Chapter 64: Bashuo

Paldea Region, Deep Bowl Town.

The long-distance international mail finally arrived safely at its destination, and the renowned sculptor Kousha could no longer contain his excitement; beside him stood his friend, Paldea’s Dragon-type Elite Four member, Bashuo.

Both men possessed unique insights into art, but unlike the more optimistic Bashuo, Kousha, as a famous sculptor, often sank into creative droughts due to lack of inspiration; previously, it was Bashuo who suggested he browse online for new Pokémon news and updates to spark ideas, and during that process, they discovered Guang Tai’s shop.

The intense retro style, as if resurrected from ancient ruins, struck Kousha at a single glance—he became deeply enchanted, instantly flooded with new inspiration.

Though he was an artist who revered nature, the traces of civilization were also part of nature itself: humans, Pokémon, sky, earth, ocean, rivers—humanity and nature were one; towns built, ancient ruins slowly covered in moss by time, whispering stories of the past—this too was a form of art.

Thus, during the days the sculpture was being shipped, Kousha attempted to “replicate” the antique items in the photos—but.

The results were beyond words.

Sculpting technique was not something easily imitated, especially when the other artist’s skill had reached a divine level; Kousha carved several pieces, yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not capture that ancient spirit.

He knew little about ancient ruins; Kousha believed this was one major reason he could not replicate the other’s art, and another was the vast gap in sculpting skill between them.

It was a gap between himself and the other!

Kousha and Bashuo carried the ordered sculpture box into Kousha’s studio, and during this process, Kousha carefully examined his own previous replication attempts once more.

“All these pieces are failures—neither the carving technique, nor the style, nor the spirit—I replicated none of it!”

His mood sank, and Bashuo, taller, after placing the box in position, comforted him:

“Kousha, it’s just that your sculpting styles differ. The other’s style clearly shows years of refinement—just as you can’t easily mimic the shopkeeper’s style, perhaps the shopkeeper can’t mimic yours either.”

Bashuo patted Kousha’s shoulder, and Kousha sighed: “No, even in technical skill, the difference is immense.”

“The shop also offered wooden carvings—you saw them too, Ash. Even the wood radiated an ancient aura, a strong retro style; even through the Poké Device, it felt like it transported me to a distant ancient world—the world of a hundred years ago, a thousand years ago—I could glimpse it through these sculptures!”

Kousha grew more animated as he spoke, and still holding that surge of emotion, he opened the shipping box.

This time, the ancient aura truly washed over him!

The Treecko and Mudkip sculptures were removed; though both Pokémon’s poses were ordinary, their spirits were perfectly captured—as if living Pokémon had been frozen in stone. Kousha stared at the Treecko sculpture and felt its eyes seemed to speak, silently gazing at him.

Kousha even had a hallucination—that the Treecko might awaken from its stone form any moment!

“Lifelike” was no longer enough to describe the mastery on this antique sculpture—this was the power of art!

“Truly avant-garde art!”

A work’s life depends on the artist; whatever is seen, touched, can become inspiration for creation! And this sculpture—was truly like living Pokémon, as if telling Kousha: once, they lived exactly like this, truly alive in a long, long past era!

“Truly astonishing.” Bashuo was also stunned; outsiders might only see the sculpture as beautiful, with a unique artistic style, but only those in the know understood how exquisitely refined the technique was.

“The real object is far more intricate and ancient than the images.”

“As for the effects…” Bashuo now felt the so-called special effects were the least important part of the sculpture.

The Treecko sculpture deepens understanding of imitation.

The Mudkip sculpture improves excavation efficiency and enhances the corresponding Pokémon’s insight.

“Fuka!” Bashuo’s Mudkip shook its body, opened its mouth wide, leapt onto the table, and stared at the “companion” that looked like it but seemed petrified, emitting a puzzled sound.

Why had its partner turned to stone?

Bashuo laughed and explained: “Haha, Mudkip, this isn’t a real Pokémon—it’s just a carving. Did it give you a hallucination?”

“Fuka?” Mudkip looked between the two men and the sculpture, then patted its head with a tiny claw, confused.

It had never seen such a powerful carving before—it had thought this was its own companion!

Mudkip stared blankly at the sculpture, and suddenly, strange thoughts began to surface in its mind.

That feeling was instinctual; following this instinct, Mudkip began moving unconsciously.

It swayed its body, drawing all its strength toward its tail, becoming more sensitive to Dragon-type energy; it had always used moves by instinct, but this was the first time it felt energy could be freely guided.

So, summoning all its strength, it clenched its two tiny claws, shut its eyes, and pushed hard!

