The nights in Shadownight Town were always especially dark. That was probably the reason behind its name…
Even now, with so many outsiders having arrived, nothing had changed that fact.
Sato walked alone down the empty street. The shops on both sides had all closed, and aside from a few pieces of paper blowing across the ground, there wasn't a single sound.
"Are we there, Ralts?"
The black-colored Ralts was just as inconspicuous in the darkness, except for its green bangs, of course.
At the moment, it was sitting leisurely on Sato's shoulder, swinging its legs with a cheerful expression, completely unfazed by what was about to happen.
The virtual map reappeared in Sato's mind. Two flashing red dots were inside an ordinary residential house just ahead to his right.
"Kalo…" Sato muttered to himself. Technically, that guy had helped him once, otherwise, he might never have gotten Gastly back then.
But since the man had come to sabotage the Gym's opening ceremony, Sato wouldn't forgive him under any circumstances.
"Gengar, scout ahead. Be ready to use Hypnosis at any moment."
Golden eyes flickered within Sato's shadow, and in the darkness, Gengar moved with silent stealth.
By the time Sato quietly reached the house where Kalo and Alva were hiding, he first encountered a Golbat hanging upside down from the eaves.
But Golbat had already been hit by Gengar's Hypnosis and was fast asleep.
Thanks to the virtual map, Sato slipped into the house with ease and headed straight for the two assassins.
He found them half-lying on the beds in extremely guarded sleeping postures, and could only smile wryly.
"Stop pretending to sleep. You deliberately lured me here, and now you want to put on a little performance for me?"
The room's lights turned on in an instant. As they did, Alva and Kalo rolled to opposite sides of the bed and ducked for cover. Behind Sato, a Scyther and a Crobat launched a surprise attack on him simultaneously.
A green Protect shield instantly surrounded Sato, blocking both Scyther and Crobat's attacks completely.
"Night Slash, Ice Punch."
Two Poké Balls burst open. Zoroark and Weavile appeared on either side of Sato and immediately launched countermoves at the enemies.
As they charged forward, their bodies began to darken, and their aura surged rapidly.
'Dark Energy: Energy Amplification' By the time Zoroark and Weavile caught up to Crobat and Scyther, their level had already risen to Mid Pseudo-Elite Four.
Two loud crashes echoed as Scyther and Crobat were slammed into the walls. They didn't even get a chance to fall to the floor.
Suddenly, a barrage of sharp stone blades shot down toward Sato's head, once again targeting him directly.
"…Still using the same trick? Weavile, Ice Shard, Zoroark, Focus Blast." Sato muttered and immediately issued the command to Weavile.
Up on the beam, a Sudowoodo was nervously controlling the stone barrage, trying to force them through the incoming Ice Shard, but couldn't break through to reach Sato.
In the next moment, a pure white Focus Blast shot out from another angle without warning.
A small explosion burst from the ceiling beam, Sudowoodo had taken a direct hit from Zoroark's Focus Blast.
Thanks to its Sturdy Ability, Sudowoodo wasn't instantly killed. It even attempted to launch a surprise attack when it thought Sato had let down his guard. But a barrage of Ice Shards tore indiscriminately through the smoke-covered area.
"Actually, I didn't come here to fight and kill… 'Lord' Kalo. Do you still remember me?"
Just as the opponent sent out a Victreebel and a Nidoking to attack, Sato remained completely calm and brought up old times.
"I don't believe I've ever met the youngest Gym Leader of the Pokémon League," Kalo replied, stepping directly out from the shadowy wall corner.
As an assassin, having his ambush spotted from the beginning meant the mission was already half a failure.
"Do you remember Gastly? Without your help, I wouldn't have gotten my second partner so quickly."
"I told you, I don't know you."
Even as Kalo spoke, two Gengar suddenly appeared beside him. The two Gengar locked eyes -crimson pupils versus golden pupils- and neither made a move.
"But I remember. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring. Why don't you work with me, Kalo? Walking in the sunlight… what a beautiful thing," Sato said with a grin.
A cold snort came from Sato's right. Apparently, Alva couldn't take it anymore. At the same time, a Mismagius appeared to the left, its glowing red eyes launching a hypnosis move at Sato.
Alva tried to have Mismagius hypnotize Sato directly.
Dark Energy surged from Sato's body, automatically forming a defensive shield. The hypnotic red light had no effect on him, and instead, Sato punched Mismagius directly.
[Dark Energy Fifth Extension Ability: Empowered Strike]
The Elite-level Mismagius was sent flying by Sato's punch, shocking both Kalo and Alva.
'Since when could Sato physically fight Pokémon?'
Sato's Gengar abruptly broke off its stare-down with its counterpart and flung out a dozen Shadow Balls to finish off Mismagius.
"Gengar!" Kalo called out immediately, signaling his own Gengar to help.
But by then, Sato's Weavile had already defeated Victreebel and intercepted Kalo's Gengar.
A series of Shadow Ball explosions erupted, Mismagius was no longer able to battle.
Up to this point, the battle had lasted less than five minutes. Not a single one of Sato's team had fallen, while Kalo and Alva had already lost Golbat, Scyther, Crobat, Sudowoodo, Victreebel, and Mismagius.
Zoroark's opponent, Nidoking, wouldn't last much longer, and Kalos' Gengar was being completely overwhelmed by Weavile.
In the end, it came down to two reasons: the overwhelming gap in strength and their ambush being exposed in advance.
Blue-Ranked assassins of the Ghost Ship Organization typically hovered at the Elite level, while Silver-Ranked reached Peak Elite.
So, when facing Mid Pseudo-Elite Four Zoroark and Weavile, they seemed utterly powerless.
Seeing that they had no way to counterattack, Alva and Kalo didn't hesitate to flee. But just as they tried to jump out the window, they realized the entire room was tightly sealed by an invisible force.
At the top of the house, Ralts -having evolved once- stood quietly at the highest point. Its blood-red eyes shimmered with a purple glow.
A Psychic Prison, long prepared.