Chapter 354: Secret Base

The hot spring was certainly pleasant to soak in.

But Baimu had not forgotten the purpose of his coming to Kuchiba Town—

The Gym Challenge.

Having traveled for so long and only obtained three Badges, it was a bit hard to justify; his progress might even be slower than Ash's.

But there was nothing to be done about it — in between, to train Mawile and the others, he had stayed in various cities for quite a long time, ranging from a week to over half a month each.

Especially that stint in Greenfield Town.

Not only had he smoothly cleared the Double Blue Simulation, he had even completed the Normal Simulation three times; at this rate, another round of Blue Simulation would soon be upon him.

After much deliberation, he decided not to wait for the next round of Blue Simulation before starting the Gym Challenge. Doublade's level had recently reached fifty-seven, and with the five levels from the previous reward, that made sixty-two.

Professor Yanagi had said that while level could make evolution happen naturally, it was not the absolute determining factor, so two levels short should not be a big problem.

The key lay in Doublade's desire and will to evolve.

Baimu planned to give Doublade the chance to shine in this Gym battle… and Blissey too, and if possible, let Porygon get a match in as well.

Though the fight might be somewhat grueling, he believed they would surely bring him final victory.

Having packed his things, Baimu prepared to head out to register, and glanced from afar at Lei Gong, still soaking in the hot spring, eyes narrowed and motionless. The fellow hadn't moved at all since getting in—

That wasn't entirely accurate — it would come out at mealtimes, and was most enthusiastic exclusively at mealtimes.

Brushing and petting came second.

In any case, the fellow had basically set up camp in the hot spring pool, not even going for walks, even though the wilderness was right there — barely a wooden wall's distance away.

"Are you planning to stay in the pool all day?"

Baimu called out to Lei Gong before closing the door, "Not going out to right wrongs and help the weak?"

The latter gave no reply at all, sitting bolt upright as steady as a bell, the black iron plate on its forehead covered by a layer of Bai Mao Jin. The latter was originally for cooling, to prevent overheating and blood rushing to the head.

But for Lei Gong, this thing was more decorative than practical — it could probably soak for a year and still not overheat.

"Fine, be aloof."

After half a day of getting no response, he didn't mind. Lei Gong rarely responded to his voice, usually only giving him a look or a jolt of electricity when harassed, as a warning not to cross the line.

Click.

The front door closed.

Lei Gong suddenly opened its eyes, then narrowed them again. The room door opened a crack imperceptibly, and one curious eye peeked out.

After several seconds of no movement from it, the secretly observing eyeball disappeared, the room door closed completely with an imperceptible click.

Lei Gong: "……"

How is this little brat so annoying!

It opened its eyes, slowly climbed out of the Hot Springs Wooper's hot spring, lowered its head to pull off the Bai Mao Jin from its forehead, then suddenly shook the water from its fur, and ran toward the towering Smokestack Mountain outside town.

Although it didn't know when Baimu would return, it had its own things to do.

——

Kuchiba Gym.

Located to the southwest of Kuchiba Town, with high gates and grand halls, green tiles and red ridges — it looked just like some miniature ancient fortress.

It could almost be called a cultural heritage site.

Perhaps influenced by this air of antiquity, even its Gym Challenge reservation process was "antique" — you had to call out at the door.

"Is anyone there? Anyone home?"

Baimu shouted at the top of his lungs. It wasn't that he had nothing better to do — there was a sign at the gate that read "If you can't find anyone, shout twice," and not even a contact number was posted, let alone a machine for booking Gym Challenges.

Before coming, he had checked the official blog account — and found it was managed by someone from the League, with barely a few battle videos posted.

As if it were completely cut off from the online world.

Is Yasha really a young person?

He couldn't help but feel a bit doubtful, and guessed it might have something to do with her always staying by her grandfather's side, daily researching how to train Pokémon. After all, her grandfather was a retired Elite Four member; wanting to create achievements that matched or even surpassed her elders would inevitably bring particular pressure.

It was perfectly normal not to have much chance to learn about the internet — a person's energy is limited.

Baimu walked through the vast Kuchiba Gym, but couldn't spot a single soul for a long time. Just as he was about to peek into one of the rooms, an elderly man with curly, graying hair and glasses came around a corner of the building. Full of vigor, he called out:

"Someone here!"

"…Elite Four Mura?"

He asked instinctively.

