Chapter 803: The Island Queen

If raising Pokémon isn't for persecution, it's meaningless!

Back seat of the truck.

All All Baimu stood outside the door, winding the coral necklace around his hand, then pulled out a Poké Ball and released Galarian Sunflora.

Gulu gulu~

The oval gray-white stone ball collided with the opposite door and bounced back.

"Huh? This is also a Pokémon?"

Uncle Tong, through the rearview mirror, watched the rolling stone ball and asked curiously.

All All Baimu helped the Happiny into the car and nodded: "A Galar-region Pokémon, another form of Sunflora."

Or rather, a dead Sunflora.

He muttered under his breath, ignoring Uncle Tong's confusion, and picked up the stone ball, placing it on his thigh.

Its ghost-flame eyes flared suddenly, casting a slightly sinister gaze first toward the coral branch deliberately placed on the right, then lifting to the smiling Trainer.

"Are you insane?"

The disgusted look and downturned mouth clearly conveyed this meaning.

All All Baimu grinned broadly, "Hehehe~"

Due to his lazy nature, Sunflora was the only Pokémon in his team that ever gave him the cold shoulder—and as a human with a masochistic gene, he always loved teasing this thing.

Like the Dreepy who loved gnawing on it for no reason.

If his own Sunflora were as timid as Ash's, trembling at the sight of coral branches, he wouldn't have bought a coral branch pendant just to tease it.

That would harm the Pokémon's mental health.

Precisely because he understood Sunflora's personality—he knew this "Sunflora" wasn't that "Sunflora," and the two held no mutual recognition—it saw the coral branch only as annoying, not frightening, so All All Baimu did this.

After all.

Sometimes roughhousing and mutual persecution can build affection.

The Happiny beside it couldn't help but worry about the Trainer's mental state.

"To you, this should be like human hair? Nails?" All All Baimu stroked Sunflora's skin as he asked.

Because Goodra loved eating coral branches and often attacked Sunflora.

This caused the latter to promptly snap off the branches to drive those thugs away.

On the other hand.

Although the waters of the Alola region were nutrient-rich, Sunflora's coral branches regenerated every three days or so—but attacks from Goodra and Ultra Goodra were too frequent.

Thus, Sunflora in Alola always had short coral branches.

Moreover, even without Goodra or Ultra Goodra, Sunflora's coral branches would continuously grow and shed, though the latter cycle was longer.

"..."

Sunflora refused to acknowledge All All Baimu.

Silence was the only way to resist the Trainer's leading "bullying," and besides, it disliked such analogies—humans were humans, Sunflora was Sunflora, and there was no equal sign between them.

Of course.

Sunflora couldn't swallow this insult.

It had always been petty, even back when it first met All All Baimu.

"Don't sleep too soundly tonight!"

Sunflora glared with its ghost-flame eyes, vowing to get revenge.

It had nothing to do with the coral branch beside it—it didn't care about the object, just like a person staring at monkey fur; it was just furious at the Trainer's smug expression.

It's all his fault for being spoiled!

It was annoyed with the other Pokémon at home—their indifference to the Trainer's bullying had made this guy even more arrogant.

For a Trainer like this, you need to hit hard!

Right now...

Let's hold off for now.

All All Baimu didn't know he'd been added to Sunflora's revenge list; receiving no reply, he began chatting aimlessly with Uncle Tong.

The truck slowly headed toward Mount Vela.

——

Entrance to Mount Vela Park.

All All Baimu stood by the door, gazing far into the distance, with Happiny holding Sunflora beside him.

A wave of heat hit his face.

"So hot~"

"Happy~"

Happiny echoed him—its thick, fluffy fur made it the second-worst in the team at resisting heat, with Shiny Milotic being the worst.

But in humid conditions, Milotic could rise to second-worst.

He turned to Uncle Tong in the driver's seat and thanked him:

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem! Good luck with the Island Challenge!"

Uncle Tong gave a thumbs-up and drove off with a vroom-vroom-vroom.

The Pokémon world really does have more good people.

He'd only promised directions, yet drove all this way—even after All All Baimu had single-handedly beaten up his Pokémon.

All All Baimu felt deeply moved.

"Yesterday's enemy is today's friend? ~ Though that phrase seems outdated now? ~"

He hummed a few lines from the classic Gen 1 OP.

Happiny and Sunflora both shot him glances—Happiny's was admiration, Sunflora's was of a total idiot.

