Chapter 549: This

Just as Baimu had said.

The one who came was not enemy reinforcements, but the Princess of the Aizoth Kingdom—

Princess Jimeiya.

Because she did not trust the minister Jarvis, the villain, she chose to stand with Volcanion and Ash and his group, trying to stop Jarvis from obtaining Magearna's Soul Heart.

His memories of this Princess were quite clear.

On one hand because of her clumsy, out-of-place voice acting, and on the other because she possessed a shiny Gardevoir's Mega Evolution.

Volcanion wore an unhappy expression at the swarming crowd of humans before it.

"Why are there even more people now!"

It turned its head aside and muttered.

Originally there were only four; after Baimu arrived it became five; capturing two enemies made it seven; and now there's one more!

It was getting more and more annoyed!

On the other side.

Princess Jimeiya's self-introduction to Magearna stirred up the latter's past memories.

It was a tribute of the Aizoth Kingdom manufactured for the purpose of accompanying the Princess; it understood human language but could not speak it, and the appearance of the person before it unmistakably reminded it of the little girl it had once accompanied.

Snap~!

A spray of fresh flowers burst from Magearna's wrist.

"Ah! Wow! So pretty! Thank you!"

Princess Jimeiya said in pleasant surprise, then walked over to Volcanion beside her and said, "Volcanion, all these years it's been you protecting Magearna, right?"

"……Hmph, more or less."

Volcanion glanced at Magearna, then turned its head aside, lost in thought.

It looked around at the crowd and said loudly, "Prepare to depart! We can't keep lingering here any longer!"

"But let me say this first—I won't allow those two to follow us! Not even as prisoners!"

Volcanion's gaze finally landed on Baimu, and it said with absolute seriousness, "The house will get dirty! Hurry up and chase them away!"

Although he very much wanted to tell it that in the original plot its house was nearly blasted to pieces, such a snarky quip would serve no purpose.

With him here, he certainly wouldn't let that kind of plot play out.

Baimu nodded, then turned and walked over to the Rocket trio, who had been sneaking about doing something since earlier.

"……"

"……"

Cold sweat broke out simultaneously on the heads of Jessie and James, who were hiding Meowth behind them, looking utterly guilty.

He pried the two apart, and a flash of Bai Guang suddenly blazed before him.

"Eat my Fury Swipes, meow!"

Meowth's piercing shriek rang out beside his ear.

Baimu calmly reached out his hand; the leaping Meowth was immediately grabbed by its big head, its four limbs flailing in the air. The Bai Guang on its claws looked rather menacing, but because the former's arms were too long, it couldn't reach his face.

Swish swish swish—

After clawing at the air for a while, Meowth finally gave up resisting, its four limbs drooping heavily as it panted.

"H-how could something like this happen, meow."

"Those claws of yours are pretty nimble."

He glanced at James's handcuffs—they really did look on the verge of being picked open… these were police-grade handcuffs of the same level, you know?

Picking locks and cracking doors, skilled at everything.

Quite the talent.

But it's a pity they're too loyal to Team Rocket—even after being expelled in the original series they still insisted on rejoining, and they worship Giovanni with near-religious fervor.

Baimu thought for a moment about how to deal with them.

Although these two people and one cat were a childhood memory of his, they had indeed done many bad things; having done good deeds in the past and occasionally being righteous did not cancel out the wrongs they had committed.

Many times the plot worsened was precisely because of the series of stupid things they did.

However.

The problem arose.

He didn't have conclusive evidence proving that many of those things were done by the Rocket trio.

Nor could he directly put them on trial and throw them in a major prison; he couldn't even cause trouble for Team Flare without entrusting Champion Dawu and Master Liu Ge and the others—what kind of authority and power did he have?

Even if he hoped these three fellows would truly turn over a new leaf, there was no time or opportunity for that right now.

Throw them to the Orre region to plant trees?

He didn't want them secretly contacting Giovanni, which would cause Giovanni to turn his gaze toward Orre to pioneer a branch base—after finally driving away Team Cipher, welcoming Team Rocket was absolutely not something Baimu wanted to happen.

On top of that, the trouble on Shan's side was already piling up one after another.

Damn it……

Three hot potatoes.

Better to just hand them over to Officer Jenny after all.

Didn't the police station have wanted posters for the three of them?

But to be safe, he still had to warn them properly, so that when they stormed Team Flare's place these three fellows wouldn't inexplicably show up to cause trouble again.

Baimu tossed Meowth to Hydreigon, and the latter gave it a sinister smile.

"Meow, I won't move, meow."

Meowth barely managed to return the smile; as a Pokémon, it could still tell which Pokémon it could afford to provoke and which it couldn't.

