One of the Mightyena surrounding the Ralts suddenly lifted its head and sniffed the air, its fierce gaze instantly locking onto the direction of the bush: "Grrrowl!"
The other Mightyena's reaction was even more violent. It directly opened its maw and fired a Shadow Ball at the bush.
The dark purple energy sphere shot forward with blinding speed. Ethan didn't even have time to react before he felt a heavy impact on his chest.
'Damn it! I just wanted to ask for directions! Was that level of brutality really necessary?!'
The commotion caught the attention of the two men. They swiftly shifted their gazes to battered and bruised Ethan, who had been knocked flat on his back.
"Grrr..." a low growl rumbled from the Mightyena's throat.
It glared at Ethan menacingly, then quickly approached him in an effort to pin him to the ground.
Seeing Ethan attacked, the expression on Cramorant's face finally changed as it let out a cry: "Caw!"
A white light glowed in its eyes, and in the next second, several blue rings materialized around its body.
The air in the vicinity began to grow turbulent, an indescribable pressure filling the area.
"What the– what's that?!" the man behind the Mightyena was genuinely stunned by the sight.
'That Pokémon, that move brimming with oppressive force... I've never seen anything like it!'
No one answered him, because a moment later, countless brilliant aquamarine beams of light erupted from the blue rings surrounding Cramorant, indiscriminately raining down upon the two Mightyenas.
Ethan stared in shock, 'That's really Kyogre's Origin Pulse!'
This scene was reflected in the Ralts' eyes. It stared at Ethan, while Ethan stared at Cramorant.
The vast landscape before them underwent a visible transformation under the barrage of light... Trees and grass disintegrated, vaporized by the beams' raw power at a visible rate.
Both Mightyenas collapsed into critical condition...
When everything finally calmed down, Ethan couldn't help but swallow hard, thinking, 'The power of that Origin Pulse was absolutely insane!'
He stood up and looked at Cramorant.
After using the move, the bird simply reverted to its usual vacant state and settled back onto his shoulder.
The two men snapped out of their shock, their faces pale with terror as they stared at Cramorant. That devastating wide-area attack had missed them by mere inches.
Looking at their Mightyenas that had been one shotted, they didn't even dare to imagine what would happen to a human if hit by that!
Without wasting time, the two exchanged subtle glances, then turned and bolted.
But at that moment, a figure exuding a haughty and aloof air materialized out of thin air, blocking their retreat. It was a Gardevoir!
Blue light flared in Gardevoir's eyes. With a furious burst of psychic force, it lifted both men off the ground and slammed them against a thick tree trunk. Two dull thuds sounded as they instantly lost consciousness.
Before Ethan could even react, a flash of white light appeared before him. Gardevoir had used Teleport to appear directly above him.
Psychic aura rapidly coalesced into a tangible blade of light. Just as when it was about to slash down, a small figure suddenly interposed itself between Gardevoir and Ethan.
Ethan quickly scrambled to put distance between himself and the hostile Gardevoir.
Ralts chirped something to Gardevoir, its face full of anxiety.
A moment later, the psychic blade before Gardevoir dissipated. It gave up its attack and instead turned a stern gaze upon the Ralts, like a mother scolding her daughter.
The Ralts let out a soft cry. It glanced back at Ethan once, then vanished along with its mother using Teleport.
Seeing this, Ethan let out a sigh of relief, "Phew~"
It was clear that Gardevoir had mistaken him for being in cahoots with those two men.
'Damn, the Pokémon world is just too dangerous! I only wanted to ask for directions...' Ethan lamented inwardly.
He then turned to look at Cramorant, thinking: 'So, when Cramorant saw me being attacked, that triggered some kind of automatic defense mechanism?'
"Hey, buddy, try using Origin Pulse again, will you?" Ethan beckoned.
"Caw?" Cramorant propped its head up with its wing, staring back at Ethan with its signature vacant expression.
Ethan: "..."
Sighing, he gave up on communication and instead walked over to check on the two Mightyenas:
«Mightyena»
- Species: Bite Pokémon
- Gender: Male
- Type: Dark
- Ability: Moxie
- Known Moves: Crunch, Thief, Sand Attack, Snarl, Shadow Ball...
[Base Stats: 420]
- HP: 70
- Attack: 90
- Defense: 70
- Sp. Atk: 60
- Sp. Def: 60
- Speed: 70
- Current Mood: Unconscious (No detectable awareness)
- Physical Condition: Severely injured (Incapacitated, injuries will not heal naturally)... Near Death (Will die if not treated)
- Affection: -50 (WARNING: It perceives you as an enemy and will attack on sight)
"To be able to one-shot such strong foes..." Ethan murmured.
Even he was stunned by the monstrous power displayed by the 'hacked' Pokémon that he had personally modified.
All six Base Stats were maxed out, even surpassing the highest Base Stat of Eternatus by a significant margin.
'This is a kind of absurd creation that shouldn't even exist in games... and as its creator, I owe Game Freak an apology!' Ethan chuckled.
'If only Cramorant could communicate with me...' Ethan thought with some regret.
Now acutely aware of Cramorant's destructive potential, Ethan stood up and walked over to the two unconscious men. He checked their pulses to confirm they were alive, then stripped off their upper garments, twisted the fabric into ropes, and tied each of them to a separate tree.
Then he searched their persons, laying out the items he found on the ground from largest to smallest; two empty standard Poké Balls, a black communication device resembling a walkie-talkie, several spray-type healing Potions, a wallet containing Pokédollars, and a ferry ticket bound for Slateport City.
"Slateport City... so this is the Hoenn region?" Ethan mused, looking at the ticket information.
'Then, are these two members of Team Magma or Team Aqua? Doesn't seem like it,' Ethan thought, remembering that neither Team Magma or Team Aqua's uniforms looked like this.
Just then, static noise crackled from the communication device, followed by a woman's voice: <..Takehara, did you get it? The auction house is all set up. We're just waiting on that Ralts now!..>
Ethan didn't answer.
The person on the other end sensed something was wrong: <..Takehara?..>
Upon realizing something was amiss, the person quickly cut the communication...
At that moment, one of the bound men's eyelids twitched slightly.
Noticing this, Ethan put down the communicator, took out the carp that Cramorant had gotten him earlier, then warned, "Keep pretending to be unconscious, and I won't hesitate to shove this dead fish where the sun doesn't shine."
'This damned monster!' the man's eyes snapped open.
Looking at the fish's lifeless eyes, a chill ran down his spine. He shot a wary glance at the Cramorant on Ethan's shoulder and asked, "What do you want?"
"Simple," Ethan replied, "Just answer my questions."