Credits: daxterdaxter

  "Our original pn was to get information about your older brother, Aldus. But your brother and father are so elusive that we had no choice but to set our sights on you."

  Stephen smiled.

  "Revenge for your companion?"

  Altair's expression didn't change much.

  To be honest, his elder brother had offended so many people that even he, as the younger brother, couldn't count them all.

  It was to the point that he felt numb.

  "Partly, yes. But the other part is... I have some interest in your family."

  Beneath Stephen's mask, his eyes glimmered with an even keener thirst for knowledge.

  He had already deduced that the current era was roughly five or six years before Ash Ketchum's journey as a new Pokémon trainer would begin.

  And Stephen was genuinely curious—how could a financial conglomerate that rivaled the Dragon Tamer Cn of Bckthorn City disappear completely in such a short amount of time?

  Fascinating.

  "Do I look like the kind of person who'd betray my family?"

  Altair asked in return.

  "Then there's nothing to discuss, is there?"

  From the moment the arm sounded and Air appeared, Stephen had anticipated things would escate to this point.

  Altair, expressionless, recalled his poisoned Marowak and threw a Luxury Ball in one smooth motion.

  As the ball opened, a fsh of white light burst forth.

  A pair of enormous, blood-red wings spread wide in the night sky.

  The pseudo-legendary Pokémon—Samence!

  "ROAR!"

  The Samence let out a thunderous roar, the resulting wind pressure making Stephen's coat billow dramatically.

  It also caused the three opposing Pokémon to squint slightly, traces of apprehension flickering in their eyes.

  "So he brings out his ace, huh... this guy..."

  Rhua raised her hand to shield her face from the wind pressure.

  "Dragon Pulse!"

  Altair decisively commanded Samence.

  "Light Screen."

  Stephen gave his order to his Umbreon almost simultaneously.

  Samence unleashed a ferocious bst of draconic energy from its mouth.

  A translucent, rectangur wall of energy instantly materialized in front of Umbreon.

  Boom!

  The Dragon Pulse smmed into the Light Screen, and the diameter of the attack visibly shrank as it passed through.

  However, the attack was still formidable, striking Umbreon and exploding on impact.

  The resulting shockwave sent Umbreon flying into the air.

  As expected of the ace Pokémon of an Elite Four-level trainer, Samence was likely just a step away from entering champion-level territory.

  "I can roughly imagine what my brother has done, but sorry, that doesn't mean I'll betray them."

  Altair pressed his attack. "Dragon Cw!"

  The Light Screen had already reduced the power of Dragon Pulse, and Joker's Umbreon had one of the strongest defenses of any Pokémon Altair had ever encountered.

  If that's the case, a physical attack would do the trick!

  Samence raised its right cw high, its three sharp talons igniting with blue fmes and forming bde-like edges.

  It was like a massive trident crashing down.

  But just before it nded, Umbreon's body in mid-air seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand and was jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding Samence's Dragon Cw.

  "Hmm!?"

  Altair was startled, but in the next moment, he noticed something.

  A faint purple glow enveloped Umbreon's body.

  That was... Psychic!

  Then Altair's attention shifted to the Xatu perched on Will's shoulder behind Stephen, its eyes glowing faintly.

  So that's it—using Psychic to help Umbreon dodge the attack!

  But Psychic moves shouldn't work on dark types...

  Altair quickly noticed something else: Xatu's pupils were faintly glowing with a golden hue.

  That was... Miracle Eye!

  A move that allows Psychic attacks to affect Dark-type Pokémon!

  "Dark Pulse!"

  In the brief opening, Stephen and Rihua gave simultaneous commands.

  From two directions, Umbreon and Rihua's Houndoom fired dark, pulsating energy waves at Samence's neck and back.

  "Aqua Tail!"

  However, Samence was the ace of an Elite Four-level trainer for a reason.

  Its level was far above that of Stephen's team.

  Even after taking two Dark Pulses head-on, Samence was far from being in a disadvantageous position—let alone losing its ability to fight.

  As expected, following its trainer's command, Samence, despite the double impact of the Dark Pulses, suddenly opened its eyes wide and swung its tail, conjuring spiraling water currents.

  The Aqua Tail swept out like a heavy axe.

  Upon collision, the Aqua Tail shattered the Dark Pulse fired from Houndoom at the rear.

  In the next instant, the attack smmed into Houndoom's neck without losing any momentum.

  Thud!

  With a loud crash, Houndoom was sent flying into a pile of rubble on the right.

  "Houndoom!"

  Rihua cried out, rushing over to check her partner's injuries.

  Even though Aqua Tail wasn't a same-type move, the type advantage and level disparity were too great. Houndoom was no longer able to battle.

  Yet Samence's assault was far from over.

  The Aqua Tail that had sent Houndoom flying still retained considerable power. Like a sweeping leg, it continued its trajectory toward Umbreon.

  Suddenly, a shimmering, multi-colored, translucent barrier expanded outward, covering half of the Olivine Gym.

  In an instant, Samence's movements slowed down, as if someone had pressed a 0.5x speed button.

  "Curse."

  At Stephen's command, Umbreon tensed her entire body.

  Her small but sturdy muscles hardened like steel.

  Cng!

  When Samence's Aqua Tail struck, it sounded like metal colliding with metal.

  "Trick Room?"

  Altair's gaze shifted again to Will at the back of the group, and the Slowbro by his side.

  In that crucial moment, Trick Room had swapped Samence's speed with Umbreon's!

  So that's their strategy—Joker and Rihua lead the offense, while the chubby one stays at the back for support.

  "Not bad... but that's not all," Rihua's eerie voice suddenly sounded behind Altair.

  Altair frowned and looked back at Rihua, who was standing near her defeated Houndoom.

  What did she mean?

  Whoosh!

  Before Altair could figure it out, a faint wisp of fme suddenly appeared on Samence's tail.

  Though small, it was enough to make Samence visibly uncomfortable.

  That was... Will-O-Wisp!?

  "Even after being knocked out, Houndoom managed to pull that off?"

  Altair quickly deduced what had happened.

  Houndoom had used Will-O-Wisp at the very moment it was hit by Aqua Tail!

  "A Houndoom of that level could manage such precision?"

  "Our Pokémon can endure pain very well," Rihua said with a cold smile.

  "From the start, I never expected Houndoom's attacks to deal significant damage to your Samence. Its job, from the beginning, was to nd Will-O-Wisp.

  But since Will-O-Wisp is slow and not very accurate, using it directly would have been risky. So..."

  Rihua's smirk deepened. "In the moment Houndoom was struck, Samence would have let its guard down, thinking Houndoom was no longer a threat."

  Altair's expression grew darker.

  He had initially thought Joker's strategy was for Will to provide support while Joker and Rihua handled the offense.

  But he was wrong. Will and Rihua were both supports.

  And their coordination was fwless.

  What a terrifying trio...