Chapter 816: Meeting the Sage

Gragio visited in the morning.

He carried an elaborately wrapped gift, claiming it was prepared for him by the head steward.

This child…

As reliably "honest" as ever.

All All Baimu silently grumbled but smiled outwardly, inviting him to battle, saying they might as well finish yesterday's match today.

Gragio shook his head and declined.

He still needed to find the missing Zao Bo—this matter was far more important than a battle.

Watching his hurried departure, All All Baimu stood before the wooden cabin, listening to the waves crash, and found himself pondering.

For instance…

How far would the plot spiral out of control if he intervened?

At the very least, Little Nebula would struggle to evolve into Solgaleo anytime soon.

Because Zao Bo had virtually no chance of success.

And his failure would trigger a cascade of domino-like consequences.

Aside from Cosmog's evolution, this included Lusamine not being abducted and fused by Necrozma, Lillie failing to transform further into Boosted Lillie, and the Aether Foundation family losing their chance to reconcile.

More importantly…

The Ultra Beast arc in the Sun & Moon anime, and its extension into the Ultra Necrozma arc, were all triggered by Zao Bo's sudden opening of the Ultra Wormhole.

Before this, Alola was indeed known for its ease in opening Ultra Wormholes, but to generations of Island Kings, the Ultra Beasts had long been ancient legends—

After Zao Bo opened the Ultra Wormhole, legend became reality.

For some reason, Alola felt like a silent planet suddenly broadcasting its coordinates, drawing too many "aliens" in succession.

By the tournament stage…

There even appeared the bizarre scene of three Kingambit going berserk, two of them shiny.

The significance was obvious.

By the way…

Ash and Pikachu's exclusive Z-Move, the Z-Pikachu, first appeared during their battle against Necrozma in the Ultra Deep Sea, alongside the fused mother-in-law.

Without this chance, who knew when the Z-Pikachu would surface again…

During the battle with Team Rocket's Mimikyu at the old supermarket site?

"Ha."

All All Baimu rubbed his neck, recalling the harmless grins of Ash and Pikachu, and decided to humbly become a "shadow powerhouse," like Professor Kukui.

After all, this incident was different from the Flareon incident.

The Flareon incident, if left unchecked, could have harmed countless ordinary people; but the Ultra Beast incident, at least in the anime, was far less catastrophic.

The most likely threat, Necrozma, merely stole the light from Alola, Solgaleo, and Lunala, causing no widespread destruction.

The only Ultra Beast requiring caution was Kingambit.

But driving them back posed little problem.

All All Baimu turned and reentered the cabin; the shiny Gengar eagerly took the gift box, ready to open it.

Its action immediately drew the attention of other Pokémon, who, rarely seeing trainers receive gifts, rushed over eagerly.

Tss!

The wrapping tore.

Revealing a rather ornate wooden box.

"Gnkk…"

Gengar froze, immediately shoved aside by a nearby Gulpin; though separated by the box, it already smelled what was inside.

Open it!

Golden light everywhere—well, no golden light.

Inside lay neatly arranged sixteen pale brown buns—undoubtedly the famous specialty of Kanto's Kargil Town: Angry Buns!

Gulpin was delighted; it loved all sweets, and Angry Buns happened to contain sweet red bean paste.

Gengar and the other Pokémon were disappointed.

It had nothing to do with the quality of the gift—just that it was too ordinary, failing to meet their small expectations, leaving them bored and drifting away.

Gengar also found it dull, but it didn't leave.

"Gnkk."

It wanted to eat the buns.

Gengar's greedy, drooling grin earned it a vigorous squeeze from All All Baimu, who scolded with a laugh: "You lot—thick-skinned, clueless brats!"

"Kich!"

Pokémon don't need to understand social norms!

Gulpin, holding a bun, suddenly protested, its puffed-up expression baffling.

All All Baimu, taken aback, opened his mouth, turned to Gengar, and gave it a look that said, "You did this?"

It was so happy just now seeing the Angry Buns—why the sudden outburst?

"Gn…"

Gengar was utterly confused and quickly waved its chubby hands, signaling it had nothing to do with it.

Other Pokémon sensing the tension quickly distanced themselves—who in this team would dare make Gulpin upset?

All All Baimu had no choice but to pick up the sulking little princess and hold her close, soothing her gently.

