A heavy steel door crumpled under a Iron Tail. Daichi stepped over the unconscious guard and his Mightenya.
"Clear," Daichi said. He kept on moving .nThe five Elite trainers followed him. They moved deeper into the base's hallways . The walls were lined with data cables and humming servers. The control room was visible at the end of the long, wide corridor.
Suddenly, the lights turned a steady, flat white.
Twenty hunters stepped out from the side maintenance bays. Judging from the pressure they emitted thery weren't Ace level probably around professional level , but they were geared for suppression. They blocked the hallway with a wall of Electrode, Muk, and Weezing.
The air in the tunnel turned toxic. The professionals overlapped their Pokémon, creating a dense, physical barrier of sludge and static.
"Move, Daichi," the lead Elite trainer said. He didn't look back. "They're just speed bumps , I'll clear them," Daichi replied, reaching for Nidoking's ball.
"No," the trainer interrupted. Elite 4 Drake is fighting an army outside. We don't have time for a brawl here. We'll peel them back. Daichi-san get to the terminal."
The five Elites fanned out. They released their own Pokemon—Gastrodon, Medicham, Weavile, Talonflame and a Arcanine. The corridor was filled with the pressure emitting from these five pokemon.
"Don't stop until you have the data," the trainer asked.
The 20 hunters commanded a synchronized Self-Destruct and Sludge Bomb volley. The Elites met them head-on, their Pokémon absorbing the shockwaves to keep the path open.
Daichi ran. He ran past a dazed Electrode, his shoulder hitting the control room door.
"Keep them off me," Daichi said.
"YES SIR!! " , the trainers yelled in unison.
He slammed his palm against the door's manual override. Behind him, the hallway erupted in a roar of fire and smoke as the Elites began to dismantle the blockade.
Daichi stepped into the silence of the control room.
The server room was cold. Only the hum of cooling fans broke the silence. Daichi moved to the central terminal. He jammed three pendrives into the ports.
"I need to copy everything or as much as I can," he muttered.
Progress bars crawled across the screens. Daichi scrolled through the directories. His eyes locked on a series of financial logs.
Team Magma and Team Aqua.
The names were familiar , they were mid tier regional gangs not much to remember about them , they always started low. But the data showed a massive influx of untraceable capital and high-grade tech. Their expansion was enormous. At this rate, they would dominate Hoenn's underground within the year. This needed surveillance by the league.
"They're being funded either that or they are cooperating with that hunters guild.," Daichi realized.
He searched for the twenty-five missing trainers. He found no names. No death certificates. Only a logistics log.
Status: Captured.
Transfer: Complete
The recipients weren't named. The logs described them only as "Receivers." No destination was listed. They had vanished into thin air . Daichi clicked his tongue , he then began to search on the assassin , then the link between the Assassin and the Guild appeared.
The Assassin wasn't a Guild member. He was an "External Auditor" sent by the 'Recievers' to oversee the Guild's operations. The Guild provided the muscle and the trainers ,the Cloaked provided the Assassin and the funding. The Assassin's job was to ensure the Guild's actions forced the League into a premature, messy conflict.
It was a setup. The Guild was being used as a sacrificial lamb to keep the League's eyes off the real threat.
The last drive flashed green. He yanked it from the port and stood alone in the silent, humming room.
As he began to leave a flicker of light caught Daichi's eye from a discarded laptop in the corner. He stepped over.
The screen displayed a heat map of the mountain. Red dots clustered around the whole forest. They weren't fleeing, they were preparing for an ambush.
A timer on the side of the screen tracked "League Expenditure." It was a calculation of how much energy Drake and the Elites were burning through. The Guild was intentionally draining their energy to sweep them with an ambush.
The real strike force was fresh, waiting for the Elite 4 to hit their limit.
"It's a trap," Daichi muttered.
He grabbed his gear and turned toward the exit. The silence of the server room suddenly felt like a tomb.
He needed to get to Drake. He needed to get out now.
Daichi burst into the hallway. The five Elite trainers stood over a pile of defeated Pokémon. They were breathing hard, their Gastrodon and Medicham coated in grime.
"It's a trap," Daichi said. "They're stalling to drain our strength. The main force is fresh and waiting. Go and aid Drake now."
The Elites didn't argue. They broke into a run toward the exit.
"Not so fast."
Two men stepped from the shadows of the hallway. They wore heavy tactical vests marked with the Guild's high-rank insignia. Gym leader-level. They released a Breloom and an Alakazam. The hallway felt small as the Pokémon's presence filled the space.
The five Elite trainers hesitated, reaching for their belts.
"I said go!" Daichi ordered. "Drake is being swamped. I'll handle these two."
The Elites nodded and sprinted past, the Guild members moving to intercept before Daichi's Nidoking slammed its tail into the floor, creating a wall of jagged rock between them.
The trainers vanished toward the surface. Daichi stood alone in the narrow corridor, facing the two hunters.
"You're making a mistake, young man," the hunter with the Breloom said.
Daichi didn't answer. He just tightened his grip on his Pokéballs.