Team Magma retreated.
Courtney had arrived full of hope, only to leave in defeat. Her plan had failed, and this special operation was a total disaster.
Shelly, of course, didn't know that Courtney had already been losing before she arrived. She assumed they had fled in defeat after seeing her, unwilling to face her.
She couldn't help but feel smug, happy to have gotten her revenge.
How do you like that? You ambushed me, and now it's my turn. Not so fun when the tables are turned, is it?
She glanced at Professor Cozmo, then waved her hand. The Team Aqua grunts moved to replace Team Magma, continuing the siege on Natsui's group.
Professor Cozmo may have escaped, but he's destined to fall into my hands!
However, the moment they engaged, she also realized something was wrong.
Just like before, Misty, Zinnia, and Professor Cozmo hadn't switched their Pokémon, still using Politoed, Starmie, Salamence, and Solrock.
Only Natsui had swapped his disadvantaged Tyranitar for Scizor, fighting alongside Dragonite.
In terms of both high-end power and grunt strength, Team Magma and Team Aqua were roughly equal. And just like Courtney, Shelly had clearly misjudged the strength of Natsui's group.
She had been relieved not to see the mysterious Electric-type Pokémon, assuming Team Magma had defeated it, and hadn't paid the remaining Pokémon much mind.
After all, her side had the overwhelming numbers. And these people had just finished a major battle. What stamina could they have left?
But as the battle progressed, she was shocked to find her own team's Pokémon falling one after another.
This stunned her, and she suddenly realized these people weren't as weak as she'd thought!
With that, she didn't dare delay, and also took out her Poké Ball.
She threw it, and a large, blue, sea-lion-like Pokémon with two long tusks appeared on the battlefield.
It was the Ice/Water-type, Walrein. This Pokémon had thick blubber to withstand the cold, remaining calm even at freezing temperatures, and could even repel enemy attacks. Its tusks, which grow throughout its life, could shatter a 10-ton iceberg in one blow, and would grow back even if broken.
Walrein wasn't especially tall, but it stood out among the surrounding Crawdaunt.
A red Aurora Beam shot from its mouth, straight at Dragonite. But Natsui had been watching Shelly and wasn't about to let her succeed.
Scizor darted into the path of the beam and swung its two large pincers, using X-Scissor. A cross-shaped energy blast shot out and met the Aurora Beam.
BOOM!
The two moves collided in mid-air, exploding violently and neutralizing each other.
Seeing these people were truly hard to deal with, Shelly asked the same question Courtney had:
"Who are you people!?"
This time, Zinnia remained silent, and Natsui spoke. "You don't need to know. Just know that as long as we're here, you're not taking anyone!"
Hearing this, Shelly studied Natsui for a long time, then a look of realization crossed her face.
"I remember now! You're the one who ruined our operation at the Devon Corporation a few days ago! And now you're saving him from us again! It seems you're determined to make an enemy of Team Aqua!"
Natsui remembered that the people who broke into Devon Corp had been arrested, including an admin. Normally, even if Team Aqua knew the operation failed, they shouldn't have blamed him. But not only did they know, they even knew it was him and could recognize him on sight. Their intelligence system was truly impressive.
But he'd pulled this sort of stunt many times before. Getting found out wasn't a big deal.
Zinnia and Professor Cozmo, however, looked at him differently. They were surprised he'd already had dealings with Team Aqua.
Old grudges and new hatred piled up, making Shelly despise Natsui even more.
But despite her hatred, she was helpless against him.
Her grunts' Pokémon were falling one after another. Even her own Walrein was being pushed back.
Just then, the battlefield changed again.
Natsui took out an Ultra Ball and released Raikou once more. Seeing this Pokémon enter the field, Shelly's heart sank to the bottom.
Only now did she truly understand why Courtney and Team Magma had retreated so decisively.
Realizing this, she gritted her teeth and gave the order to retreat.
She was, after all, a decisive and intelligent person, knowing when to fight and when to flee.
Before leaving, she said coldly to Natsui, "Don't celebrate just yet. This isn't over. No one who crosses Team Aqua gets away unscathed!"
With that, she waved her hand. The Team Aqua members all pulled back, disappearing in an instant.
"It's finally over..."
Misty let out a long breath and sat down on a nearby rock.
She had been through this many times before. Like Natsui, she paid no attention to Shelly's threat.
Team Rocket, such a huge organization, couldn't do anything to Natsui. What chance did they have now that he was even stronger?
Only Professor Cozmo looked troubled. He said apologetically to the group, "I'm sorry for dragging you all into this danger."
"It's nothing," Zinnia said, shaking her head. "No matter how strong they are, they're no match for us in Meteor Falls."
The "us" she referred to must be the Draconid people. From this casual comment, Natsui guessed that besides Zinnia, the Draconids had many other strong members, which was the source of her confidence against Team Aqua.
Natsui also waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. You heard her; I've already crossed them before. Even without this, they wouldn't have let me go."
Professor Cozmo said with a wry smile, "Be that as it may, you still saved me. I don't know how to thank you."
After confirming that Team Magma and Team Aqua were truly gone, Zinnia escorted them back to the main path in the cave before stopping.
