The Renegade Trainer

Following Murkrow, Maguro eventually reached a territory deep in the woods that stunk.

'Vileplume territory, eh?'

Thinking of the risk of this mission filled him with excitement. Anything above elite level would be impossible, but none of them seem to be that strong yet.

'For our targets...'

His eyes widened at the potential loot. Not only were there Miracle seeds, there was also a Leaf stone in their stash of loot.

They were at a safe distance away, sitting at a vintage point on top of a tree. Murkrow was more interested at the Nuggets and gemstones they got.

"Sure, feel free to take em'. But you gotta give me that Leaf stone. We'll do this the usual way." Maguro and Murkrow put on their gas masks as the heist begun.

With Maguro, Turtwig, and Gyarados as decoys, Murkrow would flank their enemies to swoop in and snatch their goodies.

But not before it used [Haze].

The Vileplume group was confused as black smoke enveloped surrounded them out of nowhere while a loud roar resounded at the same time. 

It was supposed to be the day to choose who would be the next Gloom to evolve, and their participants were raring to battle it out when this sudden commotion interrupted their ceremony.

The first Gloom to see Gyarados didn't last long as a [Headbutt] from Turtwig took it out in one hit.

Maguro already ordered Turtwig to setup with [Shell Smash] to the maximum, which was only one as its body was too frail to handle the burden of another one. 

But that was already more than enough to OHKO a Pokémon like Gloom.

More and more enemies were lured in by Gyarados' roar. It wasn't long after that a Vileplume appeared and endured Turtwig's [Headbutt].

But Gyarados won't be sitting idle and playing as bait the whole time.

"NOW!"

As planned, Gyarados assaulted the Vileplume with [Thrash] while Turtwig and Maguro fell back.

With zero visibility in the haze, Gyarados was blindly charging in. But this was the kind of all-out-offense he was training it for.

It was the most talented Pokémon he had, with the deepest movepool out of his current roster. And Maguro hunted for this guy for nearly two years now.

The thick smoke started to clear, and Maguro waited for visibility to return before he could recall Gyarados.

Seeing the big dragon-fish retrieved, the remaining Vileplume and Gloom turned their attention to Maguro. But this was also within the bounds of his expectations.

"Run for it, Turtwig!"

They dashed away, and Vileplume aren't really known for their speed.

Meanwhile Murkrow was flying with a sack on its talons and a Leaf stone on its beak.

Heist successful.

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A few hours later, Vileplume grotto...

A figure in red vest wearing all black underneath stood still.

'How merciless.'

Seeing the grass Pokémon try to recover, he held his red cap and swore.

'You fiends will pay for this.'

The ranger went in and helped the Pokémon recuperate.

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After finding a good spot, Maguro and the gang set camp and rested up.

It was beside a stream, which was greatly appreciated by his water types. Maguro served food for them earlier, and now they were just chilling.

Everyone was feeling fine, well, not exactly everyone...

"Haa?! Fat chance! We can't split this 40/60 bro, that's just unfair! You gotta give me all the nuggets so I can have funds to make you guys stronger!"

"Caww!! Caw!" (I found treasure, I deserve more nuggies!)

Because their personalities were so similar, Murkrow and Maguro found themselves bickering over their share of loot.

"Even if you're the one who found it, you would've died trying to steal it without us!"

"Caww!" (No treasure without me!)

"Likewise, you greedy crow!"

Mareanie was eating, and kinda enjoyed watching the show unfold. They looked like siblings fighting over the remote or something.

Soon enough, they came to a compromise.

"Caw, caw ca-caw!" (This only means one thing now!)

"We heist another grotto, I get all the held and power up items and you get the nuggets!"

"Caw!!!" (SURE, YOU SLY TRAINER!)

The crow and the human shaked hands on the deal and turned to see Gyarados and Mareanie eyeing them silently.

"What're you lookin' at? Huh?!" Their faces turned grim as their trainer decided to further intensify their already hellish routine.

Meanwhile, under a tree, Turtwig ened yawning as it woke up, unaware that it had just avoided a bullet.

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"You, what is your name sir?"

As he was walking around Eterna forest, Maguro encountered a Pokémon ranger.

"Uhm... I'm on my way to Eterna city."

