Chapter 416: Special Talent

Holy crap?

What's going on?

Watching Aggron enveloped by a brownish-yellow current, Donphan was more than a little flustered.

No way it learned it from just watching once, right? Does something like that even exist in this world? Did this guy already know it and come out here specifically to toy with me and the trainer?

Tetsuya, watching from the side, also said in surprise: "Baimu, your Aggron—"

"Shh!"

Baimu pressed his index finger beside his lips, his face full of pleasant surprise as he watched Aggron completely submerged in Rock-type energy. Before this, the latter didn't know any contact-type Rock-type moves, so what it had unleashed was unmistakably Double-Edge.

Charge!

Charge in, big monster!

His gaze burned as he watched Aggron. From the day Mega Evolution succeeded, the tacit understanding between them no longer needed words to spur it on. Even if he stood here in perfect silence, the latter could still sense his presence, his every thought.

And so.

"Grrrroar!

Aggron, like a massive glowing meteor, swept forward with a terrifying momentum that seemed capable of rolling houses away, carrying a plainly visible, overwhelming current of air!

The sandy ground was torn open into a deep trench, and the howling gale mixed with dust and sand produced a roar that could have blown the two onlookers away!

The air trembled unceasingly, emitting a terrifying rumble!

"What terrifying power!"

Tetsuya's expression changed. Meowth beside him had long since quietly pressed against Donphan, who had crouched down—the wind was too strong, and its own thin little frame might easily get blown away.

That would be far too embarrassing.

"Meow-roar!"

"Thud!"

The two hapless companions let out howls drowned out by the rumbling. This kind of energy storm, like a typhoon passing through, they had only ever felt in battles against the Elite Four.

Could this guy possibly be an Elite Four from some other region?

They couldn't help but look at the leaping Baimu.

On the field.

The brilliant boulder flew sideways across most of the battleground, only exploding into a skyful of light particles at the very edge, revealing Aggron within, wreathed in fiery aura.

"Beautifully done! You got it on the first try, Aggron!"

Baimu rushed forward at once. The great monster, clad in silver armor, panted, yet likewise revealed an incomparably excited smile.

Suddenly.

"Grr… roar…"

Aggron had only just taken one step when its massive form suddenly half-knelt on the ground, its panting growing violent.

Baimu's heart gave a jolt. He stopped his lunge and moved to its side, carefully checking its condition. "Where does it hurt?"

Double-Edge certainly had tremendous power, but it absolutely shouldn't have been enough to make Aggron pant this hard—whether one considered it from the angle of typed energy or physical stamina.

Combined with the fact that this Double-Edge was learned from just one viewing, something he didn't know about must have happened.

Or perhaps the fatigue from the earlier Mega Evolution hadn't fully recovered yet?

Learning such a high-power move right after a battle was indeed a bit too much after all… No, that shouldn't be it. He'd previously confirmed Aggron's condition, and it clearly wasn't at that level.

"Grrroar."

Aggron raised a claw and shook its head. There was no place that hurt; it had simply suddenly felt a little weary.

Donphan watched its panting appearance and found it rather horrifying.

Is learning moves this exhausting?

Fine, it really is exhausting, but it shouldn't be exhausting to this degree from just one use. What on earth is going on!

Donphan's limited brain capacity was nearly muddled into a mess by Aggron.

Meowth also felt somewhat unable to figure it out. Earlier it had thought Aggron was a little scary, but now it only felt—this guy couldn't possibly be all show and no substance, could it?

The two Pokémon wore extremely complex expressions and emotions.

But Tetsuya, as the trainer, didn't think that much about it and said with concern: "Why don't we go to the Pokémon Center and get it checked? That's the safer option!"

"…Sure!"

Baimu answered.

Better to go to the Pokémon Center and see than keep guessing here.

But this strange change was surely inseparable from the Copy Herb. Could the correct way to use the Copy Herb not be eating it? Was the method described in Dr. Kukuin's paper mistaken?

No, that wasn't right.

Dr. Kukuin's paper also never mentioned this kind of learn-it-in-one-go situation; they all took several days to slowly learn it.

Baimu's thoughts were in turmoil. He softly comforted Aggron again and recalled it into its Poké Ball.

A beeping sound suddenly came from beside him.

He turned his head and saw that Tetsuya had somehow ridden over on one of those electric tricycles used in the countryside to haul vegetables into the city to sell. Meowth was sitting beside him; Donphan had most likely already been recalled.

"Get on!"

"Okay!"

Baimu jumped into the cargo bed, thinking this was probably the tricycle Tetsuya's family used to pick up goods.

Not long after.

They arrived at the nearby Pokémon Center.

He handed Aggron over to the smiling Nurse Joy, then sat down in front of Tetsuya with a slightly furrowed brow.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Aggron will definitely be fine," the latter said comfortingly.

"Ah? Mm…"

All Baimu nodded in reply and said, "It's probably the fatigue from the Gym battle earlier, but it should also be related to the Mime Jr. Herb. Under normal circumstances, my Aggron shouldn't have learned Double Headbutt that easily."

If it were a Hydreigon, maybe, but he knew his own Pokémon best.

Aggron was the type with poor learning ability, always managing to learn moves the wrong way. It had originally planned to learn Rock Slide, but ended up with Rock Tomb; it meant to learn Earthquake but learned Stomp; it meant to learn Heavy Slam but learned Stomping Tantrum… and so on.

The only time it went relatively smoothly was perhaps the move Dragon Rush, driven by rivalry with a Zweilous.

"Mime Jr. Herb, huh…"

Tetsuya was quite reflective. He absolutely didn't believe in this kind of "external aid" as a Trainer, but he wouldn't criticize others' methods either, unless it was a completely intolerable mistake.

All Baimu silently took out his phone and searched for information on Mime Jr. Herb again, while also sending an email to Professor Kukui about Aggron's condition through Porygon-II.

However.

No matter how he searched, there was no record of Mime Jr. Herb being used to learn a move in one go like this.

Anomaly…?

The word surfaced in All Baimu's mind. As a synonym for miracles, Pokémon could occasionally take actions that transcended common sense — Ash's Pokémon were full of such examples.

Whether it was the golden Fearow born under Thunderbolt, the Infernape that locked its HP after triggering Blaze, or Ash's Pikachu with its repeated outbursts — every single one was a synonym for anomaly.

Even he himself was a member of that anomaly.

"Happy~"

Nurse Chansey came over pushing a small cart to greet them. On it were the medical report and Aggron's Poké Ball, and she said that Young Lady Joy had asked them to come to the front desk.

"Okay."

All Baimu took the medical report and Poké Ball, walked to the front desk, and listened to Young Lady Joy's explanation.

Tetsuya, staying in place, swallowed hard and watched him worriedly. As a Trainer, he could well understand the heartache of a Pokémon having a problem, so for a moment he empathized.

Not long after.

All Baimu returned from the front desk. The tense expression on his face had relaxed, and he said softly:

"…False alarm. It just instantly consumed a large amount of stamina and attribute energy, which suddenly erupted as fatigue. Young Lady Joy recommends two days of rest."

"Thank goodness!"

Tetsuya relaxed in turn, picked up the water cup in front of him and took a sip. "But instantly consuming a large amount of stamina and attribute energy? Double Headbutt shouldn't have been used, right? And shouldn't your Aggron have Rock Head?"

"Indeed. Maybe it's a side effect of the Mime Jr. Herb."

He replied with a smile.

Learning egg moves by eating it directly might have been the wrong usage. Professor Kukui's paper only described the function of Mime Jr. Herb.

It didn't intend to teach others the correct way to use it.

He had still been too hasty. He should have followed the herbal shop owner's information and gone to the breeding house to ask, to be more cautious.

Fortunately, Aggron hadn't developed any other problems.

This guy being able to learn Double Headbutt in one go was probably caused by a sudden flash of anomaly.

The Pokémon Center's examination was undoubtedly trustworthy. A big city like New Zi Jin wouldn't have a shortage of medical equipment, and every check had indeed been done properly.

If he wanted a more detailed report, he'd have to go to a large medical center for examination.

A large medical center, huh…

Does Lumiose City have one?

Although Aggron suddenly learning Double Headbutt was most likely based on some kind of anomaly, just to be safe, he'd wait until he traveled there and get it done then — and have the other Pokémon checked too.

He thought to himself.

——

Back at Tetsuya's house, in the rear courtyard.

All Baimu released Aggron.

"…"

The giant beast landed, turned its head toward its Trainer with a somewhat reassuring look. "Gurr~"

Didn't I already tell you I was fine?

"If there were magic in this world where saying you're fine meant you'd definitely be fine, why would hospitals even need to exist?" He gently stroked Aggron's scar-covered head. "Rest easy. Your Wang Zuo is even more secure now."

"Gurr~"

Aggron replied with a pleased low growl.

Its learning of Double Headbutt had already been confirmed through the Pokédex. Before learning it, it had thought the move was just so-so, something to use when necessary at most. But after learning it, it found—

Holy crap, it's really strong!

Truly worthy of being a top-tier Rock-type move in power!

