Chapter 15: Peaceful Coexistence

This underground city was huge.

Baimu wandered around with Coco Dora for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what districts it had or what they were all for.

The key issue was that many places were locked up, with all sorts of neon lights of unclear meaning flashing nonstop—probably only opening at night, and they didn't look like any normal shops—

The bunny girls and gold coins on the signs proved plenty.

"Ah! There you are!"

The sudden shout startled Baimu; he turned his head to see two blurry figures rapidly approaching.

Just as he was about to flee with Coco Dora, the newcomer's face was already exposed in the flickering colored lights.

Wheat-colored hair, brown skin, a slightly large mouth, ordinary looks but with long legs supporting a one-meter-eighty frame, a lithe figure like a humanoid cheetah, and a wild, unrestrained grin on her face.

But Baimu paid more attention to what was behind her.

What a huge Swampert!

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly—after all, a Swampert that could grow to one meter eighty was quite rare. Its body, broader than a person's, made it as thick as a wall, and at first glance it was quite intimidating...

Well, actually, it was even more dopey than usual.

"Lady Ayana, good morning."

Baimu withdrew his gaze and hurriedly greeted the woman before him—one of the four officers of the Sand Group. Because she was considered kind, she was fairly well-known among the lower-ranking grunts.

"You're called Baimu, right?"

Ayana observed him for a moment, and without waiting for an answer, stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Come with me! You're the only one missing!"

"Lady Ayana—"

"Call me Big Sis! And stop wasting words! Just obediently follow along, and that's that—any more nonsense and I'll beat you up!"

The serious words made Baimu shut his mouth. He turned his head to look at Coco Dora and found the latter being held in the arms of the giant Swampert, waving its four little short legs in slight panic.

When their gazes met, Coco Dora gradually calmed down.

Obviously, after just a few days together, the two had already established a certain trusting relationship.

A short while later.

Ayana led Baimu through numerous alleyways, approaching a place resembling a basketball court, illuminated from all sides by massive searchlights, with neat chain-link fencing separating it from the walkways.

It was a battle arena.

Baimu looked inside and suddenly saw many young men and women in uniform using their Pokémon to battle each other.

Unlike the standard format in ordinary anime where trainers stand at the edge of the field, those people not only stood inside the field but also weren't far from their Pokémon.

He knew this was a specialty of Iron Town and the entire Orei region—the special-chapter style of fighting where trainer and Pokémon take hits together.

"Stop! Everyone stop!"

Ayana released Baimu's arm and clapped her hands vigorously. "Come over and assemble!"

The Quicksand Squad members who had been battling, upon hearing this, ordered their Pokémon to halt and quickly gathered toward this side.

Baimu took Coco Dora back from the Swampert, his gaze crossing with that of the line of young men and women standing in a row.

A quick count came to roughly a dozen or so.

They looked about his age, all around fifteen or sixteen, bright-eyed, with well-proportioned and upright builds; most had rough, dark skin, bearing traces of wind and sun.

Obviously, not all of them came from families of power and wealth.

As for their Pokémon, the species varied—strength unknown but spirits full, showing no panting or fatigue despite the interrupted battle, their whole bodies radiating an air of having seen countless battles, clearly the result of careful cultivation.

A special ops squad?

No—a team assembled specifically to fight the Wild Dog Squad next week.

Baimu suddenly understood why he'd been dragged over, but was letting him join the team something planned from early on?

A person who'd just become a formal member—did he have that kind of value?

He couldn't quite figure out what the big brothers and sisters of the Sand Group were thinking, so he tried to think positively—for instance, that they appreciated him or something.

"What are you standing there for! Say hello! Do I need to nag you!"

Ayana lightly kicked his shin.

"Uh, good morning, everyone." Baimu greeted the crowd of boys and girls with mixed expressions.

Immediately following, a chorus of synchronized applause rang out.

