"I'm going with you!"
When Phoebe learned that Natsui planned to track Team Magma alone, her expression tightened, and she immediately insisted on going with him.
However, Natsui didn't want to take her along.
"You should stay here and help Misty put out the fire. Although she has Water-type Pokémon, there are too few of them. She's overwhelmed by a fire this size. With your help, it'll be easier for her."
Phoebe turned to look at the blaze surrounding them.
The flames were spreading continuously, burning at their fiercest. Whether it was her grandparents' house or the area surrounding the stone shrine, everything had been swallowed by the inferno. If left unchecked, it would definitely envelop the entire summit of Mt. Pyre.
If it came to that, Mt. Pyre might as well be renamed Mt. Volcano.
Indeed, they couldn't delay any longer.
The only good news was that the summit was an isolated area surrounded by bare cliffs, so the fire couldn't spread down the mountain. However, they still had to be careful that strong winds didn't blow embers off the peak, potentially igniting a massive forest fire below.
Sighing, Phoebe nodded. "Alright, but be careful. Those Team Magma guys aren't easy to deal with. Just shadow them for now. Once we put out the fire, we'll rendezvous with you, and then we'll handle them together!"
From his performance just now, this man's Pokémon were indeed outstanding. During the battle, he hadn't let Team Magma gain an inch; in fact, there were several instances where they relied on him to break the stalemate.
This made Phoebe realize that Natsui's strength was likely on par with her own.
That was the main reason why, after hearing Natsui's plan, she didn't insist on tagging along anymore.
Seeing Misty looking over, Natsui addressed her seriously. "I'm leaving this place to you."
"Understood!" Misty puffed out her chest. "Go. We've got this!"
Natsui: ...
Why did that sound like a final send-off?
Like I'm not coming back?
Waving his hand to summon Dragonite, Natsui flipped onto its back. Then, taking out his Poké Balls, he recalled all his other Pokémon. Under the gaze of Misty and Phoebe, Dragonite soared into the air, plunging headfirst into the thick fog outside the summit.
After watching Natsui leave, Misty took a deep breath, turned to look at the roaring fire, and said in a low voice, "Well then, let's get started too!"
...
After flying for dozens of seconds in extremely low visibility, Dragonite finally broke through the thick fog, carrying Natsui into the open sky.
The view suddenly opened up.
Above was the azure sky, in the distance the endless ocean, and below a lush green forest. There were no raging flames, no suffocating fog—only scenery that refreshed the heart and mind.
Looking down, he could vaguely see the Team Magma personnel rapidly retreating down the slopes of Mt. Pyre.
Patting Dragonite's neck, Natsui whispered, "Fly a bit higher. Follow them from a distance—don't let those guys spot us."
Dragonite flapped its wings and shot straight into the clouds, concealing itself in the layer above.
Team Magma noticed nothing. In fact, after retreating from the summit, Maxie could barely keep calm; he was filled with the exhilaration of a successful operation.
It was hard not to be happy.
Especially when Tabitha returned to the team holding the Red Orb, Maxie felt a surge of ecstasy.
The Red Orb was actually in their hands!
Obtaining it meant that as long as they found Groudon, they could truly realize their great dream.
The thought made his blood boil with excitement; how could he possibly stay calm?
As for Groudon's location...
Just like Team Aqua, they had recently found important clues and roughly determined where it was hiding. They hadn't rashly approached it only because they lacked the assurance of controlling the beast.
But now, with the Orb in hand, it was time to act.
Once the Team Magma unit descended to the foot of the mountain, everyone boarded the jeeps parked in the woods. Then, the entire convoy began to drive toward the northeast.
Needless to say, they were heading back to their hideout.
To prevent being followed, they had set up counter-tracking measures and left two cars behind as a rearguard. Unfortunately, Natsui saw it all from the air. His gaze remained fixed on Maxie's vehicle, ignoring everything else.
The cars raced on the ground, and the dragon flew ceaselessly in the clouds.
After about two hours, the convoy entered a rugged mountainous area near the coast, slowing down as the terrain got rough.
Natsui ordered Dragonite to descend, landing on a small hill some distance away.
Recalling Dragonite, Natsui released Gardevoir and Scizor, and also called Gengar out.
After checking Team Magma's reaction and confirming they hadn't detected him, he watched the convoy enter a cave and disappear.
Looking at that pitch-black tunnel entrance, Natsui didn't rashly follow. Instead, he turned to Gengar. "Inside should be their secret base. The tunnel will be heavily guarded, so walking in there would definitely alert them. Sneak in quietly first and see if there are any secret entrances nearby."
"Just leave it to me!"
Gengar was used to this kind of grunt work. It knew this was Natsui's usual trick.
It agreed, then burrowed into the ground without looking back, diving toward the distant cave.
While Gengar infiltrated, Natsui didn't stay idle. He sent his location to Anabel and Phoebe, then carefully examined the surrounding terrain.