"Hm! It's been decades since anyone called me that." Mura was taken aback for a moment.

As the saying goes, each new generation replaces the old — perhaps a few years after stepping down, one wouldn't be so easily forgotten by the world, but decades had passed, and countless generations had changed.

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How many people still remembered there was a Fire Elite Four member named Mura?

Probably just the familiar old neighbors and folks from the hometown.

"Hello, may I ask if Gym Leader Yasha is in?"

Baimu smiled and stated his purpose directly. "I've come to challenge the Gym. If she's not here, I'd like to make a reservation."

Mura waved his hand and said: "No need to reserve! Just go find her at the Undulating Mountain Path on Smokestack Mountain! She's there training with her Pokémon — she probably won't come down for the next week or two."

"A week or two… no phone?"

"No phone! I'll have Wingull guide you! Go on!"

Mura generously sent out Wingull.

This common seaside bird Pokémon from Hoenn possessed a large beak convenient for picking up food, and a single wing larger than half its body, which was also conducive to long-distance flight.

The key was its excellent eyesight, giving it the 【Keen Eye】 Ability, which came in handy for grabbing fries at the docks.

Now it was being used by Mura to find his granddaughter, who went up the mountain to train every few days.

All Baimu looked up at the long-winged gull circling overhead. "……"

Cultivating up the mountain?

And not bringing any communication device?

……These gym leaders all have quite the personalities.

Looks like obtaining the Heat Badge is going to involve some twists and turns.

"Thank you."

He gave Mura a slight bow and headed off in the direction the long-winged gull was pointing from midair.

And while All Baimu was searching for his humanoid moving badge.

Rough Mountain Path.

"Flame Burst!"

"Magu!"

A jet of flame shot from the mouth of a magma-slime-like Pokémon, slamming fiercely into a nearby boulder.

Hooong!

The rock's surface blackened and cracked at a speed visible to the naked eye, then suddenly shattered and crumbled with a "boom," sending countless fragments scattering across the ground.

"Megg! Nicely done!"

A young woman whose ponytail bloomed like a cluster of spider lilies beamed as she scooted over to the slugma's side, rubbing her hand back and forth on its head.

Even though the two tufts of flame-brows kept licking at the back of her hand, she acted as if she hadn't noticed.

Without a doubt.

This was none other than the Furnace Fire Gym Leader Yasha, who cultivated on the mountain without her phone, and her slugma nicknamed "Megg."

She was determined to earn her grandfather Mura's recognition and achieve results that matched or even surpassed his accomplishments, so she often came to Chimney Mountain to train and battle other trainers.

Unfortunately, she was still far from her grandfather's level.

Her Pokémon's growth rate wasn't what it used to be either.

It was as if they'd hit a bottleneck.

"Maybe I really should go catch a new Pokémon?" Yasha rubbed her cheek, lost in thought.

Suddenly.

In the far reaches of her vision, a yellow figure flashed past.

She looked up, then rubbed her eyes. "Seeing things? That was Lei Gong, right? Megg! Did you see it? The thing that just ran past was definitely Lei Gong, wasn't it?"

"Magu……"

The slugma's tone was a little uncertain—it had no idea what Lei Gong was—but there really had been something yellow streaking past at the edge of its vision, unmistakably a Pokémon.

"—Chase it!"

After a brief internal struggle, Yasha decided to chase after the Lei Gong that had vanished from her field of view.

Even though she was a Fire-type gym leader, catching an Electric-type Pokémon wasn't a conflict—her own grandfather even had a Water/Flying-type long-winged gull.

The slugma wriggled like magma as it chased after its trainer's footsteps.

The two quickly followed Lei Gong's trail.

Chimney Mountain, the tallest active volcano in the Hoenn region, stretches 24 kilometers north to south and 18 kilometers east to west, with a circumference of roughly 120 kilometers and a surrounding area of a full 250 square kilometers.

The summit is wreathed year-round in mist, continuously providing geothermal resources to Furnace Fire Town and its surroundings; Autumn Leaf Town on the far side boasts extraordinarily lush crops thanks to the abundant volcanic ash.

Yasha knew this mountain like the back of her hand—after all, she'd grown up here, and her very first Pokémon, a coal turtle, she'd met on Chimney Mountain too—so even if Lei Gong had a head start, there was no way she could lose its trail—

In theory, that is.

"Lost it?"

