Chapter 221: Senbei! Senbei!

Citing the need to attend the Qianli family's dinner appointment that afternoon, Baimu declined Hideki's challenge invitation.

Hideki's face fell.

"Don't dwell on it, your brother will figure something out." He saw off this scheming little imp, took back his Vigoroth and the other Pokémon, and once again arrived at Asagi City Gym.

Last time he came through the front door; this time, the back door.

Qianli happened to be drinking tea, and upon seeing him hurriedly beckoned, "Perfect timing, an old lady just gave me some Hoenn Senbei—come try some."

"Hoenn Senbei!"

Baimu's eyes lit up. This specialty of Hoenn City was something he'd been looking forward to for a long time, but unfortunately it was rarely sold elsewhere; the specialty shop in Utsugi Town had queues every day and still couldn't get any, so he'd had no choice but to give up.

He hadn't expected to see it at the Qianli household.

He couldn't wait to pick one up and examine it closely.

The moment it touched his hand, the aroma of roasted rice mingled with hints of seaweed and soy sauce rushed to greet him. The moment it touched his tongue, crisp beyond compare—the freshness of the seaweed and the salty-sweet savor of the soy sauce exploded across his palate.

"Delicious!"

Baimu's eyes lit up, and he sent out Mawile and Chansey to share it with them—he had actually wanted to let more Pokémon try it, but felt too embarrassed.

Crunch crunch, one piece, two pieces, three pieces.

In no time at all, a whole large plate was eaten clean by Baimu and his two Pokémon.

Seeing the empty plate, he flushed a little. "Sorry about that, I just couldn't stop once I started."

This stuff is even more addictive than Wang Wang Senbei—terrifying.

"Hahahaha, no worries, I totally get it. Seeing you enjoy it so much makes us happy too!"

Qianli laughed heartily without minding at all, and poured him another cup of oolong tea. "When I was little I was just like you—once I started eating I couldn't stop. That's perfectly normal."

"When you were little?"

Baimu was briefly stunned, then realized that the anime's Qianli wasn't necessarily like in the games and special chapters, someone who'd moved to Johto from another region—he was most likely a native of Hoenn.

Evening.

Mitsuko had prepared a table full of delicacies to entertain him, the number of dishes far more extravagant than at noon.

Although it wasn't quite at the level of glowing cuisine, the ingredients Mitsuko used were all top-tier, enough to keep Baimu eating until he truly couldn't fit in another bite before he stopped.

And his Pokémon were the same—mon like Gible that hadn't invested any Effort Values were so stuffed they nearly gagged.

"Dummy, the moment I wasn't looking you stuffed yourself silly!"

Baimu couldn't help but laugh and scold.

Qianli observed his Pokémon from the side and gave them all high praise. "They're all wonderful Pokémon—you've raised them really well."

"You're too kind…" He smiled reservedly, hesitated a moment, then asked: "Mr. Qianli, do you happen to know the North Asagi City Gym?"

ahzww.

"North Asagi Gym? Of course I know it. Are you planning to go there for your second Badge?"

Qianli asked curiously.

"Not exactly." Baimu shook his head and told him about some of the things that had happened yesterday.

The latter fell into thought upon hearing this, and after a long while said: "I see—so it's fallen into a closure crisis… No wonder I haven't heard any news about it lately."

"I had originally thought the North Asagi Gym might be able to relieve some of the pressure on my side to a certain extent."

Qianli said helplessly: "The consequence of being so famous is that there's almost no break all year. At first I privately hinted to people I knew to go help out…but I never expected it would reach the point of having to close."

Baimu asked: "Was letting his brother hand out flyers at the door your idea?"

"That's all the help I can offer." Qianli sighed: "Last year I met that young Gym Leader once—he was probably too nervous, we couldn't really talk properly. I was worried that being too direct with help would put pressure on him."

Too nervous meeting his idol?

That sort of thing happens all the time.

Baimu thought that if this guy didn't pull himself together, no amount of help from anyone would do much good.

——

The next day.

Baimu got up bright and early.

He had originally planned to stop by the North Asagi Gym one last time—to say goodbye on one hand, and on the other to ask about the other's plans—but he hadn't expected Toshiki to already be waiting for him at the door.

"Baimu!"

Toshiki came over and, without further ado, bowed deeply. "Please help me!"

"What can I help you with? Lend you some ideas?" Baimu didn't refuse outright, but asked first.

"I heard from Hideki that you're on good terms with Mr. Qianli, and that you even went to Mr. Qianli's house for dinner—I want to ask you to come with me to see him."

Toshiki said sheepishly.

"You… forget it, fine then."

He had wanted to roast Toshiki for being this cowardly, but on second thought figured it was probably Qianli's "idol aura" shining too brightly for Toshiki to handle. "But let me be clear—I won't be responsible for passing along messages for you."

"Huh?"

"Stop 'huh'-ing. If you don't even have the nerve to talk to Mr. Qianli, how are you supposed to have a normal conversation and get advice from him?"

Baimu clapped the other on the shoulder. "Pull out the same courage you used to apologize to Officer Jenny—think of it as your brother causing trouble again, except this time the one he's offending is Mr. Qianli!"

"I—alright, I understand."

Toshiki nodded helplessly.

The two got in the car.

"By the way, did you make an appointment?"

"Of course I made an appointment!"

"Then if I refuse, will you still go? You won't stand me up on the spot, will you?"

"Pige... uh... it'd be really rude to make a reservation and then not show up, so I think I'll probably still go..."

"You're gonna go no matter what anyway, so what's the point of me going? Pull over and let me out!"

"No way! No! I'm begging you, come with me!"

Seeing that Toshiki's hands had started to shake, All Baimu immediately stopped teasing the guy — if things went off the rails, that'd be a real pain to deal with.

In the blink of an eye.

The two of them arrived at Orange Hail Dojo.

Toshiki forced himself to take deep breaths at the entrance for several minutes before All Baimu dragged him in through the back door, successfully meeting up with the long-waiting Senri.

"I've finally been waiting for you, Toshiki."

Senri's expression was composed and calm, radiating an innate air of friendliness.

But Toshiki was like he'd just come face-to-face with a final boss — cold sweat poured off him from head to toe, and it took him ages before he could squeeze out his first words. "S-Senri Master, I'm Toshiki, the head of the neighboring N-North Orange Hail Dojo..."

This guy really is hopeless.

Seeing the situation, All Baimu whispered in his ear: "Get some courage, calm down — you're making Senri-san really awkward, and you're wasting his time! You get that?!"

Hearing those words, Toshiki immediately steadied himself considerably. After taking another deep breath, although his voice was still a bit shaky, he was at least able to talk normally with Senri.

He couldn't help but glance at Senri, and Senri returned a look that said, "Leave it to me — don't worry."

And so.

All Baimu decisively took on the responsibility of blocking the front door, to prevent Toshiki from seizing the chance to run away like last year.

——

It had to be said, All Baimu's door-blocking was the right call.

After Toshiki tried several times to tell Senri about his predicament and seek help but failed, he repeatedly tried to take his leave.

But with the door blocked, he had no choice but to keep being alone with his idol.

Senri also seized this golden chance to give himself a longer break, and when Toshiki finally told him everything, he passed on his experience as a seasoned master.

Two and a half hours later.

Their conversation finally came to an end.