Chapter 216: Dealing with Someone Who Captured Ho-Oh!

Blaine raised his hand and took out a Poké Ball, red light flashing as he recalled the Magmar, which was covered in purple-black toxins.

There was no condition for immediate treatment inside the volcano; only by recalling the Pokémon into the Poké Ball could the erosion of the toxins be slowed down, allowing it to get a moment of stable rest.

"I didn't expect you to play Poison-type moves so 'insidiously,' completely different from Red who came to challenge yesterday." Blaine turned around, his fingertips still slowly twisting those two iconic handlebar mustaches, his tone carrying a hint of something that was unclear whether it was approval or teasing.

Huo La only spread his hands helplessly, not making much defense.

He knew clearly that his battle style and Red's were worlds apart:

Red was a born fighter, preferring to capture every flaw of the opponent in a head-on confrontation, relying on formidable strength and top-tier on-the-spot reactions to break the situation with strength;

While he was more accustomed to setting up a basic tactical framework first, and then finding opportunities in the ever-changing battle, using the most effortless way to drag the opponent down step by step.

Just when Huo La thought Blaine would immediately send out the next Pokémon to continue the Gym challenge, Blaine suddenly changed the subject, pushed his small sunglasses slowly, and threw out a question that caught Huo La off guard: "Huo La, right? Agatha is your grandmother, isn't she?"

Huo La raised his eyes abruptly to look at Blaine, his eyes full of astonishment and doubt, not understanding how this Gym duel could suddenly involve his grandmother, but he still nodded honestly: "Yes, she is my grandmother."

"In the blink of an eye, even her grandson has grown so big and can come to challenge the Gym alone." Blaine sighed with emotion, looking up at the billowing thick smoke of the crater, a clear memory appearing in his turbid eyes, and his tone also became a bit ethereal: "The days of working together at the Indigo Plateau back then were really nostalgic."

After a moment, he restrained the look of memory on his face, looked at Huo La with a more solemn gaze, and said in a deep voice: "Sigh, it's not convenient to talk here, you come with me, there are some things I want to ask you."

Having said that, Blaine didn't say anything more and turned to walk toward the passage outside the battle field.

Huo La was full of confusion, but didn't dare to ask more, and could only follow Blaine's footsteps quickly.

Xiao Gang and Bilan behind him looked at each other, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes, and they didn't delay, hurriedly following.

"Xiao Gang, that weird old man pulled Huo La into the inner room for a private talk; could there be any ulterior motives?" Bilan stared at the tightly closed door, her brows furrowed, her tone full of worry.

Xiao Gang picked up the teacup and took a sip, the warm tea rolling in his throat, then let out a long breath, looking comfortable: "This volcanic rock tea is really amazing, one sip down, even the pores feel comfortable."

Putting down the teacup, he turned to look at Bilan and smiled to comfort her: "Don't worry, nothing will happen. Since Blaine knows Huo La's grandmother Agatha, he can be considered Huo La's elder, so he can't make things difficult for a junior."

He changed the subject, a hint of teasing in his eyes: "Instead, it's you, why are you suddenly so concerned about Huo La?"

"Who's concerned about him! I'm not!" Bilan's cheeks flushed instantly, she retorted with her neck stiff, but her tone lacked confidence.

In the inner room on the other side, Huo La also just put down the teacup and exclaimed sincerely: "Good tea, one sip down the throat, the whole body is transparent, even the dryness brought by the volcano has dissipated."

"Transparent... heh, it's really the same evaluation as Agatha back then." Blaine shook his head, a hint of nostalgia that was hard to detect flashing in his eyes.

Huo La didn't take this topic and went straight to the point: "Gym Leader Blaine, you specifically called me in, it shouldn't just be to treat me to tea, right?"

"Hmm..." Blaine pondered for a moment, took out a crimson badge and a shimmering TM from his pocket, and pushed them in front of Huo La: "This is what you deserve—Volcano Badge, and the TM for Fire Blast, consider it a reward for the Gym challenge."

Huo La reached out to take it, a hint of warmth coming when his fingertips touched the badge. He looked at it carefully, put it into his backpack carefully, looked up at Blaine, and waited for the follow-up.

He knew clearly that Blaine specifically keeping him alone couldn't just be for sending this little reward.

"You are indeed more composed than I thought." A hint of admiration flashed in Blaine's eyes, then he raised his hand and took off the small sunglasses that had been with him for years, revealing a pair of eyes full of fine lines but deep as an ancient well, hiding countless stories.

"I'm looking for you, indeed not just to give a reward." Blaine's voice dropped abruptly, every word ringing with power: "You are a member of Team Rocket, right?"

Huo La's heart shook violently, his body instinctively leaning back against the cold rock seat. The originally relaxed demeanor instantly faded, his eyes becoming sharp as a knife, staring fixedly at Blaine, a shrewdness and pressure that didn't match his age quietly spreading.

"Hmm?" Blaine let out a light suspicion. With his life experience of more than half a lifetime, he could naturally perceive Huo La's change at this moment—as if he had instantly changed from a green teenager to a veteran who was well-versed in games.

However, he was only slightly surprised and continued: "Don't be so nervous, once, I was also one of the scientists of Team Rocket."

Huo La keenly caught the word "once," his body leaning forward unconsciously, his gaze locked on Blaine's face, afraid of missing any detail.

"As a former scientist of Team Rocket, I still have some lingering connections with that side. Knowing your identity is not strange." Blaine's tone was flat, as if he were talking about an insignificant matter.

"Gym Leader Blaine specifically pointing out my identity, what do you want to do?" Huo La's voice also turned colder, carrying a hint of vigilance.

"I'm just curious, as an outer member who just joined Team Rocket, how do you know about the existence of Mewtwo, and how can you provide Sabrina with a plan to control Mewtwo?" Blaine's eyes suddenly became sharp, piercing straight into the bottom of Huo La's heart.

Sabrina! Mewtwo!

These two names exploded like thunder in Huo La's mind, and combined with Blaine's own admission of being a former Team Rocket scientist, a piece of sealed memory instantly emerged.

It was rumored that Mewtwo was a man-made Pokémon cultivated by Dr. Fuji and his colleagues. Now it seemed that the "colleague" was Blaine, and the Fuji old man in Lavender Town in the future was mostly Dr. Fuji who had faked his death and escaped after the Mewtwo incident.

Just when Huo La's thoughts were surging, Blaine added: "The matter of Mewtwo is the secret of secrets in Team Rocket. Even Dr. Zager, who introduced you, is not qualified to touch this level of secret."

His gaze stared fixedly at Huo La like a hawk, as if he wanted to see through his thoughts.

Huo La instinctively looked up at the door behind Blaine, his fingertips quietly rubbing the Poké Ball in his pocket, seemingly calculating the possibility of escaping.

"Don't look, this door doesn't have a special key, no one can open it." Blaine saw through his thoughts, his tone still calm: "And you don't need to be afraid. Since I left Team Rocket, I will never get involved in the mess on that side again. Looking for you today is purely for personal reasons."

"Personal reasons..."

Huo La pondered for a long time, suddenly changed the subject, his gaze falling on Blaine's right arm: "Gym Leader Blaine, your right arm..."

Blaine's pupils shrank abruptly, his left hand uncontrollably touching his right arm, his tone carrying a hint of surprise: "How do you know about my right arm..."

"I can know about Mewtwo, so knowing about your arm is not strange, right?" Huo La replied flatly.

Blaine was silent for a moment and slowly took off the gray long shirt he was wearing outside.

In an instant, a weird arm came into Huo La's eyes—the arm was weirdly white-purple, the blood vessels under the skin squirming like earthworms, as if it had independent life and consciousness, forming a shocking contrast with the normal left arm.

"This arm became like this because Mewtwo's cells invaded." Blaine's left hand gripped his right arm tightly, his tone carrying a hint of pain: "This is also the real reason why I kept you alone."

"I heard from Fuji that after Sabrina could initially control Mewtwo, I immediately went to ask the reason. After knowing her method came from you, I realized that you must be hiding a secret—this secret, perhaps it can cure my arm."

Huo La stared at that arm, his pupils dilated abruptly, his tone full of shock: "You said there are Mewtwo's cells in this arm? Then wouldn't it be... hiding the gene sequences of all Pokémon!"

Blaine narrowed his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of approval: "You are indeed sharp enough."

"You are right, there are indeed the gene sequences of all Pokémon in this arm. And precisely because of this, I made up my mind to leave Team Rocket."

"Leaving Team Rocket, I'm afraid it's not that easy, right? Especially since you are still carrying such an arm." Huo La pursued, his tone carrying a hint of probing.

"Indeed not easy. Being able to escape smoothly, thanks to Fuji's help." Blaine laughed at himself: "As for this arm... for Team Rocket, which has a complete Mewtwo, what do these Mewtwo cells count for?"

Huo La agreed deeply in his heart. For Team Rocket, these cells were indeed not worth mentioning.

"You are looking for me, is it because you want me to help you solve the problem of this arm?" Huo La asked straight to the point.

Blaine looked at Huo La, his tense expression finally relaxed, and he nodded with a smile: "Forget it, I won't pursue where you know about Mewtwo. But I do want to ask, do you have any way to solve the trouble of this arm of mine?"

His voice carried a hint of exhaustion: "Since I had this arm, I can see Mewtwo's memory fragments in my dreams every night. Those pictures torture me... unable to sleep at night."

Huo La looked at Blaine's heavy dark circles, and then swept over the squirming right arm, speaking slowly: "I do have a way."

Blaine's eyes lit up instantly, leaning his body forward abruptly, his tone full of urgency: "Really?!"

"Absolutely true." Huo La nodded, paused, and added: "And this method is as difficult as ascending to heaven for others, but for me... perhaps it's easy."

He changed the subject, a hint of game-playing in his eyes: "However, why should I help you?"

"Hahaha!" After Blaine finished listening to Huo La's words, not only was there no anger, but he looked up and let out a hearty laugh, shaking the dust on the beams of the room down.

After laughing, he smoothed his handlebar mustache, a hint of approval in his eyes: "That's right, only with an exchange can things be done steadily. If you really sent the method of treatment without asking for the reason, I would instead have to suspect whether you were hiding any problems."

"Speak, what do you want?" Blaine put the long shirt back on, pulled his collar, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, his tone returning to the previous steadiness, as if that urgent appearance just now had never existed.

Huo La stared at Blaine, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously, pondering for a moment before speaking slowly: "I don't know if you have heard of Entei?"

"Entei?" Blaine's hand holding the teacup paused slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, then nodded: "The legendary Fire Pokémon, I naturally know it. But what does this have to do with the treatment of my arm?"

"It has a lot to do with it." Huo La said word by word, ringing with power: "What can cure your right arm is Entei, accurately speaking, it's Entei's flame."

"Entei...'s flame... Sacred Fire!" Blaine's eyes lit up instantly, shockingly, and he slapped his thigh abruptly, his voice raising a few points: "Right! That's it! It's the Sacred Fire! That flame that can purify all evil, it must be able to dispel the Mewtwo cells in my arm!"

He was so excited that he paced back and forth in the small room, his steps a bit floating, clearly hit by this answer.

But after walking a few laps, his steps paused abruptly, and the excitement on his face was quickly replaced by dejection: "But... Entei is a Pokémon that only exists in legends, its tracks are erratic, how can it be easily found?"

Few people in this world had seen legendary Pokémon, let alone actively finding and borrowing their flames; this was simply a fantasy.

"Since I said this matter is easy for me, naturally I have my ways." Huo La picked up the teacup, drank it slowly, his tone full of confidence, not showing any panic.

Blaine turned his head abruptly to look at him, his eyes full of urgency and doubt: "What way? Do you have any means to locate legendary Pokémon?"

Huo La put down the teacup, the corners of his mouth hooking into an arc of deep meaning, not answering.

Blaine sat back on the rock seat, his fingertips tapping the table lightly, his gaze looking at Huo La heavily, his tone carrying a hint of emotion: "You brat, you really don't look like a ten-year-old child. Your mind is more meticulous than many adult Trainers I've seen. Let's talk about your conditions."

Huo La met Blaine's gaze, his eyes frank but hiding a hint of calculation, speaking slowly: "I have a Pokémon, I want to ask Mr. Blaine to help take care of it for a period of time."

"Take care of a Pokémon? Is it that simple?" Blaine was stunned, clearly not expecting the first condition to be so ordinary, his tone full of doubt.

"No, this is just an additional small condition." Huo La waved his hand, not intending to finish his words, hanging Blaine's appetite.

"You really know how to add layers." Blaine smiled helplessly, then nodded in agreement.

He didn't pursue what specific Pokémon it was. With the other party's meticulousness, it must be a Fire-type Pokémon. As long as it was a Fire-type, he had full confidence to take good care of it.

"Second, I need a sum of money." Huo La immediately threw out the second condition. After all, this was a rare opportunity to "slaughter the big household."

"Second?" Blaine sighed lightly, not surprised, just asking flatly: "How much?"

"200,000 League Coins." Huo La reported the number, secretly feeling that this amount was not small.

"So little?" Blaine raised his eyebrows, his tone carrying a hint of surprise, as if this was just a small amount of money that didn't matter.

Huo La: "..."

He instantly wailed in his heart—sure enough, Gym Leaders were all invisible big households. It was only one like Xiao Gang who was poor. If he had known, he would have asked for more, at least doubling it!

"This money isn't for me, it's the 'reward' for asking Entei to take action. Can't let a legendary Pokémon help for nothing." Huo La hurriedly found an excuse, trying to regain some "pattern."

"Tsk tsk tsk, what Pokémon needs League Coins?" Blaine clearly didn't believe it, but still nodded readily: "Fine, I agree to this money too, 200,000, it's nothing."

Seeing that the first two conditions were successfully negotiated, Huo La's expression became serious, throwing out the last and most critical condition: "The last condition, after Entei helps you cure your arm, you need to help it deal with someone."

"Deal with whom?" Blaine's expression also became serious. Being able to be proposed by Huo La as a condition, the other party was definitely not an ordinary character.

Huo La paused, word by word: "Deal with someone who captured Ho-Oh!" ===== CHAPTER 217 =====