He knows Pokémon better than me.

Xiao Zhi quickly moved closer to a man in work clothes and asked curiously:
"So, what are you guys trying to fish out of?"

The other person glanced back at Ash, then looked at the Mr. Mime standing next to him, dressed in a sharp suit—a strange combination.

"Out-of-towner? Don't you know that formation soldiers are all the rage right now?"

After some investigation, Ash realized that the cause was related to the neighboring Kalos region—

Because many new Mega Evolutions have been discovered recently, and among them, only one Pokémon comes from the Galar region: Strike.

This has recently sparked a gold rush in the Galar region to capture Column Soldiers.

"Formation troops?"

Ash took out his Pokédex and started looking it up.

"Beep beep, Formation Soldiers, melee attribute. Composed of 1 leader and 5 henchmen. The leader's orders are inviolable, and they will fight while changing formations!"

On the screen are six tiny, round figures wearing golden armor, lined up tightly in a row, looking somewhat like a unicorn beetle.

There's even an image of the Mega Evolution from the Kalos region that's been added next to it. It shows six small, round figures merging vertically to form a giant holding a gun in its right hand and a shield in its left.

"Bari."

The Mr. Mime stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.

The Pokémon Line-Up isn't particularly rare, but it's certainly not as common as Pikachu.

Aside from trying your luck in Pokémon dens, this Route 8 ruin is the only one found in the wild in the entire Galar region.

They like to hide in these small pits, and if a passerby walks by, they will suddenly jump out and threaten and attack the passerby.

"It's out! It's out!!"

Just then, a gasp came from a sunken pit next door, and many people immediately gathered around—

If the enemy fails to subdue them, then it will be their turn to pick up the scraps.

In the current market, Pokémon like Strike can fetch a high price when traded to the Kalos region.

Ash, curious, went over to investigate and saw a man in leather overalls repeatedly raiding a bird's nest, which angered the soldiers in formation. The first three armored spherical soldiers charged out aggressively.

"Well done! Symbol bird, with black eyes!!"

The man was clearly already prepared, and immediately used his subjugation technique to prevent the arrayed soldier from escaping back into the cave.

"Form ranks—!!!"

The leader of the arrayed soldiers immediately gave a low shout, like an attack horn, and instantly six armored figures rushed forward, their bodies transforming into iron fists that furiously and continuously pounded on the symbolic bird.

It immediately unleashes a powerful close-quarters combat move, which is quite formidable.

"pity."

Ash shook his head regretfully; the type advantage was still too strong.

Symbol Bird has a 1/4 damage reduction against Fighting-type moves, so apart from knocking Symbol Bird back two meters, it basically doesn't deal any damage.

"Our turn! Use Air Blade!"

This symbolic bird flapped its strange and primitive wings, instantly unleashing several blue and white air slashes.

Despite being covered in golden armor, the troop formation soldiers do not possess any steel attribute.

"Form ranks!"

Seeing the flying-attribute attacks sweeping towards them, the leader of the formation soldiers immediately issued a retreat order, preparing to escape back into the small cave.

However, with the black gaze attached to him, the cave entrance seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall, leaving him frozen in place.

Whoosh!
The blades of air rained down in quick succession, instantly raising clouds of dust and leaving several sharp slashes in their wake. The effect was outstanding!

The six armored figures were immediately cleaved in two, but their leader, unwilling to accept defeat, sounded the attack horn again. The six of them joined together and this time shot straight toward their target like arrows.

A long, gray-green horn-like spike extends from the front end.

Super Corner Strike!

Unfortunately, the bird that held the air superiority ultimately had the advantage. With a slight flap of its wings, it rose into the air, causing the powerful super horn attack to miss completely.

"Now! Divine Bird Strike!"

As the command was given, golden flames ignited around the symbolic bird, which began to gather power and gradually enveloped it into a giant golden divine bird, instantly creating an overwhelming sense of oppression!

Unable to escape from the ground and unable to attack targets in the air, the soldiers in formation immediately panicked.

They even stopped listening to the unified command of their leaders, and the tight formation began to fall apart.

The next second, the golden giant bird swooped down, its powerful strike crashing into the ranks of soldiers with astonishing force, instantly engulfing the field in dust.

"This guy's got some skills."

Ash pulled his hat down low to block the sand and dust rushing towards him; the trainer's command looked quite professional.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the soldiers in formation were no longer able to fight, and the six armored figures lay scattered and broken.

The man in leather overalls quickly threw a super ball, which he easily caught.

Ash couldn't say anything about this positive capture; he could only hope that this Line of Fire would find a good trainer.

However, judging from the whispers around me, it seems that the captured soldiers here will be transported to the neighboring Carlos region.

The sale and trade of Pokémon is illegal on the surface.

But in private, there are still many loopholes that can be exploited.

"Bari!"

Beside him, the Mr. Mime shook his head and helplessly shrugged.

This is normal.

Especially in the Galar, Carlos, and Unova regions, it used to be common to transport Throwing Monkeys and Orangutans by the ship.
Recently, Hisoka Company even shipped a batch of Thunder King Kongs from another region.

Because their behavior is significantly different from that of illegal hunters like Hunter J, the authorities have no way to control them.

"Bari~"

However, Mr. Mime still managed to force a smile, after all, a Pokémon like Linear is quite wary.

With so many people suddenly appearing here, they naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to keep rushing out to scare people.

They're probably digging deeper and deeper to hide themselves, so they'll only appear less and less often.

The Galar League has no official restrictions on capturing wild Pokémon.
However, this presents limitations regarding the environment.

In particular, in such ancient ruins, large-scale digging and destruction are prohibited. Basically, you can only dig holes from the outside to lure out the troops in formation.

Only someone with connections like Peter was released within two days after being arrested for damaging the ruins.

"I see."

Xiao Zhi realized why these people could only clumsily lie on the ground and rummage around in the small hole.

Using his Aura to probe and eliminate Pokémon like Mantle Rock and Iron Ant, he did sense that there were still quite a few wild Line of Shadows on Route 8.

However, he had no intention of warning these professional hunters, and instead, carrying the Mr. Mime, headed straight for the northeast exit! (End of Chapter)