Chapter 708: Spiritual Affinity

Arena.

The number of people was indeed four or five fewer than yesterday.

Baimu carefully checked and found that those who didn't come were all the ones planning to travel; everyone truly intent on learning from him was still here.

Crucially, the few he had high hopes for also didn't leave.

That's enough.

"Everyone! Before this afternoon's lesson begins, I have an important announcement!" he called out loudly, gathering the scattered crowd.

Otsuka and the others rushed forward eagerly, while the rest looked at them with complex expressions.

Baimu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Fought?"

"Fought!"

Otsuka grinned and nodded. "We lost only once! Won all the rest!"

The one who lost only sneered, as if silently complaining.

So they really did fight…

Baimu wasn't surprised that the arena trainers had challenged Otsuka and the others to Pokémon battles; after all, these guys always acted like—"Everything you're playing is just what we've already moved on from"—an attitude that infuriated everyone.

With no way to beat them up, challenging them to Pokémon battles became one of the few ways to vent their frustration.

Did Did Yin Ma was clearly also resentful—he was one of those who got bitten on the butt most often by the Maned Werewolves yesterday.

Yet they only lost once.

He looked at the arena trainers gathering around, feeling surprised.

As if having heard Otsuka's boastful account, many instinctively turned their heads away, avoiding eye contact; Did Did Yin Ma kept his head lowered the entire time.

Baimu didn't let him off the hook: "You lost too?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah…"

Did Did Yin Ma instinctively looked up, glanced around nervously, then scratched his cheek. "Something like that."

What does "something like that" mean?

You think Otsuka and the others are your underlings, and losing to them is especially humiliating, right?

He smiled, didn't press Did Did Yin Ma further, and scanned everyone before speaking loudly: "This morning I went to Silica City. There, I met Master Bartholos of Battle Mountain and Arena Director Masayoshi."

"As Mr. Kendall said yesterday, why don't I challenge these powerful trainers if I'm so strong? So I did."

"Hahaha—"

The crowd burst into good-natured laughter; the bald giant Kendall shook his head with a bitter smile—his outburst yesterday would surely become a major stain on his life.

"The result? Master Bartholos was simply too popular—too many challengers, and I couldn't get a chance. But I did successfully battle Director Masayoshi—and won! It also showed me that trainers from Oure are no weaker than those from outside!"

Seeing the varied expressions on their faces, Baimu added: "To make you all truly understand this, next week Director Masayoshi will bring members from Silica City Arena and the Trainer Training Center to Huang Tie Village for an exchange battle. Not just me—you'll all be fighting them!"

As soon as he finished, the trainers erupted in shock.

Silica City trainers coming to Huang Tie Village for an exchange battle? That had never even been imaginable before.

Could they win?

Unlikely!

"Don't panic—it's just Pokémon battles. My only requirement for you: if you win, win; if you lose, understand exactly why you lost! If you don't want Silica City trainers to look down on you, work your asses off this week!"

Baimu dropped that line, then waved toward the outside.

Several Maned Werewolves dragged in a large cart full of folding tables, chairs, and several machines.

The arena trainers instantly clutched their buttocks at the sight of the Maned Werewolves; others wore strange expressions; Did Did Yin Ma quietly slipped to the very back, hoping to avoid being called.

"Relax—this afternoon we're studying theory, no competitions—"

Baimu grinned, his white teeth sending a chill through everyone; even Lady Ayana looked uneasy: "But I need to quiz you on how much you remember from yesterday's battle material."

Demon!

This demon!

The crowd trembled; in that moment, the arena felt like a middle or high school classroom—every head sank down, terrified of being called on.

He pointed at the sneaky Did Did Yin Ma and smiled: "Did Did Yin Ma, why don't you set an example first?"

"Why me again?!"

Did Did Yin Ma looked up, utterly aggrieved—you can't keep picking on one single Woolly Braid Sheep!

Baimu said sternly: "Because you're the former arena director of the Underground Arena! Did Did Yin Ma, a trainer must always dare to step forward—especially when it comes to Pokémon knowledge, the most fundamental of fundamentals!

What's the point of your travels? Isn't it to become stronger? Or are you planning to leave next week and skip the Silica City exchange?"

Did Did Yin Ma clenched his teeth but found no retort, muttering bitterly: "Fine, I'll go up. You've said everything already…"

He shuffled forward, grumbling.

