Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Hi all,

Here's the first of two chapters for today. Lucas and Cassidy explore the mines, but they encounter a major problem.

Chapter 40

The man hiding in the thick foliage reached down and grabbed a pokeball from his belt, but he didn't immediately release his Pokemon. He wanted to wait until the group had entered the mines and gained some distance before moving. Only one man was guarding the entrance, and he wasn't particularly attentive. The guard hadn't bothered to summon a Pokemon and was just standing around looking bored. Soon, the guard would come to regret his complacency.

His name was Ryan Locke. He worked as a smuggler who operated in and around Viridian City. His principal source of income consisted of stealing and selling other people's Pokemon on the black market. Since Team Rocket began selling slave collars, smuggling had become much more feasible and, hence, more profitable. He earned a decent livelihood from it, but he was far from wealthy.

But then he met Paul at the black market and saw an opportunity to make a fortune. Paul had revealed that he had discovered a mine. He wasn't overt about it, but it was enough to catch Ryan's attention. Ryan attempted to follow him as he left the market, but Paul managed to give him the slip. It took some time to learn more about him, but eventually, Ryan tracked Paul down to his home in the forest. He settled down to wait, expecting that the man would subsequently reveal where the mines were located.

Unfortunately, Paul seemed to suspect someone was following him and stayed close to home. Ryan became impatient and confronted Paul, demanding to know where the mines were. This resulted in a violent disagreement, in which Ryan ended up killing Paul. He placed the body in the bathroom and searched the cabin thoroughly for clues to the location of the mines. He came up empty-handed and had to leave before someone else stumbled upon the cabin.

He searched for the mines in the forest surrounding the cabin but failed to locate them. He had almost given up on the mines when he learned by chance that the mayor had hired a crew to inspect newly discovered mines. He knew they had to be the mines he was looking for because he couldn't believe two different mines could have been discovered in the same location. He decided to follow the team and seize his opportunity to retake them.

Ryan would have avoided the bloodshed if possible, but this was his only chance to obtain the mines before they were officially claimed. As far as he knew, this group was the only one who knew the exact location. If he killed them, he could hide in the mines and wait for the heat from their disappearances to die down.

"It's time to do the business, Sceptile," Ryan whispered.

He released Sceptile and instructed it to kill the miner standing guard at the entrance to the mine. Sceptile blended into the densely forested terrain as it moved to position itself so it could approach the miner from behind. Despite its size, it moved silently. The forest was its natural environment; therefore, it moved seamlessly through it. Furthermore, Ryan had meticulously trained all of his Pokemon on how to be stealthy, something that was important in his line of work.

It emerged from the trees and began to sneak up behind the miner, using the boulders for cover. Sceptile didn't need to bother since its victim was completely oblivious to his surroundings and didn't turn around once.

When it was only a few feet away, Sceptile surged forward and slashed the miner's throat with the razor-edged leaf extending from its arm. The miner's head was entirely severed from his body and fell to the ground with a thump. The head rolled away, coming to rest a few feet from his body, his face still showing the same bored expression. The kill was clean, so the miner died before he realised what was going on.

Ryan emerged from his hiding spot and approached the mine's entrance. "One down, six to go."

He knew killing the rest of the group would be difficult because they were all together, but he was confident in his abilities.

The group reached the bottom of the mines and looked around to check out their surroundings. Bear had handed out mining helmets to see in the darkness and allow them to keep their hands free.

Lucas activated his map function to have a more reliable set of eyes as they explored the mine. He didn't want to run the risk of missing something.

Bear approached the wall and ran his hands over it. "Magnetite. Fairly common, yet valuable in large quantities. Mining the magnetite will take effort, but our main priority should be on the evolution stones."

"How do we know there are evolution stones in the first place?" one of the miners asked.

"I discovered some stones further into the mine," Lucas replied, thinking quickly. He didn't want to tell them he had received the knowledge from a deceased person's journal.

"Let's get moving," Cassidy urged.

Lucas guided the way, retracing his path down the slope and through the first tunnel. They reached the intersection, branching off in two directions. Last time, he had taken the left path, leading to the spot where Paul had camped. Having erased all evidence of Paul's stay, nothing more of interest remained there.

"The left tunnel leads to a giant shaft with waterfall and underground river," Lucas explained. "But there's nothing more of interest beyond that. Let's head down the right tunnel."

