Chapter 170: Connections on Both Sides of the Law
The video continued playing.
Seeing his men fall one after another and all their equipment reduced to scrap metal, the bald, one-eyed man’s expression darkened.
He pulled a communicator from inside his coat and pressed a button.
Ten seconds later, the roar of engines came from the forest.
Four modified off-road vehicles burst through the trees with their doors flung wide open. More than a dozen additional poachers jumped out, each holding a Poké Ball.
Miori frowned slightly.
They had reinforcements.
This was becoming troublesome.
"Get them, brothers!"
The bald, one-eyed man waved his arm again.
"Throw out every Pokémon you have! There’s no way we can’t defeat one little girl!"
More than a dozen bursts of red light appeared simultaneously.
Over a dozen Dark-type Pokémon of various species emerged in the clearing, surrounding Miori and Zeraora.
"Fine. Since you’ve decided to fight dirty..."
Miori reached for a Poké Ball at her waist.
"Then don’t blame me for getting serious too."
Before she could finish, an urgent scream suddenly came from behind her.
Miori whipped around, her pupils contracting.
While the main battle held everyone’s attention, three poachers had circled around the battlefield and approached the waterfall from the side.
Their target was the Pokémon inside the cavern.
"Not good!"
Miori attempted to retreat and intercept them, but more than a dozen Dark-type Pokémon attacked simultaneously, preventing her from breaking through quickly.
That brief delay was enough.
The three poachers rushed through the waterfall.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Flint]: What the hell?! Those three sneaky bastards launched a surprise attack!
[Volkner]: They couldn’t win head-on, so they tried to backdoor the base?! What a bunch of sore losers!!
[Bianca]: Those Pokémon haven’t fully recovered yet! They’re in no condition to battle!
[Nurse Joy]: Miori only just managed to rebuild their trust in humans. If they’re harmed again now...
[Gary]: Trust can be destroyed in a single second, but rebuilding it can take an extremely long time.
[Ash]: But Miori and Zeraora are both being held back! What are they supposed to do?!
[Brock]: The scene changed. Wait, the Pokémon that just flew out is...
The scene changed.
An exceptionally powerful roar erupted from within the cavern.
The three poachers were sent flying out through the waterfall as though they had been struck by a truck, crashing heavily onto the ground.
A dark figure then smashed through the curtain of water and emerged behind them.
Hydreigon.
Its body had grown far larger than before its evolution. With all six wings spread, its wingspan exceeded five meters, and the edges of every scale gleamed coldly beneath the light.
"It evolved?"
Miori blinked before planting both hands on her hips.
"I knew it. All those Pokéblocks I fed you weren’t wasted after all."
The bald, one-eyed man’s face turned green.
"H-Hydreigon?! There was something like that inside?!"
"Boss, none of us has any Pokémon left. What do we do now?"
The short, fat poacher leaned toward him.
"We retreat!!!"
The bald man slapped the back of his head.
"Do you have a death wish?! Run!!"
The remaining poachers scrambled toward the off-road vehicles, stumbling over one another as they fled.
Miori stood atop a rock with her arms folded, her green wig fluttering in the night wind.
"You think you can escape?"
She extended one finger toward the four vehicles.
"Hydreigon, use Dragon Rush."
Hydreigon violently flapped all six of its wings.
Its entire body transformed into a dark-purple meteor as it dived from the sky. Dragon-type energy gathered around it, forming the enormous silhouette of a dragon’s head.
Boom—!
Dragon Rush struck all four vehicles head-on.
They tumbled through the air like toys before crashing into the rocks ten meters away and exploding into balls of fire.
One second.
Total destruction.
The bald, one-eyed man stood motionless, staring at his beloved fleet as it became a pile of scrap metal.
His lips trembled several times, but he couldn’t produce a single word.
"What’s wrong?"
Miori jumped down from the rock and walked up to him.
"Champion Alder, would you like to continue?"
The bald man dropped to his knees with a thud.
"I was wrong! I was genuinely wrong! L-Lord N, please spare me!"
"You believe me now?"
"I believe you! I believe you!"
The bald man nodded so furiously that his head resembled a pestle pounding garlic.
"If you say you’re the leader of Team Plasma, then you’re the leader of Team Plasma! If you said you were Lance himself, I’d believe that too!"
Miori nodded in satisfaction.
She then took out her communicator and called Officer Jenny.
"Hello? Officer Jenny? There’s a group of poachers in the valley north of Route 4. Yes, please come here and take them away."
She ended the call.
"W-wait!"
The bald man raised one hand.
"Aren’t you Team Plasma’s leader?! Why are you handing us over to Officer Jenny?!"
Miori looked down at him and revealed an exceptionally brilliant smile.
"Because I have connections on both sides of the law~"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Valerie]: Is "I have connections on both sides of the law" really something you should say so openly?! And she said it with such a brilliant smile!!
[Skyla]: Hahahahahahaha! Miori, are you trying to make me laugh myself to death so you can inherit my Gym?!!!
[Diantha]: In a certain sense, she’s telling the truth. She genuinely is Team Plasma’s deputy captain, and she genuinely is the former Leader of Nimbasa Gym.
[Lt. Surge]: Looking at it that way, she may have taken on a ridiculous number of jobs, but none of that work was wasted. She has influence everywhere.
[Lucian]: She thrives in every position she holds. She certainly possesses a remarkable talent for it.
[Korrina]: Miori: As long as I have enough secret identities, no one will ever catch the real me.
The video continued playing.
Three weeks later—
Miori and Zeraora sat side by side on a rock outside the cavern, with Hydreigon lying nearby.
All the Pokémon inside had completely recovered and returned to the wild one after another.
"Everyone recovered."
Miori smiled.
"That’s wonderful."
Zeraora’s ears twitched as it released a low purr.
Miori remained silent for a moment before rising to her feet.
"Now that everyone else has left, what do the two of you plan to do?"
Hydreigon immediately reached forward and touched its head against the Poké Ball at Miori’s waist.
Its body transformed into red light and was drawn inside.
The Poké Ball didn’t even shake.
It immediately released a clear ding.
"...You could at least pretend to hesitate."
Miori didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Zeraora watched what happened and released another low purr.
Miori took out another Poké Ball and held it in front of Zeraora.
"What about you? Do you want to stay here and spend every day sunbathing, catching fish, and sleeping..."
"Or will you come with me?"
Zeraora lowered its head and looked at the red-and-white ball.
It then raised its gaze toward Miori’s face.
Finally, it extended one paw and pressed the button at the center of the Poké Ball itself.
Red light flashed.
Zeraora was drawn inside.
The Poké Ball shook gently once before producing a crisp ding.
A brilliant smile immediately appeared on Miori’s face.
"I’m looking forward to traveling with you, Zeraora."