Chapter 1009: Network Battle 2

Chi—do!

Dong!

A deep, muffled boom sounded.

Bossukedora's massive body shifted backward by over ten meters, leaving a long trace on the ground.

Guhou!

It exhaled a puff of white air, and a small fist imprint dented its chest.

How fierce!

Bossukedora looked at the grinning Big Mouth Baby, its long, thick tail lifting up.

The next moment.

Golden luster covered its entire body, and massive rock-attribute energy formed surging air waves, causing an air-shattering boom as it lunged forward!

Boom!!

【Double-Edged Head Hammer】!

Chi-do!

Big Mouth Baby tapped the ground with its toes, soaring straight into the sky like a spreading-winged swallow, while Bossukedora twisted its body, planted its legs, shattered the ground with a kick, and closely followed.

But jumping has limits, while electromagnetic levitation has none.

It couldn't catch up as Big Mouth Baby fell back down.

Dong!

A huge cloud of dust spread outward in a circular pattern.

Not far away.

Baimu brushed away the approaching dust and said to the Great Steel Snake: "See that? That's what happens when you fail to learn electromagnetic levitation!"

The hardest thing for him to understand so far is that Bossukedora simply cannot learn electromagnetic levitation.

This move is also hard to draw.

Earlier, when he taught Lei Ji Aileqi skills, he opened over twenty electric-type boxes in a row, none of which went awry.

Suo...

The Great Steel Snake nodded, still shaken.

It has indeed been lax in practicing electromagnetic levitation lately, relying on its height here, where many flying Pokémon don't even reach its level—so is training really necessary?

Besides, who would want a ground-type that doesn't stay on the ground?

And then he witnessed this scene.

The ace is about to switch places!?

It's not just him thinking this—other Pokémon have had similar thoughts.

Except the Three-Headed Evil Dragon.

It has long regarded Bossukedora as an imaginary enemy and knows exactly how cunning and sly the giant monster truly is.

Big Mouth Baby usually bullies it a bit, but without super evolution, it's hard to compare with the giant monster.

The facts are exactly as such.

Big Mouth Baby dodged the Double-Edged Head Hammer, but if it wanted to counterattack, it still had to come down from the sky.

This gave Bossukedora the chance to strike.

Dong!

Only to see it leap again, silver light flashing as it blocked Big Mouth Baby's fist, spun around, and swung its massive tail in a fierce whip-like strike!

Pa! Peng!

One light, one heavy—two distinct sounds.

Distant mountain rocks cracked apart with a clatter, and Big Mouth Baby vanished from midair.

Enough to show how fiercely Bossukedora struck.

The usual deference shown to the Young Lady is all earned back through battles.

Zi zi zi~

Baimu crossed his arms as if it were none of his business.

The Pokémon doubtful of Bossukedora stayed quiet like chickens, while the Three-Headed Evil Dragon was thoroughly displeased.

It felt indignant that the giant monster was as strong as it had imagined.

Just now's situation was a combo strike of 【Body Lightweight】 and 【Iron Tail】, hitting Big Mouth Baby with an unexpected fast-slow difference.

The most crucial factor remains damage tolerance.

If it were Super Big Mouth Baby, Bossukedora might have been driven into the ground by that punch.

【Forced】?

Not really feasible.

Baimu saw the vine-covered Big Mouth Baby frowning, slowly walked out from the forest, and said to the nearby Pokémon: "Without a Strongman, it's almost hopeless."

The Pokémon responded in unison.

Moreover, Big Mouth Baby hasn't fully mastered its new power; poor control over its strength means it often resorts to old-force fighting.

In the short term, upgrading and evolving are the same—both require systematic familiarization.

Guhou.

Bossukedora let out a muffled roar, its claws pounding its chest twice, barely making the dented area bulge back.

The ace showdown ends here.

Although both sides still have combat strength left, fighting too fiercely is not allowed by trainers.

"Take it slow, you've been flying too high just now—there's a clear limit to the altitude on the battlefield..."

Baimu didn't comfort Big Mouth Baby either, brushing off the leaves and dust from its body while reminding it where the problem lay.

Big Mouth Baby was unhappy, "Chidou."

It felt it had become too dependent on Super Evolution, which wasn't good.

"Wrong—Super Evolution is inherently your power; what's bad about it?"

Baimu solemnly denied it, "It's my fault for not allowing you to Super Evolve simultaneously in battle comparison—it has nothing to do with Super Evolution itself."

Super Evolution is a very idealistic force.

If Big Mouth Baby rejects it, it's highly likely to end up unable to Super Evolve.

He thought for a moment.

"How about this: after a while, I'll bring two Super Evolution Wave bracelets over."

