Chapter 305: The Experienced Poacher
The day after the great battle.
The Mightyena clan, especially Wolf Mom, got busy.
Busy with what?
Marking territory.
They used their bodily fluids to leave marks on the territory that originally belonged to the Persian clan, telling other Pokémon who ruled this land now.
However.
Because the territory expanded suddenly.
More manpower was needed for patrols.
Now, only a dozen puppies played on the mountaintop plateau all day, and the few remaining Mightyena were responsible for guarding them.
The mountaintop plateau became deserted.
But.
This had nothing to do with Will.
As usual, he dragged Buizel and Croagunk to train by the waterfall.
At the foot of the mountain.
A truck drove up slowly.
A robust man wearing jungle fatigues and a black bulletproof vest got out of the truck.
He took off his sunglasses, scratched his yellow buzz cut, then looked up at the mountain in front of him.
"Yesterday's commotion should have come from up there, right?"
Yellow Hair observed for two seconds.
Then turned around and rummaged in the car seat.
A moment later.
He took out a sniper rifle, a pistol, and an electric baton.
The sniper rifle's barrel was long and thin, not looking like it fired bullets; the pistol looked ordinary.
After preparing a bit, Yellow Hair locked the car door and slowly made his way up the mountain.
He climbed up bit by bit.
When he reached above the mountainside, he stopped.
He looked down at the numerous footprints on the ground and sighed:
"Sigh, Mightyena territory? How disappointing."
Yellow Hair shook his head.
Mightyena weren't rare Pokémon, nor were they particularly popular in the Pokémon world.
Even if caught, they wouldn't sell for a good price.
"Time to go down."
Yellow Hair turned around, touching a tree as he headed down.
Just then.
His ears twitched.
He seemed to hear a cry.
A very expensive, very rare cry.
"Riolu..."
Yellow Hair's eyes lit up instantly, and he turned toward the direction of the sound.
Before long.
He saw three figures under a waterfall.
Yellow Hair didn't rush to observe.
Instead, he put on his sunglasses first, then retreated fifty meters and observed through the sniper scope.
As a veteran poacher, he was experienced.
Riolu were extremely sensitive Pokémon.
Especially to malicious gazes; they could sense them keenly.
So he had to keep enough distance and lower the malice in his heart as much as possible to avoid detection.
"Hehe, good luck. Can't even see a wild Riolu once in three to five years. Croagunk doesn't lack buyers either. Hmm? What's that trash Buizel? Forget it, throw it in as a bonus, buy two get one free."
Yellow Hair hid in a tree, muttering quietly.
He poked a Poké Ball at his waist:
"Go."
On the other side.
Buizel swam back and forth in the lake, in a great mood, its two tails spinning like propellers behind it.
Croagunk sat on a huge rock, propping his chin with one hand like an old man.
Only Will sat cross-legged under the waterfall, using the water pressure to impact his body and strengthen his physique.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Will frowned.
He felt like something had swept over him just now.
This feeling was bad, giving him goosebumps all over. If his fur wasn't wet, it might have stood on end.
"Was something watching me in the dark just now? Are there fish that slipped through the net?"
Will walked out from under the waterfall.
He went ashore and shook his fur, flinging off most of the water droplets.
But his fur was still very wet.
Making his body heavy.
His movement speed might slow down.
Mainly, Will didn't expect this situation to happen in his own territory after wiping out the Persian clan.
"Buizel."
Will scanned the surrounding forest.
"Bui?"
Buizel popped its little head out of the lake.
"Dive to the bottom. If you encounter any dangerous guys, swim up the waterfall immediately and tell the other Mightyena."
Will pressed his lips together.
He wasn't very anxious right now.
Because he didn't know what swept over him just now, nor did he know if the other party intended to attack him.
Maybe it had already left.
And.
This was ultimately Mightyena territory.
If there was danger, he could just look up and howl.
Moreover.
The Sea Crown was always with him.
"Gunk?"
Hearing Will say this, Croagunk ran over quickly.
His eyes lit up, corners of his mouth rising, feeling that something interesting was happening.
"Something seemed to be watching me just now. You hide too, see if there's a chance to sneak attack."
"Gunk."
Croagunk nodded and immediately drilled into the nearby bushes.
Suddenly.
Only Will remained in the area.
He closed his eyes, maximizing his Aura Power.
But unfortunately.
His Aura in this life wasn't abundant yet, probably only equivalent to 1/10 of Kakashi's chakra volume.
