Chapter 340: Street Racing? Graceful Drift?

He headed to the Pokémon Center to have the three heroes treated for their injuries.

Among them, Chansey and Mawile were basically unhurt — the former had never been touched by Swellow and Gliscor throughout the entire match, while the latter's bout with Tauros was a sudden flash of inspiration, transforming into a matador to unleash its power to the fullest.

Asked how it came up with the idea of climbing onto Tauros's back, Mawile said it was a stroke of inspiration — it jumped up simply wanting to hammer the bull's head.

Normally when sparring with Aggron, it climbs onto its back all day long; same goes for fighting Steelix.

Just a habit.

Who could have expected Tauros's back to be its blind spot? If it had been Aggron or Steelix instead, they would have flung it off long ago.

Though it was a lucky accident, it also gave Mawile inspiration for attacking large-bodied Pokémon.

It firmly noted down the experience from battling Tauros.

As for Aggron, the sole injured party — compared to the drain on its stamina, what was clearly visible was the numerous gouges on its chest and belly's metal armor, cut by Persian's claws.

Half a finger wide, fairly deep. Crisscrossing each other, they looked rather savage.

From this one could also tell that Persian's combat power was very strong.

Too bad it probably never expected Aggron to be this tanky — to the point of holding back its amplified attacks, that Metal Explosion as a countermeasure ultimately being finished off by brute force.

Honestly, Aggron still held back. If that double-paw Hammer Arm had slammed into Persian, the guy would have needed at least three or four days of rest. Precisely because Aggron only let the typed energy impact Persian, the latter would be back on its feet after lying down for a bit at most.

The mercy of the great monster.

And without a doubt, the scars on Aggron's chest and belly became its new medals of honor.

This guy was quite pleased with those half-finger-thick gouges, considering them solid proof that it could now withstand four-times-effective attacks.

Treatment concluded.

Baimu didn't rush back to the inn, but brought Chansey along and took a leisurely stroll through a nearby park.

Because he could tell Chansey was in low spirits, clearly still dwelling on the battle just now, so he planned to let it relax a bit.

Although overall it was just a minor slip that didn't change the outcome, the fact that it had caused trouble for its teammates still placed a certain psychological burden on it.

It had finally gotten a chance to battle, yet performed like this…

"You already did great, don't dwell on it too much — the result and the process are equally important. And as long as you take lessons from failure, then this failure wasn't meaningless."

He stroked Chansey's head. Fundamentally speaking, whether facing Swellow or Gliscor, its approach had no problems.

The only issue was that its current move pool wasn't deep enough — it had no way to interfere with opponents who had decided to go all out.

Besides, was it strange for the opponent to launch a countermeasure?

Not strange at all.

It was simply that Mawile and Aggron could always, when opponents tried to counterattack, use their actions to brutally shatter those delusions — and the gap that arose from its own inability to do the same.

"Lucky…"

As Baimu's second Pokémon, Chansey found it a bit hard to accept.

The more it tried to catch up with its companions' pace, the more it found itself immeasurably distant from them.

But it also knew it was being greedy — wanting to handle the team's logistics, wanting to hold the support position, and still hoping to possess extremely strong combat power.

How could all the good things under heaven be monopolized by it alone?

And yet.

If it didn't do this, if it didn't show its shining points, Chansey feared it wouldn't be able to stay by its Trainer's side.

It rarely desired anything. Only one thing it could never give up: every morning upon waking, seeing Baimu's peaceful sleeping face, its whole body relaxing, unable to resist dozing off again.

Otherwise, Chansey would truly suspect that all the warmth it had gathered over these days, the joy and praise it had received, those smiling faces — were all fake. That it was still inside that pitch-black cage, dreaming some unrealistic beautiful dream.

Its day.

Only truly began from that moment in the morning.

"Lucky…"

Feeling the warm hand continuously stroking its head, Chansey didn't stay dejected. It understood its Trainer was right — more important than failure was learning new things from it.

It had to break through its own weakness. Besides, even without offensive moves, there was actually still a lot it could learn.

Chansey had never been so firm in its resolve.

——

Back at the inn.

Mitsuki seemed to have already gotten word of Baimu's victory and the theft at the battle tent — upon seeing him, he first looked delighted and tried to congratulate him.

But then immediately remembered the reward Pokémon Egg was gone, and hurriedly shut his mouth, his face instantly flushing red.

Baimu was amused by this kid. "Alright, say whatever you want, I'm not going to get mad."

"…Congratulations!"

Only then did Mitsuki's words finally come out, his whole body instantly relaxing considerably. He then grew somewhat indignant: "Those thieves are really terrible! Why would they do something like this?"

Quite the sense of justice?

"They just like getting something for nothing — I've run into plenty of people like that before. Don't worry, they'll be caught sooner or later. Walk by the river long enough and your shoes will get wet."

Baimu replied with a smile.

Mitsuki nodded, then asked curiously: "Run into plenty? Baimu-san, were you a policeman before?"

"No way, the police don't take minors either. I was just in charge of maintaining public order, that's all."

"Heeey — then how do you usually deal with thieves like this?"

"Why are you getting so excited…" Baimu looked at Mitsuki, whose eyes were shining, in surprise, then said extremely terrifying things with an utterly calm face: "Usually break their legs, or cut off their fingers."

Hearing this, the curiosity on Mitsuki's face quickly faded. Sensing the seriousness in the man before him, he laughed awkwardly: "B-break legs, cut off fingers? Baimu-san, you're really fond of joking, right?"

"Joking?"

He sent over a meaningful look, and his eyes swept over Mitsuki's hands and legs.

"Perhaps."

All Baimu beamed a bright smile.

"It has to be a joke! Please! Tell me it's a joke! Don't scare me like that!" Michu grabbed his arm with a tear-streaked face, refusing to let go until he got the answer he wanted.

Kids these days really can't handle much, huh.

Watching the relieved Michu, All Baimu shook his head. "Right, let me give you a little heads-up—your cousin, and you yourself, better stay on guard. They might just sneak over to our side."

"... Fair point, we should be on our guard."

The green-haired boy thought it over briefly and decided All Baimu made a lot of sense.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Not getting stolen from is obviously the best outcome; if carelessness led to a theft, there'd really be nowhere left to cry.

"I'll be right back! Wait for me!"

Michu scurried off like a streak of smoke to find his cousin Aman.

All Baimu checked the time—dinner was still a ways off. After sitting on the sofa for so long, he figured he ought to get up and move around with the Pokémon for a bit.

Porygon especially.

The laptop wasn't bought for nothing—the thing had just made a little mosaic racing game yesterday, where in certain zones the car competing against you sped up the faster you went, and the slower you went.

Inspiration struck its move-learning module like a bolt, and it told its Trainer it had an idea.

"Trick Room is finally showing signs of progress?"

All Baimu couldn't help but feel a little excited.

For his comprehensively slow team, Trick Room was a pretty crucial move—it could make up for their lack of mobility to the greatest extent.

No longer having to rely entirely on burst power to patch up their slow speed.

He arrived at the battle field.

He couldn't wait and sent out Porygon.

"Pory!"

Porygon landed on the ground first, then used electromagnetic force to shield itself from gravity and float up slowly. The thing had grown quite a bit since it first arrived.

The day before yesterday, All Baimu had noticed the change in size and even specially measured it, finding that it really had gotten bigger.

It was quite the rarity.

Can an artificial Pokémon actually "grow up"? Are there differences in age stages?

All Baimu asked the assistant young man and got the answer that Porygon did indeed have a body-size growth program installed, but when he asked exactly how big it could get, the latter replied, "Hard to say."

What kind of answer is "hard to say"?

He couldn't help but start imagining a Porygon the size of a house—when it unleashed moves, they'd probably be no different from cannon fire.

"Today's lesson: Trick Room!"

"Pory!"

Porygon nodded seriously, channeling the Psychic-type energy within its body, constructing a false space in its mind, and recalling the code it had input. Through the haze, a glowing blue space rapidly took shape.

In reality—

All Baimu saw Porygon's eyes flash red, and the boundary lines of the field immediately emitted a sky-blue glow. Straight beams of light then rose up, quickly forming a massive rectangular prism.

