Chapter 562: Simulated Gambling Maniac

"Sharpedo!"

Yohei called out weakly.

And Sharpedo was blasted to the edge of the pool battlefield by a bolt of icy-blue lightning, freezing together with the pool wall as the water crystallized.

"Sharpedo is unable to battle! Milotic wins!"

The old butler's voice was like a sharp knife, stabbing viciously into Yohei's heart, which had been puffed up with bravado just moments ago.

Yohei: "……"

How could this be possible!?

He was a Trainer who had made it to the top eight of the Lily of the Valley Conference!

Even across the entire Trainer circle of Lilycove City, his strength ranked among the very best—yet his Sharpedo had been defeated so easily…

"When your Pokémon enters the Attract status, you should switch your Pokémon. Shouting alone is useless."

Baimu continued his commentary.

Just now, Yohei had every chance to pull Sharpedo out of the match—Attract isn't some long-lasting special condition.

One could only say the opponent was not only arrogant, but utterly foolish.

He never stopped to think: if he could be recognized by Wallace as a temporary Gym Leader, how could his strength possibly be weak? Speculation like "lucky young punk" was nothing more than wishful thinking.

"…Understood."

Yohei gazed at Baimu and the shiny Milotic, who strolled about as if taking a leisurely walk through a courtyard. He finally set aside his small preconceptions, gritted his teeth, and released his second Pokémon—

Starmie.

He declared loudly: "I underestimated you just now. This time, don't think you'll take down my Pokémon so easily!"

Too bad.

One tough line after another.

Not a shred of the top-eight Conference strength was on display—or perhaps the Trainers of that Conference were generally only at this level.

Under Baimu's commands, the shiny Milotic easily handled both Starmie and the final Crawdaunt. The confidence built up through its winning record made it shine all the more, both in appearance and in bearing.

It perfectly matched what Adam had told him earlier—"Beauty is built upon strength, and charm springs from a confident heart."

Compared to that—

Yohei, who had been beaten down one-sidedly, was starting to question his life.

He had wanted to see for himself the strength of this so-called inheritor of the Meteor People's legacy, and to warn him not to get too cocky—the younger generation of the Lilycove People was stronger.

Yet he hadn't even forced out the opponent's second Pokémon?

That evening.

The remaining two Lilycove People who had accepted the challenge went to find Yohei, hoping to get some intel on Baimu's strength from him, but were met with a closed door.

"This child didn't even eat dinner before shutting himself in his room, and he didn't go out to sea with his father either…"

Yohei's mother said with a hint of worry.

The remaining two exchanged glances.

What the heck?

That loud, brash Yohei who always bragged about his top-eight strength had actually skipped dinner and gone straight to his room?

The two of them beat a mental drum of alarm, took their leave of Yohei's mother.

Not long after, the rumor of Yohei being shut down by Baimu spread like wildfire through the small circle of the Lilycove People. The news that the Lilycove Gym had replaced its temporary Leader drew even more attention.

——

Meanwhile, on another front.

Over dinner, Baimu shared with Xiang Liuqi and Adam his experiences from his first day as Gym Leader. Back in his room, he couldn't wait to open the simulator.

Another wonderful night with the simulator's cooldown finished.

A new blue simulation was right before his eyes.

The more he interacted with powerful Trainers like Champion Dawu and Mi Ke Li, the more he longed to grow stronger quickly.

Even though the Lily of the Valley Conference didn't hold much suspense, the first Conference of the Orel region, under the orchestration of people like Yamiru, would surely attract many powerful Trainers from around the world.

Those whose strength rivaled the Elite Four or even higher—some had never received an invitation from the League, others had fallen just a step short of Champion and remained unknown.

But that absolutely did not mean they lacked strength.

To stand out among such people, Baimu felt that his current team's overall strength was still not enough.

And after visiting the Lumiose City flagship of "Golduck's Smile" and meeting the former simulator Rokomoko in person—even though the time was quite brief, with fewer than five sentences exchanged between them—

It still stirred a certain powerful emotion in Baimu.

The protagonists of those stories he had witnessed were standing right before him, alive and real. The excitement in his heart was no less than what he felt seeing Ash and Pikachu.

Unfortunately, the other party was far too busy for extended contact.

Otherwise, he would have loved to ask privately whether the parts he had seen in the simulation were original stories adapted by the simulator, or faithful little tales that copied the original experiences exactly.

"Come on, new simulation!"

Baimu opened the simulator.

【Choose your region of birth ▽】

Scrolling all the way down, there were no regions to choose after Paldea, so he had to scroll back up to the first region.

Kanto.

