A narrow victory

But that was not the crux of Sneasel's attack. Dark-type energy gathered around its claws once more, and it slashed viciously at Floatzel with its razor-sharp claws.

"Scraaa!" Floatzel cried out in pain. The claw marks across its belly were deep enough to expose bone, and blood poured out, staining the surrounding patch of sea crimson.

Payback was a Dark-type move that counterattacked after the opponent struck, dealing double damage.

Foul Play was a Dark-type move that used the target's attacking power in place of the user's own.

Taking a Quick Attack from Floatzel head-on would deal considerable damage to Sneasel, but once Payback returned the blow at double strength, Floatzel would suffer even more. The Foul Play that followed was the real key to the counterattack.

Sneasel had not reached Entry Class, so its attacks posed little threat to Floatzel. Floatzel had powerful attacks and great speed, but its defenses were fairly average. Turning its own attacking power against it was another matter entirely—that strength was enough to pose a lethal threat.

At that moment, Sneasel's five years of accumulated experience proved invaluable. Neither Foul Play nor Payback was a move Sneasel could normally learn on its own; both required additional training. Unable to improve its strength over those five years, learning more moves had become the only thing Sneasel could do.

"Floatzel!" Seeing Floatzel grievously wounded, the Hall's Pokémon Trainer panicked. He only had two Pokémon, and Krabby lacked speed. He had assumed his Entry Class Floatzel would crush a group of Normal Class Pokémon, never imagining it would lose so quickly.

"Froakie, Quick Attack!"

"Popplio, Life Dew, then Disarming Voice!"

Without giving their opponent a chance to react, Xiao Ran and Ye Ling issued their next orders. They could not let this chance to kick him while he was down slip away. If Floatzel recovered, finding another opening like this would be difficult. The same trick would not work twice on the same target.

"Froak!"

At the command, Froakie charged first. A flash of light streaked past, sending Floatzel, which had been resting on the water's surface, tumbling again amid splashes of blood.

Meanwhile, Popplio used Life Dew from a distance, healing its own injuries and Sneasel's. Taking a hit from an Entry Class Pokémon head-on was no easy feat, even if it was a low-damage move like Quick Attack.

"Krabby, get back here and help!" the Hall's Pokémon Trainer shouted, trying to call Krabby back to rescue Floatzel. But when he looked over, he froze.

A Charmander and a Magnemite were running circles around his Krabby. Neither came close, instead attacking constantly from a distance and wearing down its vitality. The Charmander had even released a cloud of Smokescreen around Krabby, leaving it unable to tell which way was which. Then the Magnemite overhead rained down Thunder Shock after Thunder Shock, bombarding Krabby as though it were a stationary target, with Thunder Wave and Supersonic mixed in between.

The pair's maddening tactics made his scalp prickle, but there was nothing he could do for the moment. Krabby was slow to begin with, and under the effects of Charmander and Magnemite's slew of disabling moves, it could not catch either opponent. Ranged moves were not Krabby's specialty, either.

Even when a Water Gun hit Charmander, against which it had a type advantage, it barely hurt. Meanwhile, every Thunder Shock from Magnemite, which had an advantage over Water types, posed a lethal threat. At this rate, Krabby might be utterly defeated within a few more rounds.

"Damn it!" The Hall's Pokémon Trainer took out a Poké Ball, preparing to flee, but a pleasant song reached his ears, as though someone were calling to him.

Unlike him, lost in the song, Floatzel and Krabby wore agonized expressions, as though enduring immense mental pressure.

Disarming Voice. After barely recovering with Life Dew, Popplio finally unleashed this group attack. The man and both Pokémon suffered an assault on their souls at once. Sound-based moves were among the hardest attacks to block or resist, because sound was everywhere.

"Finish it, Sneasel. Use Foul Play again." Ye Ling let out a small breath of relief and called to Sneasel, which was still relentlessly attacking Floatzel.

Without Foul Play, the damage a Normal Class Sneasel could deal to Floatzel was severely limited. But the more powerful the strength Foul Play borrowed, the more stamina it consumed, so Sneasel had not used it again since then. Now, at last, the time had come to end the battle with Foul Play.

Dark-type energy gathered between its claws, and a razor-sharp gleam slashed toward Floatzel. Blood stained the entire bay red. An Entry Class Floatzel had died just like that, overwhelmed by a group of Normal Class Pokémon.

