After a brief discussion, the Professional-level Trainer whose ace Pokémon was Ferrothorn stayed behind with most of the security personnel.
They would guard the train, protect the other passengers, and wait for the arriving reinforcements.
Meanwhile, the Simisear Trainer, after selecting a few of the best security personnel, followed along with the conductor.
David and Lucario led the way, with a group of humans and Pokémon trailing behind.
The true powerhouse, Dragapult, had reined in its Aura and was quietly hidden beside David, waiting to surprise the enemies they would soon encounter.
Dragapult's presence was also David's confidence in daring to pursue this "terrorist organization" whose situation was still unknown.
It should be known that the public security of the Cloudspire Alliance is considered the best in the world, and it is not fertile ground for these terrorists to operate.
Years ago, the Apocalypse Society terrorist organization caused several major casualty incidents within Cloudspire territory.
The enraged Alliance higher-ups directly summoned over a dozen top Trainers and laid out a plan to encircle and eliminate the Apocalypse Society's leadership.
In that battle, four of the Apocalypse Society's seven apostles located within Cloudspire territory ended up with two dead, one escaped, and one severely injured.
The severely injured apostle who was captured also had his mind read directly with Psychic-type moves.
That special operation launched by the Alliance directly wiped out almost all of the Apocalypse Society's strongholds within Cloudspire territory, and over a thousand people were directly killed for resisting during the raids.
One special operation nearly caused a generational break for the Apocalypse Society, and even now, nearly ten years later, they have not fully recovered.
Since then, there has been no news of the leaders of those transnational criminal organizations daring to personally enter Cloudspire territory.
The terrorists on the other side, regardless of which organization they belonged to, if they could appear within the Cloudspire Alliance, they were either their peripheral cannon fodder or subordinate organizations recruited from within Cloudspire.
In any case, the true higher-ups would absolutely not dare to come in person.
So, with an Elite-level Dragapult providing support, there would be no problems whatsoever.
David was very cautious, not a hothead who would blindly charge forward when trouble arose.
In this way, David and his group quickly deviated from the vicinity of the tracks and delved into the adjacent mountain forest.
Numerous Pokémon followed closely behind Lucario and David.
At this moment, they did not even dare to breathe loudly, fearing they would affect Lucario's tracking.
They traveled through the forest, crossed streams and small rivers, and after walking for nearly half an hour—
"Luca!"
Suddenly, Lucario stopped in its tracks.
"What's wrong, Lucario?"
Knowing that Lucario would not act without reason, David asked using telepathy.
Lucario did not speak, but merely pulled David to a large tree with light steps and concealed themselves.
"Shhh~"
He did not forget to turn his head and signal the Pokémon behind them to remain quiet.
Then, Lucario pointed toward a location not far away.
David looked in the direction Lucario pointed, and in an inconspicuous corner not far away, there was a cave extending inward.
And it looked like the area inside should not be small.
Just as David and his group observed for a moment, two figures actually walked out of that cave.
The two people who emerged were one tall and one short, both holding firearms that looked somewhat different from ordinary guns.
Both wore dark green camouflage uniforms, and their faces were covered with professional helmets and masks, which were also camouflaged.
They appeared quite concealed in the forest environment and looked exceptionally professional.
"Are these the targets we're looking for?"
David was somewhat shocked by their attire. This was the first time he had truly seen poachers.
Looking at the professional attire of these two guys, how could they be mere poachers! Excluding their somewhat slovenly demeanor, one would think they were regular Alliance soldiers from somewhere!
After the two men came out of the cave, they both opened their masks halfway, seemingly wanting to get some fresh air.
Leaning against the cave wall, they took out two cigarettes from their pockets and lit them.
The two men huddled together, smoking and muttering something, but it was hard to hear clearly.
Their current position was already too close—if they continued to approach, it would be too easy for them to be discovered.
Having no other option, David fully spread his Aura, wanting to see what they were doing.
Under the influence of Aura, their words began to reach his ears.
"Looks like a good haul this time! You know, the stuff Boss brought this time is really effective!"
"That's because you don't even look at where the stuff comes from. Can our small-scale operations compare to theirs?"
"I heard that Brother Hua and his group brought back a lot of good stuff!"
"That's right. I happened to run into them when they came back—a total of over thirty Pokémon cubs, including descendants of Gym-level Pokémon. If these are sent overseas, they'd be worth at least this much!"
The tall poacher extended three fingers.
"Three hundred thousand?"
"Look at you, so petty. Three hundred thousand? Add another zero to that..."
Hearing this, David was no longer in the mood to wait. Combining the information he had gathered from the two men's conversation, David already had a general idea of the situation.
So there was no need to keep them around.
David gave Lucario and Kirlia a look, and Lucario nodded.
The next second, the figures of the two Pokémon vanished from David's sight.
"What was that sou... sound?"
Having heard some movement, the tall poacher turned his head, about to look behind him.
He saw a blue fist the size of a cooking pot coming straight at him, and in an instant, under Lucario's powerful punch, he fell unconscious.
The other short poacher saw this terrifying scene and immediately tried to shout, but found that his mouth would not open.
"Kirlia~"
After a close-range Hypnosis, the short poacher also followed in his partner's footsteps.