Chapter 470: Super Big Mouth

As is widely known.

The bond is the prerequisite for Mega Evolution.

But as something belonging to the spiritual realm, the bond possesses its own unique abstract nature—invisible, intangible, existing only within the heart.

Fortunately, as the key to Mega Evolution, the Key Stone and Mega Stone possess the "function" of verifying whether the bond is in place.

"Resonance…"

Baimu gazed at the Key Stone in his hand, which emitted a faint, gentle glow. A subtle warmth—so gentle it felt almost nonexistent unless one paid close attention—flowed from his palm to every part of his body, ultimately converging toward his brain.

Corresponding to it was the Mega Stone hair ornament on Bigu's head; the latter had clearly produced a similar sensation.

Illusory, yet real.

The key to a successful Mega Evolution lies in amplifying this sensation, magnifying the existence of the other within the subconscious, and using spiritual resonance to stimulate the Mega Stone's energy infusion—ultimately awakening 【an Evolution Beyond Evolution】.

Baimu, long since familiar with the process, guided Bigu to close her eyes.

"Stay where you are. Feel my presence. Feel my movements."

Having said this, he fell silent. As he closed his eyes, he began to move slowly, gradually sketching out Bigu's outer silhouette in his mind.

This was a technique he had learned from the People of the Meteor; he had already verified its effectiveness when he first caused Aggron to Mega Evolve.

Previously, Bigu's inability to Mega Evolve smoothly was precisely because she was stuck at amplifying presence, strengthening conscious resonance, and imagining spiritual chains linking the two together—a manifestation of the bond not being in place.

But after such a long period of polishing.

Combined with the conscious resonance experience that "the Power of Beyond" had brought Baimu, he felt the moment to take that step together with Bigu had already matured.

As expected, the sensation of resonating with Aggron from the very beginning gradually welled up.

It's ready!

Baimu swiftly opened his eyes. Bigu, just as he had imagined, was less than half a meter away from him. She raised her head to look at him, a similar brilliance shining in her eyes.

"Are you ready?"

"Chii-doo!"

"Then—"

He gripped the glowing Key Stone pendant on his chest and commanded in a slightly low voice: "Mega Evolve!"

The instant his fingers touched the Key Stone, each other's presence suddenly became intensely vivid. The previously hazy sensation instantly sharpened like a clear mirror, and along with the shared resonance, transformed into spiritual chains that shot forth like lightning.

An unbreakable connection rapidly formed.

In an instant.

Seven-colored light was seen blazing from Bigu's body. Under Lugia's curious gaze, spiritual chains like lightning shot out separately from the Key Stone and the Mega Stone. These things, transitioning from illusion to substance, collided and locked tight, transforming into torrential energy that poured into the former.

Evolution quietly took place!

A familiar spiritual pressure blocked Baimu's chest like a boulder, nearly suffocating him.

"Hehehe… what a nostalgic feeling."

He breathed slowly, long since accustomed to this condition.

The source of this pressure came from the immense energy infusion Bigu was forced to endure; the violent shock and pressure jointly suffered when her body underwent drastic changes and her mind twisted along with it.

Because the trainer and Pokémon shared spiritual resonance, the pressure was distributed to his side as well, preventing Bigu from losing her sanity to the energy surge and ensuring she retained her most basic intelligence.

In the future, as Bigu further masters and becomes more proficient with Mega Evolution, this pressure will lessen; Aggron today is the most compelling proof of this.

Within the light.

Bigu's appearance rapidly changed.

First, the giant jaw on the back of her head gradually enlarged, swelled, and began to split, ultimately forming two identical, fearsome giant jaws positioned on either side of her head.

Next was her height; originally only reaching past Baimu's knee, in the blink of an eye she was already at his waist.

Including the height of the twin giant jaws rising from the back of her head, she could nearly reach his shoulder.

Correspondingly, her hands and feet also grew longer. Zigzag patterns appeared on her wrists and chest, making her look increasingly as though she were wearing a gorgeous kimono.

When the light of evolution dimmed, the purple revealed on Mega Bigu's lower half contrasted with the cream color of her upper half, further enhancing the kimono-like impression.

Now she seemed to have transformed from the original obedient little girl into a swaying, graceful neon shrine maiden.

"Chii…doo?"

Mega Bigu's rose-red eyes blinked. She did not look at Baimu before her, but instead fixed on Lugia, whose half-body was submerged in the mountain stream, curiously peering over this way.

Their gazes met.

"—Get out of the way!"

A desperate shout rang out, followed by a violent boom!

Boom!

The mountain rocks shattered.