Interestingly, though he wore the face of a man facing execution, when Baimu began quizzing him on Pokémon knowledge, he answered without hesitation, one after another.

"Good. You passed."

Baimu nodded as Did Did Yin Ma stood frozen in shock.

Did Did Yin Ma asked incredulously: "That's it?"

"That's it? Want to try another round?" Baimu raised an eyebrow.

"No no no, this is fine!"

The young man immediately grinned and backed away, his face still tinged with lingering fear: "It really was just questions from yesterday…"

He'd thought Baimu was going to pick on him again.

Seeing this, the arena trainers all exhaled in unison—it seemed the Rainbow Team leader had no intention of tormenting them further.

Honestly.

After returning home last night, they'd discussed it and unanimously agreed that yesterday's chase-and-run "game" stemmed from Baimu's dissatisfaction with them.

They had indeed been insufficiently respectful toward Baimu at the start, and so this tribulation came to pass.

"The pop quiz continues."

Baimu didn't waste any time, continuing to call people up to answer questions.

In the end, out of the twenty people, only one failed to pass, and he got his wish — chased for two full laps by the eager Maned Rock Wolf leader.

The howls of misery left the onlookers with lingering dread.

Baimu shouted without mercy: "Endure it! What is this little bit of pain? In real battle, the Maned Rock Wolves will only bite your Pokémon even harder! Your Pokémon will hurt even more than you! How can a trainer who cannot empathize fully understand a Pokémon's situation and command them?"

The people of Iron Town have a fear of Pokémon carved into their very bones, because people frequently die beneath Pokémon's fangs and claws.

Yet wild Pokémon out in the world cannot casually take a life — at most they'll give an adventuring trainer a good beating — which is why most trainers develop a reckless, fearless streak.

It's like how many of our countrymen, even upon hearing gunfire, can't resist rushing over to join the excitement; whereas foreigners, where guns aren't banned, generally just want to run as fast as possible, terrified of being hit by a stray bullet.

The pop quiz period ended.

Baimu began giving the arena trainers a formal lesson — theory and practice.

He had studied common trainer courses online, and also watched the public lectures from the Orange Academy in the Padia region, and had summarized a set of teaching content suited for the illiterates of Iron Town.

"Literacy is important — don't forget to go to the literacy class. I'll be checking on that too."

That one sentence shattered the wishful-thinking mindset of quite a few people.

Afternoon.

Only two hours of class.

The remaining time Baimu left for himself.

He still needed to push his team as a whole toward Champion level — he couldn't afford to neglect himself for the sake of the arena, especially since the Ole region hid many a dragon and crouching tiger—

That's right.

There exist beings even more formidable than Batrass.

For instance, the Ole region's previous two generations' protagonists — the Dragon-Tamer and Leo — each of whom single-handedly dismantled the Shadow Teams of the first and second generations, and who had also climbed Battle Mountain to win a hundred consecutive matches against Batrass.

In other words, they were on the level of a game's main character.

Besides those two, there was also the legendary trainer living in seclusion in Agate Village — Logan.

And the legendary trainers who frequented the Ole Arena, the former and the former-former Battle Masters — Wuyin and Wuxian.

These few were trainers Baimu knew; there were also many he didn't know, all sent over one by one by Zhengyi via Pokéline.

The depth of Ole's foundation was far richer than he had previously imagined.

And given the chance, he would challenge each and every one of them!

"Come on! Training time!"

Baimu released all his Pokémon, and under the curious and expectant gazes of the arena trainers, began his daily practice.

However.

At first, everyone found it quite novel watching some of the Pokémon's attacks, but as time wore on, they grew a bit bored.

Because Baimu's training of his Pokémon was like a tape played back and forth, frantically repeating a single move.

The internal sparring could hardly be called exciting either — could this method of fighting, where you hit me once and I hit you once, really improve one's strength?

Far too dull and tasteless!

Even many of those who had been prepared to settle down and learn from Baimu were now a bit sick of watching, and drifted off to do their own things.

Of course, there were also no few who agreed with this method.

All in all, the remaining afternoon time was spent entirely in practice.

——

Passing by the construction site in the evening.

Baimu could faintly see a few Ghost-type Pokémon moving about inside — clearly sent by N.

