Chapter 501: Outrageous 【Texture】

The cheese-filled pastry was indeed delicious.

It's no wonder Yingbin Coffee can open that many chain stores.

Dragonite's little brother clutched his belly in utter satisfaction, and beside him was Dragonite's big sister doing the same, while Baimu recalled the taste for a moment and tried to ask Dragonite Barudo for his opinion on the thing, but the latter had once again vanished without a trace.

Dammit!

Why does he only show up when there's food?

Baimu was helpless against this guy's social anxiety.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting food and with Koharu's subsequent persuasion once again, Dragonite's little brother finally got the cheese he had been dreaming of—

That's right, this guy has no real interest in the pastry itself.

Baimu had no choice but to split the remaining portion with Dragonite's big sister and Dragonite Barudo.

Of course, Dragonite's little brother, whose wish had been granted, didn't get away without paying anything; for the next three days he would have no snacks to eat, and he also had to be responsible for cleaning the toilet bowl, keeping the latter spotless.

But even after handing out the punishment, he didn't forget to verbally warn Dragonite's little brother.

On one hand, strictly forbidding him from casually stealing and snatching things—next time he'd be pressed into a corner and flattened until he smoked; on the other hand, warning him that snatching food from Koharu was very dangerous.

One had to know that Koharu once got so angry over lunch that she nearly turned into a Fire-type Pokémon; if that happened, she'd recognize no kin, and going from a dead dragon to a thoroughly dead dragon wasn't out of the question.

Dragonite's little brother was quite frightened by his stern expression, and after leaving the café, there was inevitably a hint of fear in his gaze whenever he looked at Koharu.

How would Koharu know all that?

She simply assumed that the kid constantly turning to look at her was a sign of affection, and couldn't help but smile happily.

Without a doubt.

Dragonite's little brother became even more afraid.

——

After wandering around the nearby area.

Not a single vacant battle field could be found.

Nighttime is synonymous with the start of entertainment activities, for the people of the Pokémon world.

Battles are as common as jogging, dancing, taking a walk, and the like; even office workers who've had a hard day hope to relieve their stress through battling.

And watching battles is so commonplace it's no different from watching a ball game.

If it weren't for the fact that Ecruteak City has no drinking culture, and the city prohibits drinking alcohol in public places, surely there would be plenty of people right now holding beer and watching battles.

Have to say, the fighting was quite intense.

There were a few matches that even made Baimu want to stop and watch for a bit longer.

The Mi Ke Li Cup has attracted too many Coordinators from other regions; the Pokémon they possess often master this or that special ability—it's not just moves clashing, and the peculiarities occasionally displayed are truly eye-opening.

Really couldn't find a spot.

Baimu simply went with Koharu and her little brother to find a stretch of lawn that was lit up by lights on all sides and wide enough, confirmed there were no signs forbidding battles nearby, and then put some distance between each other.

"Sis! Let me go first!"

Masato couldn't wait to jump ahead, holding a Poké Ball as he said: "Three-on-three! Baimu-bro, no problem, right?"

"No problem on your end, no problem on mine."

Baimu replied casually.

Full six-on-six battles, even in the anime world, only appear in various major tournaments and the later stages of League Conferences; ordinary matches and roadside battles mostly don't go that far.

The relatively middle-ground three-on-three is more common; after the World Championships were held, the mainstream battle rules from Poké Ball tier to Great Ball tier are also three-on-three.

Koharu stood to one side, somewhat looking forward to the upcoming battle.

She had once heard her father Tobias praise him, and trusting the latter's eye, Baimu was surely a very powerful Trainer.

"Go! My partner! Let Baimu-bro witness my growth in Unova!"

Masato shouted and threw his Poké Ball.

Poof!

White light flickered.

A Pokémon shaped like a four-legged sea lion, wearing a spear-like spiky cream-colored shell on its head, with clean white odd-shaped long whiskers on its nose and lower jaw, and cream-colored segmented gauntlets on its limbs and back, landed on the ground.

"Oowh!"

"The lead is Samurott, huh."

Baimu's expression remained unchanged; he had already seen what Pokémon Koharu and Masato had during dinner earlier.

Besides, although the wild starter Pokémon from each region in the anime aren't exactly common sights, as long as one is willing to put in the effort to search, nine times out of ten they can be found, and one doesn't even need to go deep into the jungle.

What's more worth paying attention to than those is Samurott's overall appearance and vigor.

For an experienced and sharp-eyed Trainer, whether a Pokémon is strong or not can be told from these elements alone.

Masato clearly hadn't spent all those years helping his father Tobias look after Pokémon for nothing.

