Chapter 525: The Power of Taijing — Jiao Jie Shen

What does "well-trained" mean?

"Well-trained" means barely a few days out and the Pokémon evolves on its own.

【Your Quaxwell has evolved into Quaquaval】

It was just that the Dancer, seeing this scene for the first time, didn't react in time and stood there stunned for a long while, which made the originally bouncing Quaquaval freeze up too.

【I evolved — aren't you happy?】

The question mark hovering over Quaquaval's head seemed to be saying exactly that.

The Dancer was naturally happy.

【Your inner joy has you grabbing Quaquaval's wings and starting to dance】

"This… add some BGM, belt out a couple lines, and it's basically a Disney Princess movie." Baimu muttered to himself, and after watching too long he felt his own legs inexplicably start to twitch along.

What powerful contagiousness!

He cautiously flicked the tongue that the Three-Headed Dragon stretched toward him.

"Oww!"

The Three-Headed Dragon, whose prank had failed, pulled its tongue back in pain.

This guy's breath had been getting worse and worse lately for some unknown reason, yet there were no signs of tartar buildup or any stomach or intestinal issues.

Miss Qiao Yin had examined it repeatedly without finding any problem, and ultimately suggested adjusting its diet, saying some kind of food might be the cause…

He pushed away the big head the Three-Headed Dragon was shoving at him, and his gaze returned to the simulator, only to find the Dancer and Quaquaval still hadn't finished dancing.

Looking closer, he realized the focus of the scene was actually at the very bottom.

Behind a massive rock, some hard-to-make-out fiery-red mosaic was making a sneak-peek kind of motion.

"So small? What is that?"

Baimu curiously narrowed his eyes, trying to see more clearly.

Pure-red Pokémon… a red Numel?

While he was guessing.

The Quaquaval, dancing some strange dance, also noticed this sneaky fellow and, with unusual boldness, approached it on its own.

【Your Quaquaval seems to have discovered something】

The Dancer followed right behind, and the mosaic became clear.

An exclamation mark popped up over her head.

【You discovered a wild Pokémon — Oricorio. Its fiery-red feathers, like a dance skirt, prove it is the Baile style】

Six eyes met.

Then they all moved at once.

Baimu had assumed Quaquaval would bravely launch an attack, giving the Dancer a chance to catch the Oricorio — after all, this Pokémon really suited the Dancer.

But he hadn't expected that with his simple way of thinking, he couldn't keep up with their thought process at all.

Move they did.

But the Dancer and Quaquaval didn't launch an attack — they began dancing a strange dance that seemed to be called Flamenco.

Baimu had looked into it when he was choreographing for Mawile earlier.

"This?"

He watched in surprise as the Oricorio, which had originally been about to flee, now stopped in its tracks; its body began to tremble, as if barely holding something back.

Finally.

Just as the Dancer and Quaquaval were about to finish a small phrase, the Oricorio couldn't hold back any longer — it darted over in a single bound to their side and started dancing.

The same Flamenco dance, but on its body it carried a completely different kind of presence.

Sometimes proud and aloof, sometimes passionate as fire.

Even through the pixel-like画面, Baimu could tell that the Oricorio's mastery of dance was far beyond what the Dancer and Quaquaval could match.

This fellow's footwork seemed to say — "Little girl, that's not how you dance."

A strong sense of déjà vu with Master Luo.

And just as he had thought.

【You saw the Oricorio constantly provoking you, and instead of getting angry, you laughed happily and ran over to dance beside it】

The Dancer never spoke lightly of failure in the face of something she loved.

Quaquaval naturally wouldn't let its Trainer "fight" alone either; the two of them followed the Oricorio's dance as if they would never tire.

And the disdainful expression that had been popping up over the Oricorio's head quickly turned into an exclamation mark, then shock, and finally a terrified yellow bean emoji that seemed to say "Buddha has appeared!"

The Dancer's dancing talent was plain to see — even at her lowest emotional ebb, she could still quickly immerse herself in it.

Put into game terms.

Her Flamenco was at least at the Proficient level by now.

Such obvious progress in such a short time — no wonder the Oricorio was so astonished.

The dance ended.

The exhausted Oricorio had clearly been thoroughly beaten into submission, lying on the ground without moving.

【You extended an olive branch to the Oricorio, saying you very much wanted to learn higher-level dance techniques from it. The Oricorio glanced at you and, with a touch of shyness, agreed】

【You caught Oricorio (Baile style). Your dance partner has increased】

The Dancer excitedly held the Poké Ball high, while Quaquaval beside her smugly did the foxtrot.

"Hahahahaha—"

Baimu was overjoyed.