Yasha stared at the bare red stretch of mountain path, bewildered and a little incredulous—Lei Gong's footprints had vanished from the ground for no apparent reason, as if it had simply shot straight up into the sky.

A bona fide Chimney Mountain girl actually losing the trail of a Pokémon from another region on her own turf……

Does that even make sense?

"Ah……lost it!"

Yasha kept scratching her head, more than a little vexed.

If she hadn't spotted Lei Gong in the first place, she wouldn't feel this way—but after finally spotting a legendary Pokémon in a place like this, losing it halfway……it was simply unbearable.

The slugma glanced at its trainer, then spread its whole body out in an even layer across the ground, feeling around carefully.

"Magu!"

It let out a soft cry, as if it had discovered something, and flowed like magma toward a certain spot.

Yasha's gaze followed the slugma, and she realized that when it "bumped" into a rock wall, not only did it not smear against it like mud, it vanished entirely.

A second later, the slugma poked its head back out from within the "rock wall."

"Ah! A fake wall!"

Yasha's eyes lit up in understanding. Looking at the slugma, she guessed the reason it could detect this fake wall. "Is there magma in there?"

"Magu!"

The slugma nodded.

It was a Pokémon accustomed to sleeping near magma—searching for other things might not be its strong suit, but finding where magma was came as naturally as breathing.

But then again.

Who put a fake wall here, and what drew Lei Gong inside?

Yasha hesitated for a moment, then crawled in anyway.

On one hand it was her longing for Lei Gong; on the other, curiosity about what was inside. A gym leader also bore the duty of safeguarding the town's peace—an ordinary person could choose to look the other way, but she had to lead by example.

But just as she was about to go in, a massive figure, a chaotic mix of cyan and blood-red, burst out from within,.

Luckily she reacted quickly enough, rolling to the side just in time to avoid being hit head-on.

When Yasha raised her head, she saw that what had burst out of the cave was a rather imposing Salamence, and standing on the Salamence's back, laughing heartily, was a short-haired girl in a black uniform with a Gu Niu Niu perched on her shoulder.

"I'm not one of those people you're chasing! Give it up!"

The words had just fallen.

"Roar!

"

Lei Gong leapt out of the cave, Lei Guang flickering across its body as it roared, a thick bolt of lightning shooting forward, piercing the air with an earsplitting crack!

But such a ferocious bolt of lightning was easily dodged by the Salamence carrying its rider.

"You're this fierce — I wouldn't actually mind—"

The black-haired girl half-crouched, revealing half a spiral anklet, but the corner of her eye suddenly caught sight of Yasha standing dazed not far away. She couldn't help but feel annoyed. "Sigh… there's an unrelated bystander, looks like I can't have a proper battle with you. See you again if fate allows, Lei Gong!"

"Roar!"

The Salamence howled, dodged another thick bolt of lightning, and flew rapidly toward the distance.

Its speed was astonishingly fast.

Lei Gong watched the retreating black-haired girl and Salamence, was about to give chase, but also spotted Yasha and the Slugma sitting dazed on the ground, and then suddenly looked toward the foot of the mountain, as if sensing something.

"…Roar!"

It let out a rather frustrated low growl, then nimbly leapt away.

Yasha barely came to her senses, hugged the Slugma beside her, "Magma… what on earth just happened? That red text on the uniform — was it Team Rocket?"

She turned to look at the fake wall nearby and drew in a sharp breath. "There's a Team Rocket secret base here!?"

However.

Just as Yasha was about to go in and confirm.

She spotted her grandfather Mura's Wingull flying in from the distant sky, followed closely by a young man who appeared not far from the foot of the mountain, with a rather cute Chansey beside him.

"Ah! A challenger!"

Yasha quickly realized the other's intent, glanced back at the fake wall, gritted her teeth, and did not leave.

Although she shouldn't drag innocents into this, what if there were other Team Rocket members inside? She had to investigate the inside quickly. As for the challenger… she'd just have to let him go back to the gym and wait.

She thought to herself.

When she turned her head again, she found the young man moving extremely fast — in no time at all he had arrived right in front of her.

——

"Hello, Gym Leader Yasha. Did something just happen here? I think I saw Lei Gong leap past from here?" All Baimu greeted her very politely.

"Ah… um… it's like this."

Yasha forced a smile. "Sorry, are you a challenger? I can't accept a challenge right now — could you go back to the gym and wait? Hey! Don't touch that over there!"

