As his Bug Force continued to spread, boundless trees, flowers, and Pokémon continuously appeared in Eichi's mind.
He skipped over all the Experienced and Elite rank Pokémon. None of them were his target. He continued his search until he suddenly sensed a very strong energy fluctuation.
He immediately intensified his perception to investigate. Following the direction, he finally discovered a Gym Leader rank Pokémon.
Eichi opened his eyes and said to Beedrill, "Let's go."
Moving like the wind, he rushed forward. He was incredibly fast, arriving at the destination within a minute.
Instead of approaching directly, he leaped onto a tree and hid among the branches. He used the leaves to conceal himself and then activated his Bug Force to wrap around his body, preventing his aura from leaking out.
Looking into the distance, he saw three Meowth and two Persian lying on the ground resting under a tree.
Eichi opened his Eye of the Bug Emperor. The three Meowth were all at the Experienced rank. Of the two Persian, one was Elite rank, and the other was Eichi's target for this mission.
Its level was around the mid-stage of the Gym Leader rank, and its talent was Outstanding.
They were all sleeping now, which was a perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.
Eichi quietly released Scizor and Heracross. Both Pokémon remained silent the moment they appeared. Seeing the Persian below, they immediately understood the situation and suppressed their own auras.
Eichi gave instructions to the three Pokémon: "In a moment, Beedrill, use Fell Stinger on the strongest Persian in the middle. Remember to use your full power."
"Heracross, Scizor, I'll leave the remaining four Pokémon to the two of you."
"Remember, we must end this quickly. Defeat them at the highest speed possible. Do you understand?"
The three Pokémon nodded in quick succession. Even so, Eichi still felt it wasn't quite enough of a guarantee.
He then took out three remote controls and turned off all their Weighted Vests.
The three Pokémon instantly felt a weight lifted from their bodies. It feels so good to be without weights!
"Are you ready?"
Eichi looked down at the Persian group and raised his hand.
The Meowth and Persian below were still enjoying a leisurely afternoon nap, completely unaware that any Pokémon were approaching.
The surrounding forest was quiet and peaceful—but it was too quiet.
Suddenly, a figure charged out, and a murderous aura instantly leaked out.
Beedrill spun its body, raising its twin needles and aiming them at the Persian in the center.
"Swords Dance, Fell Stinger!"
The power of these two moves combined was not as simple as $1 + 1$.
Energy ripples appeared on the surface of its body, forming an air spiral in the sky.
Persian sensed the dangerous aura and snapped its eyes open. The other Meowth and Persian were a bit slower to react.
Persian tried to dodge, but Beedrill was too fast. Everything happened in just a split second.
Beedrill's massive energy fluctuation shot toward Persian. Persian raised its paws to block, but it couldn't hold its ground.
The several Pokémon beside it were all blown away by the energy's aftershock.
Meanwhile, the target Persian was hit by Beedrill's Fell Stinger and sent flying backward.
It retreated a long distance and crashed into a tree. Beedrill pulled back immediately after the hit.
This Persian was truly a Gym Leader rank Pokémon; despite being hit by Beedrill's opener, it didn't lose its ability to battle.
Instead, it struggled to stand. However, Beedrill wouldn't give it the chance to stand up and fight back.
Countless light needles formed out of thin air and struck Persian.
Persian covered its face with its paws, but it was useless. It was a 360-degree full-coverage barrage. One can only imagine the scene.
While a single needle might not cause much damage, the sheer number of them made the power quite formidable.
Once the light needles were spent, Beedrill continued to condense more and fire them off.
This lasted for two minutes. At first, Persian kept screaming, but now it lay motionless on the ground.
Beedrill stopped its attack. Persian showed no reaction at all. Beedrill flew over to it, checked, and confirmed that Persian had lost its ability to battle.
While Beedrill was attacking Persian, Scizor and Heracross hadn't been idle. They had acted simultaneously.
After the other Persian was blown away, the three Meowth had suffered significant injuries, while the Elite Persian had only sustained minor ones.
That Persian quickly scrambled up, but it was greeted by two large red pincers.
X-Scissor!
Persian was knocked away again and hit a tree. Scizor felt it wasn't safe yet.
It used Hidden Power on the Persian, and a massive pillar of fire struck the cat's body.
"MEOW!!!"
After letting out a miserable cry, the Persian went silent.
It was confirmed to have lost its ability to battle. On the other side, Heracross used Bullet Seed on the remaining three Meowth.
Rat-tat-tat!
The seeds hit the three Meowth. Their levels were low, and they had already been injured earlier; now they were completely finished.
From start to finish, the battle took less than three minutes. The speed was incredibly fast.
Eichi jumped down from the tree with a satisfied look and walked out.
As expected, this sneak attack tactic is the way to go. He wasn't stupid enough to fight a Gym Leader rank Pokémon head-on.
If he could defeat them with a sneak attack, why bother with a direct confrontation? He picked up the Gold Badge that had fallen to the ground.
The Ho-Oh engraved on it shimmered with a dazzling luster; it was truly beautiful.
He put it into his waist bag. Heracross walked over and handed him three Bronze Badges and one Silver Badge.
Immediately after, they quickly left the area to search for the next Gym Leader rank Pokémon.
A few minutes later, a drone passed by and filmed the scene.
At the forest entrance, Director Yanagi looked at the footage on the computer and clicked his tongue. "Another Gold Badge has been taken. And this Persian looks like it had a pretty rough time."
Miss Lin, standing nearby, added, "Director, that's already the fourth Gold Badge."
"I feel like it won't be long before all the Gold Badges are gone."
After hearing her words, Director Yanagi shook his head. "It won't be that fast."
"I placed fifty Gold Badges in there. The forest is so big; it's lucky enough just to find them, let alone having the strength to take the badge."
The Gym Leader Pokémon acting alone were manageable, but there was no way around those living in groups.
"Besides, out of the twenty people, only a few have the strength to defeat a Gym Leader. It's not that easy."
After speaking, Director Yanagi took a special look at Director Kimura. He was acting a bit strange today, staying silent.
Director Kimura didn't say a word, just staring at the images on the computer screen, lost in thought.