Chapter 750: A New Journey

Five plus seven, totaling twelve levels.

Currently, Bonsly is level seventy-seven, just one level away from using the level reward to instantly reach level ninety.

"Just one level short…"

Baimu's excited expression quickly cooled.

He rarely expressed emotions so openly, even in front of his own Pokémon, but occasionally his inner joy would make him unusually lively.

After all, there was no one around who needed him to maintain an image.

Bonsly had been stuck at level seventy-seven for a month; it would surely reach level seventy-eight within a week at the shortest, a month at the longest.

Then, feeding it the level reward would yield a powerful level-ninety Pokémon.

"Almost there, almost there."

Baimu jumped off the face of Salamence, found Bonsly tending flowers alongside the Shiny Milotic, and patted its steel arm with solemn encouragement, "Big Monster, keep pushing!"

Bonsly: "?"

What had it done? It hadn't done anything, had it?

But Baimu paid it no further attention; his gaze fell on another reward that thrilled him—

【Clue to a Legendary Pokémon】.

Unlike the previous clue reward, this one mentioned "can obtain"—meaning there was a high probability he could acquire a Legendary Pokémon as a partner.

However, the suffix specifying "six hundred Base Stats or below" ruled out most cover gods, limiting the range to the Three Sacred Birds, the Phoenix Guard, the Statues, and the like.

Ultra Beasts? Mythical Pokémon?

These did not belong to the Legendary Pokémon category; Baimu remembered the previous Base Stats selection clue reward had clearly distinguished all three.

I really want to use it.

Baimu stared eagerly at this clue; he had already decided to wrap up everything tomorrow and set out again the day after.

Wouldn't now be the perfect time to use it?

He was about to press down when he suddenly remembered the ancient tombs of Hoenn and the Choice Ruins of Galar—the former very likely held Lei Ji, the latter definitely held Lei Ji and Lei Ji.

If the clue pointed to them, wouldn't he be severely disadvantaged?

Even though the difficulty of obtaining Orange Talents had decreased, he still didn't want to waste such a valuable clue.

Better to use another one instead.

Baimu's gaze shifted to the Legendary clue he had obtained long ago—this one lacked the "can obtain" wording, suggesting it would be very hard to capture the Legendary Pokémon it pointed to.

If it happened to lead to the ancient tombs or Choice Ruins, he wouldn't mind so much.

Because so far, he didn't know whether opening the ancient tombs followed the game's procedure, though he did know how to open the Choice Ruins—it required all three Statues to gather.

If it pointed to the ancient tombs, it might even help him figure out how to open them.

"You it is."

Baimu decided to use this clue after wrapping up tomorrow.

He wasn't using it now because he feared it might require specific timing or location, like the time he encountered Dracovish.

He transferred the skill 【Psychic】 to the only Pokémon left in his team that could learn Psychic but hadn't yet—Galarian Solrock—and glanced at the two Memory rewards in the fixed rewards.

"Acting… constructing a maze with barriers… both are terrible picks."

Baimu shook his head and sighed.

He could already glimpse a third of the actor's skill from online reviews; the memory for constructing a maze with barriers was even worse…

Not every Pokémon can create a maze using the move Barrier; Mr. Mime can because it's an innate ability, like Gulpin's big jaw or Salamence's three heads.

How to learn it?

Capturing a Mr. Mime could solve it, but it wasn't worth the trouble for such a minor gain.

Baimu shut off the simulator, pulled out his phone, and began searching for movies: "I want to see just how bad the actor's performance really is to get this much criticism."

Normally, by this actor's age, he should be respectfully called a veteran, shouldn't he?

He first searched for the sci-fi movie featuring Dugtrio and Metagross, then the musical with barely decent reviews.

"Time to watch a movie!"

Baimu curled up inside the tent, propped against the simple foldable bed, and called out.

Instantly.

The Pokémon, previously idle, quickly gathered toward the tent.

Gulpin immediately settled into Baimu's lap, its bright eyes brimming with anticipation—this was usually its designated seat.

"Hehehehe~"

The Shiny Haunter arrived on the right, sitting neatly and properly.

The Dracovish siblings each claimed one shoulder, chattering "Hiiya hiiya" nonstop; Baimu once feared it would deafen him, but now he was used to it.

Dracovish silently lurked behind, its tail brushing his back occasionally, signaling its presence.

To prevent the Trainer from collapsing backward again, nearly crushing it as he had several times before.

Salamence lay sprawled on the floor covered with soft pads; its size was simply too large, or else Baimu and the other Pokémon couldn't see.

Happiny arrived a few steps late, carrying two large buckets of popcorn and drinks, and sat down on the vacant left side.

