Chapter 379
Fire Goose
Chapter 379 Fire Goose
Rock Cave on the southeast coast of Wudou Island.
After Ash got Steven's location from the vine, they rushed here without stopping.
Because Daigo likes to run around, it's quite difficult to know his exact location in real time.
Moreover, his stated reason for coming to Martial Arts Island this time was to search for rare evolution stones.
Where is the evolution stone?
Who knows?
Ash originally planned to search for Steven's whereabouts on Dew Island after challenging the gyms.
"But life is truly unpredictable."
After glancing at the map, Ash turned and said.
"Xiao Sheng, did you bring the letter Uncle Zvoich gave you with you?"
"Of course!"
Perhaps it was Max's love for Pokémon that reminded Zuvchi of Steven when he was a child.
Therefore, he doted on Max, not only helping him upgrade his Pokémon Navigator for free and giving him all sorts of gifts, but also entrusting Max with his letters for safekeeping.
Seeing that the important items were unharmed, Ash casually picked up the bouncy Pokémon beside him and threw it forcefully into the lush, endless bushes ahead.
A powerful impact instantly created friction in the air, producing bursts of fire.
The baby dragon's hard skull, as if enchanted by a fire dragon's roar, instantly burned a wide path through the bushes.
"Perfect!"
The main road to the Rock Cave was blocked by some scoundrel, and flying with others was too troublesome, so Ash had no choice but to find another way.
After crashing into the mountain and leaving a huge crater, Baby Dragon shook its head, shook off the dust, and immediately turned back with a smile.
"Beibei~"
[Ding! Baby Dragon: Affection +4; Intimacy +2]
"Wow, that's incredibly powerful! Isn't Ash worried he'll seriously injure his Bagon?"
Standing on the newly scorched road, Xiaoyao still felt a little worried about Baby Dragon's head, after all, it looked so small.
"Haha, don't worry, May, this guy is having a great time." Ash laughed and went over to pick up the lively Pokémon.
Sure enough, it was completely unharmed, waving its hands and laughing happily.
"Beibei~, Beibei~"
"Sister, Babydra is known as the Pokémon with a hard head."
"Their dream is to one day soar freely in the sky, and some of them even repeatedly jump off cliffs to practice flying."
Although it sounds like a dream that a red and black level one god would have, it is the most desired thing in the hearts of all baby dragons.
So every time Ash makes his dragon "fly," it's overjoyed.
"This is also part of the baby dragon's training; its head becomes harder and harder in this process!"
As he spoke, Ash tapped the top of Bora's head, producing a strange metallic clanging sound. If that were to hit an opponent, it would be incredibly powerful.
"I can't do this if Baby Dragon doesn't want to."
"So that's how it is."
Ash's Pokémon is quite lively and always goes out to play with its friends with a big smile.
This made Xiaoyao, who also has a lively personality, especially fond of it, which is why she was so worried.
Seeing that Babydra liked it, May was relieved. Then she saw Ash swinging Babydra around to smash wild Pokémon that were passing by.
"————, it still doesn't look right no matter how you look at it!"
[Ding! Baby Dragon: Affection +2; Intimacy +2]
[Ding! Congratulations, Baby Dragon has learned a new skill: "Headbutt" (A straight lunge attack that may cause the opponent to flinch.)]
After a lot of walking and smashing, Ash and his friends finally arrived at the Rock Cave and put the Beast, which had been having a great time, back into its Poké Ball.
"This is where Daigo digs rocks!"
Ash was excited and was about to go in when May grabbed his arm.
"Ah~, wait a minute!"
"Ash, did you know that the Rock Cave is a famous maze-like cave?"
"If we just walk in like this, and your tendency to get lost kicks in, we might never get out!"
At this moment, Haruka took out the map that she had specifically asked Fujiki for before leaving the martial arts dojo.
"The Caverns of Rock are vast and have a complex topography, with tunnels not only on the surface but also crisscrossing underground like an ant nest."
"It's even home to a large number of fierce Rock-type Pokémon; getting lost could be a real problem!"
"Oh, May, you actually remembered to bring the map! You've grown up!" Ash immediately put his head on May's shoulder and they looked at the cave map together.
The distance, almost face to face, made Xiaoyao blush.
"That's because you always get lost when you try to take shortcuts!"
Hehehe~
"This isn't a compliment!"
However, just as they finished preparing and stepped into the cave, they suddenly discovered a group of people dressed in what looked like little devil uniforms coming out in front of them.
In the dimly lit cave passage, Ash and his friends could be vaguely spotted on the other side. The taller of the two leaders immediately frowned.
"What? I heard a series of impact sounds from who-knows-where earlier, so I rushed over to check the situation."
"Some insignificant guy actually managed to break in. Fire Goose, didn't you send anyone to block the road?"
""
"—Fire Goose——has been dispatched—"
The other person in charge seemed to be a girl who spoke in a soft, gentle voice, but her voice was surprisingly pleasant.
However, Ash immediately realized what was happening.
"So it was you who blocked the road."
There's definitely something fishy going on about doing this for no apparent reason. Ash raised his hand and conjured a basketball-sized wave missile for illumination.
Now both sides can see each other's appearance clearly.
"Ash, sister, these people's outfits look so familiar—Team Magma!" Max immediately exclaimed in shock, adopting a wary stance.
May took out a Poké Ball, and Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder.
Is it really appropriate for members of an evil organization to walk out so brazenly?
The two groups stared at each other in the cave passage, and the atmosphere began to tense.
However, at this moment, the purple-haired girl leading the group on the other side suddenly looked up and her eyes lit up when she saw Ash and Pikachu.
"—The boy with Pikachu—you're the one who kept disrupting our plans—Ash."
When Ash finally saw her face, he realized that she was none other than Team Magma's executive, LavaHound.
The information about the evil female cadre that Sundae gave her previously highlighted her, describing her as a research-oriented talent skilled in analysis.
The other person who could speak to her like that must be Himura, another Lava Team executive of the same rank.
"Why are Team Magma's top executives all here? Could it be that they discovered ruins related to Groudon on Fighting Island?"
The fact that Team Magma would take such a big risk to appear in a cave where the league champions are mining means they must have discovered some important information about Groudon.
That's why they came here specifically to eliminate Daigo's threat in advance, in order to prevent the Champion from interfering with their later plans.
Thinking this, Ash remained outwardly calm, but secretly he memorized the aura of the two people in front of him so that he could track them down as soon as possible.
"So what if it's me? What ulterior motives does your Lava Team have for showing up here?"
"That's malicious and goes too far. We're working hard for the future of all humanity."
3
Himura, with his "steady" build, put on a wronged look, but a cold glint flashed in his slender, sharp eyes.
"Fire One and Fire Two, follow me as planned. Fire Three and Fire Four, stay behind to help Fire Goose deal with the trouble!"
As soon as Himura gave the order, the group behind them quickly split into four teams.
Although she was very unhappy about being ordered around by that fat bastard from Fire Village, Fire Goose still did as she was told for the sake of the plan.
Two teams followed Fire Village and quickly ran towards other passages in the cave, while the remaining two teams, together with Fire Goose, quickly released their respective Pokémon.
In an instant, a Slowbro and several Houndooms blocked Ash's path.