Gender was female last time; this time it was male.

Pokémon…

Poliwrath (Poliwag)?

Baimu froze for a moment—the starter had already evolved once right at the start, a truly rare situation. This simulation's protagonist couldn't possibly be some swimsuit guy, could it?

Since he himself serves as a Water-type Gym Leader, the system gave him a Water-type specialist simulation?

He grumbled inwardly and tapped on Talents.

Fixed Talent:

【☆Fortune Favors the Bold (When the time comes, good luck follows)】

Choose Talents:

【Impoverished Background (Raising Pokémon is a burden)】

【Sickly and Frail (Health is not optimistic)】

【Heart of Stone (Mind will not waver)】

【Hot-Blooded Youth (Always maintains a positive mindset)】

"Hmm…"

All Baimu's brow furrowed deeply.

Looking back at all his simulations, he'd done blue simulations over ten times by now, yet this Fortune Favors the Bold was truly his first time seeing it.

And these selectable talents… even picking the tallest among the short felt agonizingly difficult.

Could the simulation subject be a hot-blooded luck-based battler who relies entirely on bonds?

After much deliberation, he ultimately chose the last two.

Based on past simulation experience, Sickly and Frail might trigger when participating in a tournament; Impoverished Background would easily lead to overall insufficient Pokémon strength, ending with a baseline result.

And Heart of Stone, at first glance, seemed like a negative talent—perhaps it had some miraculous effect in the story?

He clicked Start full of anticipation.

—

【Simulation Begins】

The familiar pixel art style, in front of a building whose facade was covered in dazzling neon lights.

The automatic sensor door suddenly swung open.

Two pixel figures dressed as attendants threw out an old man in grey clothes along with a Mismagius, an angry bean emoticon floating above their foreheads.

【At fifty-seven, you were thrown out by the staff of the Rainbow Game Arcade for harassing customers】

All Baimu: "…Huh?"

How old? How old was the simulation subject?

Fifty-seven!

He never imagined that this time his simulation subject would actually be a fifty-seven-year-old old man, and judging by the man's pixel portrait, he was a gambler in the game!

No wonder the fixed talent was Fortune Favors the Bold, no wonder there was Impoverished Background and Sickly and Frail!

No wonder it was Mismagius!

A fifty-seven-year-old Trainer was practically retirement age for anyone! Even Professor Oak would have to admit his age at that point!

Do you think you're Agatha, Shi Yuan Zhi, or Alder?

That ranch uncle from before had already pushed all of Baimu's complaints to the limit—who would've thought this time would bring someone even more explosive!

At that age, how is one supposed to participate in a tournament?

That said.

Although this simulation subject was utterly outrageous, it genuinely piqued his curiosity.

All Baimu watched the screen with great interest, and saw the white-bearded, bald-headed gambler—even in pixel art style, one could tell he was extremely unkempt—being helped up by Mismagius.

Then he was seized and dragged away by two men in black who darted out from a nearby alley.

The screen went dark.

Then bright again.

The gambler and Mismagius arrived at a dilapidated warehouse, where quite a few men in black stood before them, the leader's chest bearing a glaring blood-red capital letter "R."

Team Rocket?

【You hear the other party demand you repay your debt, and helplessly explain that you don't have a single cent on you—otherwise you wouldn't have gone to the arcade to harass others, trying to scrounge one or two game coins from those people】

In debt too…

Good lord, so he's an old gambling dog?

All Baimu was quite surprised that, after a Team Rocket member, he'd once again simulated a person of rather low moral standing.

And Team Rocket naturally wasn't so easy to talk to—regardless of the gambler's age, upon hearing him say he had no money to repay, they beat him up savagely.

After the exaggerated stars and smoke faded.

The gambler and Mismagius lay on the ground, gasping violently.

【You state that you truly cannot repay this loan shark debt, even if you sold yourself and Mismagius you still couldn't pay it off】

Are they going to harvest his kidneys?

All Baimu raised an eyebrow, but unfortunately Team Rocket seemed to look down on the gambler and Mismagius.

The narration relayed the contemptuous words of the leading Team Rocket member—namely, that the gambler and Mismagius were too old, and no one would want them no matter who they were sold to.

Good lord, even the Pokémon is already old?

Tsk tsk.

Team Rocket really is brazen in Kanto—peddling loan sharking and nobody does anything about it?

Just as All Baimu was wondering how the gambler would escape, the Team Rocket member offered the gambler a suggestion for repayment—participate in the Indigo Conference, and use the League tournament's final prize money to pay off part of the debt.

