Chapter 153: Blasting Through the Floor

When Baimu and Otsuka discovered the lurking Houndour squad members,

those Houndour squad members likewise spotted the two who had concealed themselves, and through observation from their companions at higher ground, confirmed that the two were not their own teammates, even though they wore Houndour squad uniforms.

But they did not act rashly.

Because they had no idea how many more people were hiding behind these two, nor how powerful the reinforcements would be that taking them down might draw.

Ever since the power station was bombed, many instruments inside the building had lost their function, which made them fully realize that their group was now no different from an isolated island.

Unable to contact their companions, unable to contact the underground city, and not daring to let their Pokémon take to the air, they could only rely on the most primitive method of physical messengers to spread word.

If there were no traitors helping out, they might still be able to encourage and threaten those lowest-level civilians, letting these useless fellows serve as shields against the enemy's attacks.

But with things having developed to this point, those civilians had probably long been thinking about surrendering.

To tell the truth, they too very much wanted to surrender; only, first, there was a fiercely loyal big brother in the building who refused to surrender, and second, they worried that after surrendering, the Quicksand squad might fail to defeat those big brothers above, and then come to settle scores with them.

In short, it had not yet reached the point of absolute desperation, and everyone was thinking of holding back and observing a while longer.

However.

This kind of thinking was hard to satisfy.

Especially for the Quicksand squad, who had taken the initiative to invade — although they had put on the posture of a prolonged campaign, since they were burning money every single moment, if they could take down the Houndour squad sooner, it would be more than welcome to both higher-ups and rank-and-file alike.

So no matter how much the Houndour squad members prayed inwardly, Baimu and Otsuka still launched their attack.

A great mass of smoke suddenly swelled and spread from the corner of the block, followed by a rumbling sound, as a massive boulder tore through the smoke at a terrifying speed and slammed into the cover!

"Block it!"

"Herdier, use Hyper Voice!"

"Poochyena, Mud Slap!"

"Houndour! Ember!"

At this, how could the Houndour squad members possibly sit still any longer — one by one they immediately leapt out from every direction.

Some had been hiding behind cover, others behind the windows of houses on the other side, almost always accompanied by Pokémon of the Dark type that looked exactly alike.

Their combat power mostly hovered around level twenty, and many of the Pokémon had not even evolved, fully displaying their cannon-fodder nature.

The assault was fierce, but unfortunately that boulder, as if deliberately inviting a beating, rolled thunderously along and smashed through numerous pieces of cover before coming to a stop.

The next instant.

The massive boulder released a blinding Bai Guang and exploded with a tremendous crash!

Boom—!

The ground shuddered violently, countless fragments of rock flew in all directions, and surging waves of Normal-type energy blasted every Pokémon and Houndour squad member nearest the cover high into the air!

The surrounding glass shattered one after another, and those behind windows who failed to dodge were likewise attacked by shards of glass.

Rolling thick smoke blanketed the exterior of this building, and screams came from every direction.

Baimu and Otsuka used the chance to charge forward, swiftly cutting through the acrid gunpowder smoke and thick fog.

The latter, passing by the fainted and fallen Boldore, felt a pang of pity — when Explosion was unleashed, it would bring a Pokémon a momentary pain; it was a move that hurt both sides.

fantuantanshu.

Under non-special circumstances, Otsuka was actually unwilling to let Boldore use it.

But knowing full well there was a chance to show off, he could not let it pass; otherwise, if he kept playing a minor role, he would be stuck at the rank of ordinary member for the rest of his life.

"Magnet Rise! Baton Pass!"

Baimu sent out Mawile and decisively ordered it to transfer its status onto Aggron.

The enormous monster, radiating a terrifying aura, landed on the ground, and like a heavy tank it simply smashed open the first-floor door, revealing a group of panicked ordinary citizens shrieking as they fled deeper inside.

Among them seemed to be a few Houndour squad members as well.

"There are still so many civilians here! What do we do?"

Otsuka was somewhat flustered.

"Don't bother with them, get over here!" Baimu ignored the fleeing civilians, directly grabbing Otsuka with one hand and Aggron's back with the other. "Double-Edge! Charge straight up!"

"Huh?"

Otsuka still hadn't understood.

The next moment, he felt his feet suddenly leave the ground, while a terrifying roar abruptly came from above his head, and countless dust flew into his face, making him cough uncontrollably.

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions kept going off overhead, and the smoke and dust stung so badly he couldn't open his eyes.

But even so, it could not conceal his being deeply moved.

It had actually smashed straight through the floor and charged upward!

Is this something a Pokémon can do so easily?

Otsuka recalled that just a few months ago, Baimu had been unable to defeat his three Aron, and found it hard to connect that person with the monster before him — had Baimu really not switched Pokémon along the way?

Even his companion was already like this.

Let alone the Houndour squad members and ordinary civilians witnessing it firsthand on the side — their faces full of shock, they stood rooted to the spot like wooden chickens, scarcely able to believe the scene before their eyes.

"An executive?"

"It has to be executive-level!"

"A Quicksand squad executive is here! It's a Quicksand squad executive!"

They cried out in panic.

Outside, the group of Houndour squad members who had been hurt by the earlier explosion and had only just barely recovered, upon hearing this, could not help exchanging glances and trembling all over.

As full members, they knew best just how powerful the executives were — both in authority and in strength.

How utterly sensational!

The Houndoom squad members watched the enormous crater punched out by the Blastoise amid the rising dust, and couldn't help but pray for the squad captain who was holding the line.

—

The building had only seven floors in total, and the squad captain was on the very top floor.

When the smoke billowed up and the Rhyperior's massive explosion detonated, he anxiously ordered men to the stairwell to use Pokémon or civilians to block the incoming Team Magma invaders.

Little did he know the enemy had no intention of taking the normal route.

Before he could get feedback from below, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble violently, as if the building were about to collapse at any moment.

Moreover, the shaking grew more and more intense as time went on, making him wonder whether Team Magma was planning to shake the building down and wipe them all out in one go.

But just as he was wrestling with the thought—

A colossal figure burst up from the ground, smashing through the hard floor with a thunderous crash, sending countless shards of rubble flying outward like bullets—terrifying beyond words!

Everyone present felt as if the sky were falling, scrambling in every direction; some even bolted straight down the stairwell.

At that moment—

"This is where the most people are! Who's in charge?"

The inquiry rang out abruptly from within the smoke, and before anyone could respond, a flash of blue light lit up from within it, binding every person present in place.

So fast that the squad captain had only just managed to pull out a Poké Ball.

"Attack! Attack!"

He bellowed in a voice that cracked with desperation, but instead of receiving any counterattack from his teammates, he was met only by a colossal beast gripping a spiraling orb of deep blue light in its hand.

The giant beast slammed the orb viciously into the ground, and the enormous shockwave that erupted from thin air surged outward in every direction like a tsunami.

"Raaagh!"

It let loose a terrifying roar and, toward the Pokémon that had struggled to their feet under the wave's impact, whipped a tail as thick as a tree trunk!

Boom! Boom!

One Pokémon after another whimpered as they were sent flying, immediately losing the ability to battle.

Then—

From the great hole in the floor came the hysterical shrieks of the people below.

"An Executive! It's an Executive!"

"A Team Magma Executive is here!"

The squad captain, held in place by a Chansey's telekinesis, went ashen-faced at the words.