"He's all alohat Pokémon 't even fly! Don't be scared, let's grab a chair as a shield and charge together!"

  The long-haired man tossed the bread in his hand aside and shouted at his panions.

  He took the lead, moving into the living room to grab a small round chair and held it by its legs.

  The other three immediately followed, pig up fallen chairs and pushing it forward.

  The width of the stairs was just enough for two of them to move side by side and with the knife in Shiro's hand, he couldn't utilize its full power in this situation.

  Rookidee didn't have any ratack moves. At its current Novice level, it could only use Peck, Leer, Power Trip, and Hone one of which were useful in this situation.

  Shiro quickly turned and tinued up the stairs, pg Rookidee at the highest point of the handrail.

  The four below saw him seemingly trying to escape and immediately sped up, with the chair g against the railings and walls.

  If they reached the sed floor, Shiro would be surrounded and he'd have no ce of fighting babsp;

  'I have to take out at least two of them oairs.'

  Shiro gnced back at them and deliberately slowed his pace. When he was half the sed row of the stairs, he suddenly turned around and kicked the long-haired man's chair.

  The long-haired man had been leaning forward, pushing the chair to defend against attacks. But after the kick, his stance wobbled and he lost his bance, falling backward.

  "Damn it!"

  He and the one behind him both crashed down with a grunt.

  Seizing the opportunity while the others hesitated, Shiro drew his knife and stabbed it toward another man's side. The man, covered in mud, tried to push the chair forward to block him but it only kept Shiro at bay, he couldn't stop the bloodstained knife from ing through.

  "Ah!"

  He cried out in pain, swinging the chair wildly. But this only made him miss Shiro, who had already retreated two steps. It also prevented his panietting through to advance.

  After a few bad-forth exges, the man was exhausted. Swiftly, Shiro grabbed his chair and smmed it into his face.

  "Down you go!" Shiro hissed, watg him stagger a few steps before falling backward.

  The long-haired man and the one behind him who had just gotten up quickly sidestepped to avoid it, leaving only one person oairs, helpless and frozen.

  "Rook! Ki!"

  Seeing this, Rookidee, who had been waiting at the highest point of the stair railing, immediately jumped down. Its steel gray beak glowed with white light as it unleashed a Peck.

  Rookidee attacked from above, its Peck easily pierg the man's head, then it nded oep.

  Shiro quickly moved down, kicked the dead body aside, and scooped Rookidee into his arms.

  "Good job." He muttered as he held the Pokémon close.

  "Ki!"

  Rookidee shook its head twice, flig off the remaining filth from its beak.

  These people were much easier to deal with than Pokémon. Rookidee felt very rexed.

  At the er of the stairs, the long-haired man and another uninjured panion used chairs to shield the one who had been stabbed in the waist, retreating downstairs.

  Shiro silently watched them, still holding Rookidee. He didn't throw anything to stop them.

  After suffering casualties, they were too scared to tinue and fled. This was the ideal oute Shiro had anticipated.

  'Don't chase desperate criminals.' Shiro thought, he had o tinue fighting them as long as his safety was guaranteed.

  "Damn it!"

  The long-haired man gnced upward, full of rese.

  'How could he trol a newly acquired Pokémon so easily? Why would a Pokémon that had been tortured obey him so quickly?'

  Frustration twisted his expression as he gritted his teeth and shouted.

  "Shiro, just you wait! I'm going straight to the Gym Leader to report you. I'll say you stole our Pokémon and killed so many people! The Gym Leader has always warned us not to kill in Spikemuth!"

  Everyone khe long-haired man was just makiy threats, but Shiro didn't see it that way.

  They might have been the ones breaking in to rob him, but the mastermind behind them was definitely a member of Team Yell—someone who wanted him dead. If these words were twisted and passed along by that Team Yell member, and the Gym Leader issued a warrant for his arrest, there was no way Shiro could escape. The trainers hunting him down would be far beyond his level.

  'This guy has to die here!'

  A surge of murderous i rose within Shiro as he gently pced Rookidee oair railing.

  Having already carried out two sneak attacks, Rookidee instantly uood Shiro's i. It curled its talons and tucked its body in, ready to strike at any moment.

  Shiro quickly moved dowairs, grabbing a fallen chair and hurling it at the long-haired man's head.

  Sensing dahe two men using chairs as shields quickly raised them to block. With a dull thud, the thrown chair slid off their makeshift defense.

  But Shiro was already closing in, knife in hand, pressing it against the long-haired man's throat.

  "Ah!" The long-haired ma out a pained scream as he tumbled dowairs with his chair. Leaving a thin line of blood on his neck.

  The attack hadn't been fatal.

  But from above, Rookidee had already dived down, its beak pierg through the other standing man.

  Meanwhile, Shiro swiftly finished off the man who had been stabbed before and was now colpsed on the floor.

  The long-haired man scrambled up from the ground. Every inch of his body ached but he didn't dare hesitate. He used both hands ao crawl toward the broken wooden door, desperate to escape.

  He was the st o.

  "Rook! Ki! Dee!"

  With a sharp cry, Rookidee fpped its wings and pounced from the stairs, beak aimed straight at the fleeing man's head.

  "Damn it! Die, all of you!"

  A figure suddenly rushed out from the side of the living room, holding a stick, and swung it toward the blue-feathered bird in front of him.

  At the moment, Rookidee was directly above the long-haired man, with the stick's shadow already looming over it.

  If it could still fp its wings, it would have easily dodged this slow attack. But with its right wing broken and its body suspended in midair, there was no way to dodge. It could only watch helplessly as the stick came down.

  "Thud!"

  "Ugh..."

  The stick struck the arm that appeared suddenly, and Shiro couldn't help but groan, though his body didn't stop. He quickly drove the ko the stuck wielder's throat.

  Rookidee also successfully nded on the long-haired man's head and finished him off.

  The stick wielder was the one who had been trampled at the wooden door, still able to move. After rec his strength, he found a stick from somewhere and almost hit Rookidee.

  Shiro colpsed to the ground, clutg his left arm as soured from his forehead.

  He had clearly heard the sound of bone breaking earlier, and with the intense pain now, his forearm was definitely fractured.

  "Rook! Ki! Ki! Dee!"

  Rookidee hopped anxiously in front of Shiro, its cws twitg nervously, feeli for its reckless as.

  Its mistake had caused Shiro to get hurt while trying to protect it.

  "Don't worry, I have healing spray..."

  Shiro gritted his teeth, struggling to pull the healing spray from his pocket. He rolled up his sleeve and sprayed it on the bruised area of his left forearm.

  The cool sensation quickly alleviated his pain, and Shiro let out a deep breath. After recalling Rookidee into its Pokéball, he painfully stood up and headed for the sed floor.

  Many had died in his home. The mastermind behind his father's death, the one who incited people to steal from him—was most likely Rabby. After Rabby noticed the abnormalities, he would undoubtedly e to finish the job himself.

  There wasn't much time left. Even if there were no more enemies, after killing so many people, he couldn't stay in Spikemuth any longer.

  He had to escape quickly.

  **

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