Two Elemental rank Darmanitans and one Pseudo-King rank Darmanitan had just come out of the gate. They were moving forward.
"Marcus, let's follow them quietly. All of you stay here. I don't want them to find out," said Axel.
Axel was trying to use his Aura to hide himself. He had not mastered this power of Aura, but it was still better than nothing. He told Shedinja to go ahead while he would follow it. Unlike Axel, Shedinja was getting better and better at hiding itself. After following them for 15 minutes, Axel realized their destination. It was the volcanic mountain.
"Why are they going towards the volcanic mountain? By the way, why were the leader and other Pseudo-rank Darmanitans at the top of the mountain? What significance does it hold? I guess I would have to ask Charizard if it felt something," mumbled Axel.
After 15 minutes, they were already far from the tribe.
"Marcus, it is time to strike. First of all, use 'Harden' four times and 'Agility' four times. Also, use 'Substitute'. Then try to use 'Hypnosis' as much as you can. Let's see if they would fall asleep. Don't use your full force. I don't want them to notice," instructed Axel.
Shedinja did exactly that without making any noise. After using 'Harden' and 'Agility' four times, it had powered up. It was already a fast Pokémon, so using 'Agility' four times made it even faster. A substitute would be used as a decoy to take the hit. They were going to fight a Fire-type Pokémon that would pulverize Shedinja if it was hit.
Axel had always played the safe side and protected Shedinja as much as he could. But this time, he felt that it should be given a chance. It had proved itself while fighting Steelix and shown all of them who was the boss. It was ready to take the next step.
Shedinja used 'Hypnosis' with minimum force. It was already past evening, but it was not night yet. The sun had gone down, and it would be totally dark in a few minutes. So, 'Hypnosis' had a huge effect. It used 'Hypnosis' four more times in the span of 15 minutes. It didn't want to get caught. By this time, Axel could see that the Elemental rank Darmanitans were getting drowsy. They were trying hard to keep their eyes open.
Suddenly, the Pseudo-King rank Darmanitan turned back and saw its teammates. It could also feel that it was getting drowsy. It knew that something was wrong. Seeing that there was no way out,
Axel said, "Use full power 'Hypnosis', now."
Shedinja used full power 'Hypnosis', especially targeting the Elemental-ranked one. Encountering a full-powered attack, they fell asleep immediately and both fell to the ground.
"Use 'Shadow sneak' and then fire it up with 'Night slash'," shouted Axel.
Shedinja disappeared into the shadows and came out from the right side of the Pseudo-King rank Darmanitan. It then used 'Night slash', hitting Darmanitan.
"ROARRR…."
It gave a painful roar and then used 'Flamethrower'. Shedinja didn't need to be told what to do. It used 'Shadow jump' and disappeared again, coming out from another side, and used 'Shadow ball'. This move also made contact.
Darmanitan didn't know what the hell was happening. It knew that it was fighting against a powerful Pokémon, but the Pokémon was very fast. Without any options left, it used 'Flamethrower' around it, creating a big circle of fire. Now, in the dark, it could not see properly before. Now, it could see Shedinja.
It already knew that Shedinja was a Bug-type Pokémon, so flames were effective against it. It then used a new move that it had invented itself. Axel knew what it was. He had already identified it before. It was called 'Flame spear'.
Suddenly, spears made out of flame came out from different directions and traveled fast towards Shedinja.
"NOW!! Do it," shouted Axel.
POOOFFFF….
The attack made a massive impact, and…
BOOMMMMMM.
Those flame spears blasted. After the debris settled, everyone could see a dead Pokémon.
It was Darmanitan. More specifically, it was the sleeping Elemental rank Darmanitan. Shedinja had used 'Ally switch' at the critical moment and switched itself with one of the 2 Darmanitans that had become victims of its 'Hypnosis'.
Darmanitan had used full force with that attack. It wanted to finish it fast. Seeing that one of its own had died by its own hands, it was furious. It started to beat its chest in anger. It had used 'Belly Drum'.
When Darmanitan was showing its anger, Shedinja was ready with another 'Shadow ball'. It had charged this attack for quite some time and threw the attack right at its face.
BANGGG…
Darmanitan was blown off by the impact. Shedinja didn't give it any more chances and used 'Shadow manipulation'. Shadows in the form of tentacles came from the ground and bound Darmanitan tightly. Since it was under the effect of 'Belly Drum', it tore those tentacles within 3 seconds, but 3 seconds was all Shedinja needed to use a full-powered 'Hyper beam' on its face.
BOMMMMMM….
After the debris settled, Axel saw that the Pseudo-King rank Darmanitan was out of the count.
"Marcus, use 'Dream eater' on that sleeping Darmanitan and finish it up too," said Axel.
Shedinja did a quick work on that too.
"Let's go to the meeting place," said Axel, and both of them reached the destination.
Axel told his team what had happened.
