The Mightyena lunged forward with great speed and reached Aven in the blink of an eye.
"Meowww!"
Shinx cried out anxiously. At that moment, it was still entangled by four Mightyenas.
Electricity surged all around it as it instinctively tried to rush back to protect Aven, but it was completely blocked by the surrounding Mightyenas.
Anger and fear flickered in its eyes. With all its strength, Shinx unleashed Spark followed with Quick Attack and knocked one of the Mightyena flying.
But it was already too late—the claws of the attacking Mightyena were just inches from Aven.
The reflection of the lunging Mightyena froze in Shinx's eyes—it felt like time had stopped.
"It's over!"
The hunters sneered as they watched, expecting a swift end.
But the next second, their expressions froze.
Countless blades of green grass suddenly shot up beneath Aven, wrapping tightly around the Mightyena and halting it midair!
The Mightyena's body, still in a lunging posture from inertia, was completely immobilized.
With a violent pull, the grass slammed the magical beast to the ground. Vines and grass wrapped around its limbs, binding it like a tightly wrapped dumpling.
A breeze blew gently, rustling the grass and revealing the small figure of Petilil emerging from the underbrush.
Her body glowed with a soft green light, as if she were one with the grass itself. Not even the Mightyenas had sensed her presence.
"Lil lil!"
Petilil's round eyes blazed with fury.
These wicked humans had dared to hurt Aven—unforgivable!
At her command, grass began growing rapidly from the ground, standing tall on either side of her and stretching menacingly toward the humans and their Mightyenas.
"Petilil, hold on for a moment," Aven suddenly spoke.
He stepped beside her, gently patting Froslass on his shoulder to calm her icy aura, and then turned his gaze ahead.
At that moment, Shinx's entire body was glowing, massive energy gathering around it.
"Is this…?"
Aven's eyes lit up in surprise. But before he could finish his thought, a dazzling white light burst forth from Shinx's body.
Its form began to change rapidly in the light—it grew taller, and its fur became thicker and wilder.
"It's evolving!"
"With the strength it had, it was already on the verge of evolution. This battle must've been the final push!"
When the light faded, a Luxio stood in Shinx's place.
Aven smiled. Every moment of growth from a Pokémon was something worth celebrating.
"Meowwwr!"
Luxio let out a powerful cry, louder and deeper than before.
"Excellent, Luxio. Now the real battle begins!"
Across from them, the expressions on the hunters' faces had completely changed.
They looked at the newly evolved Luxio, then back at Petilil who had subdued their Mightyenas, and realized things had gotten completely out of hand.
"Luxio, use Spark!"
Bzzt bzzt bzzt—Electricity surged over Luxio's body as it gathered power.
Stronger than before, the electric current concentrated in its legs.
The next instant, it vanished from sight and reappeared in front of a Mightyena, crashing into it with tremendous force.
The speed was so incredible that the Mightyena couldn't even react—it was sent flying, crashing into a tree with a heavy thud.
"Awrooo!"
The remaining three Mightyena rushed in.
Luxio stood still, electricity crackling over its body before bursting out in all directions with a massive discharge.
Boom boom boom!
The shockwave overwhelmed the attackers—the powerful AoE Discharge sent all three Mightyenas flying.
Having learned the move instinctively during a previous desperate moment, Luxio now fully mastered it after evolving.
The three mid-tier Mightyenas were completely overwhelmed.
Luxio had clearly become a top-tier intermediate-level magical beast.
"Attack the human!!" the hunters shouted in desperation.
Then the four Mightyenas that had just stand up suddenly rushed towards Aven, obviously planning to go all out!
But just then, a huge splash rang out—a Bibarel surged from the river!
Water swirled around it as it used Aqua Jet, slamming directly into a Mightyena and launching it like a missile into a tree.
Then its cheeks puffed out—a sweeping Hydro Pump blasted the other three Mightyenas, sending them flying.
