Chapter 747: Double-Standard Aesthetics

The single-cell Pokémon's evolution speed was extremely fast.

Not long after the Actor crossed the Fanba Suspension Bridge, this little thing, which seemed to be lodged inside jelly, gained its new form.

【Your single-cell Pokémon has evolved into a double-cell Pokémon】

"Honestly, it's ugly-cute."

Baimu's brow lifted slightly.

The Actor's Pokémon acquisition speed was no slow, and his evolution speed was likewise no slow; right now he was only two members short of a full party.

This kind of highly "efficient" travel had also become the cornerstone of his rapid growth.

【You have returned to Fanba City; the familiar sails have stirred your memories】

The narration let Baimu know that Fanba City was the Actor's hometown, but on him one could hardly see any joy at returning to his native soil.

He stood before a residential building for a long while.

【You have given up on the plan to visit your mother; she has already, like your father, started a new family—you are only an outsider】

The Actor's emotions were just as low as the narration described.

His parents had divorced and each started a new family; at ten years old, he had gone alone to Pokémon Hollywood intending to realize his superstar dream. Who could have imagined that once the child-star identity faded, what awaited him was a fate called box-office poison.

The Actor's life could not be called anything but rocky.

Fortunately, the Actor was about to reach a turning point.

Mm.

Baimu felt the Actor's life was about to reach a turning point.

【You begin challenging the Fanba Gym】

The Actor showed up to challenge the gym, and the Fanba Gym's leader left Baimu very surprised.

"Boss Chrys? The young version?"

He looked at the pixel figure inside, who differed only slightly from the Boss Chrys model, curious whether this person was Boss Chrys in his youth or Boss Chrys's father.

The latter seemed more likely?

The thought was verified, because "Boss Chrys" used a Rock-type Pang Yan Guai.

So the previous generation was a Rock-type gym leader, huh…

The Actor sent out his newly caught double-cell Pokémon; possessing the 【Magic Guard】 ability, it could ignore all damage except direct damage.

In other words, the ongoing sand-scrape of the sandstorm weather was ineffective against it.

Then, the double-cell Pokémon tanked Pang Yan Guai's Rock Slide and Rock Blast, charged in, and used Endeavor to slash the opponent's HP down to its own level.

Although the double-cell Pokémon was thus defeated by Headbutt, it also gave the Mr. Mime that came out afterward the chance to use Psychic to take Pang Yan Guai away directly.

And because the double-cell Pokémon had stalled Pang Yan Guai long enough, the sandstorm weather quickly ended.

Facing the Crustle that Boss Chrys's father sent out, Mr. Mime once again began constructing a maze to trap it inside.

"What patience."

Baimu could not help but marvel at the Actor's obsession with maze tactics; if it were him, he would find it hard to voluntarily do something that dragged out the battle time indefinitely.

After all, the longer time passed, the more chances the opponent would get.

Seeing that Crustle still could not get close to Mr. Mime, Boss Chrys's father decided to go all out.

He first had Crustle shed its massive rocky shell, then ordered it to use Shell Smash to boost Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, and directly used Rock Blast to blast apart the transparent walls blocking the way.

The invisible walls shattered.

Crackle-crackle onomatopoeia kept surfacing across the battle field, just like reading a comic.

However.

When Rock Blast smashed apart the last transparent wall in front of Mr. Mime, the Mr. Mime behind it vanished like a phantom afterimage.

A Substitute?

Baimu's brow lifted—where had Mr. Mime's real body gone?

The narration gave the answer.

【You used the reflective effect of Reflect to successfully mislead the gym leader and Crustle】

Mr. Mime's figure suddenly appeared on the other side of the shattered transparent walls.

Baimu: "…"

Logically, watching the battle from a god's-eye view, he could not possibly have failed to see Mr. Mime—after all, Reflect wasn't aimed at the sky.

But the simulator, for the sake of the show's effect, had stubbornly cloaked Mr. Mime, making him think the Actor had pulled off some big move he didn't understand.

Thanks a lot, simulator.

Still, this move shocked the Fanba gym leader; the Crustle, which had just used Rock Blast and could not move easily, was also killed by Psychic without any chance to resist.

Because Shell Smash had lowered both its physical and special Defense, it was almost impossible for it to withstand Mr. Mime's attack.

The Fanba gym leader's last Pokémon—a massive, burly Onix.

It could clearly render the maze of transparent walls—none much taller than Mr. Mime—useless, but at times like these the Actor tended to like sending out his dance partner.

The Young Lady, who excelled at brute-force smashing.

One could tell the Actor really liked the trope of opponents being controlled by psychic power—otherwise he wouldn't have the Young Lady wrap up every gym challenge.

【You have defeated the Fanba Gym Leader and obtained the Fanba Badge】

The fourth badge was in hand.

