Chapter 640

A few people finished discussing.

Baimu released Hisuian Goodra and Gengar, gently patting each of their heads and faces, whispering: "I'm counting on you soon."

"Shaa!"

"Kii~"

The two Pokémon responded, and immediately a Shiny Gengar appeared, grinning as it handed over a large paper bag.

Its cheeks bulged like a greedy Chestnut's pouch stuffed with food, violently heaving before gulping back into place, its mouth stretched ear to ear.

"Hehehehe~"

"Kii…"

Gengar pulled out a pineapple bun from the bag, glanced at Barza and Mei Mei Yali, turned aside, covered its mouth with its other hand, and nibbled slowly.

Hisuian Goodra shook its head in refusal—it had no interest in sweets.

That's different if the Trainer feeds it.

When Baimu saw Gengar presenting the paper bag like a treasure, he couldn't help but tap its head.

"Who told you to take it out so early!"

"Gengeng~"

Gengar grinned shamelessly—it was just too happy to see friends, so it brought out the Colress Festival-limited pineapple buns the Trainer had bought last night.

Though in Hu Pa's eyes this treat couldn't match a donut, it was still a delicious dessert.

Having gone nearly eight hours without a donut, it now held one in each hand, happily munching away.

"Delicious! So delicious! Super delicious! Mei Mei Yali, eat! Barza, eat!"

It flew back and forth above Barza and Mei Mei Yali's heads.

Gengar floated forward, holding the large paper bag aloft like an offering, "Gengeng!"

Baimu also said: "These pineapple buns are only sold during this season—try them while you can; I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

Barza, too, had no taste for sweets, and politely declined with a smile.

Mei Mei Yali hesitated—she truly loved this kind of sugary-oily treat; as a child, she often fought with Hu Pa over donuts.

But now she cared more about gaining weight, so she forcibly suppressed her craving.

"Mei Mei Yali! Try one! It's delicious!"

Hu Pa decisively made the choice for her, shoving the half-bitten pineapple bun straight into her mouth.

Mei Mei Yali froze.

Hu Pa smirked inwardly, triumphant: "Hehehe! Surprised, huh?"

That laugh instantly drowned her reason in rage.

"Hu—Pa!!"

"Why? The pineapple bun is delicious! Eep! Mei Mei Yali, I'm sorry!"

Hu Pa scrambled behind Gengar to apologize; Gengar, terrified by Mei Mei Yali's furious expression, trembled, "Geng…"

Baimu and Barza hurried over to intervene.

Only then did Mei Mei Yali calm down, picking up the pineapple bun with a corner missing and eating it.

"Hmph. Tastes alright."

Hu Pa, ever quick to forget pain, soon burst into laughter again.

Gengar silently stuffed the remaining pineapple buns into its all-consuming belly, then patted it reassuringly.

This belly held the Trainer's entire fortune.

Must be protected.

Meanwhile.

At Baimu's request, Hu Pa, having licked the bread crumbs off its hands, manipulated the Golden Ring to open a passage to the Zero Machine Poliwrath.

The familiar emerald-blue lightwave flared.

The Shiny Gengar blinked, then dove into the shadow like a diver plunging—pula!

Time to get serious.

Not to help, at least not to hold the Trainer back.

Baimu nodded to Barza and Mei Mei Yali; Hisuian Goodra led the way, and he followed behind, carrying the grinning Hu Pa and Gengar into the blue lightwave.

The Golden Ring shrank and vanished with them.

The park gradually fell silent.

Suddenly.

Mei Mei Yali asked: "Didn't Hu Pa forget to send us back first?"

"… " Barza remained silent.

Several minutes later.

Under her firm insistence, the two decided to leave the park and wander the Colress City streets.

The festival ended yesterday; some tourists boarded ships and left, others chose to stay two more days—now was the busiest time.

——

A distant overseas desert island.

Hisuian Goodra burst from the light ring, its six wings flapping and stirring up countless fine sands.

"Shaa!"

It keenly scanned its surroundings, using its sense of smell to detect any potential attacking enemies.

Unfortunately.

Aside from a few long-winged gulls flying overhead and a cluster of large-pincer crabs hiding among the nearby rocks, there was nothing here.

It turned to face the light wheel; Baimu and the other two Pokémon stepped out one after another, looking around.

"Is this really the island farthest from all continents?"

"That's right!"

Hu Pa's voice was crisp; the light wheel shrank back into a golden ring and settled around its waist.

The deserted island was small, crescent-shaped overall, its dense tropical vegetation forming a tiny forest, yet gaps between the trees revealed the opposite shore.

