Chapter 731: Losing Is Losing

In the corridor.

Baimu came face to face with Jin Ge, whose face and bangs were damp.

Though there may have been repeated luck involved, the opponent's performance in the latter half was quite good—many trainers of similar age in the outside world might not reach this level.

He was considering whether to compliment him first before offering a few reminders, but the other stepped forward first, nodded in greeting, and halted to step aside and clear the path.

"You've worked hard!" Jin Ge muttered.

Hierarchical etiquette… Is this the custom in Silicon Beryllium City? Perhaps he comes from the upper class.

—Forget it.

Young people all have pride, including himself; what he thought was a helpful reminder might seem like condescending criticism to them.

"Your battle just now was well fought."

Baimu smiled and said.

But before he had taken a few steps, Jin Ge's voice came again from behind:

"Master Baimu, may I ask—was your opponent personally trained by you?"

Hm?

Baimu turned his head to look at the respectful young man and replied, "What do you consider 'training'?"

Jin Ge froze, suddenly at a loss for how to answer.

"I only taught them the basic knowledge of Pokémon." Baimu did not play cryptic; after speaking, he walked straight into the restroom.

Regardless of what motive this child had in asking this question, there was no need to conceal the truth.

In the trainer's world, strength is everything.

Jin Ge left in silence.

He immediately regretted saying it—the answer didn't matter at all, because he was the final victor; Yin Ma was his defeated opponent.

But why did he feel so conflicted?

Could it be… that he feared losing to that guy?

Afraid that the one everyone praised as a battle prodigy would lose to an unknown minor figure, eager to prove the other's strength stemmed from some unavoidable reason.

Jin Ge swayed slightly, suddenly realizing he might be no different from Fu De.

But how could he admit it?

—

The battle arena.

The defeated Yin Ma did not know he had nearly shattered the pride of a wealthy heir; he was lost in the fury of defeat and the despair of impending punishment.

Surprisingly, the former weighed slightly heavier.

This made Yin Ma, who was used to losing, find it unbelievable.

In the past, when he lost, he only felt embarrassed and thought he could just win next time, then promptly forgot where he had failed.

Now, his mind raced uncontrollably, replaying the battle over and over, regretting every wrong judgment he made, regretting not having trained his Pokémon to learn more moves earlier.

"Yin Ma."

"Yin Ma!"

The calls echoed in his ears, pulling his vacant gaze back to reality.

"W-what is it, big brother?"

He looked toward Yin Yuan, who had called him.

Yin Yuan's expression was complex—he had never seen Yin Ma so shattered by a battle defeat, and couldn't help comforting him: "Don't dwell too much on temporary wins and losses. I heard your opponent is the strongest trainee at the Training Center, so…"

"But losing is losing—doesn't it have nothing to do with the opponent's identity?"

Yin Ma blurted out instinctively, then noticed the stunned expressions around him; only then did he turn pale and frantically wave his hands at Yin Yuan: "Big brother! That's not what I meant! I—"

Big brother rarely comforted anyone—he had just talked back!

"What's going on? What's all the shouting?"

Baimu strolled over.

Cheng Hong quietly recounted the conversation between Yin Yuan and Yin Ma.

Baimu chuckled in surprise: "Huh? Did Yin Ma say that? Good kid! You're starting to look like a real trainer!"

He looked around at everyone present and said: "Yin Ma is absolutely right! Losing is losing. You can find reasons—like insufficient practice, or wrong judgments during battle—but don't let the opponent's identity, status, or strength become your excuse for losing!"

"Oh!"

Cheng Hong and many others immediately responded; some glanced at Yin Yuan.

Though they admired Baimu, they had not forgotten who their true leader was.

Yin Yuan did not reply at first; he looked at the anxious Yin Ma, his wide eyes softening quickly, and he reached out his massive hand to ruffle Yin Ma's hair, saying with satisfaction: "Yes! Just as Yin Ma and Master Baimu said! Win or lose has nothing to do with the opponent's identity!"

Only then did everyone relax and respond in unison.

"Remember this!"

Baimu didn't care about the attitude of that small group—he was here to cultivate trainers, not to vie for power with Yin Yuan or build his own faction.

If he truly wanted to do that, he'd just tell Yin Yuan he wanted to take over the Huang Tie Arena; Yin Yuan would probably accept on the spot and shake his hand saying, "Thank you!"

Far away.

The people of Silicon Beryllium City were curious about what the other side was saying, why they suddenly raised their voices.

