Chapter 446: Orange Talent

He parted ways with the energetic Miss Xiao Feng.

With two Dreepy, Mecia perched on his head, Baimu went to browse the Slateport Market, which bore the nickname "Slateport Kitchen," and bought a large haul of fresh seafood ingredients from inside.

Of course.

Because the world's setting was approaching the mid-to-late anime period, abalone and lobster were basically out of the question; the so-called "seafood" was mostly various aquatic plants, and edible fish Pokémon belonged to the realm of utter nonsense, clashing with the mid-to-late anime backdrop.

Only the original series era would have scenes of Meowth gnawing on a Magikarp out of sheer hunger.

Even so, the flavor of aquatic plants was in no way inferior to the fresh fish and shellfish of his previous life.

At least that was what Baimu's taste buds told him.

Interestingly, though both Cianwood City and Slateport City were port cities with tourism functions, the fresh seafood of the latter was even tastier than the former.

A bit odd, to say the least.

Yet when he returned to the Slateport inn, he sensed the atmosphere in the room was a touch strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was strange about it…

Hmm?

Where was Hydreigon?

Baimu suddenly realized that opening the door hadn't earned him this guy's greeting, and at a glance he couldn't spot its presence anywhere — he could only see Aggron and a shiny Milotic watching the tide on the balcony, Steelax sunbathing on the little beach, and Mawile in the room glued to its phone.

"Hiyah~"

"Hiyah!"

The two Dreepy, Mecia scattered off in different directions; the sister went over to Mawile to watch TV dramas, while the brother went off to find the hidden Dragapult.

After experiencing the police motorcycle's lightning speed, this little fellow's cravings had been thoroughly whetted, and it desperately needed a Dragapult to launch it so it could have a proper blast.

And while the two of them were on the move, Baimu heard faint sounds drifting over from the kitchen.

He exchanged a glance with the Blissey that had just emerged from its ball, walked over and took a peek, and immediately spotted Hydreigon with an anxious face, having made an absolute mess of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

Baimu swept a glance over the kitchen's sorry state and temporarily held down the anger in his heart.

Although Hydreigon was occasionally called "Huskydragon" by him, that actually referred to its overly active nature; fundamentally it didn't wreck the house… hardly ever wrecked the house.

Once it did wreck the house, there had to be a reason.

He decided to give Hydreigon a chance to explain itself; if it was merely a case of good intentions gone wrong, then a scolding where due and praise where due.

But seeing that Aggron could still be on the balcony watching the sea with a light heart, even if Hydreigon had caused trouble, it probably wasn't anything major.

The answer was just as he imagined—

"Wanted to learn how to make food for the trainer like Blissey does."

"Mm…" Baimu glanced at the stove and the various vessels on the table, as well as the ingredients scattered across the floor, and through various clues confirmed this guy wasn't lying.

It really did have such an idea.

If it were any other Pokémon suddenly pulling a stunt like this, he'd still be mulling over "no one visits the Three Treasuries Hall without a reason," but with Hydreigon… its little noggin often came up with strange, peculiar ideas; he was already used to it.

Baimu, without further suspicion, glanced around, and after not spotting the two Dreepy, Mecia, gave this guy's head a slap.

Smack!

"Credit to you for the thought; I'll let you off this time." He then scratched Hydreigon under the chin.

The latter, still anxious, was shooed out of the kitchen and stationed itself in the living room, its gaze drifting between the bedroom and the kitchen — especially the former; the slightest stir made it feel like Corsola had flown out to tattle.

Yet by the time the trainer had finished making lunch and everyone sat down together, Corsola still hadn't told on what had happened earlier.

This left Hydreigon both relieved and puzzled, and during the meal it kept glancing at Corsola.

Helplessly, the latter, as usual, finished its own bowl in a flash, turned around, and went back to bed to slack off; Baimu had no idea how it managed to fall asleep.

Forget it.

As long as it didn't tattle, that was fine!

Hydreigon set its mind at ease, unaware that every one of its behaviors had been observed by Baimu.

After all, as the one most familiar with its temperament, Baimu knew what this guy was up to the moment it stuck its butt out — whether it wanted to poop or fart — and not eating lunch properly while constantly staring at Corsola definitely meant something was up.

But asking this guy would probably get nothing out of it, so he might as well wait a bit and ask Corsola.

Baimu scooped some "seafood" risotto into his mouth, and caught in his peripheral vision the siblings Dragapult and Dreepy, Mecia, their eyes full of little stars — clearly this lunch was especially to their liking.

Perhaps this richly savory ocean dish had reminded them of the distant past when they were still "alive."

As long as they liked eating, that was enough.

He was genuinely happy that he could gradually discover the flavors that Dragapult and the others enjoyed.

After the meal.

Baimu went to the bedroom and sought out Corsola to ask about the matter between it and Hydreigon.

These two Pokémon had never really gotten along from the start — mainly because back then he hadn't figured out Corsola's temperament and had been eager to build a friendly relationship with it, which had resulted in neglecting Hydreigon, who was still a Deino at the time.

And since the last time Corsola tattled and he had scolded Hydreigon, the two had been at peace for a long time…

Had his original handling been too crude, intensifying the conflict?

Baimu thought it over and realized his approach back then was indeed a bit inconsiderate, but Corsola's personality didn't seem like the type that could fight with Hydreigon and then make up and be all smiles about it.

What a handful.

He gazed at Corsola with emotion, but the latter said nothing, merely revealing a pair of bright red eyes and glancing at him.

Hmm?

What's that supposed to mean?

Baimu didn't quite understand. "If you've got something to say, say it; just giving me a look, I can't read your mind."

"…"

Corsola, upon hearing this, silently turned around and pointed its backside at him.

Baimu, familiar with this one, knew that turning its head away meant it had nothing to say.

Looks like he was overthinking it?

Nothing happened at all?

He turned his head and could faintly make out a ridiculous flowering head peeking about in a sneaky, furtive manner.

Something definitely happened!

All Baimu was about to rush over and catch that outrageous fellow to interrogate him, but the moment he lifted his foot and caught sight of the Three-Headed Bully's terrified expression, he slowed his pace again.

Thinking it over carefully, as long as nothing serious resulted, acting so high-handed wouldn't strengthen his bond with the Three-Headed Bully — it would only give the latter all sorts of unpleasant feelings…

In short, one sentence: the child has grown up, has its own ideas, and needs to be given face.

He stopped walking and didn't keep chasing that unknown fellow who'd fled outside the door.

And upon discovering he hadn't come after it, the Three-Headed Bully poked its head out again in a cheeky manner, three big skulls popping up from beside the door like three morning-glories, eyes blinking.

All Baimu ignored it, his gaze sweeping the surroundings before inexplicably locking onto a certain spot.

"Dorbaron?"

No reply.

This left him a bit dejected — he'd clearly had a sudden flash of inspiration as if he'd grasped a hint of the other's existence, yet when he tried asking, he got nothing out of it.

Sigh.

The road ahead is long.

But what All Baimu didn't know was that at the very spot he'd just asked, the hidden Dorbaron shed its frightened expression and let out a small breath; it had never imagined its hiding place would be exposed.

It hadn't even used any moves or anything — this is unreasonable!

Dorbaron was a little sulky, feeling as if someone had pried a small crack into its safe house and stuffed a note inside; thankfully it hadn't responded.

Had it responded, probably the entire "wall" would've been gone.

As for what All Baimu had been agonizing over earlier — even though it had watched the whole thing from start to finish, it didn't know the former's thoughts, and even if it did, it would be hard to pass along the information.

Without anger boosting it and not in battle mode, it had to avoid even eye contact, let alone direct communication.

——

Afternoon.

All Baimu and Blissey practiced the performance needed for the Contest.

Unlike Lickilicky, who was skilled at dancing and thus used it as the core to build upon, Blissey's core feature lay in all sorts of varied moves.

Although a bit cliché, he decided not to go the stream-of-consciousness route, but rather the most orthodox creative-effects route of Contests — like the flame ice, freezing foam, and so on that Ash was especially good at.

In fact, ever since Blissey had started creating notes from sound last time, it had been practicing showy ways to use moves — it just hadn't decided on the performance flow yet.

"Let's still base it on singing."

All Baimu flipped open his sketchbook, already filled with drawings of Blissey and a host of dazzling, effect-laden notes.

"Happy?"

Blissey herself was lying nearby watching, looking utterly curious.

Because the drawings were already the fourth version — to achieve results on par with or surpassing Lickilicky's many dances, the trainer spared no effort designing all sorts of move combinations, long or short, yet none seemed quite satisfactory.

All Baimu turned his head and replied: "We have to finalize it today; if we keep dragging it out, even if you use the moves flawlessly, something could still go wrong."

Behind him, Dorbaron curiously leaned in to look at the sketchbook, not quite understanding what all the drawings meant.

Are these flashing things moves? They look pretty.

Are they powerful?

Coach! I want to learn too!

Dorbaron peeked eagerly, and when it suddenly saw All Baimu flip a page, pick up a pencil, and sketch rapidly — only to tear the page out halfway and toss it — it found this very puzzling.