As they soared through the air, Luxio leapt up, charged a Thunder Shock, and zapped them with blackening electricity.
In the joint attack from Bibarel and Luxio, all four Mightyena were instantly knocked out.
Now, with no magical beasts to rely on, the hunters trembled.
"Meowww!"
Luxio stared at the humans who had repeatedly tried to harm its trainer.
Suddenly, it froze. In the reflection of their whips and arrows, the shadows of humans flickered—and Luxio began trembling again.
Seeing this, one hunter instinctively cracked his whip to intimidate it.
To their surprise, it worked—Luxio began backing away.
"Luxio, don't be afraid," Aven called out firmly.
"They're just ordinary humans. Your strength far surpasses theirs."
He narrowed his gaze. "Use Thunder Shock."
Luxio paused, clenched its jaw, then closed its eyes—and fired.
The leader grabbed one of his own as a human shield.
The electricity struck hard, leaving the man twitching and blackened. He wouldn't die immediately, but without treatment, he wouldn't last long.
Panic broke out. The other hunters scattered, running for their lives.
Luxio stared in a daze at the fleeing humans, then down at its own paws.
In that moment, it realized—humans… weren't that scary after all.
"As long as you're strong, there's nothing to fear."
Aven approached and patted Luxio's fur.
"If you're still afraid, it only means you're not strong enough yet."
Hearing this, clarity returned to Luxio's eyes. It nodded resolutely.
Far ahead, the hunters were still fleeing—but how could humans outrun Pokémon?
Bibarel chased them down with ease, smacking each one to the ground.
"W-Who are you!?" the hunter leader stammered.
"You haven't figured it out yet?" Aven replied coldly.
"You're in my territory."
"According to the laws of Aspiration City, everything within a lord's land belongs to that lord—including the magical beast."
"So… you entered my lands to poach magical beasts, and even dared attack me, the Earl of the Southeast Border?"
Shock dawned on the hunters' faces.
"You're Earl Aven?!"
They had heard rumors. About how in his lands, harming magical beasts was forbidden.
They'd scoffed at the idea. But now, they'd been caught red-handed—by the man himself.
"Under the laws of this territory, I have the right to arrest you."
As Aven gave the order, Petilil unleashed Leech Seed, wrapping the five hunters tightly in vines.
"Lord Aven, this is a misunderstanding!" the leader shouted in panic.
But Aven only sneered. "A misunderstanding? So, if I were an ordinary civilian, you'd be free to rob or kill me?"
"The laws of this land will give you a fair trial."
He nodded to Petilil, who released Sleep Powder, sending them all into a quiet slumber.
Turning back to the cages, Aven approached the frightened Stunky inside.
They shrank back, terrified of all humans.
"It's okay now. You're safe."
Aven took the key from the hunters and opened the cage.
Creak.
The lock clicked open. Aven stepped back, giving them space.
But suddenly—one of the Stunky lunged out, claws bared toward Aven!
It was fast—far too fast.
But just before it struck, a wall of ice appeared in front of Aven.
Crack!
The mirror shattered. Stunky fell to the ground—grass quickly sprang up, binding it tightly.
Still, it thrashed and howled furiously.
Aven stood in silence.
He could feel the intense hatred in this Stunky's heart, born from pain and abuse—twisted into a desire for revenge.
Such Pokémon were extremely dangerous. In his past life, ones like this would be locked away in special prisons, awaiting judgment.
"Hunters and Pokémon..." Aven sighed deeply.
In this world, the relationship between humans and Pokémon was truly broken.
He realized that if he wanted to change human attitudes toward Pokémon, he'd also have to help Pokémon trust humans again.
"I'll need to accelerate the building of the Pokémon Breeding Facility, the Trainer System, and the Ranger Corps."
"And perhaps, model a new legal structure after the future League system—something to regulate both humans and Pokémon."
Aven's mind was heavy. The road to a peaceful human-Pokémon coexistence was still long.
(End of Chapter)