Chapter 463: Yamatsuka in Pajamas

Before Baimu could say anything.

"Oh-damashi!"

Hu Pa excitedly raised a hand, and the largest gold ring at its waist flew out and enlarged, hovering above the dining table. Mei Mei Yali seemed to guess what it was about to do and hurriedly reached out—

"Hu Pa! Don't!"

Clatter-clatter-clatter…

Dazzling golden light instantly flooded Baimu's entire field of vision. A massive pile of gold, silver, and jewels covered the table, with quite a bit scattering about and drawing startled cries and panic from onlookers.

Without a doubt, the reckless Hu Pa had, in full view of everyone, summoned a huge haul of gold, silver, and jewels through its gold rings.

Barza and Mei Mei Yali wore expressions of "my head is going to explode" as they frantically scooped up the things that had fallen to the floor. Munchlax and the brother-sister duo of Darumaka and Mesprit exchanged a glance, then joined in as well.

Only Baimu remained seated in his spot, pushing the treasure piled on his chest forward to keep it from falling off.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee, Xiaobai, did I scare you?"

It seemed quite pleased with itself, winking and making faces at Baimu, then magically struck a pose with hands on hips. "This money can be used to help the people of Ohra! Hu Pa is super generous!"

Who's Xiaobai?!

Anyone who didn't know would think it was calling some Growlithe.

Speaking of which, what exactly did Gourgeist punish it for? Why is Hu Pa still this mischievous…

Having been in contact with the latter for less than ten minutes, Baimu already felt a headache coming on. It was hard to imagine how Barza and Mei Mei Yali had managed to indulge its erratic ways for so many years.

Maybe this is the power of growing up together?

Well then.

He also knew this fellow Hu Pa didn't have any ill intentions—it was just habitually playing pranks and occasionally meaning well but doing things wrong.

And the main purpose of Gourgeist's punishment was to make Hu Pa realize that power should be used for protection, not for causing trouble or destruction.

"You nearly scared me to death."

He sighed helplessly. As expected, Young Lady Miss Qiao Yin rushed over upon hearing the commotion, first driving away the surrounding onlookers with curious or greedy gazes, then glared huffily at the three people present. "You shouldn't casually flaunt your wealth when out and about—that should be basic common sense, right? I'm going to call Officer Jenny!"

"Don't!"

"Please, absolutely don't!"

"We're so sorry, we didn't mean to!"

The three blurted out in rapid succession. Beside them, Hu Pa scratched its head and looked at the "bedecked in gold and silver" Munchlax and the two little Darumaka, belatedly realizing it seemed to have caused trouble again.

But being an optimist, it always remembered the food but not the beating, so it didn't take it to heart and snickered to itself.

"Looks like we'll have to find another place to continue our talk." Baimu communicated with the siblings. The latter two exchanged a glance and nodded in deep agreement.

The bitter fruits brought by little Hu Pa's casual summoning of money were nothing new to them—they couldn't wait to find a place with no people around.

And so.

The three once again used little Hu Pa's gold rings to switch locations, this time arriving at a secluded park.

Apart from the occasional wild Pokémon passing by, not a single person was in sight, and Porygon-II had also detected no surveillance cameras.

Sure enough, this fellow was quite reliable when it came to fulfilling wishes—it just tended to go overboard.

Baimu took the bag of collected gold, silver, and jewels and handed it back to Hu Pa. "Send the things inside back to wherever they came from."

"Why? Why?"

The inarticulate Hu Pa gnawed on its hand, looking curious.

"Taking something without saying so is theft—grabbing other people's things at random is wrong. Besides, the Ohra region isn't so poor that it needs to enrich itself with other people's money. What we lack most is talent."

He felt absolutely no attachment to this pile of stuff, estimated to be worth over a dozen small goals.

After all, with his wallet well padded and enough for his own Pokémon, his confidence had grown accordingly—he wasn't so shallow as to value money above life itself.

"Exactly! Taking without asking is theft!"

Barza instantly took a liking to Baimu upon hearing this. The young man who considered himself the most mature had long been troubled by Hu Pa's reckless, uninhibited ways. It was fine back in the Valley of Creation—cut off from the world, even if there was trouble, it wouldn't be a big deal.

But out here, every single action wasn't as free as before, and causing trouble was a real headache.

Precisely because of this, Barza had originally chosen to go search for the Punishment Pot alone. Who would have thought his skills weren't up to par, that he wasn't as amazing as his grandfather Gourgeist, and instead he was consumed by the malice within the pot.

"Hu Pa~ you hear that~"

Mei Mei Yali also put on a lecturing expression. She had originally been a fan of Baimu's Pokémon Showcase, and his actions fully confirmed her wonderful imaginings of him.

