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Early morning, a little past 7 a.m.—after Sato and Thomas swiftly finished feeding their Pokémon, they began executing the plan they had drafted the previous day.
According to the intelligence Thomas had gathered, Ranka's recent activity had mostly taken place in the western section of the eastern region of the mysterious island. The most recently spotted location was called Primeape Forest.
Looking at the map, Primeape Forest was located northwest of the Tauros Mountain foothills. The straight-line distance between the two areas was at least over 200 kilometers, with several large Pokémon groups' territories scattered along the way.
If they wanted to travel from Tauros Mountain to Primeape Forest, even at the speed of Arcanine and Rapidash, it would take at least over an hour—and that was assuming the journey went smoothly.
But based on Thomas's previous escape route, that was practically impossible. He had trespassed into the territory of several different wild Pokémon clans and had been ambushed no fewer than a dozen times along the way.
To shake off his pursuers, Thomas had pulled out every trick he had. It was only because of his exhaustion that Sato was able to catch him so effortlessly.
Thomas being able to make it this far on his own was a testament to his strength.
If his Rapidash hadn't been completely worn out at the time, and he'd managed to gain a bit more distance using Agility, Sato's Arcanine likely would have been left eating dust.
Long-distance high-speed pursuits weren't Arcanine's specialty. Rapidash, with its exceptional stamina, could maintain high speeds over long durations—something Arcanine simply couldn't compete with.
But time was of the essence. Ranka's current whereabouts were unknown, and in order to track him down quickly, they had to rush to the last location he was seen.
Thus, after carefully examining the map, Sato ultimately decided to travel to Primeape Forest via the water route.
Like other forests dominated by large Pokémon groups, Primeape Forest also had a river flowing through it—one that happened to be another tributary of the Crescent River.
Sato planned to travel down the Carvanha River—also a Crescent tributary—and follow the shortest possible water route to reach the river running through Primeape Forest.
It was worth mentioning that, under Sato's guidance, Thomas had successfully captured a Seismitoad with the Swift Swim ability in Poliwag Lake. That level 41 Seismitoad now served as his aquatic mount.
Though the water route was significantly longer than the direct land route, thanks to the presence of the red Shiny Gyarados and Swampert, it was clearly a safer and more efficient choice.
There was no need to elaborate on the red Gyarados—its notorious reputation as a tyrant of the water meant almost no Pokémon dared block its path.
As for Swampert, it had just crushed hundreds of Pinsir the day before—many of which it had personally buried. With its overwhelming aura at its peak, no Water-type Pokémon in its right mind would dare to challenge it now.
With two terrifying Pokémon traveling together, unless they actively provoked trouble, no wild Water-type wanted anything more than for these two monsters to leave their territory as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, as Sato and Thomas made their way toward Primeape Forest by water, their target—Ranka—was just waking up, leisurely stretching in bed.
"You're awake, Lord Ranka. I've prepared your breakfast—I hope it meets your satisfaction," said a burly man standing beside a campfire, frying an egg in a pan. The moment he saw the fully dressed Ranka step out of his pink, luxurious tent, he stopped what he was doing, picked up a carefully prepared breakfast plate, and eagerly presented it.
"You eat it. I'm doing my skincare routine first. Bring me a freshly made one afterward."
Without even glancing at the ordinary-looking man before him, Ranka turned his head away and spoke dully, eyelids half-lowered.
As soon as he finished, he pulled out a chair, crossed his legs, and began applying skincare products to his fair, delicate complexion.
"Understood, Lord Ranka. If you need anything, I'm at your service," the burly man said, initially showing a flash of disappointment before quickly forcing a smile and continuing his obsequious tone.
His name was Yosuke Noda—like Aoki, who had previously been captured by Sato, he was also a member of Team Rocket who had submitted to Ranka.
Unlike Noda, however, Noda's loyalty stemmed not only from Ranka's strength but also from his feminine beauty. From the moment he first laid eyes on Ranka's ethereal appearance, he had fallen deeply in love.
Noda was no weakling. He was also clever. Like Sato, he had chosen a Fire-type Pokémon as his starter on the island—his Typhlosion was now level 49.
He had been teleported into the heart of a Bellsprout colony but had managed to escape. Over three days of exploration, he'd added a Victreebel, Ninjask, Poliwrath, and Dodrio to his team.
Just the day before, he encountered Ranka. Upon meeting him, Noda immediately pledged his loyalty and began serving Ranka with utmost dedication.
Ranka found Noda's appearance utterly distasteful. But since he lacked a servant to manage his daily needs, he begrudgingly kept Noda around rather than trade his Trainer ID number to reclaim one of his Pokémon from the base.
So far, Noda's service had met Ranka's standards. In particular, the way he looked at Ranka—like a dog in heat—seemed to feed Ranka's ego and make him feel especially attractive.
By the time Ranka finished his morning skincare ritual, over half an hour had passed. Noda had reheated the breakfast multiple times by then.
But when Ranka finally gave him a faint smile, Noda felt all his effort had been worthwhile.
"Lord Ranka, which direction are we heading next? I came up from the southern region, and aside from you, I haven't encountered any other participants so far,"
Noda asked eagerly, handing over a freshly squeezed glass of juice.
They were currently camped in Sunflora Forest, located northwest of Primeape Forest.
Yes—Ranka had never continued pursuing Thomas and Maitel, those two defeated runaways. Instead, he had steadily moved toward the island's central region.
Faced with his 'servant's' question, Ranka didn't respond right away. He accepted the juice, took out a detailed map, and sipped his drink with refined grace while studying the map spread across the table.
"Here. Let's head here today. I heard there's a large open-air gemstone mine in this place, and a colony of Carbink nearby. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?"
Ranka said leisurely, his eyes tracing from their current location to a place marked Diamond Canyon on the map.