Is he throwing it away?

Why throw it away? It's clearly quite nice.

Taking advantage of All Baimu and Blissey not paying attention, Dorbaron quietly picked up the paper crumpled on the ground, glanced left and right to confirm no one had noticed, then carefully smoothed it out and gazed at the gorgeous sketch — its narrow triangular eyes curved into crescents, and combined with its rather comical triangular head, formed a goofy smile.

So pretty~

The focused All Baimu naturally didn't notice these little actions, and even if he had, he wouldn't have minded — the pressing task was to nail down the performance theme.

And since the star of the performance was Blissey, the latter naturally had every right to offer opinions —

Lickilicky had also given plenty of input before, after all — it was a performance the Pokémon ultimately had to carry out.

Of course.

Ideas that were too far-fetched or would seriously undercut the flair, he definitely wouldn't adopt.

After more than two hours of this back-and-forth, the final version was finally set.

Blissey couldn't help but let out a relieved breath. "Happy~"

It hadn't even officially started practicing, yet it looked as exhausted as if it had already been through a long drawn-out rotation battle — thinking up performance content was just too draining.

Wanting flair, wanting stability, and needing it simple and not drawn-out…

Blissey always felt only two of the three could be had; having two meant the third was impossible — who would've thought the trainer really came up with something that looked the part.

It especially adored the trainer, its two little hands pressed together before its chest as if in prayer, eyes full of little stars.

"Happy~"

"Stop 'happy'-ing — the real executor still has to be you. What I've drawn in this sketchbook is just me blowing hot air; how it actually turns out depends on you, little sis."

All Baimu pinched the curly fluff on either side of its head — he'd always thought those pink curls were especially cute, and they felt soft and fluffy, very pleasant.

"Happy!"

Blissey nodded frantically — it would definitely bring the trainer's design to life in full!

And so.

The big pink egg entered a phase of frantic practice, making Lickilicky unable to even watch videos in peace on the side, and it hurried over to share its own insights on linking moves together.

The differently colored Milotic heard about it and quietly slithered over with its water-snake-like body to secretly learn.

As for Happiny taking the stage alone to perform, it was impossible for Mawile to feel nothing at all. After all, it was Happiny that originally wanted to enter the Glamorous Contest, and it was also Happiny that made Baimu famous in a single battle.

But to say the feeling was so strong as to throw a tantrum — that really wasn't the case. For one, it wasn't that petty; at the Autumn Leaf Conference, Happiny had appeared to share the stage and dance with it, but in reality, because Mawile was so famous, Happiny had effectively ended up as its accompanist — Mawile remembered that very clearly.

For another, it also believed what its Trainer had said earlier was right: at a time when raising levels was relatively difficult, Mega Evolution was a treasure mountain right before its eyes.

What it most needed to do was dig out this treasure mountain; everything else could be set aside for the moment.

Compared to ordinary city contests, it ought to display its edge at a grand glamorous celebration.

——

Two days passed.

Baimu welcomed an important matter —

The simulator's cooldown time was up.

Although the last simulation hadn't even reached the door of the Indigo Conference, it had left him with an extremely important talent: {Psychic}.

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And aside from the paltry level rewards, the first two ordinary simulations had respectively granted him two rather interesting move rewards: 【U-turn】 and 【Pay Day】.

The former he gave to Hydreigon — after all, apart from it and the three Dreepy at home, there was no one else who could learn this move, and the Dragapult already knew U-turn.

As for Pay Day…

Although he was very curious about the principle behind this move's release, he didn't have any Pokémon on hand that could learn it.

Snorlax and Rapidash can both learn it — why can't Happiny learn it?

That's looking down on my big egg a bit too much!

Baimu shook his head, temporarily suppressing this thought, and opened the simulator with an expectant mood.

【Choose your Birth Region ▽】

Because it was a blue simulation, and since he had chosen the Alola region last time, this time it was the Galar region.

To be honest.

He was a little tempted to choose the Kanto region to go back and see that little story about the sickly psychic, but considering he should follow the rules and take turns, he simply suppressed his curiosity.

He tapped open gender.

Last time the pharmacist female student was female, so this time naturally it was male.

He tapped open the Pokémon column.

Mm.

As expected, it was blank — who told the psychic to not even make it into a conference.

Baimu took a deep breath, looked at the talent options below, and pressed down with extremely steady fingers.

And the instant the talent popped up, he abruptly covered his mouth, forcibly swallowing back that "wocao," his heart pounding wildly.

Because —

Fixed Talent:

【★★ Region Reset (must have participated in at least one regional conference)】

This talent not only had two stars, it was also orange!

Orange talent!!!