Chapter 734: Pure Overwhelming Battle

The next day, he arrived at the arena.

All Baimu learned that many people last night hadn't had their fill of battling during the day, so some had organized matches in the evening as well.

During that time, some minor trouble had broken out because of unwillingness to accept the results.

But the conflict between both sides was quickly suppressed by Zhengyi, who had been present at the time, so no one came to disturb All Baimu after his shift ended.

"That bunch of brats call Iron Town the countryside, and they call us country bumpkins."

Though Otsuka was clearly recounting his grievances, his manner was exactly like a toady secretly tattling to the teacher — from which one could tell that Iron Town had most likely had the upper hand in last night's clash.

A few clues could also be gleaned from the expressions on both sides.

All Baimu glanced at the anger on the faces of the young visitors from Silph Co. City across from him, then looked at his own group of grinning, laughing old hands — how could he not know the outcome of the squabble?

"Mouthing off is fine, but hands stay still. Understood?"

His voice wasn't loud, yet every Iron Town trainer present fell silent at once upon hearing it.

"H-how could we possibly throw hands? They're just a bunch of brats."

"Right! Boss All Baimu looks down on us too much!"

"We're all reasonable people!"

The crowd hastened to argue/explain themselves.

All Baimu's gaze swept over everyone present; each one unconsciously lowered their head, without a shred of courage to meet his eyes.

His gaze finally settled on Did Did Yin Ma, who was so guilty he was wound tight as a spring. Seeing the latter drenched in sweat, All Baimu said, word by word: "Let's hope so."

After speaking, he turned his head back, and Did Did Yin Ma immediately glared furiously at Otsuka.

'We agreed not to tell Boss All Baimu!'

'Boss would've found out sooner or later anyway — if we really hid it from him, when it came out he wouldn't just lift it high and set it down gently like this!'

Otsuka hurriedly replied with a look.

Last night, the two sides had indeed nearly come to blows while arguing — otherwise Zhengyi wouldn't have stepped in over a mere war of words.

The five from the first round took the field.

All Baimu folded his arms and silently pondered.

Otsuka had basically told him the specific situation. On the surface, the cause of the quarrel was a momentary battle result, but the actual root cause was closely tied to contradictions like regional discrimination, the differing backgrounds of upper and lower classes, and age gaps.

Clearly, after the shadow team of shared contradictions disappeared, new contradictions gradually arose — not only between wild Pokémon and humans.

But also contradictions within the wild Pokémon themselves — Pokémon like Lycanroc who had lost the fight for living space — and contradictions within humans — potential disputes arising from regional environments, and so on.

What All Baimu cared about was whether this quarrel would affect the fixed exchange between the two regions that he intended to establish afterward.

He only learned yesterday while having lunch with Mountain Shrimp that this group of trainers who came for the exchange were all from wealthy families, and might harbor special purposes —

wanting to build good relations with him, to invest in him, that sort of thing.

Yet so far no one had privately contacted him — were they just thin-skinned?

Who knows.

In any case, as long as it didn't affect his subsequent series of plans, whoever came and whatever their purpose was all irrelevant.

All Baimu watched below with utter boredom.

And as one intense battle after another passed, time quickly reached the end of the afternoon, and the formal battles of this exchange drew near their close.

Over eighty people had taken part in nearly two hundred matches in total, but the battles that left a certain impression on All Baimu could be counted on one hand — one could only say both sides' trainers still had considerable room to grow.

Just as his past simulations had shown, those truly outstanding in talent were, after all, few.

At Zhengyi's suggestion, All Baimu, as the instructor, swapped positions with him and came before the Silph Co. City trainers, to give evaluations of their performance over the past two days.

It was nothing more than highlighting the more common mistakes everyone had made, then offering a few words of encouragement. Since becoming an instructor, All Baimu had long grown accustomed to this sort of thing.

He hadn't expected them to listen quite so attentively, even frantically raising hands to speak.

Aside from some boring topics like asking whether he had a girlfriend, whether all the girls in Hoenn were good-looking, whether they could trade Pokémon, or asking him to help raise their Pokémon.

All Baimu focused on answering a few questions about battling and training, drawing a round of applause.

Just as he was about to wrap up.

The boy Jin Ge, with whom he'd happened to chat a few words yesterday, raised his hand and asked:

"Teacher All Baimu! I want to challenge you! Would you agree to have a Pokémon battle with me!"

Hah!?

A group of boys and girls turned their heads toward him in astonishment. Not far away, Fude squeezed over furiously, grabbed his collar, and shouted: "Jin Ge, you bastard —"

"Cut it out, Fude!"

Sully beside him hurriedly reached out to pull them apart, and the others also stepped in to block between the two.

