Chapter 600: Battle Mancong Again (Thanks to I Love Studying qaz Big Shot for the Alliance Leader)

He met Mancong's shop-manager older cousin.

Baimu observed that her face only resembled the older cousin Ah Man from Verdant Town, and thought to himself that she wasn't from one of those powerful bloodline families like Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy.

A misunderstanding.

He took a sip of coffee, and under the other's somewhat expectant expression, praised, "The aroma is very rich, your skill is excellent."

"Really? I'm so happy then!"

The shop-manager older cousin smiled like a blossoming flower, while Mancong beside her hurriedly stopped the staff from trying to cover a small table with sweets.

"That's enough, enough, we can't eat that much!"

"Lido!?"

Gardevoir stared in horror at the Dragapult siblings who had pounced into the cake.

The two creatures stuffed more than half their heads into the cake and kept eating as if they'd been reborn from starving ghosts, making one wonder whether Baimu normally didn't feed them.

Seeing that they really couldn't fit any more, the staff members finally laughingly gave up.

Their enthusiasm wasn't hard to understand.

Beyond the excitement of meeting a celebrity, there was also gratitude that he had agreed to let them hang the group photo and autograph on the wall to boost the coffee shop's fame.

Amid the bustle.

The shop-manager older cousin clapped her hands, led the reluctant staff away, and didn't disturb the reunion of old friends any further.

Mancong let out a breath of relief and said apologetically, "Sorry for the trouble."

"Don't mention it. Let me introduce my new partners."

Baimu waved it off, then pulled the Dragapult siblings out of the small cake, and under the latter two's dumbfounded expressions, said to him, "Dragapult — these two are twin siblings."

Mancong hadn't noticed earlier; only now did he realize they were two Pokémon he hadn't seen before, and greeted them curiously, "Hello there~"

"Hee, heeya~"

"Heeya!"

The Dragapult sister tried to wipe the cream stuck to her face and raised her paw shyly.

The Dragapult brother, meanwhile, ignored everyone around him and stretched out his tongue to lick here and there, banking on the principle that thick skin is invincible.

"Don't rush, there's more."

He tossed aside these two hopeless creatures and snapped his fingers.

The shiny Gengar popped out of his shadow with a "Boop~," grinning cheekily and waving a paw.

Then came a reluctant Dragapult-Duraludon; there were quite a few unfamiliar passersby on the street, and this fellow was only willing to show himself for a few seconds.

The result was that suddenly appearing next to Gardevoir startled the latter, who nearly slashed him with a chop.

After it vanished.

Gardevoir quickly glanced left and right twice, couldn't find any trace of Dragapult-Duraludon, and felt like it was haunted, only understanding the situation after Baimu explained.

Its gaze was full of grievance.

What kind of Pokémon had he caught? One after another, like ghosts.

Mancong hadn't noticed his ace's strange expression and exclaimed admiringly, "They're all wonderful Pokémon."

"Now it's your turn."

Baimu stroked the top of the grey fatty's head with his left hand and held his right hand open toward the other.

Seeing the other seemingly hadn't caught on and just went "ah," he raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't tell me that after going to Johto you buried your head every day only challenging Gyms and didn't encounter a single new partner."

The thin, frail boy dodged his scrutinizing gaze and muttered, "It's not as exaggerated as you make it sound."

A Friend Ball, its upper half green with a petal-like pattern, was opened by him.

Pop!

"Nya!"

A Pokémon resembling a cross between a monkey and a black cat, sporting a neat bright-red crest on its head, red ears and a red tail, landed on the ground.

The moment it popped out, it climbed up Mancong's body, reaching his shoulder to look down imperiously at the people and Pokémon present, looking utterly arrogant.

"Sneasel, huh. Pretty lively."

Baimu tilted his head up and glanced at it; the Pokémon Mancong had sent out at the Silver Conference were all old friends he'd seen before, which was why he felt Mancong only knew how to bury his head in challenging Gyms.

He had still caught new Pokémon, after all!

Though he'd expected Mancong to catch something like Politoed or Tyranitar — Pokémon with green elements in their appearance.

He hadn't expected him to end up choosing a Johto "specialty."

Fair enough.

He remembered Mancong's team really didn't have any Dark-type Pokémon.

"Eheheheh… yeah, full of energy every day." Mancong reached out to steady the Sneasel on his shoulder, keeping it from losing its footing and falling.

His smile was a bit forced as he said this; clearly, Sneasel's traits weren't limited to being lively.

Gardevoir got up in annoyance — it had always been unable to stand trainers who spoiled Sneasel excessively, and was also deeply displeased with Sneasel's habit of acting recklessly regardless of its trainer's body.

It grabbed Sneasel by the scruff of its neck and yanked it down, just like picking up a cat.

"Lido!"

"Nya!!"

Sneasel hissed, claws flailing everywhere trying to break free, but unable to do much against the powerful Gardevoir, and could only stare at it rather resentfully.

