Hawlucha and Pokémon Hunters

Having played enough, Yan Yang sat on a rock to rest. The gentle breeze brushed against his face, bringing a hint of coolness and whisking away the sweat lingering on his body.

The sun in the sky shone warmly, fluffy white clouds drifted by, and a few birds flew in the low altitude.

Yan Yang lay on the rock, gazing at the sky, when he suddenly seemed to see something falling from above.

"Ahhh!" What fell was a certain Pokémon with colorful feathers. He didn't see it clearly, but Yan Yang had already stood up and caught the Pokémon before it hit the ground. However, because it was a bit heavy and he hadn't stood firmly, he accidentally took a tumble.

Only after getting up did Yan Yang see that the creature he was holding was a Pokémon that didn't belong to the Johto Region—a Hawlucha.

This Hawlucha shouldn't have been fully grown yet; after all, an adult Hawlucha stands a full 80 centimeters tall and weighs over 20 kilograms, while the one before him was less than half that size and not particularly heavy.

However, how could there be a Pokémon from the Kalos Region in the Johto Region?

Although it wasn't impossible for there to be no Hawlucha in the Johto Region—after all, people and Pokémon do migrate between regions—to his knowledge, this forest didn't have such Pokémon; the inhabitants here were all native Johto Pokémon.

So, where exactly did this Hawlucha come from?

The Hawlucha in his arms had already regained consciousness and quickly scrambled out of Yan Yang's embrace, its eyes filled with vigilance and fear.

Yan Yang took the opportunity to check its status:

Hawlucha (Vigilant)
Gender: Male
Type: Fighting/Flying
Level: 35
Ability: Limber (Cannot be paralyzed)
Held Item: None
Moves: Omitted
Status: Injured, extremely nervous and frightened.
Evaluation: A hot-headed brawler who loves to fight. Do not let it encounter Mankey or Primeape, or it will easily start a fight.

This level didn't exactly mean it wasn't an adult; perhaps its smaller size was due to other factors.

Seeing so many Pokémon watching it, the Hawlucha's inner anxiety grew, and it prepared to launch an attack on Yan Yang.

"Don't be afraid, I mean no harm," Yan Yang said gently, showing his innocence.

The Hawlucha froze for a moment, shook its head to clear its thoughts and calm down, and only then realized it had just been saved by this person. It retracted its hostility, silently curled up, held its injured parts, and wore an expression of endurance.

"Do you want me to help you treat that?" the human opposite asked.

The Hawlucha didn't reply, but the situation wasn't very optimistic, so in order to recover quickly, it nodded.

With the Pokémon's consent, Yan Yang began to treat the Hawlucha's wounds. He was already very skilled at this; when he played with his friends, their Pokémon would sometimes get hurt, and he was always the one to help treat them.

Entei had taught him about many of the plants and Berries in this forest, and combined with his own slight experience from his past life and the powerful healing abilities of the Pokémon, the results of his treatments were always quite good.

Entei's Healing Sacred Fire wasn't needed; that would be overkill. Except for Pokémon with severe injuries, it was basically never used—though Yan Yang was an exception.

The Hawlucha watched quietly as he treated its wounds, wondering what it was thinking inside.

"Alright, how does it feel?" Yan Yang finished, and the Hawlucha moved around a bit, confirming it didn't hurt as much as before.

"Much better, thank you very much," the Hawlucha's voice trembled slightly.

"You're welcome, as long as you're better."

The Hawlucha was somewhat surprised that the human in front of it could understand its speech, but it accepted the fact quickly.

"Where did you come from? I don't think I've seen you before," Yan Yang asked, seeing that the Hawlucha's condition had improved.

After a friendly conversation, Yan Yang understood the whole story.

This Hawlucha was originally a wild Pokémon from Kalos. While resting, it was captured by a group of humans and then brought to this place, wherever it was.

Yan Yang knew it was likely the dirty work of Pokémon hunters, just like the Team Rocket trio in the anime, who would capture rare or special Pokémon.

The only difference was that the Team Rocket trio's goal was to present them to their boss, while these hunters' goal was to trade the captured Pokémon with wealthy people.

It was truly infuriating behavior. Yan Yang hated such people deeply. In a world where humans and Pokémon coexisted, what was the difference between trafficking Pokémon and trafficking children? In his view, such trafficking behavior should be severely punished and absolutely never tolerated.

Just imagine, if you were a Pokémon living happily at home, and one day you encountered a group of despicable humans who drugged you, only for you to wake up in a dim cage with a pungent odor filling the air—wouldn't you feel desperate and terrified?

If those bad guys were slightly kinder and wanted to keep you in peak condition to trade with customers, it might be a little better, suggesting the buyer might still want to treat the Pokémon well.

However, if you encountered the worst of the worst, it would be absolutely tragic, because those animals would never see Pokémon as anything other than tools for making money.

The Hawlucha recalled its experience:

It had curled up in a corner of the cage, its eyes filled with fear and confusion, its fur disheveled, and its body appearing thin due to the long lack of combat and exercise.

Scattered around the cage were some nearly empty food bowls, and other Pokémon nearby let out faint cries, seemingly comforting each other.

Every now and then, someone would come in to check on the situation, and disobedient Pokémon would be whipped; it had received quite a few lashes itself.

It had managed to escape with great difficulty, only to find it had no idea where it was. It could only fly around aimlessly; it couldn't stop, because if it stopped, it might be caught again. But the wounds from the whipping were still aching, until finally, it couldn't fly anymore and fell from the sky...

Not daring to think about it anymore, the Hawlucha shivered. Yan Yang fully understood its situation, so he patted its shoulder and comforted the Hawlucha softly. Other Pokémon also came over to offer comfort, helping the Hawlucha pull itself together. After a while, it finally calmed down and expressed its gratitude to Yan Yang and the Pokémon present.

Yan Yang asked: "Do you want to teach those bad guys a lesson?"

Hawlucha's body gave a slight tremble, and then it expressed with great determination: "I want to! They must pay the price!"

Having suffered so much for no reason, how could it possibly swallow its anger? It was a Fighting-type Pokémon that loved to battle and was full of justice; it would never forgive the things those bad people had done.

Moreover, there were still many Pokémon suffering in their hands, and now that there was an opportunity, it had to save them.

Yan Yang looked into its eyes and nodded: "Very good, you have courage!"

Next, Yan Yang asked Hawlucha if it still remembered where the base of those villains was, how many people there were, and what the situation was like.

Although Hawlucha's memory was a bit hazy, it still remembered the general details.

After understanding the information, Yan Yang began to think about a plan. In truth, there was no need to think; if he just told Entei, he could directly wipe out that nest of Pokémon poachers. If Entei knew about this, he would definitely be even angrier than him, and might even kill that bunch of villains directly.

He didn't exactly object to Entei hurting or even killing people—those people deserved to die—but he was afraid it would invite retaliation from those people or investigations from official personnel, making this peaceful forest no longer peaceful. That would definitely be an unprovoked disaster.

He was a human himself, so he understood human thinking too well. Human society might appear calm on the surface, but there were still undercurrents surging in the dark. He had to be extra cautious, otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he was played to death.

This matter still needed to be discussed at length with Entei. After thinking it over carefully, Yan Yang bid farewell to his Pokémon companions and brought Hawlucha back home.