章節 171: Team Yell

"That went well." Steven said as the Champions retired to a back room while the party resumed outside, with Ace and the other finalists being swarmed by people trying to ask them questions and get their comments.

"Yeah, but the hard part will be coming any time now." Lance said with the tension noticeable in his voice and bearing, reminding the others that they would need to remain on the alert.

It was heavily suspected that Team Rocket wouldn't make their move until the tournament had reached it's end, but they would need to be prepared in case they decided to attack before then.

"Excuse me sirs, madams." The captain of the ship, and one of the few who knew what was going on, announced himself as he arrived.

"What is it?" Cynthia asked him.

"A group of Rangers have arrived via flying pokemon ma'am." He announced, filling the Champions with notable relief.

"It'll be a huge help to have the Rangers here." Iris said as she let out a sigh.

"Indeed. Have them brought here so that we can brief them, but tell them they NEED to stay inconspicuous. We don't want Team Rocket knowing of their presence." Lance ordered, to which the captain nodded as he turned and took his leave.

As the captain made to leave though, one of the ships communication officers stepped inside the room, drawing attention to himself as he approached Lance nervously.

"We have a call for you, Champion Lance!" The man announced, making Lance arch a brow.

"From who?"

"He wouldn't say sir. All he said was that he was an old acquaintance."

"I see..." Lance said, his mind going over anyone who might be an 'old acquaintance', but the only one who he could think that would contact him now was Giovanni. To taunt him if nothing else.

"I'll return shortly." Lance said to his fellow Champions, before adding, "Let's have the member of the Elite Four and Gym Leaders present when we brief the Rangers, since both Ace and Lady Ilene have confirmed their allegiances."

With the others nodding in agreement, Lance swiftly followed after the officer to see who this mysterious caller was, his mind continuing to go through the list of people who it might be.

"We forwarded the call to here so you might have some privacy Champion." The officer said, gesturing to an empty conference room that Lance readily entered while giving his thanks to the officer.

Lance then approached the monitor for a video call, but when he picked up the receiver no image appeared. Instead, a voice could be heard that Lance immediately recognized, despite it being almost twenty years since he had last heard it.

"Hello Lance." The voice said, instantly chilling the man as a cold sweat broke out over his body.

WHY?!

Why was he calling NOW?!

"Let's talk about a few things."

***

"To think, that damn punk gets to battle OUR Marnie in the first round..."

"Right?! A lameo loser like him doesn't deserve to battle her!"

"Its only right that we spare her the shame of battling such a chump!"

While everyone else was enjoying the party after the announcement of the finalists in the Inter-League Tournament, a group of guys and girls were conspiring in secret.

Though not in their usual facepaint and uniforms, since they were trying to lay low, Team Yell were still doing their best to ensure Marnie would win the tournament, and bring fame to their hometown of Spikemuth! But to do that, they had to help her get over the hurdle of Ace Ketchum first.

Marnie often told them that she didn't need their help to win, but to Team Yell her success was EVERYTHING, so they would do whatever it takes to ensure it. That was why, while everyone else was busy congratulating Marnie on making it into the finals(not that any of them doubted her), several of them were stalking Ace in incognito.

"Keke... The dumbass is completely ignorant of us!" One of them snickered mockingly.

"Yeah he is! Now we just need to catch him alone, and he'll learn to fear Team Yell!"

"Let's just make sure its the RIGHT guy this time..."

All five of the Team Yell grunts stalking Ace groaned as they recalled the previous night, where they THOUGHT they found Ace before Marnie could challenge him, but it turned out to be his twin brother, Ash. Thankfully Marnie made the same mistake though, and the points she earned from beating Ash helped her make it into the finals.

But they would not make the same mistake again!

Knowing EXACTLY which one was Ace from when he got up on stage, the Team Yell grunts kept a close eye on him as he mingled with some of the other finalists and several women. And they did mean SEVERAL.

"This shithead is obviously a top-tier scumbag!"

"Right?! There's NO WAY he's qualified to battle Marnie!"

"I'm so jealou-er.... ANGRY!"

Again, the group expressed their displeasure with Ace as they watched him, each of them even more eager to deal with him now than they were a moment ago.

And then their chance finally came.

They watched as Ace moved away from the group as he departed the main hall alone, and made his way down one of the numerous corridors.

"Dumbass. This is our chance." One of the Yell grunts sneered as they prepared to move in on Ace, pulling numerous weapons out of their pockets as they did so.

They weren't planning on killing Ace of course, but they would make it to where he wouldn't be able to battle tomorrow!

They each pulled out things like knives, retractable batons, and one guy even had a taser while another wielded a gun that shot rubber bullets.