"Yes, I was wrong—Pokémon don't need to understand social norms. My fault, my fault. Eat the buns! Dessert!"

Sweets help stabilize emotions.

After one bun, Gulpin gradually brightened.

All All Baimu finally exhaled in relief.

At that moment…

The Pokédex quietly approached him, explaining why Gulpin was upset—days ago, while online discussing TV plotlines, someone had sarcastically told it it "couldn't read the air."

A single line of text had inflicted deep emotional trauma on Gulpin.

All All Baimu: "Uh…"

He had a comment he didn't know how to voice.

Gulpin discussing TV plotlines online? Does it have that much linguistic comprehension, organization, and expression ability? It's only just learned to read!

It's not a Porygon, born with a full language system preloaded.

He stared suspiciously at the Pokédex, which immediately wore a pleading expression.

As he suspected, it admitted it had rewritten Gulpin's comment and reformatted replies into terms Gulpin could understand.

Damn!

You're the culprit! Rigid idiot!

Who translates sarcastic remarks to their teammates?!

All All Baimu wanted to strangle this high-IQ, low-EQ toy duck, glaring at it furiously.

The Pokédex quickly replied: 'I later traced the connection and zapped that guy.'

For a Porygon-II, whose core logic was implanted by Professor Kogami to obey laws and prevent another Zero, this was already a grave transgression.

All All Baimu: "... Fine, you're clever."

Zapping someone through the internet was indeed a satisfying way to vent online disputes, but clearly "couldn't read the air" still left a thorn in Gulpin's heart.

Someone else might say…

You've already taken revenge—why dwell on it? Isn't that being overly sensitive?

But…

Humans and Pokémon are different.

Pokémon are often highly sensitive; they remember small things for long periods, fixating on things humans can't comprehend.

For example, Bastiodon's insistence on stargazing.

As long as it's not raining or snowing, it always stays on the balcony or anywhere with a view of the night sky, waiting for stars or the moon.

Why would a Steel-type Pokémon have such a habit?

Had he not entrusted Porygon-II as a "spy," All All Baimu might never have learned the answer—

It was their first week in the Hoenn region.

Their first experience camping outdoors.

The team was not nearly as large as it was now.

After a whole afternoon of play and work, they'd just finished dinner, still wide awake, huddled around the warm campfire, watching the moon and counting stars with him.

Today…

All All Baimu had nearly forgotten what happened that night.

After all, such scenes happened daily in his household—he only remembered how many embarrassing mistakes he made identifying constellations.

But Bastiodon remembered.

It could not forget gazing at the starry sky with its Trainer, then suddenly pointing at a bright star and declaring:

"From today on, that star is Bastiodon Star…"

Since that day…

Bonsly searches for its own star every night.

Upon hearing this, All All Baimu could not remain unmoved, and he began to place greater importance on Pokémon's joys and sorrows, no longer dismissing such feelings as "overreacting."

The situation with Jynx earlier had served as a wake-up call for him.

Although the Pokémon world's internet is not as toxic as the one from his past life, it is still a murky pond—especially for children and Pokémon with underdeveloped minds.

The function of social platforms, more than fostering friendship or communication, resembles a channel for emotional release.

Of course, the deed is done.

All All Baimu would not endlessly regret past decisions; what mattered was how to erase the lingering resentment in Jynx's heart.

By the way.

Today, Jynx was scheduled to accompany him.

"Time's up! Let's go!"

With a firm resolve, he picked up the Z-Crystal detector he had received from Kojirou yesterday.

Though he bought it primarily to check for missed Z-Crystals after clearing all four islands and their dominant Pokémon, it was still necessary to experience its effects firsthand.

—

In the forest.

All All Baimu stepped slowly through dry leaves and undergrowth.

"It's just ahead."

His gaze swept over the detector's screen, where a small red dot blinked in a steady cycle.

Given its fixed position and the current geographical environment, this was very likely an "ownerless" Z-Crystal.

Nearby, Jynx gazed around, eyes gleaming.

The morning's minor incident had not deeply affected it—as if, as long as no one mentioned it, nothing had ever happened.

This was typical of Pokémon.

Yet All All Baimu worried it might suppress its emotions, even though Jynx rarely hid them so far.

So.

He parted the banana leaves before him. "We're here!"

