Chapter 838: Stars Descend

Lunch.

The main course was Tianshi's prized fighting crab claws.

Happiny didn't know how to handle it, so it handed everything over to the Trainer to manage, then silently watched from the side.

Ice removal, feather plucking, washing, scraping off excess keratin layers.

In just a few minutes, from the main ingredient to the side dishes and seasonings, all were neatly arranged on the folding table.

'Like flowing clouds and running water.'

This was an idiom Happiny had recently learned from Poliwhirl II, who praised its cooking motions as flowing like clouds and water—but Happiny always believed only the Trainer deserved this phrase.

After all,

it had learned to cook precisely because it aspired to be like this Trainer.

'Happy~'

'Hmm…'

All All Baimu ignored the grotesque faces Gengar was making to get his attention, squinting at the recipe.

Considering the diverse tastes of his Pokémon, steaming them first and then applying their preferred sauces separately might be better.

But he didn't know how steamed crab tasted—he searched online and found almost nothing but braised or grilled recipes.

Is steamed crab bad?

…Try it?

The cautious All All Baimu, with no backup ingredients, could only choose the safer cooking method.

'Crab Burn!'

A classic dish from Master Lokomoko's recipe book!

He began focusing intently on cooking.

Seeing his attempts at flattery failed, Gengar reluctantly stepped back—Trainers must not be disturbed while cooking.

'Geng!'

The gray fat one trudged over to Bastiodon, frowning.

At that moment, Bastiodon was calmly enduring the mockery from Dreepy, seemingly unconcerned about angering the Trainer.

'Grrr~'

It signaled Gengar to hold off.

Is the Trainer really angry?

Not necessarily.

Dreepy and Steelix had fought to that extreme; what All All Baimu did was merely a stern reprimand, far from actual anger.

The cold treatment was meant to watch them panic and scramble—just as they used to laugh at the Trainer's expense.

Poliwhirl II confirmed: 'Bastiodon is right.'

'Ssaa!'

Dreepy, stung by the exposed wound, grew especially irritable but had to admit Bastiodon was correct.

'Geng…'

Gengar felt slightly better.

All All Baimu had never once lost his temper with them—this was undeniable.

Even when they were mischievous, he'd only tap their heads lightly and scold them as fools.

The main reason Gengar often felt lucky to have chosen this Trainer was that All All Baimu was far more tolerant than Jarvis—he never punished Gengar for mistakes, never resorted to yelling or hitting, and never forced it into dangerous situations regardless of its safety.

Precisely because of this,

Gengar dared to act out wildly every day—partly to please him, partly because of its long-suppressed nature.

In Gengar's view, the morning's incident was a fun 'prank' led by the ace, Bastiodon—a minor teasing of the Trainer.

All All Baimu was simply too easygoing, so Gengar never considered the consequences.

Result?

The Trainer got angry.

As an accomplice, Gengar panicked completely, deeply regretting why it had done such a thing. It realized the Trainer was still the Trainer—not someone to be toyed with—and rushed to flatter All All Baimu the moment it exited its Poké Ball.

But seeing it received no response,

Gengar grew more anxious.

Even after hearing Bastiodon's explanations and feeling slightly relieved, it still couldn't calm down.

Was the Trainer truly not angry with it?

Gengar knew well—it had contributed little to this team. All victories were merely opportunities the Trainer granted to help it grow.

Bastiodon was the ace, the strongest; Poliwhirl II was the perfect support, in battle and daily life alike.

Both were irreplaceable.

It was not.

Aside from being fat, eating a lot, and being mischievous, and helping carry luggage, it realized it had nothing else to offer.

Before it joined, the Trainer had still traveled just fine.

'Geng…'

Gengar kept glancing at All All Baimu by the stove, finally unable to resist, quietly floating over.

It extended its chubby little claw and lightly poked All All Baimu's back—with the touch of a soap bubble.

'Geng, geng.'

It had come to apologize.

After thinking it over, only an apology remained—it would be sincere, and the Trainer would surely forgive it.

Forgive it.

Please, Trainer.

Gengar swallowed imaginary saliva, watching as All All Baimu closed the lid and slowly turned, casting a cold gaze its way. It shut its eyes, trembling with fear.

To be hit…

It accepted it.

As long as it was forgiven.

For a moment, the surroundings fell utterly silent.

Click.

A sudden sound rang out.