“Fuka…”

“Oh! Mudkip, what’s happening?!” Bashuo watched Mudkip’s transformation, then immediately checked the manual—Mudkip’s tail was gradually growing larger, a swelling Dragon-type energy gathering at its rear!

Radiant Dragon-type energy spilled from its tail, forming a powerful whip-like tail!

Mudkip had learned “Dragon Tail”!

“Fuka!” Mudkip cried out, shaking its newly formed energy tail; its own tail was short, so it could never sweep enemies like other powerful Dragon Pokémon—but now, it had an extra tail!

Mudkip was thrilled!

“It truly enhanced insight into moves… So that’s how it works! What exactly did Mudkip feel just now? Why did it suddenly exert so much force?”

Bashuo and Kousha were stunned, circling Mudkip, and Kousha had witnessed the entire scene—his mind was suddenly flooded with inspiration!

A new sculpture—a new artwork—“Mudkip Who Learned Dragon Tail”!

“Inspiration… inspiration has surged!”

Kousha stared excitedly at the Mudkip sculpture—he now knew exactly what to carve next—and turned to the Treecko sculpture, where fresh inspiration poured into him, endless and unceasing!

He immediately fetched wood and arranged his carving tools; Bashuo was startled, but Kousha said: “This time—this time I will replicate this style. The real object is completely different from photos! This aesthetic that transcends time and space—I will perfectly recreate this sculpting technique!”

“And apply this sculpting art to new works! Oh, avant-garde art!”

Kousha fell into artistic frenzy; as an artist, he was obsessively devoted to perfection, often hitting creative blocks—even shutting down his Gym—and now, seeing Kousha in this state, Bashuo knew he was no longer open to conversation, only eager to complete a new sculpture; he could only sigh helplessly, then smile.

In any case, the shopkeeper’s works had helped Kousha break through his bottleneck—this outcome was perfect!

Bashuo himself had also gained much inspiration from the sculptures: how to embody ancient style in paintings and music? That was extremely difficult—but striving to turn that feeling into something tangible and present it to others—that was the very charm of painting and music.

Bashuo opened his Poké Device, stared at Guang Tai’s shop, paused, then sent a message.

“Shopkeeper, have you considered making musical instruments? Or custom orders would work too…”

“And some breeding items—new products: Glass Whistle and Mudo Food.”

“By the way, among the Elite Four, Miss Xinli specializes in Ground-type—these items should help her. Recommend them to her!”

Drip—

Suddenly, at that moment, Bashuo’s Poké Device rang; seeing the caller ID, he sighed and answered:

“It’s me, Bashuo, in Deep Bowl Town. Chief, you’re coming to inspect the Gym? But right now—I’m not slacking off; Kousha’s in an artistic frenzy and won’t attend to anyone else. Earlier, he was stressed because the second-half Deep Bowl Town Art Exhibition had no strong entries.”

“Now, this happened because we recently found a shop—oh, besides artworks, it also sells battle and breeding items; you’d probably be interested, Chief?”

————

“Ground-type breeding items: Earth’s Glass Whistle and Mudo Food.”

“These descriptions sound incredibly powerful, especially Mudo Food—but can such things even exist in reality? It’s like legendary secret seasonings!”

A woman in sharp business attire with green hair flipped through the items; she had just completed a new interview, defeating a new Star Trainer attempting to challenge the Paldea League.

Yet as a relatively inexperienced Paldea Elite Four member, though chosen by Yici as an interviewer and assistant, the more she battled, the more she felt her own inadequacies—especially during fights with Star Trainers, the feeling was unmistakable.

Perhaps she needed to train harder; sometimes Xinli wondered if she even met Elite Four standards.

Speaking of which, the League was currently executing a long-term plan to train students at Paldea Academy through various tests, aiming to raise Paldea’s overall strength—a joint initiative with the Academy, introducing a new rank: “Champion Level,” with the Academy’s focus shifting to “training Champion-level Trainers.”

Though no one had yet passed the Champion test, the pressure on the Academy’s youths was immense; this should have been good—but it made Xinli question herself.

Just as she was troubled, the Dragon-type expert Bashuo, also an Elite Four member, seemed to sense her hidden melancholy beneath her cheerful facade and recommended this shop to her.

As a senior League member, Bashuo had odd speech habits and a tendency to lecture, but he was dependable; perhaps because he was also an artist, his mind was unusually perceptive.

“Bashuo sees through everything—even my doubts about my own strength…”

Ground-type specialists were rare everywhere; thus, Ground-type breeding items were even scarcer.

“If Bashuo recommended it, I’ll buy and try them—at least I know Soft Sand is real; that much won’t be fake.”

(End of Chapter)