Chapter 609: Halftime Break

That afternoon at five o'clock.

The first round of the main tournament has concluded.

After intense best-of-three doubles matches, thirty-two out of the original two hundred fifty-six competitors have advanced to the second round of the main tournament.

The competition has entered a fever pitch.

However, to ensure the Pokémon of the competitors receive proper rest, the event bureau has decided to grant the trainers a day off.

"Just two more matches…"

Baimu stared at the schedule; three years ago, the top thirty-two were part of the championship bracket, but now the championship bracket begins at the top eight, primarily due to the strain of full-team battles—six-on-six.

Not all trainers have raised more than six Pokémon; prolonged full-team battles could impose excessive burdens on the competitors' Pokémon.

Considering the recovery capacity of the Pokémon, the next two rounds will follow a six-select-three format.

But don't be fooled by the reduced number of matches—the intensity hasn't diminished; in fact, the sheer variety within the six-select-three format makes it just as fierce as full-team battles.

"Baimu! Let's go out together tomorrow! Relax a bit!"

Miss Liuqi rushed over, full of excitement.

Baimu glanced back at the listless Pokémon in the room and nodded. "Alright!"

Although most Pokémon haven't yet been called to battle, balance between tension and relaxation matters—even if their bodies aren't worn out, giving them proper mental rest is crucial.

Staying cooped up in the room all day isn't healthy.

Delighted by his affirmative reply, Miss Liuqi left, planning to use this to persuade the hesitant Man Chong, who harbored psychological fears of being dragged to a cross-dressing shop.

Upon hearing Baimu was going too, Man Chong finally agreed—but he seemed to have forgotten who originally started tormenting him.

Inside the room.

Baimu stepped behind the Shiny Haunter and Dragonite Jr., who were playing a fighting game on the computer, watching silently.

One used its chubby paws to jab at the keyboard, eyes wide as lanterns; the other lay half its body across the keyboard, its golden eyes fixed without blinking.

In reality, fingers clacked; on screen, buttons clacked.

Of course.

Playing games doesn't require much intelligence.

He glanced at the air beside him. "Don't you want to play?"

The air fell silent for several seconds, then emitted a low, guttural cry. "Lū tuō~"

Dragonite Jr. said it preferred to watch—it found amusement in observing.

Baimu couldn't see its expression, so he couldn't tell if this was sincere, but many people truly enjoy watching others play games and derive pleasure from it.

Just check if the computer screen suddenly lights up at midnight.

He reached out to stroke Dragonite Jr.'s head; it still hadn't adjusted to this environment and, due to its unfamiliarity with the Shiny Haunter, refused to show itself all day.

Once they return to Oure, this creature will gain a sense of security and belonging from a fixed residence.

It should improve greatly then.

Suddenly.

Happiny rushed in, clutching its phone.

"Happy~"

"A call?"

Baimu saw the caller ID was a string of garbled characters and frowned.

Phone scam?

Hacker?

He turned to the Poliwhirl II, which had quietly followed him; seeing it nod, he pressed answer. "Hello?"

A bright laugh immediately rang out.

"Hahaha Baimu! I watched your match! Poliwhirl II's incredible three-match streak! I knew your talent was real! Poliwhirl II is finally famous!"

"Dr. Akihabara!"

Baimu hadn't expected the man he'd just been thinking about to call him. "Where are you? Why can't anyone reach you?"

Dr. Akihabara: "Me? Well… fine, I'll tell you—I'm inside the data space!"

"Data space? You went after Unit Zero?"

"Exactly! I've found its true form! I'll capture it soon!"

Dr. Akihabara said eagerly.

He'd been chasing Unit Zero since the incident in Zi Jin City—nearly half a year—and now it's fled into the data space again…

Baimu strongly suspected Unit Zero was mocking Dr. Akihabara, deliberately leaving traces just to lure him in.

"Then be careful."

Dr. Akihabara: "Don't worry—I know this place inside out. Nothing'll happen. By the way, did you use the substitute hard drive I gave you?"

Baimu replied: "I did. I've already mastered it. I just felt some cards shouldn't be played too early."

Dr. Akihabara: "I see! I don't understand trainers' battle tactics, but keep pushing yourself! I mailed you a new hard drive—have your Poliwhirl II train with it. You'll be surprised!"

Another new patch?

He glanced at Poliwhirl II, which had been eavesdropping; both felt a surge of excitement—they knew better than anyone how powerful special substitute patches could be.

