Chapter 432: Television Interview

"Psychic powers, huh…"

The excitement lasted only a short while.

After calming down, Baimu closed the simulator and went out to sign up.

The psychic powers in the Pokémon world might require acquired learning to awaken and master, but in reality they are a power that only those born with the corresponding talent can wield.

So if he didn't have that talent himself, even if the simulator gave him the memories of his simulated subject learning psychic powers, it would most likely be useless…

Use it on the cultivation of the Dragon Heart?

Perhaps feasible.

But the next round of simulation wouldn't come for at least another five days, and if he didn't battle enough the cooldown would be even longer.

He'd have to take on more roadside battles against people.

Baimu thought this as he walked with Chansey across the suspension bridges strung between the great trees, a Dreepy perched atop each of their heads, often drawing curious glances from passersby.

Affected by its special environment, Fortree City had very few wide main roads, which made driving inconvenient; in most cases its residents would use the cable-cars set up between the trees to move about quickly.

Moreover, the city did not forbid flying Pokémon, so long as one stayed above a certain altitude and held a flying license.

So when he looked up, he could always see large birds carrying Trainers flying past above the shady canopy, some in neat formations, others scattered about.

He hadn't gone far.

Someone came up and asked for a battle.

Baimu gladly agreed, intending to give Dragapult a chance to perform, but after looking left and right and then asking the Dreepy siblings, he learned the fellow hadn't even left the room, so he had to give up.

"I'm counting on you."

He plucked the Dreepy sister off Chansey's head and set her on his own.

"Happy!"

Chansey nodded eagerly; it had been several days since it last battled someone, and it thought it must perform well to earn a spot in the Gym battle.

Due to the environment, there really weren't many battlefields in Fortree City, so Trainers would usually just find any empty patch of ground that wouldn't bother others and start battling right there.

Baimu wasn't picky about the spot either, and briskly began the battle on the spot with that unfamiliar Trainer.

"Go!"

"Happy!"

Chansey stepped forward; the timidity and cowardice of the past were no longer visible in its eyes — the change brought about by overcoming its mental weakness was tremendous.

But the one thing that hadn't changed was that Chansey still possessed a sincere and kind heart, caring for all the beings that needed its attention.

"Chansey? Hehehe — go! Doduo!"

The unfamiliar Trainer proudly hurled his Poké Ball.

"Doduo!" "Dod!" "Doduo!"

A Pokémon with an ostrich-like body structure but three heads, and an utterly noisy cry, appeared; its twig-like legs looked as if they would snap with a single bend.

But Baimu knew that exceptional individuals among this species could run across grasslands at sixty kilometers per hour on those legs.

Not to be underestimated.

"My name is Shouta! I'm destined to become the greatest bird Pokémon Trainer in the whole world!"

The unfamiliar Trainer said proudly: "Don't say I didn't warn you! I've studied how to raise Flying-type Pokémon under Young Lady Winona!!"

"Sweet Kiss."

As always, Baimu didn't entertain idle chatter.

Chansey placed its little hand by its mouth, gave the air a slightly shy kiss, and several enormous hearts immediately materialized and flew toward where the opposing Doduo stood.

"Ah! You sneak-attacked me!"

Shouta cried out in alarm, and only then issued his command, "Doduo, jump! Quick Attack!"

"Doduo—"

Doduo's reaction was remarkably swift; all three heads stared at the incoming hearts and it leaped violently, actually bouncing a good dozen meters into the air on the spot!

What absurd jumping power!

And what was even more astonishing was that the fellow landed on a nearby tree along a parabolic trajectory, its sharp claws sinking deep into the trunk to support its not-so-heavy body, then broke into a run along the trunk.

Amid crisp clattering sounds, a long streak of Bai Guang trailed behind it, and it kept running until it reached the tree trunk behind Chansey and Baimu.

"Triple Attack!"

"Doduo!"

All three of Doduo's heads swiveled backward in unison, and its slender necks let them adjust direction without the slightest effort.

At the same time, the three long, thin beaks opened, and red, green, and blue light gathered in their mouths from dim to bright; three-colored beams shot forth, tearing through the air and heading straight for Chansey.

Baimu steadied the excited Dreepy siblings on his head and quickly moved to Chansey's side. "Psychic! Push it back!"

"Happy!"

Chansey turned around and raised its little hands; its eyes were covered by a pale blue light like searchlights, and a tide of psychic power clashed with the three incoming beams in midair!

Zzzt!!

The light flared brilliantly!

The dim spaces between the trees were all bathed in the intense light from the clash of moves, followed by a muffled explosion, and smoke spread outward.

Not far away, Shouta burst out laughing, while Baimu and Chansey exchanged a glance, their expressions each different.

You really couldn't be too demanding about an opponent's strength in a roadside battle…

"One more Psychic."

He waved his hand.

Chansey raised both little hands again, and the gathered psychic power became a wave-like invisible ripple that shook the air as it surged forward, piercing straight through the smoke in an instant.

But Doduo had somehow already leaped onto another tree and was running its legs toward higher ground, letting out a fierce "rat-a-tat-tat-tat" like a woodpecker drumming on a trunk.

In a roadside battle with no restrictions on terrain or range, this kind of behavior barely counts as "reasonable."

And what it wanted to do was also very obvious.

"High-altitude descent! Double the power! Drill Peck!" Its trainer Shota was the first to reveal its intention.

Dodrio, having reached the tree branch, bent and stretched its legs like springs, abruptly leaving the trunk and flipping its body, three heads pointing down. A milky-white air spiral covered its slender beaks, and as it fell it resembled three spiral long nails, emitting a sharp shriek that tore through the air!

The Altaria siblings, seeing such a fierce scene, couldn't help but panic.

But All Baimu and Blissey remained very calm.

"Protect."

The instant Drill Peck descended onto Blissey's head, a semi-transparent honeycomb-shaped shield of light separated the two Pokémon. Though it looked like only a thin layer, it seemed like an "iron wall" that Dodrio couldn't break through no matter how it drilled.

【Honestly, I've been using the source-switching app lately to read books and catch updates. Switch sources at will, plenty of voice options for read-aloud, huanyuanapp. Both Android and Apple work.】

Visible electric sparks flew between the light shield and Drill Peck, like an electric drill bit facing steel.

"Nani!?"

Shota was utterly shocked.

"Dazzling Gleam." All Baimu ordered again.

The moment the words fell, the light shield shattered and Dodrio leaped backward, relying on its agile body to try to put distance between itself and Blissey, but the latter had already bloomed like a flashbang into a blinding ring of light.

The colorful intense light stabbed toward Dodrio like steel needles!

Peng!

An explosion!

"Dodri—"

Dodrio let out three simultaneous wails from within the dust. After the dust cleared, its swaying figure could clearly be seen.

Just one hit landed and it was already in this state?

Shota could hardly believe his eyes. Seeing All Baimu and Blissey looking at him, he understood they were wordlessly asking with their eyes whether he wanted to continue.

"…Yusuke!"

"Disarming Voice!"

The instant he heard the opponent's order, All Baimu issued his own command, and Blissey's attack speed was far faster than Dodrio's.

"Happy——!!"

The high-pitched voice, accompanied by visible energy sound waves, sent Dodrio flying with a peng!

Bang!

Its back slammed into a large tree trunk, and it collapsed very cleanly, presenting a pair of spiral eyes.

"Hm?"

All Baimu was momentarily stunned.

Disarming Voice shouldn't take this form.

Blissey also covered its mouth in disbelief, then happily turned its head to look at its trainer after a few seconds. "Happy!"

"Mm, that's right, you've learned Hyper Voice!" All Baimu shifted his gaze away from the Pokédex on his phone and nodded approvingly.

"Happy!"

Blissey smiled and waved its little hands, and the two Altaria happily flew around it.

It had actually just used the soprano technique it had previously learned from Altaria, and unexpectedly turned Disarming Voice into Hyper Voice.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Shota dejectedly recalled Dodrio. He had thought that after all the effort he put into raising Dodrio, even if it couldn't claim invincible across the land, at the very least it shouldn't lose to a wild trainer's Pokémon.

Especially since the opponent was using Blissey, a Pokémon that clearly didn't look suited for battle.

Who would have thought All Baimu was so strong!

"You're this strong, so why didn't you enter the battle tournament at the Wing Festival three days ago?" Shota approached and asked.

All Baimu replied, "Then I'd have had to arrive in Fortree City three days ago."

"Ah! So you just got here!" The gray-haired kid in the short jacket suddenly realized.

This kid didn't seem very bright.

He thought to himself, his attention shifting back to the Wing Festival. Nearly every city in the Hoenn region had their own celebration, and the Wing Festival was Fortree City's celebration.

The festival not only featured all sorts of fun facilities, as well as vendors selling food, accessories, toys, and even Pokémon, but also had Gym Leader Winona riding her Flying-type Pokémon in a gorgeous aerial performance.

In short, it was a very lively festival.

Unfortunately, All Baimu's timing wasn't quite right; he couldn't make it in time.

Of course.

It wasn't particularly regrettable either. Similar festivals were blooming everywhere across the Hoenn region. If he wanted to attend one, he could just search online and take the high-speed rail over.

"Thanks for the battle this time. I still need to go sign up to challenge the Gym, so I'll head off first. If I'm any later, they might close."

All Baimu thanked Shota, his battle opponent.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard the other shout:

"Sign up to challenge the Gym? Let's go together! I know the Gym well! I'm an apprentice at the Gym!"

"An apprentice? You're the Gym Leader's student?"

"Uh… I'm the apprentice who does odd jobs at the Gym, hehehe…"

Shota awkwardly scratched his head. He didn't put on airs, and very honestly stated his job.

Still, being just over ten years old and having such a job at the Gym was already quite impressive. As long as he kept working hard, in a few more years he'd surely become Winona's assistant.

All Baimu sincerely offered a word of praise. "Pretty impressive."

Shota was a bit surprised to hear him praise him. He carefully studied his expression, and upon finding the other seemed sincere, grew even more embarrassed. "Not really, it's very ordinary."

The two of them chatted and laughed as they headed toward the Gym.

Along the way, All Baimu gave him a rundown on the Pokémon species Dragonite, and Dragonite's little brother seemed quite taken with Shota, playing and roughhousing with him happily.

Not long after.

The Ecruteak Gym, its outer walls cast in pristine white marble, came into view.

A long flight of stairs ran from bottom to top through the entire building — a rough count put it at hundreds, maybe a thousand steps, dizzying to look at.

The Gym's entrance sat halfway up the slope, and the very top was a fully open-air battleground.

When the two arrived, a group of people ahead of them were huffing and puffing down the stairs, but they didn't look much like challengers — one of them was shouldering a huge camera, another holding a fill light, and so on.

Shota saw this and beamed. "The TV station people are here!"

"TV station?"

All Baimu thought that a Gym Leader who got this much special attention really was different — the TV station had come all the way here specifically to interview her.

"That's right! Young Lady Naqi is really famous, so the TV station is probably here to do a special feature interview, to be edited into a special and broadcast all over the world!"

Shota said proudly.

"Mm, then I'll be looking forward to seeing it," All Baimu said with a smile.

The two groups met on the way; when their eyes crossed, no one said anything. All Baimu and Dragonite's big sister together held down Dragonite's little brother, who was getting bold ideas, while Shota wanted to speak but seemed too shy, his face flushed red as he stepped aside to let them pass.

In the end, All Baimu and he watched the TV station people walk down the stairs and leave.

"Phew~" Shanta let out a breath, then couldn't help a touch of longing as he thought, "I wonder if there's any chance I'll appear on camera…"

"If they're filming inside the Gym, you as an apprentice should get some screen time — maybe a second? Half a second?"

"Half a second, huh… half a second is still pretty good!"

Shota looked like he was about to make his big break on television.

All Baimu could completely understand this kid's desire to be noticed — there were very few people in the world who didn't want praise and compliments from others, and the admiring gazes of those around them.

Fame and fortune, fame first — that alone was enough to show how important this stuff was to some people.

They pressed on upward.

The two of them quickly entered the Gym through the mid-slope entrance, and happened to meet Naqi's current assistant.

"Hm? Shota? Is this your friend?"

A man with brown curly hair asked curiously.

Shota hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, no! This is a challenger!"

"Hello, I'm All Baimu, I'm here to make a reservation for a Gym challenge later," All Baimu replied.

The other man apologized at once upon hearing this. "Ah! Sorry about that, I'm Sega, I'm an assistant at this Ecruteak Gym. If you're here to reserve a challenge, please follow me."

Sega spread his hand and led the way, while Shota very conscientiously went off to help out with odd jobs.

Not long after.

All Baimu walked out of the Gym.

Naqi had just left not long ago — once the first day's filming wrapped, she headed out, because it had rained for most of the day and somewhere seemed to have flooded, and she was rushing over to check on the situation.

The reservation was already confirmed; the battle was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

As he walked back, he thought about which Pokémon to bring tomorrow. As the sixth Gym, Ecruteak's strength should be a step up…

"Hey, kid! Hey, kid!"

A call suddenly broke his train of thought.

All Baimu looked to the side, but didn't see anyone at all, which made him frown. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here! Can't you see me? Right here!"

The voice came from inside a large tree.

He moved closer and found that the tree had many holes in it, and at its base there was a small opening, covered in front by shrubs so he hadn't noticed it earlier.

A blond man dressed in a red shirt and red pants, wearing a cowboy hat, crawled out from inside.

"Hehehe, I'm Kiri, a super secret base specialist! Hey kid, are you interested in secret bases?"