Chapter 88: Darkness of the World
"Marcus, thank you." Ryan shook the bulging bags in his hands. It looked like these pills should last Ryan's Pokémon team for a full year.
Marcus huddled in a corner, his face pale. A single thought crossed his mind: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?
"It seems the blow was too deep," Rosa said with lingering fear. Ruby nodded in agreement: Either Togepi was instantly defeated, or its Metronome always managed to unleash the most appropriate moves. A barrage of techniques, combined with Slaking's Truant ability, wore Slaking down completely. Slaking didn't even manage to use a single move, which would have been devastating for anyone.
"Remember, don't feed them too much. One pill a day is enough. Too much is as bad as too little," the old man instructed earnestly.
"Yes, I understand," Ryan said seriously. "Marcus, now let's talk about Pokémon food."
"Okay, no problem!" Marcus instantly revived and began to explain his Pokémon food business, including the scale of his factory.
Ryan was surprised to learn that this young man, Marcus, came from a family that was the largest food supplier in the Johto region, with numerous partnerships with the Pokémon League. No wonder his main team consisted of such voracious eaters. With their wealth and their focus on Pokémon nutrition, their Pokémon wouldn't be shortchanged.
Marcus brought out some samples, and Ryan gave them to his own Pokémon. The food was indeed delicious and nutritious, suitable for Pokémon who exercised intensively and had large appetites.
After careful consideration, he signed a one-year contract with Marcus. If the results were good, he could move on to a ten-year contract. After all, Ryan's breeding ranch needed a lot of Pokémon food, and he had been buying it from the League. Honestly, the League was overpriced, charging premium rates. However, Ryan, struggling without a large supplier, had to accept the situation. Now that he had a supplier, he could save hundreds of thousands of Pokédollars a month.
Having finalized the deal, Ryan and his companions bid farewell to Marcus and the old pharmaceutical manufacturer and continued their journey towards Ecruteak City.
But life isn't always predictable. Sometimes, unexpected things happen, like this.
Ryan and the others looked at the group of people before them, a large R on their chests, as if to prevent others from noticing they were Team Rocket.
There were over thirty of them, surrounding Ryan and his team. Ruby nudged Ryan and said, "Your enemies?"
"Yeah. We helped their artificial Pokémon escape," Ryan said indifferently, having already released all his Pokémon.
"Just a bunch of grunts, what's there to be afraid of?" Rosa released Serperior with a look of disdain.
"I appreciate the confidence, but please take a look at where we are now," Ryan said helplessly.
Rosa looked at the cliff behind her and said helplessly, "What should we do? We can't escape. Should we surrender?"
"Hell no!" Ruby said.
"Let's do this!" Ryan roared. "Celebi, stop slacking off! Future Sight! Dragonite, Hail, and everyone else who can use Blizzard, unleash everything! Gengar and Beedrill, pick them off one by one. Alakazam, protect everyone!"
Dragonite fired an energy blast into the air, and dark clouds suddenly gathered. Then, Lapras and the others all used Blizzard, and the intense snow and wind instantly engulfed the Team Rocket grunts.
"Hmm. Looks like a one-shot solution?" Ruby said hesitantly.
"It's not that simple. Be careful!!!" Ryan said, and then a cold glint flashed in his eyes. A Beedrill shot directly at Ruby and Rosa with its stingers.
Ryan's reflexes instantly kicked in as he pressed down on their heads with one hand each. Then, with a sharp sound, intense pain pierced Ryan's arms, and blood instantly flowed over Ruby and Rosa's heads.
"Boom!" A powerful psychic force sent the Beedrill flying. Celebi waved his hand in fury, and countless psychic attacks shot out from the void towards Team Rocket.
He didn't need the help of other Pokémon; the wrath of a legendary Pokémon was too much for ordinary people to withstand.
"Ryan, are you okay?" Ruby wiped the blood from her face and looked at Ryan's pierced arm, a look of guilt on her face. If Ryan hadn't pushed her and Rosa down, the two holes would have been in their heads.
"I can't die. I have psychic powers," Ryan said.
He then opened his system store and looked through the psychic ability list. He found Rapid Healing, worth 1,000 Battle Points, and purchased it. Ryan then discovered that the psychic power he had purchased had different levels. It was only at level one, and he would need to spend Battle Points to upgrade to the next level.
He silently contacted the system and asked, "What level is required for instant healing?"
"Ding. According to the host's current injuries, recovery requires reaching level five of Rapid Healing. Level two costs 5,000, level three costs 10,000, level four costs 50,000, and level five costs 100,000," the system said.
"You're just after my points, right? Take them, and get me to level five," Ryan said helplessly.
The system was quite efficient. With the Battle Points spent and level five Rapid Healing acquired, the two puncture wounds in Ryan's arms healed at a visible speed, soon returning to perfect condition. If it weren't for the blood still there, Ruby and Rosa would have thought they were seeing things.
Watching Celebi, who had lost himself to fury, Ryan called out, "Alright, Celebi. Stop the assault!"
Celebi finally came to his senses, and the sight before them made the three gasp. Although Celebi hadn't killed anyone, their arms and legs were twisted at unnatural angles, and none of them could stand up again.
"Let's call Officer Jenny first," Rosa said, then took out her phone and made a call.
Ryan and the other two were currently in the mountains. He wondered how long it would take Jenny and the others to arrive. Just as he was thinking this, Ryan glanced at the Team Rocket members and suddenly shouted, "Don't you dare!"
"Graveler, Earthquake!" a grunt yelled, "Long live Team Rocket!"
Without hesitation, the wounded Graveler slammed into the ground with such force that even the Graveler itself shattered from the impact. This was a cliff! The entire mountain shook under Graveler's desperate attack, and a series of ominous cracking sounds echoed.
Ryan felt his footing give way and he plummeted off the cliff.
It wasn't just Ryan; Ruby, Rosa, and the rest of Team Rocket were also falling. Ryan gritted his teeth and shouted, "A bunch of fanatics! Dragonite, Celebi, save Ruby and Rosa! Gyarados, come get me!"
Ryan focused his psychic energy and pushed against the air. A loud boom echoed, and Ryan's body hovered in the air for a moment. Another boom sounded, and Ryan rose slightly, but two Psychic boosts were already his limit. Gyarados reacted quickly and flew over to catch Ryan. Ryan immediately took out his Poké Balls and recalled his other Pokémon.
Ryan and the other two landed safely. They glanced back at the horrifying crimson stain beneath the collapsed cliff, and all three fell silent. This was Ryan's first experience with the true darkness of the world, his first time facing so many mangled bodies. It was overwhelming, his chest tight, and he bent over and vomited.
Ruby and Rosa couldn't help themselves, either, and vomited as well.
The bloody lesson before Ryan and the others was a harsh reality: to show mercy to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself!
(End of Chapter)
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Power Stone or Review!
P@atreon/Soulforger (advanced chapters)