Although as a Ground-type move, Stomping Tantrum counters Electric-type Manectric, if it had known this move during the earlier battle, it might have been able to take it down directly!

Aggron had that premonition.

And at this moment, what All Baimu was thinking was that with Double Headbutt in hand, he could smoothly set off for the next city.

Or return to Meteor Falls to seek out his next Pokémon at the Dragon's Nest.

Either would work.

He returned Aggron to its ball.

"It's still early before dinner time. Want to have a battle?" Tetsuya said eagerly from the side. "Let one of the other Pokémon go?"

"Meow-ow!"

Meowth's eyes gleamed, full of fighting spirit.

All Baimu, however, said, "Mm… I'd love to accept, but let's pass. I need to let my brain rest properly too, and besides, I have to set out tomorrow."

Unit-00, the Gym challenge, plus move learning, and then suddenly being hit with this big mishap — he hadn't really rested last night, so making it this far today was already not easy.

"I see…"

Tetsuya was rather disappointed but didn't say much more, pointing inside the house and saying: "Then come in first and find somewhere to sit, I'll go pour you some tea."

Meowth, meanwhile, stared wide-eyed, its face written all over with the words "interrogation."

You scaredy-cat!

"Hm? What's wrong?"

All Baimu sensed its gaze, not quite understanding why it was glaring, so he asked curiously, reaching out to pat its hat, "Nice hat, very cool."

Pat my ass!

Meowth's eyes went even wider. In the past it would have swiped at him with a claw long ago, but after swiping a few handsy customers these past two years and getting scolded by Tetsuya's sister several times, it hadn't done anything so rash again.

But scratching this guy should be fine, right?

Should be okay to scratch, right?

Meowth watched All Baimu's back as he turned and walked toward the house, extended its claws, and decided to give him a swipe with just enough force not to break skin.

Meowth, who acted the moment it decided, stepped forward—but the instant it raised its claws, its vision suddenly blurred.

"Pory!"

A blue-and-red toy duck a little taller than it blocked its path.

"Meow!?"

Meowth froze. Where did you pop out from? A Poké Ball? It hadn't heard the sound of one opening either.

All Baimu, walking ahead, turned his head at the sound and asked in confusion: "How did you come out? Ah! Substitute! Look at me, I got so distracted I forgot all about it…"

"Pory~"

Porygon2 turned its head to say it was fine, they could learn it tomorrow.

It could see the fatigue hidden on its Trainer's face—how could it insist on learning Substitute? It wasn't something that would vanish if not learned today.

All Baimu smiled and patted its head. "Thanks for being so understanding."

"Pory~"

"Meow!"

What do you two think you're doing, acting like no one's around!

Impulsive Meowth, burning with rage, brandished its claws and charged forward. If it couldn't scratch a person, surely scratching a Pokémon was fine, right?

It slashed hard, only to see the toy duck before it flash its eyes as eerie black mist rose around its body, and then its claws passed straight through the latter's body.

"Meow-ow?"

Meowth stared in disbelief at the Porygon2 right before its eyes.

"Hm? Texture 2 has some other change?"

All Baimu looked on in surprise at the Porygon2, whose whole body had become a ghostly purple shadow shrouded in wisps of black mist. Back when it was a Porygon, Texture 2 only changed color.

But the situation now… seemed to have changed even the composition of its body!

"Pory!"

Porygon2 stared at Meowth full of fighting spirit. Though the elemental energy inside its body hadn't fully recovered, it should be enough to have a go with this guy.

Meowth seemed to sense the other's contemptuous gaze, and its eyes suddenly turned sharp. It was getting serious—

"Meowth, stop! How many times have I told you! You can't just attack people!"

A sharp, girlish shout came from the side.

All three present turned their gaze at once, and saw an unfamiliar little girl with a backpack standing in the distance, her looks about five parts similar to Tetsuya's, her age probably not yet ten.

"Meow…"

Seeing this little girl, a cold sweat immediately broke out on Meowth's temple.

Just then Tetsuya happened to walk out of the house. "Why haven't you come in yet… Ah! Yuko, you're already out of school? Welcome back! This is…"

"All Baimu, my lord!"

The girl named Yuko jogged over, her face written all over with excitement that she forcibly suppressed. Her eyes looking at All Baimu were full of admiration and longing, and she said with affected coyness: "This humble girl is named Yuko, I am your devoted fan~"

"Uh."

All Baimu felt a bit of a headache, exchanged a helpless look with Tetsuya, and said: "Just call me All Baimu is fine… I'm friends with your brother, there's no need for 'my lord' and the like."

"Okay! Brother All Baimu, my lord!"