Red light from the Orb spilled across the summit, bathing stone and mist in a gentle, ominous glow.
Looking around, Natsui realized why Team Aqua had taken the Blue Orb so easily—there were no real security measures here.
Even the orb's light wasn't shielded; it simply spilled out, uncontained.
Fortunately, even in Hoenn, very few people knew about the existence of these two orbs, let alone came here to snatch them. Phoebe's grandparents lived here more out of tradition than protection—mostly to stop lost travelers or mischievous wild Pokémon from accidentally taking the orbs.
Withdrawing his gaze from the Red Orb, Natsui asked, "Is there any news about Team Magma now?"
Phoebe went to a broken stone railing nearby and sat down. While swinging her firm legs, she said lightly, "When I repelled those guys earlier, I heard them mention the name Maxie. It seems the person leading their team this time should be this Team Magma leader."
Maxie, huh...
Natsui stroked his chin, eyes narrowing as he studied the empty path.
Unlike Archie, Maxie had no real charisma, even though he commanded many followers.
On the contrary, he was obsessive over details, always calm on the surface, but ruthless when it came to his goals. If needed, he would sacrifice anyone but himself.
And his name was also very interesting compared to Archie's.
Besides that, they also had a common characteristic: the end of their names both represented a type of tree.
He rarely fought himself, preferring to order his subordinates from behind.
Unexpectedly, to seize the Red Orb this time, he actually set out personally!
It seemed that Team Aqua snatching the Blue Orb must have reached his ears, putting immense pressure on him and forcing him to change his style of acting!
Seeing Natsui silent, Phoebe thought he was afraid of Maxie.
Phoebe stood, her shadow long and steady. "Focus on the grunts—I'll handle the leaders."
As befits an Elite Four member — the confidence was obvious.
Natsui and Misty exchanged glances; they both felt the strong confidence in Phoebe's tone!
But forget it, they are just here to help. Since she actively took on the most difficult task, what more could they say?
Hopefully, this will be an easy job.
Thinking of this, the two looked at each other and smiled. After withdrawing his gaze, Natsui also happily accepted it: "Alright, leave those small fries to us!"
Phoebe seemed very satisfied with their attitude. Only at this time did she suddenly remember something again and asked belatedly, "By the way, I still don't know what your names are?"
"My name is Natsui."
"I am Misty."
The two reported their names respectively. Just as they thought before, Phoebe indeed had no reaction to Natsui's name. Obviously, this also convinced the two that she indeed hadn't heard anything about Natsui.
This played right into Natsui's hands. After all, wherever he went before, he would receive people's attention. Now in front of Phoebe, he finally didn't have to be treated so specially. Moreover, not only that, he actually received Phoebe's care instead!
After the two introduced themselves briefly, Phoebe took charge and assigned tasks.
Actually, the task was also very simple. It was nothing more than guarding the only entrance together and not letting Team Magma step in here.
However, after pondering for a moment, Natsui still raised an objection.
"Although this method allows us to wait at ease for the fatigued enemy, we are too passive. Moreover, we are in the light while the enemy is in the dark. We don't know when they will attack at all. If we keep guarding here and wait for most of the day, I'm very worried we will exhaust our energy and be unable to hold on before the enemy attacks."
Even out here, skill reveals itself.
Just these words, even without knowing his strength, made Phoebe look at Natsui with new respect.
She nodded in agreement. "You think more thoroughly. Then what do you say we should do?"
Natsui scanned the summit and counted heads. "We should send a scout down—Gengar can handle it. Team Magma has numbers, but they don't know we're here. If Misty and I hide, we can hit them from behind once they show up. It's risky, but it gives us an edge."
Phoebe calculated in her heart. She had to admit, compared to her arrangement, this was undoubtedly the most correct one.
"Your method is very good; let's do as you say. But you may not know, the mountain conditions here are very complex, and many Ghost-type Pokémon inhabit it. If ordinary people and Pokémon enter here, not to mention getting lost, they can easily be entangled by those Ghost-type Pokémon and find it hard to escape. Only people like me who grew up here can be unaffected. But my Pokémon need to guard against those Team Magma members at all times and cannot go down the mountain to scout..."
When Phoebe said this, Natsui understood completely.
Because Phoebe had to guard the orb, she dared not let her Pokémon leave too far. Therefore, the scouting task could only be handed over to Natsui and Misty's Pokémon to complete.
But obviously, she didn't have much confidence in Natsui and Misty's Pokémon.
"Don't worry, I have a Pokémon perfectly suited for the current situation. Moreover, there's no need to worry about harassment from those Ghost-type Pokémon, and it can do it unknowingly during scouting!"
As soon as his voice fell, Natsui clapped his hands, and his Gengar slowly floated out from his shadow.
For Gengar, coming to a place like Mt. Pyre was like returning to its own home. Letting it execute this task, there was no fear of those wild Ghost-type Pokémon looking for trouble with it. Instead, one should worry whether it would look for trouble with those wild Ghost-type Pokémon!
"Eh? So you also have a Ghost-type Pokémon!"
