Chapter 439: Homebody Dragon, Calamity Beast

This guy…

He's completely impervious!

Baimu, spoon still in his mouth, was thoroughly puzzled as to where Dragapult had picked up such intense hostility. Logically speaking, while he hadn't given it any special treatment, he hadn't mistreated it either, had he?

Forget about obeying his commands—at the very least, come out and chat!

The moment their eyes met, it hid away. Incredible.

According to what Bisharp said, not only did this guy refuse to interact with him, it basically didn't interact with the other Pokémon either. The ones it had the most contact with were the Dreepy siblings.

Unfortunately, the only one willing to give it a friendly face was the little brother Dreepy; the big sister Dreepy still disliked it intensely.

Is this what they call a tooth for a tooth?

Baimu couldn't laugh at all. He recalled that taming Steelix hadn't been nearly this troublesome. That guy got beaten black and blue by Bisharp once and immediately became communicative, its unruly demeanor vanishing without a trace.

Although the subsequent adjustment period did take quite a long time, and battles were usually left to Steelix to decide which moves to use, he certainly hadn't been avoided like this back then.

A nine-level gap shouldn't make that much difference—it's probably largely related to personality.

He ate his tasteless dinner helplessly, his slightly worried expression drawing the attention of the surrounding Pokémon. Unfortunately, after exchanging glances, they too couldn't come up with a good way to make Dragapult take the initiative.

They could only offer Baimu a little comfort.

But speaking of comfort, aside from the self-satisfied Hydreigon, only the lullaby-singing Blissey was up to this important task.

For one thing, it was now worry-free enough; for another, its singing had gotten better and better. To give a simple example—even Lileep, who hated being disturbed most while sleeping, wouldn't reject its bedtime lullaby.

Of course, it was still early before rest time, so Blissey wouldn't casually start singing.

"Pli…"

Porygon2's eyes flickered. It glanced at the Dreepy siblings, then at the invisible Dragapult eating dinner, and a rather clever contemplative look flowed across its block-duck-like head.

Since evolving and being equipped with stronger AI functions, its various emotions had grown increasingly human-like—it could even give meaningful looks now.

It couldn't help but make one sigh that virtual Pokémon really were cutting-edge black tech.

And in fact—

While Baimu was feeling vexed, the invisible Dragapult's heart was also unsettled. On one hand, the delicious food pleased it; on the other, it realized its resentment toward Baimu was fading.

What surged up in its place were several other emotions—

Bewilderment, panic, and confusion.

Unlike the overbearing little tyrant Dragonite, Dragapult wasn't actually a particularly aggressive Pokémon. The resistance and rejection it showed toward Baimu stemmed from its previous terrible ingrained impressions of other humans.

Yet after being so carefully tended to for so many days, no matter how dim it was, it could tell Baimu was different from those humans it had encountered before—an individual worthy of trust.

So why did it resist interacting?

Very simple.

Because it truly had no idea how to get along with Baimu or the other Pokémon.

Although it was a Ghost- and Dragon-type Pokémon, it hadn't inherited the Dragon type's ferocity or the Ghost type's love of pranks. Instead, it fit perfectly with the Dragon type's homebody trait and the Ghost type's dislike of appearing before others.

In the past, it had always stayed in the nest with its companions, rarely venturing out. Its life was long, granted, but it hadn't had much contact with either Pokémon or humans.

It was nothing like what Baimu assumed—that it was equally adept at handling both humans and Pokémon.

Compared to directly interacting with other Pokémon, Dragapult was more accustomed to hiding invisibly and slowly observing. That feeling of being undiscoverable by others gave it a sense of security, like being in an absolutely safe little house.

It had been thinking about what to do after becoming a human's Pokémon partner.

Battle?

If that were all there was to it, it wouldn't have any problem.

Unfortunately, given the current situation, what it had to do wasn't limited to battling—it also included "socializing" with this good human before it and the other Pokémon.

Dragapult had absolutely zero experience in this area and was worried sick.

Learn from that seemingly laziest Lileep?

No.

From its observations, Lileep appeared just as unskilled at communication and socializing as it was, but in reality the former was the type that couldn't be bothered to socialize—different from itself, which feared interaction.

What to do?

Dragapult gazed worriedly at the Dreepy siblings, especially the little brother, thinking how wonderful it would be if it could be as carefree as him and not have to think about all this nonsense.

Hide whenever possible.

It avoided Baimu's gaze, not daring to meet his eyes, afraid he might come over and start talking or something.

Not knowing whether to respond at that point would be especially awkward.

So—

Baimu watched helplessly as his rice bowl was emptied, yet still hadn't seen Dragapult emerge from its invisible state. He couldn't help but sigh.

Dragon Heart, oh Dragon Heart.

He really needed this platform that would let him communicate with Dragapult.

After washing the dishes, Baimu sat down on the sofa and eagerly called the Dreepy siblings over. "Let's try again today!"

"Hiyah~"

The big sister Dreepy obediently burrowed into his arms, while the little brother Dreepy seemed somewhat resistant.

Although it loved interacting with Baimu through various little gestures and loved climbing all over him, when the latter practiced Dragon Heart's telepathic communication, most of the time he was just staring uselessly and wouldn't let it move around freely.

The lively, active little brother Dreepy wasn't very happy about this.

"…Hiyah~"

It quietly flew a short distance toward Bisharp, hoping to gain its protection.

The big-brother aura was too powerful. After encountering Hydreigon and Bisharp in turn, the little brother Dreepy decisively regarded the latter as a major pillar of support for the future.

Lively as it was, it wasn't actually stupid.

Hydreigon's initial impression on the little brother Dreepy was powerful, cold, and unapproachable. Only after spending some real time together did it realize the former was just as childish as itself.

So being friends with the Three-Headed Brutal Dragon must be a lot of fun.

Bouldust, on the other hand, was steady and gentle, just like its older sister—commanding enough to be intimidating yet somehow inviting closeness—and Baimu could clearly see how much trust and reliance he placed in it.

Getting closer to it was definitely the right call—

"Yah!"

A black shadow suddenly flew in and smacked it hard on the head.

Smack!

"Hiyah!" the younger Dreepy clutched its head in pain, looking at its older sister with deep grievance.

The latter, without a word, grabbed its claw and tugged it toward Baimu, insisting on forcing a restless Pokémon to settle down.

The younger Dreepy let out a cry for help toward Bouldust. "Hiyah! Hiyah!"

"Guuh…"

The big monster looked at its trainer with a bit of a headache, only to find his expression mirrored its own.

"This is really…"

The dull thud kept echoing in Baimu's head, and remembering the slap Braviary had given the Three-Headed Brutal Dragon, he felt his own skull aching too. He hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, that's enough! Having you cooperate is already plenty. If even you can't do it, your little brother definitely can't."

He resolved never to casually smack anyone's head again, and to correct the older Dreepy's habit as well.

"Hiyah?"

The older Dreepy couldn't grasp his meaning right away, but luckily Porygon2 was there to help.

With a quick translation, the younger Dreepy finally won its freedom and bolted toward Bouldust as if fleeing for its life.

"Hiyah!"

Baimu swiftly scooped up the older Dreepy, whose expression had turned awkward, and pulled it into his arms.

"Alright, even though it's a bit of a handful sometimes, you shouldn't keep hitting your little brother—it's honestly kind of pitiful to watch."

He gently stroked the area from its nose to the top of its head with his index finger.

The older Dreepy Messia didn't have many sensitive spots—perhaps because of its Ghost typing—only the tip of its nose and the tip of its tail showed any reaction, which made it hard for him to properly work many of his massage techniques.

"Hiyah…"

The older Dreepy gradually relaxed.

As for whether it would let its little brother off the hook… that remained unknown. Judging by how it had acted when it couldn't find its brother back then, this little one was actually very well-behaved—of course it still was now.

It was just that the moment it ran into the younger Dreepy, it was as if fire was shooting through its whole body, and everything about the little one rubbed it the wrong way.

Baimu strongly suspected that the younger Dreepy had run off with the older Dreepy Baruddo partly because it had been constantly "bullied" by its sister.

The little guardian was way too domineering.

But it wasn't strange.

Not to mention the group-dwelling Pokémon he'd encountered so far—even the cat he'd raised in his previous life, the mother cat would often unleash kitty punches on her kitten, smacking away as if it weren't her own child.

The young ones always tend to get hit.

Baimu couldn't help wondering—if the younger Dreepy evolved before its sister, would the current dynamic between them change…

Well, for two Pokémon barely past level ten that needed to reach level fifty to evolve, talking about that now was still way too far off.

The next day.

He received a piece of good news.

Porygon2 had successfully learned Secret Power, much faster than he'd expected.

Baimu went to find Mi Ke Li again, and once more went over the proper procedure for using Secret Power to make a Secret Base, manufacturing all three types one by one.

Mi Ke Li, who had just pulled his head out of the stone cave, was very surprised.

"You just learned it this morning?"

"Yes."

He nodded affirmingly. For a virtual Pokémon, picking up moves like this came easily—it didn't even need to spend much time practicing the accuracy of various moves, since the system came with a built-in aiming assist.

An outrageously overpowered artificial Pokémon.

