In a place overgrown with bushes, Tetsuya hid behind a large tree, while Swinub and Piloswine lay in ambush on both sides.
Golett's Poké Ball had been placed by Tetsuya at the base of the tree.
Now he could wait at ease for the prey to come…
Antel would certainly not give up his "money-making tool". Barely an hour had passed when the sound of large amounts of bushes snapping could already be heard.
Tetsuya climbed up the tree at the fastest speed and looked into the distance.
As expected, Antel was holding a detector in his hand and advancing in his direction, while Liepard's claws continuously cleared a path for him.
Just as he had anticipated, that Poké Ball contained a tracking device.
"Ahhh! Too slow, too slow!"
As Antel spoke, he released another Liepard. With both working together, the speed of cutting through the bushes increased.
Tetsuya smiled slightly. He really was impatient. But the faster he came, the sooner his death would arrive.
Antel gradually approached, nearly reaching the large tree where Tetsuya had set the ambush.
"Swinub, Piloswine, use Icicle Crash to trap him!"
After Tetsuya shouted, both Pokémon sprang into action.
Antel and the two Liepard heard the sound but saw no figures. They were puzzled when suddenly a ring of icicles fell from the sky.
Before they could even take a step, Antel and the two Liepard were trapped inside.
"W-Who is it? Who exactly is it…? Who's setting me up!?" Antel roared.
Tetsuya chuckled and said, "Tehaha~ Yesterday you couldn't steal it, so today you're here to snatch it?"
With that sentence, Antel already knew who it was and said no more. "…Liepard, quickly destroy these icicles."
The two Liepard exerted all their might. Only the icicles created by Piloswine showed cracks and signs of breaking. The icicles created by Swinub did not move at all.
Antel was not a fool. Seeing the difference, he concentrated the power of both Liepard to focus on destroying the weaker icicles created by Piloswine.
The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment…
Soon he would understand what despair truly meant!
By this time, Tetsuya had already climbed down from the tree. Swinub and Piloswine were waiting outside the icicles, while Antel was concentrating his efforts on destroying two of them.
Liepard swung its claws wildly. The icicles were about to break, but those two foreclaws had already been invaded by the cold and were swelling red.
Finally, under Liepard's assault, two icicles shattered.
Appearing before Antel was Tetsuya, with Swinub and Piloswine standing on either side.
"Y-You gaki, hand over Golett and I might spare your life!" Antel revealed a "sinister" expression.
Tetsuya glanced at Antel and said, "Too much nonsense. Freeze-Dry."
Swinub and Piloswine simultaneously expelled two streams of icy breath that merged into one. The Liepard that had just rushed out instantly turned into two ice sculptures and fell to the ground.
"N-No… you- w-why..."
Antel gasped sharply and kept stepping backward.
Tetsuya did not dare to be certain whether Antel had any hidden stratagems left. After all, he had been wandering the underworld for many years and dared to commit fraud everywhere, so he had some capability.
"Swinub, Ice Beam."
Tetsuya had no intention of giving him a chance to catch his breath. Ninety thousand Pokédollar was not worth risking his life to struggle with Antel. The longer he stayed with such a person, the greater the danger.
Upon hearing Tetsuya's command, Antel's expression changed in shock. He had planned to try to tempt Tetsuya with money and launch a sneak attack once Tetsuya let down his guard. As long as he killed Tetsuya, dealing with the Pokémon afterward would be much easier.
"Come out, Bisharp, Pawniard, Fury Cutter!"
Antel quickly sent out a Bisharp and three Pawniard. They flung out the blades on their arms and launched into a frenzied Fury Cutter, forming a wall of wind.
The four Pokémon only barely managed to block Swinub's seemingly casual Ice Beam.
However, being able to block Pryce's Swinub's Ice Beam showed that this Bisharp squad's strength was not to be underestimated.
"Swinub, Piloswine, I'll leave it to you."
At Tetsuya's command, both Swinub and Piloswine shook their bodies. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, and hail began to fall.
Antel had already witnessed Swinub's strength and did not dare to prolong the fight, even though Bisharp had high resistance to Ice-type moves.
In the Hail, Swinub and Piloswine's figures became blurred and indistinct. The three Pawniard had already begun to panic. Suddenly losing sight of their opponents, they could not help but become flustered.
However, Bisharp remained unmoving, its twin blades crossed before its chest, ready to fight at any moment.
Tetsuya and Ditto kept a close eye on Antel's movements.
"Deal with those three Pawniard first. Piloswine, use Icicle Spear. Swinub, use Ice Beam."
With Snow Cloak, Swinub and Piloswine were invisible even to Tetsuya. Therefore, Piloswine had to reach the level of being able to fight independently in order to combine the strengths of both "Abilities" to their fullest.
Whoosh~
A sharp Icicle Spear shot toward the first Pawniard on the left.
"Use Slash to block it!" Antel commanded blindly with his eyes closed. After all, Piloswine's current strength was limited, and the power of Icicle Spear was insufficient.
Pawniard swung one arm, and the Icicle Spear was immediately split into two. At that moment, Bisharp suddenly attacked, charging toward the source of the Icicle Spear. The blades on its arms extended abruptly, and it brought both down in a powerful Slash.
Antel thought Piloswine had already been dealt with, but Bisharp hit empty air.
At this moment, Swinub's Ice Beam had already sealed the Pawniard on the far right inside a block of ice.
Having failed to land its attack, Bisharp became furious and began to wildly use Fury Cutter. The surrounding Hail was blown apart by the airflow. However, with Swinub's power sustaining it, how could a single Bisharp break through it?
Piloswine was still within the Hail. By this time, the second and third Icicle Spear had already been launched. Although they were easily deflected by the Pawniard, Bisharp's pursuit still failed to catch Piloswine.
Tetsuya nodded. At the very least, Piloswine was executing his battle strategy quite well, firing one Icicle Spear and immediately changing position.
This had already successfully enraged Bisharp, causing it to flail about wildly within the Hail.
Seeing that the three Pawniard had been silently dealt with by Swinub, Antel began to grow anxious. After all, this was already his final trump card.
"Bisharp, calm down! We are no match for that Swinub. Retreat quickly!" Antel's panic had already exposed his bottom line.
Tetsuya became even more confident in dealing with him.
Although Piloswine had not been trapped by Bisharp, its Icicle Spear had all been easily neutralized by the Pawniard. Meanwhile, Swinub dealt with the three Pawniard effortlessly. Such a gap was something he had to make it weigh carefully in its heart.
It must not think that just because it was immune to Ice-type moves and had defeated a few Ice-type Pokémon, it could handle any Pokémon and become numb and arrogant.