The mountain path was rugged.

Even the outer side had no guardrails—no one cared if tourists fell off.

All All Baimu looked ahead and saw two wild Nightcrawlers crouched on a large rock, peering slyly in their direction.

Their gazes met.

They immediately jumped off the rock and vanished.

"Nightcrawlers... I wonder if the boss Infernape still lives in Mount Vela." He vaguely remembered the boss's lair was a cave with walls spewing fire.

He continued forward.

Suddenly.

All All Baimu spun his head like lightning—two sneaky figures approaching Happiny froze in place: the two Nightcrawlers from just now.

These two dared to attempt an ambush—and even more absurdly, once discovered, they didn't retreat but lunged forward, one in front, one behind!

The front Nightcrawler slammed into Happiny's lower body.

Thwack!

"Happy?"

Happiny felt something jab its lower back, turned curiously—and saw one Nightcrawler slumped on the ground, dazed, clutching its head and twitching.

"Ya xiao?"

The second Nightcrawler, startled by its companion's state, hesitated—then swiped its tiny claw and snatched the calm Sunflora from Happiny's arms.

"Ya xiao!"

It screamed and turned to run; the nearly unconscious Nightcrawler staggered after it.

Huh?

All All Baimu and Happiny, who had watched the whole thing without reacting, exchanged glances—both expressions slightly odd.

The Shiny Gengar beside them was stunned, "Geng?"

These two came to steal Sunflora?

Why?

Doesn't matter why—why steal Sunflora of all things?

All All Baimu watched the two Nightcrawlers climb the cliff, as if about to vanish into a cave, and began counting inward: "Five, four, three—"

He didn't finish counting.

The two Nightcrawlers fell off the cliff, limbs twitching, tongues hanging out.

"Poor kids."

He sighed, walked over, and picked up Sunflora, which was spewing thick gray-white smoke—clearly furious.

It glared at him with candle-red eyes, as if accusing him: Why did you just stand there?

Not because it feared abandonment, but because it resented having to act on its own.

Sunflora was so lazy.

It had almost let those two Nightcrawlers carry it off.

Unless they were especially "stinky."

"Curious," All All Baimu chuckled. He was mainly puzzled why wild Pokémon suddenly appeared to rob people in a place like Mount Vela Park.

Like the monkeys on Emei Mountain.

Doesn't the Island Queen care?

How badly it affects Acala Island's reputation—tourists finally come to the Alola region, only to get robbed.

Also, why they stole Sunsteel Coral is a question worth examining.

Sunsteel Coral: "…"

It was too furious to speak, and truly didn't want to say more.

Do whatever you want.

Tired.

All All Baimu soothed it for a while, then asked Gengar for a gas mask, crouched before the two twitching Nightcrawlers, and said: "What's going on with you two?"

Nightcrawlers are Pokémon that emit toxic gas to knock opponents unconscious, weakening them before attacking.

So when they got close to All All Baimu, he smelled it immediately.

The foul odor Sunsteel Coral dislikes also comes from the natural toxic gas they secrete.

Happiny showed no reaction because it's naturally resistant to poison—unless someone pours poison down its throat, a little gas means nothing.

The Nightcrawlers looked at the human fearfully, especially the Sunsteel Coral on his shoulder.

It seemed they hadn't expected they'd stolen a Pokémon after all that effort.

"Hey, over there! Can I help you with anything?"

Before the Nightcrawlers could speak, a high-pitched female voice came from behind All All Baimu.

He turned his head slightly and saw a woman with pink lipstick, messy black short hair, and chocolate-brown skin.

The newcomer wore a bright, cheerful smile.

"Island Queen Miss Miss Lizi."

All All Baimu recognized her at once, removed his gas mask, kept watch on the two wild Nightcrawlers with his peripheral vision, and bowed respectfully: "Forgive me for intruding—I'm here to undertake the Island Challenge."

Miss Miss Lizi hurried down, her smile growing even warmer: "A challenger of the Island Challenge?"

But her steps were too hurried, and with high heels on, she stepped abruptly into a sunken patch of ground, losing her balance.

"Ah!"

"Happy!"

Happiny reacted swiftly, using Psychic to gently catch her.

Miss Miss Lizi's panic turned to relief; after steadying herself, she hugged Happiny sincerely, speaking in a squeaky voice while nuzzling it: "Thank you~ Happiny, you're so wonderful~!"

"Happy~"

The big egg was a little shy but accepted the praise.

