Chapter 17: Learning by Doing

Rolling is hard to stop.

That's pretty much the same as in the games.

Baimu could tell Otsuka really wanted the Geodude to stop, but couldn't manage it in the short term, forcing the two of them to dodge the rolling boulder like a game of dodgeball.

The Geodude really hadn't been attacking him on purpose earlier.

Seeing Otsuka also straining to dodge the Geodude's rolling, Baimu was fully convinced.

At first, he was the only one dodging, but as the Geodude's rolling speed kept increasing, the situation spiraled out of control; inertia left the Geodude almost no room to steer itself, and Otsuka, as its trainer, had no choice but to join Baimu's side.

"Send out Aron!"

"Make the Geodude stop."

In response to Otsuka's hoarse shouting, Baimu callously refused his suggestion—the power of Rollout must be at its peak right now, right? One touch and he'd be flat on his back.

"I—"

Thud!

Before the word was out, the Geodude slammed violently into the chain-link fence; the tremendous momentum wedged it right into the mesh and snapped several strands of wire.

The loud crash drew even more eyes.

"Now's my chance! Iron Head!"

Baimu shouted, and Aron, which had been lurking underground, burst out and slammed into the already half-stunned Geodude.

The chain-link fence, already stretched past its metal-fatigue limit, shattered on the spot; the Geodude tumbled onto the field, flat on its back with swirly eyes.

"Looks like I win." He announced the match result to a trembling Otsuka, ran to the edge, crouched down, and high-fived Aron. "Yeah! Victory!"

"Goo!"

Aron beamed, eyes curving into happy crescents.

"Let me ask you—my side's clearly weak to Ground, so why use Rollout?" Baimu asked Otsuka curiously.

Otsuka said indignantly, "How was I supposed to know your Pokémon would Dig! And stay underground the whole time without coming up! Have you no shame!"

"No, is that not allowed?"

"... One more round!"

Otsuka clenched his teeth, recalled the Geodude into its Poké Ball, and said, "I refuse to believe it!"

"Still got energy left?"

Baimu didn't answer directly, but turned and asked Aron instead.

Aron had spent almost the entire match underground, so it was full of stamina and naturally eager to fight.

Otsuka, meanwhile, was mentally dismembering Baimu piece by piece, swearing he had never seen such a shameless scoundrel.

How could it not have energy left!

"Sandshrew! Prepare for battle!"

He had to win at least once, or he'd pass out from sheer frustration right here.

——

Noon.

Three battles done, Aron had fought every Pokémon Otsuka had; some wins, some losses—the one it lost, it fell asleep from exhaustion halfway through.

Baimu glanced at the countdown in the corner of his eye and noticed it seemed to have shortened a little—less than half an hour, roughly.

Could it be…

Battles can shorten the simulator's loading time?

Three matches shaved off almost half an hour!

That's amazing!

The only downside was that Aron's stamina wasn't enough to support more matches, which was a bit of a shame.

But being able to shorten it at all was already a blessing—after all, the simulator was his powerful trump card!

For a moment.

Baimu's mood brightened further, and even looking at Otsuka felt considerably more pleasant.

"You really love using Rollout, huh? Is that move really that good?"

He said, puzzled—three Pokémon in total, and Donphan, Geodude, and Sandshrew had all used Rollout once.

It's just that Donphan and Sandshrew had better control over it than Geodude—they could stop on a dime; Geodude wanted to stop but couldn't, and Aron picked up the scraps.

"None of your business—"

"Hmm?"

"... Because once you train Rollout to an advanced level, it can shrug off a lot of moves."

"Oh? Really?"

"Of course it's real! I saw it with my own eyes—using only Rollout, it ignored Water Gun, Flamethrower, and a whole bunch of other moves. That kind of strength is the real deal!"

Otsuka's face was full of longing, like some star's狂热 fan—except the one he was a fan of was a powerful trainer.

"I see."

Baimu nodded, ready to leave.

Until he figured out the dungeon's full layout and key personnel, he didn't plan to linger long—whether grabbing a bite or healing Aron's injuries, he'd skip it all.

He'd offended too many people just now; he might get tripped up.

But he hadn't gone far when Otsuka behind him wrestled with his expression for a moment, then chased after him.

"Wait!"

"What's up?" He tilted his head.

"That thing you mentioned before—trade evolution… I want to hear the details." Otsuka seemed to find it hard to bring up, speaking haltingly. "I-I can pay for it too."

All Baimu studied his expression, considered for a moment, then said, "No need for money. Treat me to a meal. Treat me to a meal and I'll tell you."

This guy might be a bit brainless, but he wasn't all that annoying — perfect for putting Cang Zhi Lang's PUA tactics into flexible practice.

Otherwise this week would be a bit rough to get through. Always going one's own way easily worsens the subconscious alienation and rejection from those around you, making it hard to blend into the general environment. Keep a low profile and do things quietly.

"Huh? Really?"

Otsuka was a little delighted, then quickly turned his head aside. "I'll still pay. I don't want to owe you a favor."

"Too lazy to think about prices. Take it or leave it. I'm going." All Baimu didn't want to argue with him any longer. He bought a drink from a vending machine and left without looking back.

Seeing this, Otsuka hurriedly chased after him. "I know a pretty good little place nearby!"

"Let's go back up to the surface to eat."

"What's good to eat on the surface, let me tell you…"

"So much nonsense. I said back to the surface, so back to the surface."

The two gradually walked off into the distance.

The people left behind at the venue exchanged glances. Just now the two had been glaring at each other like enemies, and now they were chatting as they went off to eat. What was going on?

Back on the surface.

All Baimu first looked around for Narihiro and the others. Learning from a certain Quicksand team member that they had already left, he took Otsuka to the Pokémon Center near the Sand Group's base and left the sleeping Roggenrola in its care.

Afterward, he took Otsuka to Cobalt-Iridium Street and had lunch at a familiar shop.

This guy's initial attitude was resistant, finding fault with this and that, but he soon tucked in heartily. You could tell he was starving.

While eating, All Baimu explained things to him.

"Trade evolution means using a specific machine to trade each other's Pokémon. During the trade they undergo evolution. You've been raising Pokémon for quite a while now, haven't you? How do you not even know something like this?"

He was quite surprised. "This should be the most basic of basics, like type matchups. Anyone you ask would know. Nobody told you?"

Hearing this, Otsuka's originally eager expression instantly dimmed. "…No."

"Mm… then have you been to school?"

"…No either. There's no need for that! What good is school? Can it fill your belly? Can it beat the people who bully you?"

"So you're like me — both illiterate." Otsuka's resistant attitude didn't bother All Baimu. "Was it your family that wouldn't let you go to school?"

"What's that got to do with you!"

"Nothing, just asking. After all, I'm the only one in my family. Your dad was a Quicksand team member too? A squad leader?"

"…No, just a regular. And he's already 'retired.'"

Otsuka's attitude shifted from heated to silent.

Retired? Ah… so that was it.

All Baimu roughly understood the situation. The boy in front of him couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen, so his father probably wasn't that old either. Judging by that dejected look of his, it couldn't have been a normal retirement.

Retired due to injury.

That was fairly common in the Quicksand team — all sorts of reasons. After all, by nature they had to keep fighting, with no real safety net. Extremely dangerous.

All Baimu asked again, "Who are you following?"

"My dad recommended me to the youth squad. Even with a Pokémon you don't count as a full member. You have to finish a match before you can pick a big brother to follow."

"Then do you have any siblings?"

"…Yeah, an older sister." Otsuka kept his head lowered.

"I see. You're already the breadwinner of the family." He suddenly understood why Otsuka had backed down so quickly. He'd assumed it was just an extremely cowardly personality — bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Like how earlier he'd dropped to his knees on command without the slightest hesitation. Turns out he was someone who had faced reality and had his spine crushed by life.

Another pitiful, hateful person dyed black by the great muck-filled dye vat.

Still, worth pulling in a little.

All Baimu tapped the tabletop, drawing Otsuka's gaze upward. "Given that your situation is basically a dead end, why come provoke me? Releasing some pressure?"

Some people crushed by life's weight until they can't breathe tend to develop little quirks — like flaming people online, causing others trouble, even deliberately leaving bad reviews for couriers and delivery drivers, or stealing. Similar stress-relief methods.

Hard for ordinary people to understand.

In a place like Iron Sulfide Town, bullying the weak and watching their pained expressions was a fine choice.

Otsuka: "……"

He couldn't give a reason, because that kind of behavior was very common here, very widespread — like eating or drinking, no reason needed.

But vaguely, hearing All Baimu put it that way, he also felt a sense that doing this wasn't right.

"…Forget it, I'm not trying to interrogate you or anything. After all, your environment has had a huge influence on you. Without books or other means to acquire knowledge, you can only judge right and wrong by imitating the people around you, and your thinking gets fixed in place."

All Baimu finished his last bite. "Both your world and mine are too small. Hopefully one day we can break free of Iron Sulfide Town's shackles and open our eyes to see the real world."

He stood up and walked outside.

Otsuka started, hurriedly asking, "Where are you going?"

"Pick up my Pokémon, then figure out a way to go to school."

"School…"

The boy stood dazed in place, his expression for a moment complicated and unreadable.