"Charizard, do you have any idea about what is there at the top of the mountain? The leader Darmanitan and others always wanted to stay there," asked Axel.
This question had been on his mind for quite some time now. What was special about the mountain? It was special as they could enter the cave and find the red orb of flame, but the top of the mountain was just extra hot.
"Roarr.. roarrr…."
Charizard started to talk in its own language. Axel could not get heads or tails of what it meant. After some time, he got the gist of it.
As per Charizard, the top of the mountain contains something that could enhance their firepower temporarily. It was still not sure about it, but this was what it felt. Axel made a mental note to ask other Charizards in the tribe for more information.
He called Rome and told them that this mission would take some time and he could be back there tomorrow.
"Marcus, use 'Hypnosis' with less power on the south gate guard first. Take your time; we are not in a hurry. If they discover us, it would be a lot harder," said Axel.
Shedinja used its signature 'Shadow jump' to travel near them and used 'Hypnosis' at regular intervals. The tribe area may not be guarded well, but it could defend when the time came. There were fences covering the area in a rectangular shape.
The fences were made from a mixture of wood and stone. Inside the fences and gates, there were multiple caves and small houses made out of stone. These Darmanitans were living like humans. It was not just a group of Darmanitans but a civilization.
###
It was already the middle of the night when they started their attack. After 30 minutes, both of them fell asleep. Shedinja then went to the meeting place and used 'Ally switch'.
It did the same thing again, and now both of the sleeping Darmanitans were out of the tribe area. The other Pokémon quickly came for help and finished them off. It then went to the other gate and did the same thing.
Among 45 Pokémon, they had already killed 6 Elemental rank Pokémon and 1 Pseudo-King rank Pokémon. The pressure on the team was decreasing. The biggest problem was Pseudo-King rank and Elemental rank.
Now, there were only 4 Pseudo-King rank and 14 Elemental ranks left to defeat. Rare ranks and below were not a problem for Axel and his team. They were already strong enough to fight multiple enemies of those ranks.
"Marcus, let's first finish up the Elemental rank ones. Pseudo-King rank would be harder to assassinate. Let's decrease the number of Elemental ranks as much as we can," said Axel.
Pseudo-King rank Pokémon have better senses. The Pseudo-King rank Darmanitan was able to sense that something was wrong before. They also have good defense. So, it would be highly unlikely that they would go down in 1 hit. That was why Axel didn't want to risk his chances with a Pseudo-King rank. Elemental ranks, on the other hand, were a different story.
Shedinja started to use the same strategy of using 'Hypnosis' and 'Ally switch'. It was easy to tell if a Darmanitan was sleeping or not. If it was sleeping, its internal fire temperature would go down, making it much cooler than when it was awake. So, Shedinja would only focus on those types of Darmanitans.
"Take as much time as you can. We are in no hurry. Beware of the Pseudo-King ranks. I don't want them to find out," said Axel.
Axel also told Shedinja to rest after every successful kill. It was working for a long time, so it needed to refill its stamina too.
With hard work and persistence, the group was able to kill 9 additional Elemental rank Pokémon. Now, only 5 of them were left. This would have gone until all of them died, but the vacuum of 15 Elemental rank Pokémon and no guards on the gate was not something they could hide for long.
Sure, it was nighttime, and the tribe was very relaxed as they had just given a huge blow to their enemy tribe. However, 15 missing members were something that everybody would notice.
After finishing their 15th Elemental rank Pokémon (6+9), Axel told Shedinja to take rest before beginning again. Just as Shedinja was resting, Axel started to hear loud roars from the tribe.
"I think they found out. Let's hide and try to do a sneak attack one last time. Remember the plan. Marcus would focus on Elemental rank Pokémon. Gyarados, you also help Marcus. Nidorino, Charizard, and Mamoswine would deal with Pseudo-King ranks. Pidgeotto would deal with common ranks, and the rest will deal with uncommon and rare ranks. Let's move out!!!"
Except for Shedinja, none of them were good at sneak attacks. Nidorino, Charizard, and Mamoswine were too big to hide. Others were also not perfect. Shedinja went near an Elemental rank Pokémon and then used 'Shadow ball'.
Axel was still reminded that except for 'Shadow ball', it didn't have any good attack moves. He planned to seriously think about it after they came out of this island.
It had also used 'Substitute' to dodge the attacks. Gyarados was helping it and also tanking hits when needed. Gyarados was a Water-type Pokémon, so it was a perfect encounter for Darmanitan. Even though they were facing 5 Elemental rank Pokémon, Shedinja was a Pseudo-King rank, so they were doing very well.
"Marcus, don't waste any more time. Use 'Shadow Domain'."
"Shed…." Blast-colored mist started to release from its body and it surrounded Gyarados and those 5 Darmanitans.
"Gyarados, move out of it and assist Tauros and Absol," said Axel.
'Shadow Domain' not only affected Darmanitan but also Gyarados. Only Shedinja powered up when using it. Now, it was ready for round 2.