Chapter 149

Author Note:

As a heads-up, today’s chapter is shorter than usual. No matter how many times I wrote it, I was not able to write its final part in a way I liked. Expect to see it as part of the update on Friday. Unfortunately, I simply need more time to make sure it works.

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The situation was simple:

Ash and Sammy were running away.

Brock and Misty were heading off to help.

Richard, a younger version of Sam’s grandfather, stood beside Sam.

And ahead of them, a previously unknown poacher, supposedly dubbed “the Iron-Masked Marauder,” held two dark-colored Pokéballs while his enraged Tyranitar lashed out at its surroundings in confusion.

Next to Sam, Misdreavus floated forward, eyes narrowing as they flicked around to search for an opportunity to force the Marauder away. Richard pulled out his Jolteon’s Pokéball and held it forward. These two would essentially be their team. But Sam was also aware of his trump card, Haunter. No one else knew that the much stronger Ghost Type was nearby, giving Sam a bit of leeway to pull off something.

That is, if he could think of a plan.

“Our target is fleeing.” The Iron-Masked Marauder threw forward those two dark Pokéballs. “Go after them. Bring Celebi back here.”

The Pokéballs he held opened up to release the Pokéballs inside them with a flash of purple light. To the side, a red-shelled Scizor snapped its claws, and a Sneasel dug its feet into the ground to get ready to take off.

Both Pokémon seemed to carry a strange tint to them, not unlike the Tyranitar, but mainly, Sam noticed the look in their eyes. They were shadowed, as if they’d been unable to sleep for a week straight, but mainly, they looked utterly consumed by rage.

The worst part of the situation was just how lazy the Iron-Masked Marauder seemed to be treating this. Sam couldn’t see his eyes due to the red lenses built into the man’s mask, but his tone of voice was casual and confident.

It hit Sam then just how the Marauder managed to slip past Haunter’s senses. As a Ghost Type, Haunter best detected the negative feelings and malicious intentions that would prime an area to spawn Ghost Types, but the Marauder had such confidence in him that he didn’t feel any of this. This was just a job, and Sam and Richard were both just minor obstacles to remove.

We can’t let him reach everyone else.

Sam needed to be the one to reach Celebi.

“Mean Look!”

Misdreavus could only target one Pokémon, so the Scizor managed to hop over that fallen tree and escape, but a single Scizor was much less of a threat than a Scizor and another Pokémon.

However, doing that meant he would need to handle the Sneasel. The Tyranitar was still there, too.

“Hah! Funny trick, kid. But you don’t even realize how my Pokémon work, do you?” The Marauder’s smug grin mocked Sam. “These are Dark Balls. Dark Pokéballs! Based on a design that literally washed ashore one day! Catching a Pokémon in them brings them to their max level, all while making them evil, too!”

The man’s explanation made Misdreavus hesitate, but Sam just continued to glare.

“So you’re calling your Pokémon ‘evil,’” Sam said flatly. “You know that means you’re calling yourself ‘evil,’ too.”

“That’s what society calls me. Why not make it my brand?”

The man then cackled, and Sam had to resist rolling his eyes.

Pokémon weren’t evil. Whatever those balls had done had simply made them enraged, and Sam could recognize that thanks to his experience with Annihilape. Looking them over, the effects reminded him of something like Curse—the non-Ghost Type version, that is—basically, an effect that saw a Pokémon’s power pushed to its limits, but in this case, without the speed reduction it’d normally bring.

Despite the man’s Pokémon looking so enraged, they weren’t attacking. Whatever the balls had done, they were waiting for further commands. That, and both were trapped in a way. The Tyranitar couldn’t see what was going on around it due to its confusion, and the Sneasel couldn’t exactly run off toward Celebi with Misdreavus’s Mean Look keeping it here.

The Marauder looked entertained enough to want Sam and Richard to make the first move, clearly thinking he had the upper hand.

Sam could keep his head tall, however. Again, no one else realized that his Haunter was here.

“Sam,” Richard suddenly said, grabbing the knob of his old-fashioned Pokéball. “Just so you know, the guy’s bluffing. There’s no such thing as max level.”

(Sam felt an eye twitch at the obvious advice.)

“Out of everything I’ve learned, that was one of the first facts I picked up in this world,” Richard continued. “Levels... Moves known... Speed restrictions... A Pokémon is only as strong as its trainer. But this guy? I bet he thinks that power is the only thing that matters!”

“That’s because it is,” the Iron-Masked Marauder said. “Here, let me demonstrate for you—Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam! Sneasel, use Slash! Don’t let these two catch up with their friends!”

The man wasn’t just targeting their Pokémon.

Sneasel’s feet blurred for a Quick Attack that sent it forward, and a glow appeared in the Tyranitar’s mouth. Richard shouted for an Agility the second his Jolteon appeared, and Sam called for his own set of orders, but he made sure to phrase them to apply to both current members of his team.

“Confuse Ray! Maintain it!”

That was one good thing about specializing in a Type. While shouting for shared moves, people wouldn't immediately know just how many Pokémon had been ordered.

The Marauder's Sneasel was fast, but so was Misdreavus—just unfortunately not at the speed she needed. Her Confuse Ray left her eyes in an attempt to strike the Sneasel, but all it had to do was jump to the side to avoid its effects.

Thankfully, Sam only gave that command to disguise his shout to Haunter, who no one had noticed. He was able to linger in the shadows, and his eyes flashed. Tyranitar’s confusion was maintained, minimizing its influence in this fight.

