Chapter 776: Betrayed by All

In the forest.

All All Baimu stood atop a height, holding a nutrition egg as he faced the Armored Bear.

When he saw the Armored Bear lower its swaying arms and its expression no longer bore the chilling shadow, he silently placed the nutrition egg before him and stepped back several paces to sit on a rock.

The Wailord glanced at the small rock, then at the filthy ground, and settled into its Trainer's arms.

"Kichido!"

The Armored Bear slowly stepped out of its nest but did not approach.

It merely gazed from afar at the nutrition egg atop the fallen leaves, then at the calm and composed All All Baimu and Wailord.

"Gugu…"

The Armored Bear seemed puzzled about who these two were, and where the intense danger it had sensed a moment ago had come from.

Suddenly.

Noisy chatter shattered the forest's silence.

"What happened? Why did the Armored Bear scream all of a sudden?"

"Intruders, meow?"

"Would a wild Pokémon dare challenge the Armored Bear in this forest? Are you even awake?"

"Sousangsi!"

Voices rose and fell, followed by four figures—two tall, two short—emerging from deep within the tree hollow, peering around curiously.

The Armored Bear turned its head to look.

All All Baimu and Wailord also turned to face the three Team Rocket members who had appeared.

The forest fell silent again.

Then.

All three Team Rocket members broke into cold sweat and quickly turned their backs to whisper urgently among themselves.

Jessie: "Eeek! He found us here!"

James: "Did you tell him the address?"

Meowth: "H-How could that be possible, meow? I'm not an idiot, meow!"

Cacnea: "Sousangsi!"

They quickly glanced up at All All Baimu and Wailord, then turned back to whisper.

James: "Why is he here? By chance?"

Meowth: "I have a bad feeling, meow…"

Cacnea: "Sousangsi…"

Jessie: "What are you afraid of? Did you forget where we are? The Armored Bear isn't easy to reason with!"

That's right!

This is the Armored Bear's nest!

There's no need to be afraid at all!

We can just wait and watch the bastard suffer.

The three Team Rocket members exchanged glances, all agreeing with Jessie's logic, grinning as they prepared to enjoy the show.

They turned back around—only to see the Armored Bear, who had just been locked in stalemate, now walking toward All All Baimu and Wailord.

Are they going to fight?

The three Team Rocket members wore expressions of eager anticipation.

But it stopped before the nutrition egg on the leaves, bent down, and gently cradled it in its palms to examine it closely: "Gugu…"

"A gift."

All All Baimu smiled and held Wailord close, minimizing all body movements to avoid triggering a stress response in the Armored Bear.

For a Pokémon that looks cute but is in fact violent, any gesture raising the arms above shoulder height could be perceived as threatening.

Thus, scholars in the outside world once attempted to place it alongside Machamp.

Unsurprisingly.

The two Pokémon fought violently, nearly demolishing the experimental facility; the Armored Bear's classification as a dangerous Pokémon became even more justified.

A Pokémon that suddenly lashes out if your hand goes above your shoulders—what else would you call it if not dangerous?

"Gugu!"

The Armored Bear sniffed twice, thoroughly pleased with the fragrant aroma of the nutrition egg.

It picked up the egg with one hand, strode straight toward All All Baimu, and clamped him and Wailord under its armpit as if scooping up a stray kitten or puppy, then turned and calmly walked back to its nest.

All All Baimu sighed: "Just as I imagined."

"Kichido…"

Wailord, squeezed uncomfortably, shifted its posture and immediately felt much better.

Ever since its child, the Cuddly Bear, went missing, the Armored Bear—unable to channel its maternal instincts elsewhere—would collect any creature it deemed capable of eliciting motherhood, bringing them back to the nest to care for them.

A full-blown maternal outburst.

Without doubt, this behavior signaled that the Armored Bear now regarded both All All Baimu and Wailord as its "children."

And All All Baimu had gained a mother…

My mother, the Armored Bear?

Unfortunately, he preferred being a parent to Pokémon, not being a child to one.

The three Team Rocket members at the tree hollow, seeing All All Baimu captured by the Armored Bear, cheered and high-fived each other, then sneered at him with arrogant smugness, clearly enjoying his comeuppance.

These idiots.

He didn't even know how to describe these people and their Pokémon, silently waiting as the Armored Bear dumped him and Wailord onto a pile of leaves that looked like a bed.

