Jenny frowned but nodded nonetheless.
"I am Jenny. And you are?"
"Ah, I've heard so much about you." The old man took a step forward with a chuckle. "My surname is Gravid—Gravid Yoek. This is my wife, Yumi."
The woman named Yumi bowed slightly, her movements very elegant.
"Officer Jenny, your bravery is well-known; your reputation in this area precedes you," Gravid continued, speaking slowly as if his brain were processing information bit by bit. "We've been wanting to visit you for a long time, but never had the chance..."
"Mr. Gravid," Jenny interrupted him, her tone very serious. "I have urgent official business to attend to right now. If it's nothing important, please step aside."
"Eh?" Gravid was stunned for a moment, appearing as if he hadn't processed her words.
He blinked, his mouth opening and then closing again.
Then he turned to look at his wife, looking completely dazed.
Yumi sighed and gently patted her husband's arm.
Then she took a step forward and gave Jenny an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Officer Jenny. My husband is getting on in years, and his mental reactions are a bit slow."
Her voice was pleasant, soft and sweet, with a magnetic quality unique to mature women.
"We came here because we wanted to ask about someone."
"Who?" Jenny asked.
"Our son." Yumi's eyes dimmed. "His name is Gravid Tamo."
Jenny's brow furrowed even deeper.
"My husband brought him to the Reserve to play last time, and he accidentally got lost," Yumi continued, her voice trembling slightly. "We've been sending people to search this area. A while ago, the search and rescue team said they occasionally saw a figure resembling Tommy in this region."
She paused and took a deep breath.
"But recently, this area seems to have been placed under martial law. The search and rescue team can't wander around here freely, so we had to come look for him ourselves."
As she spoke, Yumi pulled a stack of documents from her small bag.
"These are certifications from the League and the Government. We've registered our identities and explained our reasons; all the paperwork is in order."
Jenny took the documents and flipped through them quickly.
The certification documents were very formal, stamped with the official seals of the League Police Department and the local Government.
Jenny returned the documents to Yumi, her expression softening slightly.
"We have indeed discovered some clues while patrolling this area recently."
"What clues?" Gravid suddenly perked up, his eyes lighting up instantly.
"There are reports of a humanoid creature seen mingling with the Kangaskhan herds," Jenny said. "Preliminary judgment suggests it might be a human child."
Gravid's body trembled violently.
"The Kangaskhan herd? My son is with the Kangaskhan herd?!"
His voice suddenly jumped an octave, and his expression shifted from dullness to excitement.
"There's news of my son!"
"Mr. Gravid, please don't get excited yet." Jenny raised her hand to stop him. "I need to go handle a riot among the Kangaskhan herds right now; there might be poachers in the area. I'll verify the details with you once I return."
With that, she turned to walk toward the off-road vehicle.
"Wait!" Gravid shouted, then suddenly realized. "The Kangaskhan herd? You're going to the Kangaskhan herd?"
"Yes." Jenny didn't look back.
"Then my son... is my son there too?" Gravid's voice was trembling.
At that moment, Yumi suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a hint of a tremor.
"Husband, Officer Jenny said she's going to the Kangaskhan herd to stop poachers... If Tommy is really with the Kangaskhan herd, then he's currently..."
She didn't finish, but the meaning was already clear.
Gravid's expression changed instantly.
From dullness to shock, from shock to panic, and from panic to determination.
"Quick!" he suddenly shouted, his voice so loud it startled Yumi beside him. "Quick, quick, quick!"
He turned and ran toward the Helicopter, his short legs moving incredibly fast.
"Let's catch up quickly! We'll go help Officer Jenny too! To fight the poachers! To protect my son!"
Yumi hurried to follow, catching her husband just as he was about to be tripped by a tree root.
"Husband, slow down! Don't fall!"
"There's no time! My son is in danger!"
While running, Gravid turned back and shouted at Jenny, "Officer Jenny! Wait for us! We're coming to help too!"
Jenny stopped, glanced back at him, and sighed.
"Then stay safe!"
Having said that, she pulled open the car door and hopped into the driver's seat.
Roy followed her into the car.
"Buckle your seatbelt." Jenny started the car and floored the accelerator.
The off-road vehicle roared and sped off.
Behind them, the Helicopter's engine restarted, and its rotors began to spin.
Gravid and Yumi were helped onto the aircraft by an assistant.
Before the cabin door was even properly closed, the Helicopter rose unsteadily and followed behind the off-road vehicle.
Roy glanced in the rearview mirror and shook his head.
"That old man's head really doesn't work quite right."
...
The car bumped along through the forest.
Jenny's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white.
Her profile looked exceptionally serious in the dim light of the dashboard.
