The Sky Mountain Wilderness Reserve was essentially a large outdoor forest, but compared to truly unmanaged and perilous wilderness, it was relatively safer.
The Pokémon living there were also milder in temperament than their wild counterparts, with less aggressive tendencies.
Moreover, the reserve was home to many rare Pokémon species that were difficult to find in the outside world.
About an hour later, Dragonite landed at the entrance of the reserve.
On the way, Julian had already contacted the reserve manager, giving him a rough estimate of his arrival time.
So, as soon as he landed, the manager had already come out to greet him.
"You must be Manager Smith," Julian said.
After recalling Dragonite into its Poké Ball, he added, "I'm Julian, the one who just contacted you, the university sent me over to track down the Blackstar Poaching Group."
"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Walker."
"Please, come inside first, we can discuss the details inside."
Julian nodded and followed Manager Smith into his office.
"Would you prefer tea or coffee?" Manager Smith asked.
"Just water is fine," Julian said.
After pouring him a glass of water, Manager Smith sat down.
"Manager Smith, can you tell me which Pokémon species the poachers are mainly targeting?" Julian asked.
There were quite a few valuable Pokémon species in the reserve, and it covered a vast area. Without a general location to narrow down his search, it would be incredibly difficult for Julian to track down the poachers in such a large space.
And he couldn't use the Dowsing Machine to find people.
So if he could figure out which Pokémon the poachers were after, he would have a much better chance of locating them.
"There are Scyther, Houndoom, Electabuzz, and Sudowoodo populations in the reserve, and there are also a few Gyarados in the lake at the center," Manager Smith said.
Hearing this, Julian was surprised, he hadn't expected the reserve to house so many rare and precious Pokémon, even Gyarados.
"What about pseudo-legendaries?" Julian asked.
He had previously heard that there were rumors of pseudo-legendaries in the reserve.
Manager Smith shook his head, "Of course not, that was just a rumor spread by the boss to attract attention."
If it were anyone else asking, Manager Smith would have gone along with the story, claiming there were pseudo-legendaries in the reserve—whether they could find one would just depend on their luck.
But since the visitor was Julian, there was no need for such lies.
Beside, if Julian wanted a pseudo-legendary, he could just ask Champion Walker.
"The poachers are targeting the Gyarados?" Julian asked.
Among all the Pokémon in the reserve, Gyarados were by far the strongest and also the rarest in terms of numbers.
In the market, Gyarados were rarely put up for sale, and when they did appear, it was typically at auction houses. Even a Green-grade Gyarados could easily sell for 700 to 800 million.
"I don't think so," Manager Smith shook his head. "They're probably after the Togekiss. Two Togekiss appeared in the reserve half a month ago."
The reserve had an excellent environment, often attracting rare wild Pokémon from distant regions.
"Togekiss?!"
Julian's voice grew a bit louder, and his face showed a hint of surprise.
Although Togekiss wasn't a pseudo-legendary, in terms of rarity, it was even scarcer.
Moreover, Togepi was known as the Pokémon of luck, with most lucky mascots designed in its image.
Because of its association with luck, some unlucky people even hung up Togepi pictures on their walls, hoping it would improve their fortunes.
'What a joke—like that actually works.'
Julian recalled how he once stuck a Togepi poster above his bed for half a year, yet he still got paralyzed by Lick every single time.
Through his own experience, he had debunked that superstition.
Seeing a wild Togekiss with one's own eyes was extremely rare, and these Pokémon were known to avoid conflict zones.
For this reason, they were also regarded as symbols of peace.
In short, Togekiss represented beauty and luck. It had an elegant appearance that matched most people's aesthetics, while also being incredibly powerful and frustratingly rare.
These traits made Togekiss even more sought after than pseudo-legendaries.
For Fairy- and Flying-type trainers, Togekiss was their dream Pokémon. And, of course, the unlucky ones wanted it too.
"Do you know where they are in the reserve now?" Julian asked.
If what Manager Smith said was true, then the Blackstar Poaching Group's target was most likely Togekiss.
Compared to Togekiss, Gyarados or Scyther were nothing. They didn't even come close.
"I'm not sure. The patrol team spotted them, but I can't confirm whether they're still in the reserve," Manager Smith shook his head.
"They might have just been passing through. Honestly, I hope they were, because this place is no longer safe."
The reserve had several patrol squads making their rounds daily, aiming to protect both the Pokémon and the trainers who entered the reserve.
Apart from a few rare Pokémon species with capture limits, most Pokémon in the reserve could be caught without restriction.
However, the entry fee alone was a hefty ten million, which was far beyond what the average person could afford. On top of that, trainers were only allowed to catch three Pokémon per visit.
The poaching group was mainly discovered thanks to the patrol squads, but even so, three patrol members had lost their lives.
"Manager Smith, give me a map of the reserve."
"Of course."
Manager Smith pulled out a map of the reserve and pointed to two locations. "This is where the Togekiss were spotted, and here is where the poaching group was last seen."
The two locations were quite far apart, and it was likely that the Blackstar Poaching Group didn't even know whether the two Togekiss were still in the reserve.
If they were no longer there, the poachers would probably switch their target to Gyarados.
"I'll go check it out first."
Putting away the map, Julian left without further questions—there was no point. He wouldn't get any more useful information.
His plan was to head to the poaching group's last known location. If he could find any traces of their departure, it would be even better.
"Dragonite, let's go!"
Hopping onto Dragonite, Julian quickly flew off in the indicated direction.
It didn't take long before he arrived at the spot where the poachers had last been seen.
The surrounding trees were snapped and broken, and there were clear signs of battle, along with traces of blood.
"Arcanine, sniff around and see if you can pick up anything," Julian said.
Since the poachers had been here just yesterday, their scent was bound to linger. With Arcanine's sharp sense of smell, there was a good chance it could track them.
"Arf!"
Arcanine suddenly let out a pained yelp.
Julian watched in surprise as Arcanine started sneezing uncontrollably, only stopping after a long while.
"What's wrong?" Julian asked, worried.
Arcanine: "My nose is out of order now."
Arcanine realized it could no longer smell anything. It blinked pitifully at Julian, clearly distressed.
After checking Arcanine's condition, Julian found nothing physically wrong. Fortunately, it seemed to be just a temporary issue.
"It's okay, you'll be fine soon," Julian patted Arcanine's head, reassuring it.
It was clear that the Blackstar Poaching Group had taken precautions against scent-tracking.
Considering they had been wanted in Drakoria for over a decade and were still at large, it was obvious they weren't just some second-rate gang.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister