Chapter 526: The Strange Tree's Bewildering Shavings

Entered Wang Liangsi's squad base.

Dancer naturally drew a crowd of onlookers.

Only the Starfall Squad members mostly stood at a distance watching her with strange expressions, whispering among themselves, lending the forest a rather eerie atmosphere.

【You look at the Starfall Squad members around you and feel it's not quite what you imagined】

The Starfall Squad, as Dancer understood it, was an organization brimming with a sense of justice and goodwill.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to punish those bad students.

Only—

Based on the impression so far, the Starfall Squad members gave Dancer a somewhat unserious feeling.

Of course, Dancer knew you can't judge a book by its cover; the actual situation would have to wait until she met the leader of Wang Liangsi's squad who had helped her punish those bad students.

According to the Starfall Squad member guiding the way, the matter had been led by their boss.

【Guided by two Starfall Squad members, you quickly meet their boss—Meloetta】

Meloetta.

A freckled girl whose hair was a yellow-red mix like a volcanic eruption, wearing a black-and-white leather outfit, her feet in torch-like knee-high boots.

Even in cartoon pixel form, one could still sense that this Miss radiated an aura of being not someone to be trifled with.

But the key was what was behind her.

"What is that? A Pokémon? Holy crap, it's huge!"

Baimu stared in surprise at the massive war vehicle behind Meloetta; it looked like some kind of mobile stage, studded with neon lights, streamers, and horns, and at the front was a one-eyed creature sticking out its tongue.

The thing did look kind of cool, but it was also ridiculously tacky.

Dancer, on the other hand, paid little attention to that thing, focusing all her attention on Meloetta.

【You greet Meloetta and explain the purpose of your visit】

Dancer sought out the Starfall Squad partly to express her thanks, and partly out of curiosity about this organization—why wouldn't even the teachers give her any information?

And why did so many students panic at the mere mention of its name?

Besides, was the Starfall Squad also made up of students?

She had many questions she wanted Meloetta to answer, but the latter's cool, indifferent expression dampened her curiosity considerably.

【You worry that asking too many questions might make them think you have ulterior motives, so you quietly tuck these doubts away in your heart】

Seeing the other party wasn't in a talkative mood, Dancer naturally didn't want to bother them any longer and took the initiative to bid farewell.

Just then.

A commotion suddenly came from somewhere off-screen.

A Starfall Squad member came running over, a popping bubble above his head seeming to say something.

【You hear that person say Deep Bowl Gym Leader Kousa has invaded the base, and feel a sense of foreboding】

The reason it felt ominous was that she'd be mistaken for having led the person here.

Sure enough.

After the person finished speaking, the surrounding Starfall Squad members and Meloetta immediately looked at Dancer, prompting her Quaxwell and Oricorio to step in front of her, and the scene grew extremely tense for a moment.

But in the end, Meloetta simply leapt onto that giant war vehicle, and three words popped up above her head—

【We're going!

】

The Starfall convoy set off in grand procession.

The scene shifted.

In the lush, verdant forest, a large number of Starfall Squad members surrounded Kousa, whom Dancer had met not long ago, in a posture that looked ready for a fight.

Then the war vehicle slowly rolled into frame, Meloetta standing atop it looking down at Kousa from on high.

Dancer followed close behind, but didn't dare get too close, hiding at a distance to observe, wanting to know what would happen next.

【You hear Kousa ask Meloetta why she's gathered so many people in the forest near Deep Bowl Town, as it's seriously disrupting the residents' daily lives】

So it was just a routine inquiry.

A relieved expression appeared on Dancer's face on the screen; the scene had been so tense she'd thought Kousa and Meloetta would come to blows, but as long as it could be explained clearly, there probably wouldn't be any problem.

Who would have thought Meloetta's temper seemed unusually explosive; she not only refused to tell Kousa their plans, but also tried to drive her away.

How could Dancer not understand—this fight was unavoidable.

In an instant.

Kousa commanded his Grass-type Pokémon and tangled with Meloetta and the Starfall Squad.

【You stare in shock at the war vehicle beneath Meloetta, never having expected it to be a Pokémon capable of launching attacks】

【Given the current environment, this site may shut down at any time. Please move to the permanently operating source-switching app as soon as possible,】

Is it a Pokémon?

It really seemed to be, just with a lot of extra parts added on.

Baimu used the Pokédex to determine that the Pokémon at the front of the vehicle was called Revavroom, a Steel/Poison-type Pokémon from the Paldea region, its body resembling a go-kart and a car engine.

