After Hazel recalled Nidoqueen into her Poké Ball, she finally turned to take a serious look at her savior.
First impression: Tall and pretty handso.
Second impression: Familiar—like she had seen him sowhere before, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rember where.
Then she saw the silver-white tagross floating beside Julian, and a na suddenly burst into her mind.
"You’re Julian!"
Hazel blurted it out without thinking.
Julian sighed. "You only just recognized ?"
He felt a little depressed. He had thought his na was well-known throughout Drakoria, but this woman only figured out who he was after seeing tagross.
Not that it was her fault.
As a Ranger, Hazel spent most of her ti in the wilderness, where the signal was poor and outside news rarely reached her. Even work-related communications were handled through satellite phone calls.
She had only learned about Julian a while ago when she was on break at ho, scrolling through TikTok. That was when she found out that Drakoria had such an incredible rising star.
At that ti, she had even marveled at how young he was.
She never imagined that not only would she get to et him in person, but he would also be the one to save her—and Nidoqueen—at the most critical mont.
Julian gestured toward the group of poachers.
"What are you going to do with these guys?"
From their well-equipped gear, it was obvious they were repeat offenders—the kind who had probably taken lives before.
There was a difference between Pokémon Hunters and Poachers. The forr were legal professionals, hired to capture specific Pokémon through lawful ans—though so did operate in gray areas.
Poachers, on the other hand, were completely illegal. Their brutal thods often resulted in Pokémon dying during capture.
And unlike hunters, who targeted specific Pokémon, poachers often wiped out entire populations at once.
In fact, part of the reason so Pokémon species had beco so rare was because of them.
"I’ll call it in and have the higher-ups send a team," Hazel replied. "These guys are done for."
Hazel walked up to the muscular man, whose body was still completely locked in place by tagross’s psychic control. The only thing he could move was his eyes.
BAM!
Julian instinctively pressed his legs together.
Because he just watched Hazel deliver a full-force kick to the guy’s groin.
The impact was so vicious that the man’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
Julian wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, but for a split second, he swore he heard the sound of sothing cracking.
tagross: 'This woman is ruthless.'
Only after that kick did Hazel take out her satellite phone and call for backup.
A few minutes later, Hazel hung up the phone and walked toward Julian—but as she got closer, Julian instinctively took a few steps back.
"Ahem, just stay right there," Julian said awkwardly, motioning for her to stop.
That kick just now had left him traumatized.
As a man, he actually felt a little sorry for the poacher.
Hazel’s face flushed slightly, realizing her actions had been a bit too rough. But when she rembered how close Nidoqueen had been to dying, the anger flared up again.
She turned back toward the muscle man, who could do nothing but watch in despair.
BAM!
Julian winced. "That hurts."
The poacher, however, passed out in blissful unconsciousness.
That "hurts" wasn’t for himself—it was on behalf of the muscular man.
Hazel dusted off her hands. "Julian, can you please stay here for a bit? I can’t handle all these guys alone. I already called it in—other Rangers will be here soon."
This ti, Hazel made sure to keep her distance, and stayed five ters away from Julian.
"Sure." Julian nodded.
At this mont, he was genuinely shocked by this fierce woman.
Then he watched as Hazel went over to the poachers’ Poké Balls and released the Scyther trapped inside.
"Scythe!"
"Scythe!"
The mont they erged, the Scyther imdiately took fighting stances, looking around vigilantly.
Scyther were known as natural-born warriors, possessing exceptional combat awareness and keen instincts.
If the poachers hadn’t used specially crafted tranquilizers, capturing them would have cost them so serious casualties.
"It’s okay now. You’re all safe," Hazel quickly reassured them.
She had been working with these Scyther for over two years, and they were very familiar with her, so hearing her voice helped them calm down.
Then, they turned and saw the motionless poachers, and a cold gleam flashed in their eyes.
These were the people who had drugged them—the sa ones who had attacked their "shit shovel officer" (Hazel).
Without hesitation, their razor-sharp scythes swung toward the poachers’ necks.
Julian didn’t move to stop them. In his opinion, these people deserved to die.
But Hazel imdiately shouted, "Scyther, stop! You can’t kill them!"
Even though these poachers deserved a fate worse than death, she didn’t want the Scyther to be the ones to do it. Once a Pokémon crossed that line, it might never go back.
So stopping Scyther was also for their own good.
Just as she finished speaking, reinforcents arrived, less than ten minutes after Hazel made the call, three Rangers in uniform rushed onto the scene.
One of the middle-aged n leading the group wore a slightly darker uniform than the others, and he walked at the front.
"Director Zane!"
Seeing the man, Hazel quickly greeted him.
"Are you alright?"
Director Zane asked hurriedly.
By now, Hazel had changed into a clean set of clothes, though there were still traces of dirt on her face and hair. Even so, she looked much better than before.
"It's fine—thanks to Julian arriving in ti. If not for him, Nidoqueen and I would’ve been in real danger."
"Good, good."
Director Zane breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Julian with a look of gratitude.
"Julian, thank you. I’ll be reporting this to the Trainer Association—your contributions will not go unnoticed."
"Just doing what I should," Julian nodded lightly.
Reporting to the Trainer Association ant earning contribution points—a valuable resource for trainers.
Contribution points could be exchanged for all sorts of things within the association.
From high-potential Pokémon, advanced secret realm access, and ga Evolution stones, to Evolution Stones, energy cubes, and Pokémon training manuals—if a trainer could imagine it, the association probably had it.
Of course, getting these rewards required enough contribution points.
Trainers could earn points by completing association-issued missions, with the difficulty of the task determining the amount of contribution points awarded.
Sotis, trainers helped governnt agencies by chance, and in such cases, the authorities reported their assistance to the Trainer Association, which then rewarded them accordingly.
For example, the last ti Julian helped Mark capture the S-rank fugitive Viktor in Eastwood City, Mark had reported it, and Julian had received a hefty sum of contribution points.
And this ti was no different.
*****
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