'Him again?' The thought screamed in George's mind, laced with disbelief and boiling frustration. He'd specifically waited, tracked the ranger's movements this morning, seen him head to the infirmary, then linger at the cafeteria. He'd calculated the timing, chosen the afternoon precisely because the ranger should have been back in his cabin, out of the way.
'It's not that I'm afraid of him,' George assured himself, gripping the net gun tighter. 'Just didn't want the exposure. Didn't want complications.' But complications, it seemed, had a way of finding him. This sickly ranger, who should have been miles away by now, was standing right here.
Even through the cheap fabric of the mask, Xiu felt the intensity of the poacher's glare, burning with resentment. A cold certainty settled in his gut.
"It was you," Xiu stated, his voice raspy but firm. "Yesterday, by the river."
The masked man scoffed, a harsh, grating sound. "So what if it was? I advise you, ranger, mind your own business. Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of." The threat was undisguised.
"It was you~" Xiu drew out the confirmation, a strange, almost predatory glint entering his eyes despite his own fear. He gently set the exhausted Scyther down at the base of a tree, then straightened, facing the poacher directly. His expression shifted into something unsettling, a faint, knowing smile playing on his lips. It made George instinctively uneasy.
"A mother," Xiu said, his voice dropping slightly, carrying clearly in the sudden stillness of the clearing, "is looking for you."
As the last word left Xiu's mouth, the forest behind him exploded. A monstrous shape, brown and powerful, burst from the treeline like an organic battering ram. The Kangaskhan, moving with terrifying speed and unstoppable momentum, plowed through branches and undergrowth that snapped and tore like paper in its wake.
The poacher's Rattata, caught between its trainer and the charging behemoth, squeaked in alarm, making a futile attempt to intercept, to protect. However, it was simply swatted aside contemptuously by the Kangaskhan's sheer, unstoppable force, sent tumbling into the bushes with a pained yelp.
With his Pokémon buffer instantly removed, George found himself exposed, vulnerable. The raw power radiating from the enraged Kangaskhan was suffocating. He reacted instantly, barking commands.
"Toucannon, back! Focus Energy! Agility!"
A faint white aura pulsed around the Toucannon as it swiftly disengaged from the trees, its previous fatigue seemingly vanishing. Banking sharply, it began weaving intricate patterns in the air around the Kangaskhan, a blur of high-speed movement, trying to distract, to divert the giant Pokémon's attention.
'Why isn't he stopping it?' George wondered fleetingly, even as he felt a surge of confidence.
Xiu watched impassively. 'No point.' He knew, even without deep Pokémon knowledge, that the Kangaskhan lacked any real way to hit the agile flying target. Its sheer power was terrestrial. Trying to intercept the Toucannon now would be wasted effort. 'Besides, a colder part of his mind analyzed, that power-up won't last. Look at it – already panting from the earlier chase. This burst of speed is costing it. Kangaskhan just needs to endure.' The giant Pokémon stood its ground, weathering the Toucannon's harassing dives like a cliff face absorbing waves, its focus unwavering. A rock against the tide.
George saw his Toucannon harrying the Kangaskhan, but knew time was against him. A protracted fight favoured the powerhouse on the ground. He needed to break the stalemate, fast. His eyes narrowed, fixing on the ranger. A cruel glint entered them. He pointed directly at Xiu.
"Toucannon! Steel Wing! Take him out!"
The bird Pokémon responded instantly. Spreading its wings wide, it peeled away from the Kangaskhan, climbing rapidly before plummeting towards Xiu in a deadly dive. Its wings shimmered, taking on a hard, metallic sheen that sliced through the air, leaving visible trails.
'Got him. The Kangaskhan couldn't possibly intercept in time. This annoying ranger is going to be finished.' Under the mask, George's lips curled into a triumphant smirk.
Xiu felt the air pressure change above him, the whistle of the dive, but he didn't flinch,— didn't even look up. His gaze remained locked on George. His voice, strained but clear, cut through the air.
"Kangaskhan! Attack the hunter!"
George froze for a microsecond. 'A bluff?' He knew what Xiu was doing – forcing him to choose. Recall the Toucannon to defend himself, or let the attack on the ranger continue? He didn't know what Steel Wing would do to a human, but a direct hit from that Kangaskhan... that was unthinkable.
But recalling the Toucannon felt like losing the initiative. There was another way.
His hand darted inside his windbreaker, retrieving a small, metallic box. He quickly swapped the net gun for a heavier, cylinder-based handgun – it looked like a modified revolver, a hand cannon. Snapping open the box, he took out a fist-sized cylindrical cartridge and slammed it into the weapon. Raising it in one smooth motion, he aimed at the charging Kangaskhan and pulled the trigger.