The car drove for about another ten minutes.
A rumbling sound came from ahead.
It wasn't the Helicopter; it was the sound of some machinery operating, mingled with the angry roars of Kangaskhan.
Jenny's expression darkened.
"We're here."
She slammed on the brakes, and the off-road vehicle skidded a bit on the muddy ground before stopping behind a thicket.
The two of them jumped out of the car and crept forward, hunched over.
Passing through a patch of bushes, the sight before them made Jenny gasp.
In the clearing, a giant mechanical Kangaskhan was rampaging.
The machine was a full three stories tall, its entire body covered in a silver-gray metal shell.
At the ends of two massive mechanical arms were sharp claws; every swing could snap a tree as thick as a bowl in half.
The mechanical Kangaskhan's abdomen was hollow, and the cockpit could be seen through the glass.
Three figures inside were operating various buttons and levers.
Beneath the mechanical Kangaskhan's feet, over twenty real Kangaskhan were running, tackling, and roaring frantically.
Their eyes were filled with fear and anger.
Fist-sized rocks were crushed into powder under their fists.
But the mechanical Kangaskhan was simply too large; the Kangaskhan's attacks hitting it left only shallow dents.
The mechanical Kangaskhan opened its massive mechanical claw and grabbed a Kangaskhan by its hind leg.
The Kangaskhan struggled desperately, but it couldn't break free at all.
With a flick of the mechanical claw, the Kangaskhan was tossed into a giant iron cage nearby.
Seven or eight Kangaskhan were already locked in the cage, huddled together and letting out shrill cries.
"That's..." Jenny's eyes widened. "poachers?"
"It's Team Rockets." Roy stared at the red "R" logo on the mechanical Kangaskhan's abdomen.
These three guys had actually built such a massive machine this time.
"We have to stop them," Jenny said, about to rush out.
"Wait." Roy grabbed her wrist.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit weak.
"Observe first," Roy said. "That machine isn't simple; rushing in blindly will only lead to a loss."
"But the Kangaskhan..."
"I know." Roy released her wrist.
"Then what should we do?" she asked.
Roy didn't answer immediately, instead carefully observing the mechanical Kangaskhan.
When the machine moved, there were obvious gaps at the joints.
Those were the weak points.
But it would require a close-range attack to be effective.
"I—" Roy had just started to speak when suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air came from overhead.
A Boomerang came spinning through the air, accurately striking the mechanical Kangaskhan's head.
The sound of metal clashing rang out across the clearing.
The mechanical Kangaskhan's head tilted slightly, but it was completely unharmed.
"Who's there?" Jessie shouted from the cockpit.
From the trees, a small figure came swinging out on a vine.
It was a child.
About ten years old, barefoot, wearing only a pair of tattered shorts.
His whole body was tanned dark, and his hair was long and messy, sitting on his head like a bird's nest.
But his eyes were very bright, like two black gemstones, filled with a wild light.
Holding the vine with one hand, he pulled out another stone with the other and threw it at the mechanical Kangaskhan.
The stone hit the machine's shell with a "crack" and then bounced away.
It was completely useless.
But the child didn't give up, pulling a Boomerang from his waist and throwing it again.
The Boomerang spun and struck accurately in the same spot.
It was still useless.
"Is that Tommy?" Jenny's eyes widened. "The child who's been with the Kangaskhan herd?"
Roy narrowed his eyes as he stared at the feral child swinging on the vine.
Judging by his appearance and age, he did indeed look very much like Gravid Tommy in the photo.
But the child's current state was that of a complete savage.
His movements were as agile as a monkey's, and his gaze was as sharp as a beast's.
He was protecting the Kangaskhan herd.
In his own way.
Although his attacks were completely useless, he didn't give up.
Once, twice, three times.
The Boomerang kept hitting the mechanical Kangaskhan, making a clanging sound.
Inside the cockpit, James waved his hand impatiently.
"Where did this brat come from? How annoying!"
Jessie glanced at Tommy swinging on the vine and snorted disdainfully.
"Just a brat, ignore him. Keep catching Kangaskhan!"
"But he keeps throwing things at us, meow." Meowth peered out the window. "Even if it's useless, it's very annoying, meow."
"Then knock him down," Jessie said coldly.
James nodded and operated the mechanical Kangaskhan to raise a massive mechanical arm.
The mechanical claw opened and lunged toward Tommy.
Tommy's reaction was fast.
He let go of the vine, flipped in the air, and dodged the first claw.
But James immediately swung the second claw.
This time, Tommy didn't dodge.
The mechanical claw snapped onto the vine and yanked it hard.
The vine snapped.
Tommy lost his balance and fell from mid-air.
