Chapter 1140

Looking for someone, but ended up losing yourself?

Baimu's expression was strange.

"What are you all doing, huh? Ah~ turns out it's the brother coming back, so obedient, so obedient."

Elise laughed as she randomly petted the heads of the two-headed tyrannosaurs.

"Hey duo! Hey duo!"

"Woo!"

This group of dragon babies that looked like big furry dogs also surrounded her, licking or sniffing, occasionally letting out happy cries.

Her use of the Dragon's Heart was far more proficient than Baimu's.

Even without closing her eyes to focus, just a casual touch could put her into the state, her natural and harmonious posture admirable.

"Elise!"

A shout came from afar.

A girl approached with two three-headed evil dragons, their size several sizes smaller than the Husky Dragon, but of normal build.

The Husky Dragon's size was purely due to usually eating too well and having too high a level.

The three three-headed evil dragons met, observing each other and cautiously sniffing.

—Not acquainted!

The Husky Dragon had no reaction for now, while the opposite side bared its teeth first, nervously watching it.

"Hiss..."

The Husky Dragon snorted boredly through its nose, as if sighing.

The girl opposite embarrassedly pushed her two three-headed evil dragons back, shouting: "Shh! Calm down a bit! You're embarrassing yourselves!"

Only then did they quiet down.

Elise laughed: "Iris! This is Baimu! Your idol!"

"I know..."

Iris embarrassedly pinched the hair at her temples, bowing shyly to Baimu: "Hello Champion! I'm Iris! I'm a fan of yours and the three-headed evil dragons!"

The little girl looked even younger than Elise, appearing to share the same name as Xiaoxia Second Sister, but actually having the same characters with completely different pronunciation.

Baimu smiled and nodded: "Hello!"

As a dragon tamer with a pseudo-divine start, surface luck was maxed out, but in reality she had nurtured these three-headed evil dragons, beings with extremely long growth periods.

However, Iris was somewhat special.

In the animation, she only set out on her journey after one of the three-headed evil dragons had matured.

Quite the posture of the Ten Mile Slope Sword God!

It's estimated that when she went to challenge the first gym, the gym leader would be dazed for a moment.

And upon learning that the three-headed evil dragon before her was the one she had seen on TV, Iris's two three-headed evil dragons appeared doubtful and uncertain.

They sniffed again.

"Sang duo!"

"Sang duo la!"

This isn't just a little brat!

The scent emitted by the Husky Dragon lets them confirm its age; for smell-sensitive Pokémon, each age group of the same species has a different scent.

The difference between juvenile and adolescent dragons is especially obvious—

Upon entering maturity, dragons, being able to seek mates and breed Pokémon eggs, actively release a pheromone.

Males who inhale it will fight; females who inhale it will pair up.

Humans cannot escape jealousy over lovers, and animal-type Pokémon are naturally similar; it can be said that as long as there is gender, none can escape.

As for those without gender, that's another matter.

The Husky Dragon couldn't be bothered with them; today it was in a good mood, having returned to the hometown where it felt comfortable, and having met its siblings, it wouldn't fight the dragons.

Normally, these two would surely be pressed to the ground and beaten by it!

But its lack of reaction doesn't mean its siblings had no reaction.

The two-headed tyrannosaurs all roared at Iris's home's two brothers, showing strong dissatisfaction.

The attention of the three chatting people was drawn.

"Are they going to fight?"

Elise said with a face full of excitement.

Baimu: "?"

Do Pokémon want to fight, not only not stopping but eager to try?

Iris seemed to see his thought, softly saying: "In Dragon's Hometown, it's very common for Pokémon dragons to fight. As long as they don't cause chaos everywhere, torment innocent Pokémon and people, and stay within limits, it's fine."

"Let it happen?"

"Yes! Because Pokémon dragons have abundant energy, grandma said fighting is the best way to vent useless energy..."

As Iris spoke.

Her home's three-headed evil dragons had already started fighting with the two-headed tyrannosaurs.

But neither side used attribute energy, purely relying on physical combat to compare strength; seeing this scene, Baimu immediately felt relieved.

So this is how they fight, no wonder they're not tense.

Seeing his siblings all engaged, and also speaking up for him, the Husky Dragon naturally couldn't stay out of it, silently charging forward to press down one that was biting and striking wildly, then turning to torment another.

Iris watched with her little face flushed, constantly cheering for her home's three-headed evil dragons: "Let the champion see how fierce we are!"

"You also go up, Double Axe Battle Dragon!"

Alice urged her Pokémon onto the field.

The Haxorus pointed at itself with an innocent look.

It? Go up?

That'll cause a huge commotion!

The Haxorus shook its head decisively, which disappointed Alice a little. "Alright, save your energy for the Festival then."

Meanwhile, the Changpu family's Hydreigon let out howls begging for mercy.

