Boom!
The ground trembled as Rhyperior landed heavily.
Linoone, unable to stop in time, crashed headfirst into the massive Pokémon's stone-like body. A dull thud echoed as it stumbled back, dazed.
Shiro watched as Linoone swayed unsteadily. "Rhyperior! Crush it!"
At his command, Rhyperior slowly raised its enormous, hammer-like arms high above its head. Air rippled from the sheer force as it swung down toward the disoriented Linoone.
Linoone froze, its body seizing up as the powerful blow slammed into its midsection, driving it deep into the ground. It lay there, twitching, like an insect crushed under a fingertip.
"Linoone!" Goddard's eyes widened in horror. He let out a furious shout, but his charging steps slowed. A second later, he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
He never imagined that a mere "rookie" could have a Pokémon this powerful.
'This can't be real!'
Without a second thought, Goddard abandoned his Pokémon, muttering under his breath as he ran for his life. "Shit, shit, shit—"
Lyle stood frozen, dumbfounded. "What the hell… is happening?"
A supposed rookie had sent out a Gym-level Pokémon and crushed Goddard's Linoone like it was nothing.
His stunned expression remained as Goddard raced past him.
Meanwhile, Shiro had already locked onto the conspicuous Watt Trader in white at the edge of the forest. Wasting no time, he gave another order.
"Rhyperior! Drill Run! Kill the guy in white!"
"Rhy..." Rhyperior let out a roar, its dull eyes locking onto its new target. Though slower to react than normal Pokémon, its pursuit ability remained unaffected.
It lowered its massive body, and the colossal drill on its head began to spin. Then, the entire creature started rotating, like a living, oversized demolition machine, launching forward with unstoppable force.
Its sheer power and speed created a conical white vortex in the air, and wherever it passed, the ground was left scarred with deep trenches.
The air pressure alone sent a chill down Goddard's spine. He glanced back in a panic, just in time to see Lyle turn and flee. His Pokémon scrambled to intercept the behemoth—only to be knocked out instantly, their bodies tossed aside like ragdolls.
Then the drill struck.
Shredding through flesh and bone, it left behind nothing but scattered remnants.
"Mercy! Please, have mercy!" Goddard screamed, his limbs moving frantically as he charged into the forest.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Trees toppled one after another. The sound of destruction grew louder.
Death was closing in.
But Shiro couldn't hear his pleas, and Rhyperior wasn't capable of mercy. It was a tool—nothing more.
"Come on, come on!" Goddard fumbled desperately with his Poké Balls, unlocking them all at once. "Block it! Do something, damn it!"
Two Vikavolt burst into the air, immediately veering off in opposite directions to escape. A Greedent with sleek brown-red fur barely emerged before diving underground in terror.
His last hope—a Unfezant, the only one capable of carrying him away—ignored his screams entirely and soared straight up.
As the bird climbed higher, Goddard's desperate expression remained frozen beneath its deep green underbelly. A moment later, his body burst apart into a mist of red.
Unfezant let out a cry and vanished into the distant sky.
"Rhy..."
Rhyperior slowly came to a halt. The target was gone. Without anything left to attack, it simply stood there, motionless.
The area behind it was a wasteland of broken trees and torn earth.
Moments later, Shiro strode over.
He first crouched near Lyle's shredded remains, unfazed by the gruesome sight, and rummaged through what was left. Retrieving a few Poké Balls, he recalled the two unconscious ones inside. Then, near the trench Rhyperior had carved, he spotted Goddard's torn-up backpack.
The massive Pokémon stood in place, eyes vacant, staring at nothing in particular.
As Shiro sorted through his spoils, Rookidee and Gastly flew over from the Scraggy den. They perched on Rhyperior's shoulders, one on each side.
They had spent most of the day together and had already grown accustomed to this slow yet powerful giant.
"Roo-ki!"
Rookidee had just finished a battle, though it had not won, the surge of experience left it brimming with energy. It hopped onto Rhyperior's head, tapping its beak against the Pokémon's massive drill horn.
Tock, tock, tock...
Despite its enthusiasm, the tiny bird couldn't leave even the faintest mark.
"Gaaaastly~"
Gastly also floated over, mimicking Rookidee as it tried ramming into the drill.
No effect.
While his two Pokémon played, Shiro finished counting the spoils from the two unfortunate trainers.
From Lyle, he found only four Poké Balls, each containing an Advanced-level Pokémon—worth around 400,000 Pokédollars on the black market. And Goddard's massive backpack held 800,000 Pokédollars in cash, along with five League cards of unknown value.
"Tch, rich bastard..." Shiro mused before stuffing everything into his own bag.
One ambush, and he'd already made over a million.
"Shame about his Pokémon, though. All of them ran off..." He sighed. The ones that flew away or burrowed underground were practically money slipping through his fingers.
Goddard's team had mostly been bought, barely trained, and completely lacking in loyalty. The moment danger struck, they scattered.
Aside from the Linoone that died at the start, the rest fled the first chance they got.
Shaking his head and putting the matter behind, Shiro packed up and returned Rhyperior to its Poké Ball. Rookidee and Gastly perched on his shoulders as he glanced over the devastated battlefield.
'Looks like robbing trainers in the wild is the fastest way to get stronger.' He pondered whether he could lure more hunters into an ambush.
Probably not.
Anyone who survived in the wild this long had a decent sense of caution. The only reason these two had fallen for it was because Goddard, a greedy Watt Trader, happened to cross paths with the wrong person.
Why would a normal trainer go out of their way to ambush and kill someone without knowing their true strength?
Shiro clicked his tongue, knocking his knuckles against his forehead. A missed opportunity.
"Rook! Rook!"
Rookidee suddenly hopped on his shoulder, clearly excited about something.
Shiro caught the eager bird in his hands, inspecting it closely. "What's up?"
"Rooki-rook!"
Rookidee frantically shook its head, tapping its beak against the Everstone around its neck.
"You made a breakthrough?" Shiro's eyes lit up as he understood its meaning.
After fighting the leader of the Scraggy colony, Rookidee had officially reached intermediate-level, roughly level 21.
According to Shiro's original plan, Rookidee had finished accumulating enough experience. Now, it was time to remove the Everstone and let it evolve into Corvisquire.
Rookidee cared deeply about its evolution. It wanted to become a strong, imposing Corviknight.
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