Chapter 363

Steven let All Baimu experience what is called Hoenn speed.

A bowl of braised noodles took only fifteen seconds.

From the initial "delicious" with eyes lighting up, to the final polite wiping of the mouth with a tissue "thanks for the treat," the process in between was as brief as if it had been cut out.

This resulted in All Baimu, who was pouring him a drink, finding that he had already risen and left the table when he turned back.

"Mr. Steven, you..."

"Your craftsmanship has improved again. I believe that even if you opened a shop, business would be booming, right?" Steven praised the taste with his mouth, but his body was extremely honest as he walked toward the direction of the Wish Star.

If it weren't for the fact that eating while admiring was truly too undignified, this Hoenn Champion probably wouldn't have come to the dining table at all.

"Thanks for the compliment."

All Baimu helplessly put down the drink. Only after seeing Steven's performance with his own eyes did he understand what kind of passion it took to make someone choose to give up even the Champion's throne.

Even if this drink were brought over, Steven probably wouldn't drink it, right?

He caught sight of Blissey quite proactively cleaning up the tableware, and for a moment, he felt quite idle.

"Metag?"

A low voice sounded in his ear. All Baimu turned his head and saw a floating rice bowl. Not far from the bowl, the Shiny Metagross had blue eyes, revealing a hint of longing.

"Metag~"

Can I have another bowl?

Although All Baimu couldn't understand what the Shiny Metagross's cry meant, he could understand its gaze, "Refill?"

"Metag!"

"Okay."

He took the bowl and added Pokémon food to it, then looked at Steven, who was holding the Wish Star not far away, and shouted: "Mr. Steven! Don't your other Pokémon eat?"

"It's fine, I only brought Metagross with me this time."

Steven smiled, and from somewhere, he produced a monocular, wore it on his right eye, and began to observe the patterns on the surface of the Wish Star.

Judging from the fact that even his breathing had slowed down, it was clear that he was obsessed.

All Baimu carried the rice bowl to the Shiny Metagross's side and couldn't help but ask the latter, "Is Mr. Steven usually like this?"

"Metag."

The Shiny Metagross shook its right claw to deny it while pinching food with its left claw and stuffing it into its mouth.

It explained to the big monster Aggron beside it, and then Aggron explained it to All Baimu.

And the latter's understanding relied entirely on the tacit understanding with the Pokémon plus a negligible bit of imagination, constructing a special rock enthusiast in his mind.

Metagross indicated that Steven usually only looked at rocks he was particularly interested in again and again, and often he would look for a whole day, frequently holding the rock and observing it back and forth as if in a daze. Ordinary people couldn't imagine what was so good about this thing that he could look at it for so long.

"Amazing."

All Baimu clicked his tongue in wonder, realizing that he probably couldn't disturb Steven in this state, so he simply started training his Pokémon—

The reason he didn't go out was that he was worried about Raikou coming to his door.

If this guy ran into Steven and he wasn't there to explain, it would probably cause a scene.

Of course.

The environment of the small courtyard was not ideal.

It certainly wasn't spacious enough for normal training.

But if it was only for Pokémon Contest practice, that wasn't a problem.

On the other hand.

After thinking it over repeatedly and discussing it with Mawile, he decided to let Blissey join the Pokémon Contest team as well.

Otherwise, with just Mawile and Feebas, the number of Pokémon participating still didn't seem quite enough.

In itself, as a Pokémon with quite a few Psychic and Fairy-type moves, Blissey could be considered suitable for Pokémon Contest performances, so letting it join was perfectly normal.

And this time, the first round of screening in Fallarbor Town was quite special—

It was a double battle format.

When May participated in the past, it was still a single battle format, but with the development of the times, it had changed to double battles.

So this first round of screening was no longer Mawile's one-man show.

"What do you think?"

He looked at Mawile beside him.

"Mawile!"

Mawile rolled its eyes; with the format like this, could it disagree?

What's more, let alone performing with other companions, even if he replaced it and let Blissey perform alone, what could it say?

Having reached this point, Mawile already understood that Pokémon Contests were no longer a game of house chosen on a whim to show off its own brilliance.

Since he was thinking about participating seriously, he definitely had to aim for winning. To win the final victory, it wasn't realistic to just let it shine alone.

So for the Trainer's decision, Mawile would only approve.

But in terms of performance content...

All Baimu began to worry.