"Ah—!"
He let out a cry of alarm, his hands clawing at the air, but he couldn't grab onto anything.
Below was the ground over ten meters down; falling from that height would surely break some bones, if not kill him.
Just then, the sound of the Helicopter's rotors suddenly became very loud.
A Helicopter burst out from above the trees and hovered over the clearing.
The cabin door opened, and Gravid leaned halfway out.
He saw the falling Tommy at a glance.
Despite the long hair and dark skin, that face, those eyes...
It was his son.
It was Gravid Tommy.
"Tommy!" Gravid screamed heart-wrenchingly, then turned to shout into the cabin, "Land! Land quickly!"
"It's too late!" Yumi also leaned out, her face deathly pale.
Tommy was about to hit the ground.
Gravid gritted his teeth and suddenly did something no one expected.
He jumped straight out of the Helicopter.
"Husband!" Yumi screamed.
Gravid's body fell rapidly through the air, his suit flapping loudly in the wind.
His eyes were fixed on Tommy, his hands outstretched.
"Don't be afraid, son! Daddy's coming to catch you!"
But no matter how fast Gravid's short legs moved, they couldn't outrun gravity.
Tommy's body fell rapidly in mid-air, his hair blown straight up by the wind.
"It's over, it's over, it's over..." Only those words remained in Gravid's mind.
At this critical moment.
Roy raised his right hand.
A faint, ghostly blue light flashed in his eyes.
The light was very faint; if one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice it at all.
But Jenny noticed.
She was right beside Roy, less than half a meter away.
She clearly saw the two clusters of ghostly blue light, like flames, in Roy's eyes.
Then, something eerie happened.
Tommy's descent suddenly slowed down.
It was as if an invisible giant hand were supporting his body.
This slowness wasn't like a slow-motion scene in a movie; it was a genuine deceleration that defied the laws of physics.
Tommy, who should have hit the ground with a "thud," now drifted down slowly and gently like a feather.
Gravid spread his arms, a look of grim determination on his face.
There was a muffled "thump."
Tommy landed squarely on top of the old man.
The two of them were piled on the ground like a human pyramid.
"Ouch..." Gravid let out a cry of pain, but his voice was full of vigor, clearly indicating he hadn't suffered any serious injury.
Tommy rolled off him and sat on the ground, looking completely bewildered.
He blinked, looked at his hands, and then at the ground.
It was a height of over ten meters.
Why didn't it hurt at all?
In the distance, on the Helicopter, Yumi was completely stunned.
Her hands gripping the cabin door were trembling.
Not from fear, but from shock.
She had seen it clearly.
Tommy's falling speed had suddenly slowed when he was still two or three meters from the ground.
That was definitely not a natural phenomenon.
She turned her head toward Roy's direction.
Though they were dozens of meters apart, she still saw the young man's gesture of raising his hand.
And that flash of blue light in his eyes.
Yumi's pupils shrank suddenly.
Psychic?
That ordinary-looking young man actually has Psychic?
Her heart rate suddenly quickened.
Not from fear, but from an indescribable throb of excitement.
That kind of power... the kind of power that could reverse the laws of physics...
"Land! Land quickly!" she shouted to the pilot.
The Helicopter descended slowly.
On the ground, Gravid scrambled up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.
He looked down at Tommy sitting on the ground, then looked up at the branches overhead.
Those branches were at least three stories high.
"Eh?" The old man scratched his head in confusion. "Did I actually catch him?"
He blinked and looked back at the distance behind him.
"It looked like such a big gap just now?"
He gestured, indicating a gap of about two or three meters.
According to a normal parabola, it would have been impossible for him to catch his son.
"It seems the greatness of fatherly love has manifested!" Gravid suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted excitedly.
"Great fatherly love! Truly great!"
He spread his arms and roared to the heavens.
"This is the power of fatherly love!"
Yumi jumped down from the Helicopter and ran over quickly.
She glanced at her husband, who was still acting crazy, and sighed.
Then her gaze fell upon Roy.
The young man was lowering his hand, the blue light in his eyes already gone.
Yumi stared at his profile for several seconds.
"Husband," Yumi walked over and gently tugged on Gravid's sleeve.
"What is it?" Gravid was still excited.
"Stop shouting," Yumi lowered her voice. "It's enough that Tommy is safe."
"Right, right, right!" Gravid knelt down and pulled Tommy into a hug. "Son! Daddy finally found you!"
Tommy was squeezed so hard he could barely breathe and struggled a bit.
His gaze still held that wild wariness, but he didn't attack.
Perhaps it was the bond of blood, or perhaps the old man's embrace reminded him of something.
In any case, he didn't push him away.