The next second, the boy staring ahead had his pupils suddenly contract.
About twenty meters ahead, a man in an Advanced Team Rocket uniform leaned against the cave wall.
Unlike the Team Rocket members they had encountered before, this man wore a far more refined black uniform, with dark gold patterns embroidered along the collar and cuffs. A black belt was fastened around his waist, and polished tactical boots covered his feet.
He casually leaned against the rock wall with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg slightly bent, looking as relaxed as though he were taking a stroll through his own backyard.
"Gentlemen, this road is closed!"
After saying that, his eyes remained calm and utterly still, like a bottomless pool. He continued watching them with a faintly amused smile.
That gaze settling on him made the boy feel like prey being watched by a ferocious beast. Every pore on his body sounded an alarm.
"Hiss—"
The air suddenly grew heavy.
That crushing Intimidate came without warning, like two enormous mountains pressing down on the boy's shoulders at once.
His breath caught, and his knees bent slightly as he nearly collapsed to the ground.
From the corner of his eye, the boy caught sight of it—in the shadows on either side behind the man, two massive figures were slowly emerging.
On the left, a giant snake far larger than an ordinary Arbok slithered out of the darkness.
Its body was as thick as a barrel, its dark purple scales interwoven with golden patterns. Those patterns glimmered faintly in the dim light, like some ancient totem.
Arbok raised its head high. As its tongue flicked in and out, venom dripped from its fangs and corroded the ground with sizzling sounds.
Most terrifying of all were its eyes—those vertical