Chapter 119: Stolen

Night Daze exploded in an instant.

The Pokémon attempting to ambush Sato from behind hadn't expected to be detected beforehand. In their panic, they even forgot to dodge, taking the full force of the attack and being sent flying.

To his right, a dark figure leaped toward the trees, but before it could escape, it too was caught in the blast and thrown back.

"Gengar, Psychic! Zoroark, Flamethrower!"

Sato was already on his feet, releasing Carvanha to stand guard by his side.

The two ambushing figures were now fully revealed, Hitmonlee was behind him, and to his right stood Sneasel!

Psychic activated immediately, locking Hitmonlee mid-air, leaving it struggling helplessly.

The sheer force of the attack inflicted severe damage before it could even land.

At the same time, Zoroark wasted no time. Flames roared through the night, the bright blaze illuminating the battlefield.

Sneasel, far more agile than Hitmonlee, flipped through the air to evade the attack, but its frail body was already showing signs of exhaustion.

Two red beams shot out from within the forest, recalling Hitmonlee and Sneasel. The attackers had chosen to retreat without hesitation, acting decisively.

However, there was no need for Sato to give any further commands.

Gengar's golden eyes instantly turned pitch black, and even the surrounding air seemed to darken slightly.

Mean Look!

The red beams struck Hitmonlee and Sneasel, but the mysterious energy of Mean Look disrupted the recall process.

Both Pokémon stood frozen, confused as to why they hadn't returned to their Poké Balls.

Sato shook his head. "Trying to pull something like this without even knowing about Mean Look? Too reckless."

"Zoroark, Aerial Ace!"

Zoroark flashed forward in an instant, its red claws enveloped in spiraling white energy, slashing Hitmonlee directly in the stomach.

Boom!

Hitmonlee finally hit the ground, completely unconscious!

Meanwhile, Sneasel stood frozen, panic in its eyes. The combined presence of Zoroark and Gengar left it trembling in fear.

More importantly, it hadn't received a single command from its trainer, fight or flee, it had no idea what to do.

"Gengar, pull out the rats still hiding in the shadows." Sato glanced at the fainted Sneasel but quickly lost interest.

Psychic activated once more, and after a rustling noise, two young men, along with a small blue Pokémon, were dragged out from the darkness and tossed at Sato's feet.

"A Totodile?" Sato raised an eyebrow before glancing at Gengar, who shrugged, indicating that it had indeed been hiding nearby.

"Totodile!"

The little Pokémon let out an angry cry, jumping up and down in frustration, loudly scolding Gengar for dragging it out.

Sato smirked.

This Totodile was less than half the size of a normal one, clearly just a newborn. Yet, it had the audacity to yell at Gengar without fear.

Was it fearless due to its youth, or just plain stupid?

Ignoring the feisty Totodile, Sato turned to the two trembling figures huddled together before him.

They looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in dirty, ragged clothes, and each had only one Poké Ball strapped to their belts.

After being dragged out by Gengar, neither of them said a word. They didn't struggle or attempt to escape, just lowered their heads in resignation.

Sato frowned. These two didn't seem like seasoned criminals.

Given their lack of strength, the fact that they had survived this long in Mt. Silver's inner region was a miracle in itself.

"Who are you? Why did you try to ambush me?" Sato decided to hold off on any rash actions and instead get some answers first.

The older of the two looked up at Sato cautiously before speaking in a hesitant tone.

"We didn't mean to ambush you… We just wanted to sneak in and grab some food. We haven't eaten in a long time."

His voice carried a tinge of self-pity, and as if on cue, his stomach let out a loud growl. The young man suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

-----------------------------

Ten minutes later, Sato sat by the campfire, watching in silence as the two young men devoured five or six instant meals in a frenzy.

Zoroark lay beside Sato again, but its sharp eyes remained locked onto the two, its body still tense and alert.

Gengar sat openly on a tree behind the two young men, blatantly keeping watch over them.

Meanwhile, the unexpected guest, Totodile, hadn't run away. Instead, it was happily playing around the campfire, bursting with energy.

One moment, it was tugging at Zoroark's fur, and the next, shaking its tail at Gengar, completely full of life.

Sato idly toyed with the two Trainer ID cards in his hand. They clearly displayed the basic information of the two individuals.

Both of them were registered Johto League trainers, officially certified as Elite-level, though judging by their current state, they were not doing well at all.

Sato had already reclaimed and locked their Poké Balls, preventing them from recalling Hitmonlee and Sneasel.

After confirming that they weren't a direct threat, he finally handed them some food.

They devoured six full meal portions in one sitting.

"Thank you for saving us!"

Both young men stood up at the same time and gave Sato a deep bow before lazily sitting back down by the campfire.

"You guys… this situation is…"

"As you can see, we were completely robbed. They left us only our weakest Pokémon, just enough to barely survive."

"I'm Kato Kaede, and this is my cousin Hantou. We entered Mt. Silver about half a month ago…"

The two of them took turns explaining their situation, revealing every detail about themselves in an attempt to earn Sato's trust.

They hadn't come to capture a Totodile, but had accepted another mission near Volcano Lake.

Unfortunately, they fell into a trap set by another group of adventurers, who looted everything they had.

Living in constant fear and distrust, they avoided contact with every other adventurer, but after getting lost without a map and going without food for days, desperation pushed them to steal from Sato.

Unfortunately for them, they had underestimated their target, and Sato easily took them down.

With no energy left to resist, they had simply accepted their fate.

"Uh… this is difficult to say, but…"

"Then don't say it," Sato cut in, shutting down Kato Kaede instantly, leaving his face flushed red with frustration.

A few minutes later, Kato Kaede reluctantly made his request alongside his cousin, hesitating before finally speaking.

"Please take us out of Mt. Silver… If that's too much to ask, at least give us a map!" His voice was both sincere and filled with helplessness.

Sato stirred the campfire embers, glancing at them nonchalantly, but remained silent. Carvanha's specialized training was still ongoing, and Sato had no intention of leaving early.

Besides, he wasn't the type to go out of his way to help others.

That said, their trainer IDs were real, meaning they weren't criminals. Abandoning them here wasn't really an option either.

For once, Sato found himself conflicted, contemplating the decision for quite some time.

It wasn't until the two of them gave up hope and sat in silence that he finally spoke.

"I'll take you out in a few days."

With that, Sato pulled two spare tents and survival kits from his backpack and tossed them over to Kato Kaede and Hantou.

White had prepared these supplies for him, and he never expected them to actually come in handy.

As the two men cheerfully expressed their gratitude, Sato simply waved them off and disappeared into his own tent.

For the first time in both his lifetimes, he had done a good deed with no ulterior motive.

It felt… strange.