Team Magma

Afterward, Chen Shi went to find Steven.

Seeing him engrossed in digging for stones, Chen Shi took his Pokémon out to battle wild Pokémon.

"Metang, Bullet Punch."

"Beta~"

Metang acted without hesitation, slamming a Bullet Punch into a Zubat.

Zubat immediately let out a cry of pain.

"Metang, use Bullet Punch again."

"Beta~"

Metang repeated the attack, knocking Zubat out with another Bullet Punch.

"Nicely done, Metang!"

"Beta~"

Despite its Trainer's praise, Metang didn't think it had done anything impressive. Its opponent had simply been too weak.

"Kano~"

At that moment, Charmander tugged on Chen Shi's hand, indicating that it wanted to battle too.

Chen Shi smiled. "I'll find you an opponent. Don't worry."

"Kano~"

Reassured, Charmander continued following Chen Shi alongside Metang as they searched for wild Pokémon.

Time ticked by as Chen Shi took his Pokémon around in search of wild Pokémon.

During that time, Charmander and Metang performed very well in battle. Whenever they encountered intermediate- or advanced-level Pokémon, those two took the field.

They had essentially gone undefeated.

As noon approached, Chen Shi found Steven.

"Steven, it's noon. Time to eat. Stop digging."

Hearing that, Steven set down his equipment, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked over to sit beside Chen Shi.

Chen Shi took out various portable foods and set them on the ground, and the two sat down to eat.

"So, did you find anything this morning?"

Munching on a biscuit, Steven wasted no words and simply took out two stones.

One was a high-grade Moon Stone.

As for the other, it was actually a Mega Stone for Mawile.

Chen Shi didn't know whether to marvel at how many Evolution stones Meteor Falls contained or at Steven's luck.

Mawile might have had a low base stat total of only 380, but it was a Steel/Fairy-type Pokémon with excellent resistances.

It had only two weaknesses, Fire and Ground, along with two immunities, one quadruple resistance, and eight double resistances.

After Mega Evolution, Mawile's Ability would become Huge Power, regardless of what it had been before.

As for Huge Power... all Chen Shi could say was that those who knew, knew.

When using physical moves that didn't deal fixed damage, its move power doubled. It was ridiculously strong.

Only three Pokémon had this Ability: Azumarill, Mega Mawile, and Diggersby.

Among them, Azumarill with Huge Power was even known as the dragon slayer.

That alone showed just how powerful the Ability was.

After thinking it over, Chen Shi asked, "Steven, have you ever considered catching a Mawile?"

"You're pretty fond of Steel-type Pokémon, aren't you?"

"I think Mawile would be a great choice."

Steven pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "A Mawile with Sheer Force would certainly be good."

Chen Shi said, "You should consider catching one. It really is a good choice."

He wasn't trying to mislead Steven. Mega Mawile really was incredibly strong, and it was a Steel/Fairy-type Pokémon to boot.

It could fully cover the gaps in Steven's team.

"I'll give it some thought."

Seeing how serious Chen Shi was, Steven somehow found himself agreeing almost without thinking.

In truth, Mawile hadn't originally been among the Pokémon Steven was considering.

After all, a Mawile with Sheer Force could only be called decent. It still fell short of his standards for a Pokémon worth catching.

Chen Shi didn't care what Steven thought. He had given him the suggestion, anyway.

Whether Steven listened was up to him.

While the two chatted, the wall of the tunnel Steven had dug suddenly began bulging, with clods of dirt constantly falling away.

Both stared in bewilderment. What was going on?

It didn't look like the tunnel was collapsing.

While they were still stunned, a large hole suddenly appeared in the wall, and voices came from behind it.

"Yoshino, where exactly is this meteorite? It's been days. We've found plenty of strange stones, but not a single meteorite."

"Stop complaining and keep looking. Lord Firetree gave us strict orders. We have to find that meteorite."

"I heard Lord Firetree found five Bagon somewhere. Whoever finds the meteorite gets one as a reward."

