Chapter 25: Sudden Attack
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"Stay here and observe the surroundings. I'll go in and prepare dinner." Thomas patted Oliver on the shoulder and said loudly.
"Okay," Oliver replied.
After Thomas entered the cave, Oliver took out his binoculars from his backpack and began scanning the area.
Observing the surroundings at all times is essential for survival in the wild.
This location was elevated with an excellent view, and even with just binoculars, he could see places several kilometers away.
Oliver focused intently through the binoculars and saw the lush forest and several pokemon drinking water by the river.
"Eh... What's this?"
Suddenly, a fairly open area appeared. There was a tent set up, and a familiar figure was busy beside it.
"Bruce…"
Oliver was so stunned by the sight of the figure that he couldn't take his eyes off it.
"Is he camping there...?"
"What are you looking at?" Thomas' voice suddenly rang out in his ears.
Oliver lowered the binoculars, pointed to the spot where Bruce was camping, and said, "It's Bruce. He's camping there."
Thomas took the binoculars, looked around, then nodded and commented, "It's a good place to camp."
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's have dinner first, then we'll experience the night in the wild," Thomas said again.
"Hey, wait a minute."
Thomas was about to put the binoculars down when he saw a tall man in a dark red uniform appear in his line of sight.
Because of the distance, he couldn't clearly make out the man's specific appearance. He just followed his movements, and the ugly Toxicroak stood out.
"This is...?" Thomas looked carefully at the man through the binoculars and felt like the dark red uniform seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Immediately after, under Thomas' observation, the man moved in a determined direction with a clear goal in mind.
Thomas furrowed his brow slightly, silently guessing the direction the man was headed, and in the next second, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he said in shock, "Bruce!"
With a guess in mind, he quickly lowered the binoculars, pointed out the distance between the two, and murmured quietly, "It really is in this direction."
"Cousin, what are you looking at?" Oliver asked curiously, standing next to him.
"I'm looking at..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, a flash of lightning suddenly filled the fog in Slash's mind. His face froze, and he immediately remembered where he had seen this dark red uniform before.
The search order!
Yes, the search order!
This dark red uniform was worn by members of a poacher group, used to identify them.
Thomas had a small impression of this poacher group. It seemed to be very large, operating across various regions, causing headaches for the authorities.
"I didn't expect… that a member of this poacher group would really appear here."
"What is he doing here?"
"Oh, why did he go straight to Bruce?" Thomas murmured quietly as many questions came to his mind.
Then, while explaining to Oliver what he saw and thought, he continued to observe through the binoculars.
On the other side,
"Alright, it's time to eat." Bruce set the dinner on the small table he carried with him and called the two little ones who were playing inside the tent.
"Yesss!"
Emolga ran out first, dashing toward the energy cube with a speed far exceeding its level and without hesitation, grabbed an energy cube to devour it.
"Greedy ghost," Bruce muttered with a smile as he picked up Ralts and walked over to Emolga.
"Ralts~"
After Bruce placed Ralts on the ground, it leaned slightly and thanked Bruce.
"What a polite kid!"
Bruce smiled and then murmured softly, "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl."
If it's a boy...
Bah, how cute! Ralts must be the girl's fiancé!
"Alright, let's eat quickly." Bruce pushed aside his confused thoughts, reached out to pat Ralts' blue hair, and spoke gently.
"Ralts~"
A blush appeared on Ralts' cheeks as it slowly ate the energy cube.
Seeing this, Bruce smiled and got ready to start eating too.
"Charlo!"
But at that moment, Combusken suddenly stopped eating, turned around, and stared into the distance.
Noticing Combusken's movements, Bruce also turned around and saw a tall man in a dark red uniform walking slowly. He was tall and sturdy, wearing a pair of high-tech sunglasses.
Beside the tall man stood an ugly, dark blue pokemon. Beneath its chin was a red, swollen vocal cord, and on the back of each hand were three fingers with bright red claws.
[ pokemon: Toxicroak (Poison/Fighting)
Ability: Danger Prediction
Title: Gym
Level: 34 (Professional)]
"The normal evolution level for a Toxicroak is 37, but this Toxicroak evolved at level 34, it seems to have been stimulated by external factors," Bruce thought silently.
"Hello!"
The moment the tall man was seen, Ralts let out a slightly sharp growl and immediately shrank behind Bruce, pulling at the corner of his clothes.
Bruce narrowed his eyes and watched this person, clearly someone not friendly.
When the tall man saw Ralts, he showed a strange smile. He first pressed the small button on his sunglasses, then whispered, "Looks like this time, I got lucky."
Immediately after, he looked around with a smile on his face, first quickly glancing at Emolga and then stopping on Combusken, who was full of vigilance, and gave a slight smile. "Yes, Combusken is quite energetic. It should be able to fetch a good price."
"Toxicroak, take care of them."
From beginning to end, this man didn't communicate with Bruce and seemed to have no interest in him at all.
"A pokemon hunter?"
Seeing the actions of the tall man, Bruce's eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice.
The previous injuries to Ralts were likely caused by the man standing before him.
"No, not necessarily. Pokemon hunters usually work in teams, and there may be other pokemon hunters," Bruce secretly guessed.
But whatever the case, whether it's just him or if there are other pokemon hunters behind the scenes, Toxicroak had already taken a step forward and was attacking Bruce!
This was a Professional level Toxicroak, and while Combusken was highly competitive in its class, it was impossible to compete on such a large scale!
The Poké Ball on Bruce's waist began to shake violently.
Bruce pressed the Poké Ball and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I have a solution."
Then, narrowing his eyes and staring intently at the rapidly approaching Toxicroak, a bold idea came to his mind.
"If we defeat this Toxicroak, Combusken will gain a lot of experience."
And the psychic type, four times the advantage against Toxicroak!
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To be Continued
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