As the Ghost-type Elite Four member, Phoebe naturally felt close to various Ghost-type Pokémon. There were even rumors that she had the ability to communicate with Ghost-type Pokémon!
Seeing Natsui's Gengar at this time, her eyes lit up. She circled Gengar a few times and praised cheerfully, "Can tell your Gengar is trained quite well. Looking at its round body, obviously the food is also quite good..."
Speaking to the point of excitement, she reached out her hand, seeming to want to touch Gengar.
However, her hand only reached halfway before being slapped away by Gengar.
"Little girl, praise if you want to praise, but saying I'm a bit round, isn't that excessive? Where is my figure round? Clearly it's very slender, okay!"
"Eh!??? It actually spoke!!?" Hearing Gengar speak human language, Phoebe's eyes widened instantly. She pointed at Gengar, a look of extreme incredulity on her face!
"Keep it down, will you?" Gengar flicked an ear and grinned at Natsui. "You want me to spy on Team Magma, right?"
As a Pokémon driven out of the shadow by Natsui except for certain 'critical moments', Gengar could see and hear almost everything. No matter who was talking to Natsui, it heard clearly, so naturally, there was no need to repeat it.
Natsui smiled slightly. "Under the premise of ensuring you are not discovered, you can also play some pranks you like, adding a little appetizer to this upcoming battle!"
"I understand! Then I'm going to go all out!!"
Gengar cackled and slipped into the mountain's shadows, vanishing from sight.
And when it went far, Natsui turned his head and saw Phoebe looking in the direction Gengar left, her eyes emitting a fervent light!
Sensing Natsui looking at her, Phoebe wiped the drool from her face and asked urgently, "It's simply too special! I like it so much! Do you want to exchange Pokémon with me!? I have many powerful Ghost-type Pokémon in my hand. If you like, I can use them to exchange with you!"
Exchange my Gengar?
What beautiful dream are you thinking about!?
"That is absolutely impossible," Natsui shook his head coldly yet firmly. "Gengar is my partner; I will absolutely not use it for exchange. You'd better give up this thought."
...
In a dense forest at the foot of Mt. Pyre, a large number of Team Magma members had gathered at this time.
Amidst the green trees and grass, the orange-red uniforms on their bodies were so eye-catching!
However, the originally idle team stirred somehow at a certain moment. Courtney, who was at the tail end of the team and didn't know what happened, heard the commotion and stood up to look at the head of the team. She saw Team Magma's leader Maxie, bringing another Admin, Tabitha, walking toward here.
Courtney hurriedly went up to meet them.
Maxie looked about the same age as Archie. However, compared to Archie's fierce temperament, Maxie wore a pair of black half-rimmed glasses and a decent Team Magma outfit. His red long hair was combed back, and his figure was slender, looking very refined and gentle.
However, behind the lenses was a pair of indifferent eyes. Coupled with his expressionless and slightly pale skin, he looked just like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity!
No one dared to underestimate him!
Looking at the other Admin, Tabitha, beside him—judging from his build, he was undoubtedly a tall and fat man. Wearing a loose Team Magma coat, although he always narrowed his eyes, a smile that looked very cunning always hung on the corner of his mouth!
Both of them arriving here, needless to say, the target was naturally that Red Orb on the mountain!
And just as Natsui guessed before, after hearing through spies that Team Aqua snatched the Blue Orb, Maxie was indeed anxious.
He would absolutely not allow Team Aqua to awaken Kyogre before them!
Although he didn't know why no news came from Team Aqua even after so long, anyway, thanks to them, he finally knew the whereabouts of the orb.
Really didn't expect that after searching in various places for so long, this orb was actually hidden in this big mountain where dead Pokémon were buried!
This was indeed somewhat unexpected for their Team Magma. But it didn't matter; it wasn't too late. As long as they could snatch the Red Orb, they could definitely find and awaken Groudon before Team Aqua!
This operation allowed absolutely no failure!
Arriving in front of Courtney, looking at the girl in front of him, Maxie asked, "How is the situation?"
Courtney chuckled lightly. "According to our constant exploration, we have already prospected all areas and caves below the mountainside of the entire Mt. Pyre and haven't found the whereabouts of that orb. Therefore, it can be inferred that it must be hidden on the mountaintop!"
"Well done," Maxie nodded with satisfaction, then asked again, "What about that woman?"
He meant Phoebe, of course.
Courtney replied, "Just as I reported before, that Elite Four member has already repelled our probing several times. She is still on the mountaintop now and hasn't left."
"It seems she should be the guardian here. Is she alone? Has anyone else approached here during this time?"
"Indeed only herself. I deployed a large number of hidden sentries around Mt. Pyre long ago; they haven't found anyone going up the mountain!"
In truth, it was thanks to Natsui's luck: arriving from the air left no tracks for their sentries to find.
Before coming here, he indeed didn't know Mt. Pyre was already surrounded by Team Magma. But because he descended directly from the air to the mountainside, his tracks weren't detected by these people.
"Good." Maxie's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he raised his voice for all to hear. "The orb is here. Our dream is within reach. Some call that girl on the mountain an Elite Four—let's show them titles mean nothing to Team Magma. Move out!"
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