Pokémon: Above the Top

"Boss, did you find the egg?"

Mark shouted as he rushed over, his mind focused entirely on that mysterious Pokémon Egg.

"Here, take it. And next time, hide it better," Sato handed the Pokémon Egg back to Mark, then turned his attention back to Cyrus.

"Just now, you said… Prince of the Sea? What does that mean?"

"If I tell you, will you let me go?" Cyrus tilted his head and asked with amusement.

"No."

"THEN WHY THE HELL SHOULD I TELL YOU!" Cyrus suddenly roared, then stared proudly at Sato.

"When I tell you to talk, you talk! You damned egg-snatching thief from hell!" Seeing that Cyrus was being completely uncooperative after confirming the Pokémon Egg was safe, Mark exploded with rage and rushed forward to give him two hard kicks.

Sato raised an eyebrow but didn't stop him. He thought to himself, 'If Mark knew just how powerful this guy would become in the future, would he be scared out of his mind?'

"Ugh… even if you kick me to death today, even if I jump off this cliff right now, I still won't tell you what the Prince of the Sea is!"

Cyrus was completely immobilized by Ralts's psychic hold, but his tone remained aggressive and defiant.

"That's fine. Once we're back, we'll just have Gengar use Hypnosis and get it out of him," Sato shrugged, ready to leave.

"Yeah, we're digging everything out of him and then sending him straight to jail!" Mark growled fiercely as he hugged the Pokémon Egg and jumped back onto Togekiss.

Bzz~

A flash of white light and Bronzong suddenly appeared between Sato, Mark, and Cyrus, followed by a sharp and deafening gong.

The sound rang out violently, and even Ralts lost focus for just a moment under the surprise.

Swoosh~

Another flash of light, and Bronzong along with Cyrus had vanished, leaving Sato and Mark behind covering their ears.

"…Bronzong? A Bronzong that can use Teleport." Sato muttered to himself, filled with disbelief.

"Ralts, can you track Bronzong?"

Ralts closed its blood-red eyes again, carefully scanning the surrounding energy waves.

"Raalts~" No use, Ralts couldn't sense anything. That Bronzong's teleportation seemed to be some kind of innate ability.

"DAMN… HOW DID WE LET HIM GET AWAY? DO YOU THINK HE'LL COME BACK FOR US?" Mark shouted, still holding his ears.

"He definitely will. That kind of person will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. We'll have to be even more careful next time."

"AH? WHAT DID YOU SAY, BOSS?" Mark rubbed his ears and shouted again.

"I said…"

"HUH? BOSS, WHAT?"

"I said…"

"YOU SAID WHAT?"

"GET BACK!"

"OH, OKAY!" Mark answered loudly, then muttered to himself in a grumbling tone, "…What's the big deal? Could've just said it clearly the first time… what a pain~"

Sato: "…"

The two of them began heading back the way they came, constantly on alert for a sudden ambush. And that's when they encountered a lone Magnezone floating in the air.

"Zonezone!"

Magnezone flared up instantly, sparks crackling all over its body as if ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

Three minutes later, a heavily damaged Magnezone hovered behind them, having been thoroughly captured. It looked so battered and miserable that one might almost feel sorry for it.

"…Well, your Trainer ditched you, didn't he? Maybe Gengar can get something useful out of you later," Mark muttered, earning a couple of beeping protests from Magnezone.

Of course, beeping didn't help.

As the hotel came into view, Gengar silently reappeared at Sato's side. With a signature "Gengengen" sound.

"Joseph is fine. The one who attacked him was a Skuntank, and he managed to capture it," Sato nodded at Gengar, signaling he got the message.

"As if Joseph could be in danger. What's really a shame is that damn egg-thief got away," Mark growled. Stealing a Pokémon Egg was an unforgivable sin in his eyes.

"Just wait. He'll be back," Sato remained outwardly calm, but internally, his alert level was already maxed out.

That guy was the future leader of Team Galactic. Even if he was a full-blown chūnibyō patient, there was no way he was weak.

Sure, Sato had accidentally taken down Maxie and Archie back in the Hoenn Region, but that didn't mean he could easily deal with Cyrus too.

Didn't Cyrus just escape? This time, Sato's group was in the open while Cyrus operated from the shadows.

---

Back at the hotel, one of the officials approached Sato directly. Knowing who they were dealing with, the staff treaded very carefully with their questions.

Of course, they didn't get any answers. There was no way compensation was on the table either. Sato didn't even bother criticizing their lack of security, he was already being generous.

Late that night, Sato saw another Officer Jenny who had rushed over from Pastoria City. It seemed they had switched shifts.

This Jenny took the initiative to greet Sato and politely asked if he needed any assistance.

Once Sato firmly said no, she didn't say another word and left decisively.

Sato liked that style. Truth be told, the local police couldn't really offer him any help.

If they really sent top fighters to protect them, Sato's group was so strong that even Elite Four level escorts wouldn't hold up.

And since the enemy's identity hadn't been confirmed, the League had no reason to assign heavy protection just for Sato.

Cyrus? On the surface, he was still a wealthy businessman in Sinnoh, currently enjoying a honeymoon phase with the League.

If the incident were to be exposed, the Sinnoh League might even temporarily pressure Sato into downplaying it.

That would be absolutely ridiculous.

So the best plan was to wait for Cyrus to strike again. When he did, the three of them would capture him together. Once he was in custody, everything could be resolved.

The trio moved to a new room, but none of them were sleepy. Mark held the Pokémon Egg tightly, looking incredibly tense.

"I found it… 'Prince of the Sea' refers to the Mythical Pokémon, Manaphy!"

Joseph turned the tablet toward Sato and Mark, his voice both surprised and serious.

"Mythical Pokémon, Manaphy? You mean this Egg will hatch into Manaphy?"

Mark clearly didn't catch the weight in Joseph's tone. All he could think about was that he was about to get a Mythical Pokémon. He was so happy he could barely contain himself.

Sato took the tablet and began carefully reading through the information about the Prince of the Sea. The more he read, the more tightly his brows furrowed.

"Mark, should I say you're lucky… or unlucky?" Sato muttered, lifting his head to see the same seriousness written across Joseph's face.

"Boss, were you just calling me?"

"You'll have to face it sooner or later. Read this first," Sato said as he handed the tablet to Mark.