He continued on, feigning familiarity with the surroundings, despite being clueless about what awaited him. He trusted the information in the journal, hoping Paul wouldn't let him down and expose his ignorance. He acknowledged that he should have explored the mines before bringing the mayor, but it was too late to turn back.

The right tunnel continued for a few minutes before opening into a spacious cavern. While investigating the area, they found a tunnel on the opposite side but decided to leave it alone for the time being.

One of the miners found a pile of rock evolution stones piled on the ground, extracted from a nearby cavity in the wall. They were similar in size to the other unrefined evolution stones he had come across, but they looked different. The stones were dark grey and appeared to be extremely dense, as evidenced by the cracks on the ground surrounding them where they had been dropped.

"We're going to be rich," Cassidy said, beaming. She reached down to grab one of the stones, but Bear stopped her.

"They may be unstable," Bear told her, then spoke to Lucas. "Did you mine this many stones from excavating the wall here?"

Lucas nodded. "I stopped mining when I discovered this batch, realising just how dangerous they were. Besides, I believe these were sufficient confirmations of the mine's value. I chose to leave after experiencing some tremors, fearing the mine would collapse and bury me alive."

Bear frowned. "We may have to fortify the mine first before we proceed with mining the stones."

"How much is the mine worth?" Cassidy asked impatiently.

"Too early to say, but if the rest of the mine is as abundant as this vein, it could be worth a fortune," Bear said. "Let's conduct some tests here before moving forward. I think this will be the area where we start mining the stones, but I want to be sure."

He removed his backpack and started unpacking equipment. The rest of the team did the same, and they began chatting enthusiastically as they worked.

Cassidy glanced around, feeling bored. "Hey, Lucas. Why don't we explore the rest of the mine? The team will likely be here for a while."

"Is that wise?" Lucas asked. "We are unaware of the potential dangers lurking in the other areas of the mines."

Cassidy patted his cheek. "Don't worry. Big sister will protect you."

"Who wants a sister like you?"

"Hey, Bear!" Cassidy shouted, ignoring him. "Lucas and I are going to investigate the rest of the mine. We shouldn't take too long."

Bear waved her off. He must have known he couldn't convince her otherwise, so he didn't waste his breath.

"Didn't you mention the mines have some wild rock-type Pokemon on the second level?" Cassidy asked, and Lucas nodded. "Well, then I should bring out a Pokemon that has some type advantage against them.

"She released Tentacruel to join her Raticate. Lucas studied its parameters and saw that it was level fifty-four. It had learned the Water Manipulation trait. It allowed it to manipulate water molecules in the air, giving it the power to move outside of the water.

All marine Pokemon had to learn it to be able to move on land without being vulnerable to other Pokemon. The trait reduced the Pokemon's speed, but there were ways to mitigate or even overcome the disadvantage. Tentacruel, for example, had trained its psychic affinity to learn Agility. The move appeared to be something that any Pokemon could learn, as long as they had the TM and met the requirements.

Lucas summoned Dante before following Cassidy into the tunnel. Since he was his strongest Pokemon at the moment, even if he wasn't part of the main team, he was going to use him. His other team members would receive some experience from any battles he fought either way.

The remainder of the first level consisted of a series of winding tunnels and didn't hold anything of interest. When they came to the end of the final tunnel, they found a stone staircase that they descended to the second level.

"Who carved out these stairs?" Cassidy asked.

Lucas shrugged. "It wasn't me. It's possible that I wasn't the first person to discover the mines, but they were abandoned for some reason."

"Sure, and leave behind a fortune."

"Well, we don't know how deep these mines go. Or what dangers we may encounter."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Cassidy said and walked down the stairs.

"This girl certainly doesn't lack courage," Meowth whispered. "Or maybe it's reckless stupidity? Which one do you think it is?"

"Maybe we'll find out," Lucas replied, before speaking to Dante. "If I get into a helpless situation, you're getting me out of here, regardless of whether Cassidy sees us or not. But it's only if we have no other option."

Dante nodded.

Something else occurred to him. "Make sure to memorise locations in the mines so we can use them as arrival points to teleport into."

He might want to dig up the hidden items located in the mines in the future, which he couldn't do with Cassidy around.

Lucas followed Cassidy down the staircase, and his ears picked up on ringing sounds coming from somewhere below him. Cautiously, he slowed down until he reached the bottom, where he found Cassidy waiting for him. The stairs led to a much larger and more uniform tunnel than those found on the first level. It looked like the tunnel had been shaped by human hands at some point in the past.

"What is that noise?" Lucas asked, peering down the tunnel. The beam from his headlamp pierced the darkness, but he couldn't see anything.

"It's probably some wild Pokemon," Cassidy said. "Let's go find out."

They continued down the tunnel until they came across the source of the noise, and they stopped and stared in amazement. Ahead of them were Geodudes and Gravelers, breaking up the rock like they were miners themselves. There were already dozens of cavities carved out of the tunnel, with piles of evolution stones, ores, and rocks littering the ground, revealing the enormity of how much had already been mined.

"They are mining the evolution stones," Cassidy mumbled, looking flabbergasted.

"Yes, I can see that for myself," Lucas said, watching them. Due to all the noise, the Pokemon couldn't hear them speaking and didn't react to their presence. "Do they need the evolution stones for a specific purpose, or are they just expanding their home?"

"Who cares? Are these really wild Pokemon? Or do they belong to someone?"

Lucas examined a few of the nearest Pokemon and got the answer. "They are wild Pokemon."

"How can you be so sure?"

"A hunch. Why don't we approach them and find out?"

When one of the Geodudes noticed them approaching, it called out an alarm. All activity ceased, and all of the Pokemon gathered in the tunnel, facing them. There must have been at least two dozen, and they were all in the level twenty to thirty range.

"Raticate?" Cassidy's companion tried to communicate with them, but it was ignored. Suddenly, the wild Pokemon rushed towards them, the stomping from the Gravelers causing the ground to shake.

"Tentacruel, go!" Cassidy ordered.

Tentacruel raised two of its tentacles, and a massive wall of water appeared in front of them. It surged forward and smashed into the approaching Pokemon, who cried out as they were washed down the tunnel. Most of them immediately fainted from the powerful attack, and only a few of the Gravelers managed to survive, but they were all in critical condition. They stayed down, refusing to get up, recognising they were completely outnumbered.

"Did you have to make such a mess?" Lucas asked. "You do realise that we are in a mine, right? We don't want to bring the whole ceiling down on us."

"There's nothing to worry about. I pride myself on efficiency," Cassidy said with her nose in the air. She looked at the piles of stones with a huge smile. "Maybe we should have let them be, as they are obviously good at mining the stones themselves."

Lucas shook his head. "You do remember that they are volatile. How many explosions do you think happened in the process of mining them? While the Pokemon may be able to withstand the explosions, what about the tunnel itself?"

"You worry too much."

As soon as she said that, one of the stones abruptly exploded, sending shrapnel flying at them. Dante raised a barrier in front of them, and they bounced harmlessly off it.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at Cassidy.

"Don't say a word," Cassidy huffed, and continued down the tunnel.

Meowth leapt off his shoulder and quietly collected both a rock and a ground evolution stone without needing to be asked. He handed them over to Lucas, who placed them in his inventory. Once he obtained the habitats for those types, the stones would be added to them to improve their affinity training efficiency.

They continued exploring the tunnel and encountered more Geodudes and Gravelers along the way. Tentacruel was more circumspect with its attacks, so Dante was able to get in on the action. They were able to take them out easily enough, and they continued on until they reached another staircase going down. The stairs twisted in on themselves, so when they reached the next level, they were headed back in the same direction they came from, albeit on a lower level.

They found the third level to be almost identical to the second, except it had been mined a lot more extensively. There were numerous side tunnels branching off from the main one, and they explored each one to see if they could find anything. There was no sign of any wild Pokemon, or any of the mined evolution stones and ores, which seemed to agitate Cassidy.

Lucas was coming to understand that she was a greedy woman. Since the mines were discovered within the territory of her city, she would also get a portion of the proceeds for the city's budget. So, if they couldn't find the stones that had been mined, then she would lose out on a lot of pokedollars. Then again, he wasn't feeling particularly good either, as it would massively eat into his profits.

They continued down the main tunnel but had to stop because they were met with an obstacle.

"I don't like the looks of that," Cassidy said, backing away from the edge.

In front of them was a wide chasm, with nothing but impenetrable darkness below them. There was a narrow stone bridge that spanned the expanse, but it didn't inspire a lot of confidence. While it was wide enough to fit two people simultaneously, some of the bridge had crumbled in places, leaving some tight spots that looked scary to navigate.

"It looks fine," Lucas said, and he started crossing the bridge. His confidence stemmed from the fact that Dante was behind him and would be able to catch him if he fell.

He was halfway across the bridge when he heard a roar, and a Charizard flew past him, with Cassidy riding on its back. She landed on the other side and waved at him mockingly.

"That's another way to get across, I guess," Lucas muttered.

Once on the other side, they continued onwards through the tunnel until it abruptly opened up into a massive cavern.

"Raticate!"

"What's the matter?" Cassidy asked and listened as Raticate communicated to her over their bond. "Raticate says that it smells the presence of Pokemon within the cavern."

Lucas nodded absentmindedly as his headlight illuminated one side of the cavern. The walls appeared unique, sloping down to create massive ramps resembling a half-pipe in a skate park, unlike the usual vertical walls. Although he couldn't see the entire cavern, he suspected the rest of the walls were similar. Who was the individual behind this unusual design? Did wild Pokemon build them, as they did with the tunnels?

"Dante, use Flash," Lucas ordered.

Dante's eyes shone, and a massive ball of light materialised in front of him, before it rose in the air, suspending itself near the ceiling. Unlike the earlier generation of Pokemon games, there were no hidden machines in this world. Instead, Flash was a technical machine developed by humans to light up dark areas. While it could technically be used in battle to blind an opponent, it wasn't that effective, as it worked differently from the games. Instead, it was used solely as a utility move and was perfect for situations like this. Dante already had the move learned when Lucas acquired him, and it was perfect for situations such as this.

The ball illuminated the cavern, revealing a pit in its centre. Inside, there was a massive mound of evolution stones, an incredible sight that would instill greed in even the most selfless of people. The half-pipe ran along all sides of the caverns. Above them, there were several circular openings spaced around the cavern with no obvious purpose. There was a much larger opening in the back of the cavern, which was completely uniform in shape like the others.

"Wow!" Cassidy exclaimed. "We are going to save a lot of pokedollars on mining the stones, which means more profit for us."

She stepped forward, but Tentacruel reached out with its tentacles and pulled her back. Just in time, something massive dropped from the ceiling, smashing into the ground and causing the ground to shake, and Lucas almost fell over.

"It's a Golem," Lucas shouted, recognising the Pokemon after the initial surprise. It was level forty-three, much stronger than what they had encountered previously. "Dante, raise a Protect over the two of us."

Dante obeyed the orders, summoning two shimmering shields in front of Cassidy and Lucas. Raticate dashed forward to attack Golem, its mouth emitting dark energy as it clamped down on his opponent's head. However, the attack had little effect. Golem retaliated by seizing Raticate with its arm and hurling it aside. Meanwhile, Tentacruel released a powerful water jet, which struck the Golem and propelled it backwards several feet. Its condition immediately dropped to a depleted condition, and her Pokemon worked together to finish it off.

"Huh, take that, you bastard!" Cassidy yelled.

"Don't celebrate too soon," Lucas advised as he heard a rumbling noise.

More Golems emerged from the openings, curled up into balls. They rolled down the ramp, gathering speed and spinning around to face the humans. Lucas now understood the purpose behind the design of the ramps and felt a wave of nervousness as the Golem rapidly approached them.

"We should retreat," Lucas suggested.

"I got this," Cassidy assured him, although she didn't look as confident as she sounded. "Tentacruel, use Surf again to wash them away."

Tentacruel summoned a new wall of water in front of it, and it crashed down on the Golems. It pushed back several of them, but some of them managed to push through water, thanks to the momentum. They were damaged, but they were still rolling towards them.

"Dante, use Psychic," Lucas commanded. "Take out the immediate threats to us."

Dante released a beam of psychic energy, which struck one of the Golems as it approached within a few feet. The Golem couldn't withstand the second attack and fainted, uncurling from its ball shape and sprawling out on the ground.

But more Golems were approaching. Suddenly, a large beam of normal-type energy appeared from the side, striking two Golems at once. Raticate had recovered and attacked from the side, unleashing a Hyper Beam. Although the normal-type attack wasn't effective against Golem, the sheer power behind the move ensured it dealt some damage.

Tentacruel cleaned up the rest of the Golem with another wave of water, ending the fight. The Tentacruel was too overpowered, as it had the ability to summon large amounts of water quickly, which was super effective against the Golems. Furthermore, it had the advantage in its levels and having a trainer.

"Well, that was a nice bit of excitement," Cassidy said, grinning. "Now, we can claim—"

A roar sounded, accompanied by intense rumbling that shook the ground beneath them.

