Chapter 116: Terri Seeks Reinforcements

The sudden turn of events startled Houndoom and Dusclops.

They stared blankly at the trainer who had fallen to the ground, and at the enemy's Pokémon and the enemy himself, who had likewise plummeted and crashed onto Weezing's body, their minds instantly turning utterly muddled.

What was going on?

Where on earth had the enemy popped out from?

"Ao!" "Yami!"

Panic made the two Pokémon unthinkingly choose to support their trainer, but doing so while they were already locked in a standoff with the enemy was the same as giving the opponent an opening.

In an instant—

The fallen Mawile ignored the Weavile whose body was slowly swelling as it struggled to pry open its massive jaws, and swung its small fist wreathed in a brownish-red glow straight down, delivering a vicious strike to Houndoom's side!

Power-Up Punch!

Peng!

"Aoaoao—"

Houndoom snapped awake, screaming as it was sent flying backward, rolling several times across the ground before being unable to stand up for the moment.

It could not help but smile, urging flames to rise between the lips and teeth of its massive jaws, and struck the growing Weavile once more.

"Dile—!"

Weavile howled in agony.

Mawile turned a deaf ear and walked straight toward Houndoom.

It remembered what All Baimu had once told it—canine Pokémon all shared one trait: 【Iron Head, Iron Bones, Tofu Waist】. Just like striking a snake at its seven-inch mark, a heavy blow to the waist joint would leave any ordinary canine Pokémon unable to bear it.

That was what a critical hit was all about.

Looking at it now, what All Baimu had said was indeed correct.

On the other side—

Aggron's jet-black giant tail, as thick as a person's embrace, shrouded in a silver halo, tore through the air like a whip and slammed brutally into Dusclops!

Boom!

The metallic energy exploded like thunder; how could Dusclops possibly withstand such a ferocious strike? It was smashed straight into a large pile of rocks nearby and did not move.

"Roar—!"

Aggron bellowed at the sky, the stifling frustration brought on by provocation instantly swept away.

Seeing that all three Pokémon had been dealt with, Girad—who had been pinned under All Baimu's knee and had only just barely caught his breath—wore an expression of disbelief.

He never imagined that he would capsize in a ditch like this, taken down by some greenhorn kid.

If only he had looked up earlier—how wonderful that would have been?

If only…

"Explosion!"

Girad screamed hysterically, and the Weezing beside him suddenly blazed with incandescent white light, terrifying energy surging ceaselessly within, about to detonate completely in an instant.

But before Weezing's Explosion could succeed, a flash of blue light suddenly enveloped it, and it was flung helplessly into the distance like a hand grenade!

And over there, a great many Hound Pack members who had heard the explosion and come rushing over to provide support had just arrived.

Boom—!

A miniature mushroom cloud rose slowly; the Hound Pack members and their Pokémon screamed as they were blasted flying in all directions, and Girad, utterly despairing, rolled his eyes and passed out.

He had already been badly injured from the fall from a great height, and now, with rage and frustration overwhelming him, he could hold on no longer.

All Baimu removed Poké Balls from his body, recalled Houndoom and the other Pokémon one by one, and under the pitch-black night sky, amid the bright firelight, let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally took them down."

Drenched in sweat, he rolled his shoulders, smiled at the Chansey beside him, and said, "You really can take a hit now."

"Lucky~"

The Chansey, which had used the evolution stone to transform into a super-hard egg, let out a cheerful cry and bounded off happily to restore Mawile's and Aggron's stamina.

Falling from such a great height—even with Weezing and Chansey as cushions—the force of the rebound still made him feel rather uncomfortable.

Fortunately, his physical conditioning was tough enough; after resting a while, there was no major issue.

Compared to him, Girad was far more miserable.

Fractures were inevitable, but he didn't know exactly how many. All Baimu pried open Girad's eyes and mouth, then lifted his clothing; after confirming there should be no internal bleeding points, he nodded in satisfaction.

A living executive was always more useful than a dead one; the situation now was entirely different from fighting Takeshi at the Charity Conference.

"Good work, all of you."

All Baimu looked at the three Pokémon gathered around him, handed Girad over to Aggron to carry, and prepared to go search for Cheng Hong and the others, whose whereabouts were unknown.

