Chapter 67: All Living Beings

Huang Tie Arena Battle Tournament.

A very simple, blunt name with no entry threshold whatsoever—anyone could sign up as long as they paid the 1,000-coin registration fee.

Baimu was naturally quite interested.

After all, a battle tournament like this was just too anime-like; it let him truly feel that he was living in the Pokémon anime world, not some other world that happened to have Pokémon.

His battle results would also let him understand exactly what level he stood at in Huang Tie Town.

Being a squad-captain-level member of the Quicksand Team didn't mean he'd still be squad-captain-level in another faction—it could be higher or lower.

He glanced at the time again and realized that what was called "next month" actually only had half a month left; once he finished dealing with the issues in his assigned area and settled those underlings, he'd be about ready.

He rode off on the hover bike together with Flobo.

He'd basically mastered this thing after just two days of practice; for his current body, keeping balance was far too easy, and the clutch and such weren't much different from his previous life.

More importantly, he didn't need a driver's license—at least not in Huang Tie Town.

He returned to Quicksand Team's territory.

Baimu resumed his usual monotonous routine, except now he had the added habit of going to the Huang Tie Arena for battles.

Just like that.

He soon welcomed the moment when the simulator's countdown ended once more.

He'd replayed Miniskirt's battle experience every night and adapted to it pretty well; once he truly digested it, he should be able to teach it to Mawile.

And her semifinal finish would most likely give Baimu a very nice opening.

He hoped this simulation would have a decent result.

He washed his hands and face, then held Chansey in his arms; only after hearing the latter cry "lucky" three or four times did he tap open the first row of options.

Honestly, having the starting location be Johto two or three times in a row was getting a bit tiresome.

So this time he chose Hoenn.

After some hesitation on gender, he still went with female, because Baimu was hoping to encounter Miniskirt, who had come to Hoenn to take part in the tournament.

Starter Pokémon—

Huh?

He blinked, and actually saw the silhouettes of the Hoenn starters up there.

Torchic, Mudkip, and Treecko were all selectable!

Baimu couldn't help but be overjoyed; his gaze drifted among the three, and he ultimately chose Mudkip.

In terms of clearing the gyms alone, Mudkip's final evolution had both Water and Ground typing—its offensive coverage and resistances were both extremely solid, so neither the early game nor the late game should be too difficult.

Of course, if you were just playing a game, it didn't matter which you picked; but given the anime setting, considering things holistically was better.

Next came choosing talents.

Well aware of how important this thing was, he clicked it open with great enthusiasm, hoping to see another blue talent—surely a semifinal finish would grant a blue talent, right?

Unfortunately.

He was overthinking it; getting a blue talent last time really had just been luck—this time, what appeared before him was once again a bunch of old friends.

Fixed Talent:

【Greenhorn (Pokémon training progress is slow)】

Choose Talents:

【All Thumbs (Pokémon health management is sloppy)】

【Elite System (Won't catch too many Pokémon)】

【Hot-Blooded Youth (Mindset is always positive and upbeat)】

【Never Abandon (Won't abandon Pokémon)】

This……

"Why's my luck so terrible today?"

Baimu muttered to himself, his voice tinged with disappointment.

The Chansey in his arms didn't understand what its trainer was saying, but still obediently sat still without moving.

The die was cast.

The drawn talents couldn't be changed; after deliberating, he gave up on All Thumbs and the brainless Hot-Blooded Youth, and chose Elite System and Never Abandon.

A new round of simulation began.

But even though this new simulation subject appeared in Littleroot Town, Baimu's heart didn't stir up that same feeling of a perfect start he'd had the previous two times.

"……Picnicker?"

He took in her outfit, and the name of this type of trainer inevitably surfaced in his mind.

Picnicker, also known as Hiker Girl, was the female trainer counterpart to Camper; her sprite was just as cute as Miniskirt's.

But how to put it—with Miniskirt's masterpiece already there, Baimu really couldn't work up much interest in this one with only ordinary talents.

Perhaps it was because his expectations were too high.

He thought to himself, and began watching Picnicker girl's little story.

However.

Ten minutes passed.