This Samurott, whether in terms of build, shell armor, or odd-shaped whiskers, showed that he had raised it well.

Mm, its mental state is also very full.

"Go."

Baimu didn't take out a Poké Ball, but instead pulled out his phone.

Swish!

The phone screen flashed brightly.

Porygon2 flew out under the shocked gazes of the two people and one Pokémon, landing on the ground with a clatter.

"Pory~"

It gazed at the opposing Samurott, its Download Ability triggered, and the orange glow of its rising stats surged wildly around it.

"Huh?"

Xiaosheng asked curiously, "Is this also a Pokémon?"

Baimu nodded: "Obviously."

"A Pokémon that can come out of a phone! How amazing! It's just like that electronic ghost Rotom!" Xiaoyao pulled out her Pokédex, and actually managed to scan Porygon2.

The Pokédex's broadcast voice reached both of their ears.

And Porygon2, upon hearing Xiaoyao say it was like Rotom, saw its originally innocent expression quickly turn sullen.

"Is it angry?"

Xiaosheng keenly noticed Porygon2's displeasure.

Baimu, however, did not answer, and quickly shouted: "Tri Attack!"

"Pory!"

Porygon2 lowered its front body to reveal a glowing tail, from which three energy spheres—red, blue, and yellow—flew out, like drone cannons transforming into three bright beams shooting toward Sharpedo!

Hum—

The energy tore through the air with a sharp shriek, the multicolored beams quite dazzling in the night.

But what Baimu did not expect was that Sharpedo had, at some unknown moment, raised its upper body and drawn out the two blades of armor at the tips of its forelimbs, swinging them like twin swords in a sword flourish that crossed into an x-shape, swiftly blocking the incoming beams!

Sizzle—Boom!

Smoke exploded outward, Sharpedo's figure faintly visible within.

But the smoke was quickly dispersed by its dancing of the two shell short-swords, and its pair of bright, spirited eyes still shone clearly in the night, seemingly having taken little damage.

Passing strollers were drawn over, one after another gathering in this direction and stopping to watch.

"Not bad."

Baimu looked at Xiaosheng, who was grinning in the distance, and understood that this Sharpedo, like the Pokémon at his own home, was a being with a certain degree of autonomy—it would absolutely not just stand in place and take a beating without hearing its trainer's command.

And judging purely by the skill of blocking the move, even though Porygon2 had only launched a probing attack, being able to receive it so easily was no easy feat.

Xiaoyao looked at her younger brother; although the two often kept in touch through their phones, she truly had not expected Xiaosheng's strength to have already become this strong.

"Could my little brother actually be really strong?"

Praised repeatedly, Xiaosheng's face was full of smugness, his nose practically tilted up to the sky, and he said complacently:

"How about it, Baimu bro? The old tricks won't work on me anymore! Don't think just because I only got four badges my strength is only worth four badges!"

"Hmph, Conversion."

Baimu chuckled lightly, and Porygon2 before him released a white light from its body surface.

"Pory!"

After a brief breath, it had already transformed its leg attachments into pseudo-circles with intricate edges, then began spinning at high speed, making it rush toward Sharpedo like a little car.

"Huh? It can transform too!?"

Xiaosheng was a bit dumbfounded, but he didn't dare sit by and let Porygon2 launch its attack, and shouted: "Water Pulse!"

Boom!

Azure water blossoms suddenly burst into existence, swirling around Sharpedo's body and turning it into a long water dragon that left the ground, charging straight toward Porygon2 at extreme speed.

At the same time, Sharpedo within the water current had already taken its slashing stance.

In an instant.

The two were about to collide head-on.

But one second before contact, Porygon2 suddenly twisted its body, its wheels rolling like a drift as it abruptly traced a bizarre arc, just barely brushing past the forward-swinging Sharpedo.

"Ruo-wu!?"

"Nani!?"

Xiaosheng and Sharpedo were both faces of disbelief, and Xiaoyao watching from the side also covered her mouth.

How can there even be a way to dodge like that?

Just like a race car!

"Texture."

Baimu and Porygon2, which had just completed a hundred-and-eighty-degree spin, exchanged a smile; the "wheels" the latter had created might not be perfect circles, but the carefully constructed finished product possessed a grip that perfect circles did not have.

What's a little drift to it?

Xiaosheng shouted: "Quickly turn around and charge back!"

"Ruo-wu!"

Sharpedo responded loudly, forcibly twisting the direction of the water column that had overshot in midair, and indeed quickly charged back toward Porygon2.

Only the latter's appearance had suddenly undergone some changes.

One could see Porygon2's body surface color change from red and blue to a brilliant bright yellow, with faint blue-and-white lightning patterns appearing, and its eyes also changing from round, rolling large whites into the shape of lightning bolts.

