Poison Orb

Kaiji's voice was deep, filled with desperation. "Who are you? Why did you attack us? I don't remember ever offending someone as powerful as you."

Aoki approached slowly, his Pokémon following at his sides. His youthful appearance, almost immature, contrasted sharply with the sheer dominance he had displayed in battle. He chuckled, eyes sharp. "I heard you have a good relationship with Kenan?"

Kaiji stiffened. Now, it all made sense. This was about Kenan.

"I just came from the same place as him and joined the same organization," Kaiji said, attempting to sound sincere. "Our relationship isn't as close as you think."

Aoki smirked, his gaze unwavering. "Is that so? Then why don't I believe you?"

Kaiji's heart sank. He realized Aoki had been toying with him all along. He must have overheard their conversation earlier—there was no way to talk his way out of this now.

"Alright," Aoki said, voice cold. "Your existence is an obstacle to me. Stop struggling and accept your fate. Don't worry—I'll make sure Kenan joins you soon enough."

At Aoki's command, Skorupi lunged.

Kaiji made a final, desperate move, ordering his Kecleon to attack Aoki directly, hoping to take him down with him. But Aoki had anticipated this. With a swift strike of its venomous tail, Skorupi ended it.

Kaiji and his subordinates from the Void organization were no more.

Aoki wasted no time. He collected the Pokéballs from Kaiji's body, securing all four of his defeated Pokémon. Though they had lost the battle, they were still valuable—whether to be sold or to strengthen his own forces. His subordinates' progress was lagging behind, and if they didn't keep up, they'd be left in the dust. These new Pokémon could help balance the gap.

Besides Kaiji, Aoki also retrieved the Pokéballs from his two fallen subordinates. Inspecting them, he found they were of decent quality, confirming that these trainers had been handpicked by Kaiji for their potential. Their overall combat strength wasn't much weaker than Alec's team.

Fortunately, Aoki had eliminated them before they could act.

In total, he had acquired twelve Pokéballs—a satisfying haul.

Beyond that, Aoki confiscated their storage devices. Before leaving, he called out Muk to erase all traces of their presence, ensuring no one would track what had happened here.

Kaiji and his team had been on a mission. If they had completed it, they would be carrying valuable loot. But Aoki decided against checking the spoils on the spot. The battle had been loud—lingering here any longer risked another encounter with the Void organization.

Originally, he had considered keeping Kaiji alive to interrogate him about Void's structure. But in the end, he had chosen execution. There was no need. Sooner or later, Aoki would be facing Kenan himself. Then, he'd uncover what kind of organization Void truly was.

If their true leader wasn't even on par with an Elite Four, Aoki had nothing to fear.

By the time his Mismagius had mastered its abilities, Aoki was confident that even against Void's leader, he might not win—but he could always escape.

Returning his Honchkrow and Slowking to their Pokéballs, Aoki left the battlefield with Skorupi and Sneasel. The forest slowly returned to its natural state. The wild Pokémon, sensing the absence of battle, resumed their usual activities, as if nothing had ever happened.

Following his original plan, Aoki continued deeper into the wilderness.

He encountered many Pokémon along the way. Some Skorupi could take down instantly, while others proved to be greater challenges. When necessary, Aoki summoned Honchkrow and Slowking to assist in battle.

The day passed in a blur of combat and training.

Though the Pokémon he faced grew progressively stronger, they were still within Aoki's range of control.

The results were tangible: Honchkrow, Skorupi, and Sneasel each gained a level. Slowking, however, remained the same—its prior rapid growth meant it needed time to stabilize before advancing further.

The only one who hadn't gained experience was Haunter, who had remained hidden in Aoki's shadow throughout the battles.

Haunter had been acting as Aoki's final line of defense. But if it continued to stay on the sidelines, its strength would fall behind even Skorupi's.

After some consideration, Aoki decided that starting tomorrow, Haunter would participate in battle. Slowking would take over its role as a defensive fallback. With Slowking's abilities, Aoki's safety would be well secured.

Thus, the main battle team for tomorrow was decided: Skorupi, Sneasel, and Haunter.

Dinner was kept simple—canned food. Half of Aoki's storage space was filled with canned supplies. Until those were depleted, he had no intention of cooking anything else.

More important than food was time—he needed every available moment for meditation. Mastering his latent psychic abilities would significantly improve his battle command.

His goal was to reach the level of a beginner Psychic as soon as possible. With that, his control over battles would be far more refined.

But before meditating, Aoki turned his attention to the storage devices he had confiscated from the Void trio. He emptied their contents.

Since they had been preparing to return to town, their storage contained few daily necessities. However, there were plenty of healing potions, antidotes, and other survival essentials.

Among them, Aoki found repellents, ropes, and shovels—tools he had little need for.

But then, something caught his eye in Kaiji's storage.

A broken, purple sphere radiating poisonous energy.

Aoki didn't dare touch it with his bare hands. The ground where it had fallen was already scorched black, the surrounding grass completely withered.

A Poison Orb.

But it was damaged beyond repair.