Gengar opened its eyes in confusion to see a large hand descending—before it could react, it was vigorously rubbing its cheeks and pointed ears.

'Hey hey hey! Can't laugh anymore? Keep laughing! Dared to tease someone and now afraid of being scolded? Now it's my turn to laugh, huh? Hehehe~ So timid, yet still dared to play with Bastiodon and the others?'

The teasing voice made Gengar look up—its face was now framed by the phone's camera, and above it were eyes sparkling with mirth.

'Coward! I've captured your black history!'

Click-click-click sounded again.

In that instant,

Gengar, its heart trembling to the extreme, nearly cried—but held back, overcome with relief like surviving a disaster. It thrust out its crimson long tongue and licked All All Baimu's face hard.

'Geng!'

'Eww~'

The numbness made All All Baimu shudder, then shoved it away in disgust.

Gengar didn't care—it grinned into a crescent moon, fully revived.

'Hehehehe!'

Wonderful!

Truly wonderful!

The Trainer hadn't been angry at all—he'd just been teasing it in return.

Though this only meant All All Baimu could take a joke—a basic expectation among partners—it moved Gengar deeply.

Because it cared, it feared.

Because it couldn't bear to lose that gentle one, it would do anything to make things right again.

Gengar was willing to be All All Baimu's shadow forever.

Never to be parted.

—

As the lid lifted, golden light burst forth!

Beneath the steaming mist, thick sauce clung to the crab claws, now fully transformed in color.

'So delicious!'

All All Baimu nodded in satisfaction, turning to look at his Pokémon.

Some were curious, some drooling, some indifferent, some repulsed…

Huh?

He turned off the stove, had Happiny serve the dish onto trays, and walked toward the visibly disgusted Metang, asking softly: 'What's wrong? Not hungry?'

Metang had eaten normally this morning; since it hadn't exercised much, not being hungry was normal.

But why did it look like it was about to vomit?

"Mimikyu~"

Milotic nuzzled affectionately against his face, pouting to express how much she hated the smell of the Haunter Crab BBQ—extremely, extremely foul.

Foul?

Seafood allergy—

Hmm, maybe Stubborn Haunter Crab doesn't count as seafood.

All All Baimu didn't insist; after all, there hadn't been enough to begin with—a whole clan of Pokémon sharing just one claw. The smaller ones were fine, but the large ones like Steelix, Bonsly, and Dragonite could barely get a toothful.

To his surprise, Bonsly and Steelix also showed reluctance when it came to cracking open the shell and dividing the meat.

They'd rather gnaw on steel ingots than eat crab meat.

"Alright then."

All All Baimu had to fetch two steel reinforcing rods from Gengar and give them to the two Steel-types, who immediately crunched them between their jaws with a clatter.

Solid construction material tasted like long, bar-shaped cookies in their mouths.

The only downside was the grating, screeching noise—squeak-squeak.

Finally,

the Haunter Crab BBQ was evenly divided among All All Baimu and the Pokémon. The entire claw weighed twenty kilograms, but the meat inside totaled barely over five catties—about one-eighth.

Paired with other food, it was more than enough.

All All Baimu savored the long-missed crab meat—the fresh, sweet, juicy texture mingled with a faintly salty sauce—finally understanding why Stubborn Haunter Crab claws drew so many gourmets.

"I really want to pick a few more."

He licked the residual sauce off his chopsticks; the exquisite flavor still lingered in his mouth, irresistible.

The Pokémon all wore expressions of deep satisfaction.

Amazing!

"Guh…"

Gengar, having ridden an emotional rollercoaster, was enjoying the meal—but paid even closer attention to his Trainer's every move. Seeing his lingering desire, Gengar immediately raised his bowl to offer his share of crab meat.

But he was too late.

Happiny moved far faster.

"Happy~"

"You eat it yourself," All All Baimu waved off the pink egg's kindness, fearing that if Happiny shared, the others would follow suit.

These guys were always greedy, yet never stingy with sharing.

Especially with him—their Trainer.

Gengar glanced at Happiny, rejected, and gave up on sharing, quietly eating instead.

The meal was in full swing.

Then, Polywhirl II suddenly said: "Detected a rare Pokémon nearby!"

"Turn that feature off," All All Baimu frowned.

Encountering unknown Pokémon was part of the joy of travel—so what if it was rare? He wasn't the type to chase rare Pokémon just to catch them.

Even seeing a common Weedle in front of him was something to be happy about.

