Chapter 769: Goodbye Hoenn

"Goodbye—"

All All Baimu cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward the cave entrance, where the Haunter stubbornly refused to leave.

It had wanted to see them off farther.

But it met a sun more eager than itself.

Having never left its cave, the Haunter's "immunity" to sunlight had dropped to zero.

The instant it stepped out of the cave, it couldn't even see what lay before it.

It could only cling to the rocks at the cave's mouth, gazing at the fading silhouettes of All All Baimu and Bellossom, waving its hand in farewell.

"Amaa! Amaa!"

It knew it would miss them.

Miss this hard-won encounter.

By the shore.

All All Baimu and Bellossom wandered aimlessly when he suddenly sighed: "Haunter's convenience store… wouldn't it be great if we had one back home too? We could even find it a companion."

The wild Pokémon around Platinum Mountain were numerous and varied; he'd spotted a few Haunter during his earlier survey.

Though gender was unknown, one might just be female.

"Guh?"

Bellossom glanced at its Trainer—what use was regretting now when you didn't mention it before?

Should we turn back?

It assumed a posture as if ready to turn around.

All All Baimu quickly grabbed it and said: "Forget it, forget it. What if we get turned down again? Where would I put my face then?"

"Guhhhhhhh—"

Bellossom let out an merciless laugh, only quieting after a hard punch to its side.

It loved seeing its Trainer flustered and angry from its teasing—not out of malice, but because this emotion belonged uniquely to it.

After all, with other companions, the Trainer usually acted like a weary, decisive head of household.

Noon.

All All Baimu ate seafood stew rice in Fighting Town.

He'd come here before with Galarian Sunflora, though the latter had given the dish a poor review.

It still did.

"Soun!"

Sunflora angrily shut its eyes, as if to say: don't wake me if you're ever going to eat this again.

"Getting more and more temperamental—don't know who you learned it from."

All All Baimu was indignant.

Logically, when a Trainer takes a Pokémon on a nostalgic trip, revisiting old paths, who would refuse?

Besides, it's delicious!

He finished the stew rice in a few bites, picked up the sleeping Sunflora, and left the restaurant.

The Fighting Gym on the cliff was closed, its door barred; a notice on the board beside it read: "Gym Leader out for special training."

The glue was poor quality, nearly blown off by the sea breeze, flapping noisily.

All All Baimu reattached it firmly, then remembered yesterday's chat with Lukiya, who mentioned Adam performing elsewhere and Miltank hosting the Miltank Cup in Johto.

What's the situation with the Gyms in Hoenn?

So many absences!

His plan to meet Tengshu again fell through; All All Baimu headed to the bustling beach and enthusiastically joined the surfing crowd.

His surfboard, however, was unlike anyone else's—it was the monstrous Bellossom.

"Guh!"

"Hahaha, just like Godzilla!"

He laughed as he rode with the giant beast through the waves, catching out of the corner of his eye others stepping far away, none daring to follow behind him—he immediately calmed his expression and climbed ashore.

Maybe that was a bit uncouth…

Truthfully, he had little interest in surfing; he'd just suddenly remembered doing it before, so he impulsively relived it.

Changed into dry clothes.

All All Baimu boarded the ferry home, glancing back at the shrinking silhouette of Fighting Island.

"Next time I come… I don't know when that'll be."

All tasks completed, he would now step into a familiar yet unfamiliar new adventure.

Goodbye, Hoenn.

Alola! I'm coming!

—

Canaaz City Airport.

Because he bought the ticket last-minute.

So All All Baimu prepared to stay in Hoenn for one or two more days.

Fortunately, he not only secured a first-class ticket but could depart in two hours.

Congratulations.

But unlike the ferry, there were many rules here.

First: no releasing Pokémon from Poké Balls.

Second: accompanying Pokémon must purchase seats, with strict limits on size and weight.

Third: passengers are responsible for managing their own Pokémon.

And so on.

All All Baimu read through them all, hurriedly bought a seat ticket for Jigglypuff—unexpectedly, only half-price.

Of all the Pokémon at home capable of flying, only it was interested.

