Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

"Are you stupid? With the current situation, it'd be a miracle if fifty people made it out alive. And even if there are a few more, Boss Xander would have no problem taking them," said the shorter man.

"Besides, over the last month, Boss Xander offered high-reward missions for drawing maps of the Trial Island, outside the base. The farther and more detailed the map, the greater the reward."

"The night before the trial started, he told us that as soon as we appeared on the island, we should regroup immediately. The ones who joined later are very strong, and only by sticking together can we face them."

"Boss Xander's goal is to take first place, and with his brother's backing, he's provided us with lots of good resources. Without that, do you think you'd have the chance to make it into the top fifty?"

"He spent so much to get us to help him gather points," the shorter man continued.

Many had joined Xander because of the power behind him and his generosity in distributing resources, which greatly enhanced the abilities of many participants.

"That's what they say, but are the ones who joined later really that strong? I heard Boss Xander has trained more than five Pokémon, and they're all pretty powerful. Having a strong backing really is an advantage," the taller man remarked.

"I don't know, but if they're making Boss Xander that cautious, they must be strong. At least strong enough to be in the top three."

"Also, it seems that Cain, the one Xander can't stop thinking about, has returned. We saw him on the day the trial began."

"Shh! Shut up! Don't mention that name in front of Boss Xander. Don't you know it's a taboo? Many have died because of it," the shorter man responded nervously, showing how deeply Cain had embedded himself in Xander's mind—almost like an obsession.

"Yeah, yeah," the taller man said, hurriedly closing his mouth.

Both continued walking in silence, unaware that Cain was right behind them.

"Murkrow, use Tailwind and enter speed mode. Take care of their Pokémon first, then kill the tall one. Leave the short one—I have questions for him," Cain instructed his Murkrow.

By now, Murkrow had grown so much it no longer fit on Cain's shoulder.

With a nod, Murkrow generated a gentle current of air around itself and took off, rustling the grass in its wake.

The two men clearly belonged to Xander's group.

As experienced participants, both had Pokémon with them as they walked. The taller man had a Golbat, while the shorter one had a Koffing.

Both Pokémon were common among those distributed by Team Rocket.

Murkrow's speed was incredible. After consuming special Pokéblocks, its body had been further enhanced, increasing both its strength and speed.

With its wings charged with Flying-type energy, Murkrow rammed into Golbat, slamming it into a nearby tree, which cracked under the impact.

Without pausing, Murkrow launched Dark Pulse at Koffing, which hadn't even reacted.

After releasing the Dark Pulse, Murkrow ignored the Pokémon and, with its sharp claws, slashed the tall man's throat, then stopped in front of the shorter man, who had just pulled out his Pokéball, frozen in place.

As for Koffing, it fell to the ground after Murkrow stopped, completely lifeless.

In a single strike, Murkrow had taken out both Pokémon, demonstrating that it now had the strength to overwhelm most participants.

The only one left, clutching a Pokéball, was too terrified to move, staring at the Pokémon in front of him.

"Mu... Murkrow. And you... you're Cain," the shorter man stammered, unable to believe Cain was there.

Cain slowly emerged from the forest, walking toward the shorter man.

With a sarcastic smile, he said, "I heard you were talking about me?"

"Eh, Mr. Cain... we were just chatting, nothing serious," the shorter man quickly replied.

"Tell me, where is your meeting point? How many have gathered already? And how many points has Xander accumulated?" Cain asked directly.

The man nearly cried upon hearing the questions, fully understanding why Cain was asking them.

"Speak quickly, or I'll kill you right now!"

"The... the meeting point is on the map." Trembling, he pulled out a hand-drawn map from his Team Rocket belt. It was well-detailed, with clearly marked paths.

"Well, Xander does have some brains after all. He knows he can't win alone, so he's gathered a bunch of fools to work for him. No surprise he's trying to assemble as many as possible, even on the last day," Cain said, examining the map.

"There are about twenty of us now, and we've all gathered at the location marked on the map. I'm not sure how many points Xander has now, but it must be several hundred since people bring him points every day," the shorter man explained, speaking more fluently as he went.

With a submissive attitude, he seemed to have accepted that escape was impossible and decided that cooperating was his best chance to survive.

Cain smirked, fully understanding his intentions.

However, he said nothing more and continued asking, "What are you all doing?"

"Xander assigns different places to groups each day, always in pairs. The locations he sends us to have point cards. If we bring them back, our contributions are recorded, and those who contribute the most supposedly get special rewards."

"Seems like Xander has gathered many map fragments."

"Yes, yes. Aside from us, the pawns, Xander has three trusted lieutenants, all in the top ten. Their daily task is to collect map fragments and assign us places to retrieve point cards."

"Wow, this is almost like a mass-production line. I almost feel bad about going after Xander now. Maybe I should let him gather more points before I take him down—it'd save me the effort."

The shorter man wiped sweat from his face frantically, forcing an awkward smile. He knew he was caught in the crossfire of titans.

(End of chapter)