Dr. Akihabara may not have designed these substitute patches for battle, but there's no denying Poliwhirl II has become immensely stronger with them.

So they looked forward to the new patch with great anticipation.

Happiny watched Poliwhirl II with envy; sometimes, after hard work, you still don't get what you want, and you can't help hoping for a miracle.

Poliwhirl II was lucky.

"Happy~"

And after envy, it began to rejoice at its companions growing stronger, for it meant the Trainer was one step closer to his dream.

Happiny had no dream of its own, but it could guard the Trainer's dream.

Baimu sensed Happiny's emotional shift and gently pinched its curly hair.

"Pari~"

Poliwhirl also tried to share its joy, wriggling its body to rub against that round, plump form.

When it first joined the team, Poliwhirl's most admired Pokémon was Happiny—and it still was. Happiny's soul-deep thoughtfulness and gentleness were things it could never learn.

It respected this senior.

The call continued.

Dr. Akihabara's main purpose in calling was to thank him for the heat he provided Poliwhirl.

With his heat, Poliwhirl finally gained attention from all sides, no longer trapped by some curse that had always blocked its promotion.

Dr. Akihabara had decided: once he captured Unit Zero, he would immediately boost promotion of the Poliwhirl series and try distributing some Poliwhirls to veteran and elite Trainers.

Honestly, he wanted to give them to new Trainers too, but feared they wouldn't understand how to raise them.

Plus, most Trainers were young and easily disrespected by Poliwhirl, causing their Pokémon to disobey.

Baimu strongly agreed.

He hung up the call.

He exhaled in relief—knowing Dr. Akihabara was safe was enough; it spared him the trouble of asking Hu Pa, and he could skip one trip. After winning the tournament, there was still a pile of things to do.

A new hard drive patch… the more he thought about it, the more he looked forward to it.

"By the way, do you want to evolve?"

Baimu looked at Poliwhirl and asked: "You've been this form for months now—interested in evolving into Poliwhirl Z?"

Dr. Akihabara had a safe patch—so far, Unit One had shown no rebellion, suggesting the patch was safe and wouldn't cause Poliwhirl's mind to mutate.

If so, Poliwhirl could begin considering whether to evolve.

For a Pokémon like it, evolution had pros and cons.

From a game perspective, evolution certainly boosted its output and speed, but it might not be as usable as Poliwhirl II.

But from an anime—or real-world—perspective, evolution wasn't just about stat increases; it also granted magical abilities that existed only in game lore but were undeniably real.

Poliwhirl II's smartphone AI assistant perfectly illustrated all this.

Of course.

Whether to evolve was up to Poliwhirl itself.

"Pari…"

Poliwhirl was stunned—it wanted to leave the decision to the Trainer, but knew the Trainer would just pass it back to it.

Should it evolve or not?

It glanced at the Evolution Stone hidden on its body, unable to decide.

I'll think about it after the tournament.

"Pari!"

Poliwhirl looked at the Trainer and decided to focus on the match for now—evolution couldn't happen immediately anyway.

Baimu patted its head and said no more, returning to watch the Shiny Haunter and Dracovish play games.

Three minutes later.

He snatched Dracovish's spot, placing it on his head, and eagerly challenged the chubby Shiny Haunter.

Dracovish, with black circles drawn around its eyes, occasionally shouted encouragement.

Five minutes later.

Gulpin snatched his position, its tiny hands tapping the keyboard, watching its character's health dwindle until anger slowly spread across its face.

Baimu, with a black smudge on his mouth, and the Dracovish siblings watched the keyboard with concern.

Ten minutes later.

Shiny Haunter cheerfully battled Kingdra; on screen, a figure that didn't look quite human was being driven back, Kingdra sweating profusely and panicking, its two side heads frantically tapping keys.

Behind them, Baimu and Dracovish gently comforted Gulpin, whose forehead bore an X drawn in marker, while Dracovish tried persuading it to go back and watch TV.

Fifteen minutes later.

Shiny Haunter rested its claws behind its head, whistling triumphantly while using its foot to operate the keyboard, facing off against Machamp, who slowly jabbed keys like an old veteran.

Baimu sighed heavily, holding Kingdra, which howled in tears; above its neck, trumpet-like fur had been drawn on with a pile of feces.

Dracovish barely held back laughter, "Pfft."

Twenty minutes later.

