Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
Having single-handedly defeated a six-person squad of the Black Cloud Poaching Group, Sato's reputation was now established. After that, although he continued to travel alone deep within the Slateport Woods, no one dared to jump out and challenge him recklessly.
However, the clearing operation was still ongoing.
To prevent small fries from muddying the waters or adding uncertain variables to the upcoming Pokémon egg struggle/competition, many large Pokémon poaching/hunting groups were spontaneously driving out trainers who had recently dared to enter the Slateport Woods.
Sato wasn't the first trainer to be targeted by a large poaching organization like the Black Cloud Poaching Group, nor was he the last lone trainer to dare strike back against a large poaching organization.
Following Sato, a trainer codenamed 'Shadow' directly confronted a squad from a large poaching group called the Gale Poaching Group and also emerged victorious.
But unlike Sato, this person was extremely bloodthirsty. After defeating his opponents, he proceeded to slaughter them.
Because of this, Shadow thoroughly enraged the Gale Poaching Group.
Although the Gale Poaching Group's reputation wasn't as formidable as the Black Cloud Poaching Group's, it was still a large-scale organization with an Elite Four-level powerhouse within its ranks. Under its thunderous wrath, the outnumbered Shadow was naturally no match for the entire Gale Poaching Group.
In fact, the main reason Sato chose not to kill the Black Cloud Poaching Group members when he had the chance to was largely to avoid incurring the group's hatred and retaliation.
While handing over Julio and the others to the League had certainly angered the Black Cloud Group, it was far from making them mortal enemies.
After all, he was now a bounty hunter. It was normal for bounty hunters to pursue wanted criminals, just as normal as a wolf eating meat.
In fact, an unspoken rule had long been formed between bounty hunters and wanted criminals.
Generally, as long as no one died, even large Poaching groups would accept their losses and not retaliate against the bounty hunter. Who asked their own members to be less skilled? Getting caught was their own fault.
If a large Poaching group dared to maliciously retaliate against a bounty hunter who followed the unspoken rules, then that group could expect to receive special attention from a large number of bounty hunters.
But actions like Shadow's, which involved killing everyone, absolutely touched the 'Reverse Scale' of criminal organizations like Poaching/Hunting groups.
Although Shadow couldn't defeat the numerous Gale Poaching Group members, as long as the Elite Four-level expert didn't personally intervene, he managed to escape their pursuit. He then demonstrated the terrifying assassination skills befitting his codename 'Shadow'.
In short, the depths of the Slateport Woods were now fraught with danger, with scenes of killing and treasure-seizing playing out constantly.
"The Pokémon egg hasn't even been seen yet, and all sorts of demons and monsters have already jumped out. This place is getting more and more chaotic."
In the evening, high up on a branch of a towering tree deep within the Slateport Woods, Sato sat eating dried rations by moonlight, his gaze fixed solemnly on a solitary cliff not far away.
By now, Sato had already ventured into the core area of the Slateport Woods.
Here, the number of wild Pokémon was sparse, but without exception, the wild Pokémon living here were all very high level, with no small number of pseudo-Elite Four level wild Pokémon.
Although his Nidoking was quite powerful, its level was currently only 54. Faced with nearby wild Pokémon whose levels generally exceeded 50 and who mostly lived in groups, he had to proceed with caution.
During his journey deep into the Slateport Woods, Sato had finally managed to locate Altaria's nest using his psychic detection.
This powerful Dragon-type Pokémon was now residing in a cave carved into a cliff face about two hundred meters from Sato's tree.
As more and more trainers appeared deep in the Slateport Woods, this dragon Pokémon, who was nearing her delivery time, clearly sensed the danger. Consequently, the area within a hundred-meter radius of the cliff had now become a terrifying no-man's land.
If any stranger dared to enter this area now, they would immediately be attacked by the numerous powerful wild Pokémon lying in ambush there.
Dragon-type Pokémon were very territorial, but since they could grow stronger even while sleeping, they were usually quite lazy. Therefore, they often chose to subdue some subordinates to help manage their territory.
Although Altaria wasn't the only powerful wild Pokémon in the Slateport Woods, as a Dragon-type, she was undoubtedly the strongest. In this part of the wild Pokémon habitat, she was the queen.
Having long been entrenched in the Slateport Woods, Altaria naturally had no shortage of capable subordinates around her. Sato estimated that just one order from her could trigger a terrifying Pokémon riot in the Slateport Woods.
Sato had already psychically detected that there were no less than a hundred wild Pokémon hidden near the cliff, all of them pseudo-Elite Four level without exception.
It could be said that to protect herself and her unborn child, this expectant mother Altaria had deployed her strongest lineup to deal with the unknown dangers ahead.
If Sato could find Altaria's location so quickly, then those numerous Poaching groups who had been searching the Slateport Woods for many days had naturally also found this place.
And as Altaria's delivery time drew nearer, all sorts of demons and monsters emerged, beginning to scheme and plot against these large, well-staffed Poaching groups.
Just moments ago, Sato had witnessed a lone individual charge into the no-man's land, leading a group of pseudo-Elite Four level wild Pokémon towards the current camp of a certain Poaching group. Because of this, a fierce battle inevitably broke out.
And this wasn't an isolated incident. During the time Sato had been perched on this tree branch, he had personally seen over ten such cases, each triggering an extremely fierce battle.
To increase their chances of seizing the egg, these lone individuals and small Poaching groups were going all out, constantly using this dangerous method to weaken the strength of some powerful enemies.
In fact, this method of hurting the enemy a thousand at the cost of damaging oneself eight hundred was quite effective. No matter what, those who successfully lured wild Pokémon to the camps of large Poaching groups came out ahead.
Faced with such dirty tactics from competitors, the large poaching groups were somewhat helpless. With Altaria about to give birth, they absolutely could not withdraw now; otherwise, if they missed the crucial moment, they would regret it deeply.
Sato didn't sleep the entire night. He remained quietly perched on the tree branch, watching the solitary cliff where fierce battles erupted from time to time.
In the vicinity, many others, like Sato, stayed awake all night, their eyes also fixed on the solitary cliff.
Finally, at sunrise, a pained cry instantly awakened the slumbering forest. Many people's spirits lifted, and greed flashed in the eyes of most.
"The show begins."
When the cry sounded, Sato immediately emerged from his meditative state. He opened his eyes, looked towards the first rays of dawn on the cliff ahead, and spoke expressionlessly.