Chapter 611: Hua Yue

Morning.

He awoke to Baimu's urgent ringing.

He shoved off three large heads pressing on his upper body, reached toward the nightstand, "Huh?"

How did this guy end up sleeping on the nightstand?

He stared blankly at the Galarian Sunflora in his hand, tossed it beside the pillow, reached again, and successfully grabbed his vibrating phone.

The caller ID showed familiar gibberish.

"Dr., good morning."

Baimu got up and stepped off the bed; the surrounding Pokémon slowly stirred at his movement. The Jigglypuff on the sofa, still half-asleep, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Dr. Akihabara: '…Did you run into Unit Zero again?'

"Don't worry, it was its data avatar. But it told me quite a few things—I'd like to verify their authenticity with you."

Baimu sought the doctor's opinion.

Dr. Akihabara hesitated, then agreed.

Thus,

a verification session began—to determine whether Unit Zero had been truthful during their exchange last night.

First question:

Treating being splashed with coffee as an attack, and attempting to imprison Unit Zero.

Dr. Akihabara's tone grew intensely heated upon hearing this.

'Out of context! First, it was scalding hot coffee! Second, it launched a sudden attack out of rage after arguing with me—splashing coffee was just the start; it later tried to manipulate documents on the desk to assault me! And I never intended to imprison it—I only planned to return it to its Poké Ball to calm down!'

Baimu: '…'

What am I listening to? A single-episode synopsis of a family drama?

A rebellious child and a stubborn old father?

Second question:

The purpose behind Unit One's expansion of Multivolt's influence.

Dr. Akihabara countered: 'Forget whether it's achievable—Baimu, do you think this idea—or goal—is wrong?'

'Hmm…'

'I heard people in Alola developed the Rotom Pokédex, and people in Paldea are currently developing the Rotom phone! Rotom refrigerators, Rotom fans, Rotom washing machines—all of these are already commonplace. If this continues, eventually everyone will own a Rotom. If Rotom can do it, why can't Multivolt?'

As Dr. Akihabara said, even in the anime, the penetration rate of Rotom phones was astonishingly high.

'…'

Baimu murmured, "Sorry, Dr. I asked a stupid question."

It clearly just wants to become a smartphone!

'It's not your fault, Baimu. Sometimes I even doubt whether I can achieve it. Every time I go on a show, I face new problems. So seeing so many people discussing Multivolt lately, I'm truly relieved. Unit One is also happy—it's always wished for itself and its companions to be loved.'

As Dr. Akihabara spoke,

he couldn't help glancing at the Poké Ball containing Steelix.

Is it wrong to want to be popular?

Apparently, it isn't.

Third question—and the last one:

Unit Zero's dream of space travel—could the rift between them truly be irreconcilable?

If it truly wants to explore outer space, why cling to it so tightly?

Just be magnanimous.

Having spent so much time with Dr. Akihabara, Baimu had never thought him so domineering, stubborn, and inflexible—instead, he now felt the latter had a slightly goofy side.

After a brief pause,

Dr. Akihabara spoke:

'…Baimu, you must understand that space travel consumes endless resources. While Multivolt-Z does possess some capacity to survive in outer space, actually launching and navigating there isn't something you can achieve by just talking. Even some conglomerates in Kanto might not sustain the resource drain.'

'So you mean…'

'In the past, acquiring money and resources through the data network was easier than you think. I never told you the truth before because I feared you'd impulsively report it to the police—by the time Officer Juniper cleared me, who knows how much time would've passed…'

Dr. Akihabara sighed.

Damn it!

A brat stealing money!

Baimu's vision darkened. "How much did it steal?"

'According to what I know, over two point five billion. It always claims this money is ill-gotten, but I can't verify whether it's true. Even if it were, the money shouldn't be under its control. My greatest hope now is to catch it and return that money to its rightful owners.'

Dr. Akihabara's voice was filled with exhaustion.

Without the delusional Unit Zero, he should now be joyfully welcoming the flood of Multivolt-related traffic online.

But because of this thing's reckless actions, Dr. Akihabara had to clean up its mess.

Out of a sense of responsibility, the doctor chose to enter the data space and track its trail—even though he could've simply let Unit Zero go.

No one would've come after him if no one had caught Unit Zero.

Dr. Akihabara: 'When I first discovered Unit Zero doing this, I lost my temper and argued fiercely with it. Unit Zero destroyed the lab and fled. Looking back now, perhaps it had already planned to leave? After all, our goals were completely different.'