Double performances were different from solo performances; they emphasized the perfect fusion of moves, allowing moves that would inevitably explode to produce a new aesthetic sense.

The requirements for the various coordination between the two Pokémon were extremely high.

"As expected, it's the same as before; first, designate the performance content." He took out a sketchbook.

Mawile and Blissey knew a great many moves, but how many move combinations could potentially fuse with each other to give birth to a brand-new posture?

And.

Should he integrate the guitar song he had just learned as background music?

After thinking about it, All Baimu decided to give up.

So far, his proficiency with the guitar wasn't very high, and using it hastily would only cause the opposite effect. It was better to keep it as it was...

"Deciding on a theme is really a troublesome thing."

He tried to draw inspiration from Mawile and Blissey.

Mawile, who had tasted the sweetness of dancing twice, decisively indicated that they should use dance to win this time, "Mawile!"

It looked at Blissey, hoping the latter could dance with it.

"Happy..."

Blissey looked at its own round body, and then looked at Mawile's slender figure.

Although the Trainer had repeatedly said that it was also very cute, with this body type... it couldn't dance the kind of swaying dance that Mawile did, right?

Don't force things you aren't good at.

Blissey had quite a bit of self-awareness and suggested that perhaps it could sing while Mawile was responsible for dancing, "Happy~"

"Singing plus dancing... doing it this way really has the feeling of a combination. Then let's conceive a further performance form on this basis."

All Baimu knew that always letting Mawile dance would seem a bit cliché.

But this was Mawile's characteristic, just like Piplup's Whirlpool used from beginning to end. Tying the term "dance" firmly to Mawile was what he should do.

Rather than changing his mind on the spot and seeking other performance methods.

As for the cliché problem... it could be completely alleviated by letting other Pokémon perform. One show wasn't enough, so do two. The audience would definitely not think it was cliché, and might even look forward to Mawile's dance.

After all, there had never been only one form of dance. The dances it performed in the previous two competitions were completely different 【Spin Dance】 and 【Fan Dance】.

"The dance to perform this time..."

All Baimu held his pen and thought carefully, realizing that compared to thinking about the dance first, it was more important what Blissey would sing.

Let Blissey's tune determine the dance style.

Although the protagonist of the performance was definitely Mawile, who would have better audience appeal, after all, it was a performance completed by two Pokémon working together. It shouldn't lower Blissey's presence and create the impression that the latter was completely a tool person, existing to set off the former.

Perhaps the audience wouldn't care.

But the judges would definitely pay special attention to this aspect. The settings of main/supporting, supporting/main, or even dual protagonists were all very important.

"Song... what song can you sing?"

All Baimu suddenly realized that Blissey only knew one song—

The hypnotic Sing.

"Happy~"

Hearing the Trainer's voice, Blissey opened its mouth and sang. Imperceptible sound waves spread out from its mouth, and colorful musical notes flew up.

"Mawile!"

Seeing this, Mawile's eyes lit up slightly, and it jumped into the middle of the notes and spun rapidly. A soft, pale pink breeze blew the notes, and without destroying them, blew them into the high sky.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The notes rose to a certain height and burst like balloons...

Mawile was slightly disappointed. If fireworks appeared after the balloons burst, then Fairy Wind and Sing might become a good move combination.

But just setting the prelude like this, while the follow-up was mediocre... a performance method that started with a bang and ended with a whimper was clearly not very suitable for Pokémon Contests.

However, compared to those, what All Baimu cared more about was the tune Blissey sang.

"There's only that most simple, plain tune... it's fine to sing alone, but it's not very suitable for fusion with dance. It seems you have to learn real 'Singing'."

He said this to Blissey.

"Happy?"

The latter was a bit confused.

"You'll know tomorrow... I have to find a way to find you a 'music teacher'." He smiled.

In fact.

All Baimu had long known that the Pokémon Contest in Fallarbor Town was a double battle. When he was in Verdanturf Town, he had cultivated the tacit understanding between Mawile and Blissey.

That was why Mawile was able to not break the notes and blow them into the sky in such a relaxed state just now.

In other words, they had already laid the foundation for coordination.

Likewise, it wasn't just the two of them. As a future quasi-ace for Pokémon Contests, even though the Shiny Feebas was weaker by more than a star and a half, it had still had coordination battles with Mawile and Blissey under All Baimu's mandatory requirements.

I have to say.

The Shiny Feebas felt that double battling with companions was even more uncomfortable than being beaten unilaterally. It wasn't that it had an opinion about Blissey and Mawile, it was just that the psychological burden was too great.

