Chapter 113: Respectable People
Subsequently, David led the team, and the two vehicles followed the guidance of the forest Pokémon, speeding westward all the way.
This direction was actually continuously moving farther away from the Kubfu Alliance border.
As the distance increased, the danger factor of this trip would directly rise.
But not a single person in the vehicles showed any fear or hesitation.
People who become rangers mostly possess a burning passion and a simple sense of justice deep within their hearts; otherwise, it would be difficult to endure this kind of loneliness far removed from the normal world.
Even knowing the danger ahead, and that those individuals likely had no connection to Kubfu, they still drove forward without turning back, solely to uphold the promise humans had once made to the Pokémon.
Humans had once promised that the space within the reserves belonged entirely to Pokémon.
But in the beginning, this was actually more like a blank check, an attempt to get something valuable for nothing.
Because before making this promise, these places had, in fact, originally belonged to Pokémon.
And in the initial few years after humans made this promise, poaching and illegal hunting activities were still extremely rampant.
At that time, the reconciliation between humans and wild Pokémon nearly fell short at the last step, almost causing the flames of war to reignite.
It wasn't until later that the various Alliances successively established the post of ranger.
In the first few years after the war, this profession had actually once been fraught with controversy.
Many people couldn't understand why, just shortly before, they had been killing each other with reddened eyes, fighting like wildfire, yet as soon as things turned around, some people had to sacrifice their lives protecting the homes of wild Pokémon.
History books attributed the credit for the Great Reconciliation mostly to the first generation of four Elite Four members who negotiated with the Mythical Pokémon and finalized the reserve system, highly praising their benevolence, brilliance, and greatness.
But in the eyes of Arthur, who had personally experienced that history, those four individuals certainly possessed brilliance, but to speak of benevolence... that was likely a gross exaggeration.
The ones who truly guarded this hard-won peace were actually the generations of reserve rangers that followed since then.
It was they who paid with their blood and lives, curbing the rampant Pokémon poaching and theft within the reserves at that time, thereby truly earning the forgiveness of the wild Pokémon and ensuring the continuation of peace.
The prosperous era after the Great Reconciliation that most people see today has actually been protected and maintained by these individuals, one falling only for another to step forward, using their lives to safeguard it up to the present day.
This is a group of truly respectable people.
Although the kind of work they did was hard to imagine from Arthur's past wartime perspective, it didn't prevent him from admiring this team.
Carrying a certain devout conviction, David's group drove their vehicles, speeding wildly along the bumpy mountain roads for over five consecutive hours.
Midway, everyone's lunch was simply resolved within the vehicles.
They followed a small path through a valley basin, traversing this mountain range, and arrived at the rainforest on the western side of the mountains.
As the terrain gradually flattened and the humidity in the air increased, the scenery before their eyes also began to change accordingly.
Until they suddenly encountered an abrupt turning point.
"This is it! The burn marks on these trees look like they were caused by Pokémon skills. The number of native Fire-type Pokémon in the rainforest isn't large. It's very likely we've caught the tail of that group of poachers!"
David's single sentence made everyone both excited and tense.
The excitement stemmed from the fact that several hours of driving in pursuit were finally about to reach their endgame.
The tension, however, was because a fierce battle was likely unavoidable.
"Can you analyze anything?"
David asked the deputy sitting beside him in the vehicle.
The deputy pondered for a moment, then said, "It's difficult. These trees were burned very thoroughly. We can only confirm that the opponent definitely didn't use a basic skill like Ember. It must have been a higher-power advanced Fire-type skill, but specifically which one is really hard to tell."
Hearing this, David didn't insist further.
Being able to gather some information about the enemy beforehand was certainly a good thing, but even without it, they would still continue tracking them down.
Just then, Arthur, looking at some of the wood that had been completely pulverized into powder, seemed lost in thought for a moment.
Then, they continued forward.
Soon, they discovered a victim within the forest.
The first victim that appeared was a Bulbasaur.
A dual-type Grass/Poison Pokémon, its appearance simultaneously holding characteristics of both creature and plant.
Its lower body resembled that of a toad, a four-legged creature moving on the ground, yet on its back grew a large, garlic-head-like green plant bulb.
Of course, this is what a Bulbasaur in its normal state should look like.
But at this moment, the Bulbasaur that appeared before everyone's vehicles was completely different from this appearance.
Its lower body was okay, not heavily injured. But on its back, there was now only a huge wound the size of a bowl, from which red and green colored juices were continuously gurgling outwards.
And the bulb that should have been on its back was now missing without a trace.
"Damn it, those bastards!! They really are poachers!!"
Seeing this scene, David cursed loudly in anger.
In reality, Pokémon poachers are far crueler than depicted in certain parallel world anime.
Pokémon they can take away, they will certainly try various methods to take away whole. But if they truly encounter one that resists to the death, a Pokémon they simply cannot take away, they absolutely will not just give up easily.
Instead, they will deal with it on the spot, taking only the most precious and valuable parts from the Pokémon's body.
From the moment they intruded into the reserve, they had already broken the law and were not accepted by mainstream human society; their actions were naturally unscrupulous.
The Bulbasaur before them had clearly suffered their cruel hand.
"Quick! Bring the healing spray! Deputy, find a way to communicate with the Pokémon in the forest, find some styptic grass! Give me the bandages! You there, have your Igglybuff come over and use Wish!"
Wish: A Normal-type move, belonging to the relatively rare category of healing skills.
Among Pokémon skills, self-healing moves are numerous, but those capable of healing others are very rare.
Therefore, don't be fooled by the round, chubby Igglybuff currently being carried over by its master, looking weak and delicate. She was actually a key protected asset within this ranger team.
At this moment, everyone coordinated tacitly, quickly coming to the aid of this Bulbasaur that had been tragically harmed by the poachers.
Regarding this, Arthur found it difficult to help much.
Every profession has its specialty; even if he was an incredibly powerful former Elite Four member, saving the dying and healing the wounded was not his forte.
Seizing this opportunity, he instead carefully observed the wounds on the Bulbasaur's body.
There were obvious burn marks on the wounds, clearly indicating it was most likely the work of a Fire-type Pokémon.
The bulb on its back was most likely cut off using a human tool; the wound was neat, resembling a knife injury.
Besides this, there were no other traces on the Bulbasaur's body.
Does this mean the attackers consisted of only one Fire-type Pokémon and one human?
The clues were still too few.
Arthur immediately looked carefully again at the Bulbasaur's burn wounds.
Unable to participate in the rescue, the only thing he could do was try to find the culprits as quickly as possible.
The burned area was not small.
But this was heavily related to Bulbasaur's own typing being weak to Fire; the same Fire-type move would cause deeper damage when hitting a Bulbasaur, naturally resulting in a larger burn area.
However, as Arthur observed intently, he soon managed to vaguely discern—
The initial, unexpanded points of impact... seemed to all be long, narrow strips!
This seemed to be an important clue!
(End of Chapter)
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