Chapter 114: Don't Force Me

Baimu and his group quickly arrived near the mine.

In the dark of night.

Blazing firelight and smoke billowing skyward were extraordinarily conspicuous, making it clear that the mine's interior had indeed been attacked; the enemy had even broken in, causing considerable chaos.

"What do we do?"

Otsuka and the others all looked to Baimu, their pillar of support.

Although they harbored thoughts of making a name for themselves, when faced with a real situation like this, they inevitably felt at a loss, unsure of what to do.

"... You all find a place to hide. I'll go in and check the situation."

He turned his head and said to the four: "Once it's actually possible to counterattack, you can come in. Or I'll bring Chenghong and the others out, and we all escape together."

Relying on the mine's secret passage wasn't realistic.

Once that thing started moving people and goods, it could no longer be called "secret," and it was far too easy to get cornered there.

Being cornered underground was absolutely not an entertaining prospect.

Otsuka was greatly alarmed. "Going alone is too dangerous! I'm going too!"

The other three chimed in in agreement.

"What good would you be? You haven't even reached squad leader level—you can't even protect yourself. The same goes for you all. If you come, you'll only hold me back. I already have to rescue Chenghong and the others; I don't want to rescue you lot on top of that. Understand?"

Baimu laid things out very clearly, and Otsuka and the others were instantly left speechless.

Their lack of strength meant they could only stand by; getting involved would very likely get them killed on the spot.

Likewise, Baimu's own lack of strength meant he had no way to simply wipe out all those intruders, and could only sneak in to rescue his team members—preserving himself, just as Flo-bo had said.

Setting that aside.

If he possessed the terrifying power of those mighty Pokémon from the main-series regions—where a single Hyper Beam could blast through an entire city block—would a measly Hound Pack amount to anything at all?

Unfortunately, Baimu was still far, far away from that level.

"Th-then we'll hide and wait for you!"

In the end, Otsuka didn't dare hold anyone back. The experience of the Charity Conference hadn't fully faded; he knew exactly how much he weighed.

Though the other three were reluctant deep down, they still chose to agree.

Baimu then said: "Fine. You all find a place to hide. Remember, don't run too far, but don't get too close either. If the outer scouts who went out earlier come running back, absolutely don't link up with them—there might be infiltrators among them."

"Yes!"

The four answered in unison.

——

Parting ways with his teammates.

Baimu placed Mawile in front of him, quickly removed the sidecar that might weigh him down, and twisted the throttle to the max, sending the hover-bike rocketing forward like a cannonball.

He planned to charge straight into the mine on the hover-bike to check the situation. At full speed, it could bring danger, but it could also make his agility work in his favor.

Pros and cons.

However.

Before he could even get close to the mine, the ground along the roadside ahead suddenly exploded, and several massive dark-blue rocks burst forth, hovering in midair as if alive.

Flickering electric light swirled around these stones, then spread across the ground like a chaotic, enormous web.

Baimu knew slamming the brakes wouldn't stop him in time. He urgently swung the handlebars to attempt a wide U-turn to dodge, but he had overestimated his riding skills, and the vehicle suddenly lost control.

With no other choice.

He could only let go of the grips, grab Mawile, and abandon the bike.

Mawile was sharp enough, immediately using Magnet Rise to let herself and Baimu land safely.

"Little Chaobei's electromagnetic waves... they actually had the leisure to set up traps. Just how many people did these guys bring?" He frowned, making out the true form of the ambushing Pokémon.

Those boulders, each the size of a human head, were unmistakably the compass Pokémon, Dachao Bei Bi.

At the same time.

Seven or eight people emerged from behind the rocks, accompanied by snarling Houndours.

"Someone actually came running over. Lord Girard was truly prescient."

One of them, apparently the leader, let out a snicker. The Dachao Bei Bi flew back to his front, facing Baimu with their sides.

The characteristic of Dachao Bei Bi was that their fronts always pointed north.

"Oh, you're a squad leader? Where are your team members?" Though the man couldn't make out Baimu's face, hidden behind a sand-proof mask, he could see the badge on his chest.

At the same time.

"Sigh..."

Baimu likewise spotted the squad leader-level badge on the leader's chest and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Switch."

He didn't waste a single word with the people in front of him. He recalled Mawile and passed her Magnet Rise state on to Aggron.

The mountain-like, massive, dark form instantly froze the grinning expressions of the Hound Pack members.

"Double-Edge. Quick battle!"

"Roar!"

The next moment.

The four-hundred-plus-kilogram Aggron erupted with blinding white light, and like a meteor, charged at the Hound Pack members at a speed completely at odds with its weight!

"Block it!"

"Ow—woo! Woo woo woo!"

The Houndours tried to intercept Aggron's charge under their trainers' commands, but were smashed aside like blocks of tofu, utterly unable to withstand its Double-Edge.

The Dachao Bei Bi flew forward to stop it, but how could fragile magnets compare to solid steel?

All Baimu sent them flying with complete ease, and even left several cracks on Little Chaobei through sheer brute force, while it itself only bore a few scrape marks.

"Gedong—!"

The excited All Baimu threw back its head and roared; its rock-hard skull meant it was completely unharmed by the recoil, and its back-and-forth ramming speed grew faster and faster.

In an instant, the Hound Squad members were fleeing for their lives, screaming for their mothers.

The unlucky ones rammed by All Baimu were sent flying on the spot, spinning down to the ground and groaning "woo-yee-yee-yee."

It was clear they had barely any fighting capacity left.

"Speak! How many of you are there? What big shots have arrived?!"

Baimu raced against the clock to gather intelligence.

He quickly learned that this wave of Hound Squad had brought a full three executives — for the mine, which had only Lady Ayana's single executive remaining, it was nothing short of a devastating blow.

And right now, all three executives had gone inside to direct the others in sabotaging the equipment, leaving only a few people scattered at various points on the outer perimeter to guard against sudden reinforcements.

"Damn it!"

Baimu casually tossed the wailing man to the ground; he had no time to finish off these "cripples" strewn all over the place, and besides, finishing them off now was pointless.

All Baimu was, after all, only a single individual and could not chase down every opponent at once, which allowed that squad leader to send out a Pokémon in time to report back into the mine — though the leader himself was sent flying to one side, his fate unknown.

Every second counts!

Baimu quickly checked the hover-bike and, finding the thing was already wrecked, immediately leapt onto All Baimu's back.

"Charge!"

He planned to simply have it smash straight into the interior of the mine.

"Roar!"

All Baimu let out a low growl and, carrying Baimu, charged toward the chaotic mine, paying no heed at all to the blood and fire before the mine's gate, its eyes fixed dead ahead.

However.

Just as Baimu rode All Baimu into the mine and tried to begin his search—

A figure stepped out from a shadowy corner.

"I wondered who could have broken through so easily — turns out it's the infamous 'Demon Tree.' Seeing you in person really is better than hearing a hundred tales." The man was somewhat thin and frail, with a clean buzz cut and a roguish expression.

Beside him walked a humanoid creature holding three leaves in one hand, with long white hair covering its entire face, a long pointed nose, and wooden clogs on its feet—

An evil Pokémon — a cunning Tengu.

"…An executive?" Baimu was silent for a second, then asked quietly.

The man smiled and nodded. "Yes."

That answer made his expression collapse in an instant, and he could not help but let out a sigh. "Sigh… the more you don't want to run into something, the more you run into it…"