"Mm."

All All Baimu wrinkled his nose—the Armored Bear might look cute, but it was still a bear, and the scent of its nest was unmistakably beastly.

An indescribable wild-animal odor surged from his nostrils straight to his forehead.

Wailord leapt up as if struck by lightning.

"Kichido!"

Raised in extreme luxury, it had long forgotten it once slept on leaf piles, rejecting any non-combat situation that might make it dirty.

All All Baimu sat up, glanced at the three Team Rocket members grinning with malicious delight, then looked toward the Armored Bear standing at the hollow's entrance, cradling the nutrition egg as if pondering how to eat it.

He ignored them, walked over to the Armored Bear, crouched down, and said: "Boil it? It tastes better than raw."

"Gugu?"

The Armored Bear tilted its head to look at him, its massive frame radiating subtle pressure.

All All Baimu grinned: "Trust me—I'm a professional cook."

This giant understood human speech, but usually ignored the Team Rocket trio's words.

Unless they deceived it.

The Armored Bear hated being tricked; once it realized it had been deceived, it would wear an even more chilling expression—but a simple apology usually earned its forgiveness.

It set the nutrition egg down and walked toward the forest.

The three Team Rocket members stared blankly as the Armored Bear left, utterly stunned it had been so easily fooled by All All Baimu.

"Now, let's talk about you."

All All Baimu and Wailord turned together, flashing bright smiles.

The three Team Rocket members shrank into a terrified huddle, turning on each other and frantically shoving one another forward as human shields.

Jessie, shoved to the front, blustered: "D-Don't come near me!"

James, pushed forward next, raised his hands defensively: "You said this morning you weren't here for us!"

Meowth, unable to resist the shoving: "If you do anything to us, the Armored Bear won't let you go, meow!"

Finally, the eternal meat shield Cacnea: "Sousangsi!"

All All Baimu smiled: "No, no, you misunderstand—I'm not here to cause trouble. On the contrary, I need your help—specifically, James's help."

Instantly.

James was now at the front.

"He wants you!"

"James, go ahead, meow!"

"Sousangsi!"

The three heartless fools shoved James forward; the abandoned one sweated profusely: "W-What can I help you with?"

"Build me a Z-Crystal detector. I remember you know how to make one."

All All Baimu's words stunned the three Team Rocket members.

James exclaimed: "A Z-Crystal detector? How do you know I can make that!"

He had never shown it to anyone before!

"Nothing stays hidden if you've done it. How I know doesn't matter—you just need to build it and hand it to me."

All All Baimu pulled a stack of cash from his pocket: "I won't ask you to work for free. That base of yours must've cost you a fortune, right? You've already borrowed ahead on your salary—use this payment to settle your debts."

The three Team Rocket members had rarely known wealth; they were perpetually in debt, sometimes so deep they couldn't afford meals.

There was even an episode where they were expelled from Team Rocket for excessive debt—though they were later dragged back to repay it.

Therefore.

When Wazak saw the money in All All Baimu's hands, he rushed over without hesitation, grabbed it, and giggled, "Thank you for your patronage! Guaranteed satisfaction!"

Jirou, having seen more of the world, whispered nervously, "Wazak, don't you think this is strange? How did he know I'd build that machine?"

Meowth nodded in agreement. "Mew."

Wazak silently counted the money, ignoring everything else.

"Meowth, I have a metal polish that'll make the coin on your head shine like new. You haven't polished it in ages—it's all dull."

The small bottle in All All Baimu's hand instantly turned Meowth against Jirou.

It rubbed against the polish like it was catnip, delighted: "I've been in debt lately—couldn't even afford to polish it, mew~"

"Meowth, you—" Jirou choked with rage, quickly turning to check on the fourth member of the trio, Cacnea.

But it was already munching on Poké Blocks while getting its head patted.

All All Baimu smiled. "Cacnea is so cute."

"Suuu."

Cacnea blushed a little from the praise.

This Pokémon, which could bounce Latios's Shadow Ball, had never been praised like this before—its affection instantly peaked.

Within half a minute, abandoned by all, Jirou reluctantly gave in.

He walked dejectedly to the cave entrance, thought for a moment, then turned and said, "You came all the way to Xiong Ma's side just to find me? Looks like you're not omniscient after all."

"Oh?"

