"You won..."
Courtney recalled Mightyena, a faint blush creeping across her delicate face.
Her eyes were shimmering with a light that screamed "curiosity".
As Kashiwagi walked toward her with Aggron at his side, her gaze remained locked entirely on him, never once drifting toward the massive steel beast beside him.
It was enough to make anyone feel a bit self-conscious.
"So, uh... how about we find a Pokémon Center first?"
Kashiwagi suggested tentatively. "Let Camerupt and the others recover, and we can talk when we get there. The nearest Center is only five kilometers away—it won't take long."
"Roar~"
Aggron nodded in agreement. Having been wary of Mightyena's tenacity, it hadn't held back. While a Pokémon's condition stabilizes once inside a Poké Ball, the sooner they received professional treatment, the better.
Courtney shook her head. "We... go see the Boss!"
She pulled a walkie-talkie from her pocket. "Battle finished... come pick us up..."
Wait, what?
Kashiwagi was taken aback.
He instinctively looked up at the sky.
The fog, cleared by the earlier Explosion, left the sky wide and bright. High above, mottled light began to shimmer against the blue as a massive shadow materialized out of thin air. Its crimson hull and volcano-themed insignias were impossibly vivid.
It was, without a doubt, a Team Magma airship. The design was surprisingly standard, not overly eccentric in design. Aside from being gargantuan—resembling a scaled-up heavy-lift helicopter with four massive, roaring turbine fans.
How did I not hear something that loud?
What kind of cloaking tech is this?
Some kind of mechanical Camouflage?
While Kashiwagi was lost in thought, the rear cargo bay doors of the airship swung open. Two small flight vehicles—resembling high-tech hovering Segways—descended rapidly, landing beside them.
"Captain Courtney!"
The two Magma grunts saluted in unison.
Courtney ignored them completely, turning back to Kashiwagi. "Flight vehicle... can you... ride...?"
"...I'll just take my own Pokémon up, thanks."
He shook his head. From a quick glance, the control scheme for these things looked nothing like his hoverbike. He wasn't about to torture his injured Pokémon by fumbling with flight lessons while they waited for a doctor.
POP!
Kashiwagi released Steelix.
"ROAR..."
The giant serpent's massive frame naturally radiated an aura of overwhelming pressure, like a mountain suddenly rising before them.
The two Magma grunts looked on in shock, their breath catching. Even though they had seen it through the airship's cameras, seeing the beast from a bird's-eye view was nothing compared to the neck-straining terror of looking up at it from the ground.
What truly baffled them, however, was seeing Steelix actually soar into the sky with Kashiwagi on its head!
Wait! Since when could Steelix fly?!
"Captain Courtney..."
They turned to their leader, only to find she had already zoomed off on her flight vehicle without a word.
But that was Courtney—she found speaking to people who didn't interest her to be an exhausting chore, but she would chase someone who piqued her curiosity to the ends of the earth.
A large part of why she joined Team Magma in the first place was her fascination with their leader, Maxie.
The two grunts exchanged a look, scrambled to share the last remaining flight vehicle, and wobbled their way up toward the airship.
...
...
Standing atop Steelix's head, Kashiwagi quickly approached the rear cargo bay.
Truth be told, this was the first time Steelix had flown this high, and it was clearly putting in some effort.
As Steelix curiously peered into the open hangar, the Magma grunts waiting inside caught sight of the titanic head and instinctively recoiled.
Fortunately, Courtney arrived a second later, causing them to snap back into a professional stance.
"Lady Courtney!"
One grunt stepped forward, holding a medical tray.
Courtney placed her three Poké Balls onto the tray, then turned to Kashiwagi, who had recalled Steelix and was looking around the hangar with keen interest. "Your... Pokémon..."
"No thanks. I'll head to the Pokémon Center myself once we're done talking," Kashiwagi said, waving a hand dismissively.
He was brave enough to board a Magma airship alone, but handing over his injured team was out of the question.
Until he knew Maxie's true intentions, he couldn't afford to be too trusting—even if Courtney herself was unlikely to play dirty.
She didn't push the issue. She simply turned to the subordinate and ordered, "Tell the bridge... go to the Pokémon... Center... first..."
"Understood!"
The grunt didn't ask questions. He bowed and hurried off with Courtney's Poké Balls.
Kashiwagi's eyes lit up. "Thank you."
She's actually... considerate? I always pegged her for the "yandere" type...
Courtney didn't reply, but a flicker of a cheerful smile crossed her lips. "I will show you... around the ship..."
"Sure!"
He was genuinely curious about the internal structure of a villainous team's flagship, so he agreed.
Under Courtney's guidance, Kashiwagi toured almost every accessible area—from the command bridge to the crew's living quarters, and even the armory.
Everywhere they went, Magma members stared in disbelief. No one could believe that Lady Courtney—the woman who found saying "hello" to be a burden—was acting as a personal tour guide.
Usually, only Admin Tabitha or Boss Maxie received that kind of treatment.
Who is this kid?
Feeling the weight of hundreds of curious eyes, Kashiwagi felt the pressure mounting.
If his memory served him right, there were at least several hundred people on this ship. Furthermore, the internal plating looked reinforced to dampen Pokémon moves. If things turned sour, escaping wouldn't be easy.
As he scouted the layout, Courtney informed him that they had arrived at the Pokémon Center.
"Oh! Thanks a lot!"
...
...
Team Magma Base
Maxie was currently reviewing a classified document.
Knock, knock.
"Enter."
He took off his glasses, set the document aside, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
A Magma grunt entered. "Boss! Captain Courtney's battle with Kashiwagi has concluded!"
"And the result?"
"...Captain Courtney suffered a narrow defeat. All three of her Pokémon are unable to battle. Kashiwagi... none of Kashiwagi's Pokémon were knocked out!" The grunt hesitated briefly before shouting the result.
"Oh?"
A look of genuine surprise crossed Maxie's face. "A crushing defeat? Did she use Mega Evolution? Does the opponent have Mega Evolution as well?"
"Uh... she used it. The opponent... did not." The grunt's voice dropped to a whisper.
"The one without it beat the one with it."
Maxie's expression remained unreadable. He turned to a nearby computer, which automatically pulled up a page on Kashiwagi. "Where on earth did Team Aqua find a talent like this?"
Back when Team Magma was strictly a criminal organization, he knew the value of elite talent. Now that they had transitioned into a "Land Development Company," his hunger for capable people had only grown.
A trainer and Coordinator as famous and powerful as Kashiwagi was exactly the kind of person they craved.
Thinking of this, Maxie made his decision. "Where are they now?"
"They are currently en route to the base!"
"Excellent."