Polywhirl II obeyed and disabled the feature.

All All Baimu set down his chopsticks and could already guess which rare Pokémon Polywhirl II had detected—

Grimer.

His gaze pierced the dark forest, locking onto the strange alien hiding behind the tree.

Perhaps its appearance seemed terrifying to many.

But in the Pokémon anime world, rarity isn't determined by future potential, current strength, or appearance—it's determined solely by population count.

Kangaskhan and Lapras were once endangered rarities.

Now, Kangaskhan tracks are frequently spotted in the wild, and Lapras is practically overpopulated in the Alola region.

Long since removed from the category of rare.

Yet sightings of Grimer in the wild are extremely rare—calling it rare is accurate.

All All Baimu waved and called out:

"Come here, I've got something tasty for you."

It did look odd—but he thought of the actor he'd once mimicked. If so, why not share some food?

Grimer didn't dare approach.

It wasn't blind—there were so many large Pokémon there, especially those two silver giants, whose jaws crushed metal like dry twigs. Who'd get close?!

Though the scent was irresistible, for the sake of its life, it decided to trick other hikers instead.

It often scared people into dropping their bags and fleeing in panic—each successful scare meant dinner.

But today, it had misjudged.

This man was terrifying.

Grimer, smelling the aroma, swallowed hard and ran off without looking back.

At least until this man left the forest, it would stay far from this area.

"..."

All All Baimu, receiving no response, shrugged and turned his attention back to Milotic's appetite.

Good enough.

Dinner was finished.

—

After lunch,

All All Baimu continued toward the summit.

Of course, this time he wasn't climbing alone.

Gengar and Polywhirl II had stubbornly stayed behind.

Especially Gengar, always trying to get him to sit on its head so it could carry him up the mountain.

After that little teasing earlier, its attitude seemed to have changed slightly—how to put it…

…More considerate?

All All Baimu began wondering if he'd played a bit too hard, scared the creature.

No way.

He always believed a healthy partnership meant mutual teasing—so when Polywhirl II, Gengar, and Bonsly teased him, he'd get annoyed, sure.

But never to the point of rage; he just thought about how to get back at them later.

So he pretended to be angry, trying to scare the three.

Unexpectedly, the most obedient Bonsly wasn't scared, the most sensitive Polywhirl II wasn't scared—but Gengar, usually loud, careless, and mischievous, nearly fainted.

So that's it.

Pokémon really are a strange kind of creature.

Amid Gengar's various attempts to please him, All All Baimu took photos while climbing, successfully reaching the summit at 2:30 p. m.

The Hikurani Observatory loomed ahead.

Unlike its eerily empty depiction in the anime, the observatory was now packed with people and Pokémon.

Entering the building,

Its interior layout was similar to the Green Ridge Cosmic Center he had visited before.

A crowd gathered around the telescope section, but daytime celestial bodies were far less visible than at night—purely for the spectacle.

All All Baimu stood before a cracked, reddish-brown shell.

A Meteorite's shell.

It was said that once these Pokémon shed their shells, their lifespans were extremely brief—they'd vanish into the heavens soon after.

So how were they born at all?

The Pokédex explained that Meteorites were born from nanite mutations, forming a hard shell by absorbing atmospheric dust before landing.

How could their birth rate possibly match their rate of vanishing?

A brilliant life lasting but a day…

With questions lingering,

All All Baimu pitched his tent on the observatory's lawn, waiting for nightfall.

He wasn't the first tourist to do so.

Locations where Meteorites could be witnessed falling were extremely rare; many came to Mount Hikurani specifically to see the rare meteor Pokémon.

Everyone longed to capture that beautiful moment.

And so,

night arrived.

After a simple dinner, many tourists set up cameras and telescopes, waiting for the magical moment.

All All Baimu chatted with a travel magazine reporter who recognized him.

The man claimed to be from the Kalos region, dreaming of catching every Pokémon from space, stepping on every peak closest to the stars, and documenting every patch of sky.

Brave indeed.

He silently offered his blessing.

Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma are also classified as Cosmic Pokémon, and capturing them is even harder than becoming World Champion.

But having a dream makes anyone remarkable; All All Baimu wasn't so boring as to mock others.

"Here it comes!"

The reporter suddenly pointed upward.

Amidst the stars, countless golden beams sliced through the sky, illuminating the deep blue heavens as they flashed toward them.