【You hurriedly shake your head, stating that you're far too old and truly can't battle others】

The gambler still had some self-awareness—he hadn't become a powerful Trainer in his youth, so how could he possibly rise to prominence in old age?

But Team Rocket didn't care about any of that.

The narration stated that if the gambler couldn't repay his debts along with those of his gambling-addicted son, they would go cause trouble for the gambler's grandson hidden in a small countryside town.

Bind them all together and sink them in Dead Leaf Harbor.

【Your body stiffened】

Holy shit? He has a son too, and even his son is a gambling dog!?

All Baimu sucked in a cold breath, wondering if gambling could be inherited through genes? The grandfather gambled, the father gambled too, and even died early.

This unlucky grandson had simply been dealt a heavenly opening hand.

He couldn't imagine that if he stood in the grandson's position, without any special circumstances to look after him, there would be any other way out besides joining Team Rocket and working for them for a lifetime.

The gambler in the scene went from silence at the beginning to madness.

【You kowtowed to those people, begging them not to hurt your grandson, but the other party was unmoved, so you had no choice but to agree】

Huh?

Isn't he iron-hearted?

All Baimu had thought the gambler wouldn't care about what fate befell his own grandson, given the talent displayed here, but unexpectedly he cared a great deal.

Then where exactly is he iron-hearted?

Holding such doubts, the gambler in the scene was forced to begin his gym challenge career.

【You have no confidence in yourself whatsoever, completely clueless on how to defeat those powerful gym leaders, the Team Rocket members mockingly tell you that you can steal, rob, or even rely on what you're best at—gambling】

【You look at Weezing and suddenly get an idea】

Under All Baimu's curious gaze, the gambler arrived at the nearest Rainbow Gym.

A fifty-seven-year-old senior trainer challenging a gym was an absolute hot topic no matter where you went; the staff receiving the gambler kept glancing at him, their brows full of various expressions of incomprehension.

What surprised All Baimu was that the Rainbow Gym leader was an unfamiliar male pixelated sprite.

Where's Erika?

Where's my big Erika!?

【You nervously offer greetings to the gym leader】

All Baimu watched the gambler and that unfamiliar gym leader begin their battle, realizing this story might have taken place a very, very long time ago—at least early enough that Erika hadn't yet become the Rainbow Gym leader.

Following closely.

Something even more jaw-dropping happened.

The gambler's tactical style was practically nonexistent; from start to finish he only gave Weezing one command—

【Fissure】.

In other words, this guy didn't bother with any complicated tactics at all, just like his professional gambler self—he only bet on one move, 【Fissure】.

If it missed, he'd take the hits, even if it meant getting beaten until he lost the ability to fight.

So that's where 【Iron Heart】 comes in... All Baimu was a bit speechless, but could still understand the gambler's thinking. According to what that Team Rocket member said, both the gambler and Weezing were already old, and had no money either.

A normal battle was simply no match for a gym leader; only 【Fissure】 could let him fight with all his might.

Win the gamble.

Then the badge naturally falls into his hands.

And just like the gambler's talent 【Lucky Break】, an outrageously absurd idea paired with gambling determination—he really did use Fissure to take down two of the Rainbow Gym leader's Pokémon.

Since it was the first gym, the gambler who defeated two Pokémon won the final victory.

【You defeated the Rainbow Gym leader and obtained the Rainbow Badge】

"Holy shit... that's impressive..."

All Baimu did feel a bit of admiration for the gambler, but how far could such a tactic carry him?

Pokémon battles in the anime aren't like the games; if he played like this in the game, he might really be able to blast through the entire League.

But facts proved.

There are always one or two absurd people in an absurd world.

Successfully obtaining the Rainbow Badge gave the gambler confidence in challenging the League Conference. He used this to borrow another sum of money from Team Rocket as funds for traveling and expanding his Pokémon team, and set off on his journey.

"How the hell can he still borrow money? Feels like Team Rocket's brains aren't working too well either."

Baimu was running out of places to vent his complaints.

Just luckily stumbling into a badge lets him borrow money—does Team Rocket have so much money they don't know where to spend it?

The gambler's next target was Golden City, located east of Rainbow City. If All Baimu hadn't known the year of the gambler's story, he felt this guy would probably get stuck right here.

When has Sabrina ever been so easy to take down with an 【OHKO】-type move?

Unfortunately, in the era of the simulation, the Golden City gym leader was a karate tough guy who used Fighting-type Pokémon.

【You begin challenging the Golden Gym】

As usual, it was Fissure from start to finish. All Baimu felt that muscle-bound giant of a gym leader on the screen was about to lose his mind, having never faced a trainer like this.

One Fissure to conquer the world!?