Turmoil

Seeing May was tense and unwilling to talk with him, Ilima didn't push further. He quietly contemplated how to leave this place.

He was different from May; he hadn't been caught due to encountering these people doing something wrong. He was attacked by a man wearing a black mask and then brought onto this aircraft.

That day, after leaving the hotel, he participated in a small-scale battle exchange event held in the town. After the event, he was inexplicably attacked.

The man who attacked him was too powerful. Ilima had no strength to resist; he was swiftly subdued almost upon their encounter.

To this day, he hasn't understood why he was captured. If the men were traffickers, then why capture other children, whereas he, being older, wouldn't fetch a good price? If it was his enemies seeking revenge, he had no memories of them, and they hadn't harmed him too.

This left him utterly confused!

Meanwhile, Haunter stealthily infiltrated the aircraft, wandering around while assessing the internal environment and scouting for enemies.

The aircraft was a medium-sized transport craft with a relatively uncomplicated internal structure. Haunter swiftly gleaned the general situation inside.

In the cockpit, Haunter noticed an unusually burly figure, a man wearing a black mask, whom Haunter identified as the main person on this aircraft.

Haunter didn't intend to alarm the man. Its current task was to quietly wait for the boss to arrive, rather than act and alert the enemy prematurely.

However, Haunter underestimated the man's sensitivity. Just as Haunter was about to exit the cockpit, it heard the man sharply exclaim, "Who's there!?"

Startled, Haunter immediately realized it had been discovered and promptly passed through the wall, escaping the cockpit.

The commotion of discovering an outsider stirred panic among the occupants in the cockpit. They hurriedly inquired, "Boss, what happened?"

The masked man gruffly said, "Someone has infiltrated; find and capture them!"

One of the men, a big guy, grimly remarked, "It must be Tony and his gang of idiots who led them here!"

The "Tony" referred to by the big man was the bald, burly man who had brought May onto the aircraft.

Due to Haunter being detected, chaos erupted within the aircraft.

However, these people found it was difficult to locate Haunter.

It had been followed Dusknoir for a long time, but because it had poor potential, it was unable even to evolve into final stage, Gengar.

Although its strength wasn't great, it excelled in one aspect—concealment and hiding, which was why it had been selected for this task.

If not for the heightened perception of the man with the mask, ordinary individuals would have failed to notice it.

As Haunter toyed with those on the aircraft searching for it, it suddenly noticed several Weavile outside, their eyes shining brightly like searchlights, indicating they were looking for Haunter's whereabouts.

These Weavile are using Foresight move!

When Haunter saw these Weavile, it felt its heart skip a beat and immediately restrained itself, refraining from further mischief.

After aimlessly drifting around the aircraft for a while, Haunter found the room where May and Ilima were being held. Haunter glanced around at the children imprisoned in the room, then used its psychic to quietly open the room's door.

Lost in thought, Ilima suddenly heard a faint "click" from the direction of the door. He recognized this sound, as it was the same noise made by the sturdy men bringing the children into the room.

Seeing a flash of dark purple shadow pass the door or window, Ilima pondered for a moment before heading to the door. He gently pulled the door, and it opened silently.

Ilima didn't know why the door opened or if it was a trap set by the others. Yet, he decided to take the risk and venture out. Being confined here meant he'd never break free.

Ilima's actions drew the attention of the other children, but their eyes were vacant, appearing quite listless. They silently looked at Ilima, and only May asked, "Are you trying to leave here?"

Ilima nodded, saying, "I must find a way to escape."

With a trembling voice, May asked, "Can I go with you?"

Ilima hesitated for a moment, contemplating the added difficulty of escaping with an unarmed young girl. But after several thoughts, he grit his teeth and agreed.

This girl was related to the Verdanturf Gym. Maybe they were already searching for her. Alone, it was challenging for Ilima to escape. He might need the Gym's assistance.

However, he had no clue about the captors' identities or why they had taken them.