"Kichido?"

Jynx spotted the treehouse in the distance and immediately recalled the city of Ecruteak from its travels—where many treehouses of all sizes stood.

As it thought.

It suddenly grew alert, its gaze sharp as it fixed on the Simisear standing on the other side of the path, carrying a bamboo basket full of berries.

The other also froze upon seeing the stranger and Pokémon.

"Yare?"

"Ahgola, last time my Porygon2 and Bonsly greatly appreciated your kindness," All All Baimu said with a smile, raising his hand.

From his pocket, the Porygon Phone flew out and rapidly changed form.

A voice came from inside Porygon2: "We greatly appreciate it!"

Simisear recognized the familiar Porygon2 and smiled warmly, nodding: "Yareyoda~"

Then.

It remembered Bonsly breaking the wooden steps, and its smile stiffened for an instant—before quickly returning to normal.

"Yareyare~"

Simisear invited them in for a drink.

All All Baimu had come specifically for the tavern; to receive an invitation from the owner was perfect.

"Kichido?"

Jynx followed its Trainer up the wooden steps curiously, arriving at the second-floor treehouse, where it found the interior simple and rustic.

In the center stood a bar counter; to the left were three round stools, followed by a long bench against the thatched wall.

To the right was a cooking station piled with various berries, complete with pots, pans, and bowls—all mostly made of wood.

What a peculiar place!

Under All All Baimu's guidance, Jynx sat on one of the round stools.

"Yareyare~"

Simisear smiled and stepped aside, displaying the berries it had gathered.

All All Baimu knew it was not showing off, but simply following the tavern's custom—choosing one's own berries—so he said: "I'll have Phoenix Pear juice."

Porygon2 agreed, but Jynx…

It was utterly confused.

Having been pampered by its Trainer for too long, it was used to just eating food directly; suddenly being asked to choose left it flustered. It instinctively looked to its Trainer, hoping he would decide.

All All Baimu said: "Try choosing for yourself."

"Kichido."

Jynx, hearing this, had no choice but to pick on its own.

Fortunately, berries were everyday food; it quickly identified several it liked.

Pecha Berry, Maranga Berry, and Leppa Berry.

The first two were purely sweet; the last was sweet at first, then spicy with a slight bitterness—Jynx loved it as a late-night snack while watching movies.

"Yareyoda!"

Simisear simply acknowledged, picked up a coconut-shell jug, and began preparing the juice.

Watching its nimble, practiced movements, All All Baimu's first thought was not of the forest sage's intelligence, but of the legendary monkey wine he had read about so often in novels and essays from his past life.

He never got to taste the mythical monkey wine in his past life—but now, he could savor monkey juice.

He couldn't help asking: "May I take a photo?"

"Yare?"

Simisear paused its blending, then smiled and nodded.

All All Baimu thanked it: "Thank you."

He liked documenting everything he encountered through photos, to compare later when recalling—time erases too many familiar things; without physical proof, only photographs remained.

As for making berry juice, Simisear truly had skill.

At least it measured ingredients precisely—it never just grabbed a berry and squeezed all the juice out; taking only one-third or half was common.

Another thing that comforted All All Baimu was Simisear's strong sense of hygiene.

Used utensils were always washed before reuse; leftover pulp from juicing was never tossed on the floor but placed in a bamboo basket.

Most crucially—

Simisear actually washed its hands!

All All Baimu nearly teared up. His own Pokémon had taken ages to develop the habit of washing paws before meals and rinsing mouths after. For Simisear to do this was remarkable.

Soon after.

The Phoenix Pear juice was ready.

He stared at the small bowl of golden, fragrant liquid, then stirred it with a hollow reed straw.

"So this is the legendary Phoenix Pear juice…"

All All Baimu turned and saw Porygon2 drinking happily; no longer holding back, he sipped slowly.

Then.

He grew quieter with each sip.

"Yare~"

Simisear smiled and turned back to its preparations.

When it brought Jynx its dessert-like juice, resembling yangzhi Yangzhi Yangzhi Ganlu, All All Baimu silently gave it a thumbs-up.

This stuff didn't glow—but in terms of "drugging," it was even more extreme than glowing dishes!

No wonder so many people and Pokémon ended up complaining after just one sip—this would make a far more potent truth serum than any chemical!