"They should be somewhere around here."
Red looked at the slightly blurry photo in his hand and identified the location of the incident.
"Everyone spread out and see if you can find any clues nearby."
Under Red 's command, the group of six immediately began searching the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Red closed his eyes.
A faint, invisible green ripple spread outward—
He was using Viridian Power to search for nearby Pokémon, hoping to gather information from them.
But what shocked him was—
Even after extending his Viridian Power out to a full kilometer, he couldn't find a single Pokémon!
This level of absence was completely abnormal.
"These damn poachers…"
Red had already sentenced them to death in his mind.
Left with no choice, he expanded the range of his Viridian Power even further.
Finally, at a radius of two kilometers—
He detected a Pokémon.
"Keep searching here. I'll check over there."
It was a fallen tree.
The Pokémon had hidden itself in a hollow beneath the trunk, barely managing to avoid being captured .
Red released Mudkip and Larvitar, having them lift the deadwood together and reveal what was underneath.
A Rattata trembled as it looked at Red .
The moment it saw a human, it closed its eyes in despair.
But instead of an attack—
It was greeted with fragrant Pokémon food and rapidly healing wounds.
Rattata opened its eyes in confusion.
With the help of food and Viridian Power, Red quickly gained its trust.
"Rattata, tell me what happened. Who took your friends and companions?"
Rattata nodded repeatedly and shared everything it knew.
"So it really was three humans… and a modified jeep."
Although Rattata provided useful information, it couldn't tell him the direction the poachers had escaped.
After telling it to stay hidden, Red returned to the others with a heavy expression.
At that moment, Xiaowen and Ash's group had also made a discovery.
"Gym Leader! Over here! I found something!"
By the roadside, Xiaowen had discovered well-hidden tire tracks.
Looking at the tracks—located hundreds of meters away from the main site— Red couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Xiaowen, how did you know there were tire tracks here?"
The question caught her completely off guard.
She froze for a moment before stammering:
"I… it's my intuition! You remember, right, Gym Leader? I told you before—my intuition is very accurate!"
Red "looked" at the faint blue aura emanating from her and murmured :
"Aura Power…"
Xiaowen's already flustered expression nearly turned to tears.
"Gym Leader, I didn't mean to hide it… it's just that some things…"
Before she could explain, Red gently patted her head and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I'll keep it secret."
"Everyone has their own secrets. Unless you choose to tell me one day, I won't ask."
Xiaowen looked at him, her expression complicated—but her gaze now carried a trace of gratitude.
"It really is tire tracks… these guys are scum!"
Ash said angrily.
Gary, Brock, and Misty all looked equally grim.
With the help of Xiaowen's Aura Power, they quickly found more tire tracks.
But that also created a new problem—
"Master, the tracks go in different directions. Should we split up and track them separately? We can't let them escape!"
Gary said seriously.
Red thought of the terrified Rattata and nodded.
"Alright. We'll split into three teams."
"Gary and Ash, one team. Misty and Brock, one team. Xiaowen and I, one team."
"And take these signal flares. If you find the enemy, fire immediately."
"These people are dangerous—be careful. All of you."
With that, everyone dispersed, following different trails.
Meanwhile, inside the cave…
The three poachers frowned as they watched Red and Xiaowen approach.
"Damn it, the League really found us!"
The leader remained calm.
"Forget them for now. Deal with those three Team Rocket idiots first—then we leave."
"Got it, boss!"
But when they turned to handle their captives—
All they saw were severed ropes on the ground.
"Damn it! How did they escape?! Chase them!"
"They've seen our stash—we can't let them leave alive!"
At the same time…
After over ten minutes of tracking—
With Xiaowen's Aura guidance, Red and Xiaowen found a key clue.
"Gym Leader, look! There's a cave ahead!"
They entered —
But it was empty.
"Where did the poachers go…?"
Red frowned as he looked around their abandoned base.
Elsewhere in the forest…
While searching, Ash suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
"James!"
In the forest, a battered and injured James limped forward using a stick as support.
"Twerp…?"
Seeing Ash, relief flashed across James's face—
But it quickly turned into panic.
"Run! They're strong—you're no match for them! Watch out for their black Poké Balls—!"
Before he could finish, he collapsed unconscious.
Ash rushed forward.
"What happened to you?! Wake up! Why are you here? Where are your teammates?!"
But before he could do anything—
Gary grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back, his expression serious.
"Forget him. He won't die."
"The enemy's here."
Gary immediately fired a smoke signal.
"Houndoom, Flamethrower!"
A powerful stream of fire shot out—
Burning the signal flare into ash midair, then continuing straight toward Gary!
"Wartortle, Hydro Pump!"
Water and fire collided, creating a massive cloud of steam.
"Well, not bad. You actually blocked my Houndoom's attack."
A short man stood before them, with a Houndoom even taller than himself.
Seeing its size and power, Gary frowned.
"Advanced-level Pokémon…?"
"Sharp eye, kid. But too bad—you've seen something you shouldn't have."
"You're both dying here today."
"Fire Blast!"
Flames erupted, surrounding Gary and Wartortle.
After recent training, Wartortle had reached level 25—
But against a clearly over level 30 Houndoom, the gap was still huge.
"Gary, let's fight together!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Three attacks collided midair, exploding violently.
"Useless! You can't even handle two kids?!"
"Sorry, boss!"
The once-arrogant short man immediately bowed in fear.
At that moment—
Ash and Gary looked up—
And realized they were already surrounded by the other two poachers.
Their expressions changed instantly.
"…This is not a good situation."
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