Greninja’s ambush was as swift as lightning.
Hunter Z didn’t even have time to react before Night Slash struck her square in the face.
This attack added a fresh wound to her already ugly face, and the tremendous impact sent her flying back, crashing hard into the sewer rubble.
The offensive didn’t stop there.
Greninja gave its opponent no breathing room.
Just as it prepared to pursue, the sound of tearing air cut through the space—the nearby Drapion violently swung its sharp tail pincer, thrusting straight toward it!
Fortunately, Greninja reacted with blinding speed.
In the nick of time, it leaped into the air, stepping precisely onto Drapion’s tail pincer as a springboard and performing a clean backflip to safely open up distance.
“Nice!”
Mashiro couldn’t help but cheer.
As expected of the cool Frog-bro.
If the Pokemon Hunter hadn’t set a trap in advance, it would have been nearly impossible to capture it in the jungle.
“Though speaking of which…
how on earth do you use this thing?
Or is it…”
Mashiro gripped the “Honedge” transformed from Squishy, realizing that in this form, it had lost the ability to move autonomously.
Holding it in his hand felt like holding a heavy brick.
He quickly analyzed the situation in his mind.
This was likely the flaw of the “Anomalous Adult” mentioned in the status panel.
After all, Squishy was originally a Zygarde Core mutated by interdimensional influence.
Although he was unsure why this assembly had resulted in such a state, at least he had gathered critical intelligence and roughly understood Zygarde’s capabilities in this form.
Next time, he would definitely be better prepared.
“Damned beast!” Hunter Z struggled to her feet while clutching her face, blood streaming down her skin, her expression twisted with rage.
She roared hysterically, “Kill them!”
“ROAR—!”
Drapion and Hydreigon roared in unison, lunging at Greninja simultaneously.
Right at that moment, Hunter Z actually reached for a third Poke Ball.
Mashiro’s eyes narrowed; without hesitation, he grabbed Squishy, charged forward, and swung the sword down hard toward her arm!
“Let Pokemon do the Pokemon battles.
Now, it’s a battle between us trainers!”
“You brat!”
Hunter Z cursed and tried to dodge, but Mashiro suddenly hurled Squishy like a thrown stone, striking her wrist with precision.
Unfortunately, although Squishy in this form looked like a Honedge, the blade was made of soft hexagonal crystals.
It wasn’t sharp at all, and its damage output was even inferior to a brick.
The thrown Squishy landed on the ground as if Mashiro had made a mistake, and Hunter Z casually snatched it up.
“Now!”
Mashiro turned back and shouted to Greninja.
Even though he knew the other might not obey, he still had to try.
“Use your home-field advantage!
Attack the ceiling of the sewer with Water Shuriken!
Those two big lugs can barely maneuver in this tight space—use it to limit their wide-area moves!”
“Kouga…”
Greninja uttered a cold, low cry.
Although reluctant to take orders from a human, a quick glance made it realize that this strategy was indeed feasible.
As long as Drapion and Hydreigon were trapped here, the battle would effectively be over.
But just as it formed hand signs and prepared to launch the move, a flash of pain crossed its face.
Its body weakened uncontrollably, and it fell to one knee, looking utterly exhausted.
As expected, forcing itself to fight in its current state was far too much…
Although Slowpoke’s Heal Pulse had restored a portion of its stamina, its injuries were far from healed.
Its combat style relied heavily on high mobility, but its current body could no longer support such a rhythm, with joints failing to output strength.
Seeing Drapion’s massive pincer slicing down through the air while Greninja knelt on the ground panting heavily, helplessness surged like a tide.
At the critical juncture, a figure suddenly darted past, grabbing Greninja and rolling away to dodge!
Immediately after, a loud boom resonated!
Where the pincer slammed down, the ground shattered, sending stone fragments flying.
“…Kouga?”
Greninja opened its eyes, staring in confusion at Mashiro, who had saved it once again.
“Don’t look at me like that.
I said I’d save you, whether you believe it or not.
If I really wanted to abandon you, why would I have run all the way here from home to a godforsaken place like this?”
Mashiro stood up, his tone calm.
He really hadn’t thought much about it.
As someone who genuinely loved Pokemon and as a Breeder, he couldn’t stand by and watch a Pokemon die, nor could he tolerate these Pokemon Hunters pulling stunts right under his nose.
At that moment, Hunter Z staggered to her feet again, tightly gripping Squishy’s hilt with a sinister grin.
“You really are a few stubborn little fleas.
“Or…
are you stalling for time, waiting for the police?”
As a Pokemon Hunter, she always acted cautiously.
Even with so many unexpected turns, she was still monitoring the outside of the sewer via Rotom Drone.
Thus, she had to wrap this up quickly.
“Drapion, Hydreigon, finish them!”
“ROAR—!”
The two thoroughly broken Pokemon moved upon command.
Mashiro, however, did not panic.
He noticed that Greninja’s affection towards him had quietly risen to “25”.
He spoke in a deep voice, “I know your current state.
So from here on, follow my commands completely without any unnecessary movements.
If we want to take them down, we have to cooperate!”
“…”
Greninja opened its eyes slightly, silently gazing at Mashiro, as if weighing whether to bet on this last chance and trust this human.
“Kouga!”
Finally, it gave a short response, deciding to stake its final chance on trusting him this once.
“Good!”
Mashiro’s eyes flashed with resolve.
He could check the status of the three Pokemon—including Greninja—at any time using his panel, rapidly analyzing the battle in his mind without even worrying about himself.
He threw his hand out and barked, “Use Quick Attack to vault over Drapion and go straight for that woman behind them!”
“Those two Pokemon were conditioned long ago; they won’t act on their own without orders.
There’s only one chance.
Once we take her down, they’ll turn into headless flies!”
“Kouga!”
Greninja moved instantly, transforming into a streak of white light that charged forward, nimbly dodging Drapion’s swinging pincer and once again using its body as a springboard to leap into the air.
Flipping upside down in mid-air, it lightly tapped its toes off Hydreigon’s belly, its sharp gaze locking onto Hunter Z holding the “sword” below, rapidly descending.
But Hunter Z seemed to have anticipated this move.
Holding Squishy, she let out a cold laugh and shouted, “Look behind you!”
Greninja instinctively looked back, only to see Drapion’s tail pincer had clamped around Mashiro, hoisting him into mid-air and violently squeezing!
Mashiro groaned in severe pain, an embarrassed expression on his face for not expecting the enemy to ignore Greninja and ruthlessly target him instead.
Yet, a smile still lingered on his face.
“Bad news, kids.
Looks like I got caught.”