"Ah!"
After flying for a while longer, Tang Yunqin suddenly slapped her own forehead.
Yin Hanling looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Tang Yunqin wore a glum little face, gazing at Yin Hanling wronged and pitiful. "I forgot to hit them with another [Hail]."
Yin Hanling gave a helpless laugh. "Hit them with another [Hail]? You're not afraid of falling behind Auron Vale and the others."
"True."
Tang Yunqin thought it over, then immediately brightened up again.
"Try to trick me, huh~"
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After flying for a while longer, Auron Vale and the others finally arrived at the Beautifly Camp.
The Beautifly Camp sat in the middle of a forest, and the entire forest was filled with Beautifly's family.
Wurmple crawled along the tree trunks, Cascoon hung from the branches, and Beautifly hid among the canopy and inside tree hollows.
Before Auron Vale and the others even stepped into the forest, they could already hear the sounds of battle echoing from within.
And the moment they set foot in the forest, Wurmple's [String Shot], Beautifly's [Sleep Powder] and [Stun Spore] came raining down from the sky.
Even Cascoon hurled themselves at the group.
"Charizard! Heat Wave!"
Auron Vale and Jace Rowan commanded in unison.
The two Charizard flapped their wings simultaneously, sending out [Heat Wave] that wiped out all the [String Shot], [Sleep Powder], and [Stun Spore].
It also cleared out a whole area of Beautifly, Cascoon, and Wurmple in one sweep.
But strangely, the [Heat Wave] had wiped the Pokémon in front of them clean, yet the trees and the grass on the ground remained unchanged, still that lush green appearance — completely untouched by the [Heat Wave], not a single blade wilted.
In the shadows, two people in grass-green clothing were lying flat on the ground not far from the forest.
They weren't inside the forest's range, but pressed right up against its edge.
"Gonna make a move?"
"Can't. Too many people."
"Alright."
After that brief exchange, the two went quiet again and lay still. A Wurmple crawled past right beside them, and they didn't so much as twitch.
"Let's keep heading in and see what kind of resistance we're dealing with."
"Yeah."
Two Charizard led the way, followed by Milotic, Dragonair, Arcanine, and Alolan Dugtrio.
Behind them came Elekid, Galarian Vulpix, Mareep, and Ralts.
Auron Vale and the others walked in the middle, Crobat flew overhead, Ghost-type Pokémon moved in the shadows, and Crawdaunt and Altaria brought up the rear.
Snorlax was simply too large to maneuver properly in the forest, so — like Gordios — he stayed inside his Poké Ball.
With two Charizard leading the charge, just about every Beautifly along the way was eliminated by them.
The remaining Cascoon and Wurmple were handed off to the little ones behind them.
It was the first time thelittle guys had experienced anything like this, and every single one of them was practically buzzing with excitement.
They fired off moves at Cascoon and Wurmple like they had an infinite supply.
Thanks to the two Charizard clearing the path, their pace was fast, and they reached the central area in no time.
Along the way they did encounter some individuals with ill intentions toward them, but one look at their Pokémon lineup — and at how many people were in the group — and just about all of them thought better of it.
At the heart of the forest was a clearing — a rare spot where the canopy didn't cover the ground.
Just like outside the forest, once inside this area, Beautifly and the others wouldn't attack.
When Auron Vale and the others walked in, they saw quite a few people scattered about inside, sitting around.
But most of them weren't from the same faction — everyone was spread out.
"Shiny Dratini?"
"Yeah, most likely."
"Think we should make a move? One good haul like that and we'd be set for a while."
The leader's interest was piqued. "Alright. We'll hit them once they leave the safe zone."
"Should I call in Hu Zi?"
"Sure. Two of us alone probably can't take them."
"Shame the Mystery Zone exit didn't spawn here. If it had, we could've hit them and walk right out — no one could've done a thing about it."
The two shot Auron Vale's group a sinister grin, then slowly moved to approach another team.
"Hu Zi?"
"Let's do it."
The one called Hu Zi was the leader of another team. The moment he saw the two approaching, he understood immediately.
The two teams were actually working together — normally they operated separately, but whenever one team ran into big prey or a tough nut to crack, they'd join forces.
This time, Auron Vale's lineup had really gotten them excited. Two shiny Charizard were one thing, but a single shiny Dratini alone was worth more than two Charizard combined.
A pink Dratini? Some rich little miss would pay top dollar for it for sure.
If they pulled this off, even the quasi-legendary Dragonair would just be the cherry on top.
Hu Zi and his crew weren't the only ones thinking this way. plenty of others were staring at Auron Vale's arriving group with the same greedy look.
Shiny pseudo-legendary. Shiny Charizard. Pseudo-legendary. Milotic. Ralts. Arcanine — all valuable Pokémon.
"Why does it feel so quiet all of a sudden after we came in?"
"No rest. We move straight out — get ready. We'll probably have to fight our way through."
After hearing Jace Rowan's words, Auron Vale extended his Aura to scout the area, then quietly told the group:
They had to pass through here. Their next destination was the Ice Land.
To get there, they had to cross through this forest to the exit on the other side, enter the tunnel beyond it, and travel through the tunnel to reach the Ice Land.
Auron Vale's group carefully made their way past the people sitting and lounging on the ground, then re-entered the forest.
The map they'd bought from Lulumap had it written down — the central area of Beautifly Forest was a rest point, a no-combat zone.
Anyone who started fighting inside it would get jumped by everyone present.
Watching Auron Vale's group walk into the forest, a number of people in the clearing rose to their feet in unison.
These people exchanged glances and nodded to each other — the unspoken understanding being: may the best picker prevail.
After the nods, the groups leisurely started following behind Auron Vale's party.
After that crowd left, yet more people stood up from the clearing and followed after the second wave.
These were the orioles — the ones waiting to profit from the fishermen's dispute.
Whichever side lost, they'd collect from both.
And of course, they wouldn't say no to collecting from both at once.
And so, after Auron Vale and the others departed, the clearing was noticeably emptied of a whole crowd of people.
"Should I give them a hand?"
At the edge of the clearing, in the shade, a young man watched them go, stroking his chin as he considered.
"Nah. I'll go take a look. The one I've set my eyes on shouldn't fall here."
He lowered his head with a slight smile, then rose with the Pokémon beside him and drifted lazily after the oriole-behind group.
"Né~"
"Only step in if it's necessary. If one side has already completely overwhelmed the other, even a drop of water can't turn the tide of the sea. Don't worry."
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PS: Got caught by my boss slacking off at work to write. Two chapters first — I couldn't churn out the second one during lunch break, so it'll be during afternoon slack time. Chapter three by six PM the latest!
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