Lugia's vision blurred. Mega Bigu had somehow arrived before her and thrust out that seemingly small fist that actually contained terrifying energy.

However, an invisible air current locked her fist dead in place like shackles, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

This one—her consciousness has gone haywire!

Lugia looked into Mega Bigu's eyes and clearly understood that she had already been affected by the overly immense energy, caught between rampaging and stability.

Why say so?

First, if Mega Bigu's consciousness had truly gone berserk, she would definitely have attacked the nearest target, Baimu, without regard for his identity as her trainer.

Second, the motion of her punch did not look like wild, random flailing.

This proved that at this moment she had merely had her judgment distorted; presumably the world she saw before her was warped.

Not a big problem.

Just wait until she exhausts herself.

Lugia looked at the locked-down Mega Bigu before her, her heart perfectly calm—so calm she even felt a little like laughing.

Suddenly.

"Hah—Bam!

"

A fierce, furious roar exploded right beside his ear.

Thud!

With a muffled bang, the Air Pressure shield in front of Mega Bibarel instantly collapsed like dispersing mist, and its fist became an afterimage that grew steadily larger in the amused eyes of Lugia—

Boom!

A heavy fist like a cannon!

A visible ring of air burst open on Lugia's cheek, the tremendous force causing the latter to abruptly leave the water, its entire body forced to tilt toward the other side.

But just before its feet pointed skyward, Lugia abruptly spread its wings and took flight with a powerful flap.

At first glance.

It looked just like a bird startled into sudden flight by a surprise attack.

Even Lugia's face still bore a look of shock, finding the fist that had struck its cheek hard to believe — the shield it had created with Air Pressure had actually been broken so easily?

"It is a Husky after all…"

All Baimu clutched his head, looking at Mega Bibarel, who had suddenly lowered its head in the stream, feeling a mix of joy and helplessness.

The instant the latter launched its attack, his brain had gone blank for several seconds, as if struck by a dump truck, and by the time he came back to his senses, Lugia was already in the sky.

And Mega Bibarel had fallen into a state of self-imposed isolation.

On one hand, it was suppressing the influence of the violent energy on itself; on the other, it was deeply dissatisfied with having failed to hold on — for a first Mega Evolution, why was the other one so "docile"?

Wasn't that basically saying it was inferior to Aggron?!

Although Bibarel had no interest in fighting over the Ace position, it didn't want to perform worse than that big dumb oaf.

Too embarrassing.

Mega Bibarel lowered its head to look at its new form reflected in the water's surface; even though it was quite satisfied with its appearance, it could not suppress the gloom in its heart.

Why?

Where exactly was it worse than Aggron?

Meanwhile, Lugia in the sky, seeing that Mega Bibarel had not pursued for a long time, slowly descended on the other side.

It wasn't the type to fly into a rage just from a slap to the face — it had that much magnanimity — but it kept dwelling on the fact that its Air Pressure had been pierced, wondering just how powerful Mega Bibarel's attack actually was…

Actually, it wasn't all that powerful.

Just the highest physical Attack stat in the Pokémon games, surpassing even Mega Rayquaza and Mega Mewtwo X, that's all.

All Baimu muttered inwardly, then realized he really was getting more and more familiar with Lugia — he could even tell what it was thinking just from a frown.

His gaze shifted back to Mega Bibarel.

Splash—

The water rippled.

It was forced to revert to its original form, and a wave of exhaustion washed over it, making it pant violently.

This was even more tiring than practicing Contest moves.

"Haa…"

All Baimu was likewise exhausted; the pressure shared from Bibarel's side was even higher than when Aggron had Mega Evolved before. He had assumed that after all his mental training, his stress resistance would have improved considerably.

He hadn't expected to still end up looking this "feeble."

He took several deep breaths in a row, and the exhaustion finally eased a little. Seeing that Bibarel showed no sign of coming out of the stream at all, he understood and walked over at a very ordinary pace to pick it up.

"Nicely done! We did it!"

He chose to put on an expression as if nothing had just happened, so as to spare this somewhat fragile-hearted fellow any needless worry.

And under his praise, Bibarel's emotional state quickly recovered.

Half a minute later.

Completely dry, Bibarel ran off to play on its phone.

The watching Lugia secretly marvelled — during their telepathic exchange it had already felt that All Baimu was quite skilled at comforting Pokémon, and now seeing it with its own eyes, it could only think: just as expected!

Impressive!

While it was stealthily offering praise, All Baimu's gaze turned its way.

"Has it Darkened today?"

At this mention.

Lugia's good mood for spectating instantly dimmed a few shades, but it gave a negative answer.

