Jubilife City's northern suburbs, coastline.
Li Wei, Lucario, and Metagross kept low, advancing towards the coastline.
The Hyper Beam that hit Drakloak just now came from that direction.
Li Wei, being at a higher elevation, had a clear view. He lay on the ground, observing the coastline, where a boat was docked.
The calm coastline had become very noisy, and the Wingull that were soaring over the sea had also flown away.
Many people wearing special combat suits and tactical goggles were chasing a Pokemon.
"Don't let it get away!"
"Golbat, Hypnosis!"
"Dragapult, another big catch!"
"Dragapult and Drakloak, both can be sold for a good price, hahaha!"
What reached Li Wei's ears were the rampant laughter and shouts of the Pokémon Hunters.
Li Wei recognized the leader at first glance: Pokémon Hunter D.
He was part of Hunter J's group, both at the captain level.
Li Wei had seen him during his travels, but that time, with only Lucario, Li Wei couldn't stop Hunter D from escaping.
At this moment, Dragapult stood in front of Drakloak, warily watching the Mightyena, Houndoom, and other Pokemon below.
"Houndoom, Flamethrower!"
"Mightyena, Fire Fang!"
On the beach below, there was a Pokemon that looked like a ball of grass running.
Li Wei recognized this grass ball as Shaymin's Land Forme at a glance.
"Metagross, Flash Cannon!"
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
"Arcanine, Flamethrower!"
"Aim for that boat!"
To catch the thief, first catch the king; to shoot a person, first shoot the horse!
To catch all these Pokémon Hunters in one go, they had to destroy their means of transport first.
Flash Cannon and Flamethrower intertwined, forming a white and red tornado,
rapidly propelling the azure Aura Sphere!
Bang—
The Pokémon Hunters' attention was completely drawn to Dragapult and Shaymin.
The sudden attack from the cliff edge above was clearly completely unexpected.
The moment the explosion sounded, Li Wei quickly commanded: "Lucario, split up, you go save Shaymin!"
Only three ordinary hunters with their Pokemon were chasing Shaymin, and Lucario could completely handle them.
"Luca!"
"Metagross, Arcanine, let's go down!"
The violent explosion was deafening.
The shockwave from the explosion also sent the nearest hunters flying out like fish in a pond.
Flames ignited, thick smoke rose from the boat, and the dense fog also obstructed their vision.
"What's going on?!"
"Damn it! Who, show yourself!"
Hunter D calmly commanded:
"Hoothoot, clear the fog!"
At the same time, the Pokémon Hunters chasing Shaymin instinctively looked back because of the explosion.
But a shadow suddenly appeared in the sky, causing them to unconsciously look up.
Between Lucario's palms, a bone staff about one meter long suddenly condensed.
There was no time to dodge now.
Bang, bang, bang—
The two staffs quickly struck the hunters' heads,
sending two hunters flying out, one to the left and one to the right.
The last hunter was met with
Lucario's head-on strike!
As the tactical goggles shattered, the Pokémon Hunter slowly fell, lying prone on the ground like a corpse.
The entire process took less than two seconds.
After special training with Cynthia's Lucario, Lucario was no longer what he used to be.
Lucario's strength had reached the Master Class!
After knocking down the three hunters, Lucario's movements didn't stop at all. Lightning sparked from his palms,
and he knocked out Golbat with one punch each!
Facing the last Houndoom, Lucario used a Close Combat sequence, leaving Houndoom unable to retaliate.
At the last moment, the bone staff reappeared in his palm, striking Houndoom's forehead with a precise blow!
"Woo~" Houndoom, emitting a short whimper from his throat, collapsed weakly to the ground.
At this point, the three hunters and three Pokemon were completely incapacitated.
Shaymin was stunned, momentarily forgetting to run.
Lucario nodded at Shaymin,
(You're safe.)
(Tha... thanks.)
(Come with me, I'll Protect you.)
Shaymin could accurately judge whether the person and Pokemon in front of it held good intentions towards it.
"Shaymin!"
Only after holding Shaymin in his arms did Lucario realize how serious its injuries were.
As Hunter D commanded Hoothoot to clear the dense fog, siren sounds echoed in the distance.
"Damn it, Jenny's here!"
"The problem is what's in front of us!"
"A shiny Metagross!"
"Arcanine, is he a police officer or an investigator?"
The hunters, who had dispelled the fog, finally saw the true face of the attacker.
Li Wei, wearing a high-neck sweater and a winter cotton jacket that didn't appear bulky, and black sunglasses.
Drakloak and Dragapult were on his left and right, and Metagross and Arcanine stood in front of him.
"Just an ordinary Breeder."
Looking at the damaged boat behind him and hearing the sirens in the distance, Hunter D made a decisive move,
"Since that's the case, I'll have to use you to escape. I apologize for making you a hostage."
Li Wei's lips curled into a slight smile, "It's not certain who the hunter is yet."
Li Wei noticed the armored launcher on Hunter D's left hand; that was the Pokémon Hunter's secret weapon.
The beam fired from this launcher could petrify Pokemon, even Mythical Pokemon like Shaymin.
Pokémon Hunters used this very method to capture rare Pokemon everywhere.
"Arcanine, Fire Blast."
"Drakloak, Dragon Pulse."
"Metagross, Psychic."
Li Wei didn't need to command Dragapult; having survived in the wild for 20 years, she had extensive combat experience.
And a deep purple orb condensed in Dragapult's mouth—it was Shadow Ball!
"Kangaskhan, Hyper Beam!"
"Drapion, Cross Poison!"
Hunter D's strength was decent, but the other Pokémon Hunters were very ordinary.
Amidst the explosions, a beam of light suddenly shot out.
Hunter D's tactical goggles had the function of accurately capturing the target's location through infrared.
Before that beam was fired, Li Wei had already given instructions, "Dodge left and right!"
Li Wei didn't fully understand this beam, unsure if Protect, Light Screen, and Reflect would be effective against it,
so he wouldn't gamble.
Seeing that the petrifying beam missed, Hunter D couldn't help but frown, "How is that possible..."
"Metagross, destroy his launcher."
"Kohkin!"
Metagross used Confusion to manipulate the surrounding rubble, his super brain constantly calculating.
(Dodge route... move resistance... calculation successful!)
Metagross nodded towards Dragapult,
"Kohkin!"
(I need your Helping Hand.)
"Grulu!"
(No problem!)
Glancing at the hunters around him, clutching their wounds and wailing, Hunter D was already planning his escape.