Chapter 727: Baimu

Morning hours.

Two floating buses entered Huang Tie Town.

Inside the front vehicle, Jin Ge gazed out the window, his quiet demeanor standing out against the noisy chatter of his companions.

"Didn't expect this backwater place to develop so well."

"True—I heard from my uncle that when he came here before, the people of Huang Tie Town couldn't even afford clothes, their faces so black they looked like primitive savages!"

"That's exaggerated! Your uncle must've been lying to you."

"Why would he lie? Everyone used to call Huang Tie Town a barbaric land far removed from civilization."

"Wow!"

"The people here should be grateful to the Rescue Organization and Chairman Disney."

Teenage boys and girls chattered like little Sparrowats, their words tinged with a hint of arrogance.

This sense of superiority came both from Silicon Beryllium City's superior development and from their own distinguished family backgrounds.

In old Huang Tie Town, owning a Pokémon was the only way to rise from pure exploitation to becoming an "upper class" that exploited others.

But in old Silicon Beryllium City, Pokémon battles were no different from aristocratic pastimes.

Wealthy families sent their children to Trainer Training Centers—not only to keep them from joining the Shadow Team, but also to expose them to Pokémon battling, the globally popular competitive sport.

To prepare them for future study abroad life.

Even if the Rescue Organization had never broken the Third-Generation Shadow Team's rule, their affluent lives before adulthood would've remained untouched.

A group of greenhouse flowers.

Jin Ge secretly looked down on them—these boring fools talked endlessly about Huang Tie Town, yet each and every one of them was already fidgeting with anticipation.

The reason was simple.

That person was in Huang Tie Town.

He turned what was supposed to be a unified arrangement into an internal competition, causing some who were originally meant to come to stay behind.

"Jin Ge! Why are you sitting all alone over here? There's fun stuff outside!"

The girl named Su Li asked with a cheerful grin, her lively demeanor like a young Season Deer.

Jin Ge shook his head. "Nothing. Just looking around."

His half-hearted reply didn't dampen Su Li's enthusiasm; she sat beside him, her voice filled with awe: "We'll meet Baimu soon—I wonder if he's as handsome in person."

At the mention of Baimu, Jin Ge's languid gaze stirred slightly.

Though his name hadn't yet spread across all of Orai Continent, within Orai's Trainer circles, he was already legendary.

Everyone already knew the prestige of winning both the League Conference and the Grand Display, and of being the top Sinnoh Four Heavenly Kings—through stories told by older siblings who returned from studying abroad.

Only after seeing the true breadth of the outside world could one grasp just how unbelievable Baimu's achievements were.

Jin Ge had originally planned to travel once his family stabilized, but upon learning Baimu had returned from his journey, he delayed his departure.

He wanted to meet Baimu once before leaving.

His original plan was to deliver a visiting card once Baimu arrived in Silicon Beryllium City—yet unexpectedly, Gym Leader Zhengyi had reached an exchange agreement with Baimu for battles between the two arenas.

An unexpected surprise.

"I care less about his appearance—I want to see his Pokémon, preferably battle them," Jin Ge's reply surprised Su Li.

She quickly said, "Yes, yes! Even Gym Leader Zhengyi couldn't beat him—he's incredible!"

As if realizing she'd said something wrong, she glanced cautiously toward the front of the bus, where Zhengyi sat.

Seeing their words were drowned out by other people's chatter, she exhaled in relief.

Zhengyi's roadside battle with Baimu had been recorded and uploaded online; the outside world's reaction was unclear, but it had sparked heated discussion within Silicon Beryllium City.

Though young, Zhengyi's strength was undeniable.

Many believed that even outside his region, he could easily become a Four Heavenly King—yet he lost so easily to Baimu.

Was Zhengyi just weak, or was Baimu just too strong?

Many leaned toward the latter.

"Jin Ge! Why are you hiding quietly in the back?"

A tall boy walked over, one hand resting on the seatback, his expression smug: "I know what you're thinking, but I advise you to give up—Baimu's challenge will go to my sister, not you!"

Jin Ge ignored him.

The boy snorted derisively. "Keep being arrogant. Don't end up losing even to trainers from this backwater—how will you have the nerve to challenge him?"

After delivering his threat, he returned to the front, continuing to critique Huang Tie Town's environment with the others.

Su Li clenched her pink fists in anger. "Fu De is such a jerk! What does his sister's strength have to do with him? Besides, Sister Ma Lin only made it to the semifinals of the Huiyuan Conference!"

Recently, the global League Conferences ended, and many wealthy students studying abroad returned home.

