Chapter 13: At the brink of Death
"Let's go!" Floyd swiftly picked up Dratini in his arms while Horsea jumped onto his head. Grabbing his backpack, Floyd immediately ran away, with Axew silently following a few meters behind him. This was their usual strategy when facing opponents; Axew would hide a few meters away, digging and waiting for Floyd's instructions. The two shared a tacit understanding of how this would work.
The woman with Swablu followed Suzuki, who had run away earlier, and she was followed by the young man. To be honest, the young man had planned to snatch the Pokémon even the day before, but a lingering feeling kept him hesitant, like a premonition not to do it.
Now, he realized he was right; that guy wasn't a normal human at all. Watching him battle with that small beast earlier had been a shock, as if a closed door had suddenly opened to him. A tacit understanding between humans and beasts.
He remembered the context of the flyers from Kanraku. A harmony between human and beast. It seemed he had witnessed a possibility of it and was even witnessing history in the making.
Perhaps he could…
In fact, he wasn't the only one thinking about this.
Jonathan had already arrived before the conflict started and had silently watched them from afar. A few minutes later, he witnessed a shocking scene that blew his mind. The flyers, the harmony between human and beast, came back to him.
Thinking about this, he became resolute and made a decision.
He wanted to join.
He wanted to see it, to become a pioneer for the future of humanity!
Who would expect that a young master like Jonathan, who didn't even care about the lives of Pokémon, would suddenly think about this now?
Imagining fighting side by side with the beasts at his house (Rhyhorn) against enemies, defeating any opponent that obstructed them. Thinking about this made the young hot blood inside him boil. He wanted this too. "I will go to Kanraku-san!" he thought.
But there was a problem; reinforcements were coming, and he needed to hide. If they happened to see him…
Fortunately, he was a bit far from the actual scene, and he could hide safely.
…
As Floyd ran, he noticed the Pokémon around him. What puzzled him was that these creatures didn't attack but kept hiding near him. It seemed they were afraid, especially when people were chasing him. It was reminiscent of what had occurred the day before. Could it be… Were these the same Pokémon that appeared yesterday? But what were they doing here?
"Here he is!" someone shouted.
Whiing! A rocket-propelled grenade was launched towards him.
"Shit!" Floyd immediately jumped back.
Boom!
"Cough!"
Although Floyd wasn't directly hit, he was still affected by the explosion; his ears were ringing, but it was only temporary before his hearing returned to normal. Had it been an average human, they would have been severely injured or even killed.
"Kill him!" One of the men pointed his automatic rifle at Floyd.
"Axew!"
Axew employed his usual tactic, using the Dig Move for a sneak attack.
"Ah!" screamed the man holding the automatic rifle.
"First Impression!"
Another man received Axew's attack.
Peng, Peng, Peng, Peng
A sudden gun shot coming towards him
Axew used his claw to shield himself, but he still took some hits.
"Claw!" With Floyd's command, Axew immediately unleashed Dragon Claw.
On Floyd's side, he had already recovered from the impact and was sprinting from tree to tree, trying to confuse his opponents. His Dragon Power had been significantly consumed, and if his fitness was originally comparable to four times that of an average person, it was now improved to five times.
With his speed, he quickly closed the distance to his opponent and struck with his claw. Though it wasn't a Dragon Claw move, his current strength was enough to knock out an opponent with one hit. He then recklessly rushed towards two more people like a wild fighter.
Floyd wasn't versed in martial arts, so he imitated some of Axew's moves when fighting. Another enemy appeared near him, and Dratini used Extreme Speed to knock out the adversary.
Another individual took a shot at him, and Floyd quickly dodged behind a tree.
He felt helpless in this situation, as if he were fighting an infinite number of mobs. The people coming seemed endless.
It appeared that his presence here had been carefully planned by them— otherwise, where all these people have come from?
Another rocket-propelled grenade came towards him.
Caught off guard for a moment, Floyd still managed to escape, but the impact affected him again, causing temporary hearing loss. When his hearing returned, he felt movement on his back.
He had been caught off guard. A man was holding a rifle to his back, about to pull the trigger, when a Water Gun shot him.
"Pu!"
"Horsea~" Horsea, on his head, looked at him, seeming to ask worriedly if he was okay.
Floyd felt relieved to have another little ally on his side but had no time to rest.
He immediately stood up and ran away. Dratini, reaching his shoulder, felt a bit exhausted. Floyd also encountered Axew, who had bruises on his hands and body. Floyd felt worried, but there was no time to hesitate; they had to run.
As they ran, many hunters appeared on each side, surrounding him, guns drawn, and firing towards him.
Shit!
Floyd cursed loudly, feeling a huge crisis. Unsure of what to do, he activated his full Dragon Power to protect Horsea, Dratini, and Axew.
However, his Pokémon were unwilling, especially Axew, who rejected his hand and jumped forward, ready to receive the attack. Horsea felt the same. Despite having met Floyd only a few weeks ago, she already considered him as family. Tearfully, she also jumped to protect him.
Dratini also wanted to struggle but, compared to his elder brother and elder sister, he was almost exhausted and couldn't break free from Floyd's grasp.
Just when Floyd thought all was lost, a strong dragon energy inside him flowed through Axew and Horsea.
Shocked and desperate, When Floyd thought this gonna be the end, he shouted, "NO!"
Ting Ting Ting Ting! Ting Ting Ting Ting!
Horsea and Axew spun around, deflecting each bullet.
Dragon Dance!
In this unexpected crisis, Axew had managed to learn Dragon Dance.
"What?" "How?" The people surrounding him gaped in shock.
"Again, Fire!" "Snatch the beasts!" "Use RPG!"
This time, even Rocket Propelled Grenades were used.
Although Horsea and even Axew, the one who unexpectedly learned Dragon Dance, managed to use it, they were still surrounded.
Damn it!
Floyd felt desperate. He looked at these people with anger, swearing that if he survived, he would take them down one by one. But the reality was, he and his Pokémon were helpless.
"FIRE!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four RPGs were fired from each side, leaving no blind spot for Floyd to escape.
PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!
Just when Floyd thought it was the end, suddenly, four shots of water deflected the RPGs.
"Shit!" "What is that?"
Floyd saw what happened and looked at Horsea, but it seemed impossible.
He then looked back to find the source and saw a middle-aged man in his 30s, dressed in long sleeves and slacks, with a huge blue turtle at his side. Alongside him were Suzuki Akiko with her Wartortle, the woman with the Swablu, and the young man.
"Amazing! A beast protected a human! Partner, did you see it? Oh my God, it actually happened in front of my eyes. I knew it! My goal is true! Harmony between humans and beasts is possible!" Kanraku spoke excitedly in his native language to Blastoise.
Professor Kanraku Hiroshi had appeared.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone