Chapter 188: The Mountain Search Journey

Not long after.

The villagers of Malachite Village gradually departed.

They were simply not skilled at rebuilding towns, so they bid farewell outright rather than stay and waste rice.

Moreover, they hoped to actively prepare for future Alliance Conferences and the Champion Alliance, even though nothing was settled yet; having come from Battle Mountain, they already felt boundless longing.

Baimu took the opportunity to test them and found these people were indeed among the top trainers of the Oure Region—he, with his dual Level 60 Pokémon, won only a handful of times.

While stunned by the defeats, he couldn't help feeling the world was truly vast; even remote Oure brimmed with powerful figures, so surely the outside held even more formidable trainers.

Not just Gym Leaders, Four Guardians, or Champions.

Those former Conference Champions, Gym Leaders who existed only in animations and not in games, and countless Four Guardians-in-waiting—all were targets he must surpass.

After the Malachite villagers left, Leo and Mire also rushed back to the International Police Organization to report.

The latter, Baimu had met a few times; her personality differed significantly from the game version, whether due to marriage or her alternate-world counterpart.

On the other hand.

Flobo received from the International Police Organization guidelines for handling former members of major factions and those who had committed numerous crimes—

Labor as atonement.

Based on their confessed and verified crimes, they were assigned tasks to rebuild Ironclad Town and the entire Oure Region.

Except for those truly deeply sinful and unforgivable, a large portion of them now had a modest future goal: to make the area around Ironclad Town green again; only when the southern part of Oure was fully greened would their punishment end.

It was essentially a different kind of imprisonment.

But this was unavoidable; too many people in Ironclad Town and Silicium City had done wrong, and many of their crimes weren't severe enough to warrant immediate death—the International Police couldn't just execute tens of thousands.

Reforming them through labor was inevitable.

The International Police had also considered the possibility of these individuals rebelling, but ideological transformation was a long and arduous path; with N and his Pokémon around, it would surely be much easier.

Xiao Shu Ting

In the end, it still came down to this: saving Oure was a long and arduous task.

——

The Dragon Tamers departed, Awu found his own lodging, Champion Dawu was addicted to mining and couldn't tear himself away, and N and his two sisters had yet to return.

Baimu's home finally became peaceful.

Bonsly and the others cherished and rejoiced in this moment.

Especially Bonsly, since many of the Pokémon N had saved had taken up residence at home, it could now guard only its two most precious trees, while the rest constantly shifted between utter chaos and overgrown lushness.

Why say that?

Because many Grass-type Pokémon possessed the power to make plants grow vigorously.

They could often be bribed with just the small snacks Baimu made.

So in Bonsly's eyes, Pokémon not belonging to its household fell into two categories:

Those that helped plants grow well, and those that only ruined plants. It desperately wanted the former to multiply and the latter to dwindle.

Of course.

This referred only to the numbers within its territory.

During leisurely afternoons, Steelix floated effortlessly through the sky, showing not a trace of a Ground-type Pokémon.

Primarily, its earlier great battle with Shadow Team had allowed it to master 【Electro Float】 before Bonsly did, and now it was diligently practicing without complaint.

Baimu found it strange: Steelix had never flown into the sky before, and it had always used moves that burrowed into the ground—why had it suddenly mastered 【Electro Float】?

It was N who told him that Steelix had desperately longed to fly, to regain the aerial superiority it once had when bullying Team Poison Skull, and then it had simply willed it into being.

It was ridiculous.

But such absurdity was common in the Pokémon world; take Dragonite, for instance—many scholars claimed its evolution into Flygon stemmed from its yearning for the sky.

After two evolutions, it successfully gained wings.

Later examples were even more commonplace.

The answer to Baimu's earlier question to Dr. Kukuin also arrived.

"Move learning is partly the result of years of training, and partly stems from Pokémon's own desire to change; crisis and challenge accelerate realization. Thus, slow progress in learning moves under normal circumstances is perfectly normal. Moves carry the emotions of Pokémon."

The doctor also attached a video—

In the footage, he was bare-chested, taking a direct hit from Brave Eagle's brute force, shouting as he absorbed it, "Experiencing Pokémon moves firsthand lets you feel their emotions—though I recommend proper protective gear!"

He was immediately knocked flying by Brave Eagle's impact.

So reckless!

By the floor-to-ceiling window.

Gulpin drank black tea and basked in the sun; it had achieved its dream of becoming the boss—every member of the Rainbow Gang respected it deeply.

It had also earned numerous Pokémon underlings through strength at N's side; a single wave of its arm drew countless responses.

Perfect.

Chansey still assisted Young Lady Jo, and recently it had been going out during the day and returning at night, sharing its daily experiences with others, occasionally even taking night shifts.

Baimu had suggested it stop working so hard and temporarily stay at the Pokémon Center to avoid commuting back and forth, but Chansey insisted on returning, firmly rejecting the proposal to send it to the hospital.

No need for parents to pick up children from school!

The other had shown such rare determination that Baimu had to yield.

Dratini… this little one remained as carefree as ever, spending its days either curled up napping in the sun or tugging at Baimu's hand.

Its obedient demeanor had gradually won Gulpin's approval; once the most picky of all toward it, Gulpin now permitted Dratini to sleep beside its princess bed.

A real improvement.

As Baimu combed Dratini's scales, he sighed, "It's so peaceful…"

It would be even better without background music.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

"Fine, fine, fine, I get it, I understand, stop yelling!" He stood up helplessly and looked at the wildly excited Bonsly.

Although Baimu had never promised the creature, the latter firmly believed that after the liberation of the Ore Region, it would claim a mountain all its own.

Home was quiet but too small; the Rainbow Team's territory was vast but crowded.

Bonsly's ideal territory was a place of clear streams and green mountains, accessible only to those it permitted.

Since the Ore Region lacked such conditions, it could create them itself—after all, there were so many mountains outside that no one wanted, what was wrong with claiming one?

Bonsly thought there was no problem, N thought there was no problem, Shanren expressed approval, and Master Liu Ge gave his full endorsement.

Most of the Ore Region today is undeveloped wilderness; if Bonsly wants a mountain, let it have one—what's the problem?

So.

Baimu had no choice but to take Bonsly away from Huang Tie Town to find a mountain it liked.