"Gengar, Netherworld—Ghost Chains!"
A raspy voice echoed through the night. To Duer and his group, it sounded like the Grim Reaper whispering his final call.
Grinning menacingly, Gengar manipulated the power of the Netherworld to launch its attack.
Dark purple-black chains shot out, swiftly whipping toward Duer's poaching crew.
"Our opponent is the Dark King! The only way to survive is to take him down!"
With a furious shout, Duer took the lead, commanding his Pokémon to strike.
In the next instant, those very chains erupted from beneath his feet, wrapping around him tightly. A single constriction was all it took—Duer was erased without a trace.
The morale that had barely flared up among the poachers vanished in an instant.
Even Seviper, Duer's Pokémon, hesitated for a brief second—losing a precious opening.
The dark chains surged up from beneath it, binding and coiling around its body.
As it struggled desperately to break free, it was met with Gengar's ghostly claws.
Despite being a High Elite-level Pokémon, Seviper barely unleashed thirty percent of its strength before Gengar eliminated it with Ghost Chains and Shadow Claw.
As for the remaining Pokémon, all weaker than Seviper, they barely put up any resistance before succumbing to the chains.
The pitch-black Netherworld realm slowly dissipated, leaving behind only lifeless bodies and Pokémon that could no longer battle.
"Seriously, these Pokémon Hunters have zero creativity in naming things. 'Dark King'? Really?"
"If I were truly some Dark King, I'd be out there getting myself plated in gold, auctioning off rare items, or maybe even taking on an apprentice for fun."
Hearing Duer call him by the nickname given to him by the Pokémon Hunters, Ron muttered under his breath, clearly unimpressed.
Gengar pretended not to hear him, instead quickly gathering all the valuable resources and delivering them to Ron.
Now that he thought about it… What happened to Larvitar the last time it made fun of Ron's nickname? Did it pass out from exhaustion, or was it knocked out?
Eh, better not dwell on it. As long as it wasn't him getting hurt, it didn't matter.
"Well done, Gengar. Now, Gardevoir, it's your turn. Find the next Pokémon Hunter."
At Ron's command, Gardevoir emerged from its Poké Ball and activated Teleport.
Ron had been hunting down Pokémon Hunters just fine—until the Hoenn League caught wind of it. Instead of quietly letting him handle it, they went ahead and exposed his identity.
For some unknown reason, they also decided to brand him with the title of Dark King.
Ron sincerely hoped the League wouldn't pull any more stunts. He just wanted to focus on hunting down Pokémon Hunters, accumulating League coins and merit points.
With the resources he had on hand, he estimated that in just half a month, he could finish everything up.
At that point, whatever the League did was none of his business.
However, what Ron didn't know was that he wouldn't have half a month—because right at that moment, the League was already planning to move against him.
"Hughes, you've been briefed on the situation. I need you to mobilize your Ranger Captains. Have them gather their best men and Flying-type Pokémon—we're launching an operation to take down the so-called 'Dark King' from the Pokémon Hunters' reports!"
"Understood. I'll start assembling our forces immediately."
Hesitating for a moment, Hughes ultimately decided to agree.
Regardless of how many Pokémon Hunters the Dark King had taken down, with two Forest Hunters now serving as witnesses, he had no choice but to act and initiate a full-scale hunt.
Exchanging glances, Terry and Sloane's eyes flickered with a hint of satisfaction.
The plan was already set in motion. Now, all that remained was eliminating Ron, and everything would fall into place.
With three quasi-Elite Four trainers, along with a battalion of High Elite and Mid Elite Rangers, they held the advantage—especially launching a surprise aerial assault to avoid being detected by the enemy's psychic abilities.
As for the Dark King, despite his reputation, he had only managed to take down two quasi-Elite Four-level Pokémon Hunters thus far—and not even the particularly strong ones.
Stacking up all these advantages, Terry and Sloane saw no reason why the Dark King should walk away from this alive.
While Terry and Sloane moved into action, Ron remained unaware. At this moment, he was tracking a Pokémon Hunter.
With Lucario's Aura guiding him, along with the tracking and evasion techniques he had learned from Koga and honed over time, Ron was just as skilled as any seasoned Pokémon Hunter.
The only downside was that, without Gardevoir's Teleport, his movements inevitably left traces that passing trainers or bystanders could notice.
After all, sometimes taking a detour risked losing track of his target entirely. Ron had no other choice—but at least no one dared to interfere with him.
"Hughes, sir! We've located the Dark King."
"Excellent. Send word to Terry and Sloane immediately. Get our forces ready for deployment!"
Once Hughes made the decision to launch the operation, there was no hesitation. Now that they had pinpointed the Underworld King's location, it was time to move out.
Within minutes, the Rangers had assembled, standing by for orders. Hughes and his two lieutenants arrived right on schedule.
No unnecessary words were exchanged—just flashes of white light as they released their Flying-type Pokémon.
Leading the charge, Hughes and his team took off, soaring toward their target—Ron.
"Gengar, Netherworld!"
Catching up to Weitz at last, Ron wasted no time. He ordered Gengar to unleash its Netherworld domain, enveloping both Weitz and his Pokémon within its eerie confines.
"So, you're the so-called Dark King?"
Weitz scoffed, his gaze filled with disdain as he ignored the ominous energy surrounding him.
Sure, the space Gengar created was a fascinating ability—like a personal battlefield—but at the end of the day, Gengar was only at the High Elite level. Hardly enough to make up for the difference in power.
"Let's finish this, Bellossom! One-Sword Style: Finger Pistol—Rebirth of All Things!"
Ron didn't bother responding. Instead, he sent out Bellossom, ready to take down his opponent.
Upon sensing Bellossom's quasi-Elite Four-level strength, Weitz's expression immediately changed.
"You son of a—"
Before he could finish his curse, dark purple chains wrapped around him, binding him in place.
His Pokémon, a Zangoose, had tried to block Bellossom's strike but collapsed onto one knee from the impact—only to be ensnared by Gengar's spectral chains as well.
"You mean 'playing dumb to catch the tiger,'" Ron corrected Weitz's wording before signaling Gengar to finish him off.
Quickly clearing the battlefield, Ron retrieved Bellossom back into its Poké Ball.
With that settled, it was time to hunt down the next target.
"Ron! There's an enemy above you!"
Gardevoir's voice echoed in Ron's mind just as Gengar's Netherworld domain faded.
The choice of the word "enemy" instead of "danger" reassured Ron slightly—it meant the incoming force wasn't an immediate threat.
"Troublesome…"
As soon as the domain dissipated, Ron looked up to see dozens of Flying-type Pokémon surrounding him, carrying their riders.
It wasn't the numbers that concerned him—it was their identities.
The attackers were none other than Hoenn League Rangers and Forest Hunters.
"What is the meaning of this?! Since the day I set out on this path, I have only ever hunted Pokémon Hunters. I have never wronged the League! Why have you assembled such a force against me?!"
Before these people could make a move, Ron was the first to question them.
To be honest, unless things reached an irreversible point, Ron really didn't want to fight against people from the Hoenn region. After all, there was no real hatred between them.
What Ron didn't realize, however, was that just because he hadn't provoked others didn't mean they wouldn't provoke him—or even try to take his life.
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