Hiding

Seaside Jungle.

This forest lay near the coast and Route 33, yet it was blanketed by a sea of trees. Many kinds of Pokémon lived and thrived within this jungle, leading peaceful lives untouched by the outside world.

On a hill wrapped in dense forest, a young man leaned against a large tree, holding binoculars as he looked down at the distant ravine.

"Look at them, running around like rabid dogs. Someone who didn't know better would think I did something intimate to their families." Heiduo took out a sandwich he had bought yesterday from his dimensional backpack and ate it bite by bite.

Today was already the second day. Heiduo had evaded wave after wave of pursuit and encirclement, yet his reinforcements still had not arrived.

His communication device simply could not contact anyone. Those bastards had deployed a larger-scale, more powerful jamming device. They had even used an EMP, directly rendering Heiduo's communicator useless.

There was no way Heiduo believed they had no backing in Johto.

It turned out the Mole Poaching Group was not merely cunning—they had people above them. No wonder they had always managed to escape unscathed.

Gible might be in danger. He had not thought this through!

Heiduo's face darkened as he worried about Gible, who had gone to fetch help. He had not expected the Pokémon world to have such a nest of snakes and rats too. It was utterly disgusting.

Beside him, a fox-like Pokémon saw Heiduo eating and used her little paws to grab onto Heiduo's clothes, climbing upward with all her might.

"Miss, you ate your fill this morning. Can you let me eat in peace?" Heiduo looked helplessly at his Eevee, hurriedly finishing his sandwich in two or three bites.

"I'm starving! It's not that I'm greedy, I'm really hungry! Believe me!"

Eevee nimbly climbed onto Heiduo's back, pulled open the zipper, and stuck her head into the backpack to search for food.

"If you keep eating like this, your weight is going to become terrifying. You're not some orange tabby. You can't just stop controlling your appetite because you became a Pokémon, can you?" Seeing her pull out a Sweet Peach in her mouth, turn around, and lie on his shoulder while holding it with both paws, delicately nibbling it bite by bite, Heiduo sighed. "You'll eat yourself sick at this rate."

"Got it, got it."

Eevee replied casually, fully focused on eating the Sweet Peach.

Perhaps because her past life of constant hunger had been too miserable, she had eaten lunch after lunch over the past day, and every meal had been a sizeable one.

Heiduo raised his binoculars, but information about this little fellow's status could not help flashing through his mind.

Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon, a Normal-type Pokémon. Not particularly rare, and adored by female Trainers for her cute appearance.

Of course, that was merely common knowledge.

What mattered was that her friendship had already been as high as eighty-five points when he first caught her, and this morning it had successfully risen to ninety. She possessed an exceptionally bizarre and frightening ability to learn moves. Even without Heiduo cheating, she could learn a huge number of moves on her own, including moves she normally could not learn.

What else besides a cheat could accomplish something like that?

But since Eevee did not take the initiative to tell him, Heiduo would not be tactless enough to force the issue. Everyone had secrets and privacy. Pokémon did too, and neither should be casually violated.

Speaking of which, it was necessary to mention how Heiduo had spent last night.

Among Eevee's many moves was one called Secret Power. This move could create a secret base inside rocks or trees. Eevee normally relied on it to hide from all kinds of savage Pokémon.

Heiduo had been fortunate enough to spend a night inside one. If he had not heard Houndoom's cries in the middle of the night, he might well have remained in the secret base all night.

There was also a move called Safeguard. In reality, it not only granted immunity to negative conditions, but also erased traces of one's presence.

A level-two Safeguard lasted for half an hour.

It had conveniently saved Heiduo the deodorizing spray he had bought on Team Rocket's darknet. That stuff was excellent for evading Pokémon with keen senses of smell.

With just those two moves, Heiduo had evaded the Mole Poaching Group's pursuit through dusk, night, and dawn.

It was nearly noon now, and Heiduo was moving toward Azalea Town. This would let him circle around the Mole Poaching Group members who had originally blocked the only route to Azalea Town.

If he could still be caught after entering Azalea Town, then the Pokémon League truly had to be rotten to the core. It made one wonder whether they only knew how to bully the weak while remaining helpless against major parasites.

Like Team Rocket's rookie training base.

In order to surround and capture him, the Mole Poaching Group had dispatched no fewer than thirty people. They searched the Seaside Jungle in pairs, and once they found any trace of him, three groups would immediately converge on his location.

Once I make it big, I'll rip you out by the roots! Heiduo cursed viciously in his heart. Having had no proper rest all night, he was in an extremely foul mood. Even with a constitution of 20 points, a night of constant running had left him somewhat exhausted.