Shiny Haunter wore the Trainer's sunglasses, munching on snacks brought by Happiny, operating the keyboard with one hand, even without looking at the screen, it leaned forward to sip a drink.

Utterly cool.

Shiny Milotic flicked its tail fin, but it was too wide to reach the keys, so it pouted and sought the Trainer's guidance.

"Miro~"

Baimu had no choice but to hold its tail fin and help press the keys; Dracovish stared in awe.

Behind them, Kingdra cackled as it mocked Machamp, whose face was covered in marker stains—the patterns on its fur had been mostly erased.

Twenty-five minutes later.

Shiny Haunter stared at the unmoving White Stone on the keyboard, then turned its head curiously to look at the Trainer.

Baimu, frustrated, moved the Sunflora aside; behind them, Shiny Milotic, Machamp, Kingdra, and Dracovish were all tangled in chaotic chaos, their faces smeared with doodles.

Twenty-six minutes later.

Shiny Haunter's gaze trailed from the massive tail on the desk out the window—and when it spotted the pitch-black eyes of Steelix, it scratched its head with a claw.

Haunter: "?"

Baimu was outside coaxing Steelix.

Twenty-seven minutes later.

The Shiny Haunter regarded Polygon2 with alarm, but Polygon2 did not dive into the computer—instead, it formed two blocky arms from its angular body and clashed with it.

Baimu and the other Pokémon sat in a row, watching eagerly as this "god-slaying" battle unfolded.

Thirty-five minutes later.

The Shiny Haunter cackled wickedly, pulled out a marker, and wildly scribbled all over Polygon2's face, which had accepted defeat.

Baimu and the other Pokémon stared in utter disbelief.

Forty minutes later.

The Shiny Haunter glanced hesitantly at the Snorlax beside it, whose warm smile made it feel reluctant.

So it extended one tiny claw.

Forty-five minutes later.

Snorlax returned with its face covered in black scribbles, yet its smile remained as kind as ever; Baimu and the other Pokémon were heartbroken.

He cried out: "Can no Pokémon possibly defeat it?!"

The Shiny Haunter stood with arms akimbo, smug: "Hehehehe!"

Like a great demon lord!

Baimu and the other Pokémon suddenly turned their gazes toward Drapion, who had appeared out of nowhere—startled, it instinctively vanished.

But under their relentless, burning stares.

Drapion reappeared, hesitantly.

It glanced at the computer and keyboard, then at the taunting Shiny Haunter, then at its trainer and eager companions.

"... Ruuu!"

Drapion was on the field!

Before the twenty-four-inch screen, the Shiny Haunter and Drapion forcibly squeezed together, locked in fierce combat based on fighting game mechanics!

This was the battle of the strongest Ghost-type Pokémon!

Facing the Shiny Haunter's furious assaults, Drapion calmly blocked punches, kicks, and moves, then launched a counterattack.

Baimu and the other Pokémon cheered wildly: "Ooooooh!!!"

One minute later.

Drapion endured the Shiny Haunter's scribbling torture, gritting its teeth under the silent stares of its trainer and companions.

"Hehehehe—"

The Shiny Haunter laughed wildly.

In this team, it was already invincible (within games only)!

——

Late night.

After a whole night of chaos.

The other Pokémon slept soundly.

But Polygon2 could not sleep.

The upcoming patch disk and the decision of whether to evolve kept it tossing and turning—it never needed much sleep to begin with.

"Pari..."

It let out a soft cry, confirmed that Bonsly and the others were asleep, then quietly slipped out onto the balcony.

The night wind was cold, making it shiver once before adjusting.

The road outside was lit by pale white lights; all was silent, no humans, no wild Pokémon—only the bright moon and scattered white clouds accompanied it.

This quieted Polygon2's restless heart.

Previously, it had never understood why Bonsly found the moon so captivating—it was just an ordinary spherical celestial body; perhaps in the future it could even land on it.

But right now.

Polygon2 clearly felt the strange, involuntary calm that Bonsly experienced when gazing at the moon.

"Pari~"

It gently closed its eyes, letting its body fully absorb the sensation.

Suddenly.

"Good evening."

A mysterious voice sounded beside it.

Polygon2 snapped its eyes open in shock—its detailed database never forgot this unique voice.

——Zero-One!

It turned its head—and there, right before it, was Zero-One, the very one Dr. Qiutian had sworn on the phone that evening to have tracked down.