Pokémon Hunters

After leaving Oreburgh City, Bai Shi found a vast, boundless plain stretching before him.

He mounted his newly acquired bicycle and sped toward Hearthome City.

With a gentle breeze brushing against him, he enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way.

Besides making progress on his journey, Bai Shi had not forgotten his other goal.

That was to catch a suitable new Pokémon.

To that end, he deliberately slowed his pace so he could observe the Pokémon along the road.

Perhaps his reward from the system had used up all his luck.

After spending ages looking around as he rode, Bai Shi still had not found a suitable target.

All he saw were ordinary Pokémon like Raticate, Spearow, and Sentret.

They were neither strong nor to his taste.

"Moo~ Moo~"

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting and urgent cries came from somewhere nearby.

Following the noise, Bai Shi discovered a Tauros being ganged up on by several humans.

They wore matching gray combat uniforms, and a small off-road vehicle was parked a short distance behind them.

There were three of them in total: one directed a Pokémon's main assault, another commanded a Pokémon in support, and the last held a gun-like weapon. They were clearly well trained.

The Tauros bellowed under their relentless attacks, and before long, wounds covered its body.

It was only a matter of time before it went down.

"Judging by this setup, have I run into Pokémon Hunters?"

Sensing trouble, Bai Shi instinctively reached for the Poké Balls on his person.

Quietly, he released Dunsparce underground.

These people were obviously up to no good.

Bai Shi was not in the habit of leaving his safety in someone else's hands.

Besides, now that he was at the scene, would they really let him go?

With the terrain so flat, they spotted Bai Shi as soon as he approached.

"Araki, someone's coming. Go chase him off."

To prevent any interference, Ueno turned his head and instructed the subordinate beside him.

Once they captured this lone Tauros, they could use it as leverage to capture the rest of the herd and complete the mission Lady J had assigned him.

He absolutely could not allow anyone to disrupt his capture plan.

"Leave it to me, Captain Ueno!"

At Ueno's command, Araki quickly nodded, assuring him he had it covered.

As he spoke, he shot Bai Shi a disdainful glance.

It was just some brat. A little intimidation would send him running.

Come to think of it, the kid's bike looked pretty nice.

"Hey, kid! See what this is?"

"If you know what's good for you, stop, leave the bike, and get lost!"

Putting on a vicious expression, Araki waved the gun-like weapon at Bai Shi and threatened him loudly.

Even a Tauros would be out cold for half a day after a hit from his tranquilizer gun.

It was a valuable tool for preventing Pokémon from escaping, and he certainly would not waste it on Bai Shi.

He only waved it around to scare the boy into submission.

Bai Shi acted as though he had not heard Araki's threats.

Rather than stopping, he pedaled even faster.

He shot toward Araki with an astonishing burst of speed.

He was already exposed to the man's gun anyway.

Even if he turned and fled, he might not be faster than a bullet.

Not to mention the vehicle parked behind them.

If they got angry and chased him down to silence him, he could pedal his legs off and still never outrun a car.

He might as well give it everything he had.

He would catch them off guard, take down the man in front of him, then deal with the others.

Once he wiped out the whole group, he would be safe.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Bai Shi charged right up to Araki on his bicycle like a warrior descending from the heavens.

This clearly caught Araki completely off guard.

"Holy shit! What are you doing? Stop!"

Araki stared in horror at the "mini dump truck" barreling toward him.

He had never imagined Bai Shi would be bold enough to accelerate straight into the line of fire.

By the time he reacted and tried to shoot, it was already too late.

"Justice, ram him!"

With a shout, Bai Shi stood on the pedals, aimed at Araki, and lifted the front wheel. Like a dragon soaring through the sky, he slammed into the man with unstoppable force.

The tremendous impact sent Araki flying several meters backward before he crashed to the ground.

Bicycle iaido, courtesy of the no-holds-barred school of combat. Have a taste!

"Aaah!"

After a pained scream, Araki's head lolled to one side, and he passed out on the spot.

"Araki? You've got some nerve! Koizumi, with me! Take him down!"

Furious at the sight, Ueno immediately called to his other subordinate.

After their combined assault, the Tauros was already on its last legs. It could not run even if it wanted to.

They could deal with Bai Shi for daring to attack them, then capture Tauros afterward.

"Golbat, use Air Slash!"

"Stunky, use Acid Spray!"

The two joined forces, commanding their respective Pokémon to attack Bai Shi.

"Staravia, use Quick Attack!"

"Stantler, use Confuse Ray!"

After sending Araki flying, Bai Shi tossed his bicycle aside.

He released Staravia and Stantler, and they launched into a fierce battle with the opposing Pokémon.

Both sides traded blows, neither gaining the upper hand for the moment.

"Now, Dunsparce! Use Mud Shot!"

With their attention focused on him, Bai Shi suddenly shouted an order to Dunsparce, who lay in ambush underground.

