161: Capture And Escape

Stinger Pirates' Base.

A group of people decked out in pirate clothes was approaching an airship while grinning from ear to ear.

"Hold on! Please stop where you are. This is Hunter J's airship. No one else is allowed to come here."

A guard who belonged to Hunter J's team said in a warning tone. His hand was lowered to his Pokeball as the Stinger Pirates kept getting closer and closer. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I repeat. Please stop where you are."

After he said that, he told his men to release their Pokemon. His face fell when he saw them release their Pokemon. It seemed there was going to be a fight soon.

"Sir! We can't contact Hunter J right now! It seems there is some kind of signal jammer that is interfering with the network."

A man rushed toward him.

"Damn! Get ready, guys. Don't let them get into the airship. We have to wait until Hunter J returns!"

Said the man while taking out his main Pokemon, a Skuntank.

As Hunter J's assistant, he knew there was a very valuable egg kept on the ship. Although he was worried about Hunter J, he must drive off these people first.

Then, a thin man with an eyepatch from the Stinger Pirates stepped forward and pointed at them.

"Attack!"

***

After sneaking past several patrols, Hisoka reached what looked like an open area. While he was making his way forward cautiously, he suddenly heard a sound of a battle coming from somewhere else.

Under cover of the dark, he quickly ran in the direction of the sound, heart bursting with anticipation. A few moments later, he saw two groups of people fighting against each other.

"It seems Stinger Pirates have started."

He said in a whisper. He then turned his attention to the airship with the orange letter J painted across it.

"That egg must be somewhere inside the airship."

While hiding behind a tree, he released his Gardevoir and told her to teleport them inside the ship. Once inside, he took Gardevoir back and released Porygon.

After telling it to hack into the airship's internal network, he quickly went to hide inside the vent. Just now, he heard a couple of footsteps running toward him.

As he listened to the ongoing battle, Porygon returned and handed him the layout of the airship. He quickly memorized the map and put it in his pocket.

"Let's go, Porygon."

At first, he was very careful as he made his way to the safe room where the egg was kept. But as he went on, he found there weren't many people on the ship. The few that he stumbled across were easily knocked out by Porygon.

A few minutes later, they reached the safe room. Then, it took them about ten minutes to solve the lock. When he pushed the door open, he finally saw what he had been looking for this time.

"Garchomp! Here, I come."

He said with a beaming smile.

A Pokemon egg with red and blue circles around it lay inside a glass case. After admiring it for a moment, he went to claim his prize and put it inside his bag.

He then turned to the other shelves. Aside from the egg, there were also quite a few valuable items like Dragon Fang and Evolution Stone. When he went to the back, he found that he was in some kind of greenhouse that housed dozens of rare herbs and berries. Did he mention that he took all of them away?

Anyway, after making sure that he didn't miss anything else, he then released his Gardevoir, and they all disappeared from the safe room without a trace. A few seconds later, they reappeared outside the ship and quickly went back into hiding before anyone noticed.

Taking a peek at the current situation, he found that Stinger Pirates was getting the upper hand. Dozens of people and Pokemon lay on the ground, bleeding. Uncertain whether they were alive or dead.

Only a few people from Hunter J's team were still alive, and it didn't look like there were going to make it out alive.

Just when the Stinger Pirates were about to finish the remaining opponents, a thunderous roar rang out. Accompanied by a gust of wind, a Salamence burst onto the scene and swept the Stinger Pirates away. On its back stood a woman with blazing eyes full of anger.

"It's Salamence! Run away!"

Someone in the crowd yelled as everyone began to run.

Without saying a word, Hunter J began to lay waste on the Stinger Pirates. Many people and Pokemon were sent flying away under Salamence's frenzied attack.

"So that's the rumored Hunter J, huh? She's strong."

Hisoka murmured to himself as he watched her make short work of her opponents.

"I should leave now."

Just as he was about to leave his hiding spot, he then heard a couple of footsteps heading this way. He quickly climbed up the tree and waited.

Shortly afterward, four people appeared in his view.

'Isn't that Captain Crook?'

He thought. One of them was cuffed and was being pulled by a red-haired man. However, what attracted him the most was the two boxes that the other two men were carrying.

"There must be something important inside those boxes, and there's Captain Crook too. It must be my lucky day."

While he was watching them, he gave a signal to Gardevoir to knock them all out quietly so no one would see them.

With a nod, she reached out her hand toward them and let out a small energy wave.

Thud!

Soon, they all fell to the ground, fast asleep.

After she put them to sleep with her Hypnosis, he jumped down from the tree and went to pick up the two boxes. They each had a lock and were quite heavy. Since he didn't have the time to check it now, he asked Gardevoir to carry them.

Telling Gardevoir to stay guard, he then went to Captain Crook, put him inside a bag, and zipped it tight. Hunter Association put a bounty on his head. Well, they didn't say they needed him alive.

"Have you cleaned our tracks?"

He asked Gardevoir.

"Yeah."

She replied with a nod.

"Good. Let's leave this place."

With that, he heaved the short and fat man onto his shoulders and grabbed her hand. Soon, they teleported away again.

In the dead of night, a boat was speeding away from the island.