Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

at the same time.

Shuanglong City.

"Garuda, Dragon Dive!"

Cynthia's voice pierced through the biting wind, her long golden hair dancing amidst the swirling ice crystals.

The Garchomp transformed into a purple dragon shadow and slammed into the side of the turning plasma destroyer.

Compared to champion-level Pokémon, the latter's movements are definitely clumsy and slow.

"boom--!!"

The ice-blue energy shield fluctuated violently, cracks spreading like a spider web.

Inside the bridge, the screen in front of Gerald flickered with a blinding red light.

His fingers left afterimages as he typed on the control panel, trying to steer the destroyer to accelerate and turn.

"I absolutely cannot get caught here!"

Cold sweat soaked Jero's back.

He was well aware of what he had done recently.

Under the League's laws, once arrested, his fate is certain death.

Just as the destroyer was struggling to turn around, attempting to rush towards the clouds—

"Hieagle, Bird Strike!"

"Beep—!!!"

A sharp bird call echoed through the thin air.

The incredibly powerful Pidgeot was surrounded by subdued golden flames. Its powerful wings flapped, and its speed broke the sound barrier in an instant, tearing a white shockwave through the air.

"Crack—!!!"

A teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out.

Pidgeot, like a sharp sword, precisely pierced the crack in the shield that had not yet been fully repaired, caused by Garchomp's meteor shower.

Powerful energy continued to pour into the breach, and the destroyer's internal structure began to groan under the strain.

next moment.

The golden-red flames spread wildly, melting metal and shattering instruments wherever they passed.

The destroyer's stern broke off completely amidst intense flames, plummeting towards the ground amidst billowing smoke.

"Do not--!!!"

Jero's screams were drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

He never expected that Tetsuya and Cynthia would act so decisively and so contrary to the norms of League members—prioritizing the protection of lives, even when targeting members of the Dark Organization.

His vision went completely black, and his thoughts came to a standstill.

The destroyer hull spun out of control in mid-air.

It is easy to imagine that once it falls into the city, the damage it would cause would be enormous.

Cynthia, of course, would not allow such a thing to happen.

"Garuda, use Dragon Claw."

"Ow!"

The dragon claw struck the few remaining outer steel plates with precision, and then its muscles bulged, holding the outer structure firmly.

Under the powerful force of Garchomp, the destroyer's trajectory was visibly deflected, and it flew towards the mountains outside Shuanglong City.

It was fortunate that Jero had increased the destroyer's altitude considerably in order to escape.

Otherwise, even Cynthia's Garchomp would have a hard time forcibly changing the direction of such a large ship in a short time at low altitude.

"boom!!"

A tremendous impact was heard, and the ground trembled.

Amidst the rising smoke, Tetsuya and Cynthia landed hand in hand on the ground.

"There's only one person here. It seems this place is indeed just a distraction for the Alliance."

The former's superpower was naturally to "see" the situation of the plasma team personnel inside the destroyer.

He had long memorized Geralt's portrait, but he did not see the other seven sages.

This is undoubtedly illogical.

"When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it."

Cynthia remained calm as she scrolled through the messages on her communicator. She casually remarked, "Besides, the power of a legendary Pokémon isn't so easy to covet. Ghetsis might be asking for trouble."

"Let's ask this guy what he knows first."

Tetsuya used his superpowers to pull the unconscious Jero out of the twisted metal junk.

He was too lazy to manage the other members of Team Plasma, but as one of the Seven Sages, the opponent still had considerable personal value.

It was also thanks to his special superpowers that Geralt became the only survivor on the ship.

As for the crooked and twisted limbs, Tetsuya naturally ignored them.

Anyway, compared to life, it's just a minor injury; the pain will pass after a few moments.

"Thank you both for your help."

Shaka's weathered voice came through.

He didn't look very tired after jumping off the back of the Qixi Bluebird.

After all, those small fry are just troublesome, but not difficult to deal with.

However, he was able to escape so quickly thanks to Tetsuya and Cynthia's actions.

The commotion in the air was so great that the members of Team Plasma naturally witnessed what happened and the outcome.

Without the slightest hesitation, most of them immediately chose to retreat—no one was a fool to risk their lives for Team Plasma knowing they would fail.

There are fanatics, of course, but they can't cause much of a stir.

After a brief discussion, Shaka left the scene under the pretext of stabilizing Shuanglong City.

He just came over to express his gratitude; otherwise, it would have been rather impolite.

Most importantly, it seems the two of them have other things on their minds.

"We need to go to Eindook."

Cynthia said to Tetsuya, "Dred has disappeared."