What kind of immortals could run for three days and three nights straight?

At that moment, two figures emerged from the bushes beside the ravine, one tall and one short. Two dog-like Pokémon with skulls on their heads followed at their feet, while two cicada-like Pokémon circled overhead.

"Houndour and Ninjask again? No creativity at all. I'm getting sick of seeing them." Snapping back to his senses, Heiduo lowered his binoculars and sighed. Then he narrowed his eyes. "If they're all this low-level, it's not like I can't make a move..."

As Heiduo moved, several lines of small text appeared beneath his eyes and enlarged as he focused on them.

"Two level twenty-one Houndour, one level twenty-five Ninjask, and one level twenty-six Ninjask."

"Either scouts or a trap..." Heiduo rubbed his eyes in disappointment. "There's just too little information on these people. Only knowing the captain's information puts me at a serious disadvantage.

"I just hope the highest-level Pokémon they have don't exceed level fifty. Otherwise, I really can't win. Though levels aren't everything, numbers..."

Thinking of that, Heiduo could not help worrying that someone might have figured out what he had done and set a trap.

Probably not, judging by the Third Squad's intelligence.

At the ravine.

Yefu sharply observed his surroundings, his right hand constantly hovering at his waist.

"Houndour, have you smelled that brat's scent?" Yefu pushed aside the shrubs and asked the two Houndour continuously sniffing the ground.

He received no response.

"...That damn little bastard is really good at hiding." The short poacher named Wen Er touched the pistol tucked against his chest. "When we catch him, I'm putting a few holes in him!"

To capture Heiduo, the leader—also known as the boss—had specially approved the use of three pistols.

In this society, where most firearms had been destroyed, three pistols were already something the Mole Group's boss had provided under tremendous pressure. They came from the inventory of a collector in some conglomerate.

They had to be returned after use.

That little piece of shit had actually ambushed the Third Squad while some of its members were away, taking all their haul and Pokémon, then hiding them somewhere unknown.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! How dare he increase their workload! Did he not know their time was tight? And being beaten by some little brat—who knew how many colleagues would make them the laughingstock!

Though the Mole Poaching Group did not have many members, it was quite famous in the poaching business. If they were plucked clean by such a wet-behind-the-ears brat, their competitors would surely mock them endlessly. Even the person at the very top would no longer favor them. That was a loss they could not bear.

"Captain Yefu, can't they really send reinforcements from above? I feel like if we keep this up, we might run into those damn Rangers." Wen Er wiped the sweat from his hands. Their usual operating area was deep in the mountains, and they rarely carried out such large-scale searches this close to a city.

Generally, rarer Pokémon also stayed far from cities. The ones near cities were mostly Bug-types, Grass-types, and Normal-types, with few being worth much. Moreover, since this area was close to the city, Rangers were stationed here in batches. According to Wen Er's observations, there was even a cabin five kilometers away. This operation was practically dancing on a knife's edge.

The Second Squad was still dealing with Pokémon League personnel, and those above were also pressuring Azalea Town, but this situation could not last much longer. They had to catch that brat as soon as possible!

Yefu glanced at Wen Er, whose expression was panicked and whose forehead was visibly beaded with cold sweat. He loosened his hand from the Poké Ball he had been gripping and patted Wen Er on the shoulder, signaling him to relax.

"I remember you've never seen those people before, have you?"

"Y-Yes. I joined last November." Wen Er's body visibly relaxed, showing that he trusted and respected Yefu greatly.

"There's no need to be nervous. It's no big deal. We're all human. They don't have an extra arm or half a leg more than us." Yefu comforted him. "Those people are just flexible and adaptable. Subdue them in time, and they're not much of a threat."

Hearing Yefu dismiss the Rangers, whom everyone in the industry feared like tigers and who were surrounded by many terrifying rumors, Wen Er could not help showing an admiring expression.

As the Mole Group's second-strongest member after the boss, Yefu had been a veteran Pokémon League Trainer before joining the Mole Group. He possessed the terrifying record of reaching the top eight at the League Conference, standing out among countless Trainers.

"Remember, this search mission may only succeed, never fail. That Pokémon is one the leader specifically ordered us to offer up. If we fail to retrieve it, it won't be as simple as prison time." Yefu warned him. Then, seeing Wen Er tense up again, he joked, "Hey, don't be nervous. That little brat is alone in the end. He can't get far. Someone's blocking him! Once the mission's over, I'll take you to a good place!" As he spoke, he bumped Wen Er's ribs with his fist.

"Yes, Captain Yefu!"

Whether Wen Er was simply easy to handle or not, his sweat-soaked expression gradually calmed down. However, his grip on the pistol against his chest only tightened.