——

Based on the results of a three-day observation period after All Baimu provided the purifying spray.

Two conclusions can be drawn.

One: the purifying spray is effective and reliable.

Two: Professor Mugen has not been standing still all these years.

One must remember that in the past, only a purification chamber could meet Lugia's purification needs; now even a liquid purifying spray can meet Lugia's needs to a certain extent — how could one say there had been no progress?

Judging by this, Lugia should be able to meet with its kin soon enough; the only question was what would happen when it encountered that mother-and-child pair…

Could it possibly be a "I've come to join this family" scenario?

But thinking carefully, Lugia probably had no concept of gender; the so-called mother and child were purely the product of All Baimu anthropomorphizing them — why couldn't they reproduce asexually?

If Solrock, which creates new kin by injecting energy into meteorites, exists, what's so remarkable about asexual reproduction?

In any case, things were developing in a good direction.

All Baimu didn't want to linger any longer either, and continued on his Hoenn journey.

Borrowing Hu Pa's ring, he skipped the steps of taking a plane and a boat, and arrived directly at the location of the seventh Gym—

Green Ridge City.

"Thanks, Hu Pa!"

The place he landed was by the sea; Hu Pa was considerate enough to stay out of other people's sight.

"Hehehe~ just leave such small matters to Hu Pa~ see you later for now~"

This Pokémon known as the little demon god waved its hand, still calling him by the nickname it had chanted countless times yet refused to change.

Barza only said farewell, while Mei Mei Yali beside him said she would definitely go to the Grand Festival to cheer him on.

All Baimu's mouth twitched, and he thanked her once more for her favor.

The ring closed.

His gaze returned to the city on this island.

Compared to the palm-sized island in the game, the island where Green Ridge City is located in the anime was clearly many times larger; even the urban construction only covered a portion by the sea, and there were several green mountains in the center of the island.

And as Champion Dawu's hometown, besides being very interested in the Green Ridge Space Center, All Baimu was also especially interested in the mountain in Champion Dawu's backyard where groups of Aggron lived.

……Better go reserve a Gym battle first.

All Baimu worried he wouldn't get a reservation. He had previously looked up relevant information and found that, due to its unique twin-Gym setup, the Green Ridge Gym attracted quite a lot of Trainers to challenge, so it was common to wait one or even two weeks after reserving before getting a slot.

Especially now that the League Conference wasn't far off, many Trainers would send out their Pokémon to cram at the last minute, challenging various Gyms.

Anyway, Gym battles could be repeated, costing nothing at all.

He hurried all the way to the Green Ridge Gym, and sure enough found quite a long queue on the reservation machine at the entrance; he would have to wait at least three or four days before his turn came.

"Forget it, let's go stroll around the Space Center first."

All Baimu didn't hesitate, turned around and ran toward the Space Center, planning to go visit the various aerospace black technologies of the Pokémon anime world.

He recalled that this organization launched things into the sky every few days, even including manned rockets, yet had never been attacked by Rayquaza — one could imagine how tolerant it was of things going out from this planet.

What he didn't expect was—

He ran into Champion Dawu right at the main entrance of the Space Center.

The latter, dressed in a sharp suit, had just finished talking with someone and was lost in thought; only when he sensed someone approaching did he look up.

"Dawu-san!"

All Baimu took the initiative to greet him.

"Huh? You've already traveled all the way here?" Champion Dawu was quite surprised to see him, then laughed: "Thank you for the fossil you gave me before, I really like it."

The fossil was the Root Fossil, from the Phantom Tower in the desert region. A few months ago, All Baimu and Alice adventured inside it and brought out two fossils from within.

He chose the former, and found a chance to give it to Champion Dawu, specially noting where it came from.

Champion Dawu was indeed very fond of such an extraordinary-origin fossil; he most likely wouldn't revive it into a Cradily, but might well place it on a display shelf to add to the collection room's worth.

"Glad you like it, then I can rest easy." All Baimu said as if relieved, but it was his first time proactively giving a gift and he had no experience, so he really worried the other person wouldn't be interested.

"Haha, you really are…"

Champion Dawu shook his head with a laugh, and asked: "Do you have a place to stay? If not, come to my place, my house is quite big."

Hmm……

Having heard the meme too many times, even normal words sounded weird to him.

All Baimu inwardly criticized his own wild thoughts, but who could blame him when that bespectacled bald guy named "Jie-ge" was too famous — a single educational short film had spawned who knows how many memes.

"As long as I won't be disturbing you, I'd be happy to." He gave an affirmative answer.

For the sake of that mountain with groups of Aggron living on it, he had to agree.