"This really is a surprise!"
Ariel muttered, a smile he couldn't hold back curling at the corners of his mouth.
Malamar's sudden Teleport undoubtedly gave its flexibility and survivability on the battlefield a qualitative leap.
This wasn't just a skill; it was a trump card that could save a life at a critical moment!
He looked back toward Brawly and saw that Brawly was already diving into the sea with Machoke.
At the bottom of the Speedboat, Machoke was using its powerful fists to strike the Submarine's hatch one blow after another, helping the captured Pokémon escape.
As for the crew members on those two Speedboats, they had long since been taken care of by Brawly and were now lying scattered across the deck, having lost the ability to resist.
Ariel turned his gaze back to the Scarred Burly Man and those hypnotized Team Aqua members.
He stepped toward the burly man, each step carrying an invisible sense of pressure.
"In other words, you're the only one who's seen my secret now."
Ariel's voice was very soft, but it reached the burly man's ears clearly over this stretch of sea. There wasn't a hint of threat in his tone, yet it made the man's heart skip a beat.
The burly man subconsciously took two steps back, his body tense, and the cold sweat on his forehead flowed even faster.
Looking at Ariel, then at the fallen Sharpedo and the controlled crew members, the fear in his heart reached its peak.
"You... what do you want to do?!"
The burly man's voice was clearly trembling; he had a premonition that he might have seen something he shouldn't have, and now, he would pay the price for it.
Ariel didn't answer, only waving his hand.
"Krokorok, Sneasel, go together, make it quick," Ariel ordered indifferently.
Krokorok and Sneasel understood; they knew what Ariel meant.
A Malamar that had learned a skill it shouldn't have been able to learn—Teleport—had now become Ariel's trump card.
This skill could absolutely save a life at a critical moment!
Therefore, there was no need for this Team Aqua member in front of him to live on.
Everything he knew would sink to the bottom of the sea forever with his death.
Krokorok and Sneasel's figures flashed as they pounced toward the Scarred Burly Man with sharp killing intent.
The burly man looked despairingly at the two pokémon rushing at him, then at his only remaining Wailmer.
At this moment, the Wailmer had already been lifted by Malamar's Confusion, and continuous Psycho Cuts had directly carved deep, bone-deep wounds into it.
He closed his eyes in despair, knowing his end had arrived.
The sea breeze blew across the Speedboat's deck, carrying the scent of salt and a hint of the scorched smell from energy collisions.
Krokorok and Sneasel's movements were clean and efficient; as two flashes of cold light passed, the terror in the burly man's eyes froze completely, and he fell straight down, silent forever.
On the deck, the hypnotized Team Aqua members still sat back-to-back like eerie statues, completely unresponsive to everything happening before them.
Ariel's gaze fell on the rather exquisite-looking bag at the burly man's waist.
It was this item that had piqued his curiosity and made him choose this Speedboat.
His heart was burning with excitement; what could be inside something so cherished by a Team Aqua Minor Leader?
Rare evolution items? Powerful tm?
Ariel suppressed his anticipation, stepped forward, and snatched the bag away.
The weight in his hand wasn't light, making him even more certain.
He took a deep breath and unzipped it.
The expected glow of treasure didn't appear; instead, there was a glaring pink lace edge.
Ariel's movements froze.
He blinked, reached inside, and pulled out one... and then another... various types and colors of women's underwear.
There was even a style printed with Pikachu's large face.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Ariel's brain stalled for a full three seconds before he slowly processed this absurd scene.
A surge of nameless fire rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!
The treasure he had been looking forward to for so long was this stuff?
"I...!"
A breath was stuck in Ariel's chest, nearly making him pass out.
He looked at the still-warm corpse on the ground and laughed out of extreme anger.
After all that, he had been fighting tooth and nail against a pervert with a special fetish?
He grabbed the handful of colorful fabric, slammed it onto the burly man's face, and then delivered a kick, sending the person along with all that messy stuff into the surging sea.
"Splash!"
The corpse sank into the deep sea, while those light pieces of underwear swirled a few times on the surface before being swept away by a wave, vanishing without a trace.
After doing all this, the foul mood in Ariel's chest eased slightly.
Just then, a figure leaped over from the direction of the Submarine and landed steadily on the Speedboat.
"Ariel!"
It was Brawly; as soon as he boarded, his gaze was drawn to the Malamar floating in mid-air with its tentacles pointing upward.
"Not bad, kid! Without a word, your Inkay evolved!" Brawly walked over and slapped Ariel heavily on the shoulder, truly happy for him. "Congratulations!"
Malamar seemed to enjoy the attention; the tentacles on its head swayed showily, and its black eyes blinked with a sense of pride.
After evolving, its signature black eyes hadn't disappeared but were instead even more prominent.
Seeing Ariel's dark face and silence, Brawly found it a bit strange and nudged him with his elbow.
"What's wrong? You won, but you're still not happy?"
Ariel couldn't very well say he was this angry because of a pile of underwear; that would be too embarrassing.
He turned to look at the Pokémon being rescued in the distance and spoke in a muffled voice.
"It's nothing. I'm just angry seeing these guys harming pokémon like this."
This reason was perfectly logical.
Sure enough, Brawly didn't doubt him. He followed Ariel's gaze, his face also showing a bit of indignation, and then patted Ariel's back to comfort him:
"Don't think about it anymore. We've already stopped them. You care for pokémon so much; you're a truly respectable Trainer."
Hearing this, Ariel's heart felt even more conflicted.
He wasn't such a noble person; he just felt that the result of his hard work had been insulted.
In the distance, the sound of a Jet Ski's engine approached, breaking the silence of the sea.
Officer Jenny arrived in time with the Water Police. She glanced at the hypnotized Team Aqua members on the deck, then at Ariel, Brawly, and the powerful-looking Malamar, a hint of praise flashing in her eyes.
"Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to us."
After finishing the simple handover procedures, Officer Jenny directed the Water Police to handcuff the sleepwalking Team Aqua members one by one and escort them back to shore.
As the sirens faded into the distance, the sea surface returned to calm once again.
Brawly stretched and said to Ariel:
"Let's go. Machoke has already settled all those captured Pokémon."
Ariel nodded, taking one last look at the sea where the burly man had disappeared, and the frustration in his heart finally dissipated completely.
Saved. Although he didn't get any treasure, Malamar's evolution—especially that unexpected surprise, Teleport—was already the biggest gain from this adventure.
This is a god-tier skill! At a critical moment, it's enough to turn the tide of battle or even save a life!
Thinking of this, Ariel's mood improved significantly.
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