No one but Sam noticed.

However, with Sam’s shout to Misdreavus “failing,” the Sneasel was free to act, and it met Richard’s Jolteon head on.

He quickly shouted further commands, relying on the obvious to try to win the fight.

“Double Kick. Double Kick. Double Kick!” Richard yelled.

Double Kick wasn't a bad choice. Sneasel, a Dark and Ice Type, was especially vulnerable to Fighting Type moves. However, as experienced as he was, Sam had already determined Richard to be about a five-star trainer.

Sam could only watch in horror as the Jolteon turned around to look away while trying to smash its opponents with its hind legs.

Against most Pokémon, Jolteon was too fast to worry about a retaliation. This Sneasel, however, was under the effects of that Dark Ball. It was berserk and pushed to its limits. Responding was trivial for it.

Without any hesitation, a claw caught Jolteon in the side and sent it flying from the hit. The Double Kick never landed, and Sam could tell from the nature of the move that Sneasel had landed a critical hit.

“Jolteon?” Richard mumbled.

He stared at where his Pokémon landed. Jolteon breathed, but it did not get up.

With one Pokémon defeated, the enraged Sneasel turned its gaze to Misdreavus. In the back, the Tyranitar unleashed its Hyper Beam, but the move went wide and shot through the canopy.

A massive branch shook the earth when it hit the forest floor.

“Hahaha! I told you kids you were underestimating me!”

Misdreavus was doing her best to stay brave, but Jolteon was stronger than her, and that Sneasel had won in an instant.

Right away, Sam knew Misdreavus wouldn’t win. She didn't have the battle experience, and she didn't have the strength to push past a super effective Type.

However, she was a Ghost Type, and that opened up options.

Sam struggled for only a moment, but the solution suddenly clicked. If Misdreavus didn't have the power to attack, then they could rely on something else that did.

Richard shakily returned his fainted Pokémon, and that flash marked the start of the exchange.

“Misdreavus! Night Shade to hide yourself! Focus on dodging! And—” Sam turned to the Tyranitar. “Hey, you big dumb lizard! Still confused? You’re so pathetic that you won't ever be able to land your moves!”

Richard’s jaw dropped; Sam was outright inviting a pseudo-Legendary to attack. But what Richard failed to realize is a detail Sam had noticed—following its trainer’s orders, the Tyranitar only attacked with Hyper Beam.

In other words, it was relying on a Normal Type move.

And Sam trained Ghost Types, which were immune.

Quickly, Sam turned toward Richard, and he spoke as fast as he could.

“Run.”

And then he ran off himself, charging right to where Misdreavus was actively fighting.

With Sam’s shout of Night Shade, darkness filled the space around her. The Sneasel's next swipe went wide, but it left a groove in the Night Shade due to the Dark Type energy contained within.

Since everyone was distracted, Haunter jumped from shadow to shadow across the ground, and Misdreavus's opponent disappeared into her sphere of shadows.

Hesitating, Richard didn't flee, and Sam skidded to a halt to interpose the Night Shade between him and the Tyranitar.

“Run!” Sam shouted again.

Finally, Richard seemed to process Sam’s shout, and he ran off into the woods. Meanwhile, with Haunter backing away, the Tyranitar managed to break out of its confusion, and that same glow grew in its throat.

The only thing it could see was Misdreavus’s Night Shade, so it opened its mouth to aim at the only viable target. Misdreavus and Sneasel fought as Silhouettes within, yet the Tyranitar didn’t exactly care that its ally was in the path of its beam.

“Wait, stop! Don’t, you idiot!”

The Iron Masked Marauder’s shout came out only after the beam had already left his Tyranitar’s throat.

Too late.

Cold hands wrapped around Sam’s shoulders, and he whispered a final command to Misdreavus.

“Escape.”

Haunter pulled him away just in time for the Hyper Beam to overtake the Night Shade. Sneasel took the full blast of the attack, and Misdreavus disappeared within.

Sam then ran, chasing after Richard while the Iron-Masked Marauder was too busy yelling at his Pokémon to give chase. Tyranitar was strong, but it was slow. The speediest of his Pokémon were either fainted or preoccupied; he couldn’t exactly send his Scizor after them if it was already chasing after Ash and the others on its own.

Then, the scene of the battle was behind them, and Sam and Richard were running through the woods. Sam searched for where Misdreavus had gone—she should have been immune to that Hyper Beam—and his heart briefly skipped a beat when he saw she wasn't there.

She then giggled, leaving a shadow, smirking at that brief moment of fight.

“Good,” Sam said in relief. “You figured out Shadow Sneak. That’s how you managed to get away.”

Misdreavus brought herself up with a wide grin, celebrating her clever application of the Ghost Type control Sam had been having her develop.

Since the Iron-Masked Marauder didn't have a fast enough Pokémon to stop them, Sam was able to guide Richard away using the shadows of the trees to obscure their escape. Eventually, that mad dash transitioned into a slower jog, and Haunter subtly moved ahead to guide Sam in the front.

With this escape, the situation had changed. Sam and Richard had managed to delay the Iron-Masked Marauder just long enough to give everyone the chance to run away. However, it came with a downside; they had no idea where Ash and everyone else had gone, and they were far enough away that Haunter wasn’t sure how to track them.

In other words, Sam and Richard were now on their own.

They were separated from everyone else.

Quite literally, they weren't out of the woods just yet.

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Author Note:

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Scizor
Sneasel
Tyranitar

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