Chapter 569: This Is A Trap

Hearing that Julian was going to intercept Kate, Pierce and the others didn't try to stop him.

For one, Julian was the strongest among them.

Secondly, Julian's most powerful Pokémon, Metagross, had not been lent to the Volkarian team, whereas their own ace Pokémon had already been loaned out.

Based on these two points, Julian was clearly the most suitable person to go.

"Alright then, I'm heading out first," Julian said, releasing Dragonite and hopping onto its back.

Dragonite was slightly puzzled—why was it being ridden instead of Moltres, that side chick bird?

"East," Julian said, giving Dragonite a pat. Was this guy too full? Why did it look so dopey?

As Julian departed, Pierce looked at the other three and said, "Let's sneak over there now—wait for the right moment and go for a decisive blow."

Sophia's side was already engaged in battle. Over thirty Elite-level Pokémon were clashing in a chaotic melee, and the sound of the fight had already begun to echo across the entire island.

Even from ten kilometers away, separated by rows of trees, the shockwaves of the battle had reached them.

"The Celestrians and Gallians must think they've got the Volkarian team cornered. Well, we'll give them a huge surprise," Asher chuckled.

With that, the four of them headed toward the battlefield.

There was no need to worry about being discovered.

In a mess like this, the Celestrian and Gallian trainers wouldn't have the spare attention to monitor their surroundings for other enemies.

Moreover, they subconsciously believed that, aside from them and the Volkarian team, there were no other trainers on the island who could threaten them.

So the chances of Pierce's group being discovered were very low—so long as they didn't get too close.

Meanwhile, a Pidgeot was flying swiftly through the air.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Kate, riding on the Pidgeot's back, could hear the thunderous booms echoing in her ears. Because of the altitude, she could already see flames and smoke rising in the distance.

She also noticed a large number of Flying-type Pokémon frantically fleeing the area in panic.

"I've found them," Kate muttered, patting Pidgeot's back.

"Pidgeot, faster!"

Though she didn't think Phil and the others would lose, with her joining the fight, they might lose one fewer Pokémon—or even none at all.

As the strongest member after Captain Phil, her presence would naturally tip the scales further in their favor.

But as she got closer to the battlefield, Kate's expression grew increasingly grim.

It wasn't out of concern for Phil and the others—it was because of an ominous, gut-twisting sense of dread welling up inside her.

The feeling was unbearable, it felt like an abyss was opening up ahead—about to swallow her whole.

"What's going on…"

As a diviner, Kate believed in her sixth sense.

Right now, her sixth sense was giving her a clear warning—danger was approaching. The kind of danger that could threaten her life.

"Stop, Pidgeot!"

The sense of dread was growing stronger and stronger. Left with no choice, Kate ordered Pidgeot to halt.

But even after stopping, the feeling didn't fade. In fact, it intensified.

She had already stopped, so why hadn't the sense of danger disappeared?

Could it be that the warning wasn't triggered by her approaching the battlefield, but rather because something terrifying had already locked onto her and was closing in?

The thought sent a chill down her spine. "Pidgeot, fly west!" she commanded urgently.

She gave up on joining Phil's side. If nothing went wrong, Phil and the others should be able to handle the Volkarian team just fine without her.

Kate changed direction, hoping to shake off the suffocating fear in her chest.

Maybe the source of danger was simply on the same flight path. If she altered her course, the premonition might vanish.

After flying for a while, the oppressive feeling did begin to fade. Kate's eyes lit up—she'd been right!

Meanwhile—

Julian: "Why haven't I run into her yet?"

Based on the direction the Celestrian team had come from, Kate should have been to the east. Julian had been flying this way while Metagross continuously scanned the area with its psychic abilities. If Kate had been within range, Metagross would've detected her.

But after half an hour of searching, there was still no sign of her.

The most likely explanation was that Kate wasn't in this direction at all.

If that was the case, Julian's chances of finding her were slim.

'Was it the diviner's abilities at work, or had Kate simply never been heading this way?'

"Fly west," Julian said after thinking for a moment. He decided to switch directions for now—and if he couldn't find her, he'd just head straight for the battlefield.

Back in the west direction—

Kate's sense of dread had almost completely faded now. It seemed like the threat was finally far away.

After a brief hesitation, she said, "Pidgeot, let's head back to Phil's side."

But the moment Pidgeot began to turn around, the crushing feeling of impending doom surged back—worse than before, skyrocketing in intensity.

Clearly, whatever was hunting her was now closing in at terrifying speed.

'Shit!' Kate's face went pale. She panicked and shouted, "Pidgeot, east! Fly east, now!"

Pidgeot felt like its trainer was just messing with it at this point—'changing directions again?'

The moment they changed course, the dread lessened once more.

But Kate's expression remained grim.

Earlier, she had thought the danger came from sharing a flight path with some unknown threat—and that it was just a coincidence. Changing directions had reduced the feeling, so she thought it was just bad luck.

But now… that suffocating feeling had come back again.

At the same time, this confirmed one thing—the unknown danger was almost certainly targeting her specifically. What happened earlier hadn't been a coincidence.

Something—or someone—was hunting her. And they had the power to kill her. 'Who could it be?'

Her first thought was the Island Guardian, but she quickly dismissed it. If it really was the Island Guardian, she wouldn't have escaped even once—let alone twice. So that couldn't be it.

Next, she considered a trainer from the Volkarian team. It was possible, but unlikely.

They were already engaged in battle with the Celestrian and Gallian teams. They were outnumbered as it was—would they really send someone specifically to hunt her down? Highly doubtful.

A third possibility was that someone from the Gallian team—or even one of her own teammates—was after her. But they had no reason to do that either. So she ruled them out as well.

When every other possibility had been eliminated, the only remaining answer, no matter how improbable, had to be the truth.

"Trainers from another island have arrived…" Kate muttered to herself.

That was the only explanation that made sense.

"Drakorian trainers!"

The two strongest nations in the world were Drakoria and Celestria. Both were superpowers, but Drakoria's strength actually exceeded that of Celestria.

If the Drakorian trainers had truly defeated their Island Guardian and arrived on this island—and if they knew the Celestrian team was here as well—

"The Volkarians has joined forces with Drakoria… This is a trap!"

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, realization struck—and Kate let out a gasp of shock.

*****

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