However…

Why did this one in the simulator feel like a Fire type?

He watched the war vehicle in the picture spitting fire and charging around, flipping through the Pokédex several times without finding any Fire-type moves this thing could learn.

What's going on? Are there other Pokémon hidden inside the vehicle?

Baimu widened his eyes, but the pixelated picture simply couldn't show enough detail.

At the same time.

The battle between Kousa and the Starfall Squad suddenly stopped, the reason being that a slender, glossy black-haired pixel figure walked over.

A question mark popped up above the Dancer's head.

【You see Geeta walk over between Kieran and Mela, seemingly saying something.】

Geeta, the League Chairwoman of the Paldea region, also known as the so-called Top Champion, the very best among the Champions of the Paldea region.

With her stepping in, Kieran and Mela seemed to have made peace — the former chose to withdraw, and Mela also left with her underlings.

The Dancer had wanted to chase after Mela, but was stopped by Geeta, who had noticed her.

The other stated that she had observed her battle with Kieran, and greatly admired her talent as a Trainer, then asked whether her goal was to become a Champion.

【You tell her that you yourself haven't quite figured out your goal either, and only hope to find the answer in the process of treasure-hunting.】

Geeta listened to the Dancer's answer, showed an extremely delighted expression, and took out a black orb to give to the Dancer.

【You obtained a Tera Orb from Geeta.】

The Tera Orb is an item that helps Pokémon Terastallize; each Pokémon has its own Tera Type, which may be one of its own types, or possibly another type.

【You obtained a considerable amount of knowledge about Terastallization from Geeta.】

The Dancer was quite grateful to Geeta for her generous gift, and on a sudden whim, asked her about the Team Star situation.

Compared with the students who didn't dare speak, and the teacher who didn't wish to speak.

After a moment of silence, Geeta told the Dancer roughly what she knew.

【You were greatly shocked upon learning that Team Star was an organization formed by bullied students banding together.】

Team Star.

The origin was a group of students who, after being bullied and receiving no justice, banded together to form Team Star and rose up against those bullying bad students.

After some major upheaval, those bad students were scared into crying, apologizing, and dropping out.

But the Dean at the time covered up most of the truth, causing Team Star to be seen as a group of troublemaking bad students; their leader, to shoulder all the blame, took it upon himself to leave the school and take a leave of absence.

Not long after, the former Principal, the Dean, and a group of other teachers resigned, and the new Principal Clavell took office.

From then on, no one spoke up for Team Star, and as time went on, the unchecked Team Star grew increasingly brazen and gradually became a real gang of bad students.

The Dancer learned the whole picture, and her feelings were rather complicated.

【You suddenly got the idea of helping clear Team Star's name, just as they helped you, but had no idea where to start.】

Geeta saw what the Dancer was thinking, and told her not to worry — the new Principal Clavell was secretly investigating the truth, and since Team Star began with that leader who took a leave of absence, naturally that leader who took a leave of absence should also be the one to bring things to a close.

【You were very happy to hear that that leader could return to school someday, but at the same time, you didn't know what expression to wear when facing Team Star.】

The Dancer wanted to befriend the Team Star people, but from Geeta she also learned that the current Team Star disrupted campus order and maliciously recruited other students into the group, acting no differently from many bad students.

This left her unsure whether she should follow in Mela's footsteps.

On the other hand, Geeta had no intention whatsoever of helping the Dancer sort out her troubles, and after finishing what she had to say about Team Star, she left.

Leaving the Dancer alone on the spot, facing Quaxly and Oricorio with a face full of bewilderment.

What should one do when bewildered?

Quaxly provided the answer—

Dance.

Why overthink it?

Just dance!

Quaxly took a step, and Oricorio couldn't help but follow along; with both Pokémon joining in, the Dancer could hold back even less, and the one person and two Pokémon swayed away without a care.

"This... Disney Princess series..."

All Baimu complained inwardly, but understood that since the simulator wasn't speeding up the dance, something must have happened, and his gaze began to wander around.

At a glance, he really did spot a green-and-white mosaic blob tinged with red behind a large tree.

"Again!"

He was a bit at a loss for words — although Trainers catching wild Pokémon was perfectly normal, you, Dancer, were just too strong, weren't you? Always managing to attract Pokémon through dancing.

Even musicians don't get that kind of treatment — at most they'd attract one or two...

Fine.

This one even attracted a mythical Pokémon before.

The wild Pokémon that appeared on screen was called Tsareena, a Grass-type Pokémon that looked like a cross between a mangosteen and a young girl.

