Treasure Divided, Danger Closing In

"Best two out of three. No cheating!"

"This is the last round. Whoever loses has to go free them from the traps!"

The people down below were still trapped. If no one went to free them, they would probably be stuck there until nightfall.

Could two kindhearted people allow that to happen?

The main reason they decided one of them had to go was that they were afraid of getting beaten even worse.

"No. Impossible!"

"Why me?"

Ito Hei dropped to his knees and stared at the scissors he had thrown. He couldn't believe he had lost.

Liu Xin patted his shoulder. "It's the will of heaven. Go on."

"I'm leaving the traps to you."

Could he refuse?

Of course not. Ito Hei approached the crowd on trembling legs and forced a laugh. "How's everyone doing down there in the dirt?"

"Wait, no. Comfortable in those traps?"

"Wait, no. How's everyone feeling?"

Liu Xin covered his face. "Keep talking. At this rate, you might not live to see another sunrise."

The crowd's anger, which had begun to fade, slowly flared again.

They glared at him. "Did you come here to mock us?"

"You expect me to take that? Once I'm out, I'll give you an uppercut full of love!"

Sensing that things were getting out of hand, Ito Hei said awkwardly, "Come on, let's not burn our bridges!"

"I'll let you out now, so how about we call it even?"

"If you want to blame someone, blame Liu Xin. Every one of these traps was his idea!"

That shifted the heat nicely. More importantly, quite a few people believed him.

After all, every trap involved earth, and Liu Xin was a full-time Ground Type trainer.

Liu Xin clenched his fists. "Damn you, Ito Hei. You sold me out."

"I'd better get going..."

He had planned to leave while the crowd was chasing Ito Hei, but now he had to go first.

As he passed them, he grinned. "Nice weather today, huh? Everyone enjoying the trial?"

"See you outside in a bit!"

He vanished in a flash.

Ito Hei wanted to run too, but the looks aimed at him stopped him in his tracks. He obediently stayed to free everyone.

Liu Xin was the first to emerge from the lighthouse.

The guardians thought nothing of it.

As far as they were concerned, Liu Xin had been a favorite from the start.

And with all those screams coming from inside the tower, what more was there to say?

Then came a cry for help. "Stop chasing me! Liu Xin did it all!"

"Help!"

Ito Hei burst out in front, with a whole crowd of pursuers on his heels.

When someone was being chased, their potential knew no bounds.

At the sight of the light outside the tower, Ito Hei chuckled. "Too late. You missed your chance."

"I'm outside the lighthouse now. You can't lay a finger on me."

Those were the rules at Bill's Lighthouse. No full-blown battles outside, at least not under the guardians' noses.

The crowd ground their teeth in frustration, but there was nothing they could do.

Curious, the Lighthouse Guardians asked what had happened and learned just how absurd this trial had been.

Those two had taken every treasure and trapped everyone else along the way.

After hearing how they had done it, the guardians could only smile bitterly. Those two were no ordinary participants.

"You'd better hope we don't run into you in the next trial. If we do, we're coming at you with everything we've got!"

"Just you wait!"

Were they really going to stick around after that?

Of course not. Liu Xin had no intention of staying. He knew when to quit while he was ahead.

Ito Hei was ready to leave too. Sen Anxiang had packed her things long ago; she had already grown bored of the place.

She really was a girl who tired quickly of old things.

Besides, they needed to head to Vermilion City for the competition.

Sen Anxiang exclaimed, "Liu Xin, look! Your egg has grown wings!"

My egg?

Liu Xin instinctively looked elsewhere. Then it clicked: she meant the Pokémon egg.

He let out a long breath. "That must be Dragonite's blessing. Back when we..."

He slowly told Sen Anxiang what had happened during the trial and took out the treasures to share. They hadn't had a chance to examine them closely.

The first treasure was a fruit glowing red. Eating it would strengthen Fire Type attacks.

That was an easy choice: it went to Ito Hei. Liu Xin had Mutant Phanpy, but Ito Hei's Pokémon would benefit from it more.

Rapidash looked even more majestic after the boost. It had grown sturdier too, with a pair of tiny wings like Dragonite's sprouting from its sides. They were adorable.

Liu Xin gave the second treasure to Sen Anxiang's Krabby.

It was an item only a Water Type Pokémon could use. Once consumed, it would grant a healing skill, but only to a Water Type Pokémon.

Its use was restricted to the letter.

The third treasure belonged to Ground Type Pokémon: a small ring.

Wearing it would steadily improve the wearer's defense. The effect would continue for as long as the ring was worn, but it could only ever be used by one Pokémon.

That meant Liu Xin had to choose. Once the ring was bound to a Pokémon, no other Pokémon could use it.

The choice was obvious. Liu Xin gave it to Shiny Cubone. They had defeated Dragonite this time largely thanks to Cubone's unyielding spirit.

The fourth treasure had no fixed type. It was a pair of gloves that would temporarily grant a Pokémon the Fighting Type when worn.

But there were limits on both duration and use. It looked like they could be used once a week.

The fifth treasure was made specifically for Dragon Type Pokémon, so it went straight to Super Gible.

It was a skill book that any Dragon Type Pokémon was guaranteed to learn from.

"Bleeding."

"As long as a skill inflicts a wound, the opponent will continue losing health."

"The amount of health lost depends on the user's Special Attack."

It was a fine skill for wearing an opponent down while keeping out of reach.

After Gabite learned it, its claws grew sharper, with streaks of red flowing across them.

It had visibly grown stronger.

All five treasures were easy to distribute. Liu Xin kept the fourth one, the gloves.

The three-person team had grown stronger across the board. Even Sen Anxiang had received a substantial boost.

"Croconaw!"

Croconaw, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped and roared at something up ahead.

"What is it?"

Sen Anxiang went over to ask Croconaw what had happened. Why had it suddenly reacted like that?

Liu Xin translated quietly. "There's a trap ahead. I've run into so many traps that I'm especially sensitive to them."

"That's what it said."

Ito Hei laughed. "If there's a trap, we can just test it, can't we?"

"I doubt anyone else could set traps as nasty as yours. Rapidash, use Flame Burst up ahead."

A burst of flame swept away every obstacle in front of them, exposing a huge pit full of traps.

"Cautious, aren't you? I thought the trap would catch you."

"But it doesn't matter. This is as far as you go!"

An oppressive presence washed over them as a level-forty Hippowdon slowly emerged, followed by a group of people.

A sense of danger unlike anything they had felt before swept over them.