Chapter 23: The Heart of Healing

A private space where one wouldn't be disturbed, convenient for customers to tame new Pokémon.

Coincidentally, a neutral dungeon offered this kind of service.

Otsuka took All Baimu along, but after renting the space, this young fellow seemed to want to join in as well.

He decisively refused and arranged to meet again in two hours.

Facing Otsuka, who looked like he'd been abandoned, All Baimu mercilessly closed the door to the space, shutting out the noise outside.

The space wasn't actually large, just like an enclosed basketball court, with a flat ground and slightly rough dividing lines.

In fact, there were many types of spaces to choose from, such as special environments with pools or lawns, and the height, width, and length were enough to accommodate most Pokémon.

All Baimu first released Aron, then carefully flipped through the Chansey materials Uncle Wan Shan had given him.

Being illiterate was really painful; these strange characters were terribly hard to read. Fortunately, he wasn't a complete illiterate with zero foundation—he could still make out a little here and there.

"In a moment I'll release our next partner. If it runs around everywhere, you can try chasing it a bit, but absolutely do not attack it, even if it attacks me. Understood?"

He said earnestly, repeating it several times specifically to make sure the other party understood.

After seeing Aron nod, he took out Chansey's Poké Ball and opened it, stepping back slightly two steps.

Pop!

"Lucky…"

The pink oval-shaped creature landed, hands cradling its belly, looking rather helplessly at its surroundings as it slowly backed away.

"Hello."

All Baimu didn't rashly approach, but maintained a distance that wouldn't make Chansey too nervous. "Don't be afraid, relax… you're safe now, no one will hurt you."

"Lucky?"

Chansey stopped its steps and cast a glance over, nervously looking at him standing still in place, then at Aron, who every now and then tilted its head to peek at the former while trying hard to hold its head high.

Since neither made even the slightest presumptuous move, the panic in Chansey's heart eased somewhat.

Being naturally kind and gentle, it possessed the ability to discern malice, and the combination of human and Pokémon before it was undoubtedly friendly.

"I'm All Baimu, and this is my partner, Aron."

"Goo!"

All Baimu and Aron briefly introduced themselves. Seeing Chansey's emotions greatly soothed, he placed a can of Pokémon food on the ground. "If you're hungry, please eat."

To prove the Pokémon food was fine, he took the initiative to pinch one and put it in his mouth. Honestly, the taste wasn't great—after all, the price wasn't high.

The two retreated, giving Chansey space to approach.

"Lucky…"

Chansey shook the curved fur on both sides of its body, slowly stepped forward to pick up the food, and ate it bit by bit.

While eating, it kept glancing at All Baimu.

The latter spread his hands to show he had no extra movements. Seeing Chansey go from small bites to big bites, he smiled as if relieved.

Uncle Wan Shan definitely wouldn't have abused Chansey or failed to give it enough food.

Having a problem with the merchandise wouldn't do him any good.

But for Chansey, it was probably that it had no mood or appetite to eat those things. Staying inside the Poké Ball, it could at least sleep; staying in a cage, it would often feel panicked and uneasy—how could it possibly eat?

Let alone having been sent back twice.

When Chansey finished that can and looked at him eagerly, All Baimu replied:

"Sorry, eating should be in moderation—eating too much at once won't do."

"Lucky~"

Chansey was a bit disappointed, but after eating its fill, its emotions also became more stable. The relatively safe environment gave it the possibility of conversation.

"Were you abducted by them from a Pokémon Center or from someone's hands?" All Baimu asked a very important question.

Chansey was somewhat rarer compared to other Pokémon, so many unscrupulous merchants would choose to steal or snatch them, even stealing them from Pokémon Centers.

Otsuka had said that shop was clean… but All Baimu didn't dare believe it completely.

"Lucky?"

Chansey rubbed its little short hands over its cheeks, showing a very puzzled expression—unclear whether it hadn't understood the sentence or didn't know what a Pokémon Center was.

He repeated it several more times, and also tried to understand the content of Chansey's responses.

Communicating with Pokémon really tested patience, because the other party possessed independent thoughts, with emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness extremely obvious, presented very directly.

And in a sense, their hearts were both fragile and strong.

Strong in that they could wait countless years for a verbal promise, enduring all loneliness; fragile in that after being abandoned, they could never again make contact with any human, leaving a huge wound in their hearts.

How exactly should he view Aron and the others?

Although All Baimu had always spoken words like partner and companion, at the current stage, Aron was merely a tool he was trying to use to improve his own circumstances and status.

In the end, what is a true partner?

Helping each other? Living and dying together?

All Baimu didn't really want to delve deeply into this question—the perilous survival environment everywhere forced him to temporarily ignore this issue.

Of course, if Aron had any wish it wanted to fulfill, he would definitely help it achieve it.

And when he confirmed that Chansey was a wild Pokémon, only brought to the Orei region by a hunting group for sale, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

The Orei region was certainly far from the Emperor, and Joy and Junsha couldn't reach this side. But stolen Pokémon ultimately belonged to someone else—different from being abandoned or returned.

Observing the distance between the two again now, he found that Chansey had advanced from an alert position five meters away to a gentle space less than one meter.

This was a big improvement.

So.

All Baimu further conversed with Chansey, pulling Aron along, talking about things that might interest or relax it.

Seeing that the other party no longer had a wary look, and even had a few more smiles, he thought it over carefully, reached out his hand, and said:

"Chansey, if it's alright with you, I'd like to invite you to join us — to join my little team with Aron."

He pulled Aron over beside him, gesturing that the two of them were very close. "You know, living alone in this place is hard and scary — there are bad people everywhere.

"But if we move forward together with companions, I believe no difficulty will remain a difficulty. When bad people see us sticking together, they'll keep their distance. Everyone helps each other, and we live on together."

"Goo!"

Aron laughed and nodded.

With the Poké Ball in hand, he wasn't worried about Chansey disobeying him.

But he didn't want to be that rough — lowering his posture a little and asking for its opinion again wasn't something he found impossible to do.

Respect.

Even if only on the surface, All Baimu wanted to keep up this habit.

"Lucky……"

Chansey stared blankly at him and Aron, its expression lighting up for a moment before quickly dimming again.

"Is it about battling that you're thinking?" All Baimu saw the reason for its low mood. "Why exactly don't you want to battle? Is it that you don't want to hurt other Pokémon, or are you afraid of battle — afraid of being attacked and of attacking others?"

The two explanations may seem similar at first glance, but they're worlds apart. The latter is a fear of the heart that can be slowly improved, while the former is a matter of belief.

Not every Pokémon is interested in battling.

"Lucky?"

Chansey was utterly bewildered.

It seemed it didn't itself know which one it was — perhaps both.

"…Then how about this: if you don't have to attack any person or Pokémon, and only need to help heal an injured Aron, could you accept that?"

All Baimu gave Aron's head a light *smack*, then winked at it.

Aron wore a blank, confused look, stared at its trainer for several seconds before going "Eh-ah!" and rolling on the ground, putting on a very pained expression.

Chansey was startled — a voice rang out beside its ear.

"Chansey! Use Heal Pulse on Aron!"

"Lu-lucky!"

Its body trembled, and instinctively it released a pink wave of light toward Aron, the light rippling outward in rings that enveloped the latter.

"Gudo!"

Aron felt the vitality surging up within it and was quite amazed.

There's such a thing!

A hidden reserve of energy! How wonderful!

Chansey stopped, staring blankly at its own hands, then looked at Aron — full of vigor, running and jumping about.

"Is this kind of 'battle' something you could accept?"

All Baimu had, at some unknown point, come to stand beside it. "You don't need to hurt any Pokémon — you only need to use your move to heal Aron, so it's no longer in pain, so it feels at ease. How about it?"

If it can't be done in one stroke, then take it step by step.

Once it's used to battling, then consider what comes after. If by then it truly cannot battle, then it can focus on serving as the team's healer.

"Lucky……"

Chansey hesitated, looking not very confident.

"Don't worry, and don't be afraid — no matter how well or poorly you do, I won't blame you." All Baimu placed his hand on its head, stroking it gently and slowly.

Chansey lifted its head to look at him, then looked at Aron, whose eyes held encouragement and expectation. It squeezed its eyes shut and, as if making a decision, nodded firmly.

"Lucky!"

"Very good! Welcome to the team!"

All Baimu smiled and held out his hand to it. Chansey, tentatively, placed its little paw into his palm.

"Goo!"

Aron shouted and charged over, knocking both of them down. The two of them fell sitting on the ground, first exchanging a blank stare, then bursting into happy laughter.

"Dummy! Don't just tackle people like that!"

"Lucky~"

"Chansey! You're not exactly light either — ah, I'm not scolding you, don't look so dejected."