Chapter 353: Fu Yan Hot Springs

Just as Baimu had once seen in the simulator.

Fu Yan Hot Springs were everywhere.

Whether inside the town or out in the wild, as long as you followed the direction where the sulfur smell was strongest, you could find hot spring pools of various sizes.

The people of Fu Yan Town had not completely monopolized this natural resource, leaving quite a few undeveloped hot springs for the wild Pokémon—each one different in size and depth.

Baimu had a mind to take it to a larger outdoor hot spring where it could soak completely.

But after circling outside the town, he found that all the large hot springs were occupied by wild Pokémon living in groups—either flocks of Numel and Camerupt, or Piggysent and Mankeys as far as the eye could see.

Solitary Pokémon soaked in small hot springs; group-living Pokémon soaked in large ones.

Lei Gong certainly could have soaked if it wanted to, but how could a righteous big cat allow itself to casually seize other Pokémon' territory? Besides, it thought its injuries were nearly healed—

Even though neither Chansey nor Baimu agreed.

"Well, no choice then. Figure out a way to follow me into town. First we'll stop by the Pokémon Center to check on your healing, then I'll find a hot spring hotel near the wilderness… There's one that claims you can soak with wild Pokémon."

One hand rested on Lei Gong's back, the other scrolled through his phone.

On the other side, Chansey gazed curiously at the distant small town.

A few days ago, unless they were camping and resting, he basically couldn't get this close to Lei Gong.

The big cat was on guard.

However, as the two had interacted too many times, although this fellow would still keep a bit of distance while traveling, as long as he actively moved closer, it most likely wouldn't go far.

Except for the head, belly, and lower half—still untouchable—everywhere else had basically been petted all over.

Yesterday he even took the chance to knead the paw pads on its front paw. This fellow's sharp claws were thick and large, so the paw pads were positioned relatively far back and covered by yellow fur—bouncy and soft, just a shame they were black.

A majestic Raikou should obviously have pink paw pads.

But randomly petting everywhere also earned him a fierce electric shock from Lei Gong. Ever since the electric energy in its body gradually recovered to peak condition, it no longer used low-level methods like biting or clawing.

Electricity was the best—it wouldn't cause excessive harm, yet could make others back off.

Lei Gong normally encountered those trainers it couldn't reason with, and usually liked to use electric shocks to teach them a lesson. Even if it didn't attack the person directly, deliberately blasting a small crater in a rock could still scare people.

Always effective.

"Roar…"

Having grown accustomed to being arranged these past days, Lei Gong heard Baimu's words, glanced at Chansey again, and did not refuse.

It had successfully figured out that compared to combat power, this kid was more interested in its body. Hmm… it might sound a bit strange, but that was indeed the case.

God knew why this kid kept touching and groping with such enthusiasm, and was always trying to touch its belly and head.

Weird.

Still weird.

Lei Gong's evaluation of Baimu never changed,

As for Chansey… it felt this Pokémon was like its natural enemy. What kind of Pokémon could be shocked and still act like nothing happened?

It had only meant to scare this impudent fellow, but ended up being the one startled instead.

Such a headache.

Bypassing the town's outskirts to reach the park connecting to the town, Chansey and Lei Gong were asked to wait briefly in the grass.

Then the latter swiftly pushed over a large flatbed cart from somewhere. "Get on!"

"……"

Lei Gong slowly climbed onto the flatbed cart, then was immediately covered by Chansey with a Bai Bu cloth. The entirely white scene before its eyes made it simply lie down.

"Don't worry, I won't let you be exposed."

Baimu and Chansey pushed it toward the Pokémon Center.

Passersby on the road glanced at the flatbed cart, assuming it was some kind of sculpture and paid it no mind.

This also let him breathe a sigh of relief.

Legendary Pokémon were a focal point wherever they went, let alone a Raikou that had ancient records in many regions. Casually bringing it into a Pokémon Center would easily attract the attention of those with ill intentions.

A little concealment was necessary.

Soon, he and Chansey arrived at the Pokémon Center's back door. Another Chansey nurse had been waiting there for some time, constantly observing the surroundings to confirm no one was around.

"Happy~"

The Chansey nurse waved at Baimu and Chansey, telling them to hurry up.

"Coming, coming!"

The moment the two pushed Lei Gong into the Pokémon Center, the Chansey nurse swiftly closed the door.

Fortunately there weren't many people at this hour, otherwise all this sneaking around would have drawn others' attention.

And when Lei Gong arrived at the Pokémon Center's medical room, its sphinx-like posture remained unchanged, but its gaze swept over the interior layout.

When it had first been attacked by the Crystal System, it had also come to the Pokémon Center, but at the time it had blasted a hole in the wall here to deal with the Crystal System problem. It took several more visits after that to basically become familiar with the place.

It also discovered a very strange thing.

No matter which Pokémon Center it came to, the person in charge of caring for it was always the same one.

"I'm counting on you, Miss Joy."

Baimu handed Lei Gong over to Joy, and the pink-haired woman in white took over the flatbed cart with a smile.

It's her!

Lei Gong stared at Joy's face, and hearing the latter's address once again confirmed that the person before it was indeed the one it had seen several times before. How did it always end up running into her?

Truly miraculous.

Baimu noticed Lei Gong's gaze. At first he was curious what it was looking at, why so intently. Then he pretty much guessed its thoughts, and couldn't help but show a strange smile.

The Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy families were one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Pokémon world. Even if you were a Raikou, don't expect to penetrate their secrets.

Not being able to tell them apart was perfectly normal—telling Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy apart was Brock's exclusive skill.

Not long after.

Lei Gong's physical condition received a thorough examination.