"Come with me first."

He grabbed Kojirou by the arm, smiling as he removed the handcuffs, and with the other party's bewildered expression, threw an arm around his shoulder and headed toward the small grove.

Meowth and Musashi both watched Kojirou with worry.

By now, no matter how slow they were, they understood that All Baimu was absolutely not simply their fan, and they were even more certain that the latter was by no means someone easy to get along with.

At the very least, he was ruthless!

Hopefully they wouldn't hear Kojirou's screams in a bit.

Meowth and Musashi exchanged a glance, then looked at the calm Three-Headed Hydreigon, and fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Satoshi and the others were also very curious how All Baimu would deal with Team Rocket; usually they just blasted them off, but this was the first time they'd actually captured them, so they were a bit at a loss too.

Half a minute later.

The smiling All Baimu returned from the forest, followed by Kojirou with his hands hanging limp and an expression as if he'd lost his soul.

His obedient appearance gave Meowth and Musashi goosebumps.

What happened?

They looked at Kojirou, who had obediently sat down beside him, their hearts filled with countless questions.

"You're next, Musashi."

All Baimu removed Musashi's handcuffs and made an inviting gesture with his hand.

The fiery Musashi wasn't the type to give up so easily; she immediately shot a look at Kojirou, trying to do something, but seeing no reaction from him she could only click her tongue.

Then she went into the forest.

Half a minute later.

Under the curious gazes of Satoshi and the others, Musashi returned with a dark expression, silently hugging her knees as she sat down beside the soulless Kojirou.

"Musashi... Kojirou..."

Meowth was nearly consumed by the dread in his heart; seeing All Baimu looking his way, he trembled, not knowing what to do.

Why did Kojirou and the others come back like this after just one trip to the forest?

Could it be that their souls got eaten?

Unable to resist, Meowth stumbled toward the forest, feeling that All Baimu walking behind him was a demon.

"What did All Baimu-san do?"

"I'm curious too..."

"Should we eavesdrop?"

"Let's not do that, it doesn't feel very respectful toward All Baimu-san."

"Good point."

Satoshi and the others whispered among themselves, drawing a curious question from Princess Jimeiya: "This All Baimu-san, isn't he a companion of yours?"

"No..."

While the few were chatting.

All Baimu returned with Meowth, whose face had become so serene it looked as if he was about to achieve enlightenment.

He asked Princess Jimeiya:

"Princess Jimeiya, may I borrow your aircraft?"

It was just past three in the morning, and there was no way to call Hu Pa to open the door, so they could only rely on themselves.

"I can, but... do you know how to pilot it?" The latter looked bewilderedly at Meowth, then at Kojirou and Musashi, burying her questions deep in her heart.

"I can't, but my Pokémon can."

He smiled and pointed at Porygon2, who was exchanging looks with Magearna not far away.

The two were both artificial Pokémon, and seemed curious about each other, especially the latter, who couldn't comprehend the structure and existence of a Soul Heart at all.

How on earth was this thing made?

"Porygon2!"

"Pory!"

Porygon2, who had been immersed in curiosity, snapped out of it, hurried to All Baimu's side, and then, at his command, slipped into the aircraft.

Princess Jimeiya's aircraft was based on mysterious science and primarily structured around intelligence, so there was no worry that Porygon2 couldn't operate it.

Pure mechanical things were what it couldn't handle.

"Amazing, it can actually pilot an airship." Citron's eyes lit up, and he grew even more interested in Porygon2.

All Baimu, who was calling Musashi and Kojirou onto the airship, had a slightly odd expression.

After all, the Rotom Dex was Citron's masterpiece; would Porygon2's outstanding performance make Citron change his mind and create a Porygon Dex?

Porygon isn't an Electric-type Pokémon, you know!

Forget it.

Let it take its course.

"You all go on ahead, I'll catch up soon."

All Baimu waved to Satoshi and the others, then piloted the airship away with the unnaturally quiet Team Rocket trio.

What did he do?

Nothing at all.

He merely said three sentences to the three of them.

To Kojirou: "You don't want your fiancée Nyarth to know where you are, do you?"

To Musashi: "You don't want the Chansey in Happy Town to lose its ability to keep being a nurse because it helped you steal things, do you?"

To Meowth: "You don't want your first love Nyarth to suffer because of you, do you?"

After hearing those words, the three-person Team Rocket, whatever tangled feelings they harbored inside, all turned into the most obedient little angels under heaven.

All Baimu didn't expect those three sentences to hold for long either; he simply transported them to the nearest police station and handed them over to Officer Jenny, and after confirming the charges on the wanted notice, told them:

"Don't let me see you again, or don't blame me for being rude."