Jin Ge never once looked at Fude from start to finish, his gaze only fixed intently on All Baimu, his eyes full of sincerity and longing.

"That student over there…"

All Baimu raised a hand, trying to call Fude back, when another voice rang out from the other side.

"Teacher All Baimu! I want to challenge you too! Please give me this chance!"

The speaker was the young lady who had battled Lady Ayana earlier — he remembered her name was Marin, the strongest among this batch of Silph Co. City trainers apart from Zhengyi.

A rustling of whispers rose.

"Big Sis Marin really went and issued the challenge! I heard the whole reason she joined the team was for this!"

"What's Jin Ge butting in for?"

"Fude's such an embarrassment — scared his sister's slot would be snatched by Jin Ge. What must Teacher All Baimu think of us now?"

"So rude! No wonder he was left to fend for himself and banned from the family business!"

Already planned?

All Baimu wasn't surprised in the slightest that he'd be challenged — any trainer who aspired to strength couldn't possibly pass up the chance to challenge another strong trainer.

"Alright, since you've asked, I agree."

He nodded in acceptance; such casual behavior startled the group of boys and girls, stirring an inexplicable eagerness within them.

However.

Before anyone else could muster the courage to speak, Baimu said first: "That's enough. We have a match coming up with your director, and it's getting late—your Pokémon need rest. If anyone else wants to challenge, they can do so at the next exchange."

He drew a simple picture of a cake and told Malin and Jin Ge: "I'll inform your teacher. The battle will happen shortly—any objections before you face your teacher?"

"None!" both replied in unison.

"Good."

Baimu turned to find Zhengyi.

After he left, the trainers from Silicon Beryllium City began condemning Fu De, accusing him of bringing shame upon their city with his reckless behavior and likely leaving a bad impression on Baimu.

Everyone could overlook their usual antics, but harming everyone's interests was unacceptable!

For the first time, Fu De was openly blamed by so many; seeing his usual cronies refuse to defend him and his sister Malin acting as if it had nothing to do with her, he stormed off in a rage.

Malin's friend asked if she should chase after him.

"Leave him alone. It's just the childish tantrum of someone who thinks too highly of himself—it only causes me trouble. Let him figure it out himself; only then will he remember."

How could Malin possibly chase after him? Not hitting Fu De was already generous.

He nearly ruined her plans!

On the other side.

Baimu briefly explained the challenge to Zhengyi, casually mentioning Fu De and Jin Ge.

From what he could tell, Fu De had been the one provoking Jin Ge repeatedly; since he didn't know their relationship or whether past conflicts existed, he wouldn't intervene directly.

Instead, he simply informed Zhengyi, the teacher with direct authority, to handle it.

Whether it was bullying or just a quarrel between friends, at least something could be done.

"Understood."

Zhengyi replied, then added enthusiastically: "I've developed a new tactic—you'd better be ready!"

Baimu smirked, saying nothing.

There was a vast gap in strength between him and Zhengyi; ordinary tactics couldn't bridge it, given the differences between animated and game battles.

Still.

It sounded oddly exciting!

——

The battle was quickly arranged.

The arena's trainers seemed to have forgotten their rejection of Baimu a week ago; upon hearing someone challenge him, they all grew indignant.

"Crush these overconfident brats!"

"Go, Boss Baimu!"

"Show them Huang Tie Town isn't to be trifled with!"

Dozens of shouts echoed like thunder; the teenagers from Silicon Beryllium City were too frightened to speak, unsure whether to cheer for their own contestant.

In the arena.

Baimu looked across at Jin Ge and, seeing his calm expression, relaxed.

Whether one could remain unaffected by external noise was a crucial factor in combat power—if ten thousand spectators screamed at you during a tournament and your mental resilience was too weak, you couldn't even perform at your true level.

"As for choice—"

His hand brushed his waist; though he'd wanted to give a teaching battle, time was already late, and if he remembered correctly, this man had already fought four times today—his remaining energy was nearly gone. How much could he truly learn from a prolonged teaching match?

Better to cut straight to the point.

"End this quickly—yours!"

He threw out a Poké Ball.

Boom!

A white light flashed; Gulpin landed on one foot, its large, watery eyes fixed ahead.

"Kee-doh~"

"Gulpin..."

Jin Ge's lips tightened slightly; his heart pounded rapidly.

The long-awaited battle had finally come. Having studied Baimu's battle footage repeatedly, he knew Gulpin's power well—but he did not retreat. His goal was modest.

Just defeat one of Baimu's Pokémon!

"Go!"

He sent out Scizor.

"Haa-sha!"

The crimson Scizor landed, its massive pincers opening and closing with a sound like two guillotines scraping against each other.