Just this alone was enough to realize how cramped the environment was.

Zero Machine was not here.

But later, Hu Pa would use the light wheel to summon it over, just as it summoned other Legendary Pokémon—this method was safer than barging into its location directly.

During the previous collapse of Flare Blitz, it failed to retrieve Flare's body, mainly fearing the black-tech on his person—the Neural Link Device.

Zero Machine was solely focused on building a rocket to reach outer space, and had long been harassed by Professor Koyabara and First Machine without ever showing any countermeasures; it likely had no ability to reverse-control Hu Pa.

Therefore.

In a place far from the clamor, letting it have a proper talk with Professor Koyabara was the ideal outcome.

If force became necessary, the problem wouldn't be great.

He borrowed the Vessel of Punishment from Barza—wouldn't Demon Hu Pa crush Zero Machine effortlessly?

Demon Hu Pa isn't enough…

Then call reinforcements!

Shiny Rayquaza, Latios and Latias as mother and child, two Kyogre Core Cells—wouldn't a mob attack on it be enough?

They aren't ordinary Second-Tier Gods that can be defeated by non-Legendary Pokémon!

Baimu drove his Salamence to drive away nearby wild Pokémon, trying to lure them closer; when the opponent finished everything and scampered back, he held up his phone screen toward Hu Pa and said:

"Please, Hu Pa, summon this thing called Zero Machine."

"As you wish! Hu Pa, grab them!"

Hu Pa raised its hand and shouted; the golden ring on its left horn flew upward, rapidly expanding into a light wheel.

In an instant.

The familiar figure of Zero Machine flew out from the light wheel.

"Pahri?"

The opponent looked bewildered, glancing left and right in confusion, then spotted Baimu, Salamence, Wailord, and Hu Pa.

'…'

It fell silent.

Baimu smiled: "Long time no see—I've missed you. How have you been lately?"

Salamence and Wailord each displayed taunt-like expressions—they had indeed used the Taunt move, to block Zero Machine's possible use of Teleport.

Zero Machine glanced twice at Hu Pa, sighed softly, and said: 'Why bother? I've said long ago that I'm a pacifist—I don't wish to harm any living thing.'

"Relax—I have no intention of harming you. I'm just being cautious."

He spoke calmly: "I specifically 'invited' you here hoping you'd speak with Professor Koyabara. To be honest, I never wanted to meddle in your affairs."

"But you came to me to incite Poliwhirl II, and I owe Professor Koyabara a great debt—I simply can't stand by."

Zero Machine: '…'

It never imagined Baimu could summon a Mythical Pokémon like Hu Pa.

Had it known beforehand, even if it might have turned Poliwhirl II into an ally, it would never have provoked Baimu.

Now saying it will never approach Poliwhirl II again… would that help?

Probably not.

'Talking is useless—this answer, I assume, you cannot accept. If you believe sitting down to talk can solve everything, then go ahead.'

Zero Machine knew very well that Substitute was useless before Hu Pa.

The moment Hu Pa located its true body, hiding was meaningless.

Its voice grew colder: 'I will prove to you just how absurd your thinking is!'

'Ssang…'

Salamence's expression darkened—it clearly despised Zero Machine, which had once insulted the bond between Trainer and Pokémon.

Not launching a Dragon Breath at it just now was already restraint.

Wailord yawned, utterly indifferent—it had zero interest in the feud between Zero Machine and Professor Koyabara; had it not been for the Trainer's concern, it would've returned to its Poké Ball to sleep long ago.

Hu Pa whispered quietly beside Baimu's ear: "It seems angry, huh, Whitey—are you planning to catch it?"

"Of course not. I just want to resolve its issue with Professor Koyabara quickly, so the Professor can get back to promoting Poliwhirl and developing the Poliwhirl phone."

He replied in a low voice.

A question mark floated over Hu Pa's forehead—it didn't understand.

Zero Machine understood perfectly. It scoffed at promoting Poliwhirl, but its expression twisted at the mention of the Poliwhirl phone.

Constantly connected to the internet, drawing funds and rocket materials from it, it knew smartphones would soon engulf human life.

If Poliwhirl became a phone, perhaps First Machine's dream might actually come true!

At this thought, its gaze toward Baimu grew envious.

Inspiration.

Perhaps a uniquely human ability—though it perfected Poliwhirl II's evolution into Poliwhirl Z, and from it developed near-doppelgänger Substitutes,

In truth, it had merely absorbed sufficient human knowledge through the internet and mimicked it.