"How did it change again?"

Xiaosheng was completely baffled.

But his intuition told him the current Porygon2 was extremely dangerous and must be avoided.

However, it was already too late.

"Ruo-wu!"

Sharpedo's Water Pulse charge was too fast; it had already raced to a spot not far from Porygon2, its two shell short-swords also poised in a ready-to-strike position, just about to deliver a thunderous blow!

However.

What greeted it was the true Lei Ting.

"Discharge."

Boom—!

Wildly dancing lightning formed a massive ring, instantly swallowing everything around it.

The electric current exploded and crackled, evaporating the water flowing across Honedge's body in the blink of an eye, and as if altering magnetism itself, froze the creature in place beneath the savage baptism of lightning.

The blast of the explosion continued to rattle the ears of everyone nearby.

"Honedge doesn't look so good…"

May's expression turned solemn; after spending so much time around Ash, she had developed a rough sense of the destructive power of Electric-type moves.

Given the might of the current Porygon2 had displayed, Honedge likely couldn't hold out much longer.

Sure enough.

When the current finally ran dry, Honedge—its body covered in scorch marks—plopped onto the grass with a thud, thin wisps of white smoke slowly rising from its surface, along with faint threads of electricity still flickering.

It struggled to lift itself once, then its eyes rolled back and it blacked out completely; the shell short sword clutched in its claws slipped loose and fell away.

The watching crowd began to applaud at the sight.

"Honedge!"

Max cried out, the glasses perched on his nose nearly falling off.

He hadn't even had the chance to let Honedge show off its specialty—that Shell Edge that could slice solid rock into powder in an instant—he'd been preparing it for so long… he'd originally meant to use it against Aggron's Rock Tomb.

Yet it had fallen this quickly.

May watched solemnly as Porygon2 returned to its Trainer's side, her small fists clenched tight with worry for her little brother.

"Nicely done."

All Baimu quietly praised Porygon2, and the latter's cool lightning eyes curved into crescents.

"Pipipiri…"

Ever since this one changed into the Electric type, even its cry came with a strange electric warble—Texture really is a fascinating move.

Honedge's defeat was beyond question; a STAB super-effective hit against a defenseless Honedge—if it hadn't been one-shot, that would have been the real problem.

Not to mention the bonus of a first-strike ambush.

Information is extremely important in Pokémon battles—at the very least, you have to figure out your opponent's Ability, type, and whether they possess any signature moves.

If you can't even satisfy these three most basic points, then you're extremely likely to fall victim to your opponent Pokémon's first-strike ambush.

Not far away.

Max grumbled to himself as he recalled Honedge.

Though he wasn't the type to lose confidence just because one Pokémon had been defeated, watching the Pokémon he'd taken such pride in go down so easily left him feeling unavoidably dejected.

"This time I won't let you get another opening, Baimu-bro! Go!"

He hurled the Poké Ball skyward with great force.

Bang!

Bai Guang flickered.

A Pokémon with a sucker-like mouth, a pair of grayish-blue arms, and an eel-like body drifted slowly through the air.

"Wooo—"

Eelektross let out a piercing shriek.

This one is theoretically a Pokémon with no type weakness, the reason being that despite being an Electric type, its Ability is Levitate.

The relevant data flashed through All Baimu's mind, and he glanced at the eager Max with a quiet sigh.

Far too easy to bait.

He'd had Porygon2 use Discharge not only to take out Honedge, but also to lure Eelektross out—Electric hitting Electric halves the damage.

Max's theory wasn't wrong; the problem lay in the first-strike ambush…

It was far from over!

"Sludge Bomb!"

Max shouted, and Eelektross, hovering in the sky, raised its upper body slightly, then lunged forward sharply as if to lend speed to the violet acid.

Fwush fwush fwush fwush!

The acid, potent enough to seemingly corrode even the air, hurtled toward Porygon2 at tremendous speed and over a wide area—the latter likely couldn't dodge it completely.

But there was no need to dodge.

All Baimu said: "Texture 2."

"Pipipiri!"

Porygon2 let out a trembling electric warble as it shifted its own type.

Under the gaze of May and Max, the color of its surface turned a pale silver like alloy, its eyes included, taking on a metallic appearance—overall it looked like a steel-cast iron duck.

The Sludge Bomb poured over Porygon2's body and simply slid slickly off onto the grass, corroding the slightly yellowed weeds and the ground beneath.

"No effect? Why? Did it turn into Steel type?"

Max wasn't a fool in the end, especially with Porygon2's outward change being so obvious.

His brow furrowed—he knew he'd seen through the little secret on his opponent's body.