No matter what, they would ensure Ace spent the day in the hospital wing tomorrow instead of in the tournament.

They followed him until Ace rounded a corner, so they hurried up in order to not lose him. But when they rounded the corner, the group found it empty.

"Where'd he go?" One of them asked while looking around curiously, and another went to check to see if Ace already rounded the next corner.

"Creepy.....the guy just disappeared." Another said, even as he looked over the side of the railing.

*Thud.*

"""!?!"""

All of them turned to look back at the noise to see Ace standing there, having just dropped down from the ceiling above.

"So YOU'RE Team Yell." Ace said as he looked over them impassively, making them all tense up.

"What?! I have no idea what you're talking about!" The guy taking the lead of the group said while looking away pointedly.

"Really? You don't know what I'm talking about Horace?"

"!?!"

"H-how do you know my name?!" The man, Horace apparently, demanded while taking a step back nervously.

"I'd be more worried about how the League would react if they knew what the Gym trainers of Spikemuth are up to. This could be enough to strip all of you of your trainers licenses, and possibly result in the closing of Spikemuth Gym." Ace said as he looked each and every one of them in the eye, making them all shudder as it felt like he was looking right through them.

"W-what do we do Horace?" One of the other grunts asked him worriedly from Ace's threat. After all, the closing of Spikemuth Gym would result in the exact OPPOSITE of what they wanted.

"Isn't that obvious? We shut him up!" Horace declared while raising his baton, prompting the others to do the same as they rasied their various weapons.

"Haaa..." Ace sighed, exasperated by their shortsightedness. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."

Shaking his head as if it couldn't be helped, Ace had absolutely no caution towards the Team Yell members as they rushed him, before he suddenly opened his now glowing amber-colored eyes to give them a fierce look.

"""!!!"""

Horace flinched even as he swung his baton at Ace, only for him to effortlessly catch the metal rod with his bare hand.

"I'll take that. And YOU take THIS." Ace said, ripping the baton from his hand before giving Horace a 'light' kick.

"Eh?" The guy with the gun/rubber bullets uttered before he could even fire a single shot, as Horace crashed into him to send them both sprawling to the ground.

"How dare you?!" One of the other grunts shouted angrily as they rushed Ace with a knife, making him cock a brow at them.

"Did you really ask 'how dare I' kick someone that just tried to hit me with a baton?" Ace asked with annoyance in his voice, even as he effortlessly deflected the knife with the baton he took, and knocked it out of their hand to skit across the ground before falling over the edge of the ship.

"You know, you lot are actually pretty pathetic." Ace said with pity in his voice, even as he knocked the one grunt to the ground while deflecting another obvious blow from the fourth one, disarming them before sending them flying back into the wall.

It was at that moment that the fifth Team Yell member rushed him from behind and slammed the taser into his back while set to the highest voltage, enough to rival even a Pikachu.

*Crackle!*

Ace was suddenly lit up as electricity coursed through his body, and did nothing.

'This is nothing compared to Zapdos...' Ace thought to himself, before flicking the grunt with the taser while channeling some of Zapdos' power, sending them flying as if they took a full-powered Thunder.

"Seriously?" Ace asked while shaking his head at the group, who were all already down for the count. Apparently they were only a threat to people they drastically outnumbered.

However, as he looked down at them with pity, they looked up at him and only saw a monster.

"Damn it! Alright then, lets kick things up!" Horace declared as he grabbed a pokeball from his belt. "Go, Linoone!"

"Linoooooooone!" Cried out the pokemon that appeared, which had the appearance of a ferret with white and black stripes going down it's body. The Galarian variant of the pokemon Linoone.

"Linoone, use Headbutt!" Horace ordered.

"Linoone!"

Crying in affirmation, Linoone lowered it's head and charged directly at Ace, making him sigh yet again.

*BAM!*

*CRASH!*

"Huh...?"

None of the Team Yell grunts understood what just happened, as they all looked back behind Horace to see Linoone crumpled on the ground, unconscious.

"Did...did he just punch a pokemon....?" One of them asked hesitantly, as the idea itself was incomprehensible to even consider.

"You know..." Ace said suddenly, drawing their attention back to him as the five grunts began to truly grow fearful for the first time.

"You lot should REALLY do some research on those you try to bully. If you had, then you would've found the video of me battling a wild Primeape with my bare hands, and winning."

There was only one thing going through the heads of the Team Yell grunts when they heard that, 'What. The. FUCK?!'

How could a HUMAN battle a Primeape with their bare hands, AND WIN?!

But as they were trying to compute such an incomprehensible idea, Ace approached them while cracking his knuckles.

