Chapter 15: Everyone Gather's

Nessa entered the room and looked at Aeron, who was tying Jinga to the iron bars. Her eyes landed on the Pokémon standing on Aeron's head as it cutely munched on berries after crushing them with its tusks.

'A shiny, Dragon-type at that.'

Being a Gym Leader, in her case, a former Gym Leader, had its benefits. One could not even imagine the amount of knowledge hidden from the general public. But in her opinion, the laws on information were there for a reason. If the general public knew everything, it could cause much chaos. Therefore, the League regulated the information based on one's Trainer Licence.

"How is he?" She asked, turning her attention toward the man Aeron had smashed fifteen minutes ago.

"Alive. Barely."

Aeron stood up after double-checking that Jinga was securely tied and would not escape in the worst case. It seemed impossible from the state the man was in, but he was not the type to take risks.

He turned back and looked at Nessa, who had changed into a new set of clothes. The girl hated wearing the same clothes for more than a week. He hated it too, but he was busy with other things.

"Anything useful that can get us out of here?" Nessa walked closer and looked at the Pokedex in Aeron's hand.

It belonged to Jinga, and other than tying the man to bars, Aeron had been going through it to find a possible escape route.

"We have a chance." His words brought a hopeful smile to the girl's face. "But we need to start moving."

Nessa nodded her head and took one of the iron poles. "What's the plan."

"We must check who is in each room and how many."

"I will take the right side." Knowing they had little time, Nessa walked out of the room, and Aeron walked to the left side of the hall.

He walked to the first door and looked inside before continuing to the rest. It took him a minute to count the number of trainers caged inside.

"Twenty on my side." Nessa walked toward Aeron.

"Twenty-three on my side; forty-three in total." Aeron placed a hand on his chin before looking at Nessa. "Keep your Gym Licence ready."

"It's…"

She wanted to say it was no longer valid but stopped midway, knowing Aeron must have some use for it.

Aeron stepped back and took a deep breath before kicking the room open.

*Bang*

He barged into the room as if in a rush, and the five people jumped awake.

"Who are you?"

As the trainers looked at Aeron, they knew the boy was not one of 'Team Rocket's' men. At least, it seemed like it to them.

"Call me Agent Dusk," Aeron replied while looking at the five. Three boys and two girls. The one who asked the question was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Aeron was loud enough to wake all five of them, and now they looked at him wryly.

"I am here to get you out."

Aeron looked at Axew, who jumped down from his head and used [Cut] to make a path in the cage. The five trainers looked at Aeron in disbelief, not believing their luck.

"Who are you? And how can we trust you?"

Aeron sighed and looked at them with impatience. "I am with Kanto Special Task Force. Another person and I are here to get all of you out."

He pointed toward the door, or more precisely, Nessa, standing at the door. As soon as he pointed at her, she knew what to do.

Walking forward calmly, she tapped her Pokedex, pulling out her Gym Leader Licence. Though it was invalid now, the ones before her did not need to know.

"I am a Gym Leader from Galar."

The trainers looked at the license with disbelief before what seemed to tear welled up in their eyes.

"W-We are safe?" One of the girls in the group asked.

"Not yet." Aeron used the key card he stole from Jinga to open the locker. "Get your stuff, we have bigger things to deal with, and we might need your help."

"B-But aren't you a member of the Kanto Special Task Force? Why would you need our help?"

Nessa helped the five get out.

"We are against a crime organization who have powerful trainers. While I can care for them, my Pokémon would be too exhausted to deal with their boss." Aeron pointed at the three Pokeballs he stole from Jinga. "From the information, we gathered, there is at least one Advanced Rank trainer, while five are about Intermediate Rank."

It was a lie, but the five trainers gulped as they heard the information.

"Sorry to break it to you, but we would need her and my Pokémon to be at full strength if we want a chance against the boss." Aeron looked at the trainers with cold eyes. He picked up the iron poles and handed one to each of them. "You alone are not enough, so I want you to lead the rest. Strength in numbers."

Aeron had a reason to put some faith in these guys. All five of them were rankers, albeit in the bottom tier. After Misty talked about looking at Ranker Info every year, Aeron also decided to do it. Thus, he was able to recognize the five.

The five looked at the iron poles in their hands and then at the two who had come to their rescue.

"Can you do it?" Aeron asked again; his gaze was filled with his trust in them. The five trainers could not say no to that gaze and nodded their heads with a determined look.

"Good. Gear up, and I will gather the rest before I explain the escape plan to you all."

While the first group gathered their belongings, Aeron and Nessa walked toward the next room. Then went on to wake everyone and get them ready to leave. Very soon, all forty-five, including both Nessa and Aeron, had gathered.

"Is everyone here?" Aeron looked at the long line of trainers who had difficulty standing in the hallway. Once he saw Nessa's nod, Aeron continued. "Good."

"We need to hu..."

"Excuse me?"

Aeron frowned and looked toward the boy who had his hand up. "Yes?" He asked and made sure to show his displeasure with that one word.

"I-I am sorry to interrupt. I am not trying to doubt your skill, but..."

"Speak up; we don't have all day."

"H-How can we be sure we can trust your strength? And why should we follow you."

Everyone looked at Aeron, who was standing at the front.

Knowing this moment would come, Aeron walked into the closed room, and when he came out, he had unconscious Jinga in his hand. "Not trying to scare you, but next time someone among you cuts me off, I will ensure you are carried out of this place."

The trainers looked at Jinga and knew who he was. He was the warden that watched over them, but currently, the man was severely beaten with his head caved in and many other injuries. His past and current conditions were so different that they could hardly recognize him.

"As for why you should follow me? The enemy will have reinforcements arriving today. We must ensure we are out of this place and meet with my squad waiting outside the enemy camp."

He lied. Nessa knew he lied. She and Aeron had reviewed all the information in Jinga's Pokedex. The reinforcements were not coming three days from now. There were only seventeen people in this base, and all of them were at Novice Rank. Only the boss of this group was Adept-Rank, while the woman who brought Aeron was Novice-Rank; she was on the verge of breaking into Adept-Rank Trainer.

However, these guys did not need to know anything. From the beginning, Aeron was feeding them only made-up lies. He was using his Bullshit Spouting Technique.

He had to. He had no other choice. Who would these trainers believe and follow? A trainer who was the same as them or a Kanto Special Task Force member accompanied by a Gym Leader?

The answer was obvious, and it was the latter. And from the looks of it, they bought his lies, evident from their eyes that were finally filled with hope.

Aeron looked at the first five he rescued. "You will form five groups. Once we are out, I want you to travel separately. And don't worry, no matter what direction you run into, someone from Special Task Force will meet up with you."

Nessa wanted to say something but did not. She did not know what Aeron had planned, but it was better to avoid questioning it or asking anything in front of many people.

Aeron placed Jinga's Pokedex in his space bag and tapped his watch. A holographic map of the hideout appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Let's escape this shithole."

-------------------------End of Chapter-------------------------

Author's Note:

- Why another? I was feeling sexy and might delete it later.

- Drop some Power Stones to support the book.

- Peace!