Pokémon: Master System.

"I'll turn off the lights as soon as I finish writing here, please bear with me." Xu Shanhe gave an apologetic smile and began writing furiously.

Xia Yu couldn't help but look at Xu Shanhe's calligraphy. It was vigorous and powerful, combining square and round strokes, clearly showing that he was a cultured person, unlike Xia Yu's calligraphy, which looked like chicken claws.

Xu Shanhe quickly finished writing the letter, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

…………

Two o'clock in the morning.

Xia Yu was still asleep when he was woken up.

"Xia Yu, assemble. Quickly change your clothes, we're about to set off." The person who came was Jin Yan, the team leader, wearing a thick coat and taking ample precautions to keep warm, and he called Xia Yu to get up.

"Yes." Although her mind hadn't quite caught up yet, Xia Yu's body had already started moving. Five minutes later, she finished washing up, wrapped herself in a thick coat, and walked out of the room.

The campsite was extremely cold in the early morning, with a howling wind that made Xia Yu shiver. Frost covered the ground everywhere, and some areas were even frozen.

Xia Yu noticed that Zhao Ruohan had also been woken up, and was already wrapped in thick clothes, making it impossible to tell whether she was male or female.

“There are twelve people in our team, three in a group. You two will be in my group for now,” Jin Yan said to the two of them, then handed each of them a signal flare. “Nighttime is when the elf poachers are most rampant, and that’s when we usually go out on patrol. This time, we’re responsible for patrolling the Longgang Mountain area. Follow me.”

"Here's your gear, put it on your backs." Jin Yan tossed a large backpack to the two of them, gesturing for them to carry it.

Xia Yu was fine, but Zhao Ruohan had to put in a lot of effort. And so, Xia Yu began his first mountain patrol.

…………

imperial capital.

After Wu Qianshan's identity as a member of the Dawn Society was exposed, he chose to flee to avoid punishment, which quickly caused a huge uproar and implicated Long Fan as well.

Many people began to criticize Long Fan, after all, Wu Qianshan was his eldest disciple, and they would never believe that Long Fan had no connection to him.

At the same time, rumors began to spread online, trying to ride the wave of popularity and spreading false information that Long Fan was likely involved in the attack on the Dragon Realm, or even that he personally orchestrated it.

The whole city was in an uproar. After all, a dojo master in the capital was a high-ranking member of the Dawn Society, which was a huge slap in the face to the association.

Wu Qianshan's disappearance also put the Pokémon Association under tremendous pressure, and they began a secret investigation to search for his whereabouts, but to no avail.

But today, Wu Qianshan's body was found inside the Dragon-type Gym, and his death was extremely gruesome.

The reactions to Wu Qianshan's death varied, but only Lin Xueyun, whose trail had suddenly gone cold, sensed that something was amiss. After following the mysterious masked man from that day, he traced the events back to Wu Qianshan, unexpectedly discovering Wu Qianshan's Dawn Society affiliation and reporting him.

Although Wu Qianshan's death brought him a sense of relief, Lin Xueyun felt even more uneasy. His investigation had gone too smoothly, as if someone had laid out bait in front of him, waiting for him to take the bait.

Lin Xueyun shook her head, putting these thoughts out of her mind. The clue to Wu Qianshan had been cut off, leaving her temporarily lost.

Although he did not believe the masked man's words, once the seed of doubt was planted, it would slowly grow and sprout, eventually becoming a towering tree.

The Long family? Does this matter have anything to do with the Long family?

If it weren't for Long Yanning that night, Lin Yueheng might not have drunk so much, wouldn't have driven to the desolate countryside, and might not have died.

…………

Longgang Mountain.

The wind and snow were extremely strong, and even though the three of them were dressed in thick clothes, they could still feel the cold.

"We should try not to use Pokémon while patrolling, otherwise it's easy to alert the enemy. Even if we do use them, we should choose Pokémon with high stealth capabilities so that they are not easily detected," Jin Yan shared his experience with the two.

As they were talking, Jin Yan suddenly stopped and whispered, "Be careful, hide."

Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan immediately tensed up, lowered their bodies, and stared intently ahead.

A tall figure could be vaguely seen approaching from afar—a tundra bear, its body covered in bloodstains, roaring angrily. Behind it, a scythe-armored bear was relentlessly pursuing.

"Looks like you're in luck, running into poachers on your first visit. Get ready!" A fierce glint flashed in Jin Yan's eyes as he gripped the Poké Ball and released his Pokémon Glalie: "Attack! Fire the flare gun!"

With Jin Yan's command, Zhao Ruohan released her trump card, the Snowflake Moth, and Xia Yu released the Lizard King!

At the same time, Xia Yu fired a signal flare into the sky, instantly illuminating the night sky!

Chapter 197 Poachers

The moment the signal gun lit up the sky, the elf poachers were instantly thrown into a panic. The bright flames illuminated their faces. They never expected to encounter a patrol team at four o'clock in the morning in a remote place like Longgang Mountain.

From a distance, they could only vaguely make out two or three figures, but the enormous Sceptile King was particularly eye-catching, and the Ice Ghost was Jin Yan's signature Pokémon.

They had heard of the patrol team, so the poachers' first reaction upon seeing the signal flare was to run. Even though the tundra bear, a museum-level specimen, was already theirs, their lives were more important.

Because they all know that once caught by the patrol team, the minimum sentence is more than twenty years in prison.

What difference is there between twenty years and death? Once they are caught, their families will lose all their source of income, so they would rather be shot dead than surrender and will risk their lives to escape.

"What's the panic? Calm down, all of you!" The poacher leader stepped forward and roared at the crowd behind him.

Just then, Jin Yan's voice rang out.

"I am Jin Yan, the captain of the first patrol team!" Jin Yan's voice was loud and clear as he shouted towards the front, "You are suspected of illegally poaching Pokémon in the wild. Recall your Pokémon immediately and squat down with your hands behind your heads!"

"It's Jin Yan, the captain of the first patrol team!"

The poachers became even more panicked and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"What should we do? Maybe we should run while we still have a chance?"

"Quiet down, all of you!" The poacher leader shouted, silencing the rioting crowd as morale began to crumble. "Look closely, there are only three people on the other side. Besides Jin Yan, the other two are just kids."

Upon hearing this, the poachers looked in Jin Yan's direction, and when they saw that there were only three of them, they immediately had other ideas.

The initial fear and dread vanished, replaced by a fierce and murderous look on his face.

Jin Yan then saw the number of poachers; they were a dark mass, nearly twenty in number.

Such a large-scale poaching gang is something you might not see even once a year, but Jin Yan didn't expect to encounter it on his very first day of patrol with Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan, two new recruits.

Jin Yan's face darkened. Having dealt with poachers frequently, he knew exactly what kind of people they were and that they would definitely kill him to cover it up.

He can die here, but Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan absolutely cannot have any accidents.

"Get ready to run." Jin Yan turned to look at Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan and said in a low voice, "There are too many of them. We are no match for them."

"There are only three of them, kill them!"

"Kill Jin Yan, and my brother was captured by him!"

When the poachers saw that there were only three of them on Jin Yan's side, they became secretly excited. Those who did this kind of work were all fearless and desperate people.

They were already prepared to risk their lives for a living; it was a matter of life or death. Morality and law had long been cast aside, and they held no sway over them whatsoever.

The poachers' gazes grew increasingly fierce. The more than twenty poachers, like a pack of hungry wolves, stared menacingly at Jin Yan and his companions.

"Follow me, kill them!" Wang Ruilong, the leader of the poachers and the owner of the scythe helmet, had a full beard and a face full of fat. His voice was deep and his eyes were filled with undisguised killing intent: "Let's attack together, hurry up, kill them and leave! They fired the signal gun, and other patrol team members will be here soon."

As the poacher leader's voice rang out, the poachers pulled out Poké Balls and threw them all out.

In an instant, the forest was teeming with dozens of Pokémon, and even the weakest of these Pokémon were at the Lord level, with many being at the Overlord level, and even a few at the Gym Leader level!

"Snatch that Snow Moth, the Lizard King, and Jin Yan's Ice Ghost Guard for me!" The poacher leader's tone was sinister, his face revealing undisguised murderous intent and greed. He had already been tempted by Xia Yu's Lizard King after seeing its enormous size.

A lizard king of this size must have extremely high quality; if it were sold on the black market, it would fetch at least several million!

A horse won't get fat without night grass, and a person won't get rich without ill-gotten gains. For those in this line of work, robbery and plunder are common occurrences.

If you can't poach Pokémon, then kill someone and steal their Pokémon!

As for the consequences of murder? Or the law? They don't care about any of that. In these remote mountains, strength is the only truth! Might makes right, and the law has no effect here!

"Kill them!"

All the Pokémon rushed towards Jin Yan and his companions!

At the same time, many poachers raised their guns, aimed at Xia Yu and his companions, and opened fire!

These poachers, living on the edge, not only use Pokémon but also carry illegal firearms to directly attack trainers! There are no battle rules here; they'll stop at nothing to survive.

"Run!" Jin Yan shouted loudly, "Ice Ghost Guardian, hold the line!"

Faced with the swarming Pokémon and the poachers' fierce counterattack, Jin Yan reacted quickly. While using Glalie to block the bullets, he immediately pulled Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan and fled backward.

This was the first time Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan had experienced such a situation. The poachers' strength and ferocity were far beyond their imagination. They could only do their best to run behind Jin Dong, panting heavily.

Gunshots rang out behind them like firecrackers, and dozens of Pokémon were hot on their heels.

Jin Dong didn't dare gamble on the poachers' marksmanship, so he could only have Ice Ghost Guardian activate to protect Xia Yu and the other person from the bullets.

"Your strength is limited, you can't help me if you stay here, so leave quickly and don't worry about me."

Jin Yan spoke to the two of them, a resolute look in his eyes.

He, Jin Yan, can die, but Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan absolutely cannot be harmed here!

Jin Yan then took out two more Poké Balls and threw them out: "You guys go first."

Two Pokémon appeared: one was Zangoose, and the other was Coalossal.

Hearing Jin Yan's roar, Xia Yu's heart pounded, but he remained remarkably calm, his thoughts racing, and he couldn't help but start to overthink.

He had imagined that the patrol team would be doing a simple task of patrolling around the mountain twice, but he never expected it to be such a dangerous scene.

This reminded Xia Yu of his father and Xu Xiu. His father had lived in such an environment for two years, while Xu Xiu had worked there for several years.

Have they ever encountered such dangers? My dad told me that patrolling the mountains is a high-risk profession, with people dying almost every year. He thought it was an exaggeration, but now it seems that this job is far more dangerous than he imagined!

"Go!" Jin Yan shoved Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan, signaling them to hurry up and leave, while he stayed behind to cover their retreat: "Ice Ghost Guard, Blizzard!"