After explaining the matter, he arrived outside the Grand Canyon of Flame Valley, silently sitting on a pile of rocks, gazing up at Volcarona in the sky.
He was waiting.
The continuous, unabashed release of solar heat, even though Volcarona is powerful, must be a tremendous drain every second, right?
The campfire was slow to take action.
It, too, was waiting for Volcarona to exhaust its own energy.
If Volcarona were in its peak condition, the campfire would likely not stand a chance against it, but if it continued to wear itself out, then that would be a different story.
Thud thud thud—
Suddenly, footsteps approached.
Natsuhiko looked back and saw that it was Lance.
Again to inquire about the situation?
Does he have the ability to relay messages?
Natsuhiko suddenly realized that.
Otherwise, why persist like this?
If messages could be conveyed...
Lance appeared rather respectful as he walked over to Natsuhiko's side.
"You're here," Natsuhiko said in a calm tone.
At these words, Lance was momentarily stunned, but then he quickly reacted, "Did Lord Zhenwu know I would come?"
Natsuhiko half-turned, with a slight hint of mockery and a bit of teasing in his expression.
"Should I call you Long Ji, or should I call you... Dragon Master Lance?"
With these words, Lance, who was professionally trained to not lose composure, lost some of his composure.
But he struggled to maintain his expression, his face somewhat stiff.
"I don't understand what the lord is talking about."
Natsuhiko brushed off the dust on his clothes and slowly stood up, looking him in the eye, he said bluntly, "I know you."
You're familiar.
This time, Lance finally stopped hiding it, though he didn't know how his identity was exposed, the current situation required him to act, or he might not get out.
His hand was already on the Pokeball at his waist.
However, before he could take any action, he saw Natsuhiko raise his hand, palm facing him.
In the palm, there was a special symbol drawn.
Lance recognized this symbol; it was the code Natsuhiko had designed before entering the Alternate Space.
After a brief pause, he suddenly responded, his voice carrying a hint of probing, "Natsuhiko?"
Natsuhiko pulled back his palm, looking at him expressionlessly, until he saw Lance feel uneasy before finally speaking.
"Why can't it be Flint?"
"Damn!"
Lance couldn't help but burst out a curse.
He took three steps and made them into two, clenching his fists, pretending to want to fight.
Life's ups and downs were too fast; he had just prepared to summon his Pokémon and run, also preparing in case he couldn't escape being surrounded by Magma Team, figuring out how to leave some information for Natsuhiko and the others.
Who knew that after thinking long and hard about how to leave information for Natsuhiko to see, Natsuhiko was right in front of him.
"Stop!" Seeing Lance coming over with his fist, Natsuhiko immediately called to stop, "Cough cough, mind your current identity."
Lance's fist halted, the veins in the corners of his eyes popped.
Heading the pent-up emotion, he suddenly burst into laughter.
And Natsuhiko, too, laughed in momentum.
Their momentum, when choosing to infiltrate Magma Team, surprisingly aligned so well.
"This, what's going on?" Lance gestured to his face.
Natsuhiko lifted a corner of his face.
Seeing this, Lance suddenly understood.
"You still haven't answered my question, why can't it be Flint?" Natsuhiko asked.
He felt there was nothing wrong with his disguise, and Lance calling out his name without hesitation must have some basis.
And such a basis was something Natsuhiko would need to pay attention to in the future.
"Silhouette." Lance said directly.
"Silhouette?"
"Yeah, earlier when I saw your silhouette, it felt familiar, but I didn't boldly think that way, didn't expect it really was you." Lance explained.
Natsuhiko's expression was odd.
Others recognize people by facial features, hand shapes, bear... cough cough, the more skilled by smell, gait frequency and the like, which Natsuhiko had taken note of.
But he didn't expect Lance relied on silhouette.
Read too much prose, perhaps?
"I'll go buy some Agatha, you wait here don't move."
"Hm?"
Lance couldn't grasp Natsuhiko's sudden words at all.
Seeing his reaction, Natsuhiko sighed.
This joke, without anyone catching it, lacks the flavor.
"Cough cough, alright, let's talk business, do you have a way to send information outside?" Natsuhiko asked.
This was his main reason for voluntarily exposing his identity.
Anyway, even if he didn't expose it now, it would be exposed when Magma Team decided to leave.
There's no way he could really follow Magma Team, going back to be some worthless officer, right?
Magma Team's officers weren't nearly as attractive as the alliance's Gym Leader.
If it were Rocket Team, maybe he would consider.
Moreover, his identity couldn't withstand scrutiny.
In this Alternate Space, he could muddle through, but once out, he would certainly give himself away upon thorough inspection.
Many areas concerning Natsuhiko just didn't stand up.
Back to the main point.
Lance's expression also became serious, hesitantly nodding.
"There's a way, it's the investigator's method, but not sure if the outside can receive it, and there's only one chance."
This was also the reason he wanted to infiltrate Magma Team.
However, without Ditto's mask for disguise, without Elite Candidate Level Pokémon, he couldn't infiltrate the higher-ups, so the useful information he collected was indeed limited.
Natsuhiko rubbed his chin.
Let's regard it as a trial; having it is better than nothing.
"Alright, then tell them that the item is with the campfire."
"Item?"
"It's the item Magma Team is looking for in this Alternate Space; I also don't know what it is, just relay exactly what I said."