At the edge of the forest, Natsui's Celebi released a green light that spread through the woods. Hinata and Kazuki saw it immediately.
They had not walked very far. It was only a seven- or eight-minute walk.
"It's Celebi! He actually found it!" Hinata said.
She had studied this Mythical Pokémon before, so she recognized its power right away. She wanted to turn back at once, but Kazuki stopped her.
"Wait!" Kazuki said. He grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Did you forget? Natsui told us to wait for his signal!"
"Wait for what?" Hinata asked. "Now that he's found Celebi, hasn't he already fulfilled his promise? Every minute we waste now could mean Celebi escapes, or lies there injured and waiting for rescue!"
"This..." Kazuki said.
Hinata's reasoning made sense. Kazuki started to hesitate.
Hinata was not trying to break her promise. She just had a different idea than Natsui. She was looking at the problem from another angle.
Why had they come here in the first place?
They were carrying out orders from Ranger Headquarters. They had to find Celebi and restore the forest.
Now the vines and thorns were gone. Celebi had appeared. She did not want to keep waiting.
"...But we already promised him..." Kazuki said.
"Maybe he forgot to contact us," Hinata said, waving her hand. "And besides... that's the Mythical Pokémon Celebi. Aren't you worried that man might be after it? Maybe he sent us away just so he could take the chance to catch Celebi!"
Natsui was hiding an important secret. Because of that, it was easy to suspect that he wanted to catch Celebi.
"Alright." Kazuki finally agreed. He still did not think Natsui would catch Celebi, but he added, "We'll go back quietly. But let's agree on this: we only observe from a distance first. We absolutely cannot rush in, and we definitely can't offend that man!"
"I know that," Hinata said, rolling her eyes at him. "Don't you know me by now? I'm not reckless. Relax, I just want to take a quick look. I won't cause trouble!"
Kazuki accepted her explanation. It sounded reasonable to him, so he stopped trying to persuade her otherwise. Together, he and Hinata ran back toward the place they had left.
The wild Celebi had eaten several bowls of noodles, and it already looked much better. It had become friendly toward the person who fed it, and it was even brave enough to land on his hand.
"Its condition looks great. It should be out of danger now, right?" May asked with a smile. She walked over to Natsui and gently petted the wild Celebi. Its body felt soft, almost like grass.
"That's thanks to your treatment," Natsui said with a smile. "Traveling with Ash and the others really wasn't for nothing. Even your first-aid skills have become this polished."
May smiled shyly. "Oh, stop. Actually, I secretly learned a lot of it from Brock."
At that moment, Gengar emerged from Natsui's shadow.
The wild Celebi was startled and flew a little higher.
Gengar did not care. It frowned and said to Natsui, "I can feel someone coming. It should be those two returning!"
Natsui's expression did not change. He was not surprised.
Neither side fully trusted the other. Hinata and Kazuki did not trust Natsui, and Natsui did not trust them. That was why he had May keep watch.
He just had not expected them to come back this quickly.
They had only been gone for a few minutes. That meant they turned back the moment they saw Celebi.
They really are in a hurry, Natsui thought.
But it did not matter. He had already finished what he needed to do. The rest was only a matter of time.
Natsui took out the GS Ball and recalled his Celebi. Gengar slipped back into his shadow. Ten seconds later, Natsui heard soft footsteps in the woods.
The sound was very faint, but he still caught it.
"Natsui..." May said, sounding worried. She did not know what to do.
"Don't move." Natsui told her to stay calm and spoke in a natural tone. "Just act normal. Oh, and use that Capture Styler to send them a signal."
May nodded. She picked up the Capture Styler and followed Kazuki's instructions to contact him.
Immediately, a beeping sound rang out nearby as the message was received. Since they were already very close, Natsui and May heard it clearly. Hinata and Kazuki instantly felt awkward.
There was no point hiding anymore. They stepped out.
"Um..." Hinata and Kazuki said.
The situation was extremely embarrassing. They wanted to explain themselves, but they had no good excuse.
Natsui ignored them. He spread his hands slightly. Startled by the two new arrivals, the wild Celebi flew into the sky and headed toward the horizon.
"Celebi—!" Hinata called out.
She could only watch as it beat its wings and vanished.
It had left. Natsui had deliberately let it go.
But what he said to them was different.
He shook his head and spoke with regret. "If only you'd come a little later. I had already treated its injuries, but unfortunately, we hadn't built enough trust yet. So in the end, it still flew away."
May almost laughed.
She thought, you were the one who told me to signal them. Why are you blaming them for coming back too soon?
He was clearly making that excuse on purpose.
Hinata and Kazuki felt even more embarrassed.
Even they could tell Natsui was teasing them, but there was nothing they could say.
"Sorry," Kazuki finally said. "When we saw that green light, we knew you had found Celebi. Worried that something might happen, we made the decision to come back on our own. Please don't take it the wrong way..."