It was finally let off the hook by a group of juvenile dragons.

Enough ants can kill an elephant, let alone when there's a genetic mutant among them.

Changpu stepped forward to soothe her own Pokémon, then looked at the Hydreigon surrounded by the crowd and said enviously, "The Baimu family's Hydreigon is sure to take the Festival championship, right?"

"Festival championship? You mean the battle event?"

Baimu remembered that Dragon Village held a battle event every year, and because of it, Alice had been valued by the Twin Dragon Gym Leader Xia Ka when she was little.

Changpu laughed. "Not just that, there's also the Long Wang Battle!"

"It's just like a moment ago — no moves, purely physical strength deciding the victor. The winning Pokémon can receive the Grandmother's blessing!"

Alice patted the Haxorus beside her and said proudly, "It was last year's 【Long Wang】!"

"Even the Little Tyrant is no match for it?" Baimu raised an eyebrow.

Alice knew he was referring to her own ill-tempered Dragonite. She shook her head. "No no no, only dragons native to Dragon Village can participate in the Long Wang Battle."

Native dragons, huh...

Baimu looked at the Haxorus, and the Haxorus turned its head to look at him.

'Participate or not?'

'Your call!'

'Since we're here already...'

'Your call!'

The exchange of intent formed in an instant.

He decided to let the Haxorus try to snatch the Haxorus's Long Wang title — can't come all this way for nothing, right?

As they spoke, Elite Four Wan Long arrived fashionably late.

"Huh? Baimu, why are you here?"

"I want to ask you the same thing — you only just found Alice now." Seeing the tape on her glasses temple, Baimu realized: "Your frames broke?"

Wan Long was a bit embarrassed. "Too many people at the market, my glasses got knocked off, and then a passing Druddigon stepped on them..."

What rotten luck.

Alice and Changpu wore faces full of sympathy.

Wan Long didn't seem to mind, her eyes shining as she latched onto Alice. "New Champion Young Lady! Did you receive the letter I sent you last time? I came specially to your door to gather material!"

"That... memories and such... I actually..."

Alice showed slight resistance to this.

She had a lot of shameful black history she'd rather not revisit, and her personality was inherently solitary and independent.

During her travels with Ash in Best Wishes, it took a good several episodes before she officially joined the team, and nearly a month before she slowly revealed her origins.

So when Wan Long's letters expressed a desire to explore her past, how could Alice ever agree?

But Wan Long didn't press. "Then let me narrate from a third-party perspective! Lady Shirona's first edition was decided that way too!"

"Lady Shirona?"

Alice's eyes flickered.

Her dream was to become a Dragon Master, and Zhulan happened to match her vision of the future.

Mature, beautiful, elegant, poised, and powerful Regional Champion, with a Dragon-type ace Pokémon.

How could such a perfect person exist?

Moreover, during her past travels with Ash, Alice had met Zhulan once, and the other party had left an extremely deep impression on her back then.

"I can... reveal a little, um, just a little."

Alice pinched a tiny gap between her thumb and forefinger.

Wan Long said happily: "That couldn't be better!"

Changpu actively proposed: "Come rest at my place! Big Brother Baimu! Alice! Miss Wan Long!"

The three had no objections.

——

The Changpu residence.

Baimu drank tea, gazing out the window.

Groups of Hydreigon, Zweilous, and Deino were slowly gathering.

"Everyone's gathering together!"

Changpu, bringing a bowl of biscuits, smiled: "That's the Black-Hair Clan, that's the Long-Fang Clan, and the Explosive-Tail Clan..."

"Clans?"

"It's classification based on the Deino's different sexual characteristics."

Changpu said: "Pokémon can not only inherit moves from their parents, but some special things can be inherited too. For example, the White-Hair Clan — when they're young, they have a tuft of white hair on their forehead."

"White hair? My Hydreigon — uh, seems like it was dyed."

Baimu recalled his own Hydreigon had white hair back then; he'd worried he wouldn't recognize it, so he'd specially highlighted it.

It naturally faded after a few months.

Changpu giggled and said, "Your three Hydreigon belong to the Black Hair clan; look at their fur in the sunlight — isn't it especially black? Blacker than all the others?"

"... Indeed."

Baimu nodded.

The Haxorus's fur was a glossy black, looking extremely lustrous; the other three Hydreigon's fur was a matte black-grey, like dust that would brush right off.

So it's a hereditary trait!

Good genes!

While he silently played spot-the-difference, the Hydreigon clan members outside had already gone to war — stage one fighting stage one, stage two fighting stage two.

A veritable grand melee had formed.

Quite a few Dragon Tamers were drawn by the roars; some watched with great interest, some wanted to step in and stop it but were held back.

"Are you crazy! If you go in now, do you think they'll hold back?"

"But my dragon..."

