Bai Chen crouched beside the torn earth, running his hand across the ragged marks left in the mud.
The edges weren't cut — they'd been ripped apart.
"Five-millimeter steel plates," he muttered.
"Snapped clean through by brute force… not by tools."
Lillie stepped closer, eyes full of concern.
"Mr. Bai, did you find anything?"
"Yeah," he said, rising to his feet.
"Not human work. A Pokémon did this — and a strong one. See the bend marks here? Straight compression. No burn, no elemental residue."
He scanned the orchard again.
No soot.
No frost.
No telltale scent of acid or magnetism.
It wasn't an explosion.
It wasn't corrosion.
It was an impact.
Mallow knelt beside another broken frame, frowning.
"But what kind of Pokémon would sneak into an orchard just to steal metal?"
"That's what I'm wondering," Bai Chen replied.
"You two grew up here — any species you've studied that feed on metal?"
Lillie tilted her head, thinking.
"There are a few… like Durant, the Iron Ant Pokémon. They chew through steel to build nests."
Bai Chen shook his head, pointing at the fracture.
"No bite marks. This wasn't clamped or shredded — it was smashed."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Anything known for pushing over heavy objects, then dragging them away?"
"Maybe," Lillie murmured, "but I haven't learned about any that fit perfectly."
Mallow only shrugged, clearly lost.
The three of them searched for prints in the soft soil, but last night's rain had blurred everything into vague patches of mud.
Then, without warning, Bai Chen's instincts screamed.
A pulse of danger — sharp, immediate.
"We're being watched."
He turned toward the southern edge of the orchard.
"Over there!"
In one smooth motion, he drew his sword and dashed.
"Move — Quick Strike!"
White light trailed behind him as he plunged straight into the brush.
Steel flashed —
—and a pink shape burst from the foliage.
A surge of static exploded in the air, lightning crawling across Bai Chen's body.
"Electro Wave…?" he grunted through clenched teeth.
From above, a small figure floated into view — pink body, tall ponytail, metallic hammer in hand.
Lillie gasped.
"That's… a Pokémon from the Paldea region! Tinkatuff!
How could one even be here in Alola?"
Even Mallow was speechless.
Neither had ever seen this species in person.
Bai Chen's mind raced, every scrap of hunter instinct firing at once.
"A metal-thief fairy… and she's staring straight at my blade."
Sure enough, the Tinkatuff's gaze was locked on the sword in his hand — eyes gleaming with a collector's hunger.
She landed lightly, raised her hammer — and lunged for the weapon.
Bai Chen tried to move, but his limbs trembled; the earlier electric pulse had left him half-paralyzed.
"Damn—"
"Nergigante! Extinction Smash!"
The command ripped through the air.
From Bai Chen's pack, the small dragon burst free, wings unfurling as she charged.
But Tinkatuff's eyes flashed pink, energy spiraling around her.
"Fairy-type move — Baby-Doll Eyes!" Lillie shouted.
A rosy shimmer wrapped Nergigante, dulling her strength.
Her next strike landed — solid, but not deep.
The fairy barely flinched.
Nergigante growled, body swelling as she released the Miniaturize effect.
Her true form towered above the trees.
Tinkatuff responded instantly, hammer swinging with terrifying precision.
Rock Smash!
The blow crashed into Nergigante's wing.
Stone energy rippled — but her scales held firm.
Rock against dragon: only half effective.
She hissed, bracing through the impact.
"Counter with Extinction Palm!"
Nergigante rose, muscles tightening, arm expanding.
But then a strange pulse shimmered in the air.
Tinkatuff's eyes glowed again — a time-bending shimmer locking onto her opponent.
"That's Delay — Trick Room's cousin," Bai Chen realized too late.
Nergigante froze mid-motion, body suspended as though the world itself had stopped her.
Tinkatuff leapt high, hammer spinning — another Rock Smash came down hard.
The blow shattered several of Nergigante's black spines.
"Impossible…!" Bai Chen shouted.
Lillie's voice broke through his shock.
"Mr. Bai! Rock Smash can sometimes lower defense!
That pink glow — it's proof!"
He looked closer.
Indeed — faint pink lines crawled across Nergigante's scales.
"She's been de-buffed…!"
The freeze broke — and Nergigante's palm came crashing down.
BOOM — !
The ground trembled.
Both Pokémon reeled — but when the dust cleared, Tinkatuff had been blasted backward, smashing through two trees before tumbling to a stop.
For a moment, it looked over.
But the fairy wasn't stupid.
Her eyes flicked from the furious dragon… to the blade gleaming in the dirt.
Then, without a word, she kicked off the trunk, launching herself skyward.
Fairy energy rippled around her again —
Fairy Wind.
A pastel storm howled across the field.
Against Nergigante's dragon blood, it hit four times harder.
Nergigante spread her wings wide, shielding the three humans behind her.
The gust slashed at her scales, but she stood firm — roaring through the pain.
When the wind died down, the air was empty.
The Tinkatuff was gone.
And so was Bai Chen's sword.
He stared at his empty hand, disbelieving.
"She even had the Hidden Ability… Pickpocket."
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then his jaw tightened, a cold fury burning behind his eyes.
"That… thing stole my weapon."
To a hunter, a weapon wasn't a tool.
It was soul.
To lose it — to have it stolen — was humiliation beyond words.
If the hunters back at the Starpoint stronghold ever heard this story, they'd never let him live it down.
Bai Chen clenched his fists, forcing his paralyzed limbs to move.
Aura surged through his veins, burning away the static in his muscles.
He vaulted onto Nergigante's back.
"We're going after her. Now."
The dragon roared in agreement, wings beating once — twice — and they were airborne.
They swept over the orchard, scanning every tree, every glint of metal.
But the thief was gone.
Vanished without a trace.
"She couldn't have disappeared that fast…"
Bai Chen narrowed his focus, letting the Danger Sense skill expand in all directions.
Nothing.
No heartbeat.
No aura.
No fairy energy.
He refused to give up.
"We'll split up. You circle east — I'll take west."
For the next hour, the sky echoed with their flight.
No sign.
No trail.
Whoever that fairy was, she was clever —
hiding her tracks, masking her scent, maybe even forging fake footprints to throw pursuers off.
By the time Bai Chen returned to the orchard, the sun was sinking low.
Lillie and Mallow were waiting by the broken trees, worry etched on their faces.
One look at his empty hands told them everything.
Lillie's eyes softened.
"Mr. Bai… it's alright. I can ask my mother to forge you a new blade — something even better."
He shook his head.
"It's not just a sword."
He looked toward the horizon, expression unreadable.
"It's my honor."
A hunter without his weapon was no hunter at all.
"I'll get it back," he said quietly.
"No matter what it takes."
That night, while the others rested, Bai Chen opened his status screen again.
During the search, he'd been thinking — analyzing.
How to track something that hid this well?
His eyes settled on a low-tier skill he'd once copied from a Yungoos — Scent Detection.
If he could raise it to mastery, maybe even evolve it…
Then not even a thief as cunning as that fairy could hide forever.
"One night," he murmured.
"That's all I need. One night to evolve this skill — and then the hunt begins."
Nergigante growled softly beside him, as though sharing the same vow.
Under the moonlit orchard, hunter and dragon sat in silence —
Their pride is burning hotter than ever.
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