Chapter 56
Gengar watched Beedrill hovering in front of Mike, his long stingers raised as he faced Salamence head-on.
Then Gengar slowly slipped backward into the darkness nearby.
Salamence stared at the Beedrill taking an offensive stance against him.
The pseudo-legendary could actually sense a faint threat from the Bug-type Pokémon, and that only made him even more furious.
Salamence opened his enormous jaws and unleashed Flamethrower.
Beedrill’s figure flickered repeatedly through the night sky, skimming along the edge of the flames as he rapidly closed the distance between them.
The moment he reached Salamence’s underside, he drove one of his stingers upward.
"ROAR!"
The pain from Poison Jab made Salamence bellow in fury. Both his wings glowed white as he swung them toward Beedrill.
After landing his attack, Beedrill used Agility to evade Salamence’s strikes.
He circled the dragon’s body, repeatedly slashing him with his stingers.
Fury Cutter.
Fury Cutter.
Fury Cutter!
Each successful hit increased Fury Cutter’s power.
Even though Beedrill’s body was covered in wounds, his wings were scorched, and the stinger on his abdomen had bent, he continued attacking through sheer determination, carving one injury after another across Salamence’s body.
’So what if you’re a Dragon type?’
’So what if I’m a Bug type?’
’Mike said Bug-type Pokémon can be strong too!’
’If Kricketune can defeat Hydreigon, why can’t a Beedrill defeat Salamence?’
Beedrill vaguely remembered something Mike had once said.
A brave knight would pierce the darkness to protect the weak.
Mike had called him a brave knight.
Mike believed he would protect those weaker than himself.
’Bug type, Dragon type—none of that matters!’
’I’m not afraid!’
’Take this Fury Cutter!’
Beedrill raised his trembling stinger and slashed hard across Salamence’s stomach.
"ROAR!"
Salamence swatted Beedrill away with one wing, completely losing control of his rage as terrifying flames began gathering inside his mouth.
Beedrill’s body plummeted toward the ground.
He looked up at the growing fire inside Salamence’s jaws and grinned.
’Boss... I’ll leave the rest to you...’
Beneath the moon, Gengar suddenly appeared in midair behind Salamence.
His crimson eyes were ice-cold as Fairy-type energy gathered between his hands.
Salamence abruptly turned his head and met Gengar’s red gaze, panic flashing through his eyes.
’When did he get behind me?!’
Gengar said nothing.
Dazzling Gleam shot directly toward Salamence’s back!
Whoosh!
Gengar twisted aside to avoid an incoming attack, causing Dazzling Gleam to miss its original target and strike only Salamence’s wing.
The super-effective attack still made Salamence roar in pain.
He spat Flamethrower at Gengar, who gritted his teeth and endured the flames before retreating to a safer distance.
Gengar looked down and saw Hunter J pointing her damaged launcher at him.
Glameow had already broken it, and the shot appeared to have missed.
"Damn it!"
Hunter J turned her head and spotted Snivy standing atop a nearby tree.
A vine extended from Snivy’s neck and wrapped around Hunter J’s wrist, pulling her aim aside and ruining her final petrification shot.
"Salamence, come get me!"
Salamence immediately descended, caught Hunter J, and carried her back into the air.
Hunter J clutched the right arm that had taken Glameow’s Iron Tail head-on.
The throbbing pain from her swollen wrist pushed her anger closer and closer to the breaking point.
"You seem to know quite a lot about me."
She looked down at Mike and forced the words through her anger.
"A little." Mike answered in a low voice.
Hunter J knew he had to understand her extremely well.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hidden two Pokémon from the start specifically to destroy the petrification launcher on her arm.
He also wouldn’t have ordered Gengar to hide inside his shadow, where her goggles couldn’t detect him.
Before Hunter J could continue, her phone rang.
She answered it, and a deep voice immediately came from the other end.
"My people are already waiting at Lake Acuity. How are things on your side?"
"I know. I’ll be there soon," Hunter J replied coldly.
The person seemed to notice the anger in her voice.
"I hope you remember what I hired you to do. The people are already in place, so please hurry. The Sinnoh League will realize something is wrong very soon."
"And please don’t bring any unexpected complications with you. Thank you."
The call ended.
Hunter J clicked her tongue, then looked down at Mike and finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Who exactly are you? I’m certain we’ve never met, so why do you know so much about me?"
Mike gave a cold laugh.
He raised his hands as though framing a photograph, then pressed an imaginary shutter.
"Just a passing photographer. Thanks."
Hunter J glared down at him through gritted teeth.
With her strength, defeating Mike should have been easy.
Instead, because she had underestimated him, he had caught her off guard once—
No, several times.
He looked weak and harmless on the surface, like someone who could be dealt with however she pleased.
She hadn’t expected him to be dirtier than anyone else once a fight began.
Hunter J glanced at her swollen wrist, then lowered her gaze toward Mike again.
A badly wounded Beedrill hovered above him.
Snivy stood on the treetop to his right, watching her closely.
Glameow remained hidden in the shadows to his left, completely silent.
What made her most cautious, however, was the shadow behind him.
The owner of those crimson eyes had already slipped back inside it, leaving only that cold gaze visible.
What a shame.
She wouldn’t be able to capture such an intelligent, powerful Gengar with terrifying reflexes tonight.
A Pokémon like that would have sold for a very high price.
"I’ll remember you," Hunter J said. "I’m sure we’ll meet again, as long as that Gengar remains by your side."
With that, she turned Salamence around and left without looking back.
As for Ariados and Drapion, they were nothing more than disposable tools to her.
Only after confirming that Hunter J and Salamence were truly gone did Mike finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It was then that he realized his entire back was soaked in sweat.
At least his legs hadn’t gone weak this time.
Traveling really was dangerous!
While Mike was thinking about that, the buzzing of wings reached his ears.
He looked up at the battered Beedrill.
Beedrill hovered slightly above and in front of him, holding his head high and staring at Mike without speaking.
The human and Pokémon looked at each other beneath the night sky.
The surroundings were so quiet that not a single Pokémon made a sound—mostly because the earlier battle had frightened them all away.
Glameow emerged from the shadows and settled on a tree branch, watching Mike and Beedrill curiously.
Just as she wondered when Mike would finally speak, he raised his left hand, clenched it into a fist, and held it out.
Beedrill didn’t hesitate.
He extended one stinger and gently touched it against Mike’s fist.
"Thank you, Beedrill." Mike spoke softly.
"And congratulations."
Beedrill said nothing.
He merely gave a calm nod.
Seeing that, Mike finally broke into a wide smile.
After laughing for a moment, he said, "Great heroes are always quiet and aloof, right?"
Beedrill remained silent and calmly nodded again.
"So how does it feel to become a brave knight?"
Beedrill hesitated.
A faint buzzing accompanied the beating of his wings.
"Bee..."
[It hurts...]
That single answer made Mike, Gengar, and the others burst out laughing again.
Mike already knew what kind of personality Beedrill would have from now on.
He was going to act stoic while secretly being far more expressive than he wanted anyone to know!