Baimu panicked inside, hurriedly leading Zweilous to rush over.
"Are you okay—?"
The thick fog was dispersed by the flash grenade.
Revealed was a violet-haired girl wearing a red hood with two golden horns outside the hood, dressed in a red fitted skirt and red long boots.
She looked at most sixteen or seventeen.
Not far from her, there was a Camerupt with two miniature volcanoes on its back.
Both were dazzled by the sudden flash grenade, one covered its eyes and rolled silently on the ground, while the other shook its head desperately and sneezed.
Turns out they're from Magma Team, and the hair color and gold horns...
Did Courtney appear in the animation? Baimu searched his memory and found that in the anime, only the female officer Aquan from Ocean Team appeared, and only the male officer Huo Cun from Magma Team appeared.
Quite different from the Three Fire and 3S setup in the special edition.
Ordinary Magma Team members usually have black horns on their hoods; having golden horns and violet hair must be Courtney for sure.
Or could she be called Campfire too?
In Pokémon World, these two names sound the same, just written differently.
Unexpectedly, after encountering Ocean Team in Martial Arts Town, I can meet Magma Team in such deep forests.
Wait!
Is this place some base of Magma Team?
Speaking of which, what did she say earlier? Finally waiting for you? Who is she waiting for?
Waiting for me? Is that fisherman arranged by Magma Team, specifically to trick me into coming here?
Baimu thought deeply but didn't attack Courtney and Camerupt; after nearly having an unpleasant encounter with Ocean Team, he went online to read various news and blog articles to understand the situation of Groudon and Kyogre's battle between the two organizations.
Magma Team, like Ocean Team, also detached from the criminal organization label, except they are different from an ocean protection organization, now a land environment development company.
Put simply, they are in real estate and regional infrastructure construction.
They are committed to expanding more territories for humans without affecting Pokémon's living environment, using every inch of land rationally.
The electric trains now spanning across the entire Hoenn Main Continent are actually related to them.
In fact, this is much like their original idea, just not as radical as before and no longer limited to human activity domains.
So Magma Team can be considered a normal organization now.
It's better to observe first.
Baimu looked around and confirmed that seven or eight Magma Team's hatchet men weren't rushing out to hack him, then pulled a can of spray from his bag and pried Courtney's hand away to spray twice in her face.
The slightly restored sight of Courtney thought it was some kind of toxic spray, and hurriedly wiped with her hands. Halfway through wiping, the refreshing spray began to take effect, and the intense emotional ups and downs gradually stabilized.
Her dazzled eyes also quickly recovered.
The girl lying on the ground opened her slightly swollen eyes and locked eyes with Baimu who looked down at her.
"Moo!"
The Camerupt, also freed from blindness, bit onto her hood and dragged her away from him.
Baimu didn't stop it either.
Once Courtney stood up from the ground, he then shouted:
"Talk! Why did you scare people?"
Baimu, the "villain," made an accusation first, and Zweilous beside him also roared.
Courtney looked innocent, "Didn't... scare anyone..."
She truly didn't scare anyone, her movements were stiff only because she had waited from morning till noon and got up too quickly upon seeing the target, leading to unsteady legs from numbness.
"Then what did you mean by saying 'you finally came'? Isn't it trying to scare people by saying such things?" Baimu deliberately probed, thinking it must be the Courtney from the game, as even saying four words had to pause in the middle.
Courtney replied, "I've been here... waiting for you for a long time..."
Indeed.
Having received the answer, Baimu cautiously reached into his pocket.
He wasn't fooled by the seemingly innocent and bewildered face; anyone who played Gemstone Reproduction knows Courtney is a silently crazy, persistent character. The anime might not have the same personality, but one can never be too careful.
What's more, she tricked him into coming here.
Must be up to something!
"Why are you waiting for me? Do we know each other?" Baimu asked again.
Courtney very honestly replied, "Boss Chi Yansong... is very interested in you... sent me to find you... I couldn't find you... so I tried to make you come find me..."
God, listening to her talk is really torturing.
He rubbed his ears, feeling like she articulated word by word.
But Boss Chi Yansong is interested in him—
Ah!
Is it because he endorsed Ocean Team! Didn't the enmity between these two organizations get resolved?
Baimu was pondering.
Suddenly Courtney said, "Let's... have a battle!"
"Hmm? Why?"
"Boss Chi Yansong... wants to have me face off with you... let's battle!" Her lips slowly curled up, her eyes showing a flash of excitement, her whole demeanor abruptly shedding the soft look, becoming sharp and her tone seemed somewhat impatient.
"Let me... analyze you..."
"Moo!"
The Camerupt beside her let out a muffled roar.
Boss Chi Yansong having her meet me, what's that about?
Baimu frowned, thinking maybe he really needed to finish a battle with Courtney, then follow her to some Magma Team base to meet Boss Chi Yansong to get answers.
"...Alright! A battle it is!"
He immediately agreed.
"Good..."
Courtney, having received permission, was even more excited, then—
Thud.
She fell straight, face forward onto the ground.
Even the Camerupt was shocked, first lowering its head to look at its Trainer, then looked at Baimu not far away.
"Why are you looking at me, I didn't do anything!"
The latter quickly raised his hand to indicate innocence.
And the next moment, Courtney slightly lifted her head, there was inexplicably a bit of grievance on her dust-covered face, "...hungry..."
Gurgle~
The sound of stomach digesting echoed.
"Did you... not have lunch?" Baimu tilted his head, somewhat speechlessly looking at her, then at the Camerupt, "You didn't have lunch either?"
The Camerupt turned its head, offering no response.
But its Trainer did speak up, "Lunch... forgot to bring..."
"Alright then."
Baimu sighed deeply, putting down his backpack to take out food, "Didn't expect that fighting with someone would cost me a meal, firstly I'll say I only have leftovers here, if you're okay with eating them go ahead, if not—already eating huh."
He watched as Courtney quickly took the food to share with Camerupt, somewhat doubting if this person was really the clear-headed scientist from Magma Team.
Anyway, whether a scientist or not is unclear, the brain seems lacking.
On the other side.
After sharing food with Camerupt, Courtney didn't forget to release her other Pokémon to partake in the remaining food together while devouring.
Baimu thus discovered this person only carried three Pokémon.
Camerupt, Mightyena, and Crobat.
"Really looks pitiful."
He hugged Zweilous's head, noticing both heads were drooling and couldn't help tapping one of them, "No ambition! Didn't feed you lunch, did I!"
"Hey woo~" "Hey woo~"
Zweilous whimpered lowly in grievance.