Chapter 397: Hunter Jane
Clop, clop, clop...
The rapid sound of hoofbeats rang out again on the vast grassland, attracting the attention of Basalt and Carbink.
"Why is that uncle back again?" Basalt looked puzzled.
The person returning was none other than the burly man who had just left. Basalt took a step to the right, shielding Carbink behind him, knowing Carbink had a deep-seated fear of humans.
"Carb~ink~"
Unexpectedly, Carbink showed no fear this time. Instead, it blinked its eyes, curiously observing the burly man on the Rapidash, its gaze intense.
"It seems my teaching by example is working; the knot in Carbink's heart is slowly untying." Basalt looked pleased.
If things went smoothly, perhaps Carbink could become one of his main forces when he played in the Professional League a month later.
Fairy-type Carbink countered Fighting, Dark, and Dragon types—three very popular types in the Professional League.
If Carbink, having absorbed the Horn of Life, joined his team, Basalt's chances of winning the MVP of the year would definitely increase by another ten percent.
Jumping down from Pupitar's back, Basalt looked at the man curiously and asked, "Uncle, why did you come back?"
Unexpectedly, the man didn't reply. Instead, he scanned the area, his gaze sweeping over Pupitar, Swampert, and Excadrill one by one. Then, a cunning look appeared in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Basalt was confused. "Uncle?"
Suddenly, the man leaped from the Rapidash like an agile ninja, rushing towards Basalt with lightning speed. Simultaneously, the fiery mane on the Rapidash flared up, and it spewed a stream of scorching flames at the nearby Excadrill.
"Uncle!!!"
Basalt's eyes bulged, unable to understand why the man suddenly attacked. Just because he refused to visit his home? Or because he refused to lend Numel for breeding?
Unfortunately, the sudden change happened too fast. Basalt and his Pokémon weren't on guard, so they had no time to block or dodge.
Just as the leaping man was about to grab Basalt, in the nick of time, a dazzling pink light appeared, transforming into a thick beam.
Boom!
The pink beam hit the man, sending him flying. After landing, he even carved a deep groove in the ground.
At the same time, the man's appearance changed. In the blink of an eye, the human burly man transformed into a Pokémon with black fur covering its chest up to its shoulders. Its claws and ears were red, and the fur around its mouth and eyes was also red. It had three fingers on its hands and three toes on its feet.
"That's... Zoroark!"
Basalt was stunned. He was just wondering how a human could perform such physically impossible movements; it turned out to be a transformed Zoroark.
Amidst his shock, Basalt looked at Carbink, his face full of gratitude. "Carbink, thank you!"
The pink beam just now was Carbink's Moonblast. If not for Carbink's timely intervention, he would have been done for. If the trainer is captured, what's the point of fighting?
"Carb~ink~"
Carbink pouted and turned its head away, avoiding Basalt's gaze.
After absorbing the Horn of Life, its sensitivity to life energy was extremely acute, allowing it to easily see through Zoroark's illusion.
Although it disliked humans, it also disliked violent Pokémon that destroyed things at will. It liked a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere without conflict. Zoroark's appearance clearly disrupted this atmosphere.
On the other side, Rapidash's Flamethrower was more successful. The caught-off-guard Excadrill was hit and blasted away. However, karma is swift. Although Rapidash succeeded in its sneak attack, its movements were soon restricted by Pupitar's Stone Edge. Then, Swampert pounced on it with invincible momentum, pinning it firmly to the ground.
Followed by a brutal beating, causing Rapidash to scream repeatedly.
"Zoro~ark~"
Zoroark, lying on the ground, looked pained.
Being hit by a double-effective Fairy-type move was bad enough. Crucially, the intensity of Carbink's Fairy-type energy was too high; it hurt like hell. And Zoroark's defenses were notoriously frail.
So at this moment, it was already critically injured!
But it didn't understand. Its illusions were perfected to the point of mastery; why was it seen through? And by a Carbink that looked like a goofball playing with Rattata, no less! It couldn't accept this!
Hundreds of meters away, the woman in camouflage, Jane, also had her mouth wide open in disbelief.
Although Basalt looked young, possessing a Pokémon like Pupitar meant his background was certainly not simple. He might be a core disciple of a major family in China.
So Jane dared not underestimate him from the start. She decisively abandoned the strategy of overwhelming him with force and adopted the safest deception tactic, attempting to capture the leader first for a quick victory.
She didn't expect the safest method to fail. Even worse, not only did it fail, but two of her Pokémon were also trapped.
Basalt's strength was far, far greater than she had estimated.
"Damn it! China really is a forbidden zone for the underworld's strong. I shouldn't have come here."
Jane secretly regretted her decision. There was a consensus in the underworld: China was a forbidden zone for mercenaries, bounty hunters, and poachers. Don't wander there without reason. Sure enough, things went south!
But since she had already started, there was no reason to give up halfway. So after taking a deep breath, Jane threw out four Pokéballs in succession. Basalt's performance was astonishing, but still within her acceptable range. She could do this!
She mounted her Staraptor and formed an attack formation with Espeon, Electivire, and Dusknoir, charging towards Basalt.
"Poacher?"
Basalt frowned slightly, having roughly guessed Jane's identity and the sequence of events.
Although his two main forces, Bronzong and Cradily, were not by his side, leaving him feeling insecure, he had no choice but to fight at this moment.
"Pupitar, Quicksand Domain!"
"Excadrill, Sandstorm!"
"Numel and Swampert, protect me!"
Basalt issued commands in succession.
"Swamp-pert?"
Swampert looked confused. With Bronzong absent, was it its turn to be the nanny? As a muscle frog, it obviously preferred charging into battle. But since Basalt gave the order, it had to obey. However, to vent its dissatisfaction, it smashed an Ice Ball at the critically injured Zoroark, knocking it unconscious directly.
Satisfy the craving first!
Shh-shh-shh~
Pupitar's sand-controlling power activated, and the sandstorm swept instantly. However, without the assistance of Cradily's Storm Drain, the power of Pupitar's sandstorm was significantly weakened.
Meanwhile, high-temperature steam faintly overflowed from Numel's humps; it was already charging up.
"Carb~ink~"
Inside the sandstorm, Carbink felt curious as the sand buffeted it, and a light flashed across its body. Its Special Defense increased!
However, upon seeing the fierce-looking Jane, an involuntary expression of fear appeared on its face again.
Basalt, still feeling insecure within the sandstorm, decisively opened his Pokédex and sent out a distress signal. If there were other Pro-level trainers nearby, they would rush over to support upon receiving the signal.
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