Pokémon: The Path of Ascension

Ooyama didn't say anything because he didn't want to say more to this woman.

Mako smiled but did not speak, instead turning back to continue leading the way.

Five minutes later.

The group arrived at a metal gate.

"Captain, good to see you," a guard at the gate greeted Mako.

"Yes, open the gate," Mako instructed.

"Of course."

The guard turned and quickly entered a code on the keypad beside the gate. With a loud "bang," the gate opened.

Mako smiled. "Captain Ooyama, let's go in."

With that, she stepped inside.

"Third, let's go."

Ooyama called for the thin guy to follow.

However, this time, the two lab personnel did not follow but walked in another direction.

"Bang."

The sound of the gate closing came from behind.

Ooyama looked back and then said, "Captain Mako, there's no need to close the door, is there?"

After entering, Mako found a chair and sat down. "What's this? Captain Ooyama, do you not trust me?"

"Are you worried about what I might do to you? Hehe," Mako laughed, covering her face.

"That's not it," Ooyama replied as he sat directly across from Mako.

Mako snapped her fingers, and soon someone came out from behind with a food cart.

"Captain Ooyama, you must be tired after a long day. You haven't had a proper meal, have you? I had the kitchen prepare a feast in advance, just waiting to celebrate you."

"Captain Mako's kindness is appreciated, but my brother and I have already eaten on the way here. It would be a waste of your kindness."

At this moment, the thin guy spoke up. "Captain, we…"

"Shut up!" Ooyama immediately interjected.

Mako laughed at this scene. "It seems Captain Ooyama is being a bit hard on his brothers. You clearly haven't eaten, yet you insist on arguing. Am I really someone that Captain Ooyama needs to be cautious about? How sad!"

"If Captain Ooyama is worried, why not let me taste all the dishes? That way, there will be no problem, right?"

With that, Mako gestured for the person serving the food to take a bit from each dish and place it on her plate.

So, Mako began to taste the food in front of Ooyama, taking small bites with an expression of enjoyment.

This made the thin guy beside them swallow hard.

In no time, Mako had tasted over twenty dishes.

The thin guy glanced back at Ooyama, and this time Ooyama finally didn't object, nodding at him.

The thin guy immediately showed an excited expression and began to feast.

Then, Ooyama started eating as well, but he ate slowly and in small amounts.

Mako watched the two of them with a smile, saying nothing.

After a while.

"Phew! I'm full," the thin guy said, patting his stuffed belly. "Big brother, this food is really good; you should eat more."

Mako said, "Yes, your men have good taste. Captain Ooyama, why not have a little more?"

Ooyama wiped his mouth. "No thanks; I'm already full."

"Is that so? As long as you're full, that's good... that's good..." Mako said meaningfully.

Ooyama's expression changed. "Captain Mako, what do you mean by that?"

At that moment, the thin guy's expression also changed as he said to Ooyama, "Big brother, being full means we can hit the road... haha."

"You!" Ooyama immediately stood up but suddenly felt weak all over. "You!"

"Hehe." Mako stood up and slowly walked toward Ooyama. "I've always heard that Captain Ooyama is very cautious. I didn't believe it before, but with everything today, if it weren't for the help from your good brother, Mr. Yamamoto, it would have been difficult for you to fall into this trap."

"Captain Mako, why say so much? The boss could arrive at any moment. Let's resolve this quickly and take the Pokémon with us," the thin guy said hastily.

"Third, you… you actually colluded with outsiders to harm me?!" Ooyama's eyes widened with rage.

The thin guy replied with a smile, "Big brother, I warned you before. If you weren't willing to hand this Pokémon over to the boss and instead chose to enjoy it with your brothers, then we could still be good brothers and share the benefits of this Pokémon with Captain Mako. But big brother, you rejected that, so don't blame your brothers for being merciless!"

"And big brother, my brothers didn't treat you to a nice dinner to let you go home stuffed; it's only fair after you've taken care of us for so many years, haha!"

"Third, do you really think Mako will keep you around after she gets this Pokémon? You're poking the tiger!"

When the thin guy heard Ooyama's words, his expression didn't change. "My dear big brother, you don't need to worry about that. Since you don't want to climb higher, please don't obstruct my brothers' path!"

As soon as he said this, several figures appeared around them, and each person had one or two Pokémon beside them, all at least Intermediate in strength.

"Go," Mako ordered.

Using the last of his strength, Ooyama summoned his strongest Pokémon.

"Honchkrow, it's time to work hard again!"

"Honchkrow!"

At that moment, a near Champion level Honchkrow appeared, although it looked injured.

If Toshi were there, he would immediately recognize that this was the Honchkrow he saw during the day!

…

On the ground, Toshi had made all the necessary preparations, and he had reported to the police about the situation to Officer Jenny ten minutes ago.

"Now, I can only hope the thin guy won't let me down."

Having overheard their earlier conversation, Toshi knew that if the thin guy still held any hopes regarding this Pokémon, the best opportunity to act would be tonight. If he missed it, he would never have another chance. While he didn't know what the thin guy would do, Toshi felt he had done everything he could.

"I hope this isn't a wasted effort." Just as Toshi stood up, he suddenly felt a commotion beneath his feet.

"What's that sound?"

At once, the corners of his mouth began to curl upwards.

"It's starting!"

…

About twenty minutes later, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground where Toshi had just been.

A square section of the ground sank down, forming a slope.

The thin guy named Yamamoto was scrambling up from below, holding the box containing the perfect quality Pokémon.

"This is terrifying! Even an injured near Champion still has such strength?"

As he ran, the thin guy recalled the brutal scene he had just encountered.

Honchkrow was facing more than thirty high-level strength Pokémon attacks, protecting Ooyama while effortlessly blocking them all.

With a single Dark Pulse, it took down several Pokémon; if it hadn't been for Mako's own near Champion getting in the way, everyone would have been wiped out by Honchkrow.

Even so, the only remaining Elite strength Pokémon in his possession had already lost its ability to battle due to the aftermath of a battle with two near Champions.

Now, he was left with just one Basic strength Pokémon, a Sableye that hadn't had time for cultivation.

All the other high-level and intermediate strength Pokémon had been defeated by those Trainers during the daytime battles and hadn't had time to recover.

"Sableye, you stay here and don't let anyone out!"

The thin guy instructed Sableye, then ran toward the direction of the off-road vehicle.

"Sableye!" Sableye nodded.

Watching the thin guy's figure gradually fade away, then glancing back toward the underground direction, Sableye suddenly sneered and then began to fade from view...