Chapter 227: Insect Repellent Spray

Early morning.

Baimu woke to the calls of "Qido qido, Mo nao mo nao."

"You two are up this early?" He opened his eyes slightly and immediately saw Munchlax and Monferno play-fighting in the tent, one chasing the other, shoving and gnawing.

Quite affectionate.

Seeing he was awake, Monferno immediately pounced over and bit his hand, while Munchlax showed a relieved expression of finally waiting for him.

"Qido~"

"Mo nao!"

"Good morning."

Baimu climbed out of his sleeping bag, unzipped the tent, and the slightly glaring sunlight forced him to raise a hand to shield his eyes; only half a second later could he see the situation outside clearly — Chansey was preparing ingredients for breakfast.

Boldore was carrying a wooden stake back and forth, pondering, while Steelix was curled up in a ball, still asleep.

Because the two big fellows slept outside the tent last night, even if nocturnal Pokémon really were active in the latter half of the night, most of the campsite's belongings remained intact, and they even saved on insect repellent spray.

"Good morning, everyone."

He yawned, drawing a response from the group of Pokémon.

After a quick wash-up, he and Chansey made breakfast together; after eating it quickly and resting for half an hour, they began their basic morning training.

However.

Considering they still had to set out afterward, they didn't waste too much stamina, stopping once they had broken a slight sweat.

Steelix also got its wish and returned to Luoshan, continuing its very promising land-clearing work.

"Today's goal is to reach the Treecko Forest before noon, and Coldsharp Town before sunset. The burden isn't heavy; we can take it slow and still make it."

Baimu looked at the map on his phone and asked for the opinion of today's traveling companion, Boldore.

The latter was completely easygoing.

Treecko Forest, a good place to obtain a starter in the anime's backstory, was originally located in a rather hidden depth of Orange Forest.

But because the old giant tree withered, the Treeckos worked together to nurture a new giant tree, which led to herb gatherers who had been exploring the area discovering their habitat, and the news spread.

As a result, many poachers caught wind of it and came to capture the Treeckos in a devastating manner; their peaceful life was thoroughly disrupted, and the towering tree they had painstakingly nurtured was nearly burned down. Fortunately, with the help of many trainers, the poachers who came were frequently caught, and the great tree was preserved.

But to better protect the environment and wild Pokémon here, the League connected that area with the Pokémon reserve to the north into a single block, directly forbidding anyone from capturing Pokémon there.

Baimu certainly had no interest in a Sceptile, but upon hearing such news he inevitably felt regret.

Poachers are simply a plague.

"Tone down the aura on you, act a bit more simple, got it?" He patted Boldore's shoulder.

Although the main reason they hadn't seen a single wild Pokémon after camping yesterday was Steelix, Boldore couldn't be separated from the blame either.

This fellow's aura was too fierce; just standing there gave off an unapproachable vibe. How would the weak wild Pokémon on the outskirts of Orange Forest dare approach? It would be good enough if they could take a distant glance without running off.

Even insect repellent spray might not work as well as it does.

Baimu didn't want to become an insulator against wild Pokémon; even if he couldn't play with them, being able to watch them living peacefully from afar would be wonderful.

"Roar?"

Boldore tilted its head in confusion — act a bit more simple? How?

"Just put on the expression you normally use for watering flowers and planting trees." Baimu gave a reminder and demonstrated a bit of action along with it.

"……"

Boldore thought for a moment, then faced a nearby tree with lush branches and leaves, extended a claw to stroke it for a while, and its temperament was indeed different.

If the previous it was like a general who had just come down from the battlefield, brimming with killing intent, then now it had become an honest farmer facing the yellow earth with its back to the sky.

Seeing the forest was as happy as seeing the crops in its own fields yield a bountiful harvest.

"Very simple, not bad, lad's got talent!"

Baimu was also quite surprised that Boldore understood with just a hint; he had only said it casually and hadn't expected it to learn to restrain its aura immediately.

"Gu roar~"

The big monster scratched its head foolishly, its whole body now without a trace of ferocity,

——

It had to be said.

Restraining one's aura is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it indeed brought more wild Pokémon around him; on the other hand, it also made many fellows become very bold.

"Block it! Don't let it get away!"

"Qido!"

"Gu roar!"

Accompanied by continuous shouts, a panicked figure fled frantically, with a big-medium-small combination in hot pursuit behind.

You think this is a chase to capture a Pokémon they want?

Wrong.

This is simply an act of pure revenge.

Baimu and Boldore had gone through great difficulty to trick the flower honey from a Beedrill nest out of a not-so-smart Weedle, originally planning to mix it with fruit according to an online guide to make handmade honey.

But the result was ruined completely by a Weepinbell that suddenly popped out to cause trouble.

The long-awaited Munchlax exploded on the spot, and Baimu and Boldore's fury could no longer be restrained.

The three began to corner and intercept it; the big monster stopped pretending, raised its head and roared as it began clearing the area, scaring the watching wild Pokémon into fleeing one after another.

"Good chance! Rock Tomb!"

Seeing the target run into Kong Dong under a curved tree trunk, Boldore picked up a moss-covered boulder by the road and smashed it over.

Thud!

The moss-covered boulder landed right in front of the curved tree trunk, directly cutting off Weepinbell's escape route.

The latter crashed headlong into it, saw stars, and burrowed out looking for another path to flee, but Munchlax had already flown over; a soul-piercingly cold gaze rapidly loomed before it, and a fist wreathed in icy cold air smashed down hard.

Boom!

A skyful of dust swirled up.

"Weepinbell!"

Weepinbell let out a shrill, miserable shriek.

When the dust cleared, it was seen lying on the ground, twitching twice, and going still.

Seeing this, All Baimu grabbed a dead branch and smacked it over. "Playing dead! Did I actually hit you?"

Crack!

The dead branch shattered, and Weepinbell jolted upright, leaping up like mad and scurrying up a tree to flee, even taking the time to glance back mid-run; seeing that Aggron and Munchlax weren't pursuing, it ran even faster.

"Munchlax!"

Munchlax glared resentfully at the ground covered in ice shards, a little regretful that the punch hadn't actually landed.

"Alright, alright, a lesson's about enough."

All Baimu soothed it a little. Munchlax had a terrifyingly intense obsession with sweets; if sweets were destroyed, it would turn just like Misty when her food was stolen, transforming into a vengeful ghost on the spot.

"And it's not like we got nothing out of it." He picked up an orange-red leaf from the ground and gave it a light sniff. This thing had dropped off the Weepinbell. "A powerful herb—maybe this can be sold for money."

In the games, many consumable items were collectibles in the anime, prized by people for their special effects; the better the quality, the higher the price.

"Munchlax?" Munchlax curiously leaned in, asking how much money it could fetch.

"Maybe… ten thousand?"

All Baimu said casually. Exactly how much would only be known after an appraisal; what caught his attention was that Aggron seemed to be studying that boulder covered in moss.