At this point, even though the Actor had not deliberately trumpeted himself.

Through the gym leaders' word-of-mouth, and through other challengers who often sat quietly in the audience watching the battles yet were ignored by the Actor chatting among themselves, word gradually spread through the Unova trainer circle that someone like him existed.

Some people began asking around about the Actor, and thus learned of his situation and past.

【You have encountered trainers challenging you, and passersby claiming they love your movies; you know your choice was not wrong】

The screen flashed through scenes of the actor battling others, and of fans asking for his autograph.

Baimu felt an inexplicable sense of relief, and found it all very strange.

Back in the day, four Badges in the Unova region could greatly boost one's fame; now, eight Badges in the Hoenn region barely make a person stand out from the crowd.

Had he not shown his face at the Magnificent Contest earlier, no matter how brilliant his performance at the League Conference, his fame would never have reached its current level.

One could only say today's Gym Challenge is far too insular — if Gym Challenges were run on a grand scale like in the Galar region, the Badges' value would surely return to what they once were—

Of course.

The number of Badges issued at that point would inevitably drop sharply.

Hence, today's Badges carry far less value than before, but it also gives more trainers the chance to obtain one.

【You have left Fanba City】

The actor continued on his planned journey.

In the Electric Stone Cave on Route 6, he was chased and cornered by a large swarm of Galvantula — the reason being that a Joltik that had climbed onto him to absorb static electricity startled him, and he had thrown it off.

【You have never been able to handle Bug-type Pokémon, and the Galvantula's pursuit reminded you of a classic horror film — in which an unidentified spider-like Pokémon lays Pokémon eggs inside a human body】

"Eww~ there are films this messed up in the Pokémon world too?"

Baimu saw this aside and couldn't help but recall some monster movies and gore flicks from his past life.

He pulled out his phone and quickly searched, deciding to watch them with Mawile in a couple of days — the prim Young Lady getting scared out of her wits would definitely be fun.

Haha.

Inside the light screen.

The actor, survivor of that ordeal, arrived safely at Fukuji City, and his Duosion also gained a new evolution during its fierce battle with the Galvantula swarm.

【Your Duosion has evolved into Reuniclus】

Reaching its final form.

The actor's read on its role instantly became clear—

A close-combat Psychic-type Pokémon.

Although it's unclear whether the actor actually knows Reuniclus's Sp. Atk is in fact a bit stronger than its physical attack, he clearly intends to take Reuniclus all the way down this path.

A key aside indicates that Reuniclus itself also loves throwing punches at opponents.

The actor even showed it a boxer's training regimen, letting it learn how to throw punches the boxer's way.

Quite remarkable.

【You have arrived at Fukuji City, the city where flower petals gather on the wind】

Fukuji City's most eye-catching feature is its enormous airport — this was true even in the actor's time.

The actor took his Pokémon around to look around for a bit, then headed straight for the Gym.

【You have challenged the Fukuji Gym Leader】

The Gym Leader was a middle-aged man who called himself a pilot, often helping farmers spray pesticides from the air alongside his Pokémon.

Without a doubt.

His Pokémon, like the future Fukuji Gym Leader Froslass's, was Flying-type.

The difference was that Froslass's signature Pokémon was Altaria, while his signature Pokémon was a male Unfezant, its mask-like crest feathers quite the eye-catcher.

The classic family-bird Pokémon.

Mr. Mime's maze tactics couldn't really trap aerial units before it could enlarge and raise its invisible walls, so its trusty partner Sigilyph stepped in.

Under a gravity field, all Flying-types are equal.

One has to say this move hard-counters any Pokémon that relies on wings for movement — if it can't be broken, even Ho-Oh would have to land obediently.

As a result, the Fukuji Gym became the easiest Gym the actor had fought since leaving home.

He didn't even need Gardevoir to wrap things up — Reuniclus, while swinging Thunder Punch, turned the Swoobat and Mandibuzz into electric-grilled bat and electric-grilled vulture.

【You have defeated the Fukuji Gym Leader and obtained the Fukuji Badge】

After the Gym Challenge ended, the actor asked the Gym Leader if there were any Psychic-type Pokémon nearby, and learned that Swoobat was Psychic-type — but then he recalled what it looked like…

【You politely declined the Gym Leader's kind offer to entrust Swoobat to you, stating that a Pokémon must be caught with one's own hands】

The actor gave it an ugly-reject.

The aside said he could accept Sigilyph and Reuniclus because the former had a special aesthetic appeal tied to ancient mysterious history.

The latter's appearance leaned toward the recently popular sci-fi movie genre — in the future, he might be able to use Reuniclus to land a role; Swoobat, he truly couldn't think of how to fit in.

