Chapter 135: Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage

Baimu had made up his mind and was about to sleep, only to find a pair of bright eyes after another staring at him from all around.

"You guys aren't asleep yet?"

"Roar~" "Jiggly~" "Lucky~"

The three Pokémon shook their heads in unison. The trainer tossed and turned — how could his Pokémon possibly be oblivious to anything?

They could even vaguely sense the latter's excruciatingly tangled state of mind.

Right now.

The bedroom still held the four most familiar old companions; for the time being, Dreepy was still sleeping with its little buddies and had not fully joined this big family.

"... Listen to me."

Baimu took a deep breath and told Aggron and the others his plans for the future.

Trainer and Pokémon share one heart and one body — it is the closest of bonds. No matter how he looked at it, he had to let Aggron and the others know what he meant to do in the future.

And after hearing him out, Aggron and the others began struggling to understand.

After all, things like taking part in saving Olé, seeking peace of mind, and clearing one's thoughts were genuinely a bit complicated for them; their experience wasn't enough to support grasping such things.

Just like someone who'd never touched a computer wouldn't know what a graphics card, motherboard, or CPU was.

So.

To help them understand better, Baimu simply switched to a different way of putting it.

"Beat up the bad guys! Save the good guys! Grab territory! Be worshipped by tens of thousands! Welcome the cheers of countless people! And, later on, never regret it when you look back!"

The three of them heard this, and their eyes lit up at once.

"Gugido?" Grab territory?

"Jiggly?" Be worshipped by lots of people?

"Lucky?" Save the good guys?

Aggron and the others exchanged glances, and with surging hearts they all beamed.

After all, these were exactly what they'd always craved, always wanted to do! Nothing could attract them more than this!

With all that explained.

Baimu lay in bed, daydreaming about the future.

Aggron lay sprawled, quietly pondering just how big a territory it ought to grab — one mountain? Or how about an entire mountain range, plus a couple of basins and gorges, slowly planting trees, digging out the underground springs, creating lush green mountains and clear waters...

Mm~ grab one for Baimu too, one for Chansey, one for Mawile... As for Dreepy, if the little brat didn't bite its trees, it'd reluctantly help grab one for it as well.

Hehe.

It was practically bubbling over with joy.

In the Princess bed, Mawile hugged its plushie and had already drifted off to dreamland — a super, super beautiful dream, the kind where group after group of people and Pokémon called it Big Sis.

Chansey hugged its egg, but its thoughts were remarkably simple.

It dreamed it met one worried-looking person after another, but through its diligent efforts, all those people broke into smiles and said words of thanks to it.

Chansey, having you around is really wonderful.

Chansey, you're amazing.

Baimu's words of praise also lingered in its ears, making it unable to contain its joy.

In the bedroom.

Four different individuals, four different thoughts, yet some unseen bond locked them tightly together and carried them toward the same goal.

——

The next day.

Baimu got up bright and early.

Although he hadn't slept long, he was still full of vigor, as if he'd swallowed a ten-ingredient great tonic pill, and at the dining table he kept drawing curious glances from A-Wu.

"Did something happen when I wasn't looking?"

"Something did happen, but it's a good thing."

Baimu gave him a smile.

A-Wu certainly found it a little strange, but he didn't press further and went on eating his breakfast.

Breakfast over.

Baimu planned to head over to Master Liu Ge's place again to lay out his thoughts. Of course, he wasn't preparing to join the International Police — he probably didn't even have the qualifications.

slkslk.

He only intended to do what he ought to do, then plan the next step of his development.

But before he could leave the house, he got a call from Shanren.

"Yesterday Master Liu Ge and the others should have laid all their cards on the table for you, right?" His tone suggested he'd expected as much.

"... Yes."

"What are you thinking now? Are you planning to leave this troubled land as soon as possible, or sit on the fence and play it by ear?"

"What about you, Shanren? Master Liu Ge told me you're not International Police, so in what way are you going to save this land of Olé?"

"From the sound of it, you've decided to stay."

Shanren didn't answer his question; a hint of a smile crept into his voice. "In that case, instead of me answering you, how about you come see for yourself what I plan to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's work together, Baimu. A great ideal needs the help of companions; one person can never reach the finish line. Sweeping away the old rotten order is only the starting point — Olé needs far more done than you can imagine. Whether it's rebuilding order, or improving this land."

"A Pokémon League?"

"That's only the first step. You should know about Chairman Rose of the Galar League. Galar used to be very poor, but a former miner brought life to the Galar region. Olé may not have Dynamax, but this land still has a direction it can move toward!"

"... Sounds tempting, but you think one phone call is enough to get me onto your pirate ship?"

"Of course not, I've already arrived."

Two similar yet distinct voices rang out at the same time.

Baimu looked up and suddenly saw, on the path of the front courtyard, a young man of extraordinary bearing holding up a phone, a smile on his face as he slowly walked toward him.

"Do I need to visit seven times, while you refuse me at every one?"

"What's that?"

"An allusion from the outside world. A certain king wished to invite a worthy man to assist him; he visited in person seven times but failed to bring him under his banner. On the eighth visit, the worthy man was moved and agreed to assist the king."

The Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, huh…

Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth. "Are you trying to say you're the king?"

Shanren said, "Feel free to take that king role for yourself; I wouldn't mind."

Their gazes met; emotions surged between them, each with his own calculations, yet both perfectly clear that the other's goal was identical to his own.

Baimu said, "Come to think of it, I still don't know your true identity."

Shanren replied, "I've always believed background isn't important, but I also understand the labels on me aren't so easy to peel away, and besides, I do genuinely need the power of my background.

"—I am Denis's son. The mining export operations in Huang Tie Town are managed by my father. In other words, my family is the bread and butter of the people of Huang Tie Town."

"Oh? Then aren't you rebelling against your own father?"

"No, he's also someone who planned to overturn the Orei region, in fact one of its leaders. Long before I was born, he was already in contact with the International Police. This operation's biggest battle will be launched by him in Silicon Beryllium City."

The sheer volume of information in Shanren's words left Baimu unable to process it for a moment.

"So who exactly is our enemy?"

"In the narrow sense, the enemy is the massive interest group led by the mayor of Silicon Beryllium City, Elder Ejin. In the broad sense, the enemy is every perverse wind and crooked cloud across all of Orei."

Shanren extended his hand, his tone deep and brimming with allure: "Come to my side. No matter what you pursue, as long as we move forward together, Orei will be proud of you, and you will be proud of Orei! I firmly believe my partner must be you!"

Baimu looked at him, and only after a full two or three seconds did he grasp his hand. "I'm moved, but why does this sound like something an ambitious schemer would say? You won't turn from a dragon-slayer into a dragon, will you?"

It had only been meant as a joke, but to Baimu's surprise, Shanren heard it and replied with absolute seriousness:

"If that day ever comes, come kill me. I believe you can do it. Likewise, if one day you walk down that road, I will come kill you."

"…Why didn't you go to the Federation region?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Legend has it that in the Federation region there is a pitch-black great dragon who offers his power to warriors with the highest ideals, ultimately helping them become heroes."

"Is it too late for me to go now?"

"Best not. In the legend, the ideal hero's descendants fell into corruption, and the pitch-black great dragon and his brother, the pure-white great dragon, ultimately burned the entire continent."

"The more you say, the more interested I become."

The two men's hands clasped tightly together; as their gazes met, it was as if brilliant stars were leaping within them.