The warped blue light turned into glass, enveloping the entire field, rippling and swaying like waves.

Without a doubt.

This was Trick Room.

Porygon had succeeded in using it on its very first try!

"Amazing..."

All Baimu watched the surroundings in astonishment, recalling how this thing had learned Thunderbolt—seemed like that was also a one-shot success, just like using a TM.

Things going so smoothly inevitably made him a bit unused to it; after all, every other Pokémon had to slowly try and fail their way through.

One could only say this was probably some kind of Porygon specialty.

Learning moves entirely by booting up internal programs.

At this moment—

Michu ran over from afar, stepped into Trick Room with one foot, and called out, "I'm ba—ack!"

The sudden sluggishness almost made him do a somersault.

"What's going on? Trick Room?"

"Oh! Quick reaction!"

All Baimu was surprised for a moment. "Not bad, kid."

"Hehe... I've run into it before, so the impression's pretty strong..."

Michu, a little embarrassed by the praise, looked at Porygon and said excitedly, "How about I help you test out this Trick Room?"

"If you're willing, I'd be more than happy to take you up on that."

"It's nothing~ nothing at all~"

Boom!

The fastest Pokémon on Michu's team, Talonflame, appeared. Just as it was about to give two powerful wingbeats, it felt the thrust was slower than expected.

"Screee—"

Why does—my wings—feel so heavy!

Talonflame strained its face, exerting all its strength, nearly compensating with its whole face, yet still couldn't pick up speed. Meanwhile, Porygon below was zipping around the field like an F1 race car.

"Pory—"

"Pory—"

Seeing Porygon buzzing around like a mosquito while Talonflame flew like a snail up above, he truly hadn't expected the effect to be so immediately striking.

Unfortunately, the duration wasn't long.

In the game it's a fixed five turns, so Porygon using it lasts only about three minutes or so; perhaps as the move becomes more practiced, the time can increase.

Of course, being too long isn't good either — a Trick Room must be opened at the right moment and closed at the right moment; only then can it be considered a qualified Trick Room.

At the same time.

While Porygon was zipping along, All Baimu got a certain idea about its constantly swinging leg portions.

Since Facade can deform its body tissue, does that mean the leg portions can have their edges and corners greatly increased, making its legs form a "circle"?

Using electromagnetic levitation to drive the "wheels" formed from its legs, thereby increasing speed.

He thought about it, stepped forward, bent Porygon's left leg backward, and watched the expression on its face.

One full rotation.

Very smooth, without any hesitation; Porygon didn't seem to notice any pain either, instead wearing a face full of question marks, completely baffled.

Equally baffled was Manchu.

All Baimu told them his idea, "…Do you think this could work?"

"Worth a try!"

Manchu didn't agree blindly; after his own judgment, he nodded seriously.

Porygon spun its legs while imagining them becoming something like gears, and excitement welled up from within, "Pory!"

It loved this "creativity" with moves!

No time like the present.

Porygon looked at All Baimu, and after receiving his approval, its body was covered in Bai Guang; its legs rapidly changed, from pentagon to hexagon, then heptagon… octagon… nonagon…

More and more corners, and its appearance grew rounder and rounder; by the time it became a regular octadecagon, it already felt quite circular.

"Pory…"

Porygon was slightly tired, but seeing the wheels on both sides, excitement quickly dispelled that fatigue.

It couldn't wait to land and give it a try—

"Wait!"

All Baimu reached out to stop it but was a step too late; Porygon uncontrollably rolled forward, its center of gravity tipping forward as it crashed face-down onto the ground, like some kind of pile-driving machine — *smack*.

Very crisp, smack~

"Ah…"

He covered his forehead and hurriedly helped Porygon up; the latter was a bit dazed from the impact, and the ground clearly bore a mark — unmistakably left by Porygon's mouth.

"Pfft…"

Manchu wanted to laugh but didn't dare, holding it in with great difficulty.

"Looks like besides transformation, balance needs some proper training too." All Baimu patted Porygon on the forehead.