"It's actually not that ugly, is it."

Baimu grumbled inwardly — his tolerance for Pokémon's appearance was extremely high; he could even find a bright spot in Muk.

And the Fukuji Gym Leader, seeing the actor refuse Swoobat, mentioned that a very special Pokémon had once appeared at the Tower of Heaven—

Elgyem.

【You heard that Elgyem has been spotted at the Tower of Heaven, and without a second word set off for the Tower of Heaven】

Baimu: "Hm?"

Swoobat's ugly, Elgyem isn't?

He couldn't understand the actor's aesthetics.

But Baimu soon learned the reason the actor fancied Elgyem — it lay in what it symbolized.

【You can't wait to find Elgyem, the reason being that an alien movie was a huge hit the year before last, and you believe future alien movies will be both critically acclaimed and commercially successful】

Alien movies…

Elgyem does seem to be considered a Pokémon that arrived on this planet by riding a UFO that crashed into the desert — although no one can confirm this, Baimu felt it was highly plausible.

Isn't Deoxys essentially an "alien"? A humanoid Pokémon born from an alien virus.

【You have arrived at the Tower of Heaven】

Tower of Heaven.

It is a resting place for departed Pokémon in the United Regions, similar to Hoenn's Shenshan and Kanto's Pokémon Tower, and the actors who entered it quickly calmed down from their agitated state.

Based on the clues given to him by Gym Leader Fukiishi, he launched a carpet search and even sent out Sigilyph and Gothitelle, two beings with sharper perception.

The scene shifted.

He didn't know how long had passed — perhaps several days.

Outside the Tower of Heaven, the actor found his target. At the time, he had lit a campfire and decided to keep camping until he found Espurr.

Who would have thought Espurr would take the initiative to appear by the campfire.

Man and Pokémon stared at each other in silence, followed by a frantic chase!

The panicked Espurr tried to teleport away, but was stopped by Gothitelle's Taunt, and then had its other Psychic-type moves sealed by Sigilyph.

In the end, Espurr could only surrender obediently and be caught by the actor.

【You caught Espurr. The alien actor's roster has increased.】

Having obtained Espurr, the actor didn't hesitate, and began teaching Espurr how to act together with Mr. Mime. He was determined to borrow Espurr's power to broaden his acting range.

As they kept acting.

Espurr actually evolved.

【Your Espurr has evolved into Inkay.】

The actor was overjoyed. He believed that Inkay's existence might convince that director who made the alien movie with Espurr to make a sequel.

Inkay could become the protagonist of the second film.

【While you were diligently training Inkay and the other Pokémon, you also felt the many benefits traveling had brought you, and thought you should have set out on a journey long ago.】

With Inkay joining the team, the elated actor set off for the next city.

Very soon.

【You have arrived at Snowflake City. The glittering snow blossoms in the sky are its signature feature.】

Unfortunately, the actor's timing was off, and he couldn't see the snow blossoms.

He headed straight for the Snowflake Gym.

The Gym Leader was an elegant, dignified woman who used Ice-type Pokémon.

The Snow Warning Vanilluxe was just like the Pang Yan Guai he had once encountered in Panba City. The actor didn't hesitate, and sent out Cellar Mannequin directly.

The difference was.

This time he no longer needed to rely on brute-force tactics. Cellar Mannequin was already powerful enough — two swings of Hammer Arm and Vanilluxe was smoothly defeated.

Cellar Mannequin, determined to walk the physical-attack path to the very end, showed no sign of holding the team back.

The second Pokémon, Beartic, took the field.

Cellar Mannequin fearlessly went up to clash with this massive white bear that stood over two meters tall on its hind legs. Unfortunately, Hammer Arm's speed-lowering side effect caused its punching speed to drop, and its mobility dropped along with it.

It fell beneath Beartic's Icicle Crash.

Cellar Mannequin lost, and the one to replace it was undoubtedly Mr. Mime.

Only this time the actor no longer used the maze tactic — the transparent walls changed from a large maze into a "box" that restricted Beartic's movement.

At the same time, he returned to the original control and wall-striking strategy.

It had to be said, this routine was just as effective as the maze tactic. On top of that, Mr. Mime had newly learned the Reinforcement technique — combining multiple layers of transparent walls together, making them as tough as double-sided bulletproof glass.

Greatly increasing the hardness of the transparent walls.

Beartic was firmly trapped inside the "box" unable to move, like a circus polar bear.

As for the Snowflake Gym Leader's third Pokémon, Cryogonal, it fell beneath Gothitelle's Psybeam — the latter's psychic power could now "warp" space when in use.

That is, the Reflecting Starry Sky described in the Pokédex.

【You have defeated the Snowflake Gym Leader and obtained the Snowflake Badge.】