Chapter 662: Resonance Harvest

Shi Yuan Zhi.

Dragon-type Master of the Faron Region, leader of the Four Kings.

Legendary captain of the Pokémon world, an unyielding conqueror of the seas.

This legendary figure, whom Shan Ren had heard of during his overseas studies, had just lost to his friend—a new trainer who had been traveling for less than a year!

What has happened to the world?

Is there no justice left?

Who in their right mind goes out for a year and defeats a King?

Thinking of his many attempts at regional League tournaments, all of which had failed to earn him even a runner-up title, despair flooded Shan Ren's office.

Baimu felt wronged—he had defeated Shi Yuan Zhi by pure skill, so why was he called a non-human?

He didn't even grow an extra arm or leg!

"Why are you even cursing? Too much overtime? Too much stress?"

Shan Ren replied indignantly: "Cursing? I want to hit you! Wait—no, I'll wait for you to come back!"

"... Should we post the video?"

Baimu glanced at the screen with the weary gaze of an old man on the subway, confirmed he hadn't made a mistake, and thought this kid must really be overworked.

Shan Ren sneered: "Post it! Of course we post it—but not now. Wait until the Champion League ends, then post it. Let's crush the arrogance of those doubting the legitimacy of Orai's future Champion!"

Case solved.

Too much overtime, plus negative emotions stirred by external public opinion.

"Alright, I'll get Shi Yuan Zhi's permission and send it to you... Don't overwork yourself. Rest when you need to," Baimu said softly.

Shan Ren gave a few vague replies and hung up.

"Baimu~"

A trembling voice came from nearby; Lián Zuò's round, bulky figure wobbled toward him, with Shi Yuan Zhi walking behind, hands in his pockets.

No doubt about it.

Shi Yuan Zhi didn't care at all whether his defeat video was made public—he'd spent years drifting on the sea and didn't even understand the internet; he learned all news from his crew.

More than his own reputation or public opinion, he worried about Baimu being affected by the rumors Lián Zuò had mentioned.

That's why he followed along.

When he realized Baimu also didn't care—that posting the video was mainly to shift public perception of the Orai League—he felt reassured.

"Rest early with your Pokémon. Recovery is a vital part of strengthening."

He lightly patted Baimu's shoulder and turned away.

After Shi Yuan Zhi left, Lián Zuò let out a heavy sigh, his face tense: "Shi Yuan Zhi's aura is just too overwhelming. You're amazing—you can talk to him so smoothly."

"I'm also curious what you're all so afraid of. The old man is so kind and approachable."

Baimu shook his head and walked with Lián Zuò, whose eyes twitched in silent agony, toward Peng Peng's house.

The video was filmed by Peng Peng's sister and edited by her too; Zhen Ya and the others were now waiting for Lián Zuò to bring back good news.

Come to think of it.

Why was Lián Zuò out here alone?

In response to Baimu's question, Lián Zuò grimly admitted he'd lost at fighting games to someone else, forcing him to come find Baimu—who he assumed would be with Shi Yuan Zhi.

Baimu: "... A bunch of people."

Although Lián Zuò was a fatty and Peng Peng looked like a buttery male lead, they were at least high-school-aged. Zhen Ya, with his full beard, could easily pass for thirty.

Why were they still so scared of Shi Yuan Zhi?

He shook his head, planning to thank them, chat a bit, then leave.

He hadn't expected that once inside Peng Peng's house, he wouldn't leave until four hours later.

They'd dragged him along, refusing to let him go, insisting he play games with them—Baimu was terrible at games; when he'd stayed in Liuxing Village, Zhen Ya and the others often called him over to Peng Peng's house to play, only to get utterly crushed.

These guys, who couldn't beat Baimu in battles, loved using cheap tricks to salvage their dignity after losing every single match.

But.

Baimu was no longer the same man.

In his possession, besides the Poliwhirl II banned from competition by Zhen Ya and the others, was a new powerhouse—

Shiny Haunter!

"How could a mere Haunter be better at gaming than us 'professional' gamers?"

Zhen Ya and the others scoffed.

Three minutes later.

Zhen Ya typed GG.

Another three minutes.

Lián Zuò typed GG.

Another three minutes...

In short, after Haunter utterly dominated them in fighting games, racing games, and MOBA games—even Peng Peng, crowned the Liuxing Village Game King, suffered a crushing defeat—

It was officially crowned their gaming elder, and everyone dared not refuse to serve tea or fetch water.

"I think Haunter should go pro!"

Peng Peng privately suggested to Baimu: "Pokémon eSports League—search it online. All Pokémon compete, and the prize money is huge!"