"Stop blubbering! Cheer it on! Your dragon's in a fight!"

The Dragon Tamer who seemed to be the older brother scolded the younger brother.

Baimu said, "The Long Wang Battle won't start early, will it?"

"It won't! Dragon Village has many kinds of dragons; Hydreigon are just one type. They're fighting it out now to establish a pecking order, so when the official tournament comes we'll know who to back."

As Changpu spoke, she shouted a couple of times toward the outside, cheering for her Hydreigon.

These dragons actually know how to coordinate!

Baimu was stunned!

He had thought it was a barbaric primitive activity; now it looked clearly like a competitive sport!

Inside a certain room, Wan Long and Alice were also driven out by the noise.

"They're fighting again?"

"Double-Axe War Dragon, you get in there!"

She always wanted to egg her ace on to take on a hundred alone.

The Double-Axe War Dragon was speechless; it had fallen for Alice's trick before, right after it had evolved into Fraxure.

Good grief, what a beating it took!

It was nearly beaten to tears, to the point it swore it would defeat all opponents the following year.

Twelve months east of the river, twelve months west of the river!

Don't bully the young dragon just because it's poor!

The result was just like Xiao Yan storming the Yunlan Sect — it successfully claimed the Long Wang title, and on that basis helped its Trainer win the Unova Championship.

Thinking back on it now, it's quite nostalgic!

The Double-Axe War Dragon, not much older than the Hydreigon, was filled with reminiscence.

The battle outside also quickly neared its end —

Undeniably.

The Haxorus won a sweeping victory.

Its size alone crushed every Hydreigon present, and its exaggerated Level 90 gave it an extremely powerful physique.

Never mind the dragons of Dragon Village; even Zekrom and Reshiram, it would dare suppress them before it!

"Roar——!!"

The Haxorus occupying the very center roared at the sky, causing countless Hydreigon, Zweilous, and Deino to answer in kind.

Just like the scene where the King of Monsters Godzilla killed King Ghidorah.

Inside the house.

Baimu saw Yueju in the crowd; he was taking a stack of money from the hands of some muttering person.

"Ah! Yueju's gambling again!"

Wan Long let out an angry sound.

She had clearly also seen Yueju collecting the money, and said, "I'm definitely reporting this to Mr. Alder!"

"He really gambles?" Baimu was equally surprised.

Remembering that gambler is Yueju's game persona, so it made him think of the simulation subject from before — does he gamble in the anime too?

Wan Long said discontentedly, "Before Mr. Alder returned to the League, he often let himself go; after Mr. Alder came back he restrained himself quite a bit... now he's back to his old ways!"

Gambling-addict Elite Four!

Honestly, Baimu's impression of gambling addicts was very poor.

Back at the Huang Tie Arena, he had forcibly held Cheng Hong and the others back, not letting them keep throwing big money in, which would have led to total addiction and ruin of their families.

Didn't expect Yueju to be someone who can't resist either.

"I'm going to stop him!"

Wan Long walked out the door without hesitation, "Can't let him damage the Elite Four's prestige! Especially Mr. Alder's prestige!"

An Elite Four who should set an example gambling really is...

Baimu followed out; Changpu and Alice had no chance to follow, blocked by a dense mass of Hydreigon.

Not long after.

The two found Yueju at a small stall; he was fiddling with a deck of playing cards with cool packaging, "Trading the bet money from just now for this — you're not losing out, right?"

"Not losing out, not losing out."

The stall keeper grinned repeatedly.

So Yueju, humming a little tune, prepared to leave; he turned his head and bumped right into Baimu and Wan Long.

Seeing the latter's angry face, Bilberry knew the reason without asking, and helplessly said: "Small gambling is fun, isn't it? I just returned his money to him."

"Small gambling is still gambling!"

"I'm helping him quit gambling, look—once you lose too much, you won't gamble anymore?"

"Losing too much makes the sunk cost too high, only dragging you deeper in, as Mr. Adake said!"

"I know, I know~"

"You don't know!"

The two walked while arguing.

Or perhaps it was Wandering Dragon unilaterally arguing with Bilberry, the latter exhausted from responding, yet unwilling to seriously debate her in public.

His hand naturally fiddled with the playing cards, drawing Baimu's glance again and again.

Hmm... familiar!

Baimu silently took out the playing cards from the odd-colored Gastly and mimicked Bilberry's movements once.

Quickly shifting from unfamiliar to skilled.

Bilberry's gaze shifted over, raising an eyebrow: "Yo! Even the Ou Lei champion plays cards? Why don't we play a little—"

He suddenly fell silent, staring intently.

The oblivious Wandering Dragon said: "Champion! You also say something about him!"

Suddenly.

Bilberry spoke: "Where did you learn this?"

At this moment, their hand movements were exactly alike! Like twins!