All All Baimu's expression was extremely odd.

Miss Miss Lizi's stumble was such a common trope in the anime—yet he'd just witnessed it firsthand.

She's incredibly resilient.

He couldn't help but think that.

The Nightcrawlers tried to sneak away, but their "shadows" wouldn't let them—a ghostly face emerged from the ground, emitting a blood-red glow.

"Ya-tu!"

The two little lizards trembled.

After cuddling Happiny, Miss Miss Lizi came over to him, frowning at the Nightcrawlers: "Wild ones? Are you trying to catch them?"

"No, they stole… stole Pokémon. Almost took my Sunsteel Coral. I have reason to suspect they're repeat offenders."

All All Baimu had no intention of hiding anything.

Miss Miss Lizi was astonished, her voice rising an octave: "Stole things?!"

Clearly, the Island Queen had never seen Nightcrawlers in Vela Volcano Park steal anything.

She picked up both Nightcrawlers without caring about their stench, speaking half-seriously, half-gently: "Why are you stealing?"

The two wild Nightcrawlers clearly recognized her and knew her status as Island Queen—they retracted the toxic gas from their tails, their expressions listless.

"Ya-tu…"

"Ya-tu~"

Polygon Phone: 'They say the Queen's child is about to be born, and they were driven out to gather food. They saw Happiny holding a round ball and thought it was a nutrient egg meant for sharing.'

"A talking phone! Is this another version of the Rotom Dex?"

Miss Miss Lizi exclaimed in surprise.

'…'

Polygon Phone instantly flew into a rage: 'I'm Poliwhirl! Not Rotom! You have no respect for Pokémon!'

Miss Miss Lizi nearly fainted from the roar coming from the speaker, quickly bowed in apology, losing all dignity of an Island Queen: "Sorry! So sorry!"

Polygon Phone flew disdainfully behind the Trainer: 'Watch your tone next time!'

All All Baimu sighed helplessly: "Please… don't mind it. It doesn't like Rotom. It's called Poliwhirl—a special artificial intelligence Pokémon."

"I understand!" Miss Miss Lizi nodded seriously, then smiled warmly at Polygon Phone: "I didn't mean it—please forgive me?"

She began pestering Polygon Phone.

This…

Just as Water Lily said—she's a weird woman.

All All Baimu grumbled inwardly, then remembered what Polygon Phone had just translated: the Queen's child is about to be born? The Alpha Flareon?

He wanted to ask more, but noticed Polygon Phone was being harassed by Miss Miss Lizi, while Sunsteel Coral in his arms trembled violently.

The master of slacking feared this kind of clingy social butterfly.

It was terrified Miss Miss Lizi would turn her attention to it, and when it looked at the Trainer, its eyes pleaded.

"You little thing."

All All Baimu couldn't help but laugh and sigh.

Sunsteel Coral, who rarely begged, was now softening over this? Should he be happy as a Trainer?

No—he should feel sad!

Forget it.

I won't tease you anymore. You've suffered enough today.

He pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled Sunsteel Coral, then turned to Miss Miss Lizi, still pleading with Polygon Phone: "Um, Miss Miss Miss Lizi, could you please assign the trial?"

"Trial? Oh, oh!"

Miss Miss Lizi snapped back to attention, set the Nightcrawlers down, and said: "Alright then—since the 'Queen' is gathering food for her unborn child, could you go to the Canopy Grove and collect ingredients… Can you cook?"

She suddenly asked.

All All Baimu nodded. "Yes."

"How good are you?"

"I think I'm pretty decent."

"Then prepare a dish that will satisfy the 'Queen'!"

Miss Miss Lizi seemed to realize how demanding this was, and added: "I personally recommend Acala Curry. Everyone on Acala Island—and every Pokémon—loves it!"

All All Baimu replied: "Understood."

Satisfy a wild Pokémon?

This is truly—

No challenge at all.

So far, no one has ever said the Glowing Dish was bad—its principle of "No fixed flavor, only what pleases the palate" means nothing when it's loaded with "medicine" by Mengmeng.

"Oh! By the way—the 'Queen' lives in a cave in Vela Volcano. She's an Alpha Pokémon. Be careful!"

Only now did Miss Miss Lizi tell All All Baimu who he'd be serving—

Alpha Flareon.

A Pokémon that releases pheromones to control male Nightcrawlers, skilled at running a reverse harem, whose shiny form made All All Baimu hallucinate Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman.