Night Invasion

Rockridge Village

After calming the people of Rockridge, Lucas received a call from Agatha.

"Lucas, your team has autonomy to act."

"Autonomy to act?" Lucas was slightly confused.

Agatha nodded and said, "Yes, in view of the particularity of your team, you are granted the right to act independently."

"You can choose to stay in Rockridge Village or enter the Diamond Forest to fight against the invasion."

Upon hearing this, Lucas nodded thoughtfully and said in a deep voice, "Understood."

"Well, that's all."

With the sound of a beep, Agatha hung up the phone.

"Young Master Bayne, what do you think we should do?" Lucas turned to look at Bruce, as if seeking his advice.

Bruce glanced at Benjamin and Ethan, who were eager to act after just returning, then looked at Lucas and said deeply, "This invasion is menacing, and since we've encountered it, it's naturally impossible to retreat."

"My idea is to enter the Diamond Forest."

Hearing Bruce's response, Lucas smiled and said, "Alright! Then we'll enter the Diamond Forest!"

After saying this, Lucas's face quickly turned serious. He looked at the three and said in a deep voice, "But this is an invasion, definitely not a joke."

"Judging by the earlier events, the intruder is ruthless."

"If you encounter them, you must remember to be cautious and face them calmly."

"Understood." The three nodded simultaneously.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Lucas's face, and he said, "Then let's go."

To be fair, the composition of their team is very luxurious: a Gym-level trainer and three Ace-level trainers, which already qualifies as an elite team.

Adding Roy, who lurks in the shadows, means even regular master trainers would have to avoid them.

As long as they don't encounter an Elite, who could rival them?

The four left Rockridge Village and headed towards the Diamond Forest.

"This time, the intrusion should be from a foreign organization in a chaotic place."

"However, we don't know the specific forces involved."

"But there must be three poles," Lucas said.

"Based on the information obtained so far, Akatsuki's leader is an Elite-level trainer," he reiterated.

Elite-level trainer...

No wonder they dared to invade Avalon's territory.

Lucas continued, "The strength of this Elite is usually quite far from the highest level of King John Bayne; it's nothing."

Meeting Bruce's gaze, Lucas went on, "Young Master Bayne, the trainer identification standards of each region differ slightly."

"This creates a huge gap in combat power between trainers of the same level."

"Normally, the more prosperous and powerful a region, the higher the identification standards."

"Additionally, Akatsuki's leader has only been an Elite for a few years, and can't be compared to a seasoned Elite." He spoke disdainfully.

"And the leaders of other major forces supporting Akatsuki are almost all Elite trainers, but their actual strength may be only slightly stronger than the country's top masters."

Saying this, he paused, as if recalling something, and then continued, "The rest of the organization's members have varying strengths, but since they can become intruders—"

"They're likely at least elite trainers."

"Their strength isn't as good as domestic trainers of the same level, but they're ruthless and have rich practical experience."

"These people, after all, are licking blood off the edge of a knife," he sighed lightly.

Benjamin added from the side, "Young Master Bayne, I once met a trainer from Khemed. His eyes were like jackals, tigers, and leopards, and he seemed very dangerous."

Speaking of this, Lucas raised his eyes, looking around at the eerie forest, and said in a low voice, "We are about to officially enter the Diamond Forest."

"Put on your infrared detectors and be cautious in your movements."

Afterward, the four silently donned their infrared detectors and entered the Diamond Forest without making a sound.

Bruce couldn't help but lament the decision of these invading organizations; the nocturnal invasion was indeed a good timing.

With the protection of moonlight, it would be much easier for them to cover their tracks, and many actions would be easier to carry out.

The Diamond Forest at night is very quiet. Under the cold moonlight, stepping on dead and rotting branches occasionally produced crisp snapping sounds.

Farther away, there seemed to be a throbbing roar of a beast. It was difficult to tell what kind of Pokemon it was, but there were occasional crunching sounds nearby, likely from passing Pokemon.

This was Bruce's first time fully entering the Diamond Forest. Although it was at an inappropriate time, he couldn't see the true face of the forest.

The cold wind whistled by, and the four maintained their calm expressions, moving forward while covering each other.

"Stop."

Suddenly, Bruce stopped and spoke in a low voice.

The three stopped simultaneously, made no sound, but silently cast questioning glances.

Bruce mouthed silently and pointed to the front right.

Afterward, the three nodded slightly and slowly moved toward the front right.

At that moment, Bruce suddenly wished he could communicate telepathically so he wouldn't have to speak.

Not long after, four obvious life forms appeared on the infrared detector.

More precisely, there were two human beings and two Pokemon.

"Damn, it's so cold." The man on the left wrapped his coat around himself, yet the cold wind still crept into his body through his collar. He cursed in a low voice.

He slightly missed the warm climate of Khemed.

"Stop talking nonsense; it's not time to complain," the burly man on the right slapped him on the back of the head and cursed in a low voice.

In the air to their left, an Ace-level Honchkrow flapped its wings as it flew.

The Honchkrow had a bald head and a black body, almost blending with the darkness. A tuft of red fluff adorned its tail, and it wore a large, hat-like crest on its head.

In the air to their right was an Ace-level Weezing.

Weezing consisted of two Koffing joined together in the middle, with bumps all over its body emitting poisonous gas.

Weezing and Honchkrow were simply the classic setup for villains.

The two walked toward the Diamond Forest when suddenly the deafening sound of a helicopter rotor echoed above their heads. One of them shouted in a low voice as soon as he heard the noise, "Hide!"

The two quickly found a corner to hide, remaining motionless.

Moments later, a helicopter sped past overhead, its massive spotlights shining brilliantly, searching the forest for traces of intruders.

When the helicopter's sound faded, the two breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously, dusted off their clothes, and got up from the ground.

In the next moment, four tall figures appeared.

Four pairs of eyes stared at them.

The two felt bad instantly and shouted, "Honchkrow!"

"Whistle!"

For some reason, the two Pokemon only noticed the sudden appearance of four people at that moment and began preparing to attack.

But the slender young man with black hair simply looked at the two Pokemon, and they let out a sorrowful groan that echoed in the forest.

The terrifying Psyshock directly caused the two Pokemon to fall to the ground, losing their ability to fight.

Bruce withdrew his gaze, looked at the two trembling men, and said softly, "It's up to you now."

Talking about this, Bruce suddenly felt a bit obsessed with using Psychic.

A glance and a raised hand caused the Rival to lose their ability to resist.

This kind of pleasure was much better than commanding Pokemon.

In fact, Psychic shouldn't be able to harm Honchkrow, but Bruce's Psychic was too powerful, directly breaking this limitation.

When the energy gap is large enough, Electric-type moves can also damage Ground-type Pokemon.

This is the real world.

Seeing the scene at that moment, the two knew in their hearts that the Bruce before them was definitely not someone they could resist, so they lay down on the ground again without hesitation.

Seeing this, Bruce was momentarily surprised, then with a strange smile on his face, loudly asked, "Tell me, which faction do you belong to?"

"CP9." The burly man unexpectedly spilled the beans, speaking sincerely.

Hearing this answer, Bruce and Lucas exchanged glances.

Afterward, Bruce pondered for a moment and then continued, "When did you enter the country?"

"Four days ago," the burly man answered sincerely.

"When did you reach the Diamond Forest?" Bruce's eyes sparkled as he continued questioning.

"Last night."

Hearing this question, Bruce slightly narrowed his pupils and quickly asked, "Where were you stationed last night?"

The burly man confessed, "We are divided into several teams, all scattered, and he and I stayed in a cave two or three kilometers from here last night."

"Where is your leader?" Bruce stared at the burly man and asked seriously.

Upon hearing this question, the burly man shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"We ordinary members don't know the leader's whereabouts," another added.

Bruce lightly hummed, then looked again at the burly man and asked loudly, "What is your battle plan?"

Then, upon hearing this question, the burly man clammed up and did not respond.

Bruce's eyes gleamed in the dark environment, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, and he directly sent a Psyshock to the burly man's mind.

These people were strange; they had answered a series of questions yet still chose silence when it came to key matters.

The next moment, a bleak groan echoed through the forest's skies, startling all the birds.