Suicune?

Seeing Yuga quickly catching up, the Masked Man chuckled, "Oh, isn't this the Gym Leader from Verdanturf Gym? Why attack someone's aircraft for no reason? Are all Gym Leaders from the League is this domineering?"

Due to wearing a mask, Yuga couldn't discern the other's expression, but the tone was filled with mockery.

Staring at the Masked Man for a moment, Yuga felt a vague sense of familiarity, "I'm looking for someone. Can I take a look inside your aircraft?"

Yuga's tone didn't imply seeking the other's consent. Since he had already guessed that this person was related to the attackers of the Nami Trio, there was no need for politeness. They were naturally at odds.

"Look at that, League's Gym Leaders have such power. They're ready to board someone else's aircraft just like that," the Masked Man's tone was full of sarcasm.

Yuga didn't waste words with the other person, commanding his Charizard, "Charizard, Flamethrower!"

Without hesitation, Charizard spewed a stream of fire towards the Masked Man.

Seeing the oncoming flames, the Masked Man's expression changed. Suddenly, a Aerodactyl appeared in front of him, folding its wings to block and intercept Charizard's Flamethrower.

"If you want to fight, I won't hold back. You need to learn that having a bit of fame doesn't make you invincible!" Yuga's unexpected action angered the Masked Man.

"Aerodactyl, Giga Impact!"

As the Masked Man issued the command, Aerodactyl's body swirled with energy, transforming into a swiftly moving arrow aimed at Yuga and Charizard.

Sensing the overwhelming momentum from Aerodactyl, Yuga furrowed his brow tightly: This Aerodactyl isn't normal!

Seeing the charging Aerodactyl, Charizard released a massive Flamethrower, but it shattered into mere sparks upon the Aerodactyl's impact. Helplessly, Charizard swiftly dodged.

After dodging Aerodactyl's Giga Impact, Yuga used his Insight ability to examine Aerodactyl.

...

Aerodactyl (Clone)

Type: Rock, Flying

Ability: ###

Gender: Male

Potential: ###

Level: ###

Moves: Iron Head, Supersonic, Ice Fang, Scary Face, Hyper Voice, Crunch, Take Down, Giga Impact, Feather Dance, Hyper Beam, Double Team, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Brutal Swing, Steel Wing, Rock Polish, Stone Edge, Earth Power.

...

The data revealed by Yuga's Insight on the Aerodactyl made his brow furrow.

A clone? What does that mean? Is this Aerodactyl cloned?

What's the meaning behind the garbled traits, potential, and level?

In fact, as described by Yuga's Insight, the Masked Man's Aerodactyl was indeed a cloned Pokémon, possessing most of the original's strength from birth, capable of using most of the original's moves, and with no pain sensitivity, unafraid of death.

However, the drawback is that these cloned Pokémon are disposable; once their energy is depleted after battle, they die.

The Masked Man isn't a legitimate Trainer; he never trains his own Pokémon. All the Pokémon in his possession are clones. His organization has a laboratory specifically for cloning Pokémon, ensuring the Masked Man always has an endless supply of cloned Pokémon.

Of course, Yuga doesn't yet know the actual situation of the Aerodactyl. He is currently commanding Charizard to continuously evade Aerodactyl's attacks.

Watching Yuga in apparent confusion, the Masked Man couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Hahaha... the renowned Verdanturf Gym Leader is just like this! But do you think it's over? It's far from over!"

Saying this, he retrieved several Poké Balls, and identically cloned Aerodactyls appeared in the air, surrounding Yuga and Charizard.

Yuga's Insight shows that all Aerodactyl data are identical, making him realize that these Aerodactyls are likely cloned from the same Pokémon.

Although these Aerodactyls are clones, each possesses formidable individual strength. Combined with their lack of pain and fear, Yuga and Charizard are having a bit of trouble handling them at that moment.

However, Yuga had no intention of engaging in single combat with these Aerodactyls. He consecutively summoned Lapras, Gengar, Mismagius, Kartana, and Dragonite.

The battle intensified; the cloned Aerodactyls ruthlessly fought back against Yuga's Pokémon. Yet, Yuga gradually noticed the dwindling momentum of the cloned Aerodactyls.