According to the map, his current position wasn't too far from Lilycove City.
Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, he had returned here.
The tunnel led directly into the interior of a small mountain, so Natsui was certain the entire mountain had been hollowed out. Although the trees around the mountain were dense, Team Magma had surely set up cameras and patrols. It looked peaceful, but a few wrong steps could lead to detection.
Not easy to handle...
Natsui rubbed his chin, his gaze following the mountain to its other end.
On the far side lay a sheer cliff dropping into the ocean. Although he couldn't see the height, he could imagine that with the forest as cover, the mountain as the body, and the sea as the back, this was an excellent defensive location.
Could their lair be right here?
Making a bold hypothesis, Natsui quietly moved toward the coastal cliff.
For a secret base like this, there had to be a hidden back door somewhere under the cliff. Compared to the main tunnel, the defenses there would definitely be weaker.
Rustle... rustle...
After leaving a mark for Gengar, Natsui and his two Pokémon moved quickly through the forest. To avoid alerting the enemy, he took a wide detour, circling toward the coast.
The forest was dense.
Scizor acted as the vanguard. Any vines blocking the path were snipped into pieces by its large pincers, clearing a way for its Trainer.
That was why he had sent Scizor out.
When they encountered wide ditches or steep climbs, Gardevoir simply used Teleport to bridge the gap.
This allowed him to reach the cliff edge quickly, despite the detour.
Standing there, Natsui looked down.
The cliff dropped at least thirty meters to the sea. Waves washed constantly against the rock face, and when the spray receded, he could see jagged reefs below.
Suddenly, there was a noise beside him.
Gardevoir and Scizor immediately turned, alert. However, a second later, Gengar popped out of the woods, following the trail.
Seeing Natsui, Gengar shook its head before he could even ask. "No good. It is their secret base, but there's only that one entrance, and it's heavily guarded. I can get in fine, but bringing you in unnoticed? Impossible."
Natsui wasn't surprised.
He continued to scan the cliff below, searching for any cave openings with his naked eye, while sending Gengar down again.
Gengar floated down, and soon floated back up.
Shaking its head again, it shrugged. "I did a rough scan. At least above the water line, there are no other entrances."
Oh?
Natsui felt both surprised and validated.
Team Magma had managed this base well, leaving no obvious weaknesses.
So there's only one way to proceed...
"No choice then," Natsui said to Gengar. "Frontal assault it is. However, a base like this obviously has a self-destruct program. Run another trip, find the mechanism, and destroy it so we don't have any nasty surprises later."
"What a life. Sigh. But you give the orders, and I do all the running. Being a Pokémon is tough."
Gengar sighed, but despite the complaints, it didn't stop moving. It turned and headed back toward the base.
"That guy..."
Watching Gengar leave, Natsui shook his head with a smile, then addressed Gardevoir and Scizor. "Alright, let's go back. We're going to hit them hard from the front!"
...
Inside the Team Magma monitoring room.
Two members were scrutinizing the screens in front of them.
This was their main lair—nobody here dared slack off. They had just received orders that the operation was a success, but they were instructed to double their vigilance and report anything suspicious to avoid being tracked.
Although they hadn't found anything abnormal after watching for a long time, the two didn't dare lower their guard.
Suddenly, one of them focused on a screen and asked his companion in surprise, "Hey, look. Is that a person?"
His companion looked over.
Outside the tunnel, a "figure" was walking slowly toward the entrance.
Because of the distance, they couldn't see clearly at first. But as the figure drew closer, they realized it wasn't a human, but a creature they had never seen before.
"What is that? A Pokémon?"
"Must be. But I've never seen one like that..."
They peered closer. The strange Pokémon was vaguely humanoid, with an orange body and long, tube-like legs ending in nothing at all. Its face looked masked in teal and blue, revealing only a pair of eyes, and its hands looked like braided tentacles.
"Weird looking thing. Is it wild? Or did someone send it?"
They panned the camera to look behind the creature, but saw only dense forest. Nothing else suspicious.
"Forget it. Just have the guys at the door go check it out."
The member grabbed his walkie-talkie and reported to the guard team in the tunnel.
"...A strange Pokémon approaching? Copy that. We'll check it out."
Putting down the radio, several members of the guard team exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.
"How many times has it been?"
"Seriously. Are the guys in the monitoring room always this jumpy? So what if a Pokémon approaches? They just sit in the air-conditioned control room, not caring how many times we have to run back and forth!"
"Exactly. I bet it's just another wild Pokémon that wandered in by mistake."
Despite the complaints, they sent a few members toward the exit.
This happened all the time. Every few days, they had to chase away some lost Pokémon.
As for the "strange creature" mentioned by the control room?
Probably just something rare.
Walking slowly to the tunnel entrance with relaxed expressions, the guards looked out.
Just as the monitoring room had said, a Pokémon they had never seen before was floating there, drifting slowly toward them.
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