He hoped they could be as reliable as Dragapult.

"Pang Yan Guai…"

The Pang Yan Guai soul that Luvdisc had imprisoned was, as per Furong's instructions, sealed into a clay pot that had been soaked with Growlithe's saliva.

To be honest.

He couldn't understand why Growlithe's saliva could seal Pang Yan Guai's soul.

If you said it was Lucario's saliva, he'd feel there was some sense to it.

After all, in the anime, Pang Yan Guai was sealed by someone using the power of Aura, and the original source of Aura comes from Lucario.

One can only say this stuff, like Pokémon wizards, belongs to knowledge outside the grasp of normal people.

Additionally.

Why on earth does Dragapult understand the spirit world so well? Gengar and Luvdisc, the other two Ghost-type Pokémon, are completely clueless about it.

Just how old is it?

Baimu felt that one day he should go visit the place where it had lived before, to see just what kind of soil could produce this socially awkward dragon.

He returned to the villa and rested briefly.

He once again drove toward the mountain range, planning to spend the night there.

The wilderness was indeed more suitable for most Pokémon than the city — last night he had already noticed that not only Steelix, but Gengar and the other Pokémon also liked staying in open spaces.

Hydreigon, on the surface, acted as if it was sticking with its trainer without wavering, and that it didn't matter where it lived — but in truth, it wanted both its trainer and the wilderness.

What could he do?

Of course, he camped out in the wilderness — consider it getting used to the living environment in advance.

Baimu set up his tent and gazed around, his gaze shifting to the lower right corner: "It's time again for that thrilling moment of simulation."

Last time, through exchange, he'd turned a single blue talent into a double-blue talent start — could an orange one appear this time?

Or was it still a single blue talent?

Was he going to swap again? Would it disrupt the original order of pulling orange? If an orange talent appeared and he added a blue one, would the result be even better?

Thinking of so many possibilities, Baimu sat down impatiently on a rock, spread open the book, and tapped open the simulator.

On the exchange interface, he silently tapped Talent Exchange.

Ding!

【Exchange Failed!】

Failed—

Ah, Talent Exchange can only swap a fixed talent for blue; does failure mean the fixed talent is already blue or orange?

Baimu couldn't wait to tap open the simulation.

【Choose Your Birth Region ▽】

The last round was the Hoenn region; this round, the Sinnoh region.

【Choose Your Gender ▽】

Female.

【Choose Your Pokémon ▽】

Gastly?

He looked at this Pokémon with a bit of surprise; trainers in the world who took a Ghost-type Pokémon like Gastly as their first partner weren't common…

Could it be related to what happened today?

Although past simulators had never given simulations based on real-life situations, thinking carefully, most of the content the simulator gave him he could use very soon, and a few could even benefit him for life.

What a coincidence!

Baimu tapped open the talent options expectantly.

Fixed Talent:

【☆ Supernatural Physique (Easily attracts Ghosts)】

Optional Talents:

【Sickly (Health condition not optimistic)】

【Clumsy (Pokémon health management rough)】

【Sentimental (Mental state easily shaken)】

【Elite System (Won't catch too many Pokémon)】

It was actually a single-blue simulation!

He was a bit regretful that he hadn't managed to pull an orange talent, but this blue talent—Supernatural Physique? Don't tell him the simulation content was related to the Spirit World.

Baimu recalled that the first time Spirit World-related content appeared in the anime was when Ash was traveling through the Sinnoh region.

Optional talents…

One worse than the last.

He looked at the first three talents, considered, and decided to choose Sickly.

Although Clumsy might be slightly better, just how sickly was Sickly—who knew? What if it was just the kind that meant frequent coughing and colds?

One of these two affects himself, the other affects Pokémon; Baimu chose the one that affected himself.

If the trainer has a minor illness, the Pokémon might still have a chance to break out; if the Pokémon itself can't do it, there's nothing to fight with at all.

Let's start the simulation!

At worst it's just an ordinary blue simulation, the best outcome is only runner-up—focus on watching the storyline!

Baimu adjusted his sitting posture and pressed the start button.

【Simulation Start】

The familiar light screen unfolded.

The first thing to catch the eye was a small room resembling a sanatorium ward; a pixelated little girl was lying on the hospital bed, turning her head to look at the bright moon outside the window.