As Cain was about to leave, he found a broken test tube between two computers, containing a small amount of green liquid, though less than half remained when he discovered it.
He picked up the test tube, took a small bottle from his ring, poured the liquid from the test tube into the bottle, then sealed the bottle tightly and stored both the bottle and the broken test tube in his ring.
"Slowpoke, Teleport, let's go!"
After handling everything, Cain placed his hand on Slowpoke's back and spoke.
Hearing this, Slowpoke focused its psychic power, closed its eyes, and began sensing the coordinates it had left before.
Suddenly, it opened its eyes, located the coordinates of the place Cain had previously marked, and a blue light covered its body. Instantly, it disappeared from the place with Cain.
However, what Cain didn't know was that, while Slowpoke was perceiving the coordinates, a psychic from the League fighting in the plaza outside the base sensed Slowpoke's Teleportation psychic wave again.
He immediately called an Alakazam that was fighting in the distance, placed his hand on Alakazam's back, and connected their psychic powers. A similar spatial wave appeared in both.
As if they had sensed something, their psychic waves abruptly intensified, but after a violent flash, everything calmed down.
The man wiped the sweat from his forehead, approached a man named Pryce who was fighting, bowed, and said, "Mr. Pryce, the Teleportation that previously entered the base just tried to leave, but I stopped it. The location should be near the direction of the Lake of Rage. They shouldn't be able to use Teleport again for the next day."
Pryce had been fighting against Ariana for over an hour. Although he hadn't defeated her, the number of her Pokémon had decreased from nine to five.
However, Pryce wasn't in the best condition either. Out of his five Pokémon, two could no longer fight.
If he didn't fear a desperate counterattack from Ariana, he would have already given his all to defeat her.
Meanwhile, Ariana was anxiously waiting for her subordinate, whom she had sent to handle the fifth level, to return and tell her everything was resolved. At that moment, she wouldn't hesitate to retreat.
Hearing what his psychic said about the person who had tried to Teleport to escape, Pryce vaguely remembered them, but he was in the middle of his final battle with Ariana and didn't have time to worry about a small character trying to slip away.
"Send two people to search for him. If someone's Teleportation can be interrupted, I'd guess his strength isn't much to worry about."
"Understood." The psychic thought for a moment and agreed. This was the main battlefield, and the person who Teleported to escape was just a minor figure.
He assigned two League trainers with decent strength to go find that guy.
The move Teleport is a psychic skill requiring a deep understanding of spatial waves, so not all psychic Pokémon can master it.
That such Teleportation spatial waves could be detected or even interrupted usually means that either the user has just learned the move and doesn't master it well, or the user isn't strong enough and was interrupted by a far more powerful psychic.
In most cases, it's due to the latter reason.
...
At that moment, Cain and Slowpoke were emerging from the depths of the Lake of Rage.
Slowpoke was somewhat confused, not understanding why the Teleport move, which had always worked well before, failed this time.
While in the spatial wave, it seemed... it seemed as if someone had pushed it out.
Seeing a somewhat dazed Slowpoke, Cain couldn't help wiping the lake water off his face.
When they used Teleport, they usually closed their eyes and appeared at their destination upon opening them, but this time, before Cain could open his eyes, he found himself completely submerged in water.
If it hadn't been for Slowpoke being a Water-type Pokémon, who swam him up from the lake depths, Cain might have drowned due to his poor swimming skills.
"Slowpoke, what happened?"
Finally catching his breath, Cain couldn't help but ask.
"Yadon~~" Slowpoke let out a sound and explained what had just happened through telepathy.
"Someone blocked us? Or they detected us?" Cain reflected as he listened to Slowpoke's explanation.
Could it be that someone found out he'd stolen the data? The League or Team Rocket? Did someone know his true identity?
Thinking of this, Cain felt he shouldn't stay any longer. League or Team Rocket agents might arrive soon.
"Slowpoke, can you Teleport again?" Cain asked again.
Slowpoke closed its eyes and tried to sense the coordinates it had left before, but found everything in chaos, unable to perceive anything. Sadly, it shook its head.
Seeing Slowpoke shake its head, Cain was even more convinced someone had interfered.
"Then, Slowpoke, let's get out of here quickly."
Cain determined the direction using the sun and the surrounding mountains, then placed his hand on Slowpoke's shoulder and spoke.
The most urgent thing was to leave as soon as possible, as the one who had interrupted them might track them down like Sabrina. If he encountered someone of that level, he wouldn't stand a chance.
But Cain's worry was unnecessary. No one was paying attention to a minor character like him. Not everyone was as dedicated as Sabrina, nor could everyone perceive Slowpoke's peculiarities.
With the help of Slowpoke's water abilities, they moved quickly through the lake water.
Although there were many Pokémon in the lake, mostly Magikarp, as long as they didn't encounter a Gyarados, Slowpoke wouldn't have trouble escaping.
Cain was worried about running into a Gyarados.
It's well known that the Lake of Rage has a large number of Gyarados, many appearing in groups. Often, encountering one means encountering the whole pack.
Fortunately, when they were interrupted during the Teleportation, they were already near the mountains east of the Lake of Rage. They only needed to cross the Misty Forest on the lake shore to reach the mountains. Once there, they'd be safe, and no one could guess where Cain was.
Slowpoke's swimming speed wasn't very fast. It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the shore, but luckily they didn't encounter any Gyarados on the way. Otherwise, it might not have been so easy to escape.
After this incident, Cain decided he really needed a Flying Pokémon as a means of transportation.
Even if it wasn't a battle Pokémon, it would at least serve as aerial transport.
At this moment, if he had a Flying Pokémon that could carry a person, he wouldn't have been so passive. He could have flown directly over the Lake of Rage, crossed the Misty Forest, and reached the mountains, where he'd be safe.
(End of chapter)