With no numerical advantage, as time passed, the battle situation began to reverse. But right at that moment, one of the cloned Aerodactyl's body swiftly lost its luster, and the membrane on its wings visibly decayed rapidly.

Witnessing this scene, Yuga was stunned!

What... what's happening?

However, the Masked Man facing him, upon witnessing the cloned Aerodactyl's distressing condition, showed no surprise because this is the flaw of cloned Pokémon.

"Useless things!" the Masked Man muttered under his breath.

Previously, when he battled with cloned Pokémon against weaker opponents, they could endure for a long time. He hadn't expected that with Yuga, they could only hold on for this short period.

"But..."

Underneath the Masked Man's mask, faint laughter echoed, showing no concern for the Aerodactyls' loss.

As the first Aerodactyl encountered an unexpected situation, followed by the second, third, fourth... each Aerodactyl faced a similar fate, falling into the sea like dumplings one after another.

Observing the splashes on the water's surface, Yuga's brow furrowed tighter.

"You better surrender." Yuga raised his head and focused his gaze on the Masked Man again.

The Masked Man's intermittent chuckle sounded a bit deranged. "Oh, Mr. Shimizu is really naive, do you think this is over? No... no... this is just the beginning!"

As the Masked Man's voice trailed off, the doors of his aircraft suddenly opened, releasing multiple Archeops, and their number even surpassing the previous Aerodactyls.

The vibrant feathers and scales of these Archeops appeared colorful under the sunlight, exuding a fierce aura. Each of these Archeops was much stronger than the previous Aerodactyls.

"Ha-ha-ha... Are you surprised? Are you surprised?" The Masked Man chuckled with smugness.

At his command, the Archeops swiftly attacked Yuga and his Pokémon. Although Yuga remained composed, he couldn't conceal his concern when facing these powerful Archeops.

Dealing with over a dozen powerful Archeops, even Yuga found it challenging, and gradually, his Charizard and other Pokémon suffered varying degrees of damage.

Knowing that he couldn't handle these Archeops alone today, Yuga shouted into the air, "Dusknoir!"

Dusknoir materialized slowly in response to Yuga's call.

The Masked Man's tactics indeed surprised Yuga. Initially, when Steven warned him to be caution if he facing this person, Yuga was a bit dismissive. But, he understood his underestimate him too much.

Handling these cloned Pokémon was proving difficult.

Moreover, the organization the Masked Man belongs to is undoubtedly extraordinary. Putting aside the difficulty of cloning technology, the exorbitant expenses involved in cloning a powerful Pokémon are countless. Yet, the Masked Man seems to disregard these cloned Pokémon.

It's clear that this organization is extremely wealthy.

"So, you did bring this Dusknoir with you."

The appearance of Dusknoir didn't surprise the Masked Man because they had specifically investigated Yuga in light of the incident involving Rayquaza, and they were well aware of Dusknoir's existence.

Originally, he had hoped to obtain some part of Rayquaza, thinking they could clone a new Rayquaza. However, those three individuals who were attacked by him and his brother had nothing on them.

As Dusknoir appeared, Salamence and Gengar retreated on their own, and all the Archeops were trapped in Dusknoir's Trick Space.

Once within Dusknoir's Trick Space, the Archeops became like lambs to the slaughter, swiftly following the fate of the Aerodactyls.

Observing the plummeting Archeops, the Masked Man, in an ambiguous mood, mentioned, "Cloning these Pokémon consumed quite a bit of my time and money. I never expected you to resolve this so quickly. What a waste!"

Hearing the Masked Man's words, Yuga found the man increasingly familiar but couldn't recall who he resembled.

"However, I've recently obtained a new Pokémon. I was originally planning to seek your Dusknoir to try, but here you are today." Without giving Yuga a chance to speak, the Masked Man continued.

He held another Poké Ball, this one entirely black, evoking an uncomfortable sensation.

With the release of the Poké Ball, a beautifully blue-colored Pokémon stood on the sea surface.

"Suicune..." Yuga silently whispered.

...