The latter was a little embarrassed, but thankfully its face was already red to begin with, so even if it blushed, it wouldn't show on the outside.

The direction of adding more edges and corners was definitely right; Porygon just needed more diligent practice — the transformation time was a bit too long. And after completing the gear-legs, it could try even more variations.

Human imagination is limitless; perhaps Professor Akihabara originally designed Porygon to be able to transform through Facade precisely so trainers could DIY it.

Unfortunately, who could have foreseen so many unexpected things happening later on.

"Let's have a battle."

He turned to Manchu and said, "Are you free right now?"

"I'm free!"

Manchu's eyes lit up, and he nodded rapidly.

Although he had battled All Baimu many times already, he still hadn't grown tired of it; on the contrary, he was full of anticipation as he prepared the Pokémon to send out.

Devoting himself wholeheartedly to every battle, displaying every emotion.

That was Manchu's creed and tactics.

—

Another fulfilling day passed.

Night.

All Baimu yawned and glanced at the bright moonlight shining in through the screen window.

Compared to last night, Doubledragon had made further progress on Draco Meteor — it could now complete the focus-and-charge sequence and spew it toward the sky very smoothly.

It was just stuck at the final key step of fireworks, just like Ash's Vibrava.

This was undoubtedly the difficulty of Draco Meteor.

All Baimu wasn't in a hurry; he wasn't yet at the point where he absolutely needed Draco Meteor, and Doubledragon had been a bit anxious at first, but later gradually stopped being anxious too.

After all, it hadn't fully evolved yet — who should be more anxious was obvious at a glance.

"Sleep!"

He turned off his phone and slowly closed his eyes.

And seeing that their trainer had gone to sleep, the previously rowdy Pokémon quickly quieted down.

Not long after the lights dimmed.

The balcony.

A red jagged line on the wooden floor trembled slightly, then swiftly burrowed into the nearby bushes, crossing through the lush grass to arrive beside two figures dressed all in black.

It revealed a green lizard-like form.

"Are they all asleep?"

"Kaku!"

Kecleon nodded; although there was a curtain in between, it was certain that All Baimu was completely asleep.

"Very good!"

The two black-clothed men exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, then hurried toward a guesthouse not far away; their movement skills were superb, making absolutely no sound as they crossed the ground.

Floating beside them was a black, horned Pokémon that looked like a ragged cloth doll.

Not long after.

Destination reached.

One black-clothed man lowered his voice: "Use Detect!"

A blue light flickered in the Dusclops's eyes, and a ripple rapidly spread outward, causing human silhouettes lying on the bed to appear in the black-clothed men's special glasses.

No other Pokémon could be seen in the room; only a few Poké Balls rested on the nightstand, neatly arranged.

What a perfect chance!

The two exchanged a glance, and with practiced ease stepped forward to gently pull open the floor-to-ceiling window to leave a small crack, then took out a tube and sprayed knockout gas into the room.

After waiting a few seconds without hearing any sound, they boldly pulled the window fully open and went inside.

"Eek~ that wore me out~"

One black-clothed man said in discomfort.

"All this is just for safety's sake. Do you have any idea what 'technical skill' means? You think being a master thief is that easy? Idiot!" The other black-clothed man smacked the first one on the head.

The two entered the bedroom and headed straight for the nightstand.

One of them even glanced at All Baimu's peaceful sleeping face and snickered, "What's the use of being that good-looking? We're robbing idiots like you! Didn't anyone tell you not to show off your Pokémon so carelessly?"

"Enough, stop the nonsense!"

His accomplice frowned and rebuked him, picking up the Poké Balls on the nightstand and checking them one by one.

Suddenly.

"Huh? Why isn't the Haxorus here?"

"It's not? Maybe it fell somewhere else? Like under the nightstand?"

"You go look for it instead of just talking!"

"Oh, oh!"

"Here, take it."

A Poké Ball was held out by a clean, white hand in front of the black-clothed man searching under the bed; the latter instinctively nodded, "Oh, thanks—"

Before he could finish, his heart jolted, and he looked up to see a face that seemed to be smiling yet not smiling.

"Good evening, you two."

