After moving quickly for a while, Auron Vale's Aura perception picked up the pursuers behind them growing faster and faster — they were about to close in.
"The people behind are almost here. Set an ambush."
"Got it."
Auron Vale had already explained the plan to the others on the way. Either way, they were going to have to fight — so why not strike first?
So after leaving the safe zone, Auron Vale and the others had picked up the pace, trying to find a good spot for an ambush so they could catch the pursuers completely off guard.
But they hadn't found a suitable position yet, and the people behind were already losing patience and accelerating.
Since none of them had riding Pokémon, it was only a matter of time before they got caught — there was no more time to find the perfect spot.
"They're here."
Auron Vale called out in a low voice. Jace Rowan immediately commanded the Torkoal on his back, whose shell was covered in shrubbery.
"Torkoal, Flamethrower!"
The Torkoal's little eyes tracked the approaching Escavalier, then unleashed a blast of [Flamethrower] directly at it — and at the same moment, the weather changed.
[Sunny Day]
One [Flamethrower] later, the two Charizard and Crobat all used [Heat Wave] simultaneously, while Dragonair, Arcanine, and Gengar's [Flamethrower] all fired into the cluster of Escavalier and the people behind them.
"BOOM!"
A violent explosion tore through the group riding on their mounts, sending Pokémon sprawling and the trainers — alive or not — scattered across the ground.
"Move!"
Auron Vale didn't know what state those people were in, but he knew one thing: they could only get one hit in. If they stayed and fought, they'd get bogged down — and more and more of the enemy would keep coming. They were already outnumbered as it was.
"Go!"
After recalling the Pokémon that couldn't keep up with their movement speed, everyone charged forward again.
"Damn it — those little brats don't hold back!"
Staring at his companions with large patches of burn wounds, Hu Zi cursed furiously.
"Give them some cooling down, patch them up quick, then keep chasing!"
As mentioned before — humans, when hit by a Pokémon's attack, didn't die instantly. They had a near-death state just like Pokémon did.
In that state, if they were rescued in time, they were saved. If not — they were gone.
It was a good thing Dragon Kingdom had a ban on firearms. Even in a Black Mystery Zone, guns couldn't be brought in.
Unlike over in American Empire, where if your Pokémon couldn't beat mine, you just had to ask: can you tank my 7.62?
Auron Vale's group's opening attack had taken out about a quarter of the pursuers — but plenty more were still on their tail.
The oriole-behind crowd, however, was having the time of their lives. When they came through and saw the people lying on the ground and the few individuals left to bandage them up, they immediately lit up.
"Hand over everything you're carrying. We'd rather not kill anyone."
They were all Dragon Kingdom citizens. Under Dragon Kingdom's policies, under the banner of the Red Flag, everyone followed one principle: if you could avoid taking lives, you avoided it.
The people on the ground got the message. They flung their backpacks right off and signaled for the people next to them to keep patching them up.
The oriole-behind crew gleefully rifled through the tossed packs and even gave the downed people a pat-down before continuing forward.
On their way out, they made sure to leave the backpacks behind — why let them pack more supplies so they could travel further? Every extra thing they carried was something less for the oriole crew to gain.
Up ahead, Auron Vale hit the pursuers from behind again. But this time, the pursuers weren't hit as hard.
Though some still hadn't reacted in time and went down, most of them had their Pokémon block and absorb part of the damage.
In the thick fog created by the clash of water and fire, Auron Vale's group switched direction — this time heading straight for the tunnel.
Unfortunately, though, the Balls and the grass here wouldn't burn. Otherwise, one good wildfire would've dealt heavy losses to the enemy while erasing all traces of their own passage.
"Fuuuck, that was intense!"
As they ran, Jace Rowan blurted out to the others, half-laughing.
"Think anyone actually died?"
Other than Jace Rowan, Auron Vale and the rest all wore complicated expressions. The force of those attacks — if treatment had been even a little delayed, people really could've died.
"You guys are thinking too much."
Seeing the troubled looks on everyone's faces, Jace Rowan immediately tried to talk them down.
"They came for the Pokémon. Think about it — without our Pokémon, wouldn't we be the ones who'd die?"
"Hoo~"
Fugui let out a long breath, then turned to Auron Vale with a calm expression. "Master, if they died, it's only because of their own greed. No need to dwell on it."
Auron Vale glanced at Jace Rowan, then at Fugui, who had adjusted fastest of all. He closed his eyes, steadied himself, and let out a breath.
"Yeah. You're right. We didn't finish anyone off — what happened to them after isn't on us."
Everyone paused. Then Jace Rowan and Fugui burst out laughing: "That's right — no finishing blow, so if they died, that's just bad luck! Hahaha."
After those two cracked up, Su Tingxi and Simon Greaves adjusted their own attitudes, snickered once, and stopped worrying about whether anyone had died.
"We've switched direction now. Wonder if they'll still be able to catch up." Auron Vale's eyes flicked as he spoke to the group.
"Option one: as before, make a full sprint for the tunnel. If they catch up, hit them once, then keep running. If they don't catch us, we go straight into the tunnel."
"Option two: find a spot and set up an ambush. Hit them hard enough to cripple them."
As Auron Vale said this, his eyes turned hard. Since they'd decided — better to end this in one clean sweep.
"Option one."
Auron Vale looked at Su Tingxi. "Your thoughts?"
"Option one's more stable. It'll get us to the tunnel without getting bogged down, and…"
"Plus once we're inside the tunnel, we can bottleneck and fight on our terms. Way safer than what we're doing now."
Su Tingxi hadn't finished speaking before Jace Rowan jumped in to finish for him.
"Exactly!"
Su Tingxi shot Jace Rowan an approving look, then nodded. "Then let's keep running. They haven't caught up yet."
"Got it."
Running and running, Jace Rowan suddenly piped up: "Hey, where's your cheat?"
"The chee's too strong," Auron Vale said without looking back. "He won't come out unless there's a real need."
He'd made an agreement with Deoxys before they came — unless things got dangerous, Deoxys was to stay out of sight.
The whole point of this trip was to get proper training in. The loot was just a bonus. If Deoxys handled everything, what was even the point of the training?
"Fair enough."
Jace Rowan tilted his head, fairly unbothered.
Crobat hadn't truly shown what it could do yet, and Snorlax hadn't even entered the fight — so the situation hadn't escalated to the point where Deoxys needed to step in.
"Nearly there — push through!"
The five of them kept running. Running alongside their Pokémon all this time was actually paying off — at the very least, their stamina was holding up.
Unlike the two girls, who were currently gasping for breath on Arcanine's back.
"You all run pretty fast."
Just as Auron Vale and the others were about to catch sight of the tunnel, a voice suddenly came from the side.
PS: Didn't let you down — three chapters today!
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