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Chapter 290: An Unexpected Person
🕑 Added 2025-10-29 12:18:56 +0000 UTCChapter 290: An Unexpected Person
"Are we leaving now?" Basalt's face lit up, and he grinned. "I don't need to prepare, because I'm always prepared."
"You don't need to prepare?" Quentin blinked, then tossed a backpack to Basalt. "Then come help me fetch some water," he said with a smile.
The research team's outpost was over a hundred kilometers from the oasis, deep in the desert heartland, and extremely dry. To ensure the team could function normally, the returning shift always had to bring sufficient food and ample water supplies.
The dimensional backpack Basalt held was just an ordinary one, with about a 200-liter capacity. They had five in total, which meant a full ton of water when filled. In addition, they packed two backpacks with food and three with other supplies, making ten dimensional backpacks in total.
"Don't think a ton of water is a lot," Quentin said as he hoisted three backpacks onto his shoulders. Basalt carried one in each hand, struggling slightly as they walked back. "It's actually far from enough. The team has to send someone out every day to fetch water from an abandoned well dozens of kilometers away. Unfortunately, that well is too old, and its output is very limited. Otherwise, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."
"Now, you're going to have to go six days without a shower. Are you ready?" Quentin gave Basalt a mischievous slap on the shoulder.
...
With all preparations complete, Finn took the lead, and the group set off. It made sense; Finn was the strongest among them.
"Let's move out!" Finn waved his hand, and five Pokémon took to the sky.
Leopold and Dr. Zander were also riding Flygon, both barely reaching the Pro-level. They felt less like personally trained Pokémon and more like standard-issue university utility mounts, just for transportation and basic defense.
As for Finn's Pokémon, it was quite unique.
It was a humanoid golem-like Pokémon, incredibly tall, with strange spiral patterns covering its body. A crack-like marking ran down its center, and it had button-like parts.
It was the Ground/Ghost dual-type Pokémon—Golurk!
Golurk possessed the ability to transform. It could retract its legs into its body, turning its entire lower half into a jet propulsion system, allowing it to fly at incredible speeds. In flight mode, it could also retract its hands into its wrists, forming secondary jets.
So, even without wings or the Levitate ability, Golurk's flight speed was undeniably number one. Even Bronzong couldn't compare.
"What? Interested in Golurk?" Finn noticed Basalt staring intently at his Pokémon during the flight.
"A little," Basalt admitted.
There weren't many Ghost-type Pokémon suitable for a sandstorm team. Besides Golurk, the only options were Palossand and Aegislash. But Aegislash was known to be extremely rare, practically on par with pseudo-legendaries in terms of value, comparable to powerhouses like Lucario or Volcarona. And the fact that it could change forms made it incredibly broken.
"Then you should take a trip to the Arad region sometime," Finn smiled, offering advice. "This type of Pokémon is rare in the Alliance but more common over there; it's their place of origin. I caught this Golurk by chance during my travels there."
"But for safety, you should probably wait until you're Pro-level before going abroad. It's quite chaotic out there," Finn added as a warning.
The Alliance, while not the most powerful nation in the world, was relatively safe. Unlike other countries, which were rife with criminal organizations whose tentacles could even reach into the upper echelons of their Leagues, influencing decisions. The Arad region was particularly complex, infamous for its numerous small leagues that frequently warred with each other.
Since they had nothing better to do, the five of them spent the journey chatting and joking, the atmosphere quite congenial.
They flew for half an hour without incident. But as they ventured deeper into the desert, Basalt finally saw the familiar sight of a sandstorm.
"The weather was so nice today, how did a sandstorm kick up?" Finn frowned slightly. Fortunately, judging by its scale and intensity, it was still manageable.
"Put on your sand suits! We're punching through!"
At Finn's command, the five of them quickly donned yellow, protective sand suits, complete with reflective strips for visibility.
At the same time, the Flygon merely vibrated their wings slightly, and the sandstorm seemed to part around them, unable to get within five meters. Golurk, naturally, didn't need to do anything. Its power was the greatest, and without even using elemental energy, just the thrust from its arm jets easily created a vacuum around it as it plowed straight through, unstoppable.
Golurk made no effort to hide its presence. On the contrary, it deliberately released its aura, intimidating many smaller groups of Pokémon into keeping their distance.