The Hound Pack had sent over two hundred people. Although the recent explosion had taken down quite a few, it had also drawn even greater attention.

There was no telling whether the next executive was already on the way; he had to hurry—

Boom—!

An explosion far more terrifying than the previous one rose from the horizon. The enormous mushroom cloud and firelight shooting into the sky lit up the night, and All Baimu's face showed astonishment.

He recalled that over there was where many of the confiscated large machines were stored—had those things been blown up?

No, that wasn't right.

This should be—

All Baimu furrowed his brow. The thick, acrid smell of gunpowder and the lingering firelight, combined with the even noisier clamor around him, made him realize this explosion must have been caused by some kind of explosive.

The Hound Pack's objective was actually to destroy the confiscated goods—were they trying to smash their own rice bowl?

What a bunch of lunatics.

He hurried toward a guard post, with Aggron carrying Girad following behind him like a loyal guard.

Little did he expect—

He had expected to run into one or two more Hound Squad members along the way and be forced into another fight or two, but the journey went so smoothly that he reached the first guard outpost without incident.

And inside the outpost happened to be exactly the people he was looking for — Cheng Hong and the others.

When he drew near, that fellow Cheng Hong even flinched hard and yanked his head back in.

It took a good two or three seconds before, through his Bouffalant, he realized it was their squad leader, and he hurriedly ran out from inside, shouting as he came.

"Baimu! Don't attack! It's me!"

"You little—"

Baimu glanced around. "What are you yelling for? Not scared enough of drawing the enemy over?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Cheng Hong apologized in a hurry, then noticed the Girafarig Bouffalant was carrying. "And this is?"

"A Hound Squad officer. Don't know his name. He's only got half a breath left, but in this state, we can not only pin the blame on him, we can claim credit for it."

He clapped Cheng Hong on the shoulder. "Is everyone all right?"

"We're fine. Big Sis Terri is super strong — those Hound Squad members were no match for her at all, she beat them one after another." Cheng Hong said excitedly.

Then.

Baimu caught sight of the dozen-plus Hound Squad members trussed up inside the outpost, including two squad leaders among them.

"Oho."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, then looked at the other people inside the outpost — apart from his own squad members, there were a few Quicksand members he didn't really know. "Where's Terri?"

loubiqu.

"Big Sis Terri went to support Lady Ayana. We got it out of these prisoners that the Hound Squad sent three officers this time, and Big Sis Terri was worried Lady Ayana would be attacked by three… ah no, two officers at once."

Cheng Hong said with a sheepish grin.

"I see."

Baimu nodded and said, "In that case… you lot come with me now, I've got a mission for you."

"…Yes!"

Cheng Hong and the others answered in unison, but the other Quicksand members stepped forward and said, "Captain Baimu, Captain Terri ordered us to hold position at the outpost — I'm afraid we can't go with you."

The other Quicksand members nodded one after another.

"…All right." Seeing how firm they were, Baimu didn't press the matter.

If possible, he had actually wanted to save those few people as well, just going with the flow.

He hadn't expected them to still choose to hold their post… He couldn't very well come out and say he was planning to slip away, could he? In that case, forget it.

To avoid any unnecessary complications, Baimu said no more.

First get Cheng Hong and the others out, then decide — whether to go support Lady Ayana, or rescue everyone who needed rescuing and have the whole lot of them abandon this mine and make a clean getaway.

Thinking this.

A thick wave of killing intent suddenly swept in from behind.

Baimu's heart clenched and he whipped his head around — there stood Terri at the doorway, covered head to toe in blood, gasping for breath.

Beside her was a Pokémon that looked rather strange — like a shrub trunk that had taken on a human shape, lost its roots, and grown legs, with three green spheres held aloft in each hand—

Sudowoodo.

"Baimu, why are you back?" Terri seemed genuinely puzzled, her tall frame propped up by the Sudowoodo beside her.

In the dim firelight, Baimu could see the wounds on the Sudowoodo — it must have been through a fierce fight of its own.

"But you've come at just the right time. I need you to go check on Lady Ayana for me, Baimu."

She said in a heavy tone.