Hu Pa's face was full of incomprehension. The much-"scolded" it said in a wronged tone:

"Xiaobai is wronging me! Hu Pa didn't steal—this is stuff Hu Pa picked up from an empty undersea treasure chest!"

"Underside treasure chest?"

Baimu was slightly stunned. He reached his hand back into the bag and felt around a couple of times—it really was a bit damp… He'd been in a rush to switch locations earlier and hadn't noticed. So it was unowned wealth, huh.

He didn't feel relieved; instead, he was even more troubled about how to handle these things.

Hand them over to Officer Jenny? Or actually send them back to the Ohra region…

Wait!

He turned to look at the pouting Hu Pa and, without hesitation, pressed his palms together in apology: "I'm really sorry, Hu Pa, I misunderstood you. I apologize to you—will you forgive me?"

Seeing this, Barza and Mei Mei Yali didn't hold back either, and very straightforwardly followed with their own apologies. Clearly, this kind of scene where Hu Pa's misuse of the gold rings led to misunderstandings wasn't a first or second occurrence.

"Hu Pa forgives you!"

Seeing this, the optimistic Hu Pa's smile returned to its face, and it flew around the three of them.

Afterwards.

At Baimu's request, Hu Pa opened a passage leading to Yamatsuka's bedroom. He poked his head in for a look—this fellow was indeed lying in bed fast asleep—

After all, it was already past two in the morning in the Ohra region.

"Yamatsuka~"

He gently nudged the other's shoulder and called out softly.

In an instant.

Shan Ren's steady breathing stopped, his whole body stiffened, and the hand tucked under the blanket reached for a Poké Ball.

"If you're awake, open your eyes — got something for you!"

All Baimu knew at a glance that this guy thought someone was coming to do him in, so he raised his voice on purpose.

The familiar voice also prompted Shan Ren to open his eyes. He looked with an extremely complicated expression at the bizarre figure poking half a body out of a strange golden ring and said, "Baimu, you didn't die in a plane crash, did you?"

"You're the one who died! Are you wearing underwear?"

What answered Shan Ren was a torrent of abuse raining down on his head.

Shortly after.

The young rich master was dragged out of bed and pulled through the golden ring to the Kalos region on the other side of the planet.

Shan Ren, still in his pajamas, looked at Balza and Mei Mei Yali not far away, then at the grinning Hu Pa and the two Druddigon, then at the expressionless Mawile and his sarcastic friend with a mocking look on his face.

The latter said, "Welcome to hell. Happy?"

"Hee-hee-hee! Did I scare you?"

Hu Pa was delirious with joy.

"……"

Without a word, Shan Ren turned and dove straight back into the golden ring, not bothering to reply at all.

All Baimu grabbed his arm. "What's the rush? Don't rush! Why are you rushing? Didn't I die in a plane crash!"

"Pull me again and I'll smack you!"

Shan Ren cursed as he scrambled to push the man away, desperately trying to burrow back into the golden ring.

Poor thing — a bookish rich second generation busy with government affairs, how could he possibly match All Baimu, whose physique was growing ever more robust? He struggled for ages but still couldn't get into the ring, and was only let go when he nearly bit someone in his fury.

Balza and Mei Mei Yali watched the show from the sidelines, and both couldn't help but think of their old companions from the Valley of Creation, and that wonderful childhood of getting into trouble everywhere.

Ten minutes later.

Shan Ren came back, dressed neatly and looking like a proper gentleman. The first thing he did was send out his Kadabra to lock All Baimu down with Psybeam, but the latter had long been prepared and dodged behind Mawile.

Mawile, caught by the Psybeam, rolled her eyes speechlessly and, with a single forceful wrench, broke free of the psychic restraint.

"Useless! You haven't been a match for me for a long time now! Look, look — getting all huffy and puffy, aren't you?" All Baimu taunted while waving at Hu Pa.

Only then did the bewildered Hu Pa pull the golden ring back.

Then he said to the Balza siblings, "Let me introduce you. This undignified specimen here is the current Mayor of Iron Town — Shan Ren."

"……Hello, you two."

Shan Ren shot him a glance, then put on a smile as he looked at the Balza siblings. He didn't know exactly what the situation was, but All Baimu wouldn't have called two strangers over for no reason.

He must have his own ideas.

The Balza siblings also very politely returned the courtesy.

Hu Pa, meanwhile, magically patted his own chest. "Hu Pa is Hu Pa!"

The moment he heard that name, Shan Ren — who had once hung around the Kalos region — instantly understood what the situation was.

【A novel app that has run stably for many years, comparable to the old version of the source-switching app that bug-chasers all use, huanyuanapp.】

So the reason so many legendary Pokémon had appeared in Desert City was this classic figure known as the "Wish-Granting Demon God" — Hu Pa.