"Happy~"

"Thank you."

Sandwiched between two round "fatties," Baimu took the popcorn and drinks, happily stroking Happiny's head.

Big Egg was always so thoughtful.

Finally, Poliwhirl slipped into the phone, connecting it to the projector he'd bought recently; after turning off the tent lights, the screen clearly displayed the movie about to begin.

After all this fuss, the daily movie-watching group was finally complete.

The remaining Pokémon basically had no interest in the movie — for instance, the Sunflora that, realizing they were about to watch a film, immediately rolled itself onto the cushion in the corner.

The old farmer Aggron who only cared about his crops, his little follower the shiny Milotic, and the Steelix that had fallen asleep long ago.

"Let's start!"

All Baimu pressed play, and the familiar Unova film production company logo and music sounded.

For the first one he chose a musical.

Ten minutes later.

Hydreigon declared itself asleep; its light snoring made Dragapult Mesprit siblings and Gengar yawn too.

Twenty minutes later.

The viewing audience was basically declared wiped out — only All Baimu, Porygon2, and Champion Rongrong were toughing it out; even Dragapult Barudo had fallen asleep on the folding bed.

Two hours later.

"Happy~happy!"

All Baimu, who had been sleeping soundly, was shaken awake by Champion Rongrong. He quickly came to his senses and said: "It's over? Finally over. What did you think, Champion Rongrong? You also thought… uh, why are you crying?"

He stared in shock at the crystal-clear tears at the corner of Champion Rongrong's eyes; the latter seemed to have only just realized this and hurriedly wiped them away with a tissue.

"Happy~"

Champion Rongrong nodded vigorously, indicating this was the best movie it had ever seen — it had never imagined a film could be so moving.

All Baimu glanced at the earnest Champion Rongrong, then at the other Pokémon lying in their nests, and asked Porygon2 in his phone: "What did you think?"

No response.

He peered carefully into the screen and discovered that Porygon2 had actually fallen asleep too! This was a Pokémon that could go a week without sleep and still be fine!

All Baimu fell silent, while Champion Rongrong, seeing its sleeping companions, looked a little bewildered.

It had been too absorbed in the movie to notice everyone's condition at all.

"Don't mind it — you appreciated a work that we couldn't. Everyone's aesthetic tastes are different." All Baimu rubbed and kneaded its fluffy head, to keep this inwardly sensitive fellow from overthinking.

Not being able to appreciate art films is perfectly normal.

"Happy…"

Champion Rongrong nodded half-understandingly, then walked out of the tent saying it would make some late-night snacks.

Taking the opportunity, All Baimu hurriedly woke up the group of Pokémon — only Hydreigon simply could not be roused and was given up on.

"Kidoh!"

Mawile was very angry.

It had never watched such a boring movie — boring enough that even it, who would eat anything, could fall asleep watching it.

It could make a movie like that too!

"Watch the second one, watch the second one." All Baimu shook Gengar awake just as it was about to fall asleep again, while the Dragapult Mesprit siblings gave up on watching and flew off to play.

The second one was an alien film starring Beheeyem and Metagross; checking the review site's ratings, there were still a few people who liked it.

The tags were mostly "classic," "pioneering work," and the like.

After waiting a little while, Champion Rongrong returned carrying several plates of steaming hot fried noodles; the aroma of the food lured Sunflora over.

It was seen suddenly jolting awake from its slumber, rolling in front of the fried noodles, extending its tentacles to slurp them up, and then rolling back to continue sleeping.

"Happy~"

Champion Rongrong quietly breathed a sigh of relief — it had originally prepared a huge portion for Hydreigon, but since Hydreigon hadn't woken up, it had almost thought the food would go to waste.

"Sit!"

All Baimu patted the spot beside him, lowered his head to eat the fried noodles Mawile held up for him, then ate the fried noodles Gengar cheerfully offered.

Mawile wouldn't let him put the plate on its head, so it and Gengar had to do the feeding.

The Dragapult Barudo behind them glanced at its own claws, which could barely manipulate forks and chopsticks, and gave up on the idea of joining in the feeding.

Porygon2 was also called out of the phone by All Baimu to slurp noodles, but since it had just woken up, its eyes were squinted into two slits.

It looked silly.

The second alien movie began playing.

Unexpectedly, this movie was actually pretty good — at least better than the previous musical. The flaw was — the human side had too much screen time!

Beheeyem's acting was too good, the human actors' acting was simply unbearable to watch; plus the director inexplicably stuffed long, long stretches of human-family scenes into an alien movie, filming scenes of a family arguing.

It made All Baimu feel the actors were just like the family of the male and female leads in Godzilla II — completely superfluous!

