Looking at the three aggressive Pokémon before him, the cloaked man wished he could kill the informant who gave him the intelligence right now.
What kind of garbage intelligence was this.
They said the mission target only had one Scyther, with strength far below his.
The result. The target had three.
Among them, that Ursaring's strength was about equal to his Arbok. How was he supposed to fight this.
The cloaked man was sweating profusely. He swallowed hard and tried to bluff Leon.
"Ganging up isn't fair. If you have any courage, fight me one on one. Even a battle of attrition would work. You wouldn't dare, would you."
At this point, his only hope was gambling that Leon's youthful arrogance would make him agree to a one on one or battle of attrition despite having the advantage.
This way he could still rely on years of combat experience to drag out the fight and look for a chance to escape.
"Fine, I can fight you one on one."
Leon nodded, indicating he agreed to the one on one.
Seeing Leon nod, the cloaked man's lips curled up wildly. Youth really was easy to provoke with just a few words.
Before his happiness could last, he heard Leon continue speaking.
"Either three of us fight you one on one, or you fight the three of us one on one. Your choice."
The cloaked man's smile instantly froze on his face.
"You're messing with me."
He shouted angrily.
"This isn't messing with you. This is called justice through numbers. Ursaring, use Slash."
Leon directly ordered Ursaring to attack.
"Roar."
Ursaring roared and charged at Arbok.
"Dodge."
The cloaked man urgently commanded.
Arbok nimbly dodged to the side, avoiding Ursaring's attack.
"Scyther, Double Hit."
Scyther immediately followed up with an attack. This time Arbok couldn't avoid it and was sent flying by a heavy slash.
"Damn it. Use Acid Spray to push them back."
Facing the storm of attacks from two Pokémon, the cloaked man wanted to create some distance first.
"Aron, block it for us."
"Aron."
Aron stepped forward with its short legs, directly shielding the two Pokémon.
The green acid hit its body without causing any damage.
"Damn it, Aron is immune to poison damage. Have to use other type moves."
But Arbok was inherently a Poison type Pokémon. Not being able to use Poison type moves now undoubtedly sealed away most of its strength.
The cloaked man clearly understood this too, so he planned to take out Aron first with other moves.
"Charge. Use Crunch on Aron."
Arbok shot toward Aron like an arrow, biting down hard on its body.
"Harden."
Aron's body flashed with a metallic glow.
"Crack."
Arbok felt like it had bitten into steel, its fangs nearly cracking.
Before it could open its mouth, a massive bear paw came slamming down.
"Bam."
Arbok was sent flying again, crashing hard into a tree.
"Arbok."
It groaned in pain, lying on the ground unable to get up.
Seeing Arbok defeated, the cloaked man panicked.
He quickly walked to Arbok and kicked it hard.
"Get up. Stop lying there playing dead. You go down after just a few hits. Worthless trash."
Leon couldn't take it anymore and said to Scyther.
"Bring that guy over. I have questions for him."
"Scy."
Scyther nodded and flew toward the cloaked man.
Seeing Scyther flying at him, the cloaked man thought it was coming to kill him.
He stumbled back a few steps in panic, then said with a vicious expression.
"You forced me into this."
He pulled out a Black Crystal and forced it into Arbok's mouth.
After swallowing the Black Crystal, Arbok's eyes gradually filled with blood.
"Arbok."
It reared up and roared at the sky, then charged straight at Scyther.
Despite Scyther's slashes landing on its body, it didn't retreat at all, as if it couldn't feel pain.
It opened its mouth wide and bit down hard on Scyther, severely injuring it.
Just as it was about to attack again, Ursaring arrived in time to help, yanking Arbok off and slamming it to the ground.
But Arbok quickly got back up and spat Acid at Ursaring.
This time without Leon's command, Aron ran in front of Ursaring on its own to block the attack.
Then it headbutted Arbok, forcing it back a few steps.
The four Pokémon immediately became entangled in battle.
Facing such chaos, Leon didn't know how to command for a moment.
Meanwhile, the cloaked man secretly made his way behind Leon.
He held a dagger coated with Arbok's deadly poison.
If I can't beat your Pokémon, I can still beat you.
He also understood the principle of capturing the leader first.
The cloaked man quietly approached Leon.
Closer, closer, just a little more.
As the distance closed, his expression grew increasingly twisted and vicious.
But then Leon suddenly turned around, looking at him with mocking laughter, as if watching a clown.
"How did you notice me again."
The cloaked man shouted angrily.
"Buddy, I'm not blind. How could I miss a full grown man walking around in a black cloak through green plants in broad daylight."
Leon was speechless. Did he really think a black cloak made him invisible.
"Noticing doesn't matter. You don't have any Pokémon around you now. With your scrawny arms and legs, killing you would be easier than killing a Magikarp."
The cloaked man said viciously, raising his dagger and charging at Leon.
"Ah, why bother."
Leon shook his head, then took out another Poké Ball from his waist.
The cloaked man stopped in his tracks, his lips twitching slightly.
"Don't tell me you have another Pokémon."
"Congratulations, correct answer. Your reward is a Bounsweet's Rapid Spin."
Leon tossed the Poké Ball, and Bounsweet appeared in a flash of white light.
"Boun."
It immediately crashed into the cloaked man's right hand, knocking the dagger away.
Then it spun around and slammed into the cloaked man's stomach.
"Ah."
The cloaked man screamed, clutching his stomach as he collapsed to his knees, feeling like his bile was about to be knocked out.
Despite Bounsweet's low level, its attacks weren't something an ordinary human could withstand.
After all, not everyone was from Pallet Town.
"Why do you have so many Pokémon."
The cloaked man asked incredulously.
Back when he got his first Pokémon, he had gone through hell.
First, he was discovered by an Arbok while stealing its egg and chased halfway across the region, nearly dying to its poison.
Then he spent all his savings hiring professionals to incubate the egg, and finally borrowed money to make a Beast Control Device, only then getting his first Pokémon.
All these years he worked hard doing missions and killing, just to pay off debts and save up to make another Beast Control Device to catch a second Pokémon.
But this guy in front of him was young and already had four Pokémon. How could he accept this.
"Maybe it's because I'm just that charming. They all insist on following me. What can I do."
Leon shrugged.
Hearing this, the cloaked man felt a blockage in his chest, then spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You. I."
He pointed a trembling finger at Leon, unable to find words to describe his feelings.
Too bad. If he had watched Earth's movies he'd know what to say.
He definitely would have shouted that classic line at Leon.
"I have never seen someone so shamelessly thick skinned."