It was like the Blissey of the past, quite inferior due to its own defects and afraid of causing trouble for others.

And how could Blissey and Mawile not notice this state of the Shiny Feebas? They were both Pokémon with extremely delicate minds, especially the former—

Having been rained on before, it always wanted to hold an umbrella for others.

Blissey, who had walked out of self-pity, knew very well how uncomfortable self-torture could make a Pokémon, so when it assisted or guided the Shiny Feebas, it was often particularly hardworking.

Mawile was the same.

The three formed a Pokémon Contest bestie group, supporting and progressing together.

This was also a major reason why Feebas didn't want to return to that place of the past. Besides its most admired idol Aggron, Blissey and Mawile had the best relationship with it.

They were clearly both so cute, yet they didn't dislike it for being ugly.

——

Steven studied from dusk until late at night.

When he raised his head, he found that it was already three o'clock in the morning.

In the courtyard.

His Metagross and Aggron were huddled together fast asleep, and not far away was Porygon, carrying the Galarian Corsola like a toy rocking horse.

All Baimu was pillowing his head on Hydreigon's body, with Mawile and Blissey on his left and right, and the Shiny Feebas sleeping in a small water tank.

Everything seemed extremely quiet and peaceful.

"More and more like an ordinary Trainer."

Steven revealed a smile.

He felt gratified that All Baimu could adapt to such a life. Pyrite Town was definitely not a place where a normal person could survive. The younger generation inside, whose thoughts had been alienated, looked very heartbreaking.

Steven remembered meeting a young child who had come with his parents in the mining area. During the exchange, the latter asked him very curiously: "In the outside world, can everyone eat white bread? Can everyone become a Trainer?"

He gave an affirmative answer and asked the other party why he wanted to become a Trainer.

The child said: "That way, Mom and Dad won't be bullied anymore, and they can bully others."

The weight of the environment's influence on children was evident.

Steven hadn't slept well for those few days, and even finding rocks was absent-minded. That was why he unfortunately fell into the vicinity of the underground dark river from a collapsed rock crevice.

Fortunately, Pyrite Town was finally changing.

These were all things he saw in his eyes, and as the spokesperson for Pyrite Town—All Baimu, Steven believed that the latter's adaptation to the outside world largely determined the future direction of Pyrite Town.

Sooner or later, All Baimu would return to Pyrite Town, and at that time, he would bring a new trend of thought to the people of Pyrite Town.

Coming to All Baimu's side, he was just about to wake him up to let him go back to his room to sleep to avoid catching a cold or something, but he felt a gaze that made him shudder.

【To be honest, I've been using Yeguo Reading to catch up on books recently. The source switching is fast, and there are many reading tones.. yeguoyuedu is available for both Android and Apple.】

Steven raised his head and was shocked to see a huge tiger with black and yellow fur walking out slowly from the woods not far away.

Under the moonlight.

That pair of crimson eyes was captivating.

"Raikou... how could it appear here?" Steven was startled in his heart, and at the same time, he felt that Raikou seemed to have come with ill intentions, faintly showing a posture of launching an attack.

"... Metagross!"

He hurriedly gave a low shout. The Shiny Metagross, which was originally in a deep sleep, suddenly opened its eyes, and a flash of light flickered within them.

"Metag!"

The Shiny Metagross flew up suddenly and came behind Steven.

The presence of a partner gave the latter a sense of security. Although he didn't know what the situation with Raikou was, he definitely wouldn't let this guy attack.

It would be bad if All Baimu were affected—

"Wait!"

Steven took out his Key Stone. The moment Raikou's forehead lit up with blue light, an urgent voice came over.

Both of them turned their heads to look at All Baimu, who had spoken.

"Although I don't know what happened yet, please believe me, there must be some misunderstanding in this." He stood extremely calmly between the two.

Judging from the surrounding environment, these two clearly hadn't started fighting yet, which meant there was still room for relaxation.

The main party appeared.

Steven, Metagross, and Raikou all restrained their postures of preparing to attack.

"Let me explain a little bit."

All Baimu faced their somewhat puzzled gazes and began to introduce the situation between them separately.

Not long after.

Steven hugged his arms with his right hand and pinched his chin with his left, nodding thoughtfully, "So that's how it is. Team Rocket is trying to master the secret of Mega Evolution in the Hoenn region, and Raikou came to stop them... I didn't expect such a coincidence."