Mi Ke Li looked at Porygon2, which looked like a mere toy, and couldn't hide the complicated expression on his face. He and his Flygon had spent years researching the move Secret Power together, and only after finally making some progress did he dare call himself a Super Secret Base Specialist.

Yet here Porygon2 had, in just a day or two, so effortlessly mastered all the techniques. Though still a bit rough around the edges, full proficiency was only a matter of time.

He was a little hurt.

But that feeling came and went quickly—after all, if he were truly unwilling to have others master his secret techniques, he wouldn't have put them out as a paid course to teach students.

"This is my notebook of insights on setting up Secret Bases—it's yours now."

Mi Ke Li took out a small notebook.

Baimu blinked. "A notebook… isn't that a bit much?"

"It's fine, just a photocopy. I give one to everyone who learns Secret Power from me." Mi Ke Li forcibly stuffed the notebook into his arms. "Read it carefully—there's definitely something in there you'll find useful."

"Mm, then thanks a lot."

Now that Secret Power had been learned and he knew how to build a Secret Base, Baimu prepared to set off for the largest city on the eastern side of Hoenn—

【Honestly, I've been using the huan-yuan app to read and keep up with updates lately. Switch sources at will, plenty of voice options for read-aloud,. huanyuanapp works on both Android and iOS.】

Sootopolis City.

There he would take part in a Contest to earn his fourth Ribbon, then take the ferry to Mossdeep City to challenge the Mossdeep Gym, and finally head to Ever Grande City to take part in the Wallace Cup and challenge the Ever Grande Gym.

By a rough estimate, he would definitely be able to earn the right to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference before spring arrived.

——

Route 120.

Just as Naoki had said the day before.

Baimu had the very great misfortune of running into rainy weather once again.

The fine rain pattered steadily against his face—refreshing at first, but once his clothes started getting wet, it wasn't quite so pleasant anymore, and the mountain path was a bit muddy to boot…

He had no choice but to throw a stuffy raincoat over himself and Happy Egg, and switch into rain boots.

"Have you gotten fatter?"

Baimu looked at the buttons that only just managed to close with some difficulty, then turned to Happy Egg's innocent face. He'd tried everything on when he bought the thing.

"Happy…"

The big pink egg didn't know how to respond.

And after a quick measurement with a tape measure, the fact that it had gotten fatter was confirmed—its height hadn't changed much, but its waistline had grown a whole size bigger, making it look even rounder.

Baimu pinched the fat around its waist. "This isn't just thick-fat typing, it's downright unreasonable."

"…"

Happy Egg always felt like its trainer was bullying it, but it had no proof.

Getting fat wasn't a bad thing for it.

Based on Baimu's current understanding of Pokémon, the strength converted from Effort Values was different from the games—it manifested on the Pokémon itself through various changes.

This degree of plumpness for Happy Egg was equivalent to an increase in both defenses.

It could take hits even better now.

Speed… speed didn't seem to be trending downward either. Even though it was never that fast to begin with—stubby little legs—no matter how fast it kicked them, there was a limit.

They walked and walked.

Baimu suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Because at the end of his line of sight, a Pokémon covered entirely in white fur, like some sort of leopard, had suddenly appeared—Absol.

The other stood atop a rock, staring at him in silence; under the overcast sky, that mute, motionless look was somewhat unsettling.

"Mm, no way?"

He muttered under his breath and pulled out his phone.

Absol was rarely seen in the wild. They generally didn't appear before people, and every time one did, it meant a disaster was about to occur. At first, many humans believed the disaster was brought by it, so they called it the "Disaster Pokémon."

In reality, the purpose of its appearance was to warn any humans or Pokémon that might encounter danger—it was a Pokémon with a truly kind heart.

Unfortunately, communication problems led to layer upon layer of misunderstanding.

Baimu sent out his dead-duck translator to ask the distant Absol whether a disaster was about to strike nearby.

"Pah-ri!"

Porygon2 faithfully relayed the trainer's meaning.

"Sooo…"

A strange glint flashed through Absol's ruby-like eyes. It had seen all manner of passersby who misunderstood it, and trainers who chased it trying to catch it.

This was the first time it had ever met someone like Baimu who understood its meaning instantly.

"Sooo!"

Absol couldn't help but give an affirmative response.

The words had barely fallen.

Before Porygon2 could even relay the message, a terrifying roar came from the distance.

Rumble rumble rumble—

From where Baimu stood, he could suddenly see a landslide happening on a mountain not far from him—rainwater mixed with rocks and boulders thundered straight down the slope, destroying who knows how many trees and shrubs along the way.

"Hiss!"

He was genuinely shaken, and then realized the Absol on the rock had vanished at some point without him noticing.