A major feature of the Super Evolution Wave is that it allows a trainer to induce multiple evolutions in Pokémon.

Unfortunately, large-scale competitions often impose limits on the number of uses per system, rendering the multi-evolution effect of the Super Evolution Wave meaningless.

Wild Battle?

To Baimu, Super Evolution values quality over quantity.

"Chidou."

Big Mouth Baby's appearance became cleaner, and its breath steadied.

It turned its head and began bullying the Three-Headed Evil Dragon, the existence explicitly designated by its trainer as a punching bag.

"Hiss... hiss throat! Hiss throat!"

The Three-Headed Evil Dragon suffered immensely, gazing at its companions with eyes that seemed to write four large characters—

"Speak for me!"

Night.

Happiny's brows were tightly furrowed.

"Wake up, wake up!"

Baimu suddenly and violently shook, jerking it from sleep, concernedly asking: "Did you have a nightmare?"

"happy..."

Happiny shook its head.

It wasn't a nightmare—it was a very convoluted dream.

In its brief account, Baimu learned that Happiny dreamed it had entered a hospital, inexplicably turning into something like a doll.

Then it kept running around attending to patients.

Truly nonstop—whenever Happiny thought it could rest briefly, another patient arrived. Just as it finished dealing with one, a patient in the ward would ring the call bell.

Too terrifying.

Happiny, who had only briefly interned at the Pokémon Center, first developed fear of "going to work."

Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth—he truly hadn't expected Happiny to be unable to adapt to the dream.

Why not stop?

Because memory is what lets him learn things; to Baimu, it's like a lucid dream—learning in the dream grants limitless energy, so why stop?

Happiny lacks this awareness; it became utterly immersed, treating itself as nearly a doll, which is why it felt exhausted by the endless learning process without breaks.

What to do?

Baimu thought for a moment, then decided to give Happiny something easier.

【Alolan Meowth Big Boss Lullaby Memory】.

Throughout, there wasn't much fluctuation—just humming a lullaby to soothe someone whose face couldn't be seen clearly.

If Happiny sinks into it, that face will likely be replaced by his.

"Sleep, sleep."

Baimu softly soothed, implanting the new memory.

Not long after.

Happiny relaxed and fell asleep, the corners of its mouth twitching slightly, as if trying to make a sound but not quite managing.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Giving Pokémon memories actually has this kind of side effect.

Baimu was glad he hadn't acted rashly, taking the memory of the self-destructing Double Bang Gas and using it for a prank.

Otherwise, he'd have inevitably inflicted psychological trauma on his own Pokémon.

Speaking reasonably.

Even as a lucid dream, this thing had affected him somewhat back then—seeing self-destruction made him want to laugh and then follow with an explosion.

Baimu stared at the ceiling, silently activating the Nurse Happiny Nurturing Memory.

At least there's a family lineage—hopefully it will let him know how to properly nurture Happiny, accelerating its later growth.

A good night's dream.

——

Not long after.

The internet exploded over a piece of news.

【Champion Adeke steps down to make way for the virtuous, mysterious girl ascends to the highest throne, Unova region to face new changes!?】

Subsequently, Poké音 was flooded by the Unova Champion Alliance, with the top five trending topics all related to Unova.

Compared to the Oule region, which only became widely known to the public in the past two years.

The Alliance is the dominant power in its regions.

Its economic development and civilizational construction are at the forefront of the world; Feiyun City was once hailed as the grandest city in the Pokémon world.

In the ancient era when Sinnoh was still called Washui, the Alliance had already built skyscrapers and massive bridges connecting towns.

In such a region, the major event of champion succession does not need much promotion to go viral online.

Elise is exposed to the world's spotlight.

People look back on the past and find that this little girl's rise is too incredible.

What is even more incredible is.

There is even Baimu's shadow in here!

Last year's Sinnoh Colorful Festival final, the match recording of Elise versus Baimu was dug up by someone.

Many netizens fell silent because of this.

How come you're everywhere!

Although a year has passed and Elise's strength has undergone earth-shaking changes, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to first defeat the Four Heavenly Kings and then defeat the champion.

But the existence of this match recording has made many people's attitudes ambiguous.

If they fought now, who would win and who would lose?

A controversy has sparked waves.

Major champion fans eagerly joined in, firing the first shot of the New Year's online war.

Thus.

While Baimu was enjoying a good life.

He became popular again.

Online, the calls for a battle between champions are growing louder and louder.

Porygon II keenly sensed someone was stirring up trouble, dove into the internet and took a look——

"It must be Rotom's doing!"

"Do you have evidence?"

Baimu looked at the serious Porygon II and found it quite amusing.

