"Damn it!"

  Tucker's frustration boiled over as he withe trap he had meticulously set up get destroyed by the sudden appearance of an Ekans. Rage surged through him, making his blood rush to his forehead.

  It was as if he were haunted; he had clearly instructed Fearow to chase away any surrounding Pokémon. How did this Ekans mao slip past?.

  It seemed nearly impossible for a Pokémon to fall from the sky.

  But iy, this Ekans had indeed been thrown from above by Julian, from a kilometer away, no less.

  Tucker had buried numerous explosives within his traps.

  While the Ekans wasn't killed ht, it was now battered and bruised, clearly suffering from the aftermath of the bst.

  "I will spare your life!"

  Tucker shot a furious g the struggling Ekans. He wanted nothing more than to finish it off, but the explosion would surely attract the attention of the woman who was after him.

  He had inally set up traps to increase his ces of esg. With those gone, his odds of winning a direct fight had signifitly decreased. He o get out of there quickly.

  "Fearow, let's go!"

  His words rang out as he mounted Fearow. The explosion had already caught Lin Lin's attention, and she was rushing toward the sound, determio find him.

  "Bullet Punch"

  Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past the back of his head, sending chills down his spine. Instinctively, Tucker lurched forward to avoid it.

  He felt the rush of air from a powerful punch that narrowly grazed the back of his head, leaving him cold with sweat.

  This was the closest he had ever e to death since being a Pokémon hunter.

  Before Tucker could give any orders, Fearow instinctively dove to protect him, its sharp beak aiming for the attacker.

  "Meteor Mash!"

  Metagross stood firm, its massive metal cws glowing with vibrant colors as it prepared to terattack.

  The csh of their moves echoed through the forest as the two attacks collided. Fearow fpped its wings, shielding Tucker with its body.

  If it hadn't been for Fearow, Tucker would have certainly met his end in that cle explosion.

  However, Fearow also took damage; its wing was injured, blood staining its feathers as they fell to the ground.

  "Hypno!"

  Tucker wasted no time and released his sed Pokémon.

  Fearow was at level 65, while Hypno was at level 67. The strength of the target was no simple matter; it was close to the peak of the pseudo-Elite rank.

  Yet, Hypno's dition was far from optimal. It flickered erratically, a clear sign that it had been affected by paralysis, likely due to previous battles.

  It seemed that someone else had also been trying to capture Tucker, but Julian had interfered at just the right moment.

  Realizing that he had to act quickly before that chaser arrived, Julian put aside aation.

  With no hint of guilt for taking someone else's prey, he focused on pleting his system task before the other party arrived.

  "Silver Metagross, you are someone from the Walker family!"

  Tucker quickly reized Julian's identity upon seeing the silver Metagross. Yet, he felt no fear; rather, his excitement grew.

  There were very few who could intimidate him, especially not a boy like Julian.

  If he could catch Julian and use him to threaten Lin Lin, she would undoubtedly fear for Julian's safety a him go.

  Tucker and Julian both had the same goal: they o deal with each other quickly before Lin Lin arrived.

  'Although he has a pseudo-legendary Pokemon, it has not reached the pseudo-Elite level yet, and I am already approag the peak of the pseudo-Elite.'

  In the eyes of most Trainers, pseudo-legendaries were powerful and feared, capable of taking down oppos well above their level.

  But for experierainers, there were ways to overe them.

  'I surpass him in level, have more bat experience, and even if Hypno is not in optimal ditiht now, it's not something this kid stht now.'

  "Hypno, Psybeam!"

  "Fearow, Hyper Beam!"

  In the chaos of wild battles, there were no rules at all. Fighting unfairly was onpce; uhe attacker ran out of ammunition, anythi.

  Metagross stood firm, using Protect to shield Julian from the bitacks.

  "This is impossible!!"

  Tucker shouted, his face twisting in disbelief.

  He had entered pseudo-legendaries before and eveed them, but this Metagross was defying all logic.

  Though Protect could block powerful moves, it was supposed to be effective only if the Pokémon levels were simir. Tucker's Pokémon far surpassed that of Metagross.

  Two simultaneous moves blocked by a single Protect? It seemed like a cheat.

  "Lucario, use Close bat on Fearow!"

  "Metagross, Shadow Ball for Hypno!"

  "Sneak atta Trainer from behind Gengar"

  Tucker knew Gengar was an essential asset for sneak attacks, especially with his stealthy nature. He quickly readied a Poké Ball and gnced back.

  But instead of Gengar, he saokémon he had never entered before.

  "Meltan, Thunder Shock!"

  Meltan's small frame erfect for stealth uhe cover of night. Julian had released it earlier, allowing it to sneak behind Tucker unnoticed.

  With a sudden burst of electricity, Tucker was hit and instantly stunned. Julian had ordered Meltan to hold back; otherwise, Tucker wouldn't have survived the enter.

  Tucker: The basic trust between people.

  Without their Trainer, Fearow and Hypno were quickly subdued by Metagross and Lucario.

  After capturing Tucker's unscious Pokémon into their Poké Balls, Julian began searg Tucker's belongings, eager for some treasure.

  As a Pokémon huucker likely carried valuable items, and Julian was more than ready to take advantage of that.

  The system chimed, indig that the task was now plete.

  Julian found five good quality evolution stones, and there were some resources fround and Rock type Pokémon, including soft sand, which was worth an astonishing 100 million.

  (T/N: not in dolrs)

  Although Julian had no she of such things, the joy of searg made him uo stop.

  After searg through Tucker's possessions, Julian collected all the valuables before securely tying the unscious huo a sturdy tree.

  Hearing footsteps approag, he assumed it was the person hunting Tucker, arriving at the se.

  "Dragonair, let's go!"

  With that, Dragonair took to the skies, swiftly carrying Julian away.

  Lin Liivire gazed up at the night sky, spotting something s past.

  "What was that, Electivire? The explosion sounded close. We o be careful," Lin Lin warned.

  Before long, she arrived at the site of the explosion and found Tucker tied up to a tree.

  Lin Lin: It's so easy to get the 100 million bounty.