"Woo~!!"
Lugia's cry was rather loud, like a whale capable of transmitting sound waves thousands of kilometers.
Its blue eyes swept over everyone present, but instead of focusing on the smiling N, they fell on Baimu, and the expression of confusion seemed to intensify.
"Hehehehe, were you scared?"
Little Huopa, completely unafraid, flew in circles around Lugia's head and then expanded the golden ring again, revealing the entirety of Lugia's body.
A small amount of seawater flowed onto the ground, proving that just as Baimu thought, it was located at the bottom of the deep sea.
"How was it? Isn't Huopa amazing?"
Huopa came over to take credit, but Balza and Mei Yali didn't respond. Instead, they turned to look at someone because it was him who was looking for Lugia, and Lugia was looking at him.
How was it, old man, say something?
N, who was called to assist, saw this and smirked, also turning his gaze over.
Thus.
Baimu, who originally silently stood behind Mawile waiting for N to show his might, suddenly became the center of attention for everyone and every Pokémon, even Mawile and the Dreepy siblings turned to look at him under the prevailing atmosphere.
In an instant.
Calm as Baimu felt uneasy.
He didn't understand why Lugia was staring at him, when clearly N, the child of Pokémon, was right there.
"Xiaobai—"
"First, call me Baimu, second, Huopa is amazing, third, are you sure this is the Lugia from Ore?" Baimu quickly and softly asked Huopa.
Huopa scratched its head, "Does it make any difference?"
No one else has ever spoken with such a lisp...
"The difference is huge, there isn't just one Lugia in the world!" As he spoke, he glanced at Lugia, seeing it still watching him, while N remained inactive, inevitably making him more frustrated.
Bro, say something!
N-san! Why are you just watching? N-san!
At this moment, Baimu was even more confused than Jian Qi,
"Huopa doesn't understand~"
Huopa, with an intelligence surely not exceeding that of a ten-year-old, shook its head, turned around, looked at Lugia, and flew directly over to ask, "Did you come from Ore?"
As soon as it spoke.
Lugia, full of curiosity, immediately had a change in expression, first quickly retracting its head, and after half a second, it thrust it out again and took a deep breath.
Blue light swiftly gathered, and earth-shattering energy surged in its mouth.
"Huopa, quickly put it back! Quick!"
Baimu's face changed, and the Balza siblings next to him were equally shocked.
Huopa seemed to realize something was wrong but didn't immediately withdraw the ring as instructed. Instead, it summoned another ring, opening it before Lugia.
Boom—!!
The terrifying bluish hurricane completely poured into the other ring, causing Lugia's [Vortex Attack] to strike elsewhere.
After completing this task, Huopa finally closed both rings, preventing Lugia from continuing to emerge.
"Oh! So aggressive!"
It patted its chest, still scared.
To fight without hesitation; this is not the Wind God or Sea God Lugia, but Yveltal, the cocoon of destruction!
"Looks like it was indeed the right one."
Relieved, Baimu confirmed that this was indeed the main character Shanren had asked him to find.
Huopa's rings are remarkably precise and versatile, easily locating the Lugia that Shanren had searched for so long without any trace.
Balza frowned and said, "It seems highly sensitive to the term Ore, almost choosing to attack as soon as it heard it, which isn't typical Lugia behavior."
"Yes... it's hard to imagine what it has encountered." Mei Yali nodded in agreement.
Though they were nearly collapsed by Lugia, none present blamed it. The Dark Transformation Surgery brought unimaginable suffering, and forming some stress response is understandable.
Only when Baimu glanced at the smiling N did he express grievance, "Why did you... just watch?"
N replied, "I was thinking why Lugia seems particularly focused on you; you seem to have something that attracts it."
"Huh?"
He was taken aback, then like realizing something, he took off his backpack and pulled out a large number of silver feathers—he had plucked many of these from Little Lugia, but never knew when they'd be useful.
Balza and Mei Yali saw so many silver feathers and were instantly puzzled.
They looked up at Baimu with expressions full of disbelief about "Who did you pluck these from?"
"No, I previously encountered another Lugia mother and child." He quickly explained, stating that these were collectibles given to him voluntarily by the other Lugia.
N saw the look Baimu cast and smiled a trusting smile.
In comics, silver feathers can be drawn into strings to make GS Balls. Baimu studied them carefully and found that in animated versions, silver feathers couldn't be drawn into strings. No craftsman could be trusted with making them into accessories or clothes, so they ended up stored away.
Unexpectedly, they could attract Lugia's prolonged attention...
Might it mistake them for its own feathers? Or assume they were from another captured Lugia?
Suddenly, this thought crossed Baimu's mind and he found it very possible. Whether or not there was misunderstanding, eliminating these hidden concerns was very necessary.
"...Huopa."
He lost count of how many times he'd asked Huopa for help, unable to utilize the golden ring freely. It was exceedingly useful and saved countless troubles.
But constantly asking for help felt like treating the other as a tool, causing a bit of guilt.
Huopa, however, continued being "obedient," or rather it almost never refused when using the ring to achieve some objectives, "Xiaobai~ it's open for you~"