"Roar..."

Raikou also changed back from its original full-of-hostility appearance to a majestic one. When it first arrived, it saw All Baimu lying on the ground, and this strange human standing there seemed to be about to do something, with an inexplicable aura and energy hidden on his body, so it thought All Baimu had been tricked.

It didn't expect that wasn't the case; these two people knew each other.

And this silver-blue-haired man was the Champion of the Hoenn region.

Raikou knew very well that humans who held this title were all Trainers who possessed powerful strength and were as hateful of evil as it was.

The key was that they had great energy.

It had once seen a red-haired human Champion wearing a cape who usually acted alone, but at the end, he could easily call over truckload after truckload of people to clean up.

Very powerful.

Raikou withdrew its gaze from Steven and looked at All Baimu curiously, mixed with a bit of suspicion.

How do you know the Champion, kid?

It originally thought he was just an ordinary Trainer, but now it felt more and more curious about the origin of this brat. Even as a Pokémon, it knew very well that not just anyone could know the Champion.

"Well, anyway, it's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up." Steven quickly moved his focus away from the Team Rocket matter.

He was actually very busy. If Team Rocket came for something else, he might not have the time to solve it and could only entrust it to others.

But regarding Mega Evolution...

Steven really wanted to say that this group of people had really walked into a trap.

He looked at All Baimu, "I haven't seen you for a few months, and your changes really surprise me more and more. You were actually able to gain the favor of a Legendary Pokémon."

"It hasn't reached the level of favor yet..."

All Baimu waved his hand a bit awkwardly and secretly looked at Raikou beside him. Seeing that it didn't show any strange expression, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Haha, no need to be humble. Speaking of which, I don't seem to have told you what I've been doing these days."

Steven changed the subject, "All Baimu, how much do you know about the history of the Hoenn region?"

"History? Which part of history are you referring to?"

"Regarding the history of Mega Evolution, where do you think this magical power comes from?"

"Uh... born naturally from the earth? After all, it's a stone..."

"Hahaha! You aren't wrong to think so!"

Steven said with a smile: "But I must remind you that the Hoenn region is a region where meteorites fall frequently. Therefore, Mega Evolution most likely comes from beyond the sky; it is a Mega Meteorite that fell from the sky.

"I am currently looking for this Mega Meteorite that serves as the source, which happens to be the same as Team Rocket's goal, except they currently still think that Mega Evolution was born from the earth, and are looking for the mineral veins of Key Stones and Mega Stones."

The Legendary Giant Rock!

No wonder Steven would run into Alain, who was sent to Hoenn by Lysandre, later on. It turned out that their goals were essentially the same.

However.

What made All Baimu curious was that something like the Legendary Giant Rock shouldn't be something guarded by the Draconids.

Why didn't Zinnia appear at that time?

Didn't want to conflict with Steven?

The anime didn't have the plot of a super-giant meteorite falling into the Hoenn region to destroy the world as predicted, which led to Zinnia, who originally had a quite radical personality, becoming more laid-back?

He recalled Zinnia, who always had a smile on her face, and felt somewhat confused.

And Steven on the side was still talking.

"I searched all the way to Meteor Falls following the guidance of historical documents, which is why I was able to come to Fallarbor Town to meet you... eh, then why did you go to Meteor Falls?"

This person suddenly looked at Raikou.

The latter had no interest in Mega Evolution and came to the Hoenn region to stop Team Rocket's conspiracy.

Then, following this line of reasoning... didn't that mean Team Rocket was at Meteor Falls!?

All Baimu and Steven looked at each other. The former hurriedly asked Raikou if this was the case, while the latter frowned and began to make phone calls, trying to contact someone.

"Roar~"

Raikou looked at the impatient All Baimu with disgust, nodded slightly reluctantly, and indicated that when it went over this time, it didn't find any traces of Team Rocket.

"If you didn't find them, where did you get the information about where Team Rocket is?"

All Baimu was very curious about this guy's source of information.

Although the previous Team Rocket base could be explained by charged particles, Raikou couldn't possibly search for them from thousands of kilometers away, right?

Someone must have tipped this guy off, which was why it could follow Team Rocket's movements all the way.

"Speak quickly!"

He tried to grab Raikou's face.

The big cat glanced at Steven and warned All Baimu with lightning in extreme dissatisfaction, "Roar!"

There are outsiders here!

What do you want to do?