"That's a Bagon-a pseudo-legendary Pokémon! If we got one, we might even become officers someday!"

The other person cried out in delight, "Yoshino, is that really true?"

"We get a Bagon if we find the meteorite?"

"Of course it's true. Now get digging."

Once the passage had been completely opened, Chen Shi and Steven finally saw two people dressed in red clothes bearing a distinctive emblem.

Chen Shi reacted immediately, sending out Dreepy and Swampert.

"Catch those two. Don't let them escape."

"Chia~"

"Lachi~"

Drakloak and Swampert charged at the two Team Magma members without hesitation.

Only then did the two Team Magma members snap out of their daze and hurriedly try to grab their Poké Balls to summon their own Pokémon.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. Drakloak sent one flying with a sweep of its tail, while Swampert had already grabbed the other by the throat.

Chen Shi immediately confiscated their Poké Balls and locked them.

Yoshino, whose throat was in Swampert's grip, remained defiant and shouted:

"Brat, do you know who I am?"

"Do you dare face me in a fair battle?"

Chen Shi smiled. "I do, and I don't!"

"You..."

That answer stopped everything Yoshino had been about to say dead in his throat.

He couldn't understand it. These two were clearly core League Trainers. Didn't they love fair battles more than anything?

Yoshino had encountered core League Trainers several times before. Whenever he asked for a fair battle, they would foolishly recall their Pokémon.

Why wasn't that trick working now?

Steven stepped forward and asked in confusion, "Chen Shi, who are they?"

Chen Shi looked a little surprised. "They're from Team Magma, that group that sprang up recently. You don't recognize them?"

Steven slapped his forehead. That did seem to be right.

His father had told him this organization had caused quite a stir recently, and that he should be careful if he ran into them.

After that, Steven's gaze toward Yoshino turned hostile as well.

Chen Shi wasted no words and asked, "Let's get straight to the point."

"Tell me what you're doing here, what your objective is, how many people you brought, and how strong they are."

Yoshino sneered. "Brat, are you still half asleep?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Yoshino wasn't afraid of these people. At worst, they would send him to the police station. Someone would get him out eventually anyway.

"Fine. Watch carefully, then."

Chen Shi sent out Leafeon and said, "Leafeon, see that person lying over there?"

"Take his foot off so this stubborn gentleman can admire it."

Leafeon curled its lip and unleashed a lightning-fast Razor Leaf, slicing off the foot of the man lying on the ground.

"Aah!"

"My foot... my foot!!!"

He jolted awake, veins bulging across his forehead as he let out one agonized scream after another.

His hands gripped his trousers tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His screams echoed through the underground cavern, making their skin crawl.

Steven and Yoshino swallowed. Neither had expected Chen Shi to be so ruthless. He had ordered a foot cut off without a second thought.

Chen Shi ignored the man on the ground and spoke with a smile.

"Would you like to admire your own foot too?"

"Or perhaps some other body part? I can help take those off as well!"

Yoshino immediately felt a chill shoot straight to the crown of his head.

"You... aren't you afraid the League will punish you for this?"

"You're supposed to send me to prison!"

Chen Shi didn't want to waste any more words on him. "Leafeon, get ready."

"I'll count to three. If he still won't talk, hit him with a Razor Leaf too."

"Bui~"

Leafeon yawned lazily, indicating that it understood.

"Wait, wait, wait! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Yoshino shouted in terror, "We're here to find a meteorite. I don't know what it's for."

"Officer Firetree is leading us this time. I heard he's reached Senior Elite King level. There are also three advanced-level members and over ten intermediate-level members."

"Our base is in a cave not far from here, but Lord Firetree is stationed there. I can draw you a simple map."

Chen Shi nodded in satisfaction.

"See? Wouldn't it have been better to do that from the start? Look what you've done to your companion."

Yoshino glanced at his companion, who had passed out from the pain, cold sweat continuously beading on his forehead.

This kid didn't seem like a core League Trainer at all. He seemed more like a member of an underground organization.

He was unbelievably ruthless.

Mawile