All Baimu, amid the two black-clothed men's stunned expressions, swiftly opened the Poké Ball.

Bang!

Bai Guang flickered.

One black-clothed man reacted extremely quickly, but instead of turning to flee, he lunged at All Baimu intending to pin him down.

Unfortunately, the latter was faster; with one hand opening the Poké Ball, he twisted his body, pushed off with his waist, and kicked the man squarely in the chest. The heavy force sent him Peng De-ing as he crashed through the wardrobe behind him.

At the same time.

The Haxorus appeared in the room. Ignoring the remaining black-clothed man, it raised both heads and blasted a stream of azure-blue flame at the lunging Dusclops and Kecleon respectively!

Boom!

The room was instantly thrown into chaos by the exploding dragon flames, smoke billowing everywhere. The black-clothed man smashed into the cabinet groaned, sensing something was wrong and trying to escape in the confusion—but the moment he rose, the other black-clothed man was shoved toward him by All Baimu, who had him by the throat!

Peng!

The two black-clothed men collided in the cabinet, utterly dazed and dizzy, unable to stop screaming inwardly.

What kind of person is this guy?!

How can he be so decisive?!

"Good thing I prepared against you two, otherwise you might have actually gotten away with the theft." All Baimu didn't end things there. Hearing panicked shouts from outside, he grabbed both men's heads again and slammed them hard into the wall twice.

Although he'd been in Hoenn for so long that he was no longer as violent as before—beating people up at the slightest disagreement—occasionally running into this kind of trash still made him want to vent a little.

Under such heavy blows, the two black-clothed men fainted without a shred of backbone.

As for their Pokémon, the Kecleon tried to turn invisible and flee, but was chased down and bitten by the keen-nosed Haxorus. The Dusclops was firmly locked in place by the mist-like tentacles of the Galarian Corsola that had just appeared, its face twisted in pain.

Knocking and shouting came from the room's door—Aman and Manchu.

All Baimu recalled his Pokémon, sent out Chansey to keep watch over these guys, and ran to open the door.

The front door opened.

Not only Aman and Manchu, but tenants from other rooms had also come, curiously peering into the room.

"Baimu-san! Are you okay? Did something happen?" the green-haired boy in pajamas asked anxiously.

"Call the police and get Officer Jenny first."

All Baimu raised a hand to stop Aman from speaking. "I think I've caught those thieves, and there's a chance they have other accomplices—though it's also possible these are just copycats… In any case, go call Officer Jenny first."

At these words.

Everyone showed surprised expressions.

Aman hurriedly turned and ran to the front desk to make the call.

"Are you hurt?" Manchu asked with concern, looking at his hands and feet.

"Not at all… want to come in and take a look?"

All Baimu stepped aside, glanced at the others who were equally curious, and said, "Everyone, instead of watching the show, you'd better go back to your rooms and check if anything's been stolen."

Right!

If a thief came here, this might not be the first place they hit!

The onlookers' expressions changed; they immediately developed the awareness of being involved parties and hurried back to their rooms to check their belongings.

Manchi followed All Baimu into the room, and after turning on the light, he saw the completely wrecked wardrobe and the two black-clad thieves passed out inside it. Seeing them completely out cold, he immediately went to check the thieves' legs and hands.

Finding that nothing had been broken or cut, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness…"

"Good about what?"

"G-Good that you found them!" Manchi answered All Baimu's question with a stiff expression, then quickly changed the subject, "How did you find the thieves? They should have been pretty clever, right?"

"The Dodrio smelled them. Those two idiots didn't know its nose was very sensitive, so they stationed a Pokémon that can turn invisible on the balcony, and the Dodrio ended up smelling them."

All Baimu smiled and patted the Dodrio on the head.

"Hiyu!"

The Dodrio responded proudly, but since one mouth was biting the Kecleon, only one mouth could make a sound.

Bee-do— Bee-do—

A piercing police whistle sounded.

Officer Jenny and the others arrived a little faster than expected, clearly having been tormented into working overtime by these two suspected culprits.

He only hoped they weren't copycats who admired those two thieves.

All Baimu thought to himself.