"No!" At last, the Hall's Pokémon Trainer snapped out of Disarming Voice's spell. Pale-faced, he saw Floatzel lying in a pool of blood and let out a furious shout. But it was not over yet.

As Floatzel fell, Magnemite unleashed another Thunder Shock, stripping away what little vitality Krabby had left. After struggling for so long, Krabby twitched faintly, then slumped to the ground and stopped moving altogether.

"If you don't want to die, you'd better stay right there!" Xiao Ran told the man sternly. People like him had no affection for their Pokémon. He was only angry because their defeat meant he could no longer escape.

Sure enough, once Krabby died, he turned without the slightest hesitation and tried to run toward the open sea. But Froakie had already blocked his escape route.

"Spare me! I've got plenty of good stuff! You can have all of it!" Realizing he could not get away, the Hall's Pokémon Trainer wasted no time turning to plead with them.

"Oh? What do you have? Let's hear it." Jiang Cheng stepped forward, intrigued by the offer. But what happened next would give him nightmares for days.

"Sneasel, kill him!" Ye Ling's voice was cold and utterly emotionless. Sneasel did not hesitate either. It immediately used Quick Attack, and in a flash, its icy claws had slit the man's throat.

"You..." He tried to say more, but never got the chance. His corpse collapsed limply to the ground.

"I... I... I..." Jiang Cheng, who had been about to approach, stopped dead. Trembling, he turned back with an ugly expression that looked on the verge of tears. Then, with a loud retch, he bent over beside the sea and vomited violently.

"Damn it!" Looking thoroughly annoyed, Xiao Ran grabbed Ye Ling and swam quickly toward shore. They were still in the sea, and this idiot had thrown up right into the water.

"Useless!" Shen Yue, not far away, was pale as well, but she was doing better than Jiang Cheng and had not vomited. After all, it was her first time seeing a dead person. Some discomfort was inevitable.

"I mean... urgh... why did you... urgh... suddenly... kill him... urgh..." Jiang Cheng asked them miserably.

"If we hadn't killed him, you'd be dead. Didn't you see his hidden right hand reaching behind his back? Pokémon aren't the only things that can kill people. Guns can too!" Xiao Ran climbed ashore and answered irritably.

Born into a wealthy family, Jiang Cheng had never encountered anything like this. Hearing the man surrender, he had approached without the slightest caution—a cardinal mistake in the wilderness. Without the protection of the law or the restraints of morality, no one knew what another person might do. Excessive naivety would only get you killed.

"A gun?" Jiang Cheng was so shocked that he even forgot to vomit. Only when Froakie retrieved a black handgun from beside the corpse did he sink to the ground, shaken by how close he had come. Just a little closer, and he would have been the one who died.

"All right. If you're a rookie, just keep learning. At least the two of us teamed up to take down a peak Normal Class Pokémon this time." Shen Yue came over to comfort him. Having grown up in a Gym, she had always studied these basics of wilderness survival. She was simply unsettled by seeing real bloodshed for the first time.

"If you want to be a Pokémon Trainer, this is your first lesson in life. If you want to go home, inherit the family business, and be a rich man, just consider today an eye-opener. Don't go wandering outside for no reason after this. I don't want to have to collect your corpse someday." Unlike Shen Yue's reassurance, Xiao Ran's words were blunt and resigned. But this was a choice Jiang Cheng had to make.

"Tch... who needs you to collect his corpse? I'm going to live a long, healthy life. Being rich would be boring. I'm definitely going to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer!" After a long silence, Jiang Cheng took a deep breath, stood up, and spoke with feigned disdain.

"Mm, that's the spirit. Then you can go loot the corpse. A little more exposure to blood will help you grow!" Xiao Ran said with a perfectly straight face, then looked around and began examining their surroundings.

"Wh-what? Loot the corpse?" The man who had been brimming with bravado a moment ago went rigid. He turned his head like a marionette and stared at Xiao Ran in horror.

"Of course. Don't you loot bodies after killing people in games? If you don't loot them, where will you get your spoils? Where will you get quest clues? What's with all the dithering? You're not scared, are you?" Xiao Ran turned back and asked Jiang Cheng with feigned surprise.

"Scared? No way! How could I possibly be scared? It's just looting a corpse. I'll go right now!"