Catching a wild Pokémon through dancing — the Dancer was truly one of the rare, special Trainers in the world, and he was very much looking forward to her performance in the Gym battle.

"Smack!"

A sharp pain shot up from his calf in an instant.

"Eek!"

He hastily pulled his calf back, hugged it in pain, and looked at Munchlax on the little sofa.

For some reason this fellow had stopped watching TV too, arms folded across his chest, cheeks puffing out as if about to bulge — then quickly deflating again — in short, looking thoroughly displeased.

"What's up? What are you doing?" He rubbed it a couple of times.

Porygon-Z in his phone gave All Baimu the answer.

"You were shaking your leg like crazy, and you even kicked Munchlax when it came over to protest."

"Hmph!"

"Oh, didn't kick it — it dodged." Porygon-Z wisely chose not to argue with Munchlax; the little one was in a foul mood right now.

All Baimu felt a little embarrassed at that, immediately ran over to coax Munchlax, apologizing and admitting his fault.

This Dancer is way too addictive!

He blamed most of the mistake on the Dancer in the simulation, glancing at the light screen while pulling Munchlax into his arms, and called Chansey over to fetch a Berry Sweet.

Words alone wouldn't be enough to coax Munchlax — sweets were a must, and the sweeter the better.

One Berry Sweet popped into its belly.

Munchlax finally stopped being angry. All Baimu patted Chansey's round head, pulled it over to watch TV together, and was finally able to put all his attention on the simulation.

At this moment.

The Dancer, along with Quaxly and Oricorio, arrived at the border between South District 3 and East District 1 —

Artazon.

【You have arrived at Artazon. The flowers and sculptures everywhere remind you of what the student handbook said — this is the town of flowers and art.】

She had come here mainly to challenge the Gym, and incidentally gather intel on Team Star.

The narration said the Dancer had been wandering around the area for the past two days, but hadn't spotted a single trace of Team Star. When she asked the uncles and aunties along the way… er, old classmates, they too clammed up and refused to answer.

It was driving her half crazy with worry.

【You figured the Gym Leader might know something, so you hurried over to the Artazon Gym.】

Artazon Gym.

On the outside, it looked like a fairly formal office building.

Once the Dancer walked in, the interior turned out to be pretty much like a Galar-region Gym arena — you had to register at the front desk before you could take on the Gym Challenge.

Not only that, she also had to pass a little trial first.

"Play a game?"

All Baimu watched with keen interest as the Dancer and her two "dance partners" ran all over town chasing Sunflora, and found it oddly novel.

In the anime, you always just went straight at the Gym Leader — when had there ever been a segment like this?

Come to think of it, this might actually be content from the game itself?

Very likely!

Almost every generation comes up with some little gimmick before fighting the Gym Leader — back in the old days it was traps, later it turned into all sorts of mini-games.

Most of them aren't particularly fun — just flavoring.

And during the chase, the Sunflora inevitably fought back, forcing the Dancer to call on Quaxly and Oricorio for help.

At this moment.

A scene that surprised All Baimu appeared.

Quaxly and Oricorio seemed to have woven dance into their own combat rhythm — not simply using Dance-type moves, but genuinely integrating it into their positioning and even into the use of other moves.

When they first set out, there clearly hadn't been anything like this…

He thought of one person —

Tieruno.

The chubby guy from XY who liked Serena — he was a great dancer, and had successfully woven dance into his battle tactics.

Only his dancing was mainly shuffle-based, leaning toward hip-hop style, often spinning upside-down like a top.

The Dancer, on the other hand, had no fixed dance style — traditional or modern both worked.

She and Quaxly would dance ballet, samba, and the sailors' dance; with Oricorio she would dance flamenco and Latin cha-cha. The narration noted she had also gone around collecting nectar to change Oricorio's form so she could dance more dances with it.

"Wielding dance as a path…"

All Baimu rubbed his chin. Compared with the people he'd simulated before, the Dancer's profession skill seemed to be the most effective for Pokémon battles.

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Soon.

Her first Gym battle arrived.

【You have met Artazon Gym Leader Brassius — a hollow-cheeked, pale-faced man. The thorned whip in his hand makes him look like someone you don't want to mess with.】

Brassius's pixel sprite looked a bit fierce.

Searching through Porygon-Z, All Baimu found that the real person also looked pretty fierce, but he seemed to be an artist, and one who revered natural art at that.

A strange, odd sort of person.

Unlike Gym battles in other regions, the Artazon Gym had set the battlefield in the middle of the city, letting other students and townsfolk gather around to watch.

