Pokémon: Global Invasion

Chapter 35: Former Teammates

"As for the debts and my parents, I will figure it out myself."

"And Aron is also my family; I can't possibly give it to you!"

The boy had a stubborn look on his face, tightly gritting his teeth, fists clenched, with rage evident in his expression.

"You're really stubborn! Our patience has run out! Whether you want to or not, you will hand it over today!"

The smile on the leader's face slowly vanished, and his gaze turned cold as he looked at the boy.

"How dare you!"

"If you dare to take my Aron, then you are poachers, violating Alliance laws. Pokémon Hunters will not let you off!"

The boy's face showed panic, but he still shouted loudly, trying to intimidate the men in black with Alliance laws.

"Take? We're not taking your Aron; you willingly offered it as payment for your debts."

"Go ahead! Knock out that Aron and take it back. As for that boy, just be careful not to kill him; otherwise, it will be troublesome for us to deal with!"

The men in black wasted no time and directly commanded their subordinates to act, causing the three Mightyena to charge forward.

Just as they were about to strike, a figure suddenly dashed in from a distance, rolling into a ball and rapidly using Rollout, crashing hard into one of the Mightyena!

Boom!

One Mightyena was caught off guard and was directly knocked away by the Rollout attack, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust!

"Damn it, who is it?!"

The faces of the men in black displayed rage as they turned their attention to the Sandshrew executing Rollout in the arena.

At that moment, after knocking one Mightyena away, Sandshrew continued to maintain its Rollout, executing a beautiful drift to charge at the remaining two Mightyena.

"Mightyena, use Tackle!" The leader of the men in black gritted his teeth and ordered.

Seeing the Sandshrew roll towards them, a look of annoyance crossed their faces. Most of Mightyena's moves were biting attacks, but against an opponent rolling at high speed, where could they possibly bite?

In the next moment, Sandshrew and Mightyena collided fiercely as Sandshrew tackled with Rollout. Accompanied by a pained howl, Mightyena found it impossible to withstand the maximum power of Sandshrew, being sent flying with a sound that hinted at a bone fracture!

"Damn it, who is it?!"

Seeing both Mightyena downed by Sandshrew's Rollout, the men in black revealed their rage, speaking through gritted teeth!

"Stop blabbering!"

At that moment, Ryoma slowly stepped out from the shadows, his expression equally dark.

"Little guy, do you know who we are?"

"How dare you lay a hand on us? Are you tired of living?"

As the men in black saw Ryoma come forward, their expressions grew even more sinister, intending to use the power behind them to intimidate this meddlesome individual.

"I think it's actually you guys who are tired of living, daring to attack my friend!"

"Get lost, you bronze-level fools! If you make me unhappy, I'll personally send you back to the spring water!"

Ryoma remained unfazed in the face of their threats, a smile slowly forming at the corners of his mouth.

"You're... Ryoma!"

At that moment, the boy standing behind Ryoma exclaimed in surprise.

"It's me, Stone."

Ryoma slightly turned his face, revealing a faint smile.

"You two know each other!"

Seeing Ryoma greet the boy warmly, the men in black's expressions changed. The leader gritted his teeth and immediately turned to leave, not lingering for a moment!

"Thank you for today, Ryoma."

The boy, referred to as Stone by Ryoma, let out a sigh of relief.

"Is there really a need for such politeness?"

"Come on, let's find a place to talk properly."

...

Aloha City, an unknown izakaya.

Ryoma and Stone sat facing each other, and after a year apart, there was some nostalgia on both of their faces.

Stone, whose real name was Ishi Akira, was Ryoma's comrade in the Hero Alliance game, primarily playing as a support unit, ranked as the strongest king.

"Senior year, they always say to focus on studying and stay away from games, yet here we are, not getting into college and wasting a whole year of precious time," Ishi Akira sighed. "If I had known earlier, I would have chosen to pursue a profession. With the strength of our team, even offline, we would still be first-rate!"

"Our team's strength is certainly top-notch, but we couldn't get past our parents." Ryoma also sighed.

"By the way, tell me about your situation. Why are those people chasing you?"

Hearing Ryoma's question, Ishi Akira took a big gulp of beer and then sighed, recounting his experiences over the past year.

It turned out that Ishi Akira's family owned a metal processing factory, and their conditions were quite favorable.

He initially thought he would go to a somewhat decent university and then inherit the family business, which was the path he intended to take.

Until one day, an Aron suddenly burst into his life. This confused little guy might have been trying to steal some metal to eat, and he happened to stumble upon it.

What followed was a natural progression; Ishi Akira successfully tempted Aron with metal, causing it to willingly become his Pokémon. However, since he hadn't turned 18 yet, he couldn't officially become a trainer.

As he eagerly awaited his 18th birthday, an unexpected incident occurred.

It turned out that the son of their metal processing factory's supplier encountered Ishi Akira and Aron by chance. Upon seeing Aron, the boy, who was the same age as Ishi Akira, became fixated on him. Aron's final evolution, Aggron, was a Pokémon known for its strength and appearance!

Thus, in the following days, the supplier tried every possible means to convince Ishi Akira to transfer Aron to him.

Of course, the end result was that Ishi Akira's father refused. When Ishi Akira turned 18, he registered for Trainer qualifications. However, because of this, the supplier held a grudge against Ishi Akira's family.

Subsequently, during their business dealings, the supplier sabotaged Ishi Akira's family metal processing factory, leading to bankruptcy and leaving them with massive debts. As a result, Ishi Akira's parents were taken away due to their inability to repay.

The reason Ishi Akira was trapped at the Steel Smelting Facility that night was that he intended to sneak in and steal some metal to feed Aron.

"It's all my fault; I shouldn't have let Aron be seen."

Ishi Akira's face showed a sense of despondency. Seeing this, Aron, which had been munching on metal on the ground, let out a sad sound and jumped next to Ishi Akira to comfort him lightly.

"Don't worry, Aron. I won't turn you over to them, and we will definitely earn a lot of money!" Ishi Akira declared with determination on his face.

"How much do your parents still owe?" Ryoma pondered for a moment before asking.

Ishi Akira paused for a moment and then replied, "Originally, they owed over ten million yen. In the end, my parents sold the house, the car, and all of our assets, and now we still owe over 500,000 yen."

"Over 500,000 yen?" Ryoma narrowed his eyes, then suddenly stood up and said, "Come with me."