Gulpin was primarily a close-range Pokémon; with Scizor's reflexes, as long as it avoided being hit head-on by Gulpin's fists and strengthened itself with Iron Defense...

"Flame Wheel."

Whoosh!

A wave of heat surged toward him!

Jin Ge saw only a blur; a sharp crack rang in his ear—Gulpin vanished from its spot, replaced by a sunken pit and a blazing fireball hurtling straight at Scizor!

"Dodge!" he shouted urgently.

"Haa-sha!"

Scizor reacted as swiftly as before, its insect wings vibrating rapidly as it leapt left—its timely movement allowed it to narrowly evade Gulpin's flying Flame Wheel.

How could it be this fast!

Jin Ge had always understood clearly that watching other battles and fighting in person were two completely different things, but the battle with Baimu still exceeded his imagination.

"Shadow Split—"

His command cut off abruptly before it could finish.

The reason was that after crossing past Scizor, the Absol that had missed its pounce actually spun around to counterattack, and the Scizor, which had just turned sideways, couldn't dodge — its left pincer was bitten by Absol's flame-wreathed massive jaw!

Boom!

Flames violently surged, completely engulfing Scizor.

"Hasaa!!"

The searing pain made it let out a shriek, and only then did Jin Ge issue his command.

By the time the last word was spoken, Scizor was already charred black all over, collapsed on the ground, with only its right pincer — the one bitten by Absol — still raised high.

The spectator stands on both sides fell silent.

Immediately after, the Yellow Iron Town side erupted in thunderous cheers, while the Silvery City side sharply sucked in cold breaths.

A one-hit KO?

That was a one-hit KO, right!?

Too outrageous! Scizor actually fell this easily!

Zheng Yi excitedly raised his hand to slap the railing, then suddenly remembered he was Jin Ge's teacher and couldn't show it so obviously, so he restrained his movements.

But Baimu's strength truly made him, who styled himself a pursuer, feel delighted — one day he would surpass Baimu and Bartras, and become the strongest in Ore.

Inside the arena.

Absol released Scizor's pincer and walked back to its trainer: "Chido?"

"Use it, wait for him to send out a new Pokémon."

Baimu touched the Keystone in his embrace and looked at Jin Ge across the way, who was repeatedly slapping his own face to calm himself down.

The gap between the two sides was actually similar to that between Cynthia and Paul back then, except Paul's chosen mode was an all-out battle, stubbornly sending out five to seek an opportunity.

Jin Ge didn't get the chance to send out five — three and it was over.

Scizor returned to its Poké Ball, and the newly appearing Pokémon was a great sword embedded in a round shield — Aegislash.

Trying to use King's Shield to lower Absol's Attack?

Baimu revealed a faint smile, drew the Keystone from his embrace, looked at Jin Ge who was growing increasingly braced for battle, and said: "Mega Evolution!"

Roar!

Gale howled, violent energy fluctuations surged from Absol's body, the ground trembled slightly, and countless dust and sand blasted into the sky.

Aegislash instinctively flew backward some distance, and Jin Ge was equally tense.

A few seconds later.

The gale subsided, and the Mega Absol, whose form resembled a shrine maiden, stood silently in place — its twin-tail-like massive jaws utterly ferocious, radiating a terrifying aura all over its body.

As Jin Ge wished, Mega Absol launched its attack.

Boom!

The familiar muffled sound — Mega Absol vanished on the spot, and Jin Ge hurriedly commanded: "King's Shield!"

【King's Shield】.

Aegislash's signature move, possessing the same power as Protect, except it additionally carries the special effect of lowering the Attack stat of any Pokémon that makes contact with it.

For Jin Ge, as long as King's Shield took effect, he still had hope to keep fighting.

However.

What greeted Aegislash was not Mega Absol's fist.

When the massive round shield of light rose up, Mega Absol's flickering figure appeared in front of Aegislash — it tapped the ground with one foot and spiraled, and a pink storm instantly rose from the earth!

"Fairy Wind!"

Boom!

The pink hurricane slammed into the shield of light — though it couldn't shake it, it gradually caused the shield to blur and dissolve into a fading afterimage.

Jin Ge's eyes went wide as he shouted: "Quick! Fly up into the sky!"

Aegislash tried to fly into the sky, but how could Mega Absol possibly let it escape — it leaped up with the force of its spin!

It actually flew above Aegislash at an even faster speed.

"Stomp."

"Chido!"

Mega Absol elegantly twirled its body, the twin jaws behind its head like two heavy hammers, flashing with a dark gleam, and smashed viciously into Aegislash!

Clang!

Amid a crisp sound like a hammer striking an iron wok, Aegislash clattered to the ground.

Jin Ge's 【Destiny Bond】 had only just reached the back of his throat.

Second one, taken down!