After packing everything into the Spatial Backpack, Xinhai gave the camp one final inspection—the campfire had been completely extinguished, and Gardevoir had spread out the ashes with Confusion to disperse the heat, ensuring that not a single spark remained.
"All right." He slung the backpack over his shoulders and swept his gaze over the companions beside him. "Let's—"
Before Xinhai could finish, a violent explosion from colliding moves rang out in the distance, cutting him off.
Xinhai's gaze sharpened, and he immediately led his companions toward the nearest explosion site.
A dozen or so kilometers from Xinhai's camp, two Altaria were frantically attacking several poachers.
The poachers each commanded their own Pokémon, continuously launching attacks at the Altaria.
Several Mightyena bared their fangs, spewing surging black Dark Pulse from their mouths, but the Altaria nimbly evaded them.
Houndoom's Flamethrower tore through the night sky, its blaze illuminating half the heavens.
Ursaring roared as its claws, coated in earth-yellow energy, tore up and crushed the ground before hurling it at the two Altaria.
Crawdaunt gathered Ice Beam between its pincers and fired at the Altaria in midair, but struck nothing but empty Qi.
Swellow and Pidgeot tangled with the Altaria in the sky. They were incredibly fast, yet they could never break through the defense of those cloud-like wings.
Ninjask moved as fast as lightning, its transparent wings beating so quickly that their path was nearly impossible to see as it constantly harassed the Altaria.
Most of these Pokémon possessed only Advanced-level strength, with just a handful reaching Elite level.
As for the two Altaria, each was above level 40. Their Qi was heavy and composed, and they worked together flawlessly.
One Altaria took charge of the offense. Its Dragon Pulse transformed into a purple energy dragon that wound