Battle at Lavaridge

Raikou simply refused to talk.

Baimu couldn't force human words out of that huge mouth, so he could only give Raikou a disappointed, forlorn look.

"Haah..."

He sighed and walked away, looking heartbroken.

Raikou: "..."

What was this kid putting on an act for now? He was making Raikou feel guilty.

But there were things the kid didn't need to be dragged into, and Raikou wasn't going to tell him about them, no matter what. Besides, it couldn't explain things to him anytime soon. It couldn't even speak human language.

The kid still had goals of his own to accomplish. Getting mixed up with those villains would do him no good.

Raikou yawned again. This hot spring really was...

The longer it soaked, the sleepier it got.

Outside the door.

Baimu, who had been eavesdropping for a while, sighed.

This time, it was genuine. He realized that the Ho-Oh Guard preferred to act alone in most situations and never asked humans for help.

When something serious happened, they would at most join up with their other two companions to face it together.

Most instances of them working with humans began with the humans taking the initiative—at least in the anime. In Pokémon Adventures, they went around beating up Pokémon Gym Leaders in search of partners.

Speaking of which, Raikou had been hurt so badly this time. Why hadn't Suicune and Entei appeared?

Or had they already shown up, only to head somewhere else in Hoenn where he couldn't see them?

Hmm.

That was entirely possible.

Baimu strongly suspected Raikou had come to Hoenn because of Team Rocket's operations here. After what their Crystal System had put it through before, how could it let that go?

Only to fall victim to Team Rocket's advanced technology again.

That made much more sense.