Oskirts of White River Forest, Tucker leaned against a t tree, quietly dev his meal. The silver light of the moon filtered through the branches, and his sharp eyes were stantly sing the surroundings, ever watchful in the calm night.

  Beside him stood his Fearoowerful and intimidating presehe Pokémon's fierce aura made it clear it was ner to battle. A thin stream of blood dripped from the tip of its long, sharp beak, remnants of its ret hunt.

  At Fearow's feet y a lifeless Rattata, the unfortunate victim of the food that exists even in the Pokémon world. While some Pokémon are tent with berries and pnts, there are those, like Fearow, that hunt to survive, preying on weaker creatures.

  In cities and towns, Pokémon raised by humans are typically fed special Pokémon food desigo meet all their needs. If they eat meat, it's usually from livestock like beef or mutton, raised specifically for this purpose by humans. But out here, in the wild, nature takes its course.

  Within moments, Tucker fihe st bite of his meal, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Fearow, too, had devoured the Rattata at its feet. The air around them grew thick with a tense energy. In the silent forest, the aura of the man and his Pokémon was something that would send shivers down the spine of anyone who stumbled upon them.

  Those who have faced real danger would reize it instantly: the cold, heavy presenurderous i. For the average person, ing face to face with someone like Tucker would be terrifying enough without even a word being exged. The mere sight of his sharp, unyielding gaze would be enough to freeze them in pce.

  "If yoing to try and catch me," Tucker muttered under his breath, his voice low and dangerous, "then it's either you or me that's not leaving here alive."

  He stood up, pulling a small device from his bag, and began pg it carefully around the clearing. Fearow remained o, its sharp eyes darting from shadow to shadow, ag as a lookout for its Trainer.

  Meanwhile, at the entrance of White River Forest, Lin Lin, a third-year student from Shu Uy, nded gracefully from the back of a Flying-type Pokémon she had rented for the mission.

  "Pichu!"

  Came the small cry from her shoulder, where her partner Pokémon sat. Pichu g nervously to her neck, its tiny body trembling as it gazed into the dark, dense forest ahead. To Pichu, the forest looked like a slumbering giant, full of unseen dangers.

  "Don't worry, Pichu," Lin Lin said soothingly, patting the little Pokémon on its head. "Once we catch that bad guy, I'll get you a Light Ball as a reward."

  Pichu didn't quite know what a Light Ball was, but the thought of receiving something special from its Trainer was enough to ease its fears. It nuzzled into Lin Lin's neck, reassured by her words.

  "e out, Electivire,"

  Lin Lin called, releasiro Pokémon from its ball. A spark of electricity crackled in the air as Electivire appeared, t over her.

  The wild forest was uable, full of hidden dangers, evehe edges. A wild Pokémon at just Level 5 could still cause serious trouble to a human.

  Electivire was her stro Pokémon, at the peak of pseudo-Elite.

  Her other five Pokémon had been i degrees in the process of capturing Tucker, and eveivire's dition was not very good.

  Electivire, though injured, was her most powerful ally, and she by her side.

  Lin Lin carefully treated Electivire's wounds before heading into Forest. She khat this wouldn't be easy, especially since her other Pokémon were still rec from the chase earlier.

  As she ehe forest, a Pokémon flew over her head quickly.

  High above the trees, Julian flew swiftly on the back of his Dragonair, but as they heir target, he ordered it to slow down.

  "Easy now, Dragonair. We don't want to give ourselves away just yet,"

  Julian murmured, his eyes fixed on the red dot. Tucker was close—less than three kilometers away—and he hadn't moved for some time. Julian didn't want to risk alerting him by rushing in.

  As Dragonair's speed decreased, Julian was finally able to free one hand to check his phone. He almost dropped it as the movement made him sway dangerously in the air.

  "I really o get a proper saddle fonair," he muttered. "It's too hard to hold on and use my pho the same time."

