"It's right in there!"
Outside the Team Magma Base, Chen Shi spoke softly.
Ada's gaze sharpened, and he strode straight inside.
Seeing how confident this Draconid was, Chen Shi and Steven exchanged a glance and followed him.
Before long, the three of them had barged into the Team Magma Base.
Firetree had been resting. When he heard the noise, he thought his subordinates had returned.
But when he opened his eyes, he found three strangers instead.
He immediately flew into a rage. "Who are you? How dare you barge into our Team Magma Base! Do you have a death wish?"
The reason Firetree dared to confront them head-on was that all three were young.
Only the one in front looked to be in his early twenties. The other two were probably only sixteen or seventeen.
People like these couldn't possibly be powerful, so Firetree naturally wasn't afraid.
"Are you the one who stole our five dragon hatchlings?"
At Ada's question, Firetree's expression changed, and he immediately released his six Pokémon.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Since you dared to invade Team Magma's territory, prepare to die."
Soon, six Pokémon appeared in the cave.
With a thought, Chen Shi brought up the data for all six Pokémon before his eyes.
An early-stage Senior Elite King Torkoal, Mightyena, and Camerupt.
A peak Gym-level Golbat, Weezing, and Seviper.
"All of you, attack! Torkoal, use Flamethrower!"
Ada wasted no words either. He pulled three Poké Balls from inside his clothes and opened them.
"Hydreigon, Altaria, Flygon, use Dragon Pulse at full power!"
Chen Shi looked up. This guy wasn't bluffing.
A late-stage Senior Elite King Hydreigon, a mid-stage Senior Elite King Altaria, and a mid-stage Senior Elite King Flygon.
He really had some skills.
On the battlefield, Hydreigon let out a furious roar.
"ROAR!"
As soon as Ada gave the command, all three Pokémon unleashed Dragon Pulse at full power.
Three energy pulses bearing spectral images of mighty dragons overpowered the opposing moves and slammed into the three peak Gym-level Pokémon.
All three were instantly knocked out, lying on the ground with their lives hanging in the balance.
"Damn it! Torkoal, Heat Wave!"
"Mightyena, Take Down!"
"Camerupt, use Earthquake!"
Ada scoffed. Don't you know Earthquake can't hit Pokémon in the air?
"Again! Dragon Pulse, full power!"
Behind him, Chen Shi was startled. This bastard was using Earthquake to escape! Mightyena's Take Down was meant to buy him time.
They were inside a cave. One Earthquake, and this place would fucking collapse!
"Drakloak, use Sucker Punch on Camerupt! Hurry!"
Steven had realized it too, and he immediately released Metagross.
"Metagross, use Confusion to stop Camerupt!"
Wrapped in Dark-type energy, Drakloak slammed hard into Camerupt. Then Metagross's Confusion seized Camerupt as well.
They had managed to stop Earthquake from going off.
"Drakloak, Phantom Force!"
Without hesitation, Drakloak plunged into subspace.
"You're asking to die!"
Seeing his plan fall apart, Firetree shouted furiously.
"Hydreigon, use Hyper Beam! Altaria, use Sky Attack! Flygon, keep using Dragon Pulse!"
"ROAR!"
Hydreigon's Hyper Beam overpowered Fire Blast and knocked Torkoal out in a single hit.
Camerupt also fell to Altaria's powerful move.
Mightyena had it even worse. Flygon hit Mightyena with a point-blank Dragon Pulse, then followed up with Dragon Claw. Mightyena was now lying in a crater.
As for Firetree!
He was already unconscious beside Chen Shi.
After entering subspace, Drakloak hadn't attacked or returned immediately. Instead, Drakloak had gone straight for Firetree's backside.
And just like that, Drakloak had knocked him out and brought him back.
Steven excitedly grabbed Firetree's Space Backpack and dumped everything out.
The two rummaged through the pile for a while, but soon lost interest.
They had thought there might be some stones or something valuable!
But it was all everyday supplies, along with some resources needed by Fire-type Pokémon.
They did, however, find five Poké Balls on Firetree.
Once they opened them, five Bagon appeared before them.
They had blue bodies and dinosaur-like shapes, with two exposed teeth and yellow lower jaws and bellies.
They looked pretty cute.
"Bagon!"
Ada cried out excitedly.
The Bagon seemed to recognize him and hurried over to Ada's side.
"Ba~ ba~"
For a moment, the Bagon's aggrieved cries echoed through the shattered cave.
Chen Shi also checked the little ones' potential: three Senior Elite Kings and two Elite Kings.
As expected of pseudo-legendary Pokémon raised by the Draconids, their potential was excellent.
Neither Chen Shi nor Steven was interested in Bagon, though. They only gave them an extra glance.
After quite a while, Ada finally soothed the Bagon and walked over to the two of them.
"Thank you both so much for this. If you're not in a hurry to leave, you're welcome to visit our village."
Ada had just worked out the purpose of that Earthquake too, and he was genuinely grateful to the two people before him.
Without them, he wouldn't have found the missing Bagon. Even after finding them, he had nearly let the thief escape.
That was why Ada wanted to invite them to visit his village.
If the Grandmother-in-Chief heard about it, she probably wouldn't refuse either.
Chen Shi gave Steven a questioning look, and Steven nodded slightly.
"Sure, let's go take a look!"
"But what are you planning to do with this guy? He's a criminal out in our part of the world too."
Ada gave Firetree a disgusted look. After thinking for a couple of seconds, he said, "I want to take him back to the village and let the Grandmother-in-Chief decide."
"Would that be all right with you?"
Chen Shi asked, "How do you usually deal with people like him?"
"We usually kill them outright, or make them stay in the village forever to atone."
Chen Shi grinned. Either option suited him just fine.
"All right, then. Sorry for the trouble we'll be putting you to."
Joy spread across Ada's face. After recalling the Bagon, he led the two of them toward the deepest part of Meteor Falls.
Hydreigon
Before you continue