"The wounds have indeed mostly healed, the bone cracks in some areas have also mended—fortunately there are no fractures or large-area lacerations, and the internal electricity-storage organs are perfectly normal—"

Young Lady Qiao Yin held the report in her hand, her expression suddenly turning grave. "Injuries this severe are rare—was it done by a Pokémon Hunter?"

Under normal circumstances, those who would chase legendary Pokémon and strike them so heavily were, in Young Lady Qiao Yin's view, only those notorious Pokémon Hunters—they always used all sorts of destructive weapons when capturing Pokémon.

Trainers would only use Pokémon, and ordinary Pokémon were generally no match for legendary ones.

"Not sure."

Baimu shook his head. "I've been asking, but it doesn't want to say."

Just as he had never managed to pat Lei Gong on the head, he still did not know why this fellow had come to Hoenn, nor the reason the injuries were so severe.

"Doesn't want to say…" Young Lady Qiao Yin was taken aback. She had assumed Lei Gong was already Baimu's Pokémon—after all, legendary Pokémon never liked getting close to humans, always keeping their distance.

Only when they truly accepted someone from the heart and became their Pokémon would they quietly submit.

She didn't say more, only remarking: "Rest a while longer, soak in the hot springs of Kuchiba Town, and it'll heal completely—won't take long."

"Got it!"

Baimu nodded, wheeled Lei Gong out of the medical preparation room. "Let's go, figure out a way to get to the hot springs."

"…"

Lei Gong lay on the cart, letting himself be pushed around without minding, only yawning from boredom and pondering just how comfortable soaking in hot springs would be.

——

Being unable to withdraw Lei Gong into a Poké Ball was indeed more troublesome than expected.

But troublesome as it was—

Baimu figured it was still better than getting electrocuted himself.

If he showed any intention of trying to catch this fellow, getting shocked would be unavoidable—the big cat was quite sensitive about that, even to the point of having a rebellious streak.

Fortunately, a hot-spring inn not too far from the wilds was a little easier to find than expected.

After much effort.

Booking a room, scrubbing and washing the bathing Pokémon to rinse off the basic grime.

Lei Gong finally got to soak in the long-awaited Kuchiba Hot Springs, most of its body submerged in the steaming, white-mist-wreathing water, only half its big head showing, eyes comfortably narrowed into thin slits.

Running around for so many days with a little brat Bai Bai, living every day in an environment with plenty of delicious food and extreme physical and mental comfort—it was simply a torment to its iron will.

But at this moment, it was worth it.

The trip wasn't wasted.

"Purururu…"

Lei Gong silently blew bubbles, not minding even when other Pokémon crowded around it.

"Good thing I specifically asked for the biggest bath, otherwise it really wouldn't be enough."

Baimu looked at the Pokémon that had nearly filled the entire pool, barely found a spot next to Aggron, and held down the two unruly heads of Dodrio. "Soak properly when you bathe—one more squawk and I'm throwing you out!"

"Hee-woo…""Hee-woo…"

Dodrio immediately quieted down, sinking most of its body into the hot spring, two white towels draped over its two heads.

Falling into an endless void.

After soaking for a while.

"Are you okay?"

He suddenly turned his head toward a differently-colored Feebas not far away, noticed the fellow's face was a bit red and its eyes looked dizzy, and decisively scooped it out and tossed it into a bucket beside him.

Plop!

Water splashed everywhere.

The Feebas, whose body temperature rapidly dropped, gradually cleared its gaze.

It looked at the steaming hot spring, its eyes filled with both regret and wariness.

Although a fish by nature, its tolerance for this sulfurous hot spring was even worse than the landlubber Aggron's—it was the fastest to get dizzy.

Stamina too low, nothing to be done.

"Looks like you'll have to evolve before you can keep enjoying this." Baimu patted the Feebas on the head.

He hadn't expected that the Water-type Feebas would be the fastest to retreat.

"Bo~"

The latter blew a bubble and settled down.

"Ah…"

Baimu gazed up at the blue sky and white clouds, his body slowly sinking down, his foot involuntarily kicking something round. "…"

He crouched down and fished out the Galarian Corsola. "How did you sink to the bottom?"

"…Pff."

Galarian Corsola didn't answer, only used Water Gun on him—scalding hot spring water sprayed his face.

The hot spring was too comfortable, too lazy to float.

"You're ruthless."

Baimu admiringly gave Galarian Corsola a thumbs-up, tossed it back into the water, then lay on top of Porygon, which had turned into a duck-shaped float ring. "What made you think to turn into a float ring in the hot spring? Can you tell me your thought process?"

"Pling~"

Porygon reverted to its original form.

He felt his Porygon was a bit silly—maybe it was just his imagination.

Just as he was about to say something more, the sound of Chansey came from beside his ear.

"Happy~"

Baimu turned his head and saw a huge egg pushed right in front of him, the top already cracked open with a small spoon resting inside. "... Soft-boiled egg?"

"Happy~"

Happiness Egg was very pleased that its trainer could understand its meaning.

"Such a big egg, I can't finish it all by myself either — let's eat together, let's eat together!"

Baimu beckoned to the other Pokémon, picked up the spoon, and began scooping out the soft-boiled egg inside, occasionally feeding the other Pokémon a bite as well.

When it was Lei Gong's turn.

The two locked eyes.

"Eat or not?"

"Roar—woof!" The moment Lei Gong opened its mouth, the spoon was already extended over. By the time it could react, the egg was already in its mouth.

Left with no choice, it could only swallow the egg down.

Used to it.

It'll be fine once you get used to it.

Lei Gong told itself this — after all, it hadn't just been a day or two.