When he turned to look at All Baimu, the latter laid out the current situation and his reason for calling him over.

"Hiss… you dragged me out of bed just for over a billion?" Shan Ren clutched his head in pain and gave the reply of "that capitalist deserves a visit."

All Baimu said bluntly, "Just say whether you want it or not!"

"If you're giving it to me, of course I want it." Shan Ren took the bag —

Whomp!

It was so absurdly heavy he nearly dropped the bag on the ground; only being steadied with a quick hand saved it.

The rich second generation very politely thanked Hu Pa and the Balza siblings once more, saying he would definitely use this money to benefit the citizens of Iron Town.

Only when he looked at All Baimu was there a hint of contempt in his eyes.

Clearly he wanted to take it but was too embarrassed to say so, and had to drag him all the way over here to talk about giving him a choice. If he really intended to hand it over to Officer Jenny or send it back, would he have needed to call him over?

Hypocrite!

And —

"Why do I have to go call N? Why not just summon him over like you did with me just now?" Shan Ren expressed his displeasure at being given special treatment.

All Baimu replied, "It's just that we haven't reached that level of relationship yet… let's cut the chatter and get down to business."

"So I have to thank you for that?"

"If you want to thank me, I actually wouldn't mind."

"Get lost!"

Furious, Shan Ren went off with Hu Pa's help to find N.

Without a doubt, now that he had the golden ring — a thing that could summon people from anywhere in the world — All Baimu had no intention of meeting that poor bastard Lugia alone in the identity of an Ohrian.

Mainly because he was afraid of getting beaten up.

With N joining them, at least there was a guarantee Lugia wouldn't fly into a rage — the fellow was a professional when it came to soothing Pokémon.

On the other side.

All Baimu didn't neglect the Balza siblings either, and chatted with the two of them. He was curious about the Valley of Creation and the special power the siblings possessed.

According to Balza's own introduction, their ancestors had been able to communicate with Arceus and draw power from the latter.

This reminded him of the Diamond movie *Arceus and the Jewel of Life*, in which Arceus had once given the Jewel of Life to a human who had helped it, and the Jewel of Life was made up of its Plates.

Was the power of the Valley of Creation the power of the Plates?

He was somewhat curious.

Seeing the Thousand Cosmos Bracelet pendants on the Barza siblings' chests, he was oddly tempted to get one for himself and see if he could communicate with Arceus.

While chatting, Hu Pa suddenly looked toward the ring.

"Huh?"

Then N, smiling warmly, stepped out of the ring, while Myrtle only poked out her head and called, "I'll leave the rest to you guys — I'm going to sleep."

"If anything comes up, I'll come find you again!" All Baimu called back.

"As if!"

Myrtle didn't show her face again.

Though it had been many days, N looked exactly the same as before — hat on, white shirt — as if time had left no trace on him at all.

"Hello."

He smiled at Hu Pa. "You have some amazing power!"

"Amazing? Hu Pa is amazing?" The moment Hu Pa was praised, it got completely carried away. Luckily Mei Mei Yali reminded it in time not to mess around — goodness knows what it would have conjured up otherwise.

After glancing around, N also noticed Dudunsparce and the Dreepy siblings behind it, and walked over with a smile. "Long time no see. Looks like the choice you made back then was the right one — staying by All Baimu's side makes you happier."

"Chirp~"

Dudunsparce replied softly.

It was old friends with N too. The latter was skilled at befriending every kind of Pokémon, no matter the species or age.

"Sorry to trouble you again this time, and thank you for taking care of Steelix all this while." All Baimu came up beside him and said softly.

N laughed and said, "I'm glad that after traveling for so long, your mindset and way of thinking haven't changed at all. The new partners you've met still really like you."

He was referring to the Dreepy siblings.

"Just trading sincerity for sincerity," All Baimu replied casually.

N loved seeing Pokémon brimming with joy, and after shifting his thinking to devote himself to Pokémon and humans coexisting, he took even greater delight in scenes of the two living in harmony.

Back to the main point.

The main reason for calling N was naturally to search for the missing Lugia.

While there was still daylight, All Baimu once again asked Hu Pa to open a door that could lead to Lugia.

Honestly, he was surprised that the latter was so obedient and had never refused any of his requests — he didn't know why.

The golden ring opened.

N was about to step inside, but All Baimu stopped him.

"Don't rush in. How do you know it's not some deep sea in there? To be safe, let my Milotic go in and take a look—"

Before the words had even faded.

A giant head, a mix of bird and beast, had already poked out from inside, curiously looking at the outside.

"Wooo???"

A long, whale-like cry rang out, as if asking who they were.