Suicune (Clone)

Type: Water

Abilities: ###

Gender: None

Potential: ###

Level: ###

Moves: Ice Beam, Bubble Beam, Rain Dance, Aurora Beam, Gust, Haze, Reflect, Tailwind, Extrasensory, Hydro Pump, Calm Mind, Blizzard, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Double Team, Surf, Snarl, Scald, Water Pulse, Swagger, Signal Beam.

...

Similar to Aerodactyl and the Archeops, this is also a cloned Pokémon. Yuga felt no Legendary Aura on this Pokémon, unlike other Legendary Pokémon.

"How's that? Surprised? I wonder who's stronger, my Suicune or your Dusknoir?" The Masked Man enthusiastically expressed, sounding manic.

"Sadly, this one isn't the rightful one. If I could capture the original, I would cherish it." The Masked Man continued speaking to himself, displaying a profound infatuation with Suicune.

However, upon hearing this, Yuga breathed a sigh of relief. This meant that the real Suicune hadn't been captured. Perhaps this Suicune was cloned from some unexpected discovery among the body tissues.

It remained unknown whether this Suicune, that doesn't have Legendary Aura, was stronger or weaker compared to the master level Dusknoir.

Meanwhile, Yuga engaged in a fierce battle with the Masked Man.

Inside the aircraft, Ilima and Haunter were anxiously searching for May. Despite their thorough search, they found no trace of May anywhere within the aircraft.

It wasn't until Ilima spotted the broken window on the aircraft that he realized May might have listened to his advice and jumped into the sea with Primarina.

Realizing May had left the aircraft, Ilima decided to flee. Climbing through the window, he planned to escape with Haunter. But to his surprise, standing on the sea was Suicune, facing Yuga and Dusknoir.

Suicune's combat power had greatly enhanced on the sea. Using Surf, it manipulated the tide towards Dusknoir, seemingly on the brink of overwhelming the Pokémon.

But Dusknoir was not a pushover. It swung its fist and launched Ice Punch toward the surging waves, instantly freezing them into an ice wall. Even Suicune, standing on the waves, found its limbs encased in ice.

Suicune in front of Yuga was like a war machine, showed no emotions, even when frozen.

Suicune held the title of "Embodiment of the North Wind", although the one in front of him isn't the real one, but its still retained exceptional talent to freely control over the wind.

Under Suicune's control, the Gust move its used quickly shattered the encasing ice. Jumping high, it launched a colorful Aurora Beam at Dusknoir.

Dusknoir's abdomen, it's like a gateway to a unique space, it opened like a mouth and devoured the Aurora Beam entirely.

Suicune had its talents, but so did Dusknoir. Its abdomen was linked to a special space that could supposedly consume even a person's soul.

Disappointed that his Suicune couldn't gain any advantage against Dusknoir, the Masked Man grumbled: "Fakes are useless!"

"Indeed, the reputation of a Trainer who could take down a Rayquaza isn't empty praise," the Masked Man sneered at Yuga.

Unperturbed by the taunt, Yuga continued to command Dusknoir to aggressively attack Suicune. Without Legendary Aura support, Suicune in front of him couldn't considered as a true Legendary Pokémon, it even struggled when confront Dusknoir who were less than level 100.

After an unspecified duration of battle, the side effect as a cloned Pokémon, began to shown, and Suicune's strength began to dwindle.

Seeing this, the Masked Man grew anxious. He knew that once Suicune was completely defeated, his escape would become hard.

With that in mind, the Masked Man called out to Suicune: "Suicune, let's go!"

Using a Hydro Pump to temporarily push back Dusknoir, Suicune agilely jumped to the Masked Man's side. Stooping down, it carried him on its back, conjuring a wave to obstruct Yuga and Dusknoir's line of sight.

After the wave dissipated, both the Masked Man and Suicune were nowhere to be found. As for the aircraft and his subordinates inside, the Masked Man was don't care at all.

His only regret was losing the captured children. He was unconcerned about whether his identity or his whereabouts would be revealed by his captured subordinates.

Watching Gym Leader Yuga defeat the Masked Man, Ilima, hiding in the shadows, breathed a sigh of relief: He was saved…

That Masked Man was too terrifying, and Ilima was still haunted by the experience.