Zheng Yi was scolding the defeated trainees for their low-level mistakes in battle—he was still a responsible gym leader.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so many wealthy families sending their children here.

"Fighting exchange matches against trainers from Huang Tie Town and ending up with a score like this? Even if you go out, you won't achieve anything!"

Zheng Yi's scolding made the defeated trainees hang their heads; the other trainers' faces were grim as well.

This secretly pleased him.

Those little rascals were usually hard to manage. Apart from him, the training center had many teachers, but only a precious few could keep them in line — every one of them had their nose in the air, insufferably arrogant.

As a result, teachers often came to him to complain, or even quit on the spot.

Now that they'd suffered a crushing setback here in Iron Town, as the gym leader he said nothing, but was actually a little pleased — increasingly glad he'd agreed to Baimu's proposal.

Beneficial to all!

More exchanges like this, please!

He looked toward Baimu across the way, and Baimu happened to look over at the same moment. Their eyes met, and both nodded in greeting with faces full of smiles.

The morning of the first day of the exchange.

A total of thirty three-on-three singles matches were held. In the end, Iron Town won thirteen, Silicon Beryllium City won sixteen, and one match ended in a draw.

The trainers of Silicon Beryllium City were ultimately stronger overall than those of Iron Town — especially the older ones, who basically won very cleanly all the way through, forcibly overturning the score.

The Iron Town folk went from their original simple wish of not being chased by a Rockruff, to later a burning desire to pull the score back.

Punishment or no punishment — they no longer cared.

They had visibly developed something called a sense of collective honor.

Unfortunately, the first half of the opening day didn't go as they'd hoped.

However, virtually every Silicon Beryllium City trainer had already taken a turn, while Iron Town still had some who hadn't had a chance to appear.

For instance, Lady Ayana and Kendall — Baimu had arranged for them to battle in the afternoon. The Iron Town trainers were hoping the two of them, especially the latter, could take some of the wind out of the opponents' sails.

Noon.

Mountain Shrimp had already arranged food and lodging for the Silicon Beryllium City group, so Baimu didn't need to worry.

"Next time I'll bring more people," Zhengyi said.

Baimu smiled and said, "That would be more than welcome. You've worked hard, Gym Leader Zhengyi."

Zhengyi hurriedly waved his hand. "Not at all, not at all."

"Then shall we say one o'clock this afternoon?"

"One o'clock."

The leaders exchanged pleasantries, but the many trainers standing behind them each took a dislike to the other side.

One side thought the opponents were country bumpkins who could only wrangle with them thanks to Baimu's power — utterly lacking in manners.

The other side thought the opponents were nothing but flowers grown in a greenhouse — arrogant little brats whose family money was the only reason their Pokémon had been raised to this level.

In short.

This was what happened when a friendly exchange failed to produce any friendship.

—

Time quickly arrived at the afternoon.

Both sides, and both sides' Pokémon, after several hours of rest, had for the most part recovered to full condition.

Everyone was rubbing their fists together, eager to defeat the other side.

The selection phase.

Lady Ayana volunteered, saying, "Let me open."

Baimu followed her gaze toward the opposite side. The most eye-catching performer among the Silicon Beryllium City trainers that morning — a girl named Malin — had also stepped up as a first-round contestant.

"Fine."

He nodded.

The remaining four slots also had people wanting to volunteer, but Baimu refused.

Some trainers from the morning still hadn't had a chance to battle — they had to be given the opportunity to fight, regardless of their strength.

Winning was not the main purpose of an exchange.

Arrangements on both sides completed.

The first round of the afternoon's exchange match kicked off as both sides released their Pokémon.

Lady Ayana's first pick was undoubtedly her beloved giant Swampert — an extraordinarily unusual specimen that drew gasps from the Silicon Beryllium City trainers.

Malin, meanwhile, chose one she hadn't used in the first half — a humanoid big-eared mouse that looked like it was wearing a scarf and cape.

Cinccino, then… wonder what its Ability is.

Baimu figured that in the games it would basically be Skill Link, but in the anime it was hard to say — Hidden Abilities were relatively rare and precious.

The two Pokémon met. Swampert immediately retreated toward the back baseline, while Cinccino charged forward.

"Nyo—"

Amid that simple, honest sound, a dark cloud gathered from thin air beneath the arena's dome.

Rain poured down.

Cinccino acted as if it hadn't noticed, spewing a great number of glowing green projectiles from its mouth — unmistakably a Grass-type move: Bullet Seed.

