The next day.
Baimu came to collect the machine.
Bewear was nowhere to be seen. She had probably gone out to gather honey from Combee.
Stufful was playing with Wobbuffet, Mareanie, and Mimikyu. When she saw him, she called out in greeting.
"Magu!"
"Alola."
He smiled back, then entered the tree hollow and headed straight for the second floor.
Jessie was sitting idly in front of the large computer, legs crossed as she lazily ate pudding. Meowth was quietly sewing up a tear in the hot-air balloon, while James tinkered with the Z-Crystal Detector.
"I'm here for the machine," Baimu said.
Jessie and Meowth turned to look at him, then turned back with blank expressions.
Distance made the heart grow fonder, and fear worked much the same way. Seeing Baimu so often had gradually accustomed Team Rocket to his presence.
They still wouldn't dare push their luck with him, but at least they no longer grimaced every time they saw him.
James scratched his head. "I think... it's done?"
"We'll know once we test it outside," Baimu urged.
He had plenty of time, but he still wanted to collect every Z-Crystal as soon as possible. So far, he had Normalium Z, Darkinium Z, and Flyinium Z.
That left fifteen types to go.
He had a long road ahead.
The two went outside the tree hollow.
James took a deep breath and shouted, "Z-Crystal Detector—ON!"
He pressed the red power button.
In an instant.
The two long, whiskerlike antennas swung wildly, then pointed right. A red dot began blinking on the tiny screen.
"Oh! It's picking something up! And it's really close! Right beside me!"
James turned excitedly to his right and found Baimu staring at him with a dark expression. He scratched his head again, looking guilty. "Uh, what happened?