True Teammates

Amid the howling wind, the Arcanine seemed to have figured out how to carry someone down. It backed up a few steps, then suddenly accelerated into a mad dash. With a deep leap, it bounced back and forth between the cliff walls, reaching several meters up in the blink of an eye.

Charge!

Baimu no longer hesitated and ran with every ounce of strength he had.

The wind weakened the sound of his footsteps. The enemy clearly failed to notice at first, focusing entirely on the Quicksand Team member's miserable state atop the massive rock.

When he realized that the Quicksand Team member was staring excitedly behind him, and heard the violent pounding of footsteps suddenly coming from behind him as the wind died down, he whipped around. By then, Baimu was less than fifty meters away.

"Battle!"

The man roared, and the light of a Poké Ball opening flared beside him. The Hound Team member's wristband immediately lit up in response to the battle.

At that moment, the Arcanine, having leaped to the summit, had not yet had time to bite the Quicksand Team member. The instant it caught sight of the enemy from the corner of its eye, it chose to descend without the slightest hesitation.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, the Hound Team member had just pulled out his second Poké Ball. Before he could open it, the ground beneath his feet suddenly thrust forward, throwing both his legs off balance.

Then.

A large amount of purple smoke gushed out from somewhere unknown, blocking his view of both himself and the Arcanine. The choking haze left him coughing incessantly.

"Arf!"

After landing, the anxious Arcanine heard only its Trainer's agonized scream. Just as it was about to pounce toward the sound, a cacophony of wingbeats suddenly rushed closer from afar.

In the next moment, visible sound waves pierced through the purple smoke. The terrifying, continuous buzzing filled it with pain, as if it were being crushed beneath a thousand-kilogram weight, leaving it unable to advance an inch.

By the time the Arcanine finally recovered, its Trainer had already been pinned to the ground by Baimu, a dagger gleaming coldly against his throat.

"You'd better let go of that Poké Ball and the knife. Otherwise, I can't say how much blood you'll lose."

Baimu applied a little more pressure. The pain made the man, who was gritting his teeth in fury, loosen his grip on the Poké Ball and knife.

"Roar—"

The Arcanine lowered its body and growled, seemingly ready to pounce.

He glanced at the giant guardian-dog-like Pokémon. "Let's bet on whether you can pounce faster than I can cut. Or you can keep pretending you don't understand and continue growling, but don't blame me when I make a move. Want to bet?"

"...Whine."

When the Arcanine saw blood trickling from its Trainer's neck, it immediately withdrew its threatening posture.

The Hound Team member bit his lower lip. He desperately wanted his Pokémon to fight to the death, but the pain in his neck and the terror of approaching death left him able only to gasp for breath, with no attention to spare for a response.

There was great terror between life and death. Very few people could truly throw caution to the wind.

"Baimu! Save me! Hurry and get me down!"

The Quicksand Team member atop the massive rock looked at Baimu as if he were his savior and shouted in both pain and excitement, "I can't hold on much longer!"

"Vibrava, go give him a hand." Baimu ordered the Vibrava while rummaging through the Hound Team member's pockets.

After a week together, the fellow was fairly obedient. Although it occasionally showed signs of acting on its own, it basically never went against his decisions. Upon hearing his command, it quickly flew to the column-shaped rock, rescued its endangered teammate, and placed him on the ground.

By coincidence, Baimu also found the Arcanine's Poké Ball. He recalled the large dog, whose face was filled with hatred, and shoved it into his pocket along with the other two Poké Balls.

The victor could seize the loser's Pokémon, but after the match ended, the loser had the right to buy the Pokémon back.

He searched the Hound Team member again, ignoring his vicious glare. He took away the backpack and every suspicious object, removed his wristband, then bound him tightly with the rope he had prepared and gagged him.

At this point, the Hound Team member before him no longer posed any threat whatsoever.

Baimu finally had room to catch his breath.

"Phew..."

In midair, the two Rotom Drones looked at each other. One flew away while the other slowly descended.

"You have received a total of five hundred and fifty thousand in tips."

"Five hundred and fifty thousand?" Baimu paused. "Can you tell me who sent them?"

The Rotom Drone did not answer and silently flew back to a low altitude three meters above the ground.

It seemed the function to check that information did not exist.

Feeling somewhat regretful, he politely thanked the people who had sent the tips, then quickly calculated thirty percent of five hundred and fifty thousand...

A little over one hundred and sixty thousand.

Sure enough.

Crises occasionally came with opportunities.

No wonder the Quicksand Team members clearly knew how dangerous this match was, yet still held on to their greatest hopes.

"Aron, go bring my bag over. It's where we were just now."

"Guh!"

Baimu gave Aron his instructions, then thanked Vibrava and recalled it into its Poké Ball. He took off his cloak and tossed it to his teammate along with a capsule.

"This is a special painkiller. Did you call for rescue?"

"I did."

The team member slumped to the ground. His ankle was broken, and his face had gone deathly pale from the pain, but he still immediately used the cloak to cover his private parts. After hesitating for a moment, he swallowed the capsule.

Soon, the soreness in both his feet began to ease.

"...Thanks."

"No problem." Baimu shook his head. "Who did this to you?"

The man hesitated, then asked in return, "Where did you come from just now?"

"The north. Why?"

"Then you didn't run into him. Yes, I mean Jian. That man was too strong. I couldn't fight back at all."

"So his Pokémon are still in good condition?"

"Yes... just like yours."

The team member spoke with a complicated expression. Taking someone down so effortlessly, even through a sneak attack, was enough to prove his combat strength.

"What Pokémon did he use?" Baimu kept his expression unchanged as he tried to gather information about Jian.

However.

After questioning him carefully, Baimu discovered that although the fellow was in a truly miserable state, he had almost no useful information.

He claimed that he had also been ambushed, but as he continued talking, he began to feel guilty himself.

Baimu could not be bothered to expose him. When Aron returned, he took the backpack from it, stuffed everything he had obtained inside, and pulled out a second cloak to drape over himself.

Suddenly.

He looked toward the horizon and saw a white-faced, red-bodied Pokémon that looked like both a penguin and Santa Claus approaching them.

"It's the rescue Pokémon, Delibird."

The team member let out a huge sigh of relief.

Baimu's expression turned strange. "...Rescue Pokémon? How is it supposed to take you out?"

"Put me in its bag. Don't let its size fool you; carrying one person through the air is easy for it. It just isn't very comfortable."

His teammate gave a bitter laugh. After ending up in such a state, what else could he worry about?

Getting out as soon as possible was what mattered.

"I have to go. Good luck."

He hauled up the Hound Team prisoner, ignored the resentful glare, and headed west.

Delibird's appearance was so conspicuous that it would inevitably draw many people in this direction. Jian might very well return to the "scene of the crime" as well.

Fortunately, at most, only one person could come.

As for information related to Jian, he should be able to pry some out of the prisoner's mouth.

He would judge for himself what was true and what was false.

The Quicksand Team member watched Baimu's back and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words.

Having fallen into such a state, he had received neither mockery nor an attempt to extort money while he was vulnerable. Instead, he had been treated in the most ordinary manner possible.

That was for the best.

He needed neither concern nor excessive sympathy. That would only make him feel awkward. Sharing clothes to cover each other's bodies and painkillers, exchanging information... It was almost like having true teammates.

The Quicksand Team member had always been disdainful of the rumors about Baimu, but now he believed them.

Please vote and follow!

I got another private-message big shot's favor today.

Pokémon: I Have a Hisui Secret Realm