The moment he finished speaking, Dunsparce burrowed up behind Ueno and his subordinate, opened its mouth, and fired a barrage of mud projectiles at them.

"Oh, shit! Dodge!"

Realizing the danger, Ueno's expression changed drastically. He dropped to the ground and rolled.

He narrowly escaped Dunsparce's surprise attack.

His subordinate, however, was not so lucky.

Several mud projectiles struck him, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

When the two men came under attack, their Pokémon immediately panicked.

Desperate to check on their Trainers, they lost all interest in fighting Bai Shi's Pokémon.

"Staravia, use Aerial Ace!"

"Stantler, use Confusion!"

Seizing the opening, Bai Shi ordered his Pokémon to launch an all-out assault.

They easily took down both opponents.

In the blink of an eye, Ueno was the only remaining threat among the Pokémon Hunters.

Seeing things turn against him, Ueno tried to flee in the vehicle, but Dunsparce blocked his escape.

"I work for Lady J! You dare touch me? Do you have a death wish?"

Watching Bai Shi approach, Ueno blustered, trying to hide his fear.

He prayed that J's name would frighten the boy enough to give him a chance to survive.

"Stantler, shut him up. Use Hypnosis!"

Bai Shi ignored him completely and gave Stantler an order.

J was a notorious Pokémon Hunter in the Sinnoh Region who had also founded an organization dedicated to illegal Pokémon hunting.

If she had been here, Bai Shi would naturally have been no match for her.

He would have had no choice but to surrender on the spot and ask her to become his adoptive mother.

But she was not even here. Did he really expect Bai Shi to show her any respect?

"Lady J won't let you get away with—"

Before Ueno could finish, Hypnosis sent him into dreamland.

"Phew. Finally safe!"

With everyone dealt with, Bai Shi could not help breathing a sigh of relief.

Of course, to be cautious, he did not forget to have Stantler give every person and Pokémon another dose.

Only after confirming they were unconscious did he dare approach.

He took out two ropes, tied the humans and Pokémon into separate bundles, then covered them with two large nets to prevent their escape.

He also searched them and found some cash, several unused Poké Balls, and assorted equipment for catching Pokémon.

After some thought, Bai Shi pocketed the cash, destroyed their communication devices, and kept a few pieces of potentially useful equipment.

Araki's tranquilizer gun, for instance.

Worried that the Poké Balls might have been tampered with, Bai Shi did not dare keep them.

He planned to hand everything over to Officer Jenny, along with the men and their vehicle.

Perhaps, as with Watanabe, he could even collect a bounty.

"Just what I'd expect from the system. The quality really holds up!"

After clearing the battlefield, Bai Shi picked up his bicycle. Finding it completely unscathed, he could not help praising it.

"Oh, right. Where's that Tauros?"

Bai Shi suddenly remembered the Tauros that had been surrounded earlier.

It was the reason he had been drawn into this dangerous situation.

If nothing else, it could offer itself as compensation.

Bai Shi approached Tauros and found that it had already collapsed from exhaustion.

He took out a bottle of Potion and sprayed it on Tauros.

"Moo~"

Before long, Tauros regained consciousness.

Still terrified, it tried to attack Bai Shi, who stood before it.

Fortunately, Stantler stopped it with Confusion.

It took plenty of persuasion for Bai Shi to convince Tauros that it was out of danger.

And that he was the one who had saved its life.

"Moo~"

Once it understood the situation, Tauros looked delighted and let out an excited cry.

It gently nudged Bai Shi with its head to express its gratitude.

Bai Shi smiled and reached out to stroke its head in response.

This Tauros held out for a while against both those Pokémon. That proves it's reasonably strong.

It wouldn't be a bad choice to catch it.

Bai Shi silently assessed the situation.

As its savior, he probably would not have much trouble catching it.

It was just that catching it would give him a fourth Normal-type Pokémon.

That would undoubtedly take him another step down the path of a "Normal-type master."

"Moo~ Moo~"

While Bai Shi debated whether to catch it, a large herd of Tauros suddenly came charging toward them from the distance.

They were clearly here for the Tauros beside him.

"Moo~"

Seeing its herd coming to get it, the Tauros Bai Shi had rescued was overjoyed.

It rubbed its head against Bai Shi, then happily ran over to rejoin its companions.

Having witnessed the cruelty of humans, it silently swore never to leave the herd just to play again.

"Well, that settles that."

Left behind by Tauros, Bai Shi smiled helplessly.

Now that it had reunited with its herd, he could hardly break them apart.

All he could do was sincerely wish it better luck than it had had today.

Aboard an aircraft ten thousand meters in the sky.

"Lady J, we've lost contact with the team sent to capture the Tauros."

A man in a gray combat uniform was fearfully reporting to the woman before him.

"Since it failed, cancel that commission!"

The woman in charge instructed her subordinates, her expression unchanged.

There were plenty of other profitable commissions. There was no need to keep banging their heads against this one.

As for the squad they had lost contact with?

Trash that failed its mission had no value.