Among them, besides Baimu, the best performer was Fu De's sister, Ma Lin—her semifinal placement at the Huiyuan Conference in Unova was enough to tower over everyone their age.

Ma Lin was now seated in the second bus, joining them for this exchange event.

"Hmm."

Jin Ge gave no clear response.

He had battled Ma Lin before—and lost badly, which made Fu De, his former subordinate, ecstatic, and now he clung to Jin Ge like a Stunky.

Childish fool.

Not long after.

Their destination—Huang Tie Arena—arrived.

The group spilled out, gaping at the steampunk-style exterior of the arena.

"So… so run-down…"

"Is this for real?"

"Is it safe to fight in a place like this? Will the ceiling suddenly collapse?"

"No one even came out to greet us? The manners in this backwater are terrible! We haven't even had them line up to welcome us!"

"Shut your mouths! Anyone who doesn't want to be here can get back on the bus right now!"

Zheng Yi barked loudly—he had prepared for a week to fight again, and he didn't want these clueless rich kids to drag him down and ruin his chance.

The arena owner's authority was still strong; the talkative teenagers quickly fell silent.

Meanwhile.

From the second vehicle, more than a dozen people stepped out, around twenty years old, each with a different expression as they gazed at the arena.

Zheng Yi did not rush in; he pulled out his phone and called Baimu.

The call connected immediately.

Baimu appeared at the main entrance.

"My apologies for not meeting you sooner! I didn't expect you here so early!" He smiled warmly as he stepped forward and shook Zheng Yi's hand: "Why didn't you call ahead, Zheng Yi? I could've had everyone come out to welcome you."

So he hadn't notified us!

The teenagers narrowed their eyes at their own arena owner.

Zheng Yi remained expressionless: "Skip the unnecessary formalities. I prefer something more practical… and so do they."

"Hah! Zheng Yi, you're truly a practical trainer. Shall we go inside?"

Baimu's gaze swept quickly over everyone present, lingering on no one, and walked in ahead of Zheng Yi, the leader.

Jin Ge stood at the back of the crowd, his eyes locked on Baimu, his breathing slightly quickened.

Finally, I've seen him.

The legendary Baimu!

Just as the Disney chairman described—calm, confident in every gesture, handsome of face, tall and powerfully built.

He's far more charismatic in person than in the battle videos!

Most of all, those eyes—the moment they looked at him, Jin Ge felt a sudden unease, as if a terrifying creature had fixed its gaze on him, and he instinctively looked away.

Only when he realized did he regret it.

Wouldn't it be easier to challenge him later if I made a strong first impression?

Jin Ge wandered into the arena lost in thought, while Su Li, who had chatted with him on the bus, gushed to her friend about how stunning Baimu looked in person.

Others were also excitedly discussing something.

Inside the arena.

Did Yin Ma and the others had gathered, their gazes fixed on the trainers from Silicon Bee City, filled with curiosity.

Some of them had never left Yellow Iron Town in their lives; Silicon Bee City seemed close, yet felt impossibly distant.

Now, seeing trainers from there…

They don't seem special at all—look just like Did Yin Ma!

Just a bunch of kids with money or protection.

"This is Zheng Yi, head of the Silicon Bee City Trainer Training Center and Silicon Bee Arena, along with his students—please give them a warm welcome!"

Baimu announced loudly.

Everyone burst into applause.

Immediately after, Baimu introduced Yin Yuan to Zheng Yi, who was startled to learn that Yin Yuan was the actual arena owner of Yellow Iron Arena.

"I wanted to hand the arena over to Brother Baimu, but he wouldn't take it—I couldn't force him," Yin Yuan said bluntly as always.

No more small talk.

Trainers communicate only through battles.

Zheng Yi brought over thirty students; though they couldn't be paired one-to-one with Did Yin Ma's group, the exchange wasn't limited to a single battle, so no one would be overlooked.

The opening one-on-one battle.

Baimu gave it to Yin Yuan—he didn't want Zheng Yi to lose too badly and demoralize the young trainers from Silicon Bee City.

The arena trainers' resilience had been honed over the past week; they were now strong under pressure.

Zheng Yi, however, felt a pang of regret—he knew he'd get a final battle with Baimu before leaving, but he was eager to fight him now.

Fine, let it be Yin Yuan!

The two arena owners stepped onto their respective trainer platforms; everyone else took seats along the spectator stands.

Normally, to observe Pokémon changes up close and for convenience, Baimu always let everyone watch right outside the battle arena.

But now, with nearly double the number of people, that was no longer possible.

He glanced at the Silicon Bee trainers—they had no clear second-in-command among them, and the group was too noisy to settle down.

In contrast, Did Yin Ma and his group waited quietly for the match to begin.