She cried out in alarm.

But All Baimu had already reached his hand into the fake wall, confirming that there was a secret base here.

"What's wrong?"

All Baimu turned his head, looking at Yasha with some puzzlement.

This woman, whose ponytail flared out like flames, had slanted bangs that covered her right eye from time to time. In the hot weather she wore a crop top and bell-bottoms, with all her Poké Balls hanging from her lower back and no bag or anything — making one wonder how she handled meals.

"That place is a secret base of some criminal organization. It's very dangerous. I don't recommend you touch it carelessly!" Yasha took a deep breath, her tone suddenly turning calm.

"Alright."

All Baimu withdrew his hand.

He didn't have the ability to see through the fake wall at a glance, but he could tell something was off here from Lei Gong's claw prints on the ground, and reaching out to test it was enough to uncover the secret.

As for this so-called criminal organization's secret base… it should be Team Magma's, right?

He remembered that in the Emerald version, Team Magma's base was on Mt. Chimney, and the one outside Petalburg City had been completely taken over by Team Aqua.

Lei Gong came to cause trouble for Team Magma?

All Baimu thought about the Salamence that had flown off at the very beginning. Because it was too far away, he really hadn't been able to make out who was riding on its back.

"Could you tell me which criminal organization's secret base this is? So I can be on my guard too." He said to Yasha with a smile.

Yasha hesitated briefly, but still told him what she had observed.

"It's Team Rocket. You might not know them…"

"No, I know them."

After a brief moment of surprise, All Baimu quickly said: "The criminal syndicate that wreaks havoc across Kanto and Johto, right? Is this their secret base in the Hoenn region?"

"Mm… I saw someone wearing a Team Rocket uniform burst out, and Lei Gong was chasing that person when it left." Yasha nodded, then added: "Actually, you may not know, but Team Rocket has been active in Hoenn for three or four years already."

Does she mean the Team Rocket trio?

All Baimu remembered that one of Yasha's Slugma had evolved into Magcargo during a battle against the Team Rocket trio.

He just hadn't expected the owner of this secret base to actually be Team Rocket…

Could Lei Gong have come to Lavaridge Town long ago?

Suddenly.

All Baimu looked at Yasha and asked:

"Are you planning to go in alone right now? That would be very dangerous, wouldn't it?"

He remembered that this woman didn't even have a phone on her, so presumably she had no way to notify Officer Jenny, and she was trying to get him to leave — clearly intending to take the risk herself.

"Have you notified Officer Jenny?"

"Uh…"

Yasha's body stiffened, and she quietly averted her gaze so as not to meet his eyes. "I'm really just going in to take a look, there won't be any big problems. I am the Gym Leader, after all."

All Baimu fell silent, then after a few seconds pulled out his phone and said, "How about we notify Young Lady Mao Jin and the others to call for reinforcements first? What do you think?"

"……"

Yasha said nothing, tacitly agreeing.

A short while later.

Young Lady Mao Jin of Kawayan Town arrived at the foot of the mountain with a large number of officers, and conferred with the Gym Leader Yasha about the specifics.

All Baimu had no choice but to leave at that point.

He was certainly very curious about the situation inside the base, but Young Lady Mao Jin would absolutely not allow an ordinary person to casually enter such a dangerous place, so he could only head down the mountain.

But before leaving, he received a promise from Yasha herself — that they could have a battle at Kawayan Gym that afternoon.

All in all, it wasn't a wasted trip.

And back in town.

All Baimu didn't even think, heading straight for the hotel.

The moment he opened the door.

In the section connected to the open-air hot spring pool beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, Lei Gong was still soaking in the pool just as before he left, except the Mao Jin on his head had vanished.

He put on a deliberately suspicious expression, slowly approached, and asked, "Did you just go out?"

"……"

"I already saw your lightning."

"……"

"Went to find the Team Rocket base on Chimney Mountain? How did you discover that place? Have you been to Kawayan Town before?"

"……"

"Playing the deep, silent type, huh."

All Baimu looked at Lei Gong, who still refused to respond, and said, "Why won't you tell me? It's not like I can't help you — even if I'm no good in combat, there must be other things I can do, right?"

Lei Gong slightly opened his mouth, and under his expectant gaze, lazily let out a big yawn.

An expression that said, "I have nothing to say to you."

All Baimu: "……"

Suddenly feeling like punching a cat — what to do?