"Phew! The effect of this lotus seed is incredible!"
Opening his eyes, Ron couldn't help but exclaim.
Beside him, Gardevoir shared the same enthusiasm, gazing at the lotus seed in her hands with a burning intensity.
Just one hour of training with it had yielded results equivalent to days of effort.
Ron felt the same—its astonishing effects made him wish he could snatch the lotus seeds from Alakazam and the others, but alas, that was just wishful thinking.
"Well then, it's time to start tracking the black market. After that, I'll figure out a way to help Persian break through to the Elite Four level."
Stowing away the lotus seed, Ron turned to the approaching Persian.
Hearing Ron's words, Persian's eyes gleamed with anticipation. He had waited long enough for the power of the Elite Four tier.
After assuming his alternate identity as Garus, Ron released Gengar, allowing it to slip into his shadow.
Gardevoir ceased her psychic scanning, and Lucario took over, using his Aura to probe their surroundings.
Although Ron had no idea where to find the black market in Hoenn, he knew one thing for sure—the Pokémon Hunters would.
If luck was on his side, he might even be able to acquire an Attribute Plate directly from the Hunter Guild.
With a solid plan in place, Ron set his strategy into motion.
Being in Hoenn, he knew it wouldn't be easy to gather intelligence on Pokémon Hunters. His only option was to scour various bulletin points and quest hubs to trace their movements.
The process was slow, but secrecy was his priority—exposing his identity was not an option.
Under the shroud of night, Ron wandered through the desolate wilderness, murmuring to himself.
"Looks like I was too optimistic… Even in the black market, Attribute Plates are considered rare treasures, appearing only once every few months at best. And even then, their type isn't guaranteed."
After altering his identity, Ron managed to locate intelligence regarding a High Elite-ranked Pokémon Hunter through mission postings.
The outcome was predictable—with his Elite Four-tier strength, Ron easily took over the hunter's identity, gaining access to valuable black market information.
Unfortunately, by the time Ron arrived at the black market, he was met with bad news.
Even in the largest underground auction houses, Attribute Plates were extremely scarce.
His only viable options were to complete a large number of assignments to raise his rank within the Hunter Guild—or to eliminate a quasi-Elite Four-level Pokémon Hunter and take their place.
"So… you two have been following me for quite some time. What exactly do you want?"
Ron turned around, his deliberately hoarse voice cutting through the silence as he addressed the seemingly empty space behind him.
"Well, well. Looks like you're no amateur."
One of the stalkers stepped forward, voice laced with greed.
"How about this? Hand over all your valuable resources, and I'll let you keep your Pokémon."
Sensing that Ron wasn't an easy target, the man restrained himself from being too arrogant.
The second figure remained silent, simply releasing his High Elite-ranked Mightyena.
The first man followed suit, sending out his Ludicolo—both locking their sights onto Ron.
"Gengar—Netherworld. Ghost Chains."
Wasting no time, Ron ordered Gengar to strike.
A pitch-black void expanded, rapidly enveloping the two hunters and their Pokémon.
From within the darkness, shadowy purple-black chains shot out, surging toward the hunters and their Pokémon.
"What the—?!"
They barely had time to gasp before the chains engulfed them entirely.
Unless one possessed overwhelming power to break free in the initial moments, escape was nearly impossible.
As the dark Netherworld faded away, Ron turned to Gardevoir.
"Teleport."
In an instant, Ron vanished.
Left behind were only two lifeless bodies on the cold, barren ground.
...
"Sir, a mysterious figure in a black cloak has recently appeared. We're unsure whether they're an ally or an enemy, but they've been hunting down Pokémon poachers—eliminating several of them, including two quasi-Elite Four-level poachers."
At the Hoenn League's Forest Hunter Headquarters, an intelligence officer compiled the latest reports and delivered them to a high-ranking Elite Four-level Forest Hunter.
"Do we have any evidence of them capturing wild Pokémon? How strong are they? Have they committed any attacks against Rangers or Forest Hunters?"
Without even lifting his head, Hiro fired off three questions in rapid succession.
Taking down so many Elite Four-level Pokémon poachers had been satisfying, but the real challenge now was stabilizing these gains and figuring out how to expand them further.
A newcomer whose allegiance was still uncertain wasn't enough to make Hiro take them seriously just yet.
"So far, we've found no evidence that they've captured wild Pokémon—but we can't rule it out either. You know how chaotic things are inland."
"Their strength is estimated to be at the quasi-Elite Four level. Even if that estimate is slightly off, the difference wouldn't be too significant."
"Based on available intel, they haven't been active for long and have yet to attack Rangers or Forest Hunters. However, we haven't been able to uncover their true identity, nor do we know whether they have a history of such actions."
After relaying all the gathered intelligence, the officer fell silent, awaiting Hiro's next instructions.
"For now, we observe. Assign a few quasi-Elite Four Forest Hunters. If we can confirm their identity as a Pokémon poacher, take action. If not, let them operate freely. After all, they're only hunting poachers—no reason for us to be concerned about that."
"Understood!"
Upon receiving Hiro's directive, the intelligence officer immediately set things into motion.
The first task was to assess the number of available Forest Hunters. After selecting suitable candidates, the orders were dispatched.
Roughly twenty minutes later, two quasi-Elite Four-level Pokémon poachers had already rendezvoused.
"Sloane, looks like we're out of luck. Stuck with a job like this."
The moment they met, Terry let out a resigned sigh.
Everyone knew that now was the perfect time for Rangers to take action against Pokémon poachers. Countless Forest Hunters and Rangers were actively hunting down and capturing poachers in exchange for merit points.
He had only taken a brief break, yet now he was stuck with a long, tedious surveillance mission—low rewards, lots of time wasted. No one would be thrilled about that.
"No kidding. But I might have a way around it. Want to hear it?"
Sloane gave Terry a knowing look and lowered his voice.
"What's the plan?"
Curious, Terry instinctively lowered his voice as well.
"It's simple: We confirm that the black-cloaked figure is a Pokémon poacher. Then, we rally the Rangers and wipe them out together."
"Just think about it. Not only do we get to claim any resources they've looted from other poachers, but once they're gone, we're free to hunt down other poachers ourselves."
Upon hearing Terry's idea, Sloane's first instinct was to refuse.
"Relax. If they're hiding their identity so carefully, it's probably because they used to be a poacher themselves."
"Besides, Hoenn is massive. Even if they've been capturing wild Pokémon, how would we ever find proof? Are we really going to wait until Rangers or Forest Hunters start getting killed before we take action?"
Listening to Sloane's reasoning, Terry hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, he agreed.
How much of it was for the Rangers?
And how much of it was for himself?
Only Terry knew the answer to that.
-----
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