The Dancer seemed to have a touch of social anxiety, not used to being stared at by so many people — head lowered, she didn't dare look anyone in the eye.

【You feel countless gazes upon you, and an involuntary pressure wells up.】

【Croak!】

A sudden thunderclap out of nowhere.

At the critical moment, Bounsweet let out a cry, the bubble growing large enough to occupy nearly half the screen, and it struck its signature Water Shrimp Dance opening pose — the moment the dancer saw it, her panic vanished.

【You feel Bounsweet's encouragement, no longer nervous, and strike the same pose】

Gotta leave it to Duck Bro.

All Baimu clicked his tongue, thinking the three starters the dancer had chosen were practically like an older brother constantly looking after her.

Unexpectedly.

Although Kofu specialized in Grass-type Pokémon, he couldn't gain much advantage against Bounsweet — mainly because he couldn't lay a finger on it.

Bounsweet was far too nimble when it danced; the Lilligant and Mimikyu Kofu sent out in succession both failed to catch it, and instead the former was taken down by a wing attack.

The Gym battle went so smoothly the dancer could hardly believe it — she'd expected it to be much harder.

At this moment.

Kofu sent out his third Pokémon — Sudowoodo.

Both the dancer and All Baimu were stunned.

A Grass-type Gym using a Rock-type Pokémon? Even though Sudowoodo looks like a tree, it's not actually Grass-type!

"Wait—"

All Baimu suddenly thought of something.

But before he could speak, Kofu had already revealed the answer.

He pulled out from somewhere a gleaming orb and hurled it fiercely at Sudowoodo.

In an instant.

Sudowoodo's entire body radiated a crystalline luster, with translucent sunflowers and clusters of red flower crystals adorning its head — dazzling to the extreme, so much so that even the sky seemed to darken.

All Baimu: "Terastallization!"

【Seeing Terastallization for the first time, you stare at Sudowoodo in utter astonishment — Kofu tells you that Sudowoodo has now become Grass-type】

Terastallization, Zhu Zi's new system, allows a Pokémon to gain an additional type, with resistances calculated according to that added type, while the original type no longer factors into damage calculation.

This was the conclusion he'd reached after researching online and recalling the many promotional videos from his previous life.

Logically speaking, this thing must be incredibly powerful, but it's probably like Dynamax — a system only usable in the Paldea region.

Z-Moves were originally Alola-exclusive too, but somehow they ended up being usable in Kalos later, so they became available worldwide.

On the light screen.

Both the dancer and Bounsweet were seeing this for the first time; they froze for quite a while, nearly causing the latter to be taken down by some kind of jumping attack from Sudowoodo.

【After deliberation, you recall Bounsweet and send out Oricorio】

Oh dear.

A Fire- and Flying-type Oricorio — All Baimu felt it would get wrecked by Sudowoodo's Rock moves.

But surprisingly, that didn't happen.

Oricorio's dancing was equally divine, enough to deflect the rocks Sudowoodo hurled, and it was even more adept at Flying-type moves than Bounsweet, repeatedly using Feather Dance to lower Sudowoodo's Attack.

In the end.

Oricorio took down the Terastallized Grass-type Sudowoodo with Air Cutter.

【You have defeated Deep Bowl Gym Leader Kofu and obtained the Deep Bowl Badge】

The dancer took the badge Kofu handed her and stood motionless for a long time — she, who had always been immersed in the world of dance, felt something stir within her at this hard-won victory.

【Looking at the badge and recalling your encounter with Oricorio, you gain a brand-new insight into the treasure hunt】

Aside from the Gym challenge.

The dancer didn't forget to ask Kofu about Team Star, but Kofu didn't know much about them either — only that they often caused trouble in Artazon.

But Kofu gave her a lead—

The foothills west of Cortondo had recently seen a lot of strange people lurking around; the League had asked him to go check it out, but after circling around several times, he found nothing.

【You obtain a lead on Team Star and immediately head that way】

The dancer plunged straight into the forest west of Cortondo, and sure enough ran into some very odd people.

Most of them rode a Pokémon called Klawf, wore white motorcycle helmets and star-shaped sunglasses, and would strike poses forming imaginary five-pointed stars out of thin air.

Of course.

The school uniforms they wore proved they were also members of Naranja Academy.

【Your path is blocked by strange people, who tell you that ahead lies the base of their Team Star Wang Liangsi Squad, and no unrelated persons are allowed to approach】

Seeing this, the dancer quickly told them the purpose of her visit.

And upon hearing that she was one of the main figures in the school incident that had caused such a stir recently, and that she had come to thank the person who helped her teach those two troublemakers a lesson, the two Team Star grunts immediately stepped aside.