Shiro's expression remained calm as he rapidly considered his options.
The enemy clearly understood his strength very well. They must have investigated him thoroughly beforehand.
Judging from the way the man addressed him, he was most likely a member of the Hunters Guild… very possibly Hunter A himself.
As for the woman beside him, Shiro was unsure of her identity, but she was definitely his accomplice. The two had actually disguised themselves as a married couple and patiently waited for him to return Mesprit.
The most troublesome part was the woman. Her disguise had been perfect. Back at the restaurant, there had not been the slightest flaw.
The enemy was hidden while he stood exposed. If they fought head-on, his chances of winning were far too low.
Right now, the best option was actually to crush the crystal, teleport to Mesprit's side, and awaken it for help.
With Mesprit's power, dealing with these two would absolutely not be a problem. Otherwise, they would not have waited until now to make their move.
As he thought, Shiro tightened his grip around the crystal in his pocket and slowly stepped backward.
"Champion Shiro..." Bella smiled sweetly. "You're thinking about running, aren't you? Would you like to reconsider? Otherwise this little thing is going to lose her life."
In her hand, she tightly gripped Anna's neck.
The little girl shrank back. Her pale face trembled as she stammered, "M-Mom... I will listen—"
"Shut up!" Bella coldly snapped, though the smile on her face never changed. With one hand, she lifted the girl into the air.
Anna clutched at her throat while her legs kicked helplessly. Tears quickly filled her eyes.
Shiro watched indifferently.
When Unown P attacked him earlier, he had seen the little girl willingly run back to them. Everything happening now had already been within his expectations.
Hunters were people who would use any means necessary to achieve their goals.
It's just… using their own daughter to threaten someone felt absurdly ridiculous.
Out here in the wilderness, Shiro was not some shining righteous hero of the League.
He continued retreating while Corviknight in the air and Drakloak ahead of him slowly moved back as well.
Looking at the situation, perhaps he did not even need to crush the crystal. If he could find an opening to retreat toward Lake Verity, he might still have a chance to awaken Mesprit...
'Don't go! Shiro! Don't leave!' Unown A shouted desperately from the sky.
Meanwhile, Bella loosened her grip. Anna dropped to the ground and gasped violently for air.
"W! Take one more step back and I'll cut off one of her fingers."
Alfred had no intention of ordering Zweilous to pursue. Instead, he grabbed the little girl's hand and revealed a savage grin.
He could already impatiently imagine the child's horrifying screams.
See? This was what the League was really like. The glorious League trainers would abandon a child and flee… leaving behind only a corpse and screams.
'Shiro!' Unown A's voice was almost becoming a scream itself.
No matter what, it could not accept such a scene happening. It could not even imagine it.
"..."
Shiro stopped walking.
Sometimes he regretted that he could not become a truly cold-blooded villain. At the same time, he also felt helpless… because he could not become some self-sacrificing hero either.
But now, the best choice was clearly to retreat immediately.
Not only was the enemy extremely powerful, but they also had absolutely no moral limits. If he did not run now, there was a high chance he would end up trapped here.
As for that little girl?
At the end of the day, she was still their daughter. What parents chose to do with their own child was not something an outsider like him could interfere with.
Regardless of what decision he made, there would always be some excuse to justify it.
Shiro's mental state was incredibly steady. He did not waver at all as he quietly planned his escape route.
"Champion Shiro, hurry and leave already. Once all ten of Anna's fingers are cut off, I'll weave them into little finger sleeves and toss them into Lake Verity..." Bella gently persuaded him using the same soft voice as before.
Shiro remained unmoved.
Did they really think they could threaten him with a little girl he had only known for a short time?
Yet Unown A had already become frantic. It desperately wanted to charge forward and fight while screaming, 'Save her! Shiro! Save her!'
How?
Shiro could only remain silent.
When even his own survival was uncertain, risking his life to save a child...
He had never been that kind of person.
Yet somehow he had been thrown into this world. The kind of Galarian Spikemuth even stray dogs would not want to stay in. A chaotic Pokémon world where even mosquitoes would get sucked dry before they could leave.
All he wanted was to survive.
Was that really so difficult?
Shiro never considered himself a saint. Even if he truly wanted to help others, he needed to first ensure his own safety and have the ability and conditions to do so.
But under the current circumstances, he simply could not save that girl.
Right then, Alfred's eyes suddenly narrowed.
A perfect opportunity!
At the same moment, he threw out another Poké Ball and shouted, "Zweilous! Chandelure!"
The instant his voice rang out, the dark twin-headed dragon began roaring wildly, making the entire forest seem to tremble.
Purple ghostly flames burst forth within a second and rapidly spread up the slope from below. An eerie crystal chandelier suddenly appeared before vanishing again, yet the surrounding air had already turned deathly cold.
"Corviknight, Air Cutter! Drakloak, Dragon Pulse!" Shiro abruptly snapped back to focus and shouted urgently.
Pitch-black Dark Pulse collided against azure Dragon Pulse. The ghostly purple flames were sliced into countless fragments by Air Cutter before being blown apart into the air.
Zweilous appeared completely fearless. The moment it unleashed Dark Pulse, it immediately charged forward and tangled with Drakloak midair.
On the other side, Chandelure controlled its Will-O-Wisp flames and pursued Corviknight.
This Chandelure was Lv58, Elite-level. Its Fire typing also directly countered Corviknight's Steel typing.
With both a level advantage and type advantage stacked together, Corviknight could only rely on its slightly superior speed to barely survive.
"Too slow. You can't escape anymore!"
Alfred roared violently, bloodshot veins filling his eyes as he threw yet another Poké Ball.
"Garchomp!"
Dust exploded upward as the dark blue land shark spread its blade-like claws and flew toward the upper slope.
BOOM!
A massive earthen wall rose from the ground. The grass was ripped away and transformed into muddy earth, sealing every possible path of escape.
Most importantly, this Garchomp's strength was at Champion-level!
Even simply standing in the rear, its oppressive aura alone would make ordinary trainers' legs go weak.
By now, Shiro was completely surrounded from both front and back.
Alfred already considered victory certain.
According to the intelligence they gathered, Shiro no longer possessed any Pokémon stronger than Gym-level. As for the rest of his Pokémon, unless they had special abilities, releasing them would simply amount to throwing away lives.
Today, not only would they eliminate a rising League prodigy, they would also capture two Unown!
However, out of caution, Alfred still did not order Garchomp to attack directly.
Because intelligence could never completely uncover all of an opponent's hidden cards.
After all, Shiro had come from Galar. He might still possess some high-tech equipment from Macro Cosmos. If he made one wrong move and his Pokémon were injured because of it, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Capturing the Unown and dealing with Shiro were merely missions handed down from above.
As a hunter, Alfred possessed absolutely no spirit of self-sacrifice.
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