, Crobat, and Torkoal!
"Zoroark, help out! Sharpedo, you too!"
Maxie was still in his pajamas. When he saw Sato, it was like he'd seen a ghost.
At that moment, Ariados climbed up as well and, without a word, launched a String Shot directly at Maxie.
The silk was cut midair. Crobat abandoned the fight and flew over to protect its Trainer.
But the next second, Gengar used Psychic to lock Crobat in midair, then yanked it straight back.
This time, a net fell from above. Maxie scrambled under his desk just in time to barely dodge it.
Ariados was furious. 'If you had just stood still and let yourself be tied up, this wouldn't have been necessary! But no, you had to struggle... fine! I've got silk to spare!'
A rapid barrage of String Shot attacks followed. First pulling the desk away, then cutting off Maxie's route to his Poké Balls, and finally a direct hit!
Wrapped in egg fluid- wait, no!
Ariados swiftly wrapped Maxie in silk, layer after layer, thick and tight.
Then it compared him to Archie's cocoon, saw that it was slightly smaller, and added two more layers until both were the same size. Only then was it satisfied.
Camerupt, Crobat, and Torkoal could only watch helplessly as their Trainer was wrapped up like a second cocoon by Ariados.
"Cacturne, Cotton Spore! Ariados, Electroweb!"
Spore and web: a combo specialized in dealing with the uncooperative!
Especially Crobat, the fastest of the bunch. Ariados held a grudge and gave it some extra attention.
Soon, everything calmed down. Sato pulled Maxie's battle belt from his body and found two Poké Balls that hadn't been used yet.
Sato recalled the thoroughly wrapped Camerupt and its team, then remembered the Mightyena downstairs and recalled it as well.
Only now did the crew arrive, frantically knocking on the door. Their reaction speed was painfully slow.
"Overreliance on experience gets people killed."
Sato sighed. He had heard all sorts of stories about how disciplined and powerful Team Magma and Team Aqua were, and had prepared himself for a tough battle from the start.
Because Maxie and Archie usually didn't display their strength openly, Sato had assumed they were formidable.
It had led him to prepare multiple contingency plans, escape routes, and backup strategies for worst-case scenarios.
Now, having captured both leaders without resistance, everything felt almost too easy. He began to suspect it was all fake.
From what he'd seen, the two future crime syndicates of the Hoenn region hadn't even taken shape. They were more like two disorganized amateur troupes patched together.
Still, with their unique ability to manipulate minds, they could've built a decent organization in seven to ten years.
Too bad they encountered Sato.
"Gengar, Zoroark, go deal with the people outside." Sato waved casually, suddenly finding it all meaningless.
"Ariados, hang them up. Cacturne, Needle Arm!"
Maxie had stayed conscious the whole time, but to be fair, Cacturne gave each of them a whack.
"Since everyone's awake, let's have a little chat..."