Chapter 199: Pokédex

The Eros Milotic was anchored in a stretch of sea fifteen nautical miles out from Qinggang Port.

Though he didn't know why it had to berth so far out, it lived up to its reputation as the fourth-largest luxury cruise liner in the Pokémon world — even approaching it, one was overwhelmed by its pure-white, colossal hull.

At first glance it looked just like a moving city on water.

According to the materials Baimu had looked up, the thing had twenty-two decks in total, twenty of which were open to tourists and freely accessible to him. Inside, from a Pokémon Center down to theaters and cinemas, everything was available — there was even an extraordinarily beautiful botanical garden.

And that wasn't all.

Taking trainers into consideration, it had specially built one deck into a Pokémon battle ground, fitted with the latest shielding devices so trainers could battle to their heart's content — as long as the energy level stayed within the shields' tolerance, they could go wild however they liked.

A blessing for trainers, one might say.

After the speedboat delivered Baimu aboard, the Eros Milotic arranged an attendant to receive him, who used his ticket to lead him to a deluxe cabin on the eighteenth deck.

Three meters high, containing over a hundred square meters of space, with a small balcony and two lounge chairs thrown in.

"Here is your room card. If you have any questions or requests, please dial the hotline on the wall. Have a pleasant voyage."

The attendant bowed and withdrew.

Baimu swept a glance over the cabin's interior, let out a breath, and released his whole team of Pokémon.

Aggron landed and made straight for the balcony — peering down and seeing that the dark expanse below wasn't land but ocean, it quickly pulled its head back in.

"Grr!"

Not pleased.

Equally displeased was Mawile, who hadn't spotted a princess bed; it promptly claimed the soft sofa for itself, patted the coffee table, and went "Chee-doh!"

Clearly it was in urgent need of a cup of black tea to soothe its soul.

Chansey and Druddigon had no such demands — the former, not having spotted a kitchen, was a touch disappointed, but upon hearing Mawile's cry it cheerfully went off to brew tea.

Druddigon…

Druddigon was chewing on its own hand.

"You little rascal." Baimu looked at it helplessly, wondering whether he ought to correct this habit of its.

During battles it had never happened that it would turn around mid-fight and start gnawing its hand, so under the circumstances he'd let it be.

The Pokémon released obviously did not include Steelix.

Its body was absurdly oversized; inside the cruise ship there was hardly any space that let it move freely, and this not-large cabin was even more so — before reaching the destination, it was unlikely to get many chances to come out for fresh air.

Therefore, to safeguard its physical and mental health, Baimu used the black-tech of the 【Pokémon Box】 to teleport it back to Iron Town at any time, temporarily entrusting it to N's care, and would bring it back once they reached Hoenn.

And because it could shuttle freely between Baimu and Iron Town, Steelix had also been charged by Aggron with an important mission — guarding the premises and 【Plowing】 the fields.

The 【Plow】 move, used in combination with fertilizer, could rapidly boost a patch of land's fertility, greatly helping crop growth. In the Mountain Myrtle five-year plan, the self-sufficient grain production item depended on the Pokémon's 【Plow】 to be realized.

Steelix had no objection — staying in its Poké Ball was certainly comfortable enough, but it still couldn't compare to the taste of flying through the sky or burrowing underground.

After a while, they had settled into the new environment.

"It's not early anymore, everyone get some rest first. Whatever it is can wait till tomorrow."

Baimu glanced at the time on his phone and said to the Pokémon.

"Chee-doh~" "Grr~"

Mawile and Aggron both raised their hands — one figured a bed that wasn't a princess bed wasn't worth lying on, and the other, despite being able to swim, had no fondness for salty seawater; both declared they wanted to go back into their Poké Balls to sleep.

《Gene Great Era》

Baimu indulged them, gave himself a quick wash-up, and fell asleep hugging Chansey and Druddigon.

——

The next day.

Baimu pushed Druddigon off his chest, and the death-grip suffocation from his dreams vanished in an instant.

But what followed was a slight wave of dizziness.

Getting seasick in the Pokémon world was something Baimu hadn't expected; fortunately it wasn't too severe — as long as he shifted his attention, it didn't matter.

By comparison, the Pokémon were doing fine; even Aggron, who hated the sea, didn't feel much — it looked as though Baimu alone had taken the hit.

"Lucky~"

Chansey rubbed its eyes and looked at him.

"I'm fine, you keep sleeping — I'll have someone bring breakfast in." Baimu patted its head, picked up the phone by the bed, ordered breakfast, and asked about the fishing competition.

The customer-service rep said the fishing competition could be entered by signing up at the front desk on the eighth floor; it would be held three days later, at which point the Eros Milotic would anchor near a stretch of sea off the Lentil Region.

The Lentil Region?

Baimu couldn't place where that was at first; he checked the Pokémon world map, then searched, and learned that the Lentil Region was an undeveloped archipelago made up of numerous islands each with its own distinct natural scenery —

The setting of "Pokémon Snap Adventures"!

Because it was a game released after Sword and Shield, the region even had Generation Eight Pokémon.

Holding a fishing contest near it might bring some unexpected catches.

Could it really be that his Ghost-type Pokémon had been fished up?

Carrying that question, Baimu finished breakfast and went to the eighth floor to sign up. One of the perks of the Ohran Region's liberation was that he now possessed a legitimate, legal identity.

No longer a stowaway who'd slipped out on his own.

"We see you're registered here as a new trainer — we recommend you go to the Pokémon Center on the tenth floor to pick up your Pokédex."

The front-desk clerk in charge of registration handed his Trainer Card back to him.

"Me? A new trainer?"

Baimu pointed at himself, a little puzzled.

"Yes, that's how it shows up on the computer. If the registration is wrong, please go to the Pokémon Center to update your information." The clerk kept a smile on her face.

He nodded. "Alright… thanks."

"Have a pleasant voyage."

After bidding farewell to the front desk attendant whose smile service was flawless, All Baimu took the elevator to the Pokémon Center, but did not catch sight of Young Lady Joy's figure.

Looks like Young Lady Joy isn't so common as to be everywhere either.

He thought to himself, then struck up a conversation with the front desk staff, and quickly obtained a phone-shaped Pokédex with a black exterior.

There are many Pokédex models currently popular on the market; the most fashionable is a square card-style Pokédex, namely the XY version's design. The phone Pokédex, however, is a prototype — according to the staff, an inventor in Lumiose City is currently developing a Pokédex that can house a Rotom.

Even the Rotom Pokédex is still in the development stage…

All Baimu searched for news about Lysandre, saw that he was perfectly intact and had yet to be disgraced, then looked up the results roster of last year's Unova League Conference.

He guessed the current timeline should be set just after Ash had arrived in the Kalos region, or not long after his departure.

Of course.

This wasn't all that important — he wasn't going to Kalos to hang around with Ash anyway; each minding his own business, no one getting in anyone's way.

"Quite interesting."

He fiddled with the phone Pokédex for a while, feeling only that this gadget was considerably more interesting than he'd imagined, though the operation was slightly complex — especially for a novice trainer — so it was perfectly normal to be bested by the more intelligent Rotom Phone.