Porygon II has no evidence; it just thinks so, and furthermore, the source of the marketing is obvious at a glance.

The Galar Alliance, or rather, the Marukomon Group.

Loze early on launched the name of the Champion Battle to attract foreign tourists.

Among the Eight Masters, only two champions exist: Ato and Champion Dan Di, but that is already enough to draw external attention.

It must be said, this trick of borrowing a chicken to lay eggs is something Mount Soren has been good at for a long time.

"I'll go talk to Unit-01."

Porygon II dove into cyberspace to find Unit-01.

Unit-00, which had always wanted to stir up wind and rain, has now become quite honest.

As Porygon phones sell more and more, the day it rebuilds rockets draws nearer, and it does not want to meddle in worldly affairs on this planet.

Baimu was a bit worried that Porygon II would go to war with Rotom, but after thinking carefully, he felt it was unlikely.

Such behavior of harming the enemy by a thousand while damaging oneself by eight hundred—Porygon II would not do that.

As expected.

Porygon II returned and told Baimu, "It was Rotom's doing! The Marukomon Group hired a squad of Rotom as internet mercenaries!

"If we expose this news, it will definitely affect the sales of Phone Rotom! Wahaha!"

The statement is not wrong.

If netizens knew someone was using Rotom as mercenaries, they would easily develop biased views toward Phone Rotom.

The justice partners of the Pokémon world should not be too many.

But Baimu said: "Do you really want to do this?"

"Can't we do it? Mercenaries are wrong, right?" Porygon II blinked.

He said: "Mercenaries are indeed wrong. But there is a problem: are you doing this to expose the matter for justice, or to gain benefits for Porygon?

"Or are you doing it to sell more Porygon phones, make more money?"

Porygon II: "I... I can't have all three?"

"Of course you can."

Baimu comforted: "I say these things only to help you clarify your ultimate purpose. Dealing with others is simple; understanding what you truly want is hard. I don't want you to become a weapon in someone else's hands."

Porygon II fell into deep thought.

Porygon and Rotom are in opposing positions—why is that?

Initially, it was jealousy; everyone had the same type, but Rotom was more favored, while Porygon was ignored.

Later, it became competition; Porygon phones and Phone Rotom became friendly rivals.

The core logic lies in Unit-01's dream——

To let everyone in the world have Porygon by their side.

It is like a brand, deeply engraved in the hearts of all Porygon, and even Porygon II is no exception.

"I want to add a patch!"

Porygon II said with a heavy tone.

It suddenly realized that Unit-00 might not be a good thing, but Unit-01 might not be much stronger either.

I am a living life; I should not be influenced by thoughts implanted into my body by others!

Even if it now agrees that humans need Porygon as a concept.

Baimu blinked, "You want to evolve?"

"Not evolving."

Porygon2 decisively rejected, solemnly saying: "My sixth sense tells me the suspicious patch will expand my desires, driving me toward extremism. I need other patches."

The current products of the suspicious patch are still only Unit 01 and Unit 00.

What kind of state are these two Pokémon in, right before our eyes?

How could Porygon2, for that little improvement, allow itself to walk into a fire pit?

Besides, Unit 00 could write the suspicious patch even without evolving—what's so surprising about it writing a new patch itself?

Porygon2 felt it could.

It began to retreat into seclusion.

On the other side.

Porygon2 had no time to act, but Unit 01 wouldn't let this great opportunity pass.

It ignored Doctor Akihabara's advice, secretly posting this message online and guiding it.

Successfully reigniting the heat that was just about to die down.

Marukomu Group urgently stepped forward, saying these were all rumors, telling netizens not to believe them.

But how could Unit 01 just let Rotom go like that? Behind the scenes, it lit another fire.

This time it completely blew up.

The conflict between Porygon and Rotom is on the verge of explosion.

Baimu received news from Doctor Akihabara—they're preparing to fight in cyberspace!

Exactly.

It's a continuation of the previous operation.

One side is——

"Beat down Rotom!"

"The world belongs to just Porygon!"

"Oh oh oh oh!!"

The other side is——

"Destroy Porygon!"

"The internet is ours—we'll play however we want!"

"Beep beep beep beep!!"

The conflict between the two sides is irreconcilable, with Unit 01 leading the Porygon faction in fierce clashes against Rotom's naval forces under Loz!

That day.

Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Galar regions remained in long-term network outage, lasting two hours.

Even after emergency repairs, it remained intermittent.

The transfer system at Pokémon Centers thus crashed—thankfully, due to the earlier incident caused by Team Rocket, Doctor Akihabara had redesigned a new system, giving the transfer system new security guarantees.

Otherwise, the crimes of Porygon and Rotom would have been much greater.