Chapter 6: The Best Helper

Baimu knew very well how stupid Shibata was.

But he hadn't expected him to be this stupid.

Clearly having Pokémon as his backing, yet so bent on venting his anger that he didn't care about his current situation at all, and his companions not only failed to stop him but even became accomplices.

"There's a precedent for this; he's reaping what he sows. It's just hard on my old brothers."

Baimu, hiding around the corner, sighed.

Not far away, in the remaining jade-mine passage, the fairly wide space was occupied by a host of ferocious-looking Pokémon.

Shibata and his companions were trembling behind a Rhyhorn, their backs pressed against a narrow, cramped corner, and yet in their terror they were still frantically shoving backward.

As if they could squeeze through the rock wall and escape that way.

And on the ground lay several other wounded figures whose condition was unclear; the many bloodstains, starkly visible even in the dim cave, made one's heart uneasy.

Even in the Pokémon world, losing too much blood or sustaining too severe an injury still carries a not-insignificant chance of dying on the spot. Right now the Rhyhorn and those Pokémon were at a stalemate — heaven knows how long it would last.

They had to be rescued as soon as possible…

But in this situation, who would dare step out?

Baimu was in a bind. Although he had prepared a fallback, it wasn't enough to get everyone out safely. Let alone the fact that he still planned to have the whole team pass the assessment and strengthen their side.

Belly-crawl forward? Sneak into the village quietly, no shooting?

Hurry up and start fighting already.

He'd slip in amid the chaos; at the very least he'd grab a whole jade stone and make sure he himself qualified.

Baimu took slow, deep breaths, waiting for an opportunity.

He figured the Rhyhorn couldn't hold out much longer either; eventually some Pokémon would launch a probing attack, just like a pride of lions hunting.

"Goo."

The crisp cry exploded beside his ear like a thunderclap.

In that instant, Baimu's heart nearly stopped; he turned his head stiffly and was startled to see a small, vaguely familiar figure not far away.

And in his peripheral vision, in the jade-mine passage, two Exploud had heard the cry, turned their heads curiously, and were heading this way.

You! I!

Baimu and the slowly approaching Aron stared at each other, wide-eyed; with a face full of helplessness and resignation, he pulled a small purple ball from his pocket.

But before he could make any move, the little troublemaker who had ruined his plan calmly slipped past him, and as if taking a stroll down the street, came face to face with the two approaching Exploud.

"Goo!"

"Gungbu?"

The Exploud exchanged a glance, scratched their heads, and turned around to leave.

They'd thought it was an assessor hiding out, but what popped out was some little trinket like this — what a letdown.

Bullying cowards is more fun anyway; they're practically peeing themselves, hahaha!

The two Exploud trotted back excitedly, shouting from the outer ring to cheer on the Pokémon at the very front.

Aron watched the two of them walk off, eager to stir up trouble, and a flicker of contempt passed through his azure eyes; then he turned and came back to where Baimu was hiding.

"Goo!"

"…"

Baimu said nothing, his gaze at Aron rather odd.

Was this guy just now bailing him out?

Why?

He quietly moved away from the jade-mine passage, beckoned to Aron, and tested whether the other would follow.

—He actually followed!

Seeing Aron pad closer like a little dog, Baimu's heart gave a small tremor; he quickly made his way to a corner away from those Pokémon and silently crouched down.

Although he couldn't figure out what this guy was thinking, it probably wasn't malicious; under the circumstances, rashly testing him with a Poké Ball would be pretty stupid, so he'd try negotiating first.

He took off his mask and said, "Thanks for what you did just now."

"Goo."

Aron came to a stop in front of Baimu, lifted his little head slightly; the well-behaved look made him even more like a big dog, apart from the strange armor he was wearing.

Baimu thought for a moment, pulled out the iron ingot he'd hidden on his chest, and shook it. "Is this what you want?"

"Goo?"

Aron froze, visibly hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.

With a look that said, "I guess I should want this, right?"

Huh?

Baimu was also stunned. He asked, "If you don't want this, then why did you follow me?"

"Goo!"

Aron stretched out a little claw and pointed at the iron ingot.

Liar!

You were looking blank just a moment ago — you came up with that excuse on the spot, didn't you!

Still, the IQ of anime-version Pokémon is ridiculously exaggerated — it had understood what he was saying that easily.

Or was this Aron just exceptionally gifted?

Baimu wanted to ask more, but from the direction of the jade-mine passage a sudden clamor came, accompanied by faint explosions.

They've started fighting!?

"Um… Aron, I'd like to ask you for a favor." He quickly explained his request, saying he was willing to give the iron ingot as payment, and if it wasn't enough he'd buy more for it once they got out.

After speaking, he worried he'd talked too fast for the other to understand, and had to calm himself and carefully repeat it all once more.

"... Gurgle."

Koko Dora met All Baimu's expectant gaze and agreed without much hesitation.

The two quietly returned to the tunnel from earlier.

But the scene inside the jade mine passage caught All Baimu off guard — at some point, a totem slab painted with a red serpent had appeared between the Iron Armor Rhinoceros and that group of Pokémon.

The snake-head portion had cracked off and was floating in the air, connected by a strand of unknown black substance, emitting an eerie sound.

"Hissss!"

It's actually a Galarian Cursed Slate… are they negotiating?

He exchanged a glance with Koko Dora. The latter nodded, scurried forward on its four short legs, bit the clothes of a person lying collapsed on the ground, and dragged backward with all its might.

One Pokémon glanced back at it, then turned away and pretended it hadn't seen anything.

Attacking an already-unconscious human was against the rules, and bullying wasn't fun either — besides, once it was over they'd still have to be responsible for carrying the people out.

Couldn't be bothered to care.

Just like that.

Koko Dora very smoothly dragged that person over to All Baimu's side.

"You're amazing."

The excited All Baimu couldn't help but pat its head, and only realized his action had been a bit reckless when he pulled his hand back.

Koko Dora also seemed startled, staring blankly at him, its turquoise eyes wide and round.

But that moment lasted only an instant.

A faint groan from his colleague broke the awkward scene. All Baimu hurried over to check on him, while Koko Dora continued to haul the remaining few people.

The situation wasn't great.

Although humans in the Pokémon world had very strong physiques, Shibata and his group had clearly been beating the person half to death, leaving them dazed and completely unable to come to.

All All Baimu could do was observe the basic condition — checking pulse, breathing, and so on — and do a little treatment to keep him from dying underground.

He hoped the others weren't in such bad shape, or things would get very troublesome.

All Baimu let out a deep sigh.

Suddenly.

He stopped what he was doing, turned to look behind him, and spotted a sneaky black shadow.

Another participant?

The other party seemed to be hesitating whether to come over, hadn't turned on their headlamp, and was shifting about in the dim environment — somewhat creepy.

All Baimu squinted, made out the figure as best he could, then glanced at the jade mine passage and confirmed that no one was paying attention to him except Koko Dora, who was busy dragging people. He decisively flashed his headlamp twice in rapid succession.

The shadow froze.

Then, soundlessly and swiftly, it drew close — charging forward like an actual ghost.

And once the person got within about five meters, their appearance came into view.

A face streaked with blood was half-hidden behind a damaged mask, a pair of eyes shining with intensity.

"All Baimu!"

Narihiro called out in a hushed, excited voice.

"Shh!"

All Baimu clamped a hand over Narihiro's mouth and shook his head firmly.