All All Baimu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You don't know yet? From now on, no matter how far you run, Xiong Ma will drag you back! Hmph! Xiong Ma hates it when its prey runs off!"

Jirou laughed loudly to save face, then shouted, "You think you can just walk away after offending Xiong Ma?!"

He expected All All Baimu to look terrified—but instead saw pity on the other's face. Even Big Zui, Meowth, Cacnea, and Wazak looked at him with pity.

A shadow fell over his head.

"Jiiii—"

The piercing, high-pitched screech made Jirou's nearly dry back sweat again.

He winced. "Sorry! I shouldn't have spoken ill of you behind your back!"

Fortunately, Xiong Ma wasn't a petty bear.

It set down a pile of firewood and a brand-new pot with a thud. "Gugu!"

"You even brought a pot?"

All All Baimu picked up the pot and realized Xiong Ma had remembered his words about boiling something—and had gone out of its way to fetch a soup pot.

He thanked Xiong Ma.

In fact,

they could've just cooked directly on Team Rocket's food cart—no firewood or pot needed—but since it had brought them…

he hated disappointing Pokémon.

All All Baimu stepped outside the nest to an open area, dug a small pit, stacked stones into a makeshift stove, placed the iron pot on top, lit the fire, poured in water, and finally dropped in a Nutrient Egg.

"You're lucky—thank Xiong Ma properly," he told Team Rocket.

Xiong Ma wouldn't keep it all to itself.

Wazak snorted, hands on hips. "Nutrient Egg? I ate way too many of those back then!"

Wazak, who once trained with a group of Chanseys to become a nurse, had received them as gifts constantly—long since grown tired of them.

Jirou, raised as a wealthy young master, also considered them beneath him.

Only Meowth and Cacnea stood on either side of the pot, eagerly awaiting the egg with Xiong Ma.

Five minutes later.

Wazak and Jirou both crouched beside the pot, silently swallowing saliva.

They'd eaten Nutrient Eggs before—but that was long ago. Besides…

This egg smelled amazing!

"Done!"

All All Baimu grabbed the pot handles and lifted the iron pot off the stone stove, then took tongs from the food cart to crack the shell.

He was pondering how to divide the egg when a commanding gaze came from the side.

"Gugu…"

"Uh… you do it."

All All Baimu realized distributing food was the "parent's" right—and among them, only Xiong Ma considered itself the parent.

Sure enough,

the moment it took the tongs, its expression brightened instantly, returning to its adorable self.

So how would Xiong Ma divide the egg?

It suddenly snatched the Nutrient Egg from the steaming pot, spun it like a ball in its palm, then tapped it lightly with the tongs—shell instantly cracked away, revealing the glistening white inside.

What the hell?

The world has no thieves?

All All Baimu's eyes widened. Before he could react, more flashes of light appeared—Xiong Ma held the spinning egg in its left paw and slapped the nearest one—Wazak's mouth—with its right.

A chunk of white dropped straight into Wazak's mouth.

"Hot hot hot—" Wazak immediately clapped a hand over his mouth but refused to spit it out.

Next came Jirou, then Meowth, then Cacnea.

Big Zui, in clockwise order, didn't really want to eat—but under its Trainer's silent command, it opened its mouth anyway.

All All Baimu wasn't spared either—he bit into the Nutrient Egg that Xiong Ma handed him like a martial arts master, and thanked it.

Only after all that did Xiong Ma take the last piece for itself.

"Gugu!"

It wore a satisfied expression.

Clearly, the egg's flavor pleased it greatly.

Team Rocket's trio chewed in delighted surprise, making sounds like "Mmm," "Ooh," and "Ahh."

All All Baimu smiled calmly.

As is well known, the quality of Nutrient Eggs is tied to the happiness of Chansey's mental state.

Depending on its mood, the taste of the egg varies subtly.

Interestingly, the worst-quality and the most prized Nutrient Eggs ever discovered by humans both come from captured Chansey families.

The Nutrient Eggs from All All Baimu's Chansey were naturally top-tier.

Why weren't they considered precious?

Because Chansey was a shy and humble creature.

Whenever All All Baimu boasted to others that his Nutrient Eggs were precious and his dishes the most delicious in the world, Chansey would look at him with a pained, bashful gaze.

It felt exactly like a college student returning home for the holidays, being extravagantly praised by their parents in front of relatives—so embarrassed they wanted to dig their toes into the floor.