Chapter 1137 Eindook and Taking the Initiative

"Dredo has disappeared?"

Tetsuya frowned slightly as he listened to Cynthia's words.

The other party is the only Earthling member still active in Eindooc.

"Yes, just this morning—before Team Plasma attacked Twin Dragon City."

Cynthia showed Tetsuya the information on the communicator: "According to the report from the Alliance's remaining personnel, he had brief contact with unidentified individuals before he disappeared."

Moreover, he deliberately left his residence and disappeared, suggesting he was aware that the Alliance was monitoring him to some extent.

"Did he make a secret deal with Team Plasma? It seems he hasn't gained nothing from all these years in Eindooc."

"This is a bit troublesome..."

"Beep—"

Pidgeon carried the two people who were chatting into the sky and sped off towards Eindoark.

This city, located in a remote area, can be described as deserted.

If it weren't for the ancient tower-like structure known as the "Sword of the Earth" along the cliff face, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's completely deserted.

The midday sun shone on the mountains, making the mottled patterns on the tower appear somewhat blurry.

Tetsuya and Cynthia stood at the edge of the tower, listening to the report from the Alliance personnel who remained behind.

“Dred came here every day for the three days before he disappeared, and each time he would stare at the place for about ten minutes before leaving.”

"Wasn't it reported?"

Cynthia's trench coat fluttered in the wind on the cliff, putting immense pressure on the staff.

The latter was covered in sweat: "Because there was no unusual behavior, they were just staring, so..."

"'The Sword of the Earth' is the core of the ancient kingdom of the Land of the Earth."

According to records, the struggle between the black and white dragons a thousand years ago brought the entire country to the brink of collapse.

The king at the time stabilized the nation's 'dragon vein' with the help of Bictini's power, locking all the chaotic energy within the castle.

"Now you're telling me that, given the known plan of the Plasma Team to take action against Bictini, the only instance of the Earthlings' descendants in Aindook staying here at fixed times for extended periods of time is not unusual?"

Tetsuya squinted at the castle bathed in sunlight, seemingly casually asking, "Have the staff at the United States headquarters become this incompetent?"

The staff member's face turned pale, and beads of sweat on his forehead became even more concentrated.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word of explanation.

Cynthia gently shook her head, her gaze shifting from the mottled tower of the "Sword of the Earth" to the desolate valley in the distance.

"You will be held accountable."

The key question now is whether Team Plasma actually got what they wanted from Dredor.

"The energy of Victini?"

Tetsuya pondered: "Judging from the records, besides the so-called dragon vein energy, the Earth Sword most likely also contains the power of Victini."

Perhaps Dreddor mastered some method of extracting energy and then reached a cooperation or trade agreement with Team Plasma.

Has the surrounding area been re-examined? Have any signs of large equipment being moved been found?

"Not yet..." the staff member hurriedly replied, "Because the environment below is quite complex, we haven't had time to conduct a detailed investigation since we discovered Dredo's disappearance."

Tetsuya sighed helplessly.

It's fair to say that the overall strength of the United Alliance is among the lowest of all regional alliances.

This can be seen from the capabilities of the staff.

At least if they were members of the Kanto or Sinnoh League, they wouldn't seem so helpless.

"Mr. Adek is being far too complacent."

Cynthia commented, "While high-level combat power is important, as a champion, his job is not just to find a strong enough successor."

Despite being much younger than Ardek, as the current Sinnoh Champion, she naturally has the right to say that.

For a region and its trainers, the existence of the league champion not only symbolizes the highest combat power, but also serves as the cornerstone and spiritual leader for maintaining regional stability.

If the champion has lost its competitive spirit, then there is even less reason to criticize the staff below for not doing their job perfectly.

"Now, immediately mobilize all available manpower to conduct a thorough search of the area below and around the castle."

Do not overlook any subtle inconsistencies, such as tire tracks, footprints, residual energy, or unnaturally fallen vegetation.

At the same time, we need to contact the person in charge at Eindook; we need to know who Dredo contacted and what he took away—expanding the timeframe to the past month.

"Yes! I'll take care of it right away!"

The staff felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and hurriedly picked up their communicators and ran to the side to start making calls.

Do you think Dredo would really team up with Team Plasma?

Although that guy has many flaws according to intelligence data, there is no doubt that he is a fanatical descendant of the Earth People.

The destruction caused to Earthlands by the Black and White Dragons goes without saying; under these circumstances, I find it hard to understand the possibility of him cooperating with Team Plasma.

Cynthia did not answer Tetsuya's question immediately.