This made it occasionally wonder whether Poliwhirl could truly survive as a new life form on another planet…

The light wheel glowed bright.

Unit Zero's attention was drawn to it.

Then.

Out ran a young man with a mullet, round glasses, and a slight beer belly, followed by a Polywhirl Z and two Polywhirl IIs.

The two Polywhirl IIs suddenly seemed to sense something and emitted a beeping alarm toward nearby Unit Zero.

"Unit Zero! I've finally found you!"

Dr. Akihabara shouted, then spotted Baimu and several Pokémon, frowning: "Huh? Baimu? What are you doing here? Did Unit Zero capture you?"

Baimu smiled: "Not at all, Doctor. Both you and Unit Zero were 'invited' here by Hu Pa at my request."

"Hu Pa! Amazing!"

Hu Pa puffed out its chest, proud.

Dr. Akihabara blinked, then burst into ecstatic joy: "You had such a powerful ally and didn't tell me sooner! Watch me lock up Unit Zero—"

"Wait."

He blocked the doctor from pulling out a Poké Ball, then turned to Unit Zero, whose entire demeanor radiated indifference: "Doctor, doing this will only deepen Unit Zero's defiance."

"Surely your goal in finding Unit Zero isn't to imprison it in a Poké Ball for life? Why not use this chance to talk openly, clear up unnecessary misunderstandings, and seek a mutually satisfactory resolution?"

Dr. Akihabara scratched his messy hair and complained:

"Baimu, I thought I made it perfectly clear before—Unit Zero is committing crimes! This isn't something you can fix by sitting down and chatting!"

"Hah. See? Does this person even deserve reconciliation?"

Unit Zero let out a cold laugh.

Another Polywhirl Z, Unit One, stepped forward and said: "It's because you did something wrong! And you won't even admit it!"

"Papli! Papli!"

The two Polywhirl IIs chimed in together.

Unit Zero said: "I only took ill-gotten gains. Better that I use them to build a rocket than let those criminals exploit humans and Pokémon. I don't consider it wrong."

"Ill-gotten gains as defined by you? You have no right to control them! Breaking into the Pokémon Bank's backend system is also a crime!"

Unit One argued back.

They traded accusations back and forth, neither willing to yield.

Had Baimu not been here, they would have already started fighting.

He rubbed his temples, weary. Hu Pa covered its ears, overwhelmed by the noise. Big Mouth was clenching its fists repeatedly.

Dragonite bared its fangs, then its eyes brightened as its Trainer gave it a signal.

"Roar loudly!"

"Shaa—Grrrr!!"

The three-headed Dragonite spread its wings and roared upward; visible black ripples tore across the sky, shaking the entire island as if it would quake apart.

Boom!!

Amid the terrifying roar.

Dr. Akihabara and his group, along with Unit Zero, fell silent and turned their gazes toward it.

Baimu pressed down on Dragonite's head and snapped his fingers at the shadow.

Haunter emerged, then produced a folding table and chairs, a teapot, and an array of picnic foods.

"Let's sit down, eat, and talk. Stop just blaming each other. Today, your main goal is to understand your own needs, then exchange perspectives and seek possibilities for reconciliation and compromise."

He spread his hands gently: "If we truly can't resolve this, I won't interfere. You're free to continue as you wish."

Dr. Akihabara, Unit One, and Unit Zero exchanged glances, then each took a seat at the opened folding table.

Fortunately.

Their attitudes were at least acceptable.

Baimu acted as temporary mediator, pouring tea for both sides, then gesturing to Dr. Akihabara: "Please state your demands."

"My demand is this—Unit Zero must return all money obtained illegally, and return with me to the lab to await Young Lady Junsa's judgment!"

The doctor spoke with utmost righteousness.

Unit Zero opened its mouth to speak, but Baimu raised a hand to stop it.

He asked the doctor: "Is that your only demand? Have you considered what comes after?"

"After?"

Dr. Akihabara paused.

"Yes. No matter how Young Lady Junsa handles Unit Zero, other conflicts between you two remain unresolved. If Unit Zero is punished with imprisonment, and later serves its sentence—will you grant it freedom? Or support its dream?"

Baimu posed two crucial questions.

"… "

Dr. Akihabara fell into thought.

He turned to Unit Zero: "Your turn."

"To ride a rocket into space and establish a new home for Polywhirl on another planet." Unit Zero repeated briefly, then looked at Hu Pa: "If you can transport me to another planet, I'll return the money."

"Huh?"

Hu Pa looked bewildered.