Chapter 200: A Strange Encounter

With nothing else to do, Baimu decided to explore the ship thoroughly.

The Eros Minas was huge; if he didn't take the time to appreciate its various facilities, wouldn't that be wasting the premium membership ticket Shanren bought him?

Most facilities allowed Pokémon to walk alongside their trainers, but imposed limits on their height and weight; a few completely prohibited them due to structural or other issues, to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Among Baimu's Pokémon, only Wobbuffet was especially fascinated by this glittering world, always wanting to buy this and that while shopping, yet upon closer inspection, all were utterly useless trinkets.

He certainly wasn't short on money, but he didn't want to carry around a pile of junk, so he made a deal with Wobbuffet: only two items allowed.

In the end.

Wobbuffet bought a small bottle of perfume, a red silk ribbon that could be tied to a Calm Bell, and a cream cake said to be extremely delicious.

"Watch out for gaining weight!"

Baimu warned it, only to be kicked in the face for its puffed-up cheeks.

"Kichido!"

What are you saying to a lady!?

Seeing Wobbuffet angry, Baimu smiled and tied the newly bought red silk ribbon around it.

"Kichido? Kichido?"

Wobbuffet touched the ribbon, then glanced at itself in the nearby floor-to-ceiling window, swiveling its head left and right, asking its trainer if it looked good.

"Of course it looks good."

Baimu ruffled its head and continued walking with it.

They shopped until noon.

Both were hungry, and nearby was a high-end restaurant that looked nice—only restricting Pokémon of excessive weight or height from entering—so they decided to go in and eat.

Wobbuffet was initially enthusiastic, having somehow learned to tug Baimu's arm for photos with the food, but after two bites, it voluntarily returned to its Poké Ball, letting Happiny take its place.

To be honest, the presentation might've been pretty, but the taste was far from good.

Happiny might've especially liked this—

Unfortunately, Happiny didn't care for it much either, but hearing the price was steep and the preparation method worthy of study, it might be worth incorporating into their own dishes, so it gritted its teeth and finished it all.

Baimu wore a smile throughout; he actually thought it was fine—Pokémon finding it unpalatable was mostly a matter of taste, like how Bidoof thought iron tasted overly sweet and copper sour, while he himself couldn't eat metal at all.

Human and Pokémon taste buds were mostly similar, yet differed sharply in subtle ways.

Having filled his own stomach,

he quickly found a store specializing in Pokémon food, bought enough to feed the ravenous Bidoof and Dratini back in the ship's rest area.

Wobbuffet and Happiny were still hungry too, so they squeezed in and snatched a bit.

Baimu sat with them in a circle, glancing around at other trainers and their Pokémon.

As the guidebook said, the rest area was the default place for Pokémon to eat, making it convenient for trainers, breeders, and other Pokémon lovers to socialize.

It was quite popular as a non-recreational zone.

"Shall we visit the battle zone this afternoon? Let's see just how strong trainers from outside really are," Baimu said softly, wiping food crumbs from Dratini's mouth.

Upon hearing this, Bidoof and the other Pokémon all chirped in agreement.

As if hearing their calls, nearby trainers turned their gazes toward them; seeing the massive Bidoof, some couldn't help but admire it.

In the Pokémon world, size wasn't everything—raising Bidoof to be this strong proved its exceptional talent and Baimu's skill as a trainer.

Two trainers approached voluntarily, praising Bidoof while asking if Baimu had any intention of exchanging Pokémon for breeding.

"Check out my Doudle! So lively! You'll definitely love it!"

"Look at mine! Centipedon! Look at those horns—so beautiful, and it runs incredibly fast!"

Both frantically introduced their Pokémon.

In anime-style trainer circles, exchanging Pokémon for breeding was common, even with exchange events held to expand choices.

But Baimu had little interest in it, unless he'd just caught a Pokémon with no emotional bond… but if he didn't like it, why would he have caught it in the first place?

Seeing he refused outright, the two trainers sighed in disappointment, added his trainer ID, and left.

Suddenly.

A commotion erupted from afar.

Baimu stood up to look and saw a crowd gathered to his left front; amid the noise, one voice stood out clearly.

"Give back my Pokémon!"

Huh? On the Eros Minas, someone was openly stealing Pokémon in broad daylight?

He looked curious.

From the crowd stepped a boy with triangular eyes, looking street-smart, followed by another boy with dark green hair and glasses.

Both looked around ten years old, tugging at each other's clothes—like a delinquent and a bullied bookworm from school.

"You're so annoying! Can't you take a loss?"

The first boy turned and shouted.

The second replied firmly: "I never agreed that losing a battle meant exchanging Pokémon. You forcibly took mine and tried to trade it!"

Well now.

There was such a thing?

Baimu couldn't help but murmur in amazement, catching sight of several officers approaching.

The onlookers also noticed the ship's security and quickly dispersed; the triangular-eyed boy tried to flee, but the glasses boy held him tight, dragging him right up to the officers.

Thus,

after their arguments and explanations, the glasses boy successfully reclaimed his Pokémon, while the triangular-eyed boy was scolded by the officers, glaring bitterly at the other.

Clearly, other regions had plenty of "trash" too.

Baimu shook his head—he knew other regions were far better off than the utterly decayed Oure Region, but that didn't mean they were free of scum.

Otherwise, where would all those evil organizations come from? Where would the endless stream of poachers come from?

Disgusting guys are everywhere, it's just a matter of more or less.

Putting everything else aside, that guy who abandoned a Charmander at the start of No-Stamp was disgusting enough — very few people are that punchable.

yawenku.

"The melon is finished, and the meal is also just finished…"

He silently packed away his food bowl and Pokémon like Bouffalant, and went back to his room for a nap.

Afternoon.

Baimu arrived at the battle area.

Pokémon battles, as a competition that swept the globe, had their popularity maxed out no matter where they were.

So even aboard the Eros Milotic cruise ship, spectators for Pokémon battles came in endless waves, and participants were even more countless.

He wandered around twice at random, yet couldn't find a chance to step up and battle.

There really were too many people.

But if he looked carefully, he could still find a chance — for instance, some battle venues with wagers.

Baimu once again spotted that triangular-eyed boy; he seemed to be staying with his companions, monopolizing a battle venue to lure others into battling.

Whenever someone stepped up to battle, right at the start they would forcibly add a wager — the loser of the match had to trade Pokémon.

They didn't even wait for the other party's agreement, just started the battle directly, and once it was over they'd snatch the other person's Poké Balls and forcibly place them into a trade machine they'd prepared on the side to force the trade.

It really was disgusting enough.

No wonder that boy from earlier had fallen for it.

Baimu recorded their shady antics, posted them straight to PokéBlog and the Eros Milotic cruise ship's official account, and made a call to customer service.

Within two minutes, those little brats were caught by the arriving ship police; not only were the Pokémon returned to their owners, but they themselves would also be kicked off the ship and handed over to the Qinggang police station for handling.

The Eros Milotic would depart at three in the afternoon, and there was still about an hour left right now — just right.

Baimu couldn't help but smile, "Give my regards to the Rescue Organization for me, you little brats."

"Big Brother, it really was you!"

A forcibly lowered yet brimming-with-excitement voice rang out beside his ear.

Baimu furrowed his brow and looked to the side, finding it was the bespectacled boy from earlier; the latter's face was full of admiration. "You're really amazing!"

"The amazing ones are the ship police — I just helped by reporting it."

He generously admitted it, then patted the bespectacled boy's shoulder. "Kid, when you're out and about in the future, keep your wits about you, and work on your physique while you're at it — someone like you gets bullied easily."

"My dad says the same thing, hehe…"

The bespectacled boy smiled sheepishly, then said, "My name is Xiaosheng! May I ask Big Brother's name?"

"I'm… wait."

Baimu looked at him in disbelief. "What's your name?"