"Now I know why Solon became a box-office poison."

He shook his head helplessly and looked at the other Pokémon.

Dragapult Barudo and Gengar both liked it a lot; Mawile still felt it was so-so; Champion Rongrong's reaction was likewise lukewarm.

The third one—

It was getting late.

All Baimu noticed that it was already eleven at night; glancing outside the tent, sure enough, he could no longer hear the roars of wild Pokémon.

Turning on the light, outside the tent, besides the giant outline of Steelix, there was now also the outline of Aggron.

Both were clearly asleep.

"Let's sleep?" he sought the group's opinion.

Mawile had wanted to say let's watch one more, but glancing at the time no longer insisted; it hopped out of his arms to find its plushie, and said goodnight at the same time: "Kidoh!"

"Geh~gah~"

Gengar yawned and slid very smoothly down into its shadow.

Dragapult Barudo flew toward its cushion, not far from Sunflora.

All Baimu walked out of the tent to wash up; Champion Rongrong gathered the plates, found a ditch to wash them clean, and along the way said goodnight to the shiny Milotic in the ditch on the other side, whose eyes were shining brightly.

"Happy~"

"Milo~"

A differently-colored Milotic in the water channel laughed happily and swam forward to nuzzle it.

Back inside the tent.

All Baimu had already laid out the thin blanket; Happiny squeezed into the spot its trainer had deliberately left for it, turned off the light, closed its eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

A dreamless night.

——

The next day.

All Baimu finished washing up and ate breakfast together with the Balza siblings.

"Today we're going to say goodbye?"

Balza asked, biting into a toasted biscuit.

He nodded: "Mm, I'll aim to wrap things up within a day, so I can set off tomorrow with peace of mind."

"You've only been back a month, right? Isn't it a bit fast?" Mei Mei Yali asked curiously.

All Baimu said: "A month is already quite long, and besides, this isn't the time for me to stop—I have to keep moving forward. Staying in Orei won't help me grow much."

The Balza siblings exchanged glances, unsure how to respond.

"In any case, I'm leaving Platinum Silver Mountain in your hands."

He swallowed the last mouthful of Moo Moo Milk.

The Aggron eating nearby, upon hearing this, immediately came over and, in a remarkably human manner, bowed to the Balza siblings, its expression solemn as if entrusting an orphan.

Balza said weakly: "Every time you say that, Aggron comes over and bows, and it makes me especially awkward."

Mei Mei Yali said with a grin: "What? I think an Aggron like this is really cute—"

"Cute! Cute! As cute as Hu Pa?"

Hu Pa, who had stayed by Mei Mei Yali's side all last night and hadn't come to watch the movie, called out noisily.

All Baimu laughed and patted its head: "Hu Pa is number one in the world under— uh, Hu Pa is especially cute!"

He had originally meant to say Hu Pa was the cutest in the world, but sensing the silent gaze from Mawile, he broke out in a cold sweat and changed his line.

Hu Pa, however, didn't pay much mind, and said smugly to Mei Mei Yali: "Xiaobai said Hu Pa is cute."

"Okay, okay, I got it."

Mei Mei Yali's tone was utterly perfunctory; only when it showed an annoyed expression did she put on a smile and say: "Haha, are you mad? Did I scare you? Of course I know Hu Pa is the cutest!"

"Mei Mei Yali! Mean!"

Hu Pa, hearing this, was both happy and angry at once, the corners of its mouth bobbing up and down in a slightly twisted look.

After the meal.

All Baimu mounted his hoverbike and headed for the arena. The arena was as lively as ever, the roars of Pokémon and the shouts of humans rising one after another.

Looking at these trainers he had taught himself, a sudden, indescribable emotion welled up inside him.

Reluctance? It seemed there really was a little.

After all, they could be considered his founding disciples, couldn't they?

"Everyone stop! Gather round! I have an announcement!" All Baimu took a deep breath and shouted, calling the arena trainers together.

Otsuka and the others were among them; they vaguely saw what their boss was thinking, their faces showing regret, but they said nothing.

A total of fifty-three people gathered.

They gazed at All Baimu at the very front, seemingly guessing what earth-shattering news this teacher was about to announce—such as a partnership with the Orei Arena.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the answer.

All Baimu spoke.

"Up to now, thank you all for your cooperation along the way. What I want to announce is that this teaching activity is considered completely over as of today."

His voice was not loud, yet it struck like a sudden thunderclap on flat ground.

Kendal, who was drinking water; Silver Horse, panting heavily; Silver Ape and the others watching from the side—all were stunned.

Immediately after, the entire arena erupted into an uproar.