Ayana looked at this scene with satisfaction. "This is Baimu, one of the participants in next week's battle, your temporary teammate—remember to get along well."

Having said that, this Big Sis left together with the Swampert, not planning to introduce these people to Baimu, nor telling him what he should do.

The neat formation of young men, women, and Pokémon held until the very last second Ayana disappeared; the instant she was gone, they immediately loosened up.

"Ah, what a pain."

"My move was already out just now—that counts as your loss, you hear me?"

"Like hell it counts! Who saw it! Evidence? Bring out the evidence!"

The whole group turned and walked off, with no intention of paying Baimu any attention.

Baimu actually went up and spoke to them, but not a single person responded—they all ignored him completely.

Cliquish?

Had he offended them?

He took Coco Dora to the edge and suddenly heard a snicker, gaining an even clearer understanding of his situation. So he silently watched their battles, occasionally lowering his head to say a few things to Coco Dora.

The latter often nodded with a half-understanding look, its glowing blue eyes looking around, unclear whether it had actually comprehended.

Over ten minutes passed.

This self-amusing behavior gradually drew the attention of those people.

Whether the earlier exclusion had been premeditated or spontaneous, at this moment Baimu had once again drawn scrutinizing gazes from those around him.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A buzz-cut blond walked over, asking aggressively.

All Baimu replied, "Watching you fight."

"Who allowed you to watch? Who allowed you in? Get out!" the man barked, the Rhyperior beside him letting out a threatening, muffled roar.

"Dod!"

"Gurr!"

Coco Dora returned the sound without backing down an inch. The difference in their builds was enormous, yet not a trace of fear showed on its face.

"Yo! You even know how to shield your trainer — not a bad Pokémon on you. If you gave it to me, I'd forgive you!" the man chuckled, his gaze never leaving Baimu.

Clearly this fellow had no interest in Coco Dora; he'd just cooked up a pretext to pick a fight.

The criminal underworld…

Although Baimu had never held much expectation for the internal order of Team Quicksand, being troubled over and over again was, in the end, getting tiresome.

"I won't give it to you. What are you going to do about it?"

He said flatly.

That almost contemptuous tone instantly ignited the troublemaker's fury. The man strode forward and grabbed Baimu by the collar. "Huh!? You're pretty cocky, aren't you? Who do you think you are? Some rookie crawled out of who-knows-where!"

"Hah, and which stinking ditch did you crawl out of?"

He seized the man's wrist in a backhand grip, his Hukou tightening like a pair of pincers. The man's face flushed red in an instant, teeth clenched tight, refusing to make a sound.

Can't beat a Machamp but can't beat you? You really think the title of Hukou Street's top dog is just hot air?

"If you've got the guts, go cause trouble for the Hound Pack. You sure you'll win next week's match? Picking fights at home — that's your talent? Worth nothing!" He pried the man's hand off as easily as bending the joint of a plastic toy.

"Dod!"

Realizing its trainer had been hurt, the Rhyperior charged over, but the moment it got close, a silver figure slammed into it and sent it staggering back.

Boom!

The two Pokémon differed in height by more than a full head, yet somehow they had locked into a stalemate.

"You son of a—" The man clutched his aching wrist, bloodshot eyes blazing. He bellowed on the spot and raised his fist to swing at Baimu's face.

The latter had planned to catch the fist and counter with one of his own, but a flicker at the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he stopped at once.

And the incoming fist was caught by a hand.

"Otsuka, you seem to enjoy treating our words like passing wind." That quiet voice drained the blood from the man's eyes; cold sweat began to trickle down his temples.

"B-big sis…"

Otsuka lowered his head, not daring to look at Lady Ayana's icy face.

"Or is it that you have objections to the boss's arrangements? Your own ideas? Go ahead, speak boldly — say whatever you like."

"I'm terribly sorry! Please forgive me!"

Otsuka dropped straight to his knees, forehead pressed flat against the ground, voice strained to breaking.