Upon hearing Ilima's response, May quickly got up from the ground and followed behind Ilima. Though uncertain about Ilima's identity and suspicious of him, she knew she couldn't just sit there and wait.

Despite her fear, May, as Mr. Norman's daughter, was brave when it mattered most.

So the two exited the room. As for the other children, they were currently powerless, their only hope resting on the chance of Ilima and May returning to rescue them later.

"Where are we going?" Trembling, May clutched Ilima's clothes, her face filled with unease.

"We need to find the Pokémon taken from me. Without them, we can't leave here," Ilima responded after a moment of consideration.

Nodding, May obediently trailed behind Ilima.

At this point, the two were oblivious to the fact that the entire aircraft was on high alert due to the commotion caused by Haunter.

On the other side, Yuga, following the clues left behind by the Xatu, Arcanine, Houndoom, and Ghost-type Pokémon, rode his Dragonite out of Verdanturf Town, passing through Lavaridge and Fallarbor Town, heading east until he reached the coast.

Seeing Houndoom and Arcanine waiting at the shore, Yuga gestured to his Dragonite to land and then called out to them, "Did they head out to sea?"

"Bark!" Houndoom nodded in affirmation.

Shortly after, a Ghost-type Pokémon materialized in response to Arcanine's call. Yuga asked the Ghost-type Pokémon a couple of questions. Following its lead, Yuga, riding his Dragonite, flew toward the opposite side of the sea.

Meanwhile, inside the aircraft, May and Ilima didn't get far before the burly men searching for Haunter noticed their trail. Believing these two to be the enemies that caught the leader's attention, the men launched a pursuit.

Thankfully, Ilima, being alert, evaded numerous perilous situations with May. Finally, they found a warehouse where the captured Pokémon were held, and Ilima located his own.

But as soon as he unlocked the cage holding his Pokémon, a piercing alarm blared in the warehouse, forcing the two to flee in haste.

However, their whereabouts were now fully exposed. Soon, a group of men encircled them, compelling Ilima to fight with his Pokémon to protect May.

To ensure May's safety, Ilima handed over his only Water-type Pokémon to her.

From earlier observations through the aircraft window, Ilima knew they were at sea. He informed May that if necessary, they would have to jump directly from the aircraft.

"If you give it to me, what will you do?" May, visibly anxious, didn't immediately take the Pokémon ball handed to her by Ilima.

Ilima sighed, reassuring her, "Don't worry, I have my ways."

Trembling with fear, May clutched the Pokémon ball Ilima gave her, nodding tearfully.

Realizing the increasing number of enemies approaching, Ilima had no choice but to let May leave first while he stayed behind to confront the enemies. Knowing her staying would be futile, May turned, taking the Pokémon given by Ilima, and ran away.

Panic-stricken, May dashed through the aircraft in disarray. However, in no time, her pursuers caught up. Overwhelmed by fear, she tremulously released the Water-type Pokémon that Ilima had given her: a Primarina.

Primarina was Ilima's starter Pokémon and his only non-Normal-type Pokémon.

Primarina didn't engage with the enemies for long, because its prioritizing the safety of May. However, being outnumbered, it struggled to fend off several opposing Pokémon.

Seeing the imminent danger, the Primarina fiercely unleashed a Hydro Pump toward the aircraft's window, shattering it. With a swift motion of its tail, it leaped out of the window, carrying May to safety.

Watching Primarina and May jumping out of the window, the men surrounding them exchanged glances but could only report their failure.

On the other side, Ilima found himself quickly overwhelmed. However, right at the critical moment, a faint purple mist suddenly filled the surroundings, gradually thickening and obscuring people's vision.

"This is Poison Gas! Cover your noses!" echoed the startled shouts of the burly men from within the purple mist.

Startled by the sudden appearance of the Poison Gas, Ilima was then greeted by the sound of faint laughter. It almost scared the life out of him before he noticed a Haunter that had appeared inexplicably by his side.