Baimu gradually felt a bit bored; seeing Picnicker girl successfully defeat the Mauville Gym and catch a Hariyama as a new Pokémon didn't excite him at all.

Why?

He understood it was because Picnicker girl's story was too ordinary.

Her story was like Baimu playing Emerald with all the major and minor events stripped out, leaving only the basic gameplay of challenging gyms, random wild encounters, and catching wild Pokémon.

Of course, Hoenn's various gyms still had a bit of novelty, since this was his first time simulating Hoenn.

But that was all it amounted to.

The pixelated footage cut heavily on the picnic girl's training and bonding with her Pokémon, leaving only some cheap-effects battle scenes and a few clips of catching new Pokémon.

Very peaceful, very beautiful, no burdens at all, traveling with a single goal in mind — a life like that was deeply longed for, yet didn't have much real appeal to watch.

All Baimu couldn't decide what the picnic girl did, only passively watching it all, so naturally he'd find it boring, feeling it wasn't as good as playing the game himself.

However.

He understood that perhaps trainers in other regions lived just like this, and that someone like Miniskirt — exciting and special — was actually the exception.

In the end, under his gaze, the picnic girl from Verdant Town, just before the Lily of the Valley Conference began, successfully defeated her eighth Gym Leader — Adam — and earned the right to enter the tournament.

And for someone who had barely scraped through eight Gyms, naturally she couldn't achieve any particularly good results at the conference.

To those giant wheels capable of contending for the championship, she was like a single leaf-boat in a storm, rocking back and forth, in danger of capsizing at any moment.

The preliminaries were gotten through with some difficulty.

In the very first round of the primary selection, she ran into a strong opponent; fortunately her ace Swampert burst into form on the spot and used its Torrent Ability to defeat the enemy.

Her good luck ended there.

【Simulation Ended】

All Baimu stared at those four big characters, his heart as calm as could be, feeling as though he'd just watched a nutrient-free short video.

"If I lived in an ordinary family in another region, and didn't have the simulator as a cheat, would I also be like that picnic girl — completely lost in the crowd?"

He couldn't help but let his imagination run.

In his past life he hadn't been any particularly outstanding individual, much less a leader of any industry; even if he'd luckily transmigrated, it was entirely possible he'd eventually drown among the masses.

One had to remember that a Champion was the one-in-a-million, the one-in-ten-million — he didn't know how many enemies he'd have to defeat to grow to that point.

Could the bit of Pokémon knowledge he'd picked up from games, anime, and wikis alone help him reach the very peak?

"As expected… I still don't want to be ordinary."

All Baimu patted his cheeks, his resolve to keep growing even firmer.

He felt this simulator hadn't only brought him all kinds of rewards, but had shown him just how many trainers in this world had drowned in history without even a ripple.

In front of the "protagonist," these people were nothing but a backdrop.

Strong as Miniskirt was, facing the future Elite Four member Karen she had no power to resist at all.

He took a deep breath and looked at this round's rewards.

The picnic girl's final result was top thirty-two in the primary selection, so the rewards ought to be richer than the first three times.

"—Oh ho?"

All Baimu raised an eyebrow.

【Reward Choice One: Any Pokémon gains three levels (below Lv. 50)】

【Reward Choice Two: A clue to an obtainable Pokémon (Excellent)】

【Reward Choice Three: Skill — one random Ground-type move (can be chosen for a Pokémon to learn)】

【Reward Choice Four: Carry the talent 【Never Abandon】 over to the next simulation round】

Top four gave a reward of two levels for anything below seventy; top thirty-two gave three levels for anything below fifty.

What did this prove?

It proved that raising a Pokémon near level seventy was far, far harder than near level fifty!

Otherwise, judged by level alone, top four would actually be worse than top thirty-two.

Right then, All Baimu had a clearer understanding of training Pokémon.

Although this time there was no fixed TM reward, it made Reward Three's skill reward become a random Ground-type move; as for Reward Two's excellent Pokémon…

What did "excellent" mean?

High level? Relatively rare?

All Baimu still had an unspent Pokémon of a designated type, so he really didn't lack that sort of thing.

And the moment he chose Rewards One and Three, a line of small text appeared in the skills column — 【Earth Power】.

Earth Power?

Did this count as pulling an SSR?