Chapter 54: Crushing the Pokémon Poachers!

Mega Salamence, the elite among all Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution.

After Mega Evolution, Salamence's power becomes extraordinarily formidable. It slices through anything in its path with blades as sharp as its wings while soaring through the air. However, in turn, its temperament also becomes extremely savage. If the bond with its trainer isn't deep enough, it will even attack the trainer who raised it.

Precisely because of this, people have come to call Mega Salamence the "Crescent Stained with Blood."

In Kawaki's mind, the specific habitat of that wild Pokémon came into focus, and he'd already made his decision. Once this matter with the Pokémon poachers was resolved, he'd head to Meteor Falls to meet that Bagon.

Looking at the girl and dragon before him who were on the verge of tears of joy, Kawaki shook his head and said, "Don't celebrate too soon. Those Pokémon poachers are probably already on their way here."

Only then did Jane realize that those two wicked Pokémon poachers hadn't been caught yet.

She and Bagon exchanged a glance, and worry returned to her face.

"How many people are pursuing you? What Pokémon do they have?" Kawaki asked after a moment's thought.

Jane carefully recalled, then answered, "Two people. One has a Mightyena that's skilled at tracking, and the other has an extremely powerful Rhydon."

"A Mightyena and a Rhydon?" Kawaki glanced at the Bewear and Growlithe beside him.

"Yes," Jane nodded, then said, "They're incredibly powerful. Bagon, I, and my Beautifly are no match for them at all."

"Alright, I've got a sense of the situation," Kawaki said, turning to Jane and Bagon. "The Daycare is quite a distance from town, so Officer Jenny will take a while to get here. Why don't you two head upstairs and rest for a bit?"

Jane didn't refuse. With their current level of strength, it was best to stay hidden.

After seeing them off, Kawaki returned behind the counter to continue attending to the shop.

After about fifteen minutes or so, the wind chimes outside suddenly chimed again with a "ring-ring."

Then the Daycare's door swung open.

Two thugs with vicious expressions walked in from outside.

The moment they entered, they looked around the place before settling their gazes on Kawaki behind the counter.

"Welcome. What service can I help you gentlemen with?" Kawaki asked with a smile.

"Hey, boss, have you seen a little girl pass through here with a Bagon?" asked one of the men, who was on the shorter side.

The other man's gaze shifted toward the Clefable sitting on the sofa watching TV. He squinted his eyes and tugged on his companion's sleeve.

Those Pokémon... were Clefables?

In the Pokémon black market, Clefable is an extremely popular Pokémon, and countless people are fascinated by them, particularly as pets.

However, there aren't many places where Clefable grows or inhabits, and their numbers are extremely rare. Nowadays in the black market, some Clefable enthusiasts are willing to pay millions for them.

"One, two, three, four..." The man's face filled with greed. These Clefables alone were worth at least four million!

"I haven't seen any little girl," Kawaki replied. But even as he spoke, he noticed the look in the two men's eyes.

He frowned slightly, his expression turning to one of disgust.

Hearing this, the man threatened, "You're sure you didn't see her?"

The tracker showed that the brat and that Bagon were right here in this Daycare.

Was this boss trying to lie to them?!

A small Daycare like this—where did they get the nerve? Since this uncooperative boss wasn't willing to cooperate, they'd just take matters into their own hands. Grab what they wanted and leave. They'd head back to the Pokémon poachers' headquarters in the Sinnoh region and live it up. There was no way Officer Jenny from Hoenn would find them.

Picturing it, the man's mind conjured up images of himself in swimming trunks on a luxury yacht, lounging on a beach chair with a glass of red wine and beautiful women in skimpy outfits serving him.

"No gratitude, only punishment!" the man snorted coldly and pulled out a Poké Ball in one hand.

With a flash of white light, a Rhydon that gleamed with a metallic sheen and stood tall and muscular appeared before them.

The other man immediately sent out a Mightyena.

This was the operating style Pokémon poachers had always employed—facing strong opponents, they'd resort to trickery and sneaking around. But when facing weaker opponents, they'd choose outright robbery.

In their eyes, the ten-year-old Kawaki clearly fell into the latter category.

A brat of ten years old—how strong could he possibly be?

"If you know what's good for you, hand over that brat and the Bagon, plus all the Clefables in your Daycare. Otherwise, don't blame us for being ruthless!" threatened the man behind the Rhydon.

Kawaki: "..."

He calmly observed the scene. Before he could even speak, however, the Bewear beside him suddenly grew extremely grim.

It darkened its expression and fixed the two men with a dangerous gaze.

"Grrr..."

Had it heard correctly? These two bastards wanted to hurt its little human?

Bewear seemed to have had its reverse scale touched. It took two steps forward on its fuzzy feet, positioning itself in front of Kawaki.

A dangerously low pressure emanated from Bewear's body.

Rhydon was startled and inexplicably filled with dread.

The man behind it was also startled by this sudden Pokémon, but he quickly regained his composure. Extending his arm, he commanded, "Don't be intimidated! Rhydon, teach it a lesson!"

Rhydon immediately roared, the horn on its head beginning to spin at high speed. Its massive body charged straight toward Bewear.

Bewear watched this coldly.

Just as Rhydon's drill charge was about to connect, Bewear sidestepped with an eerie angle and then delivered an elbow strike, catching Rhydon in the back.

The enormous force made Rhydon stumble, collapsing directly to the ground.

Bewear's gaze turned to ice as it followed up with an Arm Hammer.

Under the tremendous force, Rhydon didn't even make a sound before its eyes rolled back and it lost consciousness.

The two Pokémon poachers: "?!"

Mightyena: "?!"

"Mightyena, Crunch!" shouted the other man, his face full of disbelief, but he still forced out the command.

Mightyena, seeing what happened to Rhydon, had been fearful, but upon hearing its master's command, it gritted its teeth and charged at the powerful Pokémon.

Mightyena's speed was its most prided ability.

But in the next second, Mightyena witnessed a scene it would never forget in its lifetime.

That Pokémon charged toward it, and its speed... was even faster than Mightyena's!

Mightyena felt as if someone had seized its throat of fate. The dark-type energy gathering in its mouth dispersed before it could coalesce. Then it was flipped over and crashed heavily to the ground.

Bewear's face showed no expression whatsoever, a stark contrast to its fuzzy, cute appearance. It looked extremely contradictory.

But in this moment, Kawaki saw something written clearly in Bewear's eyes.

—No one can ever hurt its human!