Chapter 168: The Rescuer

"Please."

All Baimu brewed tea and served it to the one man and two women before him, a smile on his face on the surface, but inwardly restless.

"Thank you."

The three accepted the tea without showing any look of distaste, and drank it with great politeness.

Awu beside them sat with one leg crossed over the other, eating an ice lolly quite at ease.

All Baimu shot the fellow a glance — not out of dislike for his over-familiarity, but because he wondered why the guy had made such a big deal of something without giving him a heads-up call first.

He drew a deep breath and unobtrusively studied the three's appearances.

The man seated on the far left was a rather slender, handsome male with a head of loose, waist-length green hair simply tied back; a strange spherical celestial body hung at his chest, and at his waist was a golden imitation of something.

Of the two women, one had long pink hair, the other a yellow ponytail, with two tufts of hair sticking up on her head that looked just like rabbit ears.

"Um… Mr. Ghetsis, is there anything I can help you with?"

All Baimu strove to keep his voice steady.

Yes.

Sitting before him was the adopted son of the former Plasma Team boss of the Unova region — wielder of the power of Reshiram, rumored to be the child born of Pokémon, able to understand the language of Pokémon — a wildly popular character.

N.

Full name: Natural Harmonia Gropius.

It was hard to imagine the man appearing right there in the flesh; the pounding in All Baimu's heart was no less than the first time he had seen a Pokémon.

"Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Baimu. Please bear with us for the many inconveniences of this unannounced visit."

N's tone was soft and gentle, and his two sisters also smiled and lowered their heads in greeting. "The main reason we've come here is that we heard from Awu about the current situation in Iron Town, and we hope we can do our small part."

Hearing this, All Baimu immediately stood and extended his hand. "Thank you all for your generous help — your arrival is truly a great help to us. Since we all share the same aspiration, from now on we are comrades of like mind. You may call me by name, and please allow me to address you by yours as well."

"…The honor is mine, though you may simply call me 'N.'"

N seemed a little surprised by the decisiveness of the man before him, but he merely figured the Unova crisis had grown tense enough to warrant it, and decisively shook the offered hand.

Next came his pink-haired sister named Bebe, and his blonde-haired sister named Anthea.

His magnanimous bearing proved he was the N from after the Plasma Team's downfall — the N from the anime who at first deeply loathed the deeds of humans and wished to keep Pokémon far from them, until later, after meeting Ash, he came to understand that humans and Pokémon could forge bonds.

Not all humans in the world were evil; in the end, he had obtained his answer from Reshiram.

At the present stage.

He should be striving to build an ideal world for humans and Pokémon.

The four conversed in low voices — mostly N's side asking questions, and All Baimu answering.

From the focus of N's questions, it wasn't hard to tell the man's real intention was to come rescue the Pokémon of the Unova region. For All Baimu, who had resolved to save even those "voiceless" Pokémon along with them, this was undoubtedly a timely rain.

However.

Since in most cases he was only a "hired thug," he didn't know which future-related matters he should or shouldn't speak of, so he simply contacted Mao Jie and had her talk with N.

Then All Baimu pulled Awu aside.

"He's a Dragon Tamer?"

"No."

"If he's not, why did you bring him here?"

"Met him during a trip before. He said he's devoted to rescuing Pokémon all over the world. I figured Unova's in the whole world too, so I contacted him, and then we came over together."

"Then why didn't you notify Mao Jie first, and instead sent him to me?"

"He's not a Dragon Tamer — why would I contact her? Besides, can't you just contact her yourself?"

Looking at Awu's careless expression, All Baimu wiped his face. "Then what about those Dragon Tamers we agreed on?"

At this, the former suddenly became awkward, guiltily rubbing his nose. "Uh, hahaha…"

Seeing All Baimu still staring at him, Awu slumped his head dejectedly. "Grandma Dragon said I'm too impetuous — something this important can't be joined in just because of a few words. She told me to come over and figure out the specific situation first, and also made me write a ten-thousand-word report…"

"Ha."

All Baimu was amused, and at the same time felt Grandma Dragon was fairly steady — such a big matter indeed couldn't be entered into rashly; one had to figure out what each side had done before taking one's time to plan.

On the other side.

Mao Jie seemed to have finished talking with N's group; the polite formality on their faces had faded quite a bit.

At the former's signal, All Baimu picked up his phone and walked aside.

"Look, our first group of allies has arrived — even if it's only three people for now." Mao Jie on the phone laughed happily. "But his strength, I think, can match a thousand troops."

All Baimu was curious. "You know him?"

"Of course I do. This one's a very famous Pokémon rescuer — known as someone who doesn't need Poké Balls, doesn't need battles, can communicate with all Pokémon, and can make Pokémon all listen to him — the 'Son of Pokémon.'"

Mao Jie spoke in the tone of someone who'd pulled an SSR on a single draw: "Maybe his combat ability isn't that strong, but the role he can play exceeds ten Cang Zhi Langs!"

"…When did the boss become a unit of combat power?"

"If you mind…"

"Actually it's fine."

"Anyway, people like this will keep increasing from now on. But it's not convenient on my end for the moment, so please look after N and the others for me."

"That's fine, but…"

All Baimu helplessly hung up the phone.

Although there were still a few empty rooms at home, considering the crowding and the issue of personal space, he arranged for N to stay next door at Master Liu Ge's house.

From N, he learned that Mao Jie hoped he could keep a low profile for now, not rashly reveal his existence, and when Master Liu Ge and the others launched their operation, lend support from the side.

With things having developed to this point, the future was actually quite clear.

The chaos in Iron Town was, on one hand, to weaken internal forces, and on the other, to lure Elder Ejin's troops over from Castelia City, easing the pressure on the true main force — that is, Mao Jie's father's side.

As long as Master Liu Ge could find a way to use Iron Town to pin down Elder Ejin's troops, their odds of victory would rise greatly.

And so Cang Zhi Lang and the others heading to Silicon Beryllium City to rescue the Quicksand Squad boss would serve as the first force to delay Elder Ejin's troops, as long as they could be prevented from reinforcing in time.

Master Liu Ge's objective would be achieved.

Therefore, the most important thing right now was to ensure that Huang Tie Town, this foundational base, did not run into any problems.

However.

Master Liu Ge and Mountain Shren seemed to hold two different attitudes toward Elder Ejin's troops.

The former's vision was to delay time, while the latter... seemed to be thinking about how to annihilate Elder Ejin's troops!

YY novel