The Dragapult sister beside them was utterly impressed.

It thought of how the trainer had disciplined its mischievous brother before — it looked pretty much the same.

Lost in thought, it turned its head and found its brother still buried in the cake, deaf to the world outside and eating madly, so it irritably reached out a paw and whacked the back of his head.

"Heeya!"

"Woooo~"

The tearful little brother Dreepy pulled his head out of the cake, not quite understanding why he'd been walloped.

Gengar sneakily extended a paw toward a plate of delicate cookies; the moment he touched one he popped it into his mouth and chewed rapidly like a hamster, his eyes constantly darting sideways toward All Baimu, as if worried his little trick might be spotted.

The invisible Dragapult watched the scene, itching to try it, yet hesitant and timid.

All Baimu laughed, drained the last sip of his coffee, "What a rowdy bunch. Alright, let's go."

He said to the bewildered Manchu, "Don't tell me you called me all the way over here without even preparing for a battle. Even if you haven't, it doesn't matter — come on!"

Between trainers, meals can be skipped, but a battle cannot.

Manchu found it hard to refuse, so he stood up with him and added:

"But what about all this food?"

He didn't have the heart to waste his cousin and the others' kind intentions, so he turned a pleading look toward Gardevoir, who was currently squaring off with Mienshao.

The latter hurriedly shook its head — it had no interest in sweets.

Mienshao was so busy hissing threateningly at Gardevoir that it hadn't even noticed the food.

All Baimu's gaze dropped, meeting eyes with Gengar, whose mouth still had cookie crumbs at the corner; the latter gave an ingratiating smile.

He knocked on the fellow's noggin, "I know you've got the appetite — it's all yours. Give it your all later and don't embarrass me, got it?"

"Hehe!"

Gengar's eyes lit up, his mouth rapidly opening wider than his body, and in one gulp he swallowed every sweet spread across the table.

He didn't even spare the two Dreepy siblings.

A few seconds later.

He suddenly burped, and out flew plates, oil paper, wrappers, and all the other things that had held the sweets — along with the wide-eyed Dreepy siblings.

"Hehehe—" Gengar contentedly rubbed his belly.

Manchu and his two Pokémon were dumbfounded; the invisible Dragapult was dumbfounded too — it had been planning to sneak a small cream puff, only to watch Gengar devour everything in the blink of an eye.

It dejectedly lashed its tail.

Manchu murmured, "B-Baimu…"

"It's fine. This little bit of energy will burn off soon enough. For Gengar, this amount of food is nothing."

All Baimu said casually, grabbing the now-clean Dreepy siblings with one hand.

There aren't many truly gluttonous Pokémon on the team, but these fellows are among them. Little brother Dreepy is young and greedy for food and play, often sneaking around at night looking for something to eat.

Big sister Dreepy's greediness is inherited, though she won't admit it — she always says she's going to stop her brother from sneaking food, and then never comes back.

Gengar is a pure glutton; his appetite is as plump as his rounded body, his specialty being a whole basin in one bite, and he loves the feeling of his mouth stuffed full of food.

Dragapult is also greedy, but it's socially anxious and doesn't dare compete with the other Pokémon, so All Baimu often sneaks it a little "private meal."

In practice, it's just giving it the things it missed out on earlier.

Manchu pushed down his worries and nodded, "Alright."

The two went into the shop to say goodbye, saying they were going to find a place to battle.

Some of the shop staff, very interested in All Baimu, wanted to follow and watch the battle, but after a glance from the manager cousin they lost their nerve and settled down.

After leaving.

Dragapult still gazed longingly at that table, its eyes a little dim.

When it turned back, it found its trainer dawdling at the very rear, his right hand held behind him lightly gripping a small cream puff.

"Ruru~"

Its eyes lit up; it immediately understood this was for it. It swam over eagerly, took it in its mouth, and began nibbling it in tiny bites.

The dejection in its heart vanished in an instant.

All Baimu, noticing the puff had been taken, twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at the cheerfully grinning Gengar beside him, "It was hard on you too."

"Hehe~"

Gengar's cry was crisp and clear.

The puff had naturally been left by him for Dragapult — whatever Dragapult wanted to eat, it would stare at fixedly, and Gengar had long since sensed its gaze.

But he also knew that if he gave it to Dragapult himself, it wouldn't eat, so he used the trainer's hand to feed it.

How thoughtful.

All Baimu thought to himself that traveling all this way to find Gengar had indeed been the right decision.

——

Although there were many battlefields in Mauville City.

Finding an empty one wasn't easy.

The two walked along the main street looking for one, and basically every spot had trainers battling — and if that weren't enough, there were also crowds of people queued up waiting their turn.

The number of onlookers was even more absurdly large, packing the venue airtight.

"It's way livelier than the Silver Conference!"

