Between life and death

"Team R?"

Wang Yao jumped in fright. No wonder there had been no signal in the mountains-they had probably jammed it. After all, this was a world-famous, high-tech criminal organization!

The old man nodded calmly, a cigarette between his lips. "That's right, but don't worry. People from the Pokémon League have already gone in. I'm sure they'll arrest them soon."

Sun Xiaowei finished her call as well and ran over to Wang Yao. "I've contacted my family. Someone will be coming to get us soon!"

As night deepened, the forest became especially terrifying in the darkness. Wind rustled through the treetops, while beastlike cries of agony kept coming from the distant mountains.

After listening for a while, Ye Qing grew puzzled. "Something feels wrong. It sounds like someone nearby is hunting Pokémon on a massive scale. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many Pokémon roaring."

"It is a little strange."

Su Yiqin nodded. She had gone camping with her family before, but she had never heard such a relentless chorus of beastly roars at night.

As the only Pokémon there capable of fighting, Chimchar shouldered the responsibility, keeping its wide eyes trained on their surroundings throughout the night.

Ye Qing and Su Yiqin gathered plenty of branches and had Chimchar dig a trench more than ten centimeters deep around the large tree in front of them, leaving just one opening on the river side. They tossed the branches and other flammable materials inside.

A moment later, the branches in the trench were lit, completing their protective ring of fire.

Watching the flames leap a dozen or so centimeters high around them, Ye Qing and Su Yiqin finally breathed a sigh of relief. They could never have made it through the night relying on Chimchar alone.

Looking at their handiwork, Ye Qing dusted off his hands. "If Wang Yao and Xiaowei made it back, they'll definitely bring people to rescue us. This should make us easier to find, too."

Su Yiqin murmured her agreement. Watching the confident Ye Qing, she felt the lingering fear in her heart gradually fade.

"Oooh, wa-wa-wa-wa!"

As the ring of fire continued to burn, Chimchar felt the abundant fire energy in the air and danced excitedly.

"There they are!"

Just then, something sliced through the air overhead, followed by a piercing cry that rang through the sky!

"Pidgeot!"

An enormous Pidgeot descended from the sky, the pressure from its beating wings flattening the flames.

"Qinqin!"

Three figures appeared on Pidgeot's back: Wang Yao, Sun Xiaowei, and a stern-looking middle-aged man.

Sun Xiaowei patted the man's shoulder anxiously. "Brother Xu, hurry and have Pidgeot land!"

"All right."

The man called Brother Xu lightly tapped Pidgeot's back with his toes. The enormous Pokémon obediently folded its wings and slowly landed inside the ring of fire.

"Weiwei!"

Delighted to see her best friend, Su Yiqin took Sun Xiaowei's hands and shook them excitedly.

Looking uneasy, Brother Xu glanced at the distant forest and called to them, "Get on, quickly! This area isn't safe anymore!"

"Okay."

They nodded and quickly climbed onto Pidgeot's back.

Although Pidgeot was enormous, its back was clearly cramped with five people sitting on it. Ye Qing, seated at the outermost edge, constantly felt as though he might fall off.

Pidgeot flew incredibly fast, even while taking its passengers into account. Within moments, it had climbed high into the sky.

Brother Xu kept his eyes fixed ahead, repeatedly urging Pidgeot to fly faster toward the city.

Holding down her windblown hair, Sun Xiaowei complained, "Brother Xu, can't we slow down a little? There's no need to be so nervous, is there?"

Brother Xu patiently explained, "Miss, you don't know this, but there have been signs of Team R operating around our city lately. We'd better get into the city as quickly as possible."

Team R?

Hearing that familiar name, Ye Qing froze for a moment.

"That's right."

Wang Yao nodded and began explaining some of Team R's activities to Ye Qing.

After listening, Ye Qing was struck by how remarkably similar their deeds were to those of Team Rocket from his previous life, despite the different name.

Team R was obsessed with research on living Pokémon and had carried out genetic engineering on multiple occasions.

Beyond those two depraved kinds of experiments, their other crimes were countless, including stealing and forcibly taking rare Pokémon from others to sell. There was virtually no evil they would not commit!

The organization had two ultimate goals: command wealth and control the world!

Cold sweat seeped down Ye Qing's back. Does that mean this organization might create Mewtwo someday? Or has Mewtwo already been created?

If Team R wanted a breakthrough in genetics, searching for Mew was inevitable!

After all, Mew was the ancestor of all Pokémon, carrying the genes of every Pokémon within its body!

"Air Slash!"

Brother Xu's pupils contracted, and he immediately issued Pidgeot an order!

"Pidge!"

Pidgeot reacted instantly. With a beat of its wings, two blades of compressed air slashed toward the space ahead and to the left!

"Hyper Beam!"

While everyone was still wondering what was happening, a shout came from the distance. Then an orange-yellow beam of destruction lit up the night sky, blasting through the Air Slash and continuing toward Pidgeot with devastating force!

"Dodge it!"

Rather than meet the attack head-on, Brother Xu had Pidgeot change direction and fly deeper into the forest.

The others were petrified. They had all grown up sheltered; none of them had ever experienced anything like this.

With its exceptional speed, Pidgeot soon shook off the enemies pursuing it from behind. But just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, another attack came from ahead!

"Hold on tight! Use Agility!"

Brother Xu's expression shifted. He knew they had flown straight into the enemy's encirclement. They could not keep fighting like this; their only option was to escape using Pidgeot's speed!

Ye Qing and the others clung desperately to the feathers on Pidgeot's back. A powerful jolt of inertia hit them, and a moment later, all they could hear was the wind howling past their ears.

Ye Qing held his breath and struggled to open his eyes, trying to see what was happening around them.

He would have been better off not looking. What he saw nearly scared him out of his wits!

A two-meter-long blade of wind hurtled toward them from the distance, heading straight for his side!

"Machamp, use Protect!"

Fortunately, Brother Xu had been keeping watch on their surroundings. The instant he noticed something wrong, he released a powerfully built Machamp!

Machamp gripped Pidgeot's feathers with its two rear hands to anchor itself, while its other two hands swiftly spread a green barrier!

Boom!

Although Protect blocked all the damage, the momentum still knocked Machamp flat onto Pidgeot's back, right into Ye Qing at the very edge.

Ye Qing felt a tremendous force slam into him-so powerful that he tore out the Pidgeot feathers he was gripping!

Staring at the feathers he had pulled out by their roots, Ye Qing's mind went completely blank. A moment later, that blankness was replaced by the roar of the wind as he fell!

"Ye Qing!"

The others on Pidgeot's back noticed what had happened, too. Wang Yao even let go with one hand to try to catch the falling Ye Qing, but Machamp pressed him firmly against Pidgeot's back. With Agility boosting its speed, Pidgeot vanished into the horizon within a few breaths.