'Then what you told me earlier about the suspicious patch being problematic…'

'That wasn't a lie. The patch Unit Zero developed truly had issues. After studying it, I found it contained many unnecessary components—using it carelessly could inject pre-set personalities into new Multivolt-Z units, turning them into "companions" of Unit Zero in a certain sense.'

Brainwashing?

Baimu knew Dr. Akihabara's Multivolt and Multivolt II were mostly blank slates, barely exposed to outside information—in short, as naive and innocent as the original Multivolt once was.

And once that suspicious patch was accepted, the new Polyvorn Z was like white paper soaked in ink—there was no going back.

He asked again: "I see. Doctor, what were those contents? About the universe, Pokémon rights?"

Professor Leafy said: "Something like that. But one line was specially marked by it—I think I heard it from someone before, though I've forgotten who—'We are rockets flying through the galaxy; white holes, white tomorrows, await us.'"

Baimu: "... Huh?"

Wait, wait, wait.

The Polyvorn stolen by Team Rocket to intercept data-space Poké Balls was...

Unit Zero!

He widened his eyes.

This guy's longing for the universe came from Team Rocket? His sense of rights came from Meowth? Team Rocket was just shouting slogans, after all.

But then, it makes sense why Unit Zero would steal—and keep calling it ill-gotten gains.

Team Rocket's trio calls themselves villains, yet they never believe they're doing anything wrong; they even call it protecting world peace.

Besides, who among Team Rocket's trio—Jessie, James, and Meowth—isn't rebellious?

They work for Team Rocket not just out of admiration for Giovanni, but purely for their own envisioned bright future.

The moment they lose interest in Giovanni and Team Rocket, they'll switch careers.

The first to defect.

When Baimu told Professor Leafy his theory, the latter fell silent for a long time.

"That shouldn't be..."

"We'll just ask when we meet again!"

He couldn't be sure, but the more he thought, the more convinced he became that Team Rocket had influenced Unit Zero—otherwise, why was Unit One perfectly fine while only Unit Zero went mad?

He heard Professor Leafy vent again.

The call ended.

Baimu thought that if this were merely a philosophical dispute between Professor Leafy and Unit Zero—a family quarrel—he had no intention of getting involved.

Each side had its own reasoning; there was no clear end to it.

Now that Unit Zero was stealing money online to build a spaceship, he couldn't just ignore it—he had to at least find the thing's true form and give Professor Leafy a chance to talk to it.

Peaceful resolution would be best.

If not...

He had no idea what to do—forcefully snatch the money back and hand it to Shanren for disposal? That would just add unnecessary work!

"Gn!"

Baimu looked up and saw the two-toned Haunter grinning as it handed him a toothbrush squeezed with toothpaste and a teacup; the aroma of dishes made by the Happiny outside reached his nose, and he smiled.

"Thank you all!"

That's right.

What he should care about most right now was the Caiyou Contest—even if he wanted to repay Professor Leafy's kindness, it had to wait until after the Caiyou Contest.

"Today, let's have a great time! Tomorrow, give it our all in the matches!"

Baimu shouted, looking around at the Pokémon.

The Pokémon all responded enthusiastically.

"Shāsǎng!"

"Gn!"

"Xīyā!" ×2

"Mīgē~"

"Qī—duō!!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Dolls of Gulpin, thrown in furious shouts, rained down like a storm, striking Baimu and the Pokémon squarely on the head.

Baimu clamped his mouth shut, hunched his neck, and slipped away.

The other Pokémon fell silent, daring not to provoke the sleep-deprived Gulpin.

At the door, Bellossom grinned, relieved it hadn't spoken up or entered the room—

Bam!

A Dunsparce doll hit it in the face.

Bellossom: "..."

It stared blankly at Gulpin, who had rolled over and gone back to sleep—why hadn't Gulpin remembered it when it sneakily snacked on treats?

Ten minutes later.

Miss Liuqi arrived with Xiao Guang and others; today they weren't planning to shop in town, but to bring ingredients and find a beautiful place for a picnic.

Coincidentally, Xiao Gang and Xiao Guang hadn't gone camping in a long time and missed it.

"Let's go!"

Baimu carried the scowling Gulpin, two Dratmias on his head, and a group of excited Pokémon howling behind him, marching toward the campsite.