Manchu sighed with feeling. After winning the Silver Conference championship, he had hurried back to Hoenn, and many images of the tournament still lingered in his mind.

But compared to Mauville City at this moment, the Silver Conference's foot traffic seemed far inferior.

All Baimu, wearing a mask, said, "I only hope the quality of the competitors is proportional to the foot traffic."

Currently, the only opponents worth looking forward to that he knew of were Ilima and Elesa — both old acquaintances of his. He hoped a few more random champions would show up like Ash did at tournaments.

After wandering around for a long time, they still couldn't find an empty battlefield.

The two simply entered the Natural Park and found a fairly wide, deserted path.

"Coincidentally, I need to go to the Pokémon Center at the venue to register later — three on three?" All Baimu looked at Manchu, who had put some distance between them.

The latter had no objection, "Alright!"

Once the rules were set, both sides sent out their opening Pokémon without further discussion.

Baimu's opening pick was, without question, the Gengar that had just been gorging itself; the latter let out a strange, cackling laugh as it drifted to the front, utterly unconcerned about whether it might be made to spew everything back out later.

Manri chose Sneasel.

"Neh!"

The cat-like Pokémon licked its sharp claws and cast an arrogant glance at Gengar.

Just caught not long ago?

He remembered that Manri's Pokémon were generally mild in temperament—even the Garchomp, which outsiders considered innately fierce, was the same.

What kind of sparks might this Pokémon, with its different personality, strike against Manri…

Baimu was somewhat looking forward to it.

The battle erupted in wordless tacit understanding, both sides issuing commands.

"Agility!"

"Dazzling Gleam."

Sneasel gave a low howl, and its small frame instantly erupted with terrifying speed, darting to Gengar's flank like a flash, slipping out of the latter's line of sight while flashing a smug grin.

A string of pale-blue afterimages lingered behind it, refusing to fade for a long time.

So fast!

Baimu couldn't help but marvel at the depth Sneasel possessed as an old-school game-breaking powerhouse.

That terrifying speed alone was enough to steamroll a whole roster of single-player NPC Pokémon, achieving a rapid team-sweep.

However, having anticipated this, he deliberately delayed his command by a beat.

So that Dazzling Gleam's cast speed wouldn't be too fast and put Manri and Sneasel on guard, letting them dodge.

The opponent took the bait, as expected.

"Geng!"

Gengar floated up and raised both claws high; within its burning smile its mouth stretched to the widest arc, and a sudden burst of dazzling, blinding colored light exploded from its body!

Zeng zeng zeng—!!

The fully light-ified Fairy-type energy shot out like gleaming long needles, stabbing rapidly toward the hard-to-dodge Sneasel and swallowing it whole.

Boom!

Smoke exploded outward!

Manri hurriedly shouted: "Sneasel!"

The words had barely fallen.

Sneasel, which had crossed its claws in front of its body, immediately burst through the smoke, tumbling several times in midair before barely landing steady, wisps of cyan smoke curling around it, its cheeks twitching from the sting.

It stared at the endlessly cackling Gengar, its former arrogance turning to humiliation.

"Neh…"

Sneasel—a Pokémon of high speed and high attack, but with less-than-ideal defenses on both sides.

Seeing that its current condition was still passable, Manri let out a breath of relief.

Baimu, however, was somewhat surprised. "Not a low level, huh—and you've specifically trained its Special Defense?"

Dazzling Gleam may not be Gengar's STAB move, but it does counter the Dark-type Sneasel, and paired with its excellent Special Attack, was it really that easy to take?

This one's no pushover… better play it safe for now.

He said quickly: "Don't try to out-speed it. Use your ghostly shadow ability flexibly to dodge head-on."

"Don't rush! Run circles around it! Icy Rock!"

Manri's command followed right after.

The earlier Dazzling Gleam had clearly spooked him; he didn't dare let Sneasel get close again.

Fortunately, while that move was admittedly a full 360 degrees with no blind spots, its spread range was quite limited, so keeping some distance and trading hits still left a chance to win.

"Neh!"

Sneasel swung its claws as it ran, ice-light gathering in its mouth, countless diamond-shaped ice crystals flying toward Gengar.

But the next instant.

Gengar suddenly plunged into the shade of a tree by the road, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Pa pa pa—

The diamond-shaped ice crystals landed on empty ground and shattered to bits.

Sneasel halted its steps, staring in disbelief at the spot where Gengar had vanished, once again gathering a biting cold light in its mouth.

Just as it was about to fire, the voices of its trainer and the opposing trainer came from both sides.

"Jump up, now!"

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Neh!"

It instinctively tapped the ground with one foot and leapt high; looking down, it saw several deep-purple, sticky projectiles skim past where it had just been standing, bursting apart with a sharp pop and a foul, sizzling stench.

They had unmistakably come from the Gengar that had, at some unknown point, hidden itself in the shade behind it!