Thwump!
Not a bullet, but another capture net shot from the muzzle, unfurling mid-air to envelop the Kangaskhan. But this was different. The weighted corners of the net didn't just tangle; they sparked violently, emitting a high-pitched whine. A fierce yellow current crackled across the mesh before the weights detonated simultaneously with deafening reports.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Smoke and dust erupted, completely obscuring the Kangaskhan. Only its enraged, pained roar could be heard from within the cloud.
"Looks like I win after all! Haha... ha..." George lowered the hand cannon, pointing a shaking finger through the smoke towards Xiu, his laughter strained but victorious.
Xiu watched the Toucannon accelerating its dive, the metallic wings like descending blades. No panic flickered in his eyes. Without hesitation, he spun on his heel and darted back into the dense forest behind him, vanishing among the tree trunks. Use the terrain. Limit the opposing Toucannon's flight path.
The Toucannon, its target abruptly gone, screeched in frustration, aborting its dive with an awkward, powerful flap of its wings. It pulled up sharply in a U-turn, returning to hover uncertainly above the treeline, scanning the woods below for any sign of the ranger.
George, seeing his kill shot thwarted, roared in fury. "Toucannon! What are you doing!? Go in there! Finish that kid!"
Hidden among the trees, Xiu almost choked back a laugh. 'If it could easily navigate in here, it would have followed me already.' Even an amateur like him could see the obvious: the gaps between the thick tree trunks were far too narrow for the Toucannon's impressive wingspan. Forcing its way in would ground it, cripple its aerial advantage. 'Could it even attack effectively then? I'm not just going to stand still and let it peck me.'
But the Toucannon, obeying its master's furious command, gave up its aerial superiority. It executed a tight, banking turn and plunged into the forest canopy, weaving through the labyrinth of trunks with surprising agility. Clearly, it had undergone rigorous flight training.
Seeing this, Xiu immediately went deeper, forcing himself to move despite his aching body and fuzzy head. He dodged behind thick roots, scrambled over fallen logs, keeping the trees between himself and the pursuing Pokémon. The Toucannon might be weaker than the Kangaskhan, but those wings, that beak – they could splinter wood effortlessly. He knew his own frail body couldn't withstand a direct hit.
Before George could savor the anticipated sounds of the ranger being hunted down, his attention snapped back to the dissipating smoke cloud.
An earth-shattering roar cut through the air, followed by the distinct sound of thick fibers tearing. The dust cloud pulsed outwards, then collapsed like a popped soap bubble. The ground beneath George's feet vibrated faintly.
The Kangaskhan emerged, shaking its massive head. The electric net lay in shredded pieces around it. 'The explosion... must have been designed to disorient as well as paralyze,' George realized dimly. But the giant Pokémon's raw constitution had shrugged off the worst of it. It broke free easily, stomped a heavy foot that cleared the lingering dust from its vision, locked its furious eyes onto George, and charged.
The sudden reversal terrified George. He scrambled backwards, tripping over roots, desperately trying to reach the relative safety of the trees, hoping to mimic the ranger's evasion tactics.
But the distance was too short. His speed, even fueled by panic, was pathetic compared to the enraged Kangaskhan's earth-shaking charge. He managed only a few stumbling steps before it was upon him. A casual, backhand blow sent him flying.
"Ah!"
His cry cut off abruptly as he hit the ground and didn't move.
The Toucannon, alerted by its trainer's scream, wheeled in the air. Peering down, it saw only George's still form lying sprawled on the forest floor, and the menacing silhouette of the Kangaskhan standing guard beside him. Assessing the power difference, it wisely kept its distance, circling high above, unwilling to engage.
At that moment, Xiu cautiously emerged from the woods. Seeing the poacher incapacitated and the Kangaskhan seemingly calming down, he moved quickly. He knelt beside George, efficiently stripping him of his gear – the hand cannon, the remaining net cartridges, a concealed knife, and a belt pouch containing several Poké Balls. He left the man lying there in his basic clothes.
Xiu picked up the Poké Balls from the pouch and popped the first one open.
He wasn't worried about accidentally releasing George's own Pokémon right now. If the poacher had any capable fighters on him, he surely would have used them already instead of relying solely on the Toucannon and Rattata. And besides, the Kangaskhan was still nearby. Whatever emerged would likely just become another casualty. He felt surprisingly confident under the giant Pokémon's protective presence.
The first Poké Ball was empty.
He clicked the second one open. Also empty.
The third. Empty.
He reached for the fourth...