"Great chance to use Cotton Spore!"
Chén Nuò issued his command once again.
Just at that moment, Treecko had managed to swat Taillow, sending the poor little bird crashing straight to the ground. Following up with a Cotton Spore attack, Taillow was instantly rendered completely immobile, its entire body wrapped tightly in cotton spores, leaving it utterly helpless like a fish on a cutting board.
"Cotton Spore is truly a miraculous skill!"
Seeing the incredible effect of Cottonee's Cotton Spore, Chén Nuò couldn't help but praise the move lavishly. After all, when the opponent's Guts ability couldn't be triggered, Cotton Spore was genuinely formidable.
After defeating the two Taillows, Chén Nuò used his Pokédex to check their stats. He had to admit that the stats of wild Pokémon were generally quite mediocre.
"Although their utility is decent, they can't fly, so forget it."
Chén Nuò figured that Swellow couldn't carry people in flight anyway. Since he wanted a Flying-type Pokémon, shouldn't he choose one that could carry riders? There was no need to train these two little guys—they simply lacked the talent.
Thinking this, Chén Nuò took out some Hyper Potions to heal both little guys completely. Under their wary gazes, he gave them some food and let them go on their way.
After releasing the two little guys, he took out some Sweet Scent powder, preparing to lure in a few more wild Pokémon.
Battling like this was great for raising their strength, and more importantly, it allowed him to pick out some stronger wild Pokémon to potentially add to his team.
Just as Chén Nuò finished scattering the Sweet Scent powder and was about to take his two little ones and hide, he spotted a girl in a white dress holding a lunch box, looking around anxiously as she searched the jungle for him.
"Lillie?"
Seeing the girl's panicked expression, Chén Nuò instantly understood—she must have come to bring him some food.
"Chén Nuò!"
The moment Lillie saw Chén Nuò, the joy on her face was plain to see as she skipped over, clutching the lunch box.
Chén Nuò hadn't expected this girl to actually brave the jungle all by herself just to bring him food. He knew full well that she was terrified of Pokémon. Yet, knowing that the jungle likely harbored wild Pokémon, she still dared to come alone.
"Why did you come all by yourself?"
Chén Nuò looked at her with a hint of worry, then reached out to take the meal box from her hands.
"I saw you hadn't eaten yet, so I brought some bento over for you."
Lillie flashed a smile as she spoke. She was indeed terrified of the forest, especially being in it all alone. But thinking of Chén Nuò gave her the courage to venture into the jungle by herself. After all, the very reason she had set out on a journey was to overcome this weakness. She couldn't keep hiding behind others, because if she did, traveling would lose all meaning.
"I told you I'd just grab a bite of something random, you really didn't need to worry about it."
Chén Nuò smiled wryly and shook his head, though he felt genuinely grateful—the feeling of being cared for was a wonderful thing.
"How can you just grab something random? You really don't take care of your body at all."
Lillie pouted in displeasure.
"Ah, my bad, my bad."
This time, Chén Nuò could only surrender and raise both hands.
Afterwards, the boy and girl sat down on a nearby tree stump to eat their dinner. Chén Nuò happily picked up his meal, shoveling it into his mouth bite by bite with a thoroughly satisfied look on his face. Meanwhile, Lillie rested her chin on her hands beside him, watching him eat with a gentle smile.
Chén Nuò ate contentedly, fully aware that the girl beside him was watching, but he didn't mind. It was as if he had already grown accustomed to her gaze.
"Oh right, where's Ash?"
Once Chén Nuò had finished most of his food, he set down the lunch box and asked the girl.
"Oh, it seems they went to visit Dr. Meizi's laboratory."
Hearing Chén Nuò, Lillie raised her head, tapped her delicate white chin with her finger, thought for a moment, and replied.
"Dr. Meizi? You mean that gentleman who showed us the way at the ruins earlier?"
Chén Nuò said, setting the box aside.
"That's right!"
Lillie nodded. She had originally wanted to go see the doctor who conducted research at the ruins as well, but because she had to bring Chén Nuò his meal, she hadn't gone.
"Then I suppose I've held you up. You must have wanted to go check out the ancient Pokémon ruins."
Chén Nuò said with a smile.
"No, no, not at all, you didn't hold me up."
Lillie immediately waved her hands and shook her head.
"It's fine, today's training is about done anyway, and these two kids need to go back and rest. Let's head back to the Pokémon Center first."
Chén Nuò said.
"Mm-hmm!"
Lillie obediently nodded her head.
"Let's head back then."
With that, Chén Nuò stood up, called over the two little ones, and took Lillie's hand.
Just as the two of them stepped out of the jungle, they discovered that every single light at the Pokémon Center in the ancient town was turned off.
"What's going on here?"
Chén Nuò's expression turned grave. It was still far too early for the lights to be turned off, and furthermore, Pokémon Centers operated twenty-four hours a day—they never shut off their lights. Besides, theoretically speaking, Pokémon Centers were essentially hospitals and had backup generators, so power outages simply shouldn't happen.
"I don't know. Did something happen?"
Lillie looked ahead at the Pokémon Center just as they were about to step out of the jungle. Chén Nuò instinctively grabbed her, pulling the girl straight into a nearby clump of bushes.
The boy and girl crouched in the foliage, parting the leaves just enough to peer through with four wide eyes, staring fixedly at the scene outside.
A group of strange people dressed in black and red uniforms, wearing dark sunglasses, were seen hurrying away toward the edge of the jungle, dragging Dr. Meizi along with them. At the same time, numerous other red-and-black-clad figures were gathered around the Pokémon Center and the ancient town.
"Those people are Team Magma."
Chén Nuò's expression was heavy as he watched the figures in black. He recognized their attire almost instantly.
"Are these people connected to Team Rocket?"
Lillie asked, deeply confused. She could clearly sense that these people were up to no good.
"Team Rocket is an evil organization from the Kanto region, while Team Magma and Team Aqua are evil organizations from the Hoenn region."
Chén Nuò explained to Lillie.
"Then since they've kidnapped Dr. Meizi like this, isn't Dr. Meizi in danger?"
Lillie was clearly growing nervous. Once she confirmed these people were bad news, she instantly began worrying about Dr. Meizi's safety.
"We'll follow them now, but make sure not to expose ourselves. If they dare to hurt Dr. Meizi, we can seize the opportunity to protect him."
Chén Nuò couldn't remember this part of the plot very clearly, but if his guess was right, Dr. Meizi should be fine.