Reason: movies and TV shows often featured romantic encounters between male and female leads on airplanes—it wanted to experience that too—

Meaning flying, not romance.

Chansey was worried, Gengar had no interest, Dragonite disliked standing out, Dracozolt and Dracovish siblings were too rowdy.

As for Poliwhirl II.

It was far more interested in piloting a plane than riding in one.

This thing had recently become obsessed with "big toys," hoping its Trainer would get it a few large spaceships, cruise ships, or construction vehicles.

If not, just give it raw materials—it would build them itself.

Zero could build it; so could it—no less program than that thing.

Who says mass-produced models are inferior to prototypes?

It's not Gundam.

All All Baimu could only say "maybe later"—though he wasn't short on money now, he wasn't so flush he could afford that level of extravagance.

He also knew that once Poliwhirl II started playing with cars, planes, or ships, one or two wouldn't be enough.

Like buying game skins or figurines—how many people are satisfied with just one or two?

Two hours later.

All All Baimu boarded the plane with Jigglypuff, checking in.

First-class was much roomier than expected: one row of windows on each side, one single row in the center.

Each row held two seats, surrounded by walls with viewing ports, with about two meters of space front and back.

Clearly, one seat was for the Trainer, the other for the Pokémon. If you didn't bring an accompanying Pokémon and skipped the half-price ticket, the spare seat was free.

"Kichido."

Jigglypuff, as All All Baimu expected, was dissatisfied.

In its memory, movie airplane seats were economy or business class—not this first-class setup.

But.

After takeoff, it gradually grew satisfied.

Because Jigglypuff realized movie protagonists' flight scenes lasted at most five or six minutes—while it would be flying for five or six hours.

Very different.

What truly made Jigglypuff happy was when the flight attendant poured it a glass of golden champagne.

It had no interest in alcohol, but this champagne let it take a perfect photo—it had seen many less cute Pokémon on blogs posing with champagne during flights.

"Kichido~"

Jigglypuff grabbed its phone, snapped a selfie with the champagne and the flight attendant's elegant meal, then cheerfully opened its blog.

Wait!

Is the Trainer asleep?

Yes.

It secretly glanced at All All Baimu, confirmed he was wearing an eye mask, and relaxed.

Poliwhirl II had created two blog accounts for it: the main one to appease the Trainer, the small one for its real posts.

Insert image.

Caption: happy. jpg

Sent!

Jigglypuff nodded in satisfaction, heard a faint noise beside it, and immediately switched to its main account, looking guilty.

Fortunately, the Trainer had only moved his hand to a different position.

Inside the phone beside it.

Magnemite II watched all of this without speaking.

The Trainer had once assigned it the task of secretly observing Bellossom and the others, then reporting back—and it had faithfully followed this instruction.

Yet Magnemite II also understood it could not tell the Trainer everything it saw.

Otherwise, if the Trainer accidentally let something slip, wouldn't it be finished?

Snitching behind someone's back was the most hated thing.

Magnemite II refused to become the Pokémon with the worst relationships in the team, so it often gave All All Baimu selective reports.

It preserved everyone's privacy as much as possible while revealing what the Trainer wanted to know.

After all, what the Trainer wanted was simply whether they got along, what they desired in daily life, and what they planned to do.

Jigglypuff's alternate account was harmless; it had observed it for a while, and all the photo likes came from automated bots—no living person at all.

Besides, Jigglypuff wasn't stupid.

It never posted online things the Trainer preferred to keep hidden, like previously captured Legendary Giants.

Its usual posts were only selfies with beauty filters and a pile of afternoon tea photos it had helped take.

Jigglypuff simply enjoyed the process.

Of course.

It wouldn't be strange if someone someday linked Jigglypuff to the Pokémon that won MVP at the Hoenn Grand Festival.

After all, it had never removed the red ribbon or the Mega Stone the Trainer gave it.

Besides, how many Jigglypuff in the world could be as cute as this one?

That was a universal consensus.

——

The six-hour journey passed in a flash.

The plane landed on Melemele Island.

After sleeping, All All Baimu felt sore all over and urgently needed Alolan Jigglypuff to massage his shoulders and spine.

