Chapter 214: The Kid in Shorts

Route 101.

The path that symbolizes a starting point.

It was here that Kasumi contributed her bicycle and joined Satoshi's traveling party.

All Baimu had assumed that a road like this, which most rookie trainers walked, probably wouldn't have any wild Pokémon left on it, but the facts proved he was overthinking it.

Others might not be around, but Wurmple were definitely in plentiful supply; if you looked carefully up in the trees, Pineco and Silcoon could also be found.

If you ducked into the woods, you might even catch a glimpse of Beautifly and Dustox.

After all, this place was one of the migratory resting grounds for Beautifly and the like.

"In order to find a more suitable living environment, they travel long distances with their companions, up to several thousand kilometers…"

All Baimu sat on a large rock by the roadside, reading the introduction about Beautifly. "Only once a year, looks like the two of us aren't very lucky."

He said regretfully, but didn't hear Champion Rongrong's response.

He turned his head in confusion, only to see it lying on its back, a Zigzagoon pressing down on each side, while another, larger Zigzagoon was stealing—no, snatching the egg on its belly.

All Baimu: "…"

The three Zigzagoon, who had noticed his gaze and turned their heads: "…"

Champion Rongrong: "…lu, lucky?"

"Telekinesis!"

He shouted, and the three Zigzagoon jolted and immediately tried to run. Champion Rongrong also jolted, and a wild surge of psychic power burst forth, instantly trapping them and suspending them in the air.

"You three really have some nerve — anyone you dare to mess with?"

All Baimu leaned forward, snickering coldly at the three panicked-looking Zigzagoon, then looked at Champion Rongrong and said helplessly, "Someone's bullying you, why don't you make a sound?"

"lucky…"

Champion Rongrong laughed awkwardly.

The Zigzagoon only wanted the egg, not to hurt its trainer, so it actually didn't mind — something like a nutritious egg, once given, was given.

"Next time remember to remind me, this is very dangerous." All Baimu knew that Champion Rongrong had spent too much time caring for Pokémon, and its vigilance toward wild Pokémon had dropped somewhat.

But during travels out in the wild, wild Pokémon were actually a major source of danger — from violently tempered species down to mischief-loving types, none of them were particularly friendly to trainers.

"lucky~" Champion Rongrong rubbed its little hands together and nodded to show it understood.

Immediately after.

All Baimu began dealing with the three Zigzagoon. In view of their shameless bandit behavior, he decided to inflict upon these fluffy fellows the punishment of being rubbed.

Starting with the biggest one.

"Thick fur really is different, so soft." He cheerfully "manhandled" the Zigzagoon.

Ever since arriving in the Hoenn region, the sufficiently peaceful days had made All Baimu's mood increasingly relaxed. During the breeding and study days spent lingering at the Pokémon Center, he had also rediscovered the love for Pokémon he once had when playing games.

That included his fondness for cute, fluffy-type Pokémon.

Back in Iron Town, even when surrounded and attacked by Linoone, he hadn't felt a thing — his mind had been entirely on accumulating strength. Looking back now, he truly regretted it.

He should have known to give them all a few extra pets before leaving.

Pet one, switch to the next; finish petting that one, switch again.

By the time all three Zigzagoon were wide-eyed, trembling all over as they looked at him, wearing an expression that said, "How much longer are you going to pet us?"

All Baimu was only just initially satisfied, and tossed down three Pokéblocks as payment.

"Let's go, Champion Rongrong."

He dusted off his rear and turned to leave.

Champion Rongrong hesitated, glanced at the three Zigzagoon, and released the binding.

The three newly freed Zigzagoon scurried away at top speed, terrified that one more slow step would mean getting grabbed and petted again, and dove straight into the nearby grove, vanishing from sight.

A few minutes later.

Rustle rustle rustle.

The three Zigzagoon poked their heads out of the bushes one by one, cautiously looking around. Their fuzzy ears swiveled, listening in every direction. Seeing the Pokéblocks on the ground were still there, they couldn't help but dash out.

"Gugma!"

"Gugma gugma!"

The three Zigzagoon chomped away happily. Although being manhandled for so long only to get three Pokéblocks was admittedly a bit of a raw deal, it was still better than getting none at all.

Soon the three Pokéblocks were eaten up.

They began cursing All Baimu in their hearts again.

That human really was a dog — petting them for so long and only giving them three!

In the distance.

All Baimu was looking around for a stream.

He said to Champion Rongrong, "The downside of petting wild Pokémon is that they stink. Being generous, you could call it a wild scent; being blunt about it…"

"lucky?"

Champion Rongrong clearly hadn't caught the innuendo in his words, and was actively helping him look for a place to wash his hands.

Fortunately, it didn't take circling around too many times before they successfully discovered a shallow little stream nearby. After washing his hands there, All Baimu glanced at the map.

"Hm? We're already here?"

He led Champion Rongrong across the stream, pushed aside a thicket, and suddenly caught sight of Oldale Town, lying at the foot of the hillside.

From departure to arrival, it had taken barely more than twenty minutes.

And unlike the extremely modern Littleroot Town, with its forest of skyscrapers, Oldale Town's buildings were far sparser, with extremely wide spaces between every house, and hardly a person in sight at a glance.

Not far from Oldale Town, All Baimu spotted a huge nature park, inside which stood an extremely iconic formation of eight massive stones shooting skyward, surrounding some abandoned ruins.

【Ancient Tomb Ruins】.

He remembered that beneath the ruins was a large lake, filled with many ancient Coelacanth Pokémon once thought extinct—of course, even now this kind of Pokémon was very rare.

"The Skeleton's Foreign Land Reclamation"

Unfortunately, not to mention he had no interest in selling Pokémon, there were surely people guarding this place, so getting in to broaden his horizons was basically impossible.

"Let's push through to Orange City in one go."

Baimu sought Chansey's opinion.

"Lucky~"

Chansey had no objection—this short stretch of road wasn't enough to tire it to the point of needing rest.

—

Route 102.

As the first route in the game where one could battle trainers.

Baimu was no exception, engaging in battle with a shorts-wearing kid who suddenly leapt out from the bushes.

"Poochyena, use Bite!"

The shorts-wearing kid shouted excitedly, and the Poochyena before him grew even more excited, howling as it charged toward Chansey.

"Dodge, then Toxic."

He waved his hand.

Chansey immediately twisted its body to dodge Poochyena's lunge, raised its little paw, bent down, and lightly poked its back.

Pale purple venom instantly seeped into its body.

"Ow? Ow ow ow!"

Poochyena didn't react at first, but as the poison quickly took effect it began yelping in pain, and after barely two steps let out a mournful howl and collapsed on the ground blowing purple bubbles.

Baimu, Chansey: "?"

"Poochyena!"

The shorts-wearing kid rushed over, face full of heartache, and scooped Poochyena up. "Waaah, are you okay?"

"It's fine, it's just poisoned."

Baimu stepped over, pulled out an Antidote from his pocket, pried Poochyena's mouth open with two fingers and sprayed some in. "It'll be fine soon."

The words had barely fallen.

The purple bubbles at the corner of Poochyena's mouth vanished at once, and it quickly perked up.

"Thank you! Big brother! You're amazing!" The shorts-wearing kid looked at him and Chansey with admiration.

"Uh, it's alright, you can do it too."

Baimu smiled at him, and for some reason recalled the target of his first simulation.

He remembered the other guy was also a shorts-wearing kid.

Mm.

And about as weak.

A tiny bit of nostalgia~