Joining Forces

"Rhydon!"

Rhydon roared at the three men, snapping the three men out of their daze.

"What a huge Rhydon."

The red-haired man whispered. His hands were sweating as he took a few steps back in fear.

No one could stay calm in the face of Rhydon's oppressive figure towering over them.

"So, what are you guys doing here? Are you trying to break my house?" Hisoka asked, standing next to Rhydon calmly.

"No, no!" The yellow-haired man shook his head fiercely.

"Hello, boss. We were just passing by this place and saw your job posting on the noticeboard. We decided to give it a try," he said with a smile.

As he spoke, he gave a wink to his other friend, hoping they would understand his gesture.

The green-haired man immediately understood what their leader was trying to say.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! That's true. We really want to get this job. And sorry for the noise. We thought that nobody was home just now," he said it all in one breath.

Meanwhile, the red-haired man looked at his two friends in confusion.

'Weird, aren't we supposed to break this gym? Why are you trying to join his gym instead?' he thought dumbly.

However, under the fiery eyes of his two friends, he just kept his mouth shut lest he wanted to earn their ire.

"So, you wanted to join my new gym, huh?" Hisoka asked calmly.

Before they could reply, Hisoka raised his finger and said, "Alright, but do you have the strength to join my gym? I only accept powerful trainers here."

Just kidding. Hisoka just wanted to play with them for a while and see the level of trainers under Kaz and Yas Gyms. At the same time, Rhydon snorted coldly and sat on the ground with a loud thud, scaring the three Pokemon away.

Yellow gulped and took a deep breath to encourage himself.

"Although our Pokemon is not very strong, we are willing to be your loyal men. We are willing to do anything you ask," Yellow said seriously.

"That's right! That's right!"

Green and Red nodded in unison.

Hisoka curled his mouth slightly. Then, he beckoned to them and walked toward the newly erected arena. Hisoka turned toward them and said, "Okay, there's no problem if you want to join my gym, but there is a small test that you need to pass first."

"What's the test?" the three brothers asked impatiently.

"Defeat my Pokemon first," Hisoka said plainly.

"You can either choose a one-on-one battle or a team battle. As long as you can defeat one of my Pokemon, you can join my gym. Capeesh?"

What!

The three men shouted, looking at Rhydon.

After seeing their fearful look, Hisoka said, "Don't worry. You are not going to battle against Rhydon."

Hisoka finished with a laugh.

"Kirlia, come and play with these guys," Hisoka called out with a mischievous smile.

Then, Kirlia walked from the side and stood next to Hisoka.

"Are we going to fight against this Pokemon?" Red raised his hand and asked. They didn't see this humanoid Pokemon before due to their attention to the giant Rhydon.

Although it was an unknown Pokemon, they would rather fight against Kirlia than the four-meter tall Rhydon.

Hisoka nodded and said, "Yep. You just need to defeat her to join my gym. And by the way, I'll give you three times the salary you got from Kaz Gym."

Hisoka left a sentence and walked toward the opposite stand.

"Yosh, I agree!" Red jumped excitedly.

"Fuck, we are caught!" Yellow whispered harshly.

Yellow knew they were already exposed, but since Hisoka didn't do anything, they could only bite the bullet.

"We choose team battle!"

Hisoka shrugged, leaning on the railings casually.

Kirlia stood in the arena, looking at the two Manky and one Primeape with a calm expression. She had the upper hand against them with her Psychic-type. These Pokemon were not her opponent at all, in Hisoka's opinion.

Then, her eyes glowed blue, and with a burst of her psychic power, Kirlia was slowly lifted into the air.

...

"I will not command my Pokemon. You guys can start whenever you like," Hisoka shouted across the arena.

This made the three men more confident in this battle. Trained Pokemon aren't able to perform at their full strength without their trainer's command. Many people knew this. That's why some dark forces would attack the trainers first before defeating their Pokemon.

"Primeape! Jump and use Cross Chop!" Yellow ordered.

With the jumping power of Primmeape, it wasn't a problem for it to reach Kirlia.

Primeape cried in reply and jumped at Kirlia, who was in the air. It crossed its arms in the form of an X and glowed white.

Cross Chop!

Primeape charged at the motionless Kirlia fiercely. The air rubbed against its body, creating a sudden strong rush of wind.

Yellow clenched his fist and looked excited, seeing the fierce attack of his Pokemon.

'Come one, Primeape. Beat that Pokemon up. Let's see how he feels after his Pokemon was severely injured,' he thought maliciously.

Kirlia remained calm in the face of Primeape's rush. She gently raised her hand as her eyes glowed light blue. Then, an invisible psychic force spread out from her body.

At this time, Primeape was only one meter away from the target. And suddenly, it felt its body tightening up, and it could no longer move forward as if it was caught by an invisible net. It was also difficult for it to breathe.

"Ha!"

Kirlia cried and clenched her hand. Primeape was knocked around the arena like a ragged doll. It screamed in pain due to the shock brought about by Kirlia's Psychic.

Primeape was being manipulated by Kirlia at her will. Then, she waved her hand, slamming it against the wall.

Bang!

Cracks appeared on the wall due to the strong blow. Primeape slowly slipped to the ground. Primeape shook his head and tried to get up, but before it could, something hit him. Then, its eyes blackened out.