This resulted in his Aura perception range being only about 20 meters.
Within these 20 meters.
There were no noteworthy Auras.
Just as this thought flashed by.
Will suddenly rolled to the side.
A red and black figure instantly flashed past where Will had just stood.
Will quickly turned to look, his eyes widening.
"Thievul?"
Will murmured, feeling a bit surprised.
He didn't know much about this Pokémon, only that it was a Dark-type Pokémon living in the Galar region.
Because when he transmigrated, let alone the anime, the games hadn't even reached the Galar version.
The reason he recognized it.
Was because he learned about it while running around with Lorelei in his last life.
However.
Seeing this guy, Will wasn't panicked anymore.
Because he had the Dread Plate (or similar resistance), immune to Dark-type damage (or highly resistant).
And Fighting-type moves were doubly effective against Dark types.
'Don't know what level it is. Its speed wasn't slow just now; the level shouldn't be low.'
Will sized up the wretched fox opposite him.
Wondering why a Galar Pokémon appeared here.
Sinnoh and Galar were thousands of miles apart.
Could it be like Wolf Mom, released into Mt. Silver by someone?
While Will was thinking.
Swish!
Thievul swiped a claw at him.
Will glanced at it.
Standing still, he raised his arm to block without dodging.
Smack!
The claw hit Will's arm, only making it tremble with force, but actually causing no damage.
Thievul's calm eyes widened slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.
Then it immediately jumped back on all fours.
Dodging Will's knife-hand strike.
'Speed and reaction are both fast, at least 15 levels higher than me.'
Will frowned.
He felt his reactions struggling to capture Thievul's movements; the opponent's speed was approaching his perception limit.
The opponent's six stats completely crushed his.
He could roughly guess Thievul's level now.
Probably above Lv. 40.
'Can't beat it.'
Will thought for a moment.
Although he had the Dread Plate, Thievul couldn't only have Dark-type moves.
Running shouldn't be hard.
But Croagunk hiding nearby would be in danger.
Fighting.
Even with Croagunk, they couldn't beat this guy.
In that case, he could only call for backup.
"Aw... oof!"
Just as Will raised his head to howl, that feeling came again, making his hair stand on end.
The next moment.
He felt a pain in his butt.
A cold needle stabbed into his buttocks.
Before he could use the Sea Crown to fly, he felt his whole body go numb.
Thud!
Will collapsed on the ground, tongue lolling out uncontrollably.
In just two or three seconds, only his eyes could move.
Soon.
Will felt himself being grabbed by the scruff of his neck.
And he saw clearly what creature had caught him.
"Human?! How did a human get in here? And... this guy should be a poacher or Pokémon Hunter."
Will stared at the Yellow Hair in front of him, feeling relieved internally.
Being caught by this kind of guy was okay.
The worst outcome was being sold.
Lucky Pokémon might meet good trainers.
Unlucky ones would just fall into the hands of some perverts.
Either way wasn't a big problem for Will; once he recovered, escaping would be easy.
Humans couldn't guess that inside this little dog was the soul of an old monster who had lived for over a hundred years.
Will shifted his gaze down.
Seeing the gun behind this person, he understood.
He might not have been looked at by something just now, but aimed at by this thing.
Probably a weapon like a tranquilizer gun.
"Hmm? Did that Croagunk and Buizel run away? Forget it, getting this little treasure is enough."
Yellow Hair grinned, reaching out to touch Will's butt (to confirm the dart hit/remove it).
He grabbed Will by the scruff and walked down the mountain.
The Thievul beside him looked at him in confusion.
It could track Croagunk by scent; it had smelled a bit just now.
"This little puppy clearly intended to call for help just now. I suspect he belongs to that Mightyena clan. This mountain is full of Mightyena; staying a second longer could cause problems. No need to lose this little treasure for those two."
Yellow Hair shook his head decisively.
Then, he reached out and recalled Thievul into its Poké Ball.
Thievul's scent was too strong; leaving it out would likely attract those dog noses faster.
He went down the mountain as fast as possible, put Will into a cage in the truck, and set off immediately.
Meanwhile, on the mountaintop.
Croagunk and Buizel were telling Wolf Mom about this.
"AWOOO!!"
Wolf Mom's angry howl resounded through the mountain peak.
Ten minutes later.
More than forty Mightyena rushed down the mountain together.
Wherever they passed, all Pokémon hid quickly, daring not to cross them.
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter