Chapter 272: New Water Fleet

5 PM.

Baimu finished studying Dragon Rush.

He looked at the Poké Ball of his single-headed dragon, his expression somewhat complicated.

The gap between Pokémon is really this huge? He had planned to first teach Aggron, then have Aggron feed the knowledge back to the single-headed dragon.

Yet the single-headed dragon watched the wild Aggron practice Dragon Rush over and over, and within just a few short hours had already progressed to the point of gathering Dragon-type energy on its head.

It was only one step away from full release.

Although as a Dragon-type Pokémon it naturally had an advantage learning Dragon-type moves, it shouldn't be this fast, right?

It clearly hadn't learned moves this quickly before — why did its progress suddenly pick up?

Puzzling.

Not to mention his classmate Aggron felt a bit unbalanced about this transfer student, even Baimu as its trainer was somewhat jealous of its talent — a mere hand-eating little dragon—

*Sword of Coming*

But the single-headed dragon was his kid after all, so thoughts like that flashed through his mind only briefly.

The sky had not yet darkened.

The beach was already buzzing with noise; all sorts of stages and firework-launching ceremonial cannons were being set up, rows of barbecue racks were neatly stacked, and fresh ingredients were being carted to the seaside by the truckload.

Many vendors had even rushed over to set up their stalls.

But the most numerous were the tourists attending the beach bonfire party, gathered in groups along the shore, watching and waiting — the moment it opened, they'd rush in and enjoy themselves to the fullest.

"Hey! I've had my eye on you! Let's have a Pokémon battle!"

"I couldn't ask for more!"

This kind of exchange happened frequently between trainers with nothing to do.

Baimu was no exception — he was battling a girl who looked a little nervous but had still mustered the courage to invite him.

Judging from her Pokémon, Combusken, she was most likely a trainer who had only just started her journey.

Facing a trainer like this, Baimu wouldn't stoop to bullying her with Aggron.

"Dragon Pulse!"

A ball of indigo flame gathered in the single-headed dragon's mouth, then erupted violently, transforming into a snarling, clawing energy dragon that charged at Combusken!

A move it had just learned not long ago — perfect timing to put it to use.

"Dodge it!"

The girl hastily commanded, and Combusken scrambled aside, narrowly avoiding the dragon flame by a hair's breadth. "Charge in and use Double Kick!"

"Combusken!"

Combusken adjusted its stance and rushed swiftly toward the single-headed dragon.

But as it closed in, the aura belonging to a Fire-type Pokémon immediately let the single-headed dragon pick up its movement. "Mo Nao!"

"Earth Power!"

Following Baimu's timely command, the single-headed dragon's claws heavy stomped the ground, and the patch of earth before it suddenly blazed with yellow light.

"Dodge it quick!" the girl shouted nervously.

Unfortunately, the charging Combusken couldn't brake in time — it was as if it had willingly offered itself up to take the hit, coming to a stop right above that blazing yellow light.

The next instant.

Boom!

Surging Ground-type energy rose up and directly erupted into a burst of firelight and smoke, blasting Combusken into the air!

When the smoke cleared, the latter was spinning on one claw before collapsing on the ground, a pair of spiral eyes showing.

"Combusken!"

The girl hurriedly rushed forward and gathered Combusken into her arms.

But the single-headed dragon had deliberately held back when attacking, so after the trainer shook it a little, the unconscious Combusken woke up, looking at the girl somewhat guiltily. "Combusken~"

"It's okay, you were already amazing."

The girl shook her head.

Meanwhile.

Baimu was undergoing the single-headed dragon's licking torture — the little fellow, realizing it had won, was so excited it couldn't contain itself. "Alright, alright, don't get so worked up — I know you're great, that's enough."

He picked it up and walked over to the girl. "Is Combusken okay?"

"It's fine."

The girl and Combusken stood up together. The latter had some slight scorch marks on its plumage, but overall its condition was indeed still alright. She said in admiration: "Your single-headed dragon is so strong — we were completely outmatched."

"Just accumulated experience. You can do it too."

The two shook hands, and that concluded this roadside beach battle.

Seeing them finish, the surrounding crowd immediately issued challenges to each of them. The girl accepted — she had other Pokémon that could fight — but Baimu declined.

"Sorry, I need to use the restroom."

A group of eager trainers could only give up.

——

Having taken care of his biological needs.

Baimu dried his hands with a paper towel while gazing out at the distant, swarming beach.

With this many people, he wondered how many would attend the Pokémon Exchange Conference.

Perhaps at the exchange conference he could find a Pokémon he wanted... but he didn't have any individuals to trade with, which was truly frustrating.

If only...

"If only I could snatch all the Pokémon for myself."

Hm?

All Baimu froze for a beat, then turned his head toward a small grove nearby. That line just now hadn't been him blurting out his thoughts — it was someone else's voice.

He crept over, parted the bushes, and spotted two guys wearing striped sailor shirts and ragged long-and-short pants, with black bandanas printed with what looked like a skull motif.

... Team Aqua?

This villainous organization hasn't disbanded yet?

In the anime's plot, Team Aqua and Team Magma awakened Kyogre and Groudon, triggering a battle between them, but with the intervention of Lance and Ash's group, the long-standing hostility between the two organizations had already been resolved.

The two leaders should've been arrested too, right? Why haven't they disbanded — and it looks like they've even taken up petty thievery like Team Rocket?

All Baimu listened without a flicker of expression, and turned on his phone's recording function. He then realized these two guys weren't actually Team Aqua members at all — they were a bunch of petty thieves trying to use Team Aqua's name to do bad deeds.

Because they'd heard rumors that Team Aqua happened to be on Battle Island doing some unknown business.

So they decided to make use of it.

Their method of tricking Pokémon was pretty lowbrow too — it was the Pokémon swap machine that Jessie and James had once used, swapping empty Poké Balls for ones that had Pokémon inside.

This kind of trick could only fool little kids, right?

All Baimu tugged at the corner of his mouth, turned off the phone's recording, and released Chansey.

Pop!

The sound of the Poké Ball opening made the two men whip their heads around. "Who's there!"

"Who's there?"

"Red scarf. Sing."

All Baimu waved his hand, and Chansey, under the shocked gazes of the two petty thieves, released a sleep-inducing sound wave at them. "La la la~ la la li~"

Caught completely off guard, they passed out on the spot.

"Plotting behind a toilet without even keeping a Pokémon by your side — your plan's just as dumb..." He hoisted the two up like chicks, sighed, and said, "Go explain it all properly to Officer Jenny, you geniuses."

He hadn't expected that just as he was about to head out—

Another two guys in Team Aqua uniforms, with Houndoors at their sides, appeared before his eyes.

All Baimu quickly dropped the two men and shouted: "Telekinesis—"

"Wait! Wait!"

The two Team Aqua members raised their hands and shouted, but they were nowhere near as fast as Chansey — along with the two Houndoors lunging at them, they were all suspended in midair.

"You've got the wrong idea — we're here to catch the thieves! Don't look at us just because we dress like them, we're not in the same group!" one of them said, brows pinched, but still explaining politely.

Hearing this, All Baimu's expression eased. "You're the real deal?"