Scyther staggered back, its damaged scythe held defensively, breathing heavily as the Beedrill hovered menacingly, its intact stinger pointed forward, ready to press the attack. The situation looked grim.
"Forget the Beedrill! Try to kill the human once again!"
Xiu's voice cut through the tension, cold and devoid of emotion. It wasn't a suggestion; it was a command.
The words seemed to jolt Scyther out of its defensive mindset. Its multifaceted eyes shifted from the Beedrill to the bald poacher standing nearby. Ignoring its own fatigue, ignoring the damaged weapon, it launched itself forward again, not at the Beedrill, but directly at the man.
"Hey! Stop it! Quick!" the bald man yelled, startled by the sudden change in target. He frantically commanded his Beedrill, "Intercept!"
The Beedrill reacted instantly, darting forward, positioning itself between Scyther and its trainer. Its two stingers – one intact, one damaged – met Scyther's remaining functional scythe.
Clang! Shink! Clang!
A desperate close-quarters melee erupted. Scythe against stinger, a flurry of blows too fast for the eye to follow properly. Muffled impacts echoed as chitin struck chitin.
From a short distance away, Xiu watched the unfolding chaos, his expression disturbingly calm, almost detached as no worry creased his brow.
As expected, the prolonged battle was taking its toll on Scyther. Its movements grew slower, its parries less precise. Beedrill, though also tired, pressed its advantage, its relentless twin-stinger attacks forcing Scyther further onto the defensive. The repeated impacts worsened the existing damage on Scyther's remaining scythe; more cracks spiderwebbed across the blade.
Beedrill, despite the marks Scyther had left on its own stingers earlier, was clearly the fresher combatant. As an adult Pokémon, its base stamina likely exceeded the younger Scyther's. It was only a matter of time.
Just as Beedrill seemed poised to deliver a finishing blow, a beam of red light lanced out from Xiu's hand, striking Scyther. It vanished instantly, recalled safely into its Poké Ball just before the Beedrill's attack could connect.
The bald man, seeing his target abruptly disappear, turned his attention back to Xiu, fury contorting his features beneath the mask. "Smart move, kid! But it won't save you!" He spat on the ground. "This Scyther of yours… impressive. Young, but strong. Thanks for training it up so nicely for me. Definitely bumps up the resale value!"
Xiu ignored the taunt. He slowly turned his head, regarding the bald man with an unnervingly calm gaze. "Tell me," he asked, his voice quiet but clear, "do you know why I chose this specific location?"
The question seemed to catch the bald man off guard. He blinked, momentarily confused. Seizing that brief hesitation, Xiu didn't wait for an answer. He spun around and sprinted towards the main entrance of the looming, abandoned factory building behind him, disappearing inside before the poachers could react.
"Hey! After him! Don't let the kid escape!" the bald man roared, snapping out of his confusion. He immediately ordered his Beedrill forward, plunging into the dark factory entrance in pursuit.
The mustached man, lagging slightly behind, followed instinctively, though a flicker of unease crossed his face as he glanced at the dark, dilapidated structure.
Reaching the entrance, the bald man found a heavy, rusted metal door hanging slightly ajar as a thick chain, clearly cut or broken recently, dangled uselessly from one side.
"Go!" He yelled, shoving the Beedrill forward.
The Beedrill pushed the heavy door fully open, the bald man, following close behind, felt something… wrong. The way the door swung, the resistance… Before he could process the feeling, a strange creaking sound echoed from behind the door, inside the factory.
He peered into the gloom just in time to see a massive shape swinging towards him – a huge chunk of concrete, easily the size of a washbasin, tied to a rope, penduluming down from the rafters above.
Its momentum was terrifying. A direct hit would undoubtedly crush bone, cause severe injury, possibly even death.
But the Beedrill reacted instantly. A white light flared from its two stingers – Pin Missile or perhaps a desperate Fury Attack. It thrust forward with all its might, intercepting the swinging concrete block.
CRUNCH!
The impact was tremendous. The concrete block exploded into fragments, showering the entryway with dust and debris, its momentum completely neutralized.
The Beedrill, however, paid a heavy price. The force of the impact, combined with the existing damage from Scyther's attacks, proved too much. Both of its hard stingers shattered completely, leaving only ragged stumps.
"Hey! You little cheat!" The bald man bellowed, enraged but also clearly shaken by the near miss. He kicked the remains of the door fully open, fear momentarily overriding his anger.
