Several cold, gleaming bullets, like meteors, rapidly shot towards the Rotom that was playfully giggling in front of Qi Shu.
At this critical moment, Qi Shu, as an experienced Gym Leader, with the keen intuition cultivated from fighting alongside her Pokémon, unhesitatingly shouted a command to Rotom: "Protect!"
Rotom continued to giggle foolishly, but its execution of the command was flawless.
Almost instantly, a transparent grey light burst forth from its body, rapidly converging into a sturdy shield of light, tightly enveloping both Rotom and Qi Shu.
Protect, as a Normal-type status move, allows the user to enter a protecting state during the turn it is used, effectively guarding against most attacks from other Pokémon.
The high-speed bullets struck the Protect shield, but surprisingly, they did not cause an impact as one might expect.
Instead, these bullets seemed to hit an indestructible wall; after only a few faint sparks, they weakly bounced off to the side, causing no substantial damage to the shield.
At the same time, the Little Boss who had pulled the trigger and fired, seeing the unfavorable situation, felt a surge of fear.
He had originally planned to quickly escape into the dense jungle with Xia Yong to save himself, but when he looked around, he discovered with horror that Xia Yong had vanished without a trace at some point.
At this moment, he could only watch helplessly as a blurry figure in the distance lay on the broad back of a Mandibuzz, speeding away into the distance.
It turned out that just as the Little Boss decisively pulled the trigger, Xia Yong reacted with incredible speed, quickly looking up at the Mandibuzz circling in the sky, and unhesitatingly commanded: "Mandibuzz, come pick me up!"
The well-trained Mandibuzz swooped down like a lightning bolt. Xia Yong, agile in his movements, leaped onto the Mandibuzz's broad back in one swift motion. Immediately after, the Mandibuzz flapped its wings and soared high, carrying Xia Yong away from the scene at the speed of an old man rushing to grab eggs in the morning.
The Little Boss slapped his thigh in anger; Xia Yong had actually abandoned him mercilessly before leaving, without any regard!
At this moment, the Little Boss, seeing the dire situation, was greatly alarmed, turned and ran, his only goal being to quickly reach the depths of the Lake Heart Island to seek the captain's aid and protection.
Standing not far away, Qi Shu, witnessing all of this, narrowed her eyes slightly, calmly observing the Little Boss's every move, then decisively issued an order: "Rotom, Astonish!"
Upon receiving the command, Rotom instantly transformed into a stream of light, silently diving underground. Like a ghost, it sped along the path of the Little Boss's frantic escape.
In a blink of an eye, it arrived directly beneath the Little Boss. Suddenly, a sinister and terrifying ghostly hand burst out of the ground, gripping the Little Boss's ankle tightly.
This sudden change caught the Little Boss off guard; he lost his balance and violently fell forward onto the ground. At this moment, the Little Boss's face was pale with extreme fear, as if his soul was about to be scared out of his body.
Astonish, a Ghost-type physical move with 30 power, attacks the opponent by suddenly startling them with a scream or a blow from behind. It has a 30% chance of making the opponent flinch, preventing them from acting.
The ghostly hand formed by Rotom firmly restrained the Little Boss's ankle, leaving him unable to move.
At this moment, the last shred of hope in the Little Boss's heart was completely shattered, replaced by deep despair and helplessness.
Zou Yi, riding a Tropius, slowly approached, staring at the Little Boss, and said with authority: "Foreign bandits coming to China to poach Pokémon, illegally possessing firearms, and attempting to kill Chinese Gym Leaders. Do you admit to these charges?"
The Little Boss suddenly became calm, not refuting, but a hint of gloom appeared in his eyes, and he said: "Tch, I guess I'm unlucky, I admit it all. The Pokémon are innocent, Jellicent can still be saved, please save it. This is its Poké Ball." After speaking, the Little Boss pulled a Poké Ball from his Pregnant and looked at Zou Yi.
Zou Yi remained silent, his expression as calm as still water, merely nodding slightly, indicating his acceptance of his final request. However, all of this was nothing more than a disguise.
Upon seeing Zou Yi nod, the Little Boss unhesitatingly threw the Poké Ball in his hand towards Zou Yi. Just as Zou Yi was about to reach out to catch the Poké Ball, the Little Boss suddenly changed his demeanor, revealing his ferocious true colors.
He swiftly pulled out the deadly weapon he had just used to shoot Qi Shu from his pocket with lightning speed, and steadily raised it, the dark muzzle pointed directly at Zou Yi, as if intending to fight to the death and take the other person down with him.
Qi Shu, standing nearby, gasped in alarm, her heart filled with anxiety, and she quickly tried to command the Rotom beside her to resolve the crisis.
And what about Zou Yi?
In fact, his gaze had never left the Little Boss from beginning to end; he was already well aware of the extreme actions such desperate and vicious individuals might take.
Not only that, even the Tropius beside Zou Yi had been constantly keeping a close eye on these notorious repeat offenders, not daring to relax its vigilance for a moment.
No sooner said than done, just as the Little Boss was about to pull the trigger, Tropius had already spread its wide and powerful wings, giving a mighty flap, and several emerald green leaves shot out like arrows from a bowstring.
Those leaves spun rapidly in the air, creating a sharp whistling sound, and flew directly towards the Little Boss.
This is the Razor Leaf move, a Grass-type physical move with 55 power, where leaves are launched to slice and attack the opponent. It has a high critical hit ratio.
Only a few muffled thuds were heard in succession, followed by splashes of blood.
The Little Boss's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief and unwillingness, but at this moment, no amount of regret was of any use; as his life ebbed away, he finally collapsed to the ground, meeting his demise.
Qi Shu jogged over, wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of blood, and then asked: "Zou Tianwang, what do we do next, enter the Core area or pursue Xia Yong?"
Although Qi Shu disliked seeing such bloody scenes, she did not reject them, as she was, after all, a Gym Leader of the Alliance, often accepting missions from the Alliance to maintain local peace and order, and frequently dealing with these criminals. The number of criminals who had died at her hands was countless.
After pondering for a moment, Zou Yi said: "Do not pursue these desperate criminals for now. I have already sent a request for assistance to the Alliance, and someone should arrive to support us very soon."