Just as the Tyranitar finished its adjustments, the three Pokemon seemed to catch a scent and began to slowly approach their location.

The Tyranitar noticed their presence immediately.

Three purple Skuntank.

The Tyranitar, which had been somewhat relaxed, suddenly became serious.

Grrr--

It stood up and roared at the three Skuntank.

It signaled for them not to come any closer, otherwise it would attack.

Hearing the Tyranitar's cry, the three Skuntank shuddered violently.

They felt the intense sense of danger emanating from the large Pokemon.

This is a very scary Pokemon.

The thought occurred to all three Skuntank simultaneously.

But seeing that other creature, one they had never seen before, lying unconscious on the ground, gave them a very delicious feeling.

The Skuntank were still very reluctant to give up such a tasty treat.

These three Skuntank were born and had lived together since they were young Skorupi, and their growth to this point had a lot to do with their mutual help and tacit cooperation.

In this area, which Pokemon did not know that these three brothers were the local bosses?

They cooperated seamlessly with each other, and even Pokemon that were stronger than them were usually unwilling to cause trouble for them.

Moreover, as Skuntank, the foul odor they could release was indeed extremely unpleasant. Generally, even powerful Pokemon would give up any aggressive ideas after getting a whiff of their potent scent.

The three brothers conversed in low grunts for a few moments.

The final decision was...

they would not give up.

They had cooperated in situations like this more than once or twice.

Attacking from three different directions would overwhelm the opponent.

When the defender attacked one of them, the other two could launch a sneak attack.

The big guy in front of them should be no different.

So after their brief discussion, the three Skuntank ran in different directions, spreading out, and then stopped, surrounding the area.

The Tyranitar stood firmly beside the unconscious Aoki, watching the three foul-smelling creatures prepare to launch their assault.

It unconsciously revealed a look of sheer disdain.

One of the Skuntank gave a sharp cry, a signal, and all three Pokemon charged directly towards Aoki.

Their target had always been the vulnerable human.

It would be extremely irrational to confront the Tyranitar head-on.

But they had missed one critical point.

The larger Pokemon they had managed to outmaneuver in the past were not nearly as intelligent as this Tyranitar.

More importantly, those other Pokemon were not even close to being as powerful as this one.

Grrraah!!!

The Tyranitar cried out excitedly.

It made fists with its massive hands and slammed them together in front of its chest, feeling the surging, incredible power within its own body.

Roooar--

It roared again, a deep and thunderous sound.

The Tyranitar's heavy tail was raised high, and then, with a visible ripple of energy fluctuation, it whipped down onto the ground.

Boom--

The earth shook violently, and tiny pebbles bounced up from the ground, spreading out in all directions like powerful, miniaturized seismic waves.

Earthquake!

The three Skuntank, who were charging forward, stumbled and lost their footing completely; the vibrational damage coursing through the ground made them unable to move for a critical moment.

The Tyranitar, however, took long, powerful strides and charged directly towards the closest Skuntank.

That Skuntank staggered back to its feet just in time to see the colossal Tyranitar rushing toward it. It was frightened out of its wits, but it still managed to let out a loud, panicked cry.

The general meaning was for its two companions to seize this opportunity and make their move quickly.

At that moment, the other two Skuntank had just barely managed to stand up.

Without any hesitation, they renewed their charge toward the defenseless Aoki.

But the Tyranitar ignored them, utterly focused on its immediate target.

It reached out and grabbed the tail of the Skuntank that had just stood up.

The strength of the two sides was completely disproportionate; no matter how hard the Skuntank struggled and writhed, it could not possibly escape from the Tyranitar's crushing grasp.

Lifted bodily off the ground.

The Tyranitar then threw it like a living ball, hurling it directly toward the other two Skuntank who were nearing Aoki.

Whoosh——

Pokémon like Skuntank made this kind of noise when thrown with such immense force, which showed exactly how much strength the Tyranitar had used.

The other two Skuntank had just approached Aoki when they saw their brother flying toward them at an incomprehensible speed.

Bang——

The strike was brutally precise!

A loud collision sound echoed.

All three Skuntank were sent tumbling together.

They rolled across the rough ground multiple times before their momentum was finally, abruptly stopped.

However, it was not that they had managed to stop themselves; a huge, sharply pointed stone pillar had erupted from the earth directly behind them, blocking their path and halting their painful roll.

The Skuntank that the Tyranitar had used as a ball was knocked unconscious immediately upon impact. The other two, dazed and injured, tried to scramble to their feet and run away, but they found the scene in front of them was moving backwards.

They were being dragged back!

Streams of controlled sand, manipulated by the Tyranitar's will, had grabbed their ankles and were relentlessly pulling them backward across the ground.

They dug their front claws into the earth, hooking them tightly, but this only resulted in leaving two deep, pathetic scratches in the dirt as they were powerless to resist.

They were dragged without any mercy right back in front of the waiting Tyranitar.

Only then did these two Skuntank truly realize that they had hit a wall far beyond anything they had ever encountered. Whether it was raw strength, precise energy control, or sheer physical power, they were all on a completely different level, utterly outclassed.

The Tyranitar looked down at these three pathetic creatures.

Its massive tail lashed the ground once more.

Grrr--

A low, warning growl rumbled from its throat.

A deep, terrifying whip mark was left in the earth where its tail had touched.

The two Skuntank that were still conscious immediately froze in place, not daring to move a single muscle.

They lay there, crawling on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

This kind of expression, this level of sheer terror, would only have appeared when they were very young and facing the true, undisputed overlords of the deep forest.

The Tyranitar nodded its large head in satisfaction.

It had just been feeling incredibly bored.

Now here were three blind, foolish guys asking for trouble.

Although they smelled absolutely terrible, it was still better than just sitting there being bored.

...

Three hours later, Aoki, who was lying face down in the sand, slowly and painfully opened his eyes.

At this moment, he felt an extreme soreness all over his body. Just attempting to move it slightly sent waves of agony through him, making him feel as if his muscles were being torn apart.

It had been somewhat manageable when he was completely unconscious before, but now the pain was like a relentless tide rushing directly into his brain.

Aoki, who had just regained consciousness, almost passed out again from the overwhelming sensation.

He barely managed to recover his senses after a few shaky breaths.

Finally, he breathed in some fresh, cool air.

He opened his eyes blearily and looked at the scene within his limited field of vision.

Then he saw a gigantic Tyranitar sitting comfortably on the ground. In front of it were three thoroughly cowed Skuntank, all of which seemed to have various injuries on their bodies.

Amidst the Tyranitar's occasional commanding roars, the three Skuntank kept changing their body positions and movements on demand.

Squat, lie down, stand up, even attempt handstands...

Anyway, Aoki had certainly never seen Skuntank behave in such a manner before.

But Aoki recognized this particular Tyranitar immediately—wasn't it his own Tyranitar?

So, the last Pokémon he had managed to release from its Pokéball had been Tyranitar. Seeing this scene, Aoki felt a small wave of relief wash over him; their safety probably wasn't an issue for now.

Then he became acutely aware of his own situation.

"Hmm? Why does my current posture seem a little... weird?"

Only then did Aoki realize that he was lying prone. Although he was lying on sand, which felt relatively soft, what did it mean that his head was facing directly into the ground, his cheek pressed firmly against the sand, and his rear was stuck up in the air?

⊙▂⊙? ?