...

The two other Mankey also suffered the same fate as the previous Primeape. After being caught by Kirlia's psychic power, they both were knocked around and finally were slammed on the ground, together with the Primeape.

The three men ran out of the gym with their unconscious Pokemon. Hisoka didn't bother to stop the fleeing men, though. He still needed them to inform Kaz Gym.

And after today's event, Hisoka believed that Kaz and Yas Gym would likely join their forces together. Also, the competing two gyms had long regarded the Gym Leader position of Dark City as their own.

Snap!

Suddenly, a faint sound of someone stepping on a tree came into his ears. Hisoka looked back, only to see a figure with blue hair running toward the forest.

"Hisoka, should we catch that person back?"

Kirlia fell from the sky and landed right next to Hisoka gracefully. She and Hisoka had already noticed the figure sneaking into their gym much earlier.

"No, just let that person leave. It should be someone from Yas Gym."

Hisoka chatted with Kirlia in his mind.

"We don't have much time left before the Pokemon inspector arrives. So I might as well wait for them to come to me and catch them all in one fell swoop."

...

"Phew! I was almost caught," Ran wiped the sweat from her head.

Then, she tidied her cap and looked at the camera in her hand.

"These photos should be enough. That Rhydon looks really scary. I need to go back and tell Master Yas about this."

Then, she took a deep breath and ran in the Yas Gym direction.

...

The sun was setting on the horizon. The sky turned dark, aglow with faint city lights.

Dark City was quiet during the night. Although some parts of the city had already started using electricity, the local citizen was still accustomed to using firewood.

And due to the constant fight between Kaz and Yas Gym, many people didn't dare to go out at night.

In order to eliminate each other, these two gyms recruited the passing trainers, including the locals and gangsters from the surrounding towns.

The members from both gyms ran rampant in Dark City. They often liked to cause trouble for the local residents. They could only shut their mouth for fear of retaliation from them.

Granma Nana, who Hisoka had met before, also suffered the same thing. Her ramen shop was always frequented by the gangsters.

After completing his Pokemon daily training, Hisoka went to bed early.

...

During this time, the situation in Kaz Gym looked quite grim.

"Are you guys telling the truth?"

A stout man said, staring at the three men seriously.

It was three young men who Hisoka had fought earlier in his gym. They were standing in front of their boss, Kaz.

Hearing the cold tone in Kaz's voice, Yellow quickly took a step forward.

"It's true, Master Kaz. I swear. That guy is a really powerful trainer. We lost to his Pokemon in just one move. And he still has that terrifying giant Rhydon. Boss, that Rhydon is almost four meters tall," he explained hastily.

After listening to his men's report, Kaz fell into deep thought.

'If that's the case, we must chase this guy away soon. But how?'

Knock!

Knock!

"Master Kaz! Yas is at standing outside. He said that he has something to discuss with you."

A man came into the room, snapping Kaz out of his thoughts.

'Yas? What is he doing here?' Kaz pondered in his thought. He then looked at the man and said, "Let him in."

"Yes, sir!"

...

Kaz and Yas sat across from each other. The two former friends, who used to travel together, were now enemies. Their once deep friendship was broken due to their same goal, which was becoming a Gym Leader of Dark City.

"So, why do you want to meet me? I don't have anything to talk about with you right now," Kaz spoke angrily.

Yass was not angry with his reply. Instead, he snorted and said, "Still the same old Kaz, huh? You always have a bad temper. Anyway, there's something I want to show you today."

After saying that, he turned to his man and said, "Bring Ran into this room."

"Yes, Master Yas," the man said respectfully.

A few moments later, Ran came into the room with a few pictures in her hand. Then, she placed the photos taken during the day on the table and stood next to Yas.

"I'm sure you already know about the new gym in the southern district. Look at this," Yas pointed his finger at the photo.

Kaz folded his arms and looked at the photos on the table with a serious face.

A boy stood calmly in the photo with a green-haired Pokemon. What caught his eyes, however, was the giant Rhydon behind them. It looked powerful.

Yas picked up the photo and said, "I don't think your Kaz Gym can beat them, especially that giant Rhydon."

"Then, can you defeat them? I don't think you can either," Kaz retorted and slammed his hand on the table.

After that, he slumped on his chair.

"Looks like we can only join our forces together to defeat this guy," he said helplessly.

Kaz wasn't stupid. In fact, he knew that the only way they could defeat Hisoka was to work together. And it wouldn't be long before the Pokemon inspector arrived in this city. So they had to make a decision soon.

"But why should I trust you?" Kaz pointed his finger to Yas suddenly.

"Do you think we have a choice?" Yas sneered in reply.

"Are you an idiot? You and I both have a fifty-fifty chance if we fight against each other. But do you think you can win against him?"

Yas's words rang in his mind. He didn't know the specific strength of that mysterious man at all. Just the sight of the giant Rhydon alone already made him feel tremendous pressure. And he wasn't sure if Hisoka somehow had another trump card in his arsenal. It would be bad if he decided to confront Hisoka alone.

Besides that, Kaz didn't forget about Yas at all. He was afraid of this guy lurking around, trying to strike during their weak moment. No. It would be better for them to work together, he decided.

...