"Dammit!"
Seeing his Houndoom about to lose its ability to fight, an enraged Bishas threw out two Poké Balls in rapid succession.
"Weavile! Scizor!"
"Ichiki, what are you standing there for?"
Stephen raised an eyebrow at him.
"I've been waiting for this!"
Ichiki grinned broadly in response.
By nature, Ichiki was a thrill-seeker who enjoyed wandering and finding excitement wherever he could. This was his first time in a life-or-death struggle against a villain like Bishas, a man who showed no hesitation in taking lives. Initially nervous, Ichiki quickly adapted to the intense rhythm of the battle. His lingering fear was replaced by exhilaration as he raised his hand to command his Exeggutor into action.
"Take this, you fat pig!"
Exeggutor unleashed another Psychic, this time targeting the Bug/Steel-type Scizor.
Weavile, who held a clear type advantage over Exeggutor, saw the attack and shifted focus. With a twist of its razor-sharp claws, it leaped over Scizor, lunging straight at Exeggutor.
"Pursuit!"
Stephen's command came swiftly, almost in tandem with Weavile's attack. Umbreon darted out from the side, her claws gleaming with dark energy. Just like Weavile, it extended her forepaws in a slicing motion.
The two Pokémon clashed mid-air in a fierce duel of speed and power. But in the end, Weavile was sent flying, slamming heavily onto the ground.
"These kids?!"
Even with his face obscured by a mask, Bishas's shock was palpable in his voice. One could easily imagine his eyes wide with disbelief beneath the mask. Stephen and Ichiki, working seamlessly together, had completely overwhelmed the ferocity of Bishas's prized Pokémon.
"Natu!"
Ichiki seized the opportunity, throwing another Poké Ball. The newly released Natu zipped forward and delivered a direct Peck to Bishas's side.
"Sweet!"
Ichiki's face lit up with exaggerated glee, looking like a walking meme.
In the next instant, however, Bishas stumbled and fell in a humiliating face-plant, skidding several feet across the ground.
The once-menacing man now lay sprawled in the dirt, his face twisted in agony. Stephen approached him with a calm expression, lifting a leg to step firmly onto Bishas's face.
"Ouch, ouch! Stop! Please stop!"
Bishas wailed, his bluster completely gone.
"Haha! The mighty have fallen! What a laughable sight!"
Ichiki, catching up, pointed and guffawed at the pitiful scene before him.
It felt so satisfying! This was way more fun than any Gym battle.
"Ora! Ora! Ora!"
After watching Stephen stomp Bishas for a while, Ichiki couldn't resist joining in.
The scene resembled the infamous "Golden Wind" beatdown by the gang trio in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Within minutes, Bishas's already large frame was swollen with bruises. The mask that had once covered his upper face was now nowhere to be seen, kicked off by Stephen and sent flying who-knows-where.
Bishas's uncovered face was surprisingly plain, a stark contrast to the ferocious image projected by his mask.
"Now that I see him like this, he looks just like a regular middle-aged guy in a crisis."
Ichiki squatted beside the beaten man, scrutinizing him with curiosity. He turned to Stephen and asked, "Hey, Stephen-san, what should we do with this guy? Hand him over to the League for the bounty? We might even make the headlines!"
Stephen didn't respond right away. Instead, he crouched down, grabbed Bishas by the collar with his left hand, and delivered a sharp slap across his face with his right.
"Ugh..."
Half-conscious, Bishas barely opened his swollen eyes.
"D-Don't... don't do anything rash. I-I'm a member of Team Rocket. If you... kill me, the Team Rocket organization... won't..."
Having begged futilely earlier, Bishas now tried to leverage Team Rocket's infamous name to intimidate the two boys.
Before he could finish, Stephen turned to Ichiki and said, "Use Hypnosis on him."
"Uh... Isn't that move dangerous? The League has explicitly banned it."
Ichiki hesitated.
"You care about that?"
Stephen smirked.
"Heh, just kidding!"
Ichiki grinned wickedly, signaling his Exeggutor with a casual flick of his finger. The Pokémon's six eyes began to glow with psychic energy as it locked its gaze on Bishas.
Within moments, Bishas's eyes lost focus, his expression going slack.
"Looks just like Sharingan," Stephen commented in admiration.
The two boys followed the hypnotized Bishas to a cave hidden deep in the forest.
When Bishas flipped a switch to illuminate the cavern, Ichiki, who had been riding high on adrenaline, suddenly felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him.
The sight before them was grim: cages of varying sizes filled the space, each holding a variety of Pokémon. Most were rare and valuable species that would fetch high prices in the market.
But something was off.
"These... these guys don't look okay."
Ichiki approached a cage containing several Slowpoke. While Slowpoke was naturally sluggish and vacant in expression, these looked completely lifeless. Their eyes were dull, and their tails had been severed too violently. Blood still dripped from the wounds, staining the cage floor.
Though Slowpoke tails were prized delicacies and could regenerate, this level of cruelty was excessive, far beyond what was necessary.
"This is way too much," Ichiki muttered, swallowing hard.
He wasn't a naïve idealist like Ash Ketchum, but this level of brutality was beyond what he could tolerate.
"And this is just the beginning," Stephen said ominously.
Hearing his tone, Ichiki turned instinctively toward him.
What he saw next was something he couldn't even identify—a Pokémon so emaciated it was nothing more than skin and bones.
PS: I am 100% Ichiki is Will because of Natu. I will call him Will from now on.