Chapter 217: Blaine

"Deal with someone who captured Ho-Oh!"

These words were like a thunderbolt, striking straight into Blaine's heart. He bounced up from his chair, his eyes full of unbelievable shock.

This news was too explosive—not to mention that someone in the world actually had the strength to capture a top-tier legendary Pokémon like Ho-Oh, just the goal Huo La set of "dealing with this person" was already absurd to the point of exceeding his cognition.

An existence that could capture Ho-Oh alive had strength at least at the Elite Four level, perhaps even touching the threshold of a Champion. A Gym Leader like him might not necessarily be able to take advantage in front of such a person.

"Do you know who this person is, and what their background is?" Blaine locked his brows, his voice carrying a hint of solemnity.

"Naturally I know." Huo La nodded, then told Blaine the whole process of Ho-Oh being in danger on Mount Tianqing and the mysterious person appearing to capture it.

After hearing the whole process, Blaine sighed for a long time, looking at Huo La with a few more points of understanding: "So that's what happened, no wonder you said finding Entei was easy for you."

"Gym Leader Blaine, can you agree to this condition?" Huo La looked at him fixedly, waiting for the final answer.

"Sigh, things have come to this, I have no other choice." Blaine sat down dejectedly, then looked up, his tone becoming firm: "Rest assured, when that day really comes, I will definitely help, and so will my Magmortar!"

"Magmortar!"

Hearing this name, Huo La also nodded.

Sure enough, true Gym Leaders all had hidden cards. Those Pokémon used to deal with ordinary challengers were just the tip of the iceberg of their strength. A high-level fully evolved ace like Magmortar was their bottom-line confidence.

As for Xiao Gang and the Cerulean sisters, those were special circumstances.

"Good." Getting an affirmative answer, Huo La didn't drag it out, directly revealing the bottom line: "I will find a way to make Entei take the initiative to find you, you just need to wait with peace of mind."

Blaine nodded without any doubt.

Huo La could say it to this point, and the plan provided was indeed feasible, so he had no reason not to believe it.

"You solved such a big heart trouble for me, I can't let you work for nothing." Blaine put his sunglasses back on, covering the emotions in his eyes, and changed the subject: "I'll tell you another piece of news. I don't know if this news is useful to you, but it concerns Giovanni, perhaps it can help you."

"Hmm?" Huo La had just stood up to prepare to say goodbye. Hearing the word "Giovanni," his footsteps paused abruptly, and his butt sat back on the chair heavily, his expression instantly becoming serious.

Blaine's words seemed casual, but the name Giovanni was no different from another thunderbolt to Huo La.

According to his plan, after the Cinnabar Gym, the next target was the Viridian Gym, which would be his first official meeting with Giovanni. Therefore, any intelligence related to Giovanni was crucial to him.

Seeing Huo La instantly tense up, Blaine didn't hang his appetite and directly stated the core: "According to the news from Fuji, Giovanni recently has had an aura, breath, and even personality that are completely different from usual, as if... he has changed into another person."

"Changed into another person?" Huo La repeated in a low voice, his heart skipping a beat.

"That's right, he changed into another person." Blaine's tone was firm, continuing to add: "The original Giovanni's obsession with Mewtwo was deep into his marrow, but during this period, he instead didn't care so much about the existence of Mewtwo, and his entire style of conduct has undergone earth-shaking changes."

"The original Team Rocket, although considered an evil organization, at least had its own code of conduct, especially under Giovanni's iron-fisted suppression, it would never easily clash head-on with the League."

"But during this period, Giovanni seems to have completely let go of restrictions on his subordinates, instead carrying a hint of indulgence. Team Rocket's actions have become increasingly arrogant, capturing wild Pokémon and snatching Trainers' partners, more than twice as presumptuous as in the past!"

"Indulgence..." Huo La frowned, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously, his mind deducing rapidly.

In his memories, Sakaki, though cold and ruthless and single-mindedly pursuing profit, had always been extremely measured and restrained.

Even if the plan was exposed in the end and he was defeated, he was defeated cleanly and neatly, even leaving behind the demeanor of a master who left his lifelong experience to his successor.

Especially at this point in time, the Mewtwo incident hadn't erupted yet. By logic, he should still be hiding his identity low-key, secretly accumulating strength, and it was absolutely impossible to be so blatantly indulgent to his subordinates. This didn't conform to Giovanni's logic of conduct at all.

What exactly did he want to do?

Seeing Huo La fall into deep thought, Blaine didn't disturb him, just picked up the teacup and sipped it, pondering the matters related to Entei by himself, and the room fell into silence for a while.

————

At the crater, Huo La took out his mobile phone and scanned it, seeing the 200,000 League Coins account arrival reminder, the corners of his mouth hooked unconsciously.

Then he turned to look at the crater not far away. The thick smoke was still billowing there, and the stone door that had been tightly closed before had now been closed again, completely isolating Blaine and that piece of magma behind him.

The Pokémon he left for Blaine to help take care of was naturally that Salandit that was still very young.

The League had long had regulations that a Trainer could carry at most six Pokémon, which was actually a setting that was good for both the Trainer and the Pokémon.

After all, a person's energy was ultimately limited and could not take care of the cultivation of too many Pokémon at the same time. Most ordinary Trainers could take care of two or three Pokémon with heart at the same time, which was already considered a leader.

Not to mention Huo La's situation.

He could maintain a high-intensity Pokémon cultivation rhythm, thanks to the help of his partner Xiao Gang, who was determined to become a top Breeder, to share the burden. Otherwise, with his ability as a Trainer, if he brought all twelve Pokémon with him, just the daily feeding would make his head big.

And he originally wanted to cultivate Salandit with Fire-type as the main and Poison-type as the auxiliary. Blaine, as a top expert in Fire-type Pokémon cultivation, and guarding the unique field of Cinnabar Volcano, was undoubtedly the best candidate to take care of it, especially now that Salandit was still in the juvenile stage that needed to consolidate its Fire-type foundation.

Huo La shook his head, dispelling the plans in his mind, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his temples, and muttered: "Let's go, let's go, hurry up and leave this ghost place, it's so hot that people are about to melt, if we keep roasting, my skin will be sunburned."

"Hehe, now you know you care about your skin?" Bilan immediately seized the opportunity to retort, "When you rode Aerodactyl and dived into the crater, why didn't I see you worry about this?"

Huo La glanced at her, rarely not bickering with her as usual, just pondered for a moment, his expression becoming serious: "Wait a minute when we get back to the Pokémon Center, I have something to find you for, I want to tell you."

Seeing him suddenly put away his playful appearance, Bilan felt a hint of doubt in her heart, but still nodded and replied: "Good, I know." ===== CHAPTER 218 =====