"I see. May I ask if you've found anyone suspicious around here?"

"No. I haven't met anyone before you. Why'd you ask?"

"Just today I found a grotto of injured Vileplume. Not only were they injured, they were also robbed of their valuables."

"That's terrible. What kind of person would do something like that?" Maguro immediately switched his tone.

'Ah... I hate these goodie two shoes.'

"A monster. I'm here to see that they pay for their crimes. Anyway, make sure you stay out of trouble, trainer."

The ranger left, oblivious to the fact that the culprit was before him and that Maguro was cursing behind his back: 'You hire us for your deals, abuse our code of oath for cash, then throw us like garbage when it's convenient for you. And now, we're the villains? Just how crappy can your stupid league get.'

'Don't worry, little ranger. I'll show you a monster...'

Murkrow landed on his shoulder and lead Maguro to their next target.

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Maguro ended up spending the entire day ransacking hidden Grottos for rare and useful items. And as per their agreement, Murkrow ended up with a grand total of 13 nuggets and 4 big nuggets.

Meanwhile Maguro had acquired three items he would be using, while everything else would be sold.

First up, was a High-grade Sharp beak they got from a Skarmory. This would be helpful against the grass types for his upcoming gym challenge. Naturally, it would be held by Murkrow to boost its Flying-type moves by 15%.

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AN: effect of power-up items are dependent on its quality. These are the boost on Flying-type moves that Sharp beak boosts in respect of its quality,

Low-grade sharp beak: +5%

Mid-Grade sharp beak: +10% 

High-Grade Sharp beak: +15% 

Top-Grade Sharp beak: +20%

--

The next item he'll be using was a Mid-grade Poison Gem. Elemental gems were super rare materials that store their respective elemental energy. And unlike in the games, it is a valuable resource used to enhance the elemental prowess of a Pokémon permanently.

It wouldn't boost one move for only one time, but would strengthen all moves of that type. 

'And if I'm lucky, this gem would improve their potential.' Maguro planned for Mareanie to absorb the Poison-energy stored in this Poison gem. 

'It'll take at least a week since it's Mid-grade, but I'm not in a rush.' 

Patting its head as if it were normal, Maguro lended the Poison gem to an excited Mareanie before proceeding to his next item.

"A Technical Machine for [Bullet seed]."

This was going to be useful for Turtwig, and boosted by [Shell smash], this move would be doing massive damage multiple times. And just like Mareanie, it'd take time to get a hang of the move even though the TM dissolved immediately when exposed to Turtwig's Pokéball.

"Don't worry, I'll buy you some useful items with the money, Gyarados." 

Despite not getting anything, the dragonfish wasn't complaining. Out of everyone, it was growing the fastest. Gyarados was learning a lot of moves throughout their journey in Eterna forest.

Maguro smiled in satisfaction. Within one week, he should be ready to visit a certain somewhere within the large expanse of green.

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[TO BE CONTINUED] 

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Maguro/Masaichi's current roster:

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Pokémon: Murkrow

Level: 25 (20%)

Sex: Male

Types: Dark/Flying

Ability: Prankster, Insomnia

Potential: Blue

Moves: Thunder wave, Pursuit, Haze, Astonish, Peck, Feather dance, Assurance, Rain Dance (TM)

Held item: High-Grade Sharp beak

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Pokémon: Turtwig

Level: 17 (39%)

Sex: Male

Types: Grass

Ability: Shell Armor

Potential: Purple

Moves: Shell smash, Tackle, Withdraw, Curse, Headbutt (Talent-learned), Bullet Seed (TM)

Held item: none

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Pokémon: Mareanie

Level: 17 (07%)

Sex: Female

Types: Water/Poison

Ability: Merciless, Regenerator

Potential: Blue

Moves: Peck, Poison sting, Stockpile, Swallow, Infestation

Held item: Mid-Grade Poison Gem

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Pokémon: Gyarados

Level: 28 (07%)

Sex: Male

Types: Water/Flying

Ability: Intimidate, Moxie

Potential: Black

Moves: Crunch, Thrash, Dragon rage, Waterfall, Rain Dance, Outrage (Talent-learned), Hurricane (Talent-learned)

Held item: none

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