And his Pokémon, the Rhyperior, was pinned flat by a giant Swampert's guileless smile, completely unable to move.

A presence like a mountain made Coco Dora hesitate and pull back.

Lady Ayana ignored the kneeling Otsuka and looked at Baimu, who was keeping to himself. "And you?"

He blinked, pointed at himself, and said, "I have to kneel too? Alright then, as you wish…"

"Tch, enough, enough, putting on an act." Lady Ayana waved her hand impatiently. "Just as annoying as that glasses-wearing guy!"

Baimu, who had never intended to kneel in the first place, straightened up at once.

"Listen up, you little brats! I don't care who you like or who you hate, I don't care who's backing you — if we lose to the Hound Pack and let outsiders see the Sand Squad made a laughingstock of themselves, every last one of you!"

Lady Ayana jabbed a finger at each person. "All of you are going down to the mines to dig! Dig till you die! No exceptions! Anyone who's unhappy about it, come find me! Or have the people behind you come find me! Understood!?"

Her voice was as loud as a lion's roar, making hearts tremble.

"Understood!"

A chorus of replies in unison.

And so.

Lady Ayana left again with the Swampert, but the once-lively atmosphere in the grounds had sunk to its absolute lowest.

Otsuka was still kneeling, his whole body trembling.

Baimu noticed that many gazes around him had shifted from indifference to resentment. It seemed Lady Ayana's warning had driven people with nowhere to vent their anger to single him out.

Most likely things would turn into shared hostility next, and then escalate even further.

If that's how it is…

Suddenly.

He had an idea.

Baimu squatted down in front of Otsuka and poked his arm. "How long are you planning to kneel?"

Otsuka turned his head, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes brimming with tears. "It's all your fault, all you—"

"Right, I did it all. So what?"

He spread his hands, unconcerned. "But what can you do to me? Beat me up right now? Can you even land a hit?"

Otsuka flew into a rage. "You—!"

"Can't hit me, can't do anything about me, right? Feeling frustrated? In that case, come curry favor with me."

Baimu smiled. "Otherwise I'll ambush you during the match, I'll wreck things."

"…Huh?"

"Anyway, I've got nothing to lose to begin with. Some of you in this lot are counting on a meteoric rise, right? Some of you come from well-off families, counting on this chance to climb another step."

He raised his voice, his eyes fixed on the stunned Otsuka, but he knew everyone in the grounds was watching this side.

"So let's all get along nicely, let's make each other happy. Otherwise, what a despairing me might do during the match, I myself don't know.

"Of course, you can try to kill me in the next couple of days — gamble on the outcome of making a move, gamble on the reaction of offending the boss and the others. It's just dying, or digging in the mines for a lifetime, after all."

Baimu's threat turned the many dissatisfied gazes into stunned ones—everyone had entertained the idea of mutual destruction, but no one had ever dared to actually use it as leverage against others.

Because nine times out of ten, it was all bluster, all stubborn words born from an inability to back down.

Yes.

Absolutely.

An odd atmosphere gradually began to spread across the grounds.

"—Just a joke, don't be so tense! You'd think I was threatening someone—we're all teammates! Good brothers! Isn't getting along friendly just common sense?"

Smiling broadly, Baimu spoke again, ignoring the cold silence around him, and helped the dazed Otsuka to his feet, brushing the dust off his body.

"Look at you, all messy—at least you're sixteen, right? This won't do at all."

He shifted his gaze.

He finally looked at everyone, meeting their varied stares with a bright, sincere smile.

"Let me reintroduce myself, everyone! I'm Baimu! Baimu from Qingyi Street! I'll be in your care for the next week!"

Baimu bowed slightly, his clear voice echoing across the entire grounds, surrounded by expressions of tension, shock, solemnity, and wariness.

Since being singled out by the group was unavoidable, he might as well detonate it himself.

The situation couldn't get any worse than this.

In the distance.

Beneath a house shrouded in shadow, the glint of a lens vanished.