Those from "Heaven" aren't necessarily "angels"…

I hope the upcoming exchange battles won't disappoint me.

Baimu turned back to the arena, where Yin Yuan and Zheng Yi had just released their Pokémon—

a Pancham and a Sunflora.

The size difference made one worry whether the Sunflora would be torn apart by a single swipe of the Pancham's paw.

"Looks pretty weak…"

"Looks are deceiving! Brother Baimu's Sunflora didn't look strong either—who's ever beaten it?"

"Now that you mention it… true."

The arena trainers couldn't help whispering among themselves.

Baimu crossed his arms—he had personally tested Zheng Yi's strength and knew it far surpassed Yin Yuan's, and the key lay in Zheng Yi's use of strategy.

However, after this week of emergency training, the Silver Ape has also made some progress.

The final outcome may still depend on the specifics of the match.

The battle begins.

Ursaring opens with its usual bodybuilding display, but the Sunflora on the other side has outright abandoned mobility, trading it for sustained recovery through Ingrain.

Isn't that a bit reckless?

Ginma looks over at the group of trainers from Silicium City and notices that they don't look nervous at all — instead, they're chatting and laughing with relaxed expressions.

They seem pretty confident in their Sunflora, huh?

Ginma props his chin up with one hand. Sunflora is a rather uncommon Pokémon in Iron Town, since it's neither fierce nor cute.

It can't fetch a good price in the dungeon, so Pokémon hunters can't be bothered to catch it.

If he hadn't crammed the relevant knowledge this past week, he probably wouldn't even have been able to recall what this Pokémon was on the spot.

He sees Ursaring howling and lunging at Sunflora, thinking that if it could take it out in one hit, those guys across the field would definitely be embarrassed, right?

Too bad.

A one-hit KO was, after all, just Ginma's fantasy.

Ursaring's 【Cut】, powerful enough to shatter boulders, only made Sunflora lean back — and the opponent may have even leaned back on purpose, as its sunflower face aimed at the sky and fired off a pillar of golden light.

Then a phantom sun released its radiance above the field.

The weather move 【Sunny Day】!

Sunflora's intentions are laid bare. The Silver Ape refuses to let it have its way and orders Ursaring to use Yawn.

The result: the moment the smoke from Yawn finished exhaling, Sunflora's 【Solar Beam】 had already finished charging. The golden petals one by one turned pale, and in an instant the entire face turned white along with them.

A massive golden energy sphere formed on its forehead, trembled violently, then transformed into a beam as thick as a bucket that slammed into Ursaring's chest!

Hmmm—

The terrifying energy blast sent Ursaring flying sideways on the spot.

"Not bad in terms of power." Baimu raises an eyebrow, glances at Lady Ayana and Ginma beside him, and asks, "Tell me what information you've gathered from Sunflora so far."

Lady Ayana speaks up: "Sunflora's ability is Solar Power. If it were Chlorophyll, Gym Leader Zhengyi wouldn't have had it use Ingrain and then Sunny Day — the power of that Solar Beam just now proves it."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Sunflora's defense is outstanding! It must have been specifically bred for that! Ursaring's Cut didn't deal much effective damage!" Ginma adds quickly, afraid Lady Ayana will beat him to it.

Baimu nods. "Good answers. So who do you think has the better chance of winning now?"

"Of course it's my big brother! Even though Ursaring got hit by Solar Beam, there's no way it'll go down that easily — Sunflora got hit by Yawn just now!" Ginma is full of confidence in the Silver Ape.

However, the very next second.

"Kyamaa—!!"

Visible white sound waves emanate from Sunflora, and the bizarre noise — like a broken microphone — makes many people cover their ears.

Baimu says to the two of them, "And now?"

"Sunflora used Uproar! It won't fall asleep!" Lady Ayana answers loudly.

Ursaring, who had gotten back up on the field, also covers its ears — but as the target of the attack, simply covering its ears has no effect.

The Silver Ape chooses to fight fire with fire, ordering Ursaring to use Uproar as well.

"Gymaa!!"

The doubled terrifying noise makes the spectators feel as if they've been dropped into a Loudred concert with the volume cranked to max, every single face wearing a mask of agony.

"Now do you understand the importance of coverage? Without the right moves, Boss Silver Ape can only barely keep the stalemate going!" Baimu shouts to everyone.

That's right.

The reason Ursaring didn't use Fire Punch is that it doesn't know it — which also let Zhengyi, after probing, boldly use Sunny Day without worry.

The trainers of the Iron Arena lack awareness of coverage; they never actively learn moves, only using whatever their Pokémon already know, which leaves them helpless when facing certain extreme situations.