"What the hell is that?" Cassidy screamed.

"Trouble," Lucas replied, watching as a massive form emerged from the entrance at the back of the cavern. It was a Golem but on a much larger scale than the ones they just fought.

Golem rolled down the ramp before coming to a stop. It unfurled itself and stood up on its legs. As soon as it spotted them, it glared at them with hostile intent.

'A giant strain," Cassidy breathed, looking excited.

Lucas didn't share her enthusiasm. Golem was massive, standing at about twelve feet, and must have easily weighed over a tonne. If that thing rolled over them, they would be flattened into pancakes.

He examined Golem's parameters, which confirmed his belief that it wasn't worth messing with at their current level of strength.

Species: Golem; Megaton Pokemon

Gender: Male

Status: Wild

Favourability:-

Favourite Food: Rock/Ground Type Evolution Stones

Condition: Perfect

Level: 76

Next: [81%]

Exp Cache: [0]

Stats obtained from EV's [100/100]

Current Level Potential Met?: Yes

Special Ability: Rock Head

Attack: 289 (241)

Special Attack: 101

Defence: 201

Special Defence: 130 (150)

Speed: 120

Luck: 60

Moves

Tackle: 100%

Sandstorm: 91%

Rock Polish: 100%

Rollout: 100%

Rock Blast: 97%

Bulldoze: 86%

Explosion: 21%

Earthquake: 77%

Double-Edge: 51%

Stone-Edge: 57%

Heavy Slam: 91%

Description: Golem is a massive Pokemon due to having the giant strain. Although it sacrifices some speed for strength, it can curl up into a ball to gain momentum if the terrain is suitable. Golem has lived in this cavern for decades and rules the territory with an iron fist. Its preferred food is rock and ground-type evolution stones, which are in abundant supply due to the mines. It does not appreciate others intruding on its territory and will attack without hesitation.

Hidden Stats

Intelligence: 6

Endurance: 9

Energy: 3

Aptitude: 7

Affinities

Rock: 100%

Ground: 100%

Steel: 100%

Normal: 83%

Traits

Inherent (Can be passed onto offspring)

Attack Aptitude (Expert) - Increases attack stat training efficiency.

Attack Boost (Master) - Massively increases attack stat potency.

Defence Aptitude (Intermediate) - Increases defence stat training efficiency.

Defence Boost (Expert) - Sharpy increases attack stat potency.

Perfect Conditioning - The energy and endurance stats massively improve the Pokemon's condition.

Burn Protection - Immune to the burn status condition.

Freeze Protection - Immune to the freeze status condition.

Sleep Ward - Immune to the sleep status condition.

Learned/Acquired/Unique

Giant Strain: The Pokemon grows well beyond the average size for its species.

Attack Plus: (Giant Strain) Increases attack by twenty percent.

Speed Minus: (Giant Strain) Reduces speed by twenty percent.

On a Roll: Has learned to manoeuvre deftly while compacted into a ball.

Rolling Defence: All damage is reduced by half while it's compacted into a ball.

Dominance: Has the ability to force Pokemon much weaker than it to submit to its authority.

d heavily. Even if Cassidy summoned a dozen Pokemon, she would still be unable to beat it. He started taking steps backward, deciding that it would be better if he left now.

"Why are you running away?" Cassidy shouted. "This is a massive opportunity to acquire an outstanding Pokemon."

"Don't you feel how strong it is?" Lucas asked. "Do you have no sense of self-preservation?"

Cassidy frowned. She took off her backpack and rummaged inside. She retrieved an energy scanner and pointed it at the Golem. When she saw the results on the screen, her face changed.

"Level seventy-three," she exclaimed. "How could it be that strong? There is no way I can catch it."

The reading differed somewhat from his ability, but the energy scanner was only supposed to provide an estimate based on the amount of energy the Pokemon had.

"You would have to do enough damage to put Golem in critical condition before you were to stand a chance of capturing it," Lucas said in agreement.

The greater a Pokemon's level, the more damage you had to inflict on it to capture it, regardless of the type of pokeball you were using. With Golem at level seventy-six, it was almost impossible to catch it with their current team. They wouldn't be able to survive long enough to cause the necessary damage, assuming they could at all.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Cassidy asked.

"I don't know," Lucas replied, puzzled that Golem was simply standing there and allowing them to chat. His gaze fell on the evolution stones stacked in the pit, and he figured it out. "The Evolution Stones! Golem doesn't want to risk them exploding by fighting here."