After saying goodbye to her, Natsui, Misty, and Professor Cozmo set off together towards the cave exit.
Before entering the cave, Natsui thought it would be a simple shortcut. He never expected to catch a Beldum, find several Key Stones, and rescue Professor Cozmo from Team Magma and Team Aqua.
This trip was truly worthwhile...
They walked for a long time. When they finally left the cave and returned to the outside world, they looked up and saw a sky full of stars. Checking the time, it was already past 9 PM.
Looking at Professor Cozmo, Natsui asked, "What are your plans now?"
Professor Cozmo said without hesitation, "Of course I'm going home."
"Your home is...?"
"In Fallarbor Town, not far from here. Why don't you come and be my guests?"
Fallarbor Town...
Natsui thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I'll pass. Fallarbor Town doesn't have a gym, and my time is still tight. I won't bother you."
"What a shame," Professor Cozmo said. Though disappointed, he didn't insist. "Well then, I wish you luck in your gym battles!"
After chatting briefly, Natsui and Misty parted ways with Professor Cozmo. Before he got too far, Misty put her hands to her mouth like a megaphone and shouted, "Professor! Please be careful! Don't get kidnapped again!"
Professor Cozmo turned and waved at them, but said nothing, just smiled. He then continued alone down the mountain path toward Fallarbor Town.
They watched until he disappeared from sight. Natsui and Misty exchanged a smile and continued on their way.
Worried that Team Magma and Team Aqua might be nearby and attack at night, they didn't camp. They continued down the mountain under the moonlight.
Fortunately, the moon was bright, and even without flashlights, they could roughly see the path.
They walked until midnight. Once they were sure they were far from the cave, they set up their tent, ate a quick dinner, and crawled inside.
After traveling so long and fighting two major battles, they slept very late. They didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky the next day, yawning as they stepped out of the tent.
Natsui rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat outside the tent, zoning out for a bit. He then boiled water and started making breakfast.
It was a slow, tedious job.
At times like this, he really missed Erika or Brock. Not only was their food delicious, but they handled everything. He just had to sit and enjoy.
Now, he had to feed both himself and Misty.
After they and their Pokémon finished their "brunch" and were about to set out again, Natsui noticed something was wrong.
It turned out that in their rush to travel last night, and with no landmarks in the dark, they had somehow circled back to the outskirts of Rustboro City.
This discovery shocked them both. They stared at the map, speechless for a long time.
"How did this happen?" Misty asked, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. "I remember we were walking east yesterday. How did we end up back here?"
Even if they didn't want to believe it, the facts were right in front of them.
"It must be the terrain," Natsui said, rubbing his temples, a headache forming. "Although we were generally heading in the right direction last night, the mountain path was winding downwards, and we had no reference points besides the moon. That's why we circled back."
Even as he said it, he felt it was incredibly strange.
How many times had he come to Rustboro City now?
Why did he keep ending up here?
If he had known, he would have just gone with Professor Cozmo to Fallarbor Town last night. At least he wouldn't have wasted all this time backtracking!
This back-and-forth had undoubtedly wasted a lot of time.
But it couldn't be helped. After confirming their direction, they set off again.
Fortunately, while they were in the Rustboro area, they were far from the city center, on the edge of a forest. As long as they passed through this forest, they would reach the other side of the mountains.
That was at least a small mercy.
Resigning themselves to their fate, they entered the forest.
Natsui didn't know the name of this forest, but according to the map, it was vast and dense. They hadn't walked long before someone suddenly jumped out from the bushes in front of them.
After yesterday's battles, Natsui's first thought was Team Magma or Team Aqua. But looking closely, he saw it was just a young boy.
The boy had a round face, looked about Misty's age, and had very innocent eyes. He was carrying a small backpack, clearly a trainer on a journey.
Beside him stood a Heracross that was even taller than him—obviously his Pokémon.
Seeing Natsui and Misty, the boy also seemed surprised and stopped in his tracks.
"What was that?" Misty said, patting her chest. "I thought it was a bad guy or a wild Pokémon!"
But as she spoke, she took a few steps back to hide behind Natsui. She couldn't help it—even though Heracross looked majestic, a Bug-type was still a Bug-type, and it made her skin crawl.
The boy didn't seem to notice. He looked them up and down and asked, "Are you two trainers too?"
"Of course."
Natsui nodded politely, about to walk past him, but the boy said excitedly, "Since we're all trainers and we met here, how about a battle?"
Natsui paused, hesitating slightly.
Normally, he wouldn't refuse a challenge, but he still hadn't recovered from yesterday's fatigue and wasn't really in the mood.
However, the unspoken rule of "make eye contact, then battle" was strong, and he didn't want to be rude.
Seeing the boy's eager face, and glancing at the giant Heracross, he finally nodded.
"Alright then. Just one-on-one."
Seeing Natsui agree, the boy broke into a wide smile. "Then let's introduce ourselves! I'm Ichiro Sawa. I just started my journey, and I'm training in this forest!"
From his tone, Natsui could feel that vibrant, youthful energy, something he himself had started to lose after traveling through two regions.
Natsui was about to introduce himself when another person, looking exactly like the first boy, walked out from behind him.
"Huh?" Misty was stunned, then asked in surprise, "Are you two twins!?"
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