  Opening the Trainer App, Julian quickly reviewed the information on his target.

  Tucker, real name unknown, was an A-level wanted criminal, a pseudo-Elite Trainer, and a professional Pokémon hunter.

  Julian kly why Tucker had bee a wanted man. As a Pokémon hunter, it was likely that he had used illegal methods to capture rare Pokémon.

  Hunters like him ofte after Pokémon that didn't belong to them, sometimes even snatg ones with Trainers.

  Being a Pokémon hunter was a morally gray job. Some hunters worked within legal boundaries, taking on tasks from people who needed specifion captured.

  For example, someone might request a Level 60 Charizard, aptitude, male.

  In respohe hunter would take the job, track down the exaon, and capture it for a reward.

  And for those who issued the task of capturing Pokémon, the Pokémon requested were basically rare, powerful, hly prized.

  These Pokémon weren't avaible for sale in regur markets. So, hunters had to explore dangerous pces like wild forests, secret realms, or a ruins to capture them. These pces were full of risks, and the ces of finding the right Pokémon were often slim.

  Some hunters even lost their lives trying.

  So the worst kind of Pokémon huook a darker path. Uo find what they needed in the wild, they would mark Pokémon that already had Trainers.

  They would steal them by ford sell them to the highest bidder. To make matters worse, hunters would often deal with the Trainers in a way that ehey couldn't report the crime. It was a brutal business, and for those Trainers, the ces of survival were slim.

  Nearly a third of all wanted criminals in Drakoria were Pokémon hunters.

  This profession was infamous, and food reason. It was viewed with disgust by many. People who found out someone okémon hunter often wanted nothing to do with them.

  Still, being a Pokémon hunter required skill.

  Among the top eighteees in Drakoria, one was even a Pokémon huhat Elite still occasionally ventured into high-level secret realms to capture rare Pokémon for missions. This just showed hoable these hunters could be.

  As Julian approached the area where Tucker was hiding, he was still about a kilometer away. If it had been anyone else, they might have nded by now aered the forest to sear foot. After all, the derees and the darkness made it nearly impossible to spot anything from the sky.

  But Julian didn't do that. The red dot in his mind told him that he was very close to the other party.

  Julian recalled his Dragonair, whose long body would have struggled to move through the dense forest. Instead, he released his Metagross, whose tough, solid build was far more suited for the task ahead.

  -

  White Forest was vast, home to more than 100 different kinds of Pokémon, with a popution numbering in the millions. The outer areas, where Julian currently was, were inhabited by the weakest Pokémon, but they were also the most numerous.

  Using his Intermediate Psychic abilities, Julian could sense every creature within a 100-meter radius. There were more than ten Pokémon nearby, the closest of which was just teers away.

  Suddenly, a bush rustled, and without warning, an Ekans lunged out, its fangs glistening in the moonlight. With only teers betweehe snake Pokémon closed the distan a sed.

  Metagross was ready to strike, but Julian stopped it with a wave of his hand. Swiftly dodging the Ekans' attack, Julian sidestepped the deadly fangs and reached out to grab the snake by its tail.

  "Twister—get out of here!" he yelled with a grin.

  With a quick motion, Julian swung the Ekans into a small whirlwind. The Pokémon spun wildly before being flung far into the darkness, disappearing as a bck shadow into the trees.

  "Cool"

  In the past, he would definitely not be able to avoid the cle attack of Ekans, but now he had the Mega Pallet Town physique.

  Meanwhile, Tucker, resting uhe rge tree, was startled when his arm system went off. In an instant, his sharp eyes sed the area. An Ekans, the same ohat Julian had thrown, had gotten tangled in his steel wire trap. The snake's movements only made the wire dig deeper into its body, and it thrashed about in pain, triggering more of Tucker's traps.

  Suddenly, a bst of fire erupted from the trap, followed by a massive explosion. The sound was deafening, eg across the forest for at least ten kilometers.