Like Oricorio, it was deeply captivated by the Dancer's dancing.

Except it was far bolder than Oricorio — upon noticing that the Dancer had spotted it, it didn't flee, but instead actively approached and started dancing along.

It's just... that it didn't seem to have much dancing talent.

It was great at spinning in circles, but that was all it was great at; it completely failed to learn from its senior Oricorio's dance battle with the Dancer.

After the Dancer finished her dance, it even actively wanted to join their group.

The Dancer was of course very happy — although Tsareena's dancing was a bit lacking, it had tremendous potential... besides, it was incredibly cute, making her unable to resist.

【You caught Tsareena — your clumsy dance partner has increased.】

A clumsy dance partner works, I guess.

All Baimu complained inwardly, but was suddenly struck under the chin by Mawile in his arms. "Mmph, what is it now?"

He looked at the latter in confusion once more.

Porygon2 once again very kindly answered his question.

"You were bouncing your leg, really fast — Mawile has put up with you for quite a long time."

All Baimu: "..."

If Porygon2 calls it "long," it must really have been going on for ages... He clearly didn't have that habit, right? The Dancer's dancing was practically toxic.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving!"

He raised both hands in surrender, hurriedly retreating from the area to look for Bouffalant.

In the picture.

After finishing the dance, the still-bewildered dancer decided to set out, because she believed the journey ahead would give her the answer.

Just like meeting Oricorio and Ribombee, defeating Shauna and earning her first Badge.

Keep "treasure-hunting," keep traveling.

Sooner or later, she'd get what she wanted.

—

Passing through East District One.

The dancer arrived at East District Two, planning to head straight for Lumiose City to challenge the Gym there.

Along the way, just as before, she ran into quite a lot of fellow students — older ones, younger ones, men and women, young and old, every type you could want.

Faced with their collective picnic invitation, the dancer, breaking from her usual habit, agreed to most of them.

Borrowing the power of dance, she quickly became familiar with those students, and quietly asked them about their views on Team Star, finding some were afraid, some dismissive, and some even eager to try and rid the people of the menace.

The dancer did not tell anyone that Team Star was actually a good organization — she merely listened.

After all, she was well aware that the current Team Star had clearly done bad things; simply recounting the past was meaningless, and without reform and punishment, it was unrealistic to expect others to believe Team Star was good.

During this time.

The dancer also didn't forget to battle often to build up her strength. Her battles with Shauna and Mela taught her that Gym Leaders were actually mostly very strong — they simply adjusted their Pokémon's strength to accommodate students of different levels.

The more Badges she earned, the harder the Gyms would inevitably become.

And having learned from the students that the Lumiose Gym was an Electric-type Gym, the dancer used the golden honey she had gathered to transform Oricorio into its Electric/Flying form —

【Your Oricorio has undergone a form change. It is now in Pom-Pom Style.】

The Pom-Pom Style Oricorio shifted from a sultry dancer to a high-energy cheerleader, the two fluffy pom-pom-like tufts of feathers at the tips of its wings looking exactly like cheer pom-poms.

After completing a series of preparations, the dancer set off.

【You waved goodbye to the friends you had just made and arrived at Lumiose City.】

The dancer stood before a steel jungle blazing with colorful light effects, an exclamation mark hovering above her head and beside her Pokémon — clearly stunned by the sight.

Lumiose City.

A high-tech modern metropolis that, once pixelated, looks somewhat like Unova's Castelia City.

The dancer had originally planned to head straight for the Gym, but upon spotting the bustling commercial street, she was inevitably drawn in and fell into a buying spree.

Fortunately, the emulator sped up this process, and the dancer soon arrived at the Lumiose Gym.

As usual, there was registration.

Along with a small test.

But the special part was that, because Lumiose Gym Leader Ioni is a popular livestreamer, the test required the dancer to find a way to help her hype up the stream's atmosphere.

Originally, Ioni had some planned segment, intending to give the dancer a hard time first.

But who would have expected the dancer to say nothing, and just bust out a sailor dance for her on the spot, followed by a flamenco — one dance after another left Ioni dumbfounded.

Ioni: 【……?】

What's going on?

Where am I?

Is this my stream?

Clearly, after being a Gym Leader for so many years, this was the first time she had encountered a challenger like this — and the key thing was, the dancer really did pull the popularity up!

After all, who can resist a pretty girl dancing?

From the fact that one of the reasons those two bullies picked on the dancer was that she was too pretty, one can already see just how remarkable that face was.