Though the first-class seat could recline, it hadn't brought him much comfort.

He stepped off the plane.

Damp, steamy air hit his face.

All All Baimu looked up at the moon hanging in the sky, amazed by Alola's climate, then glanced at his watch.

"Is it nighttime in Alola now?"

He had departed at 5 p. m. in Hoenn; six hours later, it was 11 p. m. in Hoenn, but Alola was nineteen hours ahead.

In other words, it was currently 4 a. m. in Alola.

With over two hours until dawn, All All Baimu decided to rest first.

Before arriving, he had researched and learned that unlike other regions, Alola's Pokémon Centers did not offer lodging.

But as one of the top tourist destinations,

large resorts had been built on every island in the Alola region depicted in the anime, and there were also many guesthouses—even entire houses available for rent.

All All Baimu had booked a beachfront villa online.

Before boarding, he had spoken with the rental company, who said they would leave the key in the umbrella basket by the door.

Outside the airport,

a light blue open-air sightseeing vehicle came into All All Baimu's view.

The Tauros pulling the vehicle and the middle-aged man on its back had just yawned repeatedly, looking half-asleep.

He glanced at the yellow taxi beside it, then looked down at Jigglypuff.

"You pick…"

"Kichido!"

Jigglypuff pointed unhesitatingly at the Tauros sightseeing vehicle—it had no fondness for the enclosed taxi, having already breathed enough stale air on the plane.

All All Baimu nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what I thought!"

The man and his Pokémon approached the Tauros sightseeing vehicle.

"Sir!"

His call startled the middle-aged man, whose head had been nodding, and the Tauros.

"Moo!"

"Huh!?"

The man looked around in alarm, then finally noticed All All Baimu and Jigglypuff standing beside him, and immediately smiled: "Alo-la! Young man, want a Pokémon taxi?"

"Thank you, sir."

All All Baimu smiled and nodded.

In Alola, people always added "alo-la" when greeting each other.

It meant "hello," "goodbye," and also carried interpretations like "hope," "love," "peace," and "happiness."

In short, saying "alo-la" upon meeting was always correct.

The man was very talkative, clearly assuming All All Baimu was a tourist on vacation; he pointed out fun spots and delicious food while explaining how Alola differed from other regions.

For example, in Alola, you could ride Pokémon on the road—like Tauros carts or Mudsdale carts.

Also, riding Pokémon in the sky or over the sea was not banned within cities.

"When you come to Alola, you must try the local specialty: Malasada. You'll eat one and immediately want a second!"

The man pointed to a dessert shop with a sign showing Pancham.

Jigglypuff's eyes sparkled.

"Kichido!"

It loved sweets—any kind of sweet!

"Too bad you arrived too early—this place isn't open yet, but the sun will rise soon! You absolutely must try it!"

The man shook his head in regret.

Suddenly,

a Charizard flew across the sky, its flaming tail clearly visible in the night.

The man hurriedly said: "That's the milk delivery service from the farm on the neighboring Akala Island. If you plan to settle here, you must subscribe—our Alolan Miltank milk tastes different from anywhere else!"

"Alright."

All All Baimu nodded, thinking the Charizard that just flew by was probably Kachi.

That boy who originally had a cold, stoic persona but later became a meme and a comedic star.

"Huh? What's that up ahead—ah! Young man, you're lucky! There's already a Malasada cart open this early!"

The man's voice drew his attention.

Ahead, not far off,

a Malasada cart was parked by the roadside, its mouthwatering aroma drifting out.

Jigglypuff grabbed All All Baimu's arm: "Kichido!"

"Got it."

He thanked the man for stopping the cart, then looked inside at the blue-haired youth wearing a bear hat, fast asleep while standing, beside a Meowth.

All All Baimu smiled: "Customers!"

"Customers meow!?"

Meowth woke first, then the boy beside it—Team Rocket's Jessie.

The boy and the cat stared at the smiling young man, eyes wide.

All All Baimu waved: "Alo-la~ Long time no see~"

Jessie and Meowth: "..."

Why do we keep running into you—!!