"Right," Cassidy nodded, "We'll have to come back with stronger Pokemon to deal with Golem. There's no way I'm leaving the evolution stones behind."

Golem roared and rolled up into a ball, before it started spinning in place to gain momentum. It generated a loud grinding noise that grated on their ears.

"Shit," Lucas turned around and started running. "I think it heard you. Run!"

The two sprinted down the tunnel, with their Pokemon following behind them. They soon heard loud rumblings as Golem pursued them through the tunnel and swiftly gained ground on them.

"We're not going to make it," Cassidy cried.

"Banette!" Salem appeared in front of Lucas, letting them pass by him as it prepared to face Golem.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Cassidy shouted.

Lucas looked back and watched Salem conjure a gigantic ball of ghost-type energy before firing it at Golem. The attack struck Golem and appeared to slow it down slightly but dealt little damage. Salem continued to retreat while launching more Shadow Balls at it, giving them precious time to escape.

"We need to make it to the bridge," Lucas gasped. "I doubt it could follow us across it."

Cassidy didn't respond, preoccupied with running. The rumbling grew louder in their ears, but they didn't dare look back. When they arrived at the bridge, they ran across it, refusing to slow down.

Golem rolled onto the bridge, having caught up to them. The Pokemon had no idea where it was because its head was tucked into its body. As soon as it made it onto the bridge, it began to crumble underneath it, and Golem plummeted into the abyss. Its roars could be heard until they reached the opposite side of the bridge.

Cassidy placed her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. "I think that is enough energy for one day."

Lucas nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Salem appeared beside him, looking unruffled as usual, as if he hadn't faced a formidable opponent.

"Thanks, Salem," Lucas said. "I owe you one."

Salem grinned before vanishing again.

"Would you like to explain where Banette came from?" Cassidy asked. "It must be strong if it could slow Golem down."

"Eh, he decided to follow me one day and now I can't get rid of him." That was partly true.

Just as they began making their way back to the first level, they heard an explosion above them, and some dirt and rock fell from the ceiling.

"What is it now?" Cassidy screamed in frustration.

"The mining team may be in trouble," Lucas said, and he took off running again, with Cassidy close behind him.

When they made it back to the cavern on the first level, they saw a scene of chaos. There wasn't much illumination in the cavern, so it was hard to assess the situation. Lucas ordered Dante to use Flash again to provide some light, and the situation became much clearer.

Bear and one of his team members were battling a group of Pokemon, which included Grovyle, Scyther, Ninjask, Crobat, Murkrow, and Aegislash. He wasn't familiar with the last one, but it resembled a flying golden sword. Bear had three Ursaring out, but his comrade only had a Geodude. The mining team was slowly losing ground, and two of their comrades were already lying on the ground in a pool of blood, completely lifeless.

Bear looked relieved to see them. "About time you got here!"

"Raticate!" Cassidy shouted, spotting the man controlling the opposing Pokemon. "Kill that bastard."

Raticate dashed forward to attack the man, but he hid behind his Aegislash, and Raticate was unable to breach its defences. When Cassidy began summoning more Pokemon, the man looked like he was going to make a strategic retreat. But he didn't get a chance to.

As soon as Lucas entered the cavern, Meowth leapt off his shoulder and approached him from the shadows. He jumped onto the man's back and slashed at his neck with his claws. The man's

eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but only blood came out. His eyes closed, and he collapsed to the ground.

When Aegislash lost contact with its trainer, it cried out in distress. It turned to attack Meowth, but was quickly overwhelmed by Cassidy's Pokemon, who had arrived to deal with it. After that, the tide turned, and the remaining assailants' Pokemon were defeated. It was probably a good thing, given how enraged they became after their trainer died.

After the battle, there was a heavy silence as they tried to come to terms with what occurred. They couldn't believe someone would ambush them and attack them indiscriminately.

Bear awoke from his stupor to check on his teammates, but it was clear that they were already dead. The man began to sob, hunching over their bodies, while the only other survivor patted his back in sympathy.

"Who in the hell attacked us?" Cassidy growled.

Lucas didn't know how to respond, so he ignored it for now. He approached Meowth, who was wiping his claws on the assailant's clothing to remove the blood.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked. "I know how it feels to kill someone."

Meowth cast a grim look at the dead miners. "Check out what he did. I don't feel an ounce of remorse, partner."

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, the Rota Kingdom reaches out to him.

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