Waving a claw, the Haunter grinned and enveloped Ilima in a psychic barrier, protecting him from inhaling the poisonous mist. Despite his confusion about its sudden appearance and motive, Ilima realize that the Haunter had appeared to help him,

Guided by the Haunter, Ilima quietly departed in the cover of the thick mist. By the time the leader arrived, all he saw was his men frantically fleeing from the cloud of Poison Gas.

After his subordinates reported, the leader learned that the boy they had captured had escaped. It was merely a coincidence that he encountered Ilima.

He had noticed Ilima's outstanding performance at the battle exchange event in Verdanturf Town, which piqued his interest and led him to the idea of abducting Ilima.

Their organization specialized in abducting cildren from different places, bringing them to the organization's base for brainwashing, training, and various other purposes. Normally, they would capture children aged five to ten.

Abducting someone nearly an adult like Ilima was a first. It was primarily due to Ilima's exceptional talent that piqued the leader's interest and prompted his capture.

Their organization isn't one of those low-level human trafficking rings; they have embedded operatives in various places. These operatives lead seemingly normal lives, meticulously observing their neighbors or acquaintances. Their primary focus is the children in those households.

These operatives may live among the populace for a year or two, sometimes up to three to five years without acting. Once they do, they execute without leaving a trace.

Who could imagine that the neighbor living among you for years might be an operative or an accomplice of human traffickers? Even after your child goes missing, they might show up at your house to comfort you.

Once they've selected a target, they invest a considerable amount of time investigating the target family's relationships. Families that might pose problems for the organization are not chosen. Once a family has been targeted and their child is lost, they're left without recourse.

Verdanturf Town wasn't their headquarters; it was merely a transfer point. Ever since a powerful Gym Leader took office, they had no intentions of making it a target.

Yet, mistakes were made by the henchmen, unwittingly drawing attention from the Verdanturf Gym, causing trouble for their organization.

"You fools! So many of you can't catch a single person! What use are you to me?"

The leader raised his hand and slapped one of his subordinates. The subordinate lowered his head, too terrified to speak, beads of sweat lining his forehead.

Nobody understood better than he did how terrifying their leader was. He had seen human specimens in his boss's room multiple times, all of them were the faces of his former colleagues.

These individuals were raised by the organization since childhood. Those with talent became enforcers like him, while those without were sent out to infiltrate and observe.

Years of brainwashing made them fiercely loyal to the organization, willing to sacrifice their lives for its cause.

No one knew exactly when the organization was founded. Establishing such a deeply rooted organization incurred immeasurable human and material resources. The time spent was at least a decade, perhaps several decades...

Under the furious rage of the Masked Man, his subordinates began a meticulous search for Ilima's whereabouts.

However, Haunter was too cunning; no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find where Ilima was hiding.

After some time had passed, the aircraft suddenly shook violently. A burly man dashed out from the cockpit in a panic and arrived before the Masked Man: "Bad news! Our ship is under attack!"

The Masked Man roared in anger, "What's the panic for? Isn't our ship cloaked? How did we still come under attack?"

The subordinate wiped the sweat off his forehead, "I... I don't know."

"You useless fool!" the Masked Man cursed. "You go back and keep an eye on the cockpit. I'll check outside!"

The ones attacking the aircraft were actually Yuga and the Charizard. Under Charizard's Fire Blasts, the cloak of the aircraft began to dissolve, revealing its charred and damaged exterior.

It didn't take long for Yuga to notice the slowly opening hatch on top of the aircraft, revealing a person wearing a black mask.

Seeing this masked figure, Yuga paused momentarily because the mask was familiar to him.

Earlier, Steven had informed him that the attackers of the Nami Trio were two individuals wearing masks—one wore a black mask, and the other a white one, with distinct patterns on the masks.

Upon seeing this figure, Yuga recognized it to be similar to Steven's description. This person standing before him was potentially one of the Nami Trio's attackers.