Inside, the factory floor was vast, cavernous, filled with decaying machinery and deep shadows. High above, on a rusty metal catwalk opposite the entrance, stood Xiu. He wasn't running. He wasn't hiding. He was simply standing there, looking down at them, his expression unreadable, disturbingly calm. No sign of the panic one might expect from someone whose main Pokémon had just been recalled in defeat.
The bald man stopped short, his previous urge to charge blindly instantly evaporating. He scanned the factory interior suspiciously— 'a trap.' The kid had lured them in here deliberately.
"Ha~" A nervous, confident smile stretched across the bald man's face as he tried to regain control. "So that's your game, kid! Prepared this place beforehand, did you? Rigged the whole factory with traps, I bet!"
Xiu remained silent on the catwalk above, offering no reaction, no confirmation, no denial. Still as stone.
His unnerving silence seemed to spook the bald man even more. He hesitated, unwilling to advance further into the potential deathtrap. He turned to his mustached accomplice, who had just caught up, panting.
"You!" The bald man snapped, pointing towards the factory interior. "Send your Pokémon in first. Scout ahead."
The mustached man wasn't stupid. He understood he was being ordered into a potential trap. He hesitated, glancing nervously between his boss and the shadowy factory floor, but the bald man's glare left no room for refusal. Reluctantly, he commanded his Paras forward, the small mushroom-bug scuttling cautiously into the building.
Up on the catwalk, Xiu watched the Paras enter. His calm expression finally broke. A look of exaggerated panic crossed his face. He spun around abruptly and sprinted away along the catwalk, disappearing into the shadows at the far end.
Seeing Xiu's sudden 'flight', the bald man reacted instantly. "He's bluffing! He panicked! Go! Get him!"
He charged forward into the factory himself, the now-stingerless Beedrill hovering anxiously behind him. The mustached man, after a moment's hesitation, followed suit.
They'd taken only a few steps onto the factory floor when Xiu reappeared at the far end of the catwalk. He walked back slowly into the dim light filtering from broken skylights above. The panic was gone, replaced by a slow, mocking smile.
The bald man's heart leaped into his throat. He skidded to a halt, frantically scanning the surroundings again. Empty factory floor. Silent, decaying machinery. Nothing seemed immediately threatening— but the lack of an obvious trap only amplified his unease.
"What… what do you want?!" He yelled up at Xiu, his voice betraying a tremor of fear despite the bravado.
Xiu leaned casually against the catwalk railing, looking down at them. "Funny," he replied coolly. "I believe I should be asking you that question."
"Get him! Beedrill, attack!" The bald man shrieked, desperation overriding caution. He didn't care about traps anymore; he just wanted this unnerving kid dealt with.
The Beedrill, obeying instantly, launched itself upwards towards the catwalk, its remaining stumps pointed forward uselessly, likely intending a physical tackle.
Xiu watched its ascent calmly. He didn't move, didn't flinch. Instead, he slowly raised one hand, pointing towards the rising Beedrill.
In that instant, from a dark corner of the factory floor below, something shot upwards like a silent, green arrow. A slender branch, sharpened to a deadly point.
Moving with impossible speed and accuracy, at such close range, the Beedrill had no time to react. The wooden spear struck it squarely in its soft, unprotected abdomen, punching clean through with sickening force, exiting the other side trailing viscera.
The Beedrill froze mid-air for a split second, its wings spasming, then stopped flapping entirely. It plummeted from the air like a stone, hitting the concrete floor with a heavy, wet thud. Blood pooled rapidly around its still form, mixing with internal fluids leaking from the grievous wound.
The two poachers below stared in stunned silence. 'The ranger… just… killed the Beedrill? With a pointed stick? How?'
"Th-this…" The mustached man stammered, unconsciously taking a step back.
"What are you afraid of!" the bald man snapped, though his own voice trembled slightly. "It was just a trap! Some kind of hidden launcher! He's tricky, but he's still just one kid! If he was really that powerful, he wouldn't have waited this long! We just have to avoid the traps! What else can he do?" He seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as his partner.
The mustached man looked uncertain. His only remaining Pokémon was the slow, defensively weak Paras. If he lost that…
"Come on!" the bald man urged, noticing his partner's hesitation. "Finish this! Millions, remember? We'll be set for life!"
The mention of money seemed to steel the mustached man's resolve. Gritting his teeth, he ordered his Paras forward again.
Just then, a furious squealing echoed from the factory entrance. The fat Raticate, having finally shaken off the effects of the Sleep Powder, burst into the factory, spotting its trainer immediately.
"Yes! Good boy!" The bald man yelled, pointing frantically at Xiu on the catwalk. "Get him! Bite that kid to death!" He seemed completely unhinged now, consumed by rage and greed, the expression of ruthlessness visible on his face.