He trusted those three fellows would behave for quite a long stretch.

As for Team Rocket's Pokémon, naturally they were all handed over to Officer Jenny.

Though they were villains, a bond existed between Team Rocket and their Pokémon; it wasn't a relationship of pure exploitation.

——

The road to Nebel Plateau was a long one.

Because that fellow Volcanion absolutely refused to board the airship, even though All Baimu quickly caught up with Ash and the others, they still traveled until dawn before the signature flower fields came into view.

Yurika and Dedenne excitedly ran up onto the big rock to gaze out.

"What a beautiful flower field!"

The group hopped off the airship to rest briefly, easing the fatigue from the long journey.

Suddenly.

A Fletchling flew over from afar.

"Here to greet us?"

Volcanion raised its head, but who would have thought that once Fletchling drew close, it began calling out with particular urgency.

"Fletchling! Fletchling!"

"What!?"

Volcanion's previously relaxed expression immediately turned grave; it hurriedly ran in the direction Fletchling had flown off, and the hunting band on its leg triggered, sending Ash flying toward it once again.

But soon.

All Baimu, moving at an even swifter pace, overtook both it and Ash, and caught sight of the Amaura, covered in wounds, staggering as it moved.

In the early XY anime setting, Amaura is a Pokémon that fears heat greatly; there was even an episode dedicated to showing just how much it needed a cold environment.

But the subsequent movie outright overturned that setting.

And in the Kalos Champion Diantha's team, there was even an Aurorus.

One can only say that when the anime writers set their plots, they basically had no communication with each other, or rather, they forgot their own settings the moment they turned around.

"Grr…"

The heavily wounded Amaura collapsed on the ground.

All Baimu without hesitation pulled out a Poké Ball to release Chansey, and at the same time pulled out a first-aid pack.

"I'm counting on you!"

He gave Chansey an instruction, then glanced at Volcanion and Ash chasing up from behind, swept his eyes over the Fletchling that seemed a little afraid of him, and ran further ahead.

"Baimu-san! Where are you going?"

Ash shouted in great puzzlement; Volcanion was also a little confused, but lowered its head to look at the battered Amaura, and its attention was instantly drawn to it.

"What serious injuries!"

Its voice was quite heavy.

Citron and the others arrived from behind, followed closely by Princess Jimeiya piloting the airship, who shouted: "Carry it up onto the ship!"

"None of your business! I'll carry it!"

Volcanion roared back in rebuttal, undid the thick long arms on its back, and looked at Chansey who was treating it.

"Happy~"

Chansey was focused on treating the Amaura, when it suddenly looked off into the distance.

Boom!

A terrifying explosion rang out, a plume of smoke mixed with firelight rising up toward the sky.

Volcanion's face changed, and it ran toward the direction the explosion came from. "It's that guy!"

"Baimu-san!"

Ash hurriedly followed.

In an instant.

The two of them saw a wrecked car burning fiercely, and not far away, All Baimu pinning an unfamiliar person to the ground and putting handcuffs on him.

"Perfect timing! Put out the fire, put out the fire!"

He waved Volcanion over, and hearing the poacher beneath him still shouting "Let me go right now," he immediately slapped him on the back of the head.

Smack!

The world instantly went quiet.

"This person is…" Ash stared blankly at the scene.

"Pokémon poachers, a notorious bunch; you shouldn't be unfamiliar with them."

All Baimu smiled at him, then pointed at the rocket launcher beside him. "Illegally possessing a destructive weapon with the intent to use it against a person—this fellow won't be tasting freedom for the rest of his life."

"…"

Ash watched the practiced All Baimu and thought, worthy of someone connected to the International Police, those capture moves are way too practiced!

On the other side.

Volcanion doused the burning vehicle, and said to All Baimu, who had taken out his phone and was contacting someone: "Hearing you talk like that, you're very familiar with these people?"

"I've caught more than one group."

The latter waved his hand. "From organizations to individuals, from merchants who sell Pokémon to hunters who recklessly capture them. The place I once lived was paradise for these people to do as they pleased."

"Grr?"

"Of course, now that place has become their hell. Catch whoever comes, welcome them to walk right in." All Baimu smiled at Volcanion. "Humans aren't only bad people — there are plenty of good ones too."

Ash eagerly picked up the thread. "That sounds amazing! Where are you from, Baimu-san?"

"The Ole region. A place you've never heard of."

"Ole? Indeed, never heard of it…"

"Hmph."

This Mythical Pokémon, which held no goodwill whatsoever toward humans, looked at him, then glanced at Ash and Clemont and the others, lowered its gaze, turned, and left.

"I'll reluctantly admit that humans can be good or bad, but I can only speak for myself."

The tsundere said so.