Poaching Gang (Please bookmark, Please vote)

Eichi had been feeling restless these past two days, as if something was about to happen.

He had read about this feeling of unease in novels in his previous life, and now he was finally experiencing it himself.

Eichi wanted to read, but he could not focus at all. His mood grew increasingly irritable, and he could not settle down to do anything.

So, Eichi decided to go outside for some fresh air and ease the frustration in his heart.

Metapod could come along to get some air as well. It was not good to stay cooped up at home all the time.

Whenever Eichi was home and not going out, he would let Metapod out.

He headed toward Viridian Forest and found a flat patch of grass near its entrance.

Taking a deep breath, he savored the fresh air, scented with flowers and mingled with the earthy smell of soil.

To be honest, it had been a long time since Eichi had relaxed like this.

He was busy every day and had never truly allowed himself to unwind.

He released Metapod and experienced nature's wondrous charm together with it.

It was said that Viridian Forest was a very peculiar place. From time to time, righteous and courageous youths would receive Viridian Forest's blessing.

Those blessed by Viridian Forest would gain a special ability.

That ability was Viridian Power. Anyone who had read the manga knew that Viridian Power could increase a Pokémon's strength.

It could heal Pokémon's injuries and allow one to communicate with Pokémon.

It was said that Boss Sakaki of Team Rocket possessed Viridian Power, though whether that was true remained unknown.

Eichi wanted that kind of ability too. Who would not want a special power?

Still, the strange change in his eyes back then had seemed very much like a special ability.

Could it be Viridian Power? As he thought about Viridian Power, Eichi suddenly felt his eyes itch.

Then, he saw a stream of green energy appear out of thin air, surging toward Viridian Forest.

However, this time, the green energy was mixed with an intense blood-red color.

"It appeared again. What is it this time?"

It was not just Eichi who sensed something. Metapod also began to grow restless, making especially urgent sounds.

"Shu, shu—"

Eichi knew something bad was happening ahead. He quickly recalled Metapod into its Poké Ball.

Then he chased after the green energy ahead.

As Eichi ran, he constantly weaved around trees and avoided some troublesome Pokémon.

As he went deeper, he drew closer and closer to the heart of Viridian Forest.

Eichi began to slow down, paying attention to his surroundings as he advanced cautiously.

He had now reached a place even deeper than last time. It was dangerous here, so he had no choice but to be careful.

The blood-red color in the green energy ahead was growing increasingly intense. Seeing this change, Eichi vaguely formed a guess.

As he continued forward, Eichi took great care to conceal himself.

After advancing another few hundred meters, he finally heard sounds that did not belong to Pokémon.

Listening carefully, he heard skill explosions, Pokémon roars, mechanical noises, and human voices all mixed together.

"It's a Poaching Gang!"

"They're hunting Pokémon."

Eichi crept forward and found a concealed spot fifty meters away from them to hide.

The green energy disappeared ahead. Eichi parted the grass and finally saw what was happening.

A ragtag group of people was battling a group of Pokémon.

They had two off-road vehicles, each loaded with a large sack filled with Poké Balls.

The Pokémon they were fighting attacked them furiously.

The poachers sent out their own Pokémon to fight and block the attacks. Three of the poachers held high-tech weapons in their hands.

Those weapons resembled rocket launchers and were extremely powerful. Whenever especially strong Pokémon attacked, they used the high-tech weapons to knock them down.

Then they forcibly captured them with Poké Balls. As for the ordinary Pokémon, they injured them with their own Pokémon before capturing them.

At that moment, Eichi could hear the voices of the Poaching Gang. One of them was a rough male voice:

"Haha!"

"This Electromagnetic Cannon is really useful. These Pokémon are like weeds—they die the moment you step on them."

"Yeah! The last few days have been amazing!"

"One shot, and they all go down."

"The captain's still the best. He managed to get us these Electromagnetic Cannons."

The people around him chimed in smug agreement.

Hearing his members' flattery, Luo Zhi, the leader of the Rattata Poaching Gang, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Luo Zhi had been doing very well lately.

Since acquiring several Electromagnetic Cannons, his harvest over the past few days had been exceptionally fruitful.

The Rattata Poaching Gang had struggled greatly in the past and occupied an extremely awkward position.

They could not defeat Pokémon that were too strong.

Ordinary Pokémon, meanwhile, lived in groups. Provoking one would bring an entire group of Pokémon down on them.

And they could easily get caught by Officer Jenny.

Targeting lone Pokémon was too inefficient and not profitable enough.

Once, while drinking with a buyer, Luo Zhi's buyer got drunk and told Luo Zhi that he was a member of Team Rocket.

He claimed to be a squadron captain in Team Rocket and boastfully said that Team Rocket possessed plenty of high-tech equipment, making it easy to deal with ordinary Pokémon.

Hearing that, Luo Zhi thought that if he could get his hands on a few high-tech weapons, poaching Pokémon in the future would not be effortless?

After that, Luo Zhi began flattering him and trying to get close to him.

After spending quite a bit of money, he finally got results.

One day, that guy told Luo Zhi that Team Rocket's research division was short on research materials, so the task had been assigned to him.

Upon hearing this, Luo Zhi volunteered to help the squadron captain complete the task.

The squadron captain was already troubled by the task when he saw Luo Zhi volunteer.

So he handed the task over to him. Using this task as an excuse, Luo Zhi borrowed several Electromagnetic Cannons from Team Rocket.

After Luo Zhi completed the task well, Team Rocket was very satisfied with his performance.

They generously gave those Electromagnetic Cannons to Luo Zhi, since they were their lowest-grade weapons anyway.

Later, Team Rocket needed a large number of ordinary Pokémon.

They handed those tasks to Luo Zhi, and after he completed them, they rewarded him with a large sum of money.

But Team Rocket no longer needed them recently, so Luo Zhi recruited more people to catch Pokémon and sell them on the black market.

Although they were all very ordinary Pokémon, there were simply too many of them.

Over the past few days, Luo Zhi had made quite a lot of money.

However, after doing this too often, fire could not be wrapped in paper forever.

Because a large number of Pokémon had been flowing through the black market, Officer Jenny had already noticed.

Sensing the danger, Luo Zhi planned to finish this job and move to another city to continue his operations.

The distracted Luo Zhi suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

He immediately said to his members, "Finish this quickly! Get out of here fast. Don't let Officer Jenny catch us."

Everyone replied, "Understood, Boss!"