No way out!

Lower Town

Many hunters continued to arrive at the previous tent, tracking the location where Kanraku's group had appeared.

"Where are they?" The leader asked and added, "Trace them; they bought many beasts. It's impossible for them to escape."

"Here, there are a lot of footprints; they should be going that way," one of the subordinates reported.

"That way? Why does it feel familiar? Could it be… I know now! They are going that way again!" Some veteran hunters experienced a sense of déjà vu.

"Where?" The leader looked in the direction indicated, and his expression sank.

"Did you not remember last time, in the Forest of Weixian?" other veteran hunters reminded.

"No wonder it's so familiar."

"Weixian again! That Japanese guy is daring; let's go! This time we will follow them," The leader commanded.

"Yeah, last time we didn't dare to go here, but this time it's different. Since they can come, we will also come," another veteran hunter said.

"But why do I feel it's dangerous?" A newcomer looked worried.

"Well, you are still too young to understand, any risk comes with big benefits. That guy can spend a lot of berries; for sure, he has a lot of stocks. Once we get it, hehe," The veterans smiled maliciously, greed in their eyes.

…

Kanraku was surprised by the decision of all the Pokémon. Previously, almost half had left him when he rescued them, but today, actually, none did. He wondered if it was because they had only bought a few today. He looked at Magby with confusion—why was this guy so enthusiastic today?

Unbeknownst to him, Magby, one of the Pokémon he had rescued, had previously run away from him and immediately regretted it after getting caught again. Seeing Kanraku busy rescuing others, Magby took the opportunity to share his story. Hearing what he said, almost all Pokémon's eyes lit up. Was what he said true?

Now, they felt hopeful as they looked at Kanraku. He understood why and looked at Magby with appreciation, nodding and saying, "Since you all want to go, let's go."

"Magby!" "Meowth!" "Cherubi" "Geo-dude" "Mareeeeeep~" "Rattata" "Happiny"

"Chamcham!" "Chiko-chikorit!" "Zigzagoon~" "Bidooof" "Oddish" "Metapo" "Munchlax" "Psy?" "Petil" "Tailow"

Then, they carefully descended the steep trail. A few minutes later, when they all had come down, they heard sounds from the top.

"They should be here."

"Hurry up!"

Kanraku's face sank and he said, "What the… why did they discover it so quickly?"

"There's a saying: fool them once, shame on them; fool them twice, shame on you. Of course, they know; otherwise, are you expecting them to make the same mistake twice?" Ivan snorted. He was regretting now—this guy was just making blind plans. Where was the majestic image he had shown before?

"This… hahaha, I'm sorry, I should have known that," Kanraku became embarrassed as he patted his head.

"Let's go! Suzuki, is there a signal from the ship?" Kanraku asked.

He looked at Suzuki, who kept checking the signal on her phone.

"I'm still trying, but we need to be near the ship," Suzuki was already in a state of desperation.

"What? How near is it?" Ivan was shocked.

"According to the estimation, it should… it should be 10 kilometers," Suzuki hesitated, then said.

"Damn! It will take an hour!" Jonathan cursed.

"If we continue to run, we can shorten it, maybe to about 30-40 minutes," Ivan had a headache. The more he saw them, the more he felt they were unreliable.

"They are already near," Floyd, who was sensing his surroundings, said.

Seeing they had a problem, Bianca hesitated a bit, then said, "Swablu, help us."

Tweet!

Swablu was confused at first, then remembered.

Then she flew backward and activated her move: "Tweet!"

Tailwind

Suddenly a gust of air came from them, and most of them felt they had become faster.

"What is this?" Jonathan was surprised but felt he had become faster.

Not only him, but all of them felt it.

"Wow! Good job, little bird!" Kanraku smiled.

"Is this done by this bird? Amazing," Jonathan was surprised.

"Young lad, good job," Floyd nodded.

The Pokémon also reacted, looking at Swablu with gratitude.

Tweet!

Hearing everyone praise her, especially her idol, she hid on Bianca's shoulder and blushed.

"Good job, Swablu," Bianca smiled and encouraged her.

Tweet!

Ivan glanced at Swablu, and an idea suddenly sparked in his mind. He turned to observe the other birds, spotting three in total: Swablu, Tailow, and Wingull.