It was clear Peng Peng was fascinated by becoming a professional eSports player, but he knew his own skill only made him king of Liuxing Village.

Haunter, however, could crush human gamers—perhaps it could do great things in the Pokémon gaming world too.

Baimu found it interesting, searched the Pokémon eSports League, got a rough idea, and nodded: "I'll ask."

Then.

"Hn!"

Haunter firmly shook its head and refused.

It had no esports dreams—gaming was just a way to pass the time; it preferred having its trainer play with it over entering any tournament.

Besides, entering gaming tournaments wasted too much time—it would rather train more, learn two new moves, and boost its strength.

To keep up with the others.

Baimu groaned in despair, "How can you be such a Pokémon with zero ambition!"

He'd thought he'd finally found something Haunter would love, and rushed over excitedly to ask.

"Hn?"

Haunter looked confused, turned its head, and silently asked Poliwhirl II whether it should accept—the trainer seemed angry.

Poliwhirl II shook its head, signaling not to worry; the trainer had been finding non-battle activities for everyone for ages—just stay true to yourself.

Haunter finally relaxed.

——

The next day.

Baimu took the Shiny Milotic, Garchomp, Dracovish, and the Dracovish siblings to the Dragon's Gate Waterfall and the Dragon's Nest, bidding farewell to these familiar places from his memories.

Next time might not come for a long while.

For Milotic, the Dragon's Gate Waterfall was an incredibly beautiful place—it had once strengthened its resolve, helping its insecure self climb to the peak and achieve perfect evolution.

In the future, whenever it met a Pokémon needing belief, it would definitely recommend they try the Dragon's Gate Waterfall!

Oh!

Dracovish could be the one!

Seeing Milotic's bright eyes and serious expression, Baimu couldn't bring himself to crush this fool—climbing the Dragon's Gate Waterfall was merely one way to gain confidence; why travel ten thousand miles to Meteor Falls for it?

There were countless suitable training grounds in the world.

Besides, Dracovish's problem couldn't be solved by one climb—it was the type that spent all day idle, overthinking, and driving itself into depression.

Like many people who precisely at midnight opened NetEase Cloud Music.

He gently stroked Milotic's smooth skin, thinking it was better to be a fool—the smarter you were, the more you thought, and the more you thought, the more likely you were to dig yourself into a corner.

If Poliwhirl II didn't have Zero as that pig… jewel before it, it probably needed therapy often too.

Baimu still remembered when they went to Zi Jin City, how it had been obsessed with hating Rotom.

Now, that never happened anymore.

The Dragon's Nest.

Milotic was, as usual, warmly welcomed by all the Dragons—being a Dragon-type Pokémon from the Egg Group, it almost perfectly matched the aesthetic of every male Dragon Pokémon—

No.

Even female Dragon Pokémon liked it!

Baimu sharply noticed that several Sharpedo had no notches on their dorsal fins, and some Flygon had noticeably softer faces than males.

As a result, Garchomp, once the Dragon's Nest's little tyrant who had dominated the youth tier and terrified both adults and juveniles, was now ignored by the Dragons.

"Saaah!"

Garchomp responded with a cold sneer, then ran off to find the older Dragons it had once lost to, seeking revenge.

I've been looking at you all wrong for ages!

Old Biden!

The result? The awakened elder Dragon Pokémon banded together and beat it senseless—three heads against seventeen or eighteen claws, pinned to the ground, howling like a Husky stuck between fence bars.

After all, the elder Dragon Pokémon in the Dragon's Nest all came from past Meteor Tribe Dragon Tamers, each of them formidable in strength.

By the way.

Baimu was also very popular—not only because he was a "money-spending" child who always brought delicious food to feed everyone, but also because of the strong Dragon scent clinging to him.

Dracovish, as usual, was nowhere to be seen—it had discovered the Dragon's Nest had many female Dracovish, and was terrified the trainer would find ten of them to take turns interrogating it.

The Dracovish siblings, however, had never been to a place so packed with Dragon Pokémon; at first they were scared, but once they realized no Dragon had hostile intent, they gradually loosened up and ran wild everywhere.

The Dragon's Nest hadn't seen such energetic young Dragon Pokémon in a long time, so most of them were very tolerant.

They could even use the chance to blackmail Baimu for snacks.

"They're practically a gang of bandits—where's the dignity of the Dragon race?"

Baimu helplessly watched the Dragons before him, who nearly wanted to bite his hands off—especially one Sharpedo, which had been meticulously licking his hands for ages, leaving no crumb unclaimed.

He turned to look at Milotic, worried some shameless Dragon might kidnap it back to the nest to lay Dragon eggs—but so far, no Dragon had been that brazen; they were still in the stage of competing for its favor.

