The afterglow of the setting sun gently cast its light upon the mining town, draping the entire town in a warm, orange veil, as if adding a touch of dreamlike color to it.
Chen Kai trudged back to town, his steps slightly weary, his phone still clutched in his hand, a mix of helplessness and stubbornness on his face after being lectured by his mother.
During the phone call just now, Chen Ma was full of worry, earnestly persuading him to abandon his trip to the Vosges Mountains, saying it was too dangerous outside and urging him to come home quickly.
Initially, Chen Kai patiently explained, but later he couldn't help but raise his voice, insisting that he had grown up and was capable of handling any situation.
Ultimately, the call ended with Chen Ma's compromise; she agreed to help Chen Kai ask Zining High School for a few more days off.
After all, Chen Ma had always been like that: strict in words, but ultimately she would still go along with him.
Miraidon, standing nearby, witnessed all of this, shaking its head helplessly and sighing softly.
It felt that perhaps the legendary seasoning simply didn't exist in the Vosges Mountains, or perhaps it had already been taken by someone else.
After all, if that legendary seasoning were still in the mountains, with its sensory abilities, it would have detected it from afar, instead of feeling nothing as it did now.
But ultimately, Chen Kai was helping it, so it couldn't back down.
“Let's go to the town leader's house to rest, and tomorrow we'll buy some more ingredients, something more filling, so we can put more in the Orange Gem, and search more carefully next time,” Chen Kai planned.
“Okay,” Miraidon nodded in agreement.
Chen Kai and Miraidon walked side by side on the path leading to the town leader's house, their figures stretched long by the setting sun.
Not far behind them, two people were stealthily watching them.
These two were dressed in ordinary plain clothes, their hat brims deliberately pulled low, their eyes constantly shifting between Chen Kai and Miraidon.
They were agents hired by Nisus Company.
One of the agents, codenamed “Guitar,” was tall and thin with neat short hair, his hat brim pulled extremely low, revealing only a pair of sharp eyes.
Beside him stood his signature Pokemon—a purple Toxtricity, its color particularly striking in the setting sun.
The other agent, “Ladybug,” was short and stocky, with a cunning look on his face.
His signature Pokemon—an Orbeetle resembling a seven-spotted ladybug—floated by his feet, occasionally using its Psychic power to detect the surroundings.
Previously, Nisus Company had hired gangsters to achieve their goals, but the gang leader disappeared, messing things up completely, and the company's Person in charge was severely reprimanded and disgraced.
In desperation, the company had no choice but to once again pay a high price to hire agents to complete the mission.
These two agents, priding themselves on their skills, felt that dealing with a student would be as easy as flipping a hand.
What they didn't know, however, was that Miraidon had already discovered the traces of these two agents.
With its keen senses, it detected the unusual aura behind it and noticed the two Pokemon.
In its opinion, the Pokemon of these two agents were only at a professional level (level 50+), no threat at all, so it hadn't paid much attention.
In reality, it wasn't that the agent group didn't want to send out stronger individuals; it was just that they had lost too many agents in Longguo in the past few months, so now they could only send out agents of this caliber, who couldn't even attract Miraidon's attention.
Guitar and Ladybug, through the organization's intelligence, learned that an Oriental person and a special Cyclizar had appeared in this town in Vosges Province, so they arrived early to wait.
After waiting for several days, they finally found their target.
However, since they were in their own country, they decided to cautiously track and quietly confirm the target before making a move.
When they got close and saw Chen Kai's Longguo appearance, and then saw the purple Cyclizar next to him, the two exchanged glances, their eyes full of certainty, confirming that the person in front of them was indeed their target.
After exchanging glances, agent “Ladybug” nodded slightly, extended his hand to direct Orbeetle, and prepared to act.
But just as they took their first steps, a dark shadow flashed past like a ghost.
Before they could react, they felt a sudden numbness throughout their bodies, their vision went black, and they, along with their Pokemon, fainted, falling straight to the ground and kicking up a small cloud of dust.
At this moment, behind the two fainted agents, an elderly grandma with a cane and gray hair slowly emerged. Her steps, though slow, were steady and composed.
The grandma narrowed her eyes slightly and praised a cloud of purple gas in fluent Chinese: “Well done.”
That cloud of purple gas was a Gastly, and upon hearing the grandma's praise, it excitedly spun a few circles in mid-air, emitting joyful “ji-ji” cries, looking very cute.
Just now, it was this Gastly that, taking advantage of the moment “Guitar” and “Ladybug” were about to act, silently approached and released Ghost-type energy with a paralyzing effect, accurately striking the back of their necks, causing them to faint instantly.
Gastly did not stop after completing this; it once again used Ghost-type energy, transforming into streaks of faint light, gently enveloping the heads of the two agents.
As the energy surged, the agents' memories began to be subtly altered.
All plans for this mission, their objectives, and their intentions to track Chen Kai and Miraidon gradually vanished under this mysterious energy.
By this time, Chen Kai and Miraidon had already walked some distance.
Miraidon suddenly stopped, looking back in the direction where the agents had fainted, seemingly sensing the appearance of a new aura, and vigilantly staring in that direction.
Chen Kai also stopped, asking in confusion, “Miraidon, what's wrong?”
Miraidon didn't respond, only staring intently in that direction.
At this moment, the grandma slowly approached with Gastly.
She had a kind smile on her face and said in Chinese, “Young man, don't worry, I just found two people tracking you, and I helped you solve this problem.”
Chen Kai was quite surprised; he didn't expect to meet a grandma from Longguo in a foreign land. Out of politeness and caution, he asked, “Thank you and your Gastly, but Grandma, why did you help us?”
The grandma saw Chen Kai's doubts and burst into laughter:
“You can call me Grandma Ju. I'm on a sponsored trip to France, and I happened to come across this. We're all from Longguo, so I just lent a hand.”
Then, Grandma Ju kindly said, “Young man, do you have a place to stay? I heard that only the town leader's house offers lodging in this town, and I can take you there since it's on my way.”
Seeing Grandma Ju's kind expression, Chen Kai dispelled some of his concerns and replied, “Grandma Ju, I know the town leader's house. You're staying there too, then let's walk together.”
Grandma Ju smiled and nodded, “Haha, that's even better, I'll have someone to chat with.”