"Professor, how about letting these three birds fly and call those twelve turtles? We can have half call the ship and half assist us here," Ivan suggested.

Kanraku considered this, then turned his gaze towards Swablu on Bianca's shoulder, Tailow on her back, and Wingull running with the Pokemon. "It seems feasible, but we need their opinions. What do you think?" he asked them.

Tweet! Tailow! Wingull! All of them nodded in agreement.

"We still need to go to the seashore; it's dangerous here in the forest," Kanraku expressed with concern.

"Yes," Ivan nodded in agreement.

Other Pokemon were spying on them but didn't make a move, seeing the gang of Pokemon. A creature with a star shape and egg-shaped body observed them curiously, feeling it was quite fun, and then jumped to a running Miltank. The latter was surprised and caught her.

"Kurii~ Chaki~ Chaki~," she smiled joyfully.

A few minutes later, they appeared at the seashore, and Swablu, Tailow, and Wingull took to the sky.

Meanwhile, the hunters were facing trouble in the forest as some beasts began attacking them. Two hunters met their end, many were injured, and the bruised-faced leader reported they would be late and needed reinforcements to continue. They had underestimated the strength of the beasts.

…

In the city of Xin Shijie, two helicopters were preparing. 

"You must catch them!" an Air Force Commander ordered.

"Yes, Sir!" an Airforce soldiers saluted.

Then, the Air Force Commander turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "You should also be prepared."

…

Ten minutes later, Jonathan and Suzuki were losing breath but forced their bodies to run. Another ten minutes passed, Ivan and Bianca started to tire as well, and Suzuki and Jonathan were carried by Kanraku and Floyd.

A minute later, the sound of helicopters filled the air, and the group's expression grew serious. 

"Axew, be prepared," Floyd instructed. 

"Axew," responded the Pokemon, taking 5 seconds to use Dragon Dance.

"Everyone! Listen to me! Use all your strongest attacks if you want to survive; we are going to face a big deal this time!" Floyd shouted. "Those with long-range attacks, listen to me. If I say 'go,' then use your long-range attack. Don't attack unless I give the command," Floyd instructed.

"Those who have defense moves and short-range attacks, listen up! The long-range attack will go first; after they've finished, I will shout 'protect,' and you guys will follow. Use your strongest defense," Floyd continued, simplifying his instructions so all the Pokemon could understand.

"Don't hesitate, or we will die! Do you understand?" Floyd activated his Dragon Aura, appearing even more formidable, much to the surprise of Kanraku and the others.

'This aura… why do I feel I've been scolded by my former boss?' Kanraku wondered.

"Magby!" "Meowth!" "Cherubi" "Geo-dude" "Mareeeeeep~" "Rattata"

"Chamcham!" "Chiko-chikorit!" "Zigzagoon~" "Bidooof" "Oddish" "Psy?"

"Goomy~" "Cubone~" "Happiny" "Metapod" "Munchlax" "Petil"...

… 

"Kriii…Chaki…Chaki"

"Those who use long-range attacks, come to the front, and those with defense and melee attacks, position yourselves closely behind them. If the long-range attacks fail, those in defense must move to the front and use your defensive moves," instructed Floyd. The Pokemon promptly took their positions, with Kanraku and the others standing close to Floyd.

"If the defense succeeds, return to your previous positions. I will then shout 'go' and 'protect' again. Make sure you know your assignments. Do you understand?" Floyd looked at them and asked.

All the Pokemon nodded in understanding.

"Is this okay?" Kanraku looked worried.

"We have no choice but to deal with it," Floyd replied, feeling helpless. He had just experienced danger yesterday, and now it was happening again. He was still careless and had much to learn.

Floyd then noticed a young star-shaped creature and called out, "You."

"Kurriii… Chaki… Chakii?" In the middle of preparing, she saw Floyd pointing at her, so she looked at him, confused.

"You stand in the center and protect them," Floyd instructed.

"Chaki..? Chakii… Kurii!" She didn't understand what was happening, but hearing Floyd's command, she complied and stood in the center.

"Floyd…?" Kanraku noticed a small cute creature in the center and looked questioningly at Floyd.

"Don't worry, I know that small beast," Floyd reassured, although he was not entirely certain. He had heard in his previous life that Togepi was a symbol of luck, and from watching some parts of an anime, it seemed to hold true, except in the Mirage Kingdom.