Demon

Investigating these people through the origins of the Pokémon in their Poké Balls crossed some of this world's moral boundaries, in a sense, but in practical terms, Gongping's method identified them very quickly.

According to the tacit understanding the two sides had previously reached, these intelligence operatives were not actually on the League's list of targets this time. But Gongping's actions had clearly enraged them. As Gengar moved against him, a beam of red light shot out of the shadows and abruptly pierced Gengar's body.

"Openly attacking a League King-your crimes are unforgivable."

At some point, Gongping had switched on the camera he wore, capturing footage of the six investigators attacking him and recording it as evidence.

The six intelligence operatives were furious. This fellow made it sound so casual, but the deeply unsettling quality about him intensified the murderous intent in their eyes. Gongping, however, did not care.

An ordinary publicity stunt would not be enough to shake the League's higher-ups. Only catching a few big fish would draw more attention and scrutiny, allowing him to advance his objective further.

A massive cloud of sand poured down, turning into a surging torrent. Tyranitar, who had activated Dragon Dance, worked in perfect coordination with the mysterious assassin who had incapacitated Gengar with a single strike from the shadows, leaving the six Team Rocket members afraid to act rashly.

"Rapidash, use Sunny Day!"

"Dewgong, use Rain Dance!"

The Team Rocket members were experienced Ace Trainers as well. After a moment of stunned hesitation, they began fighting to break out. Two of them released their Pokémon, creating two different kinds of weather to dismantle Tyranitar's control of the battlefield through sand.

Rain and sunshine appeared on either side, steadily squeezing the area where the sand remained active. Just as the blockade seemed about to break, an enormous surge of energy rose from the shadows, intensifying the sandstorm once again.

What was going on?

Why had the weather counter failed?

There was no time to think further. Countless grains of sand turned into bullets and blasted out at high speed. The savage impact gave Rapidash and Dewgong no time to react, leaving them badly wounded, while the grains continued toward the six people without slowing.

The green-haired female Trainer leading them deftly dodged the sand. Staring at the inscrutable Sandstorm King opposite her, she gritted her teeth. "Release all your Pokémon! We have to break out!"

Impressive physical ability, to evade the high-speed sand assault produced by Tyranitar's six Dragon Dances.

At the green-haired woman's command, the other five reacted. Light flashed from numerous Poké Balls, and Pokémon of various types appeared, unleashing their moves in an attempt to break through the enormous sand domain. Yet they made no headway at all. Instead, red beams kept shooting out of the shadows, knocking many of the Pokémon away and incapacitating them.

As the strongest of the six, the green-haired woman soon noticed something wrong. After repeated observation, she finally confirmed one thing. "How underhanded! You planted multiple Pokémon in the shadows, and they're using Sandstorm alongside Tyranitar!"

Clearly, a sandstorm on this scale could not have been caused by Tyranitar's Sand Stream Ability alone. It was the result of multiple Pokémon using Sandstorm at once!

Did this fellow have any of a Trainer's supposed pride, resorting to such unscrupulous methods?

During the struggle, the green-haired woman tried sending out various flying machines to observe the surroundings. Without exception, they were all destroyed.

In fact, Gongping had more than twenty Ground-type Pokémon lying in ambush nearby, and quite a few had already boosted themselves with stat-raising moves. One eerie red figure moving at high speed was the powerful combatant who had sniped Gengar earlier.

"There's only one of me, while the six of you have dozens of Pokémon altogether. Fighting under normal circumstances would take a lot of effort. I considered specific methods all the way here. Just now, while I was moving under the cover of the sandstorm blocking your view, I finished setting up the battle lines."

The Pokémon making up the sandstorm might not have been the most destructive combination, but they were certainly the best suited to coordinated positional warfare.

While the Team Rocket members were too occupied to spare him any attention, Gongping took out an exquisitely designed pair of fiber-optic data glasses and strapped a distinctive intelligent levitation device onto his back.

Amid powerful flashes of electromagnetic levitation, Gongping's body slowly rose into the air. He surveyed the enemies opposite him, then issued an attack command. In an instant, all of Mt. Moon shook violently.

Eight Pokémon unleashed Earthquake simultaneously, sending it toward the Team Rocket members in the center from every direction.

"Pidgeot!"

Taking out a special release bracelet, the green-haired woman grabbed a wild Pidgeot and swiftly escaped the range of Earthquake. The other members were not so fortunate. The indiscriminate Earthquake assault was terrifying. In less than a minute, the entire ground shook violently as though it had been brought to a boil.

The patch of ground Gongping and the others occupied had been specifically chosen. The entire stretch sloped downward. After repeatedly surveying the various parts of Mt. Moon several hours earlier, Gongping had specially selected this ideal spot for the Team Rocket members.

Violent magma erupted from the boiling, fractured ground. Under the terrifying chain of traps, many of Team Rocket's Pokémon were swallowed by the magma, and two Trainers met the same fate.

The terrifying spectacle drew the attention of League members in various distant locations. Many reporters who had arrived earlier after hearing the news also captured the scene with their equipment.

An entire corner of the Mt. Moon range seemed to have collapsed. Had some incredible secret of Team Rocket's been uncovered this time, prompting them to launch a frenzied counterattack?

The reporters, who had originally expected to rehash old news, instantly perked up. Cameras from various news outlets turned toward the battlefield between Gongping and Team Rocket.

Online, various live news broadcasts focused on Mt. Moon. The violent Earthquake attacks, combined with the boiling underground magma, drove the story's popularity ever higher. The cameras also caught Gongping floating in midair as he directed the battle.

"Could that enormous earthquake just now have been caused by this Sandstorm King?"

"This is outrageous. Does he have that legendary Pokémon from the Hoenn Region? Is that how he caused something on this scale?"

Unlike the reporters discussing the scene, Bruno, who had also arrived, felt as though his teeth ached as he watched.

This fellow seems to have made quite a scene.

"Mr. Bruno, what exactly happened? Was Team Rocket conducting some terrifying experiment at Mt. Moon this time?"

"Ahem, that's classified."

Bruno smiled goofily, seemingly revealing no useful information-or perhaps he himself did not know what had happened. Just as the reporters found themselves at a loss, they noticed that the distant tremors were gradually subsiding.

The battlefield was a devastated expanse of rubble, and no sound remained. Everything had ended with that enormous earthquake.

Neither happy nor sad, Gongping looked at it all without a trace of guilt, joy, or cruelty. His heart was utterly detached, without the slightest ripple or fluctuation, as though none of this had anything to do with him.

Seeing that the battle was over, all the Pokémon Gongping had stationed around the perimeter returned to their Poké Balls of their own accord to rest.

"Demon... you're a demon..."

The green-haired woman's voice rang out, and Gongping's gaze finally changed. Acting on years of combat instinct, he twisted sideways and threw a Poké Ball, completing the throw in barely half a second. A bright-red Scizor flashed before the green-haired woman at tremendous speed.

Unable to fight any longer, the green-haired woman watched Scizor draw closer and closer, a look of despair appearing on her face.

Seeing the despair in the green-haired woman's eyes, Gongping experienced a momentary illusion, her features overlapping with Mei's. In that instant of distraction, Scizor sensed something and halted the attack very close to the green-haired woman's neck.

"Cut her down!"

Coming back to his senses, Gongping issued another command, but Scizor's attack had already failed. Core Team Rocket members arriving as reinforcements sent out a Psychic-type Pokémon, which used Teleport to take away the green-haired woman, the sole survivor.

"Sandstorm King, Team Rocket will remember you."