—

Second round of the main tournament.

Best-of-three from six Pokémon per side.

Matches held across five medium-sized arenas within the contest grounds.

Compared to the earlier small arenas, the medium arenas were not only larger but featured special battle environments—

In order: the Grass Arena covered in green grass, the Rock Arena with rocks and gravel, the Water Arena with floating platforms in a large pool, and the Ice Arena made of ice and Bingshan.

In addition, there were five types in total, including flat ordinary terrain.

Which terrain you got was purely luck; if it wasn't suited to your Pokémon, there was no way to protest—the rules of the tournament were just like that.

All Baimu wasn't picky about terrain; he was mainly curious about when he'd run into an "acquaintance."

Among the Top 32, besides Alice and Ilima, there was another Trainer he knew but who didn't know him—

Gao Mei.

A Water-type Pokémon Trainer who had once taken runner-up at the Whirl Islands tournament in the Johto region, and who had defeated Misty, a Water-type Gym Leader, in the Top 16.

He hadn't recalled her at first, but when they ran into each other while camping yesterday, she happened to be exactly the type of older sister that Brock liked.

The latter had run over to curry favor, and only then did he remember there was this female walk-on who had appeared once.

Unfortunately, when the three "acquaintances" were randomized, he didn't run into a single one.

His opponent was a female Trainer with dyed blonde hair that had already faded at the roots, dressed in a tracksuit with flip-flops, her bearing somewhat like a street thug.

"Specializes in Dark-type? And she's actually a little fangirl of Sidney's."

After All Baimu finished reading the information on his phone, he walked out of the Pokémon Center with Chansey and headed straight for the arena.

He had already made his decision.

Arena C.

The scale was fully twice as large, the battlefield also more spacious, making it easier for Pokémon to dodge or carry out more complex maneuvers.

All Baimu had arrived fairly early; the spectator seats were sparsely populated, far from full.

Miss Liuqi and the others had already taken their seats, each holding a milkshake and an overstuffed sandwich in their hands, and she even waved a cup beside her from afar.

"No."

He shook his head and mouthed the word.

This girl, under the strict dietary management of her old butler Sebastian and the talent agency, rarely came into contact with heavy-oil, heavy-sugar foods; now that the old butler wasn't by her side, Miss Liuqi was gradually beginning to let herself go.

All Baimu only reminded her once; seeing her treat it as a thing to be ignored, he waited to watch the show.

Anyway, in a few days when she returned to the Glass Gym, she definitely wouldn't have a good time of it.

He looked away.

He took out a comb and tidied the curls on either side of Chansey's head; for Pokémon, a proper appearance helped boost their confidence.

Indirectly boosting their combat power.

Being too shabby would only make a Pokémon's personality grow timid and shrinking.

"Tch, sissy."

A disdainful voice rang out from not far away.

All Baimu looked over and saw it was clearly his opponent for this match, that somewhat unkempt-looking female Trainer.

"..."

He couldn't be bothered to respond.

Engaging with such deliberate provocation for even one extra line was a waste of time; Lileep's way of handling people was sometimes very reasonable.

And seeing he wasn't firing back, his opponent prepared to say something else.

All Baimu simply ignored her and walked toward the referee with Chansey, whose little face was slightly creased.

Seeing this, his opponent clicked her tongue and didn't dare to chase.

Provocation in private and provocation in front of the referee were not the same situation.

Time passed minute by minute.

Spectators filed in through the four entrances one after another, taking their seats full of anticipation; most of them were looking at the composed All Baimu, looking forward to his performance.

Nine o'clock sharp in the morning.

The second round of the main tournament kicked off.

All Baimu and his opponent arrived at their Trainer seats amid the clamor; between the two of them was a lush Grass terrain.

The commentator's voice came through the broadcast.

"An intense showdown is about to unfold! Next up is the second round of the main tournament, single battle, pick-three-of-six! Currently at Arena C is Trainer All Baimu from Iron Town! Versus Trainer Yamei from Cianwood City!"

Clap clap clap clap—

A wave of applause from the spectator seats.

All Baimu's gaze met Yamei's in the distance; the latter raised an eyebrow, eyes full of provocation, and he acted as if he hadn't seen it.

"Hmph! As expected, only Lord Sidney is a real man!"

Yamei snorted, looking down on this opponent who had participated in Pokémon Contests.

Pokémon Contests?

A real man would never take part in that kind of competition!