Hmm.

They're about to fight.

Beauty brings disaster…

As the trainer of this disaster, Baimu felt no guilt for causing chaos in the Dragon's Nest; he turned to watch Garchomp, still getting beaten, wondering how many days it would take for it to rise again.

He remembered how Garchomp, long ago, had also been too arrogant and provoked a beating—later, it learned to ambush, and became the undefeated champion of youth, adult, and juvenile tiers.

It had been away too long and forgotten how it had won back then.

Needs improvement.

Baimu nodded, found the Dracovish siblings playing in the water, and began looking for battle opponents for Dracovish—the Dragons here generally still preferred one-on-one fights.

But Garchomp was too proud, too good at provoking others, which is why it got beaten so often.

Dracovish, realizing the trainer's plan, immediately appeared to stop him—most Dragon-type Pokémon felt at home in the Dragon's Nest, but it just wanted to return to its Poké Ball as soon as possible.

Too many Dragons. Socially anxious.

Baimu didn't like forcing his Pokémon—destroying a Pokémon's nature was never what he wanted to see, but he had no choice with Dracovish.

Since it began isolating itself yesterday, its appetite had dropped to two-thirds of normal, which Baimu considered a serious matter.

In the short term, this might not affect Dracovish much.

In the long term, it would severely hinder its progress.

How can it improve if it doesn't eat enough?

So today's trip to the Dragon's Nest was to help it regain that fragile, easily lost confidence.

However.

They hadn't found an opponent yet.

Garchomp suddenly clashed with Shi Yuan Zhi's Sandile.

The latter was also a regular at the Dragon's Nest, having flown in specifically to honor last night's promise—to make Garchomp know who was the real boss.

"If fighting turns into friendship, that's hilarious."

Baimu shook his head, then successfully found a young Dragonite and asked it to battle Dracovish.

Dragonite initially refused, too busy courting Milotic—until it noticed Milotic cuddling up to Baimu, then belatedly realized their relationship and hurriedly agreed.

The lure of beauty was terrifyingly powerful.

Baimu deeply understood just how great an advantage good looks could bring.

The outcome was as expected.

Dragonite was no match for Dracovish; its famed speed—capable of circling the globe in sixteen hours—couldn't even touch Dracovish's dragon shadow.

"Ow?"

The thoroughly outmaneuvered Dragonite looked bewildered.

Baimu praised Dracovish and the two little Dracovishes, then used Milotic's beauty to find two more similar opponents—all ended in victory.

Dracovish gradually regained a sliver of confidence through dominating weaker foes, and its appetite returned.

But Baimu knew this confidence wouldn't last long.

In the future, they would face more monstrous Pokémon; Shi Yuan Zhi's hexagonal Pokémon was only the beginning—how could they ever send Dracovish to the Eight Masters Tournament if they kept relying on this?

Too wasteful of Pokémon.

On the other side.

The battle between Sandile and Garchomp ended with Garchomp's victory.

Though Garchomp was once again beaten down by a mob for being too arrogant, Sandile's defeat was an undeniable fact, leaving it lying on the ground with its rear in the air, questioning its very existence—and soon slipping back into self-isolation.

Something's off.

The script's broken!

Even if it didn't beat Garchomp, shouldn't it have been a mutual destruction? How did it get knocked out so easily?

—Baimu fully understood Sandile's mood right now.

He also felt that after yesterday's resonance, Garchomp seemed stronger—and every attack, every roar stirred something in him.

The most direct proof: just now, while watching Dracovish's battle, he kept seeing flashes of Garchomp's fight in his mind.

"Once a resonance bond forms, the world becomes different."

Recalling Shi Yuan Zhi's explanation of resonance yesterday, and his advice to explore it himself, Baimu fell into deep thought.

He felt this wasn't his first resonance.

Back when Bagon evolved, and when he battled Mi Ke Li's Mega Swampert—it must have resonated then.

No wonder this guy had always been much stronger than the other Pokémon in his team.

Baimu nodded silently.

He then began anticipating the next Pokémon to resonate with him—perhaps Chatot or Happiny.

One had a Mega Evolution, likely easier to trigger; the other had been with him since early on and had even undergone spiritual growth, curing its 【Inability to Attack】.

Two days passed.

Shi Yuan Zhi's crew arrived at Meteor Village, reporting that the old man's ship, moored at the Canaaz Port, had been fully resupplied and repaired, ready to sail at any moment.

Baimu bid farewell to the Dragon Elder and others, then departed with Shi Yuan Zhi.

Next stop.

Celadon City's Champion League.