"Basalt, telekinesis sweep!"
Bronzong's psychic power activated, pushing all the sand more than five meters away. And so, the group continued forward.
"Graaa!"
"Don-phan!"
"Steeeelix!"
The raging sandstorm excited the desert Pokémon. Although they were far away and visibility was poor, Basalt could vaguely make out a Golem rolling wildly, a Donphan trumpeting loudly, and a Steelix whipping its tail against the dunes... They looked quite strong, definitely Pro-level.
These Pokémon had clearly sensed Golurk's presence and were issuing challenges. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't fly. Although they launched attacks like Stone Edge, the distance was too great, significantly reducing their power. Golurk easily blocked them, and the journey continued without any real danger.
After flying through the sandstorm for over half an hour, the wind gradually died down, and soon the sandstorm vanished completely. The weather was truly fickle.
Another ten minutes of flight, and Finn pointed to a small, sand-covered rocky hill. "Basalt, that's our temporary research outpost. Let's head down."
Following Finn's lead, the group finally landed.
Golurk's landing made quite a bit of noise, and someone immediately emerged from a cave in the rocky hill.
It was a slender woman with tanned skin. Following behind her was a Pokémon with tough blue scales covering its body, a white jaw, chest, and belly, a thick tail, and mouse-like ears. Its forelimbs looked incredibly strong, tipped with three small claws, and its hind legs were also robust. A row of poison spikes ran down its spine from its forehead to its tail.
It was the Poison/Ground dual-type Pokémon—Nidoqueen!
"You're finally here!" The woman greeted Quentin, Finn, and the others with a cheerful smile. But when she saw Basalt, she froze, her eyes widening as if she'd seen a ghost.
Basalt had the exact same reaction.
"What is she doing here?" Basalt felt a headache coming on.
The woman before him was none other than Diana, the one who had barged into the nursery and later tried to challenge him to a bet.
He had wondered back then why her skin was so dark. Now he knew the reason. She was also part of the research team.
"So you're the one the President forced onto our team?" Diana's eyes narrowed, a hint of coldness in them. She sneered, "A freshman like you probably can't even protect yourself in the desert, right? No wonder Professor Rowan was sulking earlier, saying some dead weight was coming who wouldn't just be useless but would actually need someone assigned to protect them. Professor Rowan really hit the nail on the head!"
Basalt wasn't about to just take Diana's sarcastic remarks lying down.
He immediately shot back, "Well, if it isn't the Lady herself! Haven't seen you in a while, huh? Tsk tsk, your skin's gotten even darker, and your mouth even sharper. You're starting to look more and more like your Pokémon..."
With that, Basalt looked Nidoqueen up and down with interest. Its appearance was quite distinctive, especially those two greyish-white patches on its chest.
"You... Shameless!" Diana was practically fuming. She realized she was no match for Basalt in a verbal spar. Enraged, she shot him one last hateful glare, then turned and left with her Nidoqueen.
From the empty desert, only her gloating voice echoed back: "I'm going to tell Professor Rowan this bad news..."
"Basalt, you know Diana?" Quentin asked, looking horrified as he watched her leave. He seemed genuinely afraid of her.
"So her name is Diana," Basalt said, looking up.
"Huh? You didn't even know her name?" Quentin was baffled. "Then why were you acting like mortal enemies? Let me tell you, that she-dragon is bad news. She's a trainer, only a third-year, but already Pro-level. Her strength is not to be underestimated."
"And she seems to have some special connection to Professor Rowan. I've seen him treat her quite well. Before her, Professor Rowan never accepted any female students onto his research teams in all his years of research."
Quentin gave Basalt a "read between the lines" look. "And from the looks of it," he added worriedly, "she's probably going to find Professor Rowan right now. That she-dragon is definitely going to stir up trouble and talk bad about you."
"A special connection to Professor Rowan? Isn't he like, sixty or seventy?" Basalt's eyes widened, as if he'd just heard something scandalous.
"What are you thinking?" Dr. Zander couldn't stand it anymore and shot Basalt a glare. "Quentin meant that Diana's family probably has someone who has Professor Rowan's ear."
"Has his ear?" Basalt smiled teasingly. "President Mogan probably has Professor Rowan's ear too, right?"
Hearing this, the others chuckled. They had almost forgotten – Basalt had President Mogan backing him.
