The group followed behind Lucario, outside of one of the other exits to the Swampy Cave. They ran for several minutes until they arrived outside a cave that looked collapsed from the Pokemon going wild.
'In there,' Lucario pointed at the rubble, letting out a low growl
"Gotcha. Thanks, Lucario," Xander thanked the Pokemon before turning to Cynthia. "What's the plan of attack?"
"We put Lucario and Tamamo on both sides of the entrance then have Gabby, Fenris, and Mothra blast open the rubble. Those two can rush first and use the element of surprise while the rest of us go in to back them up," Cynthia thought of a quick plan.
Pokemon Poachers were usually very experienced, capable of taking on Pokemon that Intermediate Trainers used. If they gave the person inside too much time, there was a chance that their Pokemon could get seriously hurt.
"Sounds good to me," Xander quickly agreed, knowing that time was not on their side. The rampaging parents were causing a huge mess that was getting people killed. The sooner they brought back the kids, the sooner the entire situation would come to an end.
The duo relayed the plan to Tamamo and Lucario in case they didn't hear them when they were speaking. Tamamo and Lucario rushed to both sides of the wall, ready to rush in as soon as the opening was made.
Once they were in position, Xander and Cynthia summoned the rest of their Pokemon.
"Mothra, use [Flamethrower]! Fenris, use [Dragon Breath!"
"Gabby, use [Dragon Pulse]!"
The Pokemon immediately followed the commands as Mothra unleashed a torrent of flames at the rubble while Fenris released a blast of pale purple flames. Gabby was only a few seconds slower as she had to form a turquoise ball of energy in front of her mouth before shooting it forward.
The first two attacks struck the rubble, getting rid of most of the rocks while Gabby's attack completely freed up the opening. There was a large cloud of dust, blocking everyone's vision but that did not stop Lucario and Tamamo from rushing in.
Xander and Cynthia began rushing forward with the rest of their Pokemon, with Gabby and Mothra leaving them behind as the former was fast on foot and the latter was flying and propelled by its flames.
By the time the duo entered the cave, the smoke had mostly cleared and they saw their Pokemon standing over the body of a man wearing desert camouflage clothes. There were bite marks on both of his legs, one of his hands was frozen, and the other was burned.
"Good job, guys," Cynthia complimented them before rushing over to the poacher and reaching for his belt.
"What the he..." The poacher was about to reach for Cynthia with his burned hand, but the surrounding Pokemon's glare quickly stopped him. The Pokemon had nearly crippled him already, so he didn't want to try their patience.
Cynthia grabbed the balls on his belt and saw that he had 7 of them, obviously breaking the rules of the Pokemon League. 3 of them looked like normal Pokeballs but the other 4 only appeared to have the white portion of Pokeballs while the top seemed to have been peeled off, revealing all the circuits and wires in it.
This was how Pokemon Poachers were able to catch so many Pokemon. They would jailbreak Pokeballs so that the League could not track their Pokemon.
With the 4 balls secured, Cynthia attached them to her belt before taking the belt off the Poacher and placing it in his backpack before passing it to Xander.
Xander slung it over his shoulder before kneeling in front of the poacher with C.C. in his arms.
"C.C., use [Confusion]. We don't want him moving around too much," Xander ordered the Pokemon. C.C. nodded as her horns gained a blue outline before a similar blue outline covered the poacher.
"Awesome. Now make him stand up and follow us," Xander told her which the Pokemon complied with. The poacher let out groans of pain as he was forced to stand on his injured legs.
With the Pokemon secured and the poacher under their control, Xander and Cynthia did not hesitate. They rushed out of the cave to return to the Swampy Cave where the Nidoking and Nidoqueen were.
It took them 15 minutes to get there but they could hear the roars even when they were still hundreds of feet away from the two Pokemon. Xander's group soon entered the sights of the pair. As soon as they saw them, both Pokemon looked ready to rush over to attack them.
"Quick!" Cynthia yelled, taking two of the poacher balls and throwing them out while Xander did the same. 4 small Pokemon appeared in front of them. 3 of them were purple and had large horns while the last one was light blue. They were all quadrupedal and looked to be a mix of a rabbit and a reptile.
The little Pokemon let out cheers of joy, rushing to their parents with tears in their eyes. When the parents saw that their children were well, they stopped their plan of attack and quickly went to their Pokemon to pick them up and secure them. While they were doing this, Xander and Cynthia rushed to the entrance they used when they first arrived at the cave. Even though they had saved the kids, it was hard to tell if the parents would thank them or kill them since they were the ones who had the kids.
Their mission having been completed, Xander and Cynthia began to make their way back to the main path at a slow pace. They had been running for almost an hour and had just stared a pair of powerful Pokemon in the eyes. For two kids, it was an exhausting experience.
On their way back, they came across several more Wild Pokemon but with their full team around them, and these Pokemon's low numbers, none of them attacked the group.
Around 15 minutes into their journey, the duo saw a lady wearing a red jacket and black shorts approaching them with an Arcanine by her side.
"I found some more trainers," the woman said into a device that resembled a red Nokia phone with a Beyblade attached to it. But when she got closer to the group, she saw the poacher who was being controlled as well as the serious injuries to his body.
"What are you two doing?" the woman asked, her and her Arcanine being confused about what was before them.
Cynthia and Xander shared a look before Xander took a step forward and explained what they had experienced over the past few hours.