"Take it the wrong way?" Natsui repeated. He shook his head, his tone impossible to read. "Actually, even without you, I would've stepped in under those circumstances. As for what you did... sigh, forget it. I'm used to this kind of thing."
After saying that, Natsui ignored them. He picked up the trash on the ground, slung on his backpack, and turned to leave.
May hurried forward and returned the Capture Styler to Kazuki. She gave the two of them a small nod, then ran after Natsui.
Hinata and Kazuki remained silent for a long time.
After the two figures disappeared into the forest, Kazuki patted Hinata on the shoulder and forced a bitter smile. "Looks like we left him with a pretty bad impression. Alright, don't dwell on it. Since this matter is settled, let's get moving. We still have a very long report to write."
Meeting Hinata, Kazuki, and the wild Celebi had only been a small incident.
After leaving the forest, the matter was completely over. The only thing May still wondered about was where the wild Celebi would go next.
Before long, they arrived in Fuchsia City.
It was already close to evening, so they did not head to the Battle Pike right away. Instead, they went to the Pokémon Center.
After dinner, May asked Nurse Joy to examine her Egg.
She had been carrying it for several days now. The Day Care owners had told her it would hatch soon, so she wanted to check on it.
Nurse Joy carefully examined the Egg.
"Everything is perfectly fine," she said with a smile. "It looks like you've taken excellent care of it. The shell is clean and smooth with no damage, and the condition inside is completely normal. Don't worry, a very healthy Pokémon will definitely hatch!"
"That's great." May felt relieved. "After traveling around for so long, I was worried I wasn't taking good enough care of it. Hearing you say that really puts me at ease."
"Even so..." Nurse Joy said to May, "I estimate that this Egg will hatch within the next two days. From now on, please pay close attention and keep checking on its condition at all times."
"Eh? Within the next two days?" May's eyes lit up. She nodded excitedly. "Yes! I understand! I'll definitely take good care of it!"
The next morning, they headed to the Battle Pike outside the city.
The Battle Pike was built on a mountain near Fuchsia City, overlooking the sea. The structure itself looked very unusual. It resembled a giant Seviper wrapped around the building. From a distance, it almost looked alive, which made it a little unsettling.
The person in charge of this place clearly had a very unusual style.
They followed a stone path until they reached the giant Seviper-shaped building and knocked on the large door.
Three women came out. They looked to be around twenty years old and had a rough, punk-like style. Their hair was dyed in all kinds of colors.
"Seriously, someone's here to challenge this early? Can't people let us sleep?" one of them complained.
"The reason you can't sleep is because you're hungover from last night, isn't it?" the second one shot back.
"What are you talking about? If you hadn't kept forcing drinks on me, would I look like this?" the first one argued.
The women rubbed their heads and bickered with each other. The one in front seemed to be their leader. She had blonde hair, wore a long white coat over a red crop top that exposed her waist, and spoke in a rough voice. Maybe she had smoked too much. She also had a strange accent.
The other two women had a very similar vibe.
The smell of tobacco and alcohol drifted out from inside the building.
May instinctively took a step back. She was not used to dealing with women like them, and she did not like the tone of their conversation.
Natsui had not even spoken yet, but the moment the three women noticed him, their eyes lit up.
"Oh my, where did this handsome guy come from?" one of them said.
"Exactly! I've never seen such a good-looking challenger before!" another chimed in.
The three of them started teasing Natsui back and forth.
Natsui disliked people like this.
If he responded, they would only push closer. If he ignored them, they would still keep bothering him. Women like these were troublesome.
At that moment, a serious woman's voice came from inside.
"So noisy. What are you all making such a fuss about out there?"
A tall woman with long black hair stepped out.
She looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, taller than the other three. Her eyes were long and narrow. She was not the usual kind of beauty, but she gave off a cool and capable presence.
She was one of the Frontier Brains, the Pike Queen, Lucy!
Natsui had never met her before, but he knew about her.
He remembered her because of the things she liked.
Lucy liked snake Pokémon. She also liked people and Pokémon with narrow eyes. In the anime, that was one of the reasons she liked Brock.
At home, she kept many Pokémon with that kind of look, including Abra, Snorlax, Cyndaquil, Swinub, Makuhita, and Skitty. Brock's eyes fit that preference too.
She was one of the few women in the anime who actually liked Brock.
That was why Natsui remembered her so clearly.
He did not know whether she had already met Brock yet.
The three punk-like women immediately quieted down when Lucy appeared. They stopped teasing Natsui.
Natsui walked up to Lucy and explained why he had come.
He did not really need to introduce himself. Lucy already knew who he was. She had heard that he was challenging the Battle Frontier. Crossing her arms, she gave a short laugh.
"I already heard about you from Greta. I thought it would take you a few more days to get here. I didn't expect you to show up at my place this soon. It seems the other Frontier Brains really didn't last long against you!"