"Now then, first I'm going to repay you for attacking my brother last night. Then, I'm going to show you what happens to those who target anyone I care about. And if ANYONE from Team Yell targets myself or anyone else before mine and Marnie's battle tomorrow, then not only will I make this look like a light warmup, I will also report you ALL to the League. Including Marnie."

As Ace finished speaking all any of them were able to do was shake where they were in fear and absolute terror of the man approaching them, even more so with his eyes glowing like those of a monster closing in on their prey.

***

"Well that was...interesting." I muttered to myself as I made my way back to the party in the main hall, after beating up some Team Yell grunts.

Of course I had read their minds when I first confronted them to find out what it was they wanted, and while I DID find their circumstances pitiful, it gave them no right to do the things they did. The only reason I had not gone even harder on them was because they had yet to cross that line to become true hardened criminals.

I also felt slightly bad for Marnie, who I knew through her aura when we were up on stage, and from their memories, did not approve of their tactics to help her win. Yet, despite them being her fans, they apparently refused to listen to what she wanted as they worked to boost her up.

It was rather sad when I thought about it, that she would also be included in any punishment dished out to Team Yell since everything they did was for her. But it was also the most effective way to get them to listen since they wanted to prop her up more than anything.

But I gave them my warning, and if they chose not to listen then they only had themselves to blame for the consequences.

"Where did you go, Ace?" Lillie asked as I got back to the group.

"I just had some business to take care of." I said dismissively, before glancing at the other guys who had made it to the finals.

"By the way, you guys should keep an eye out for anyone from Team Yell." I told them, figuring the group would probably target them if they couldn't go after me.

"Team Yell?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Aren't they that group of vandals?" Hilbert added thoughtfully.

"That's true, but they've also been targeting trainers." Victor said, being one of the only ones in the group to take my warning seriously, alongside Hop and Gloria.

"Did something happen?" Gloria asked me worriedly.

"A group of them just tried to attack me." I replied, earning everyone's attention all at once.

"Are you ok?!" Serena asked as she began looking me over for any possible injuries, making Calem cock a brow at me questioningly.

"I'm fine, but they're not. I left them in pretty bad shape while also giving them a warning about attacking me or anyone else. But who knows if they'll actually listen or not?" I explained with a shrug, making several of the girls sigh in relief since I was ok. Though truthfully I was more worried about them if Team Yell didn't listen.

"Seriously? What is their problem?" Misty demanded with a huff.

"They have their reasons." I said, making everyone look at me curiously.

"Are you....defending them?" Hop asked incredulously.

"Oh hell no." I hurriedly said while shaking my head in denial. "I just said that have their reasons for doing what they're doing, not that they were GOOD reasons, or that it justified their actions."

Even as I said that I decided to go out of my way to visit Spikemuth whenever I got the chance to go to Galar, and maybe I would be able to do something to help ressurect the town?

Thoughts for later, and when I had more assets to do such things. For now I needed to enjoy the party as several people approached us to offer their congratulations, mostly trainers that had battled against some of us over the last few days.

So we mingled and spoke to a few of our self-proclaimed rivals as they swore to beat us the next time, which made me smirk along with the guys, until a large figure approached us.

"Misty, Ace. Lance has asked me to come and get all of you for a meeting." Hudson said while looking over our entire group, before pausing and frowning at Giana briefly.

"Alright then." I answered, moving to follow Hudson as he led the way for us. Chances were that we were going to inform the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members about what was going on, as I had already cleared those I could for Lance.

We all followed Hudson as he led the way to one of the larger conference rooms, one big enough to hold ALL of us that would be in on the meeting, and filed in after him as he threw open the doors.

"This should be everyone." He said in his low voice, while I entered the room and swept my eyes over everyone present.

Currently there were over twenty Gym Leaders, eight members of the Elite Four, and six Champion ranked trainers here.

I could readily believe that there was more power concentrated in this room than anywhere else in the entire world right now, aside from the Legendary pokemon.

But as my eyes swept over everyone present, they stopped on a certain group dressed in red jackets that had the yellow R of the Rangers. Or more specifically, my gaze was focused on the man sitting in the middle of them.

His aura was almost blindingly pure, like the sun, while he alone was not dressed in the typical Ranger uniform and jacket. Instead, he was wearing khaki shorts with a matching shirt, both with numerous pockets with the Ranger emblem sewed onto them.

"Ya must be Ace Ketchum!" The man declared, rising to his feet to greet me while I just stood still and stared in disbelief.

"Oi'm also with the Rangers! Ma name is Steve Sherwin, but most folks just call me the Krookodile Hunter!" He said with a broad smile, offering me his hand while I just stood there staring at him dumbly.