Judging by the frequency and total volume of its fire, Baimu concluded that this Cinccino's Ability was almost certainly Skill Link.

In that case, Swampert really couldn't just charge in head-on — it would risk being wiped out in an instant.

What was astonishing, however, was that when the raindrops landed on Cinccino, they slid off as if hitting a protective membrane.

Baimu turned to ask Silver Horse, "Why do you think the rain can't soak Cinccino's fur?"

"Uh…"

Silver Horse couldn't answer right away.

Baimu turned his head. "Naruhiro!"

"It's because Cinccino secretes an oil that it spreads all over its fur, so its fur doesn't attract dust or static at all — it can even slide enemy attacks off!" Naruhiro rattled it off in one breath, like reciting from a textbook.

"Very good." Baimu nodded approvingly.

At the same time, Lady Ayana swiftly recalled the massive Bog King.

The Pokémon that replaced it was Squirtle, one of the classic Kanto starter trio, its expression as dull-witted as the Bog King's wide-eyed gaze.

It was hard to imagine that someone as sharp as Lady Ayana would favor a Pokémon with such a dim-witted aura.

"There!"

Chinchou, as usual, used Seed Machine Gun against the Water-type Squirtle, its tiny mouth firing emerald-green seeds like a machine gun.

In response, Squirtle chose 【Rocket Headbutt】.

First, it retracted its arms, cannons, and head into its shell; as orange energy spiraled upward from beneath it, the seeds from the Seed Machine Gun whistled through the air and exploded against the shell in bursts of smoke.

Yet they left only faint scratches, proving the shell's incredible hardness.

The next second.

Boom!

Squirtle charged at Chinchou with a speed incongruous with its massive frame!

"Dodge!"

Chinchou dodged frantically, barely avoiding the charge; when it stood up, it clapped its hands innocently, as if praising Squirtle's formidable defense and charging power.

A flash of white light passed.

Lady Ayana commanded Squirtle to use 【Water Gun】, but the latter merely twisted inside its shell with no reaction.

Only the orange glow symbolizing stat enhancement continued to shine.

"Do it again!"

Did Yin Ma exclaimed.

Though Chinchou's movement was subtle, Squirtle's strange behavior was easy to guess—especially since Pokémon hit by the move would be marked with traces of eerie light.

Lady Ayana had suffered the consequence of underestimating Chinchou and could only continue using Rocket Headbutt.

Fortunately, she had not ordered Squirtle to use 【Withdraw】—its effect was identical to the setup for Rocket Headbutt.

Had she used it, Lady Ayana would likely have had to swap Pokémon again in less than two minutes.

At that point, all three Pokémon would be exposed, severely disadvantaging her in the upcoming battle; against Marlin, she must keep at least one Pokémon hidden from her opponent.

"Kamoh!"

Squirtle roared and charged at Chinchou, its massive form enveloped in white light like a heavy artillery shell.

Even without elemental energy, the sheer weight of hundreds of jin would likely be enough to knock Chinchou out.

Marlin understood this too, and had no intention of letting the opportunity slip away; the instant Squirtle charged, she waved her hand and shouted:

"Thunder!"

On a rainy day, Thunder's accuracy greatly increases!

Boom—!

A brilliant bolt of lightning split the sky and struck Squirtle mid-charge, so fast it was nearly instantaneous; bystanders barely had time to react before instinctively closing their eyes.

Boom!

Another heavy crash.

As the lightning faded, everyone saw Squirtle lying charred black where Chinchou had stood, while Chinchou was thrown backward ten meters.

Rocket Headbutt had landed!

But from Chinchou's standing posture, it seemed Rocket Headbutt's power had been dampened by Thunder.

On the other side.

Squirtle swayed unsteadily, black ash continuously drifting from its shell.

Chinchou's 【Thunder】 was powerful, and while its defense boost couldn't block special attacks, its condition was precarious.

Could it survive another Thunder from Chinchou?

Only Lady Ayana, who knew it best, could answer that.

Under the intense gaze of both trainers, Lady Ayana silently pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled Squirtle.

"This is tough."

Baimu shook his head.

Lady Ayana had once been his partial superior, but unfortunately, status within the Sand Team had little to do with battle experience.

In a life-or-death battle, she might be slightly more capable.

Marlin, according to Zhengyi, was a returnee student from outside, a semifinalist of last year's Huiyuan Tournament.

Semifinalist wasn't a great achievement, but what mattered was that she had far more battle experience than Lady Ayana and knew better how to counter different Pokémon.

In contrast, Lady Ayana had only officially begun last week.