Chapter 754: Jade Rainbow University

The next morning, at first light.

The sky was just beginning to brighten when All Baimu arrived at the dock where the salvage ship was moored.

The Pokémon accompanying him were still the Doduo siblings perched on his left and right shoulders, and the Doduo Barulu, who had hidden himself away and dared not show his face.

He walked around a neighboring cargo ship and looked ahead, and was suddenly met with the sight of a tall, powerfully built, cow-colored bear-shaped beastman.

The fellow was training on the shore with A-Jian, who was wearing only a black tank top on his upper body.

As he shouted and threw a straight punch, the air suddenly let out a whip-like crack.

Crack!

"One-Strike Style Ursaluna!"

All Baimu was thoroughly intrigued.

Although Ursaluna's base stats only totaled 550, placing it at the very bottom among Legendary Pokémon, thanks to its overpowered signature move, top-tier Ability, and well-distributed base stats, its actual strength surpassed many Legendary Pokémon whose totals were far higher.

If the unused clue had pointed to its pre-evolution, Cubchoo, All Baimu would have been certain he'd hit the jackpot.

"Morning."

He greeted A-Jian, who had paused his movements.

A-Jian gave a curt nod, and after All Baimu boarded the ship, said, "Your breakfast is in the dining room. Don't forget it."

"Got it, thanks."

All Baimu acknowledged him and walked into the cabin, where Professor Suigao and Asahi were enjoying an early meal—steaming-hot coffee paired with sandwiches and a berry salad.

The two of them greeted him warmly the moment they saw him.

Asahi picked up a thermal cover from the neighboring seat without asking and said with a smile, "Come try it and see if it suits your taste. A-Jian specially prepared it for you."

"I'm not a picky eater."

After exchanging greetings, All Baimu sat down, relieved that he'd always preferred to eat only until he was seventy percent full.

The resort hotel where he'd booked a room offered room service, so he and his Pokémon had actually already eaten—who would have thought A-Jian would still prepare a portion for him.

"Hiiya?"

The younger Doduo suddenly flew down from his shoulder and lightly sniffed at the sandwich.

He was just like a little dog whose owner, no matter what he ate, had to come over and see if he could snag a share.

Seeing this, All Baimu asked, "Want some?"

"Hiiya!"

The younger Doduo's eyes lit up and he nodded rapidly.

The older Doduo raised a hand as if to smack him, but looking at the sandwich, drool also spilled from the corner of her mouth. "Hiiya…"

Professor Suigao and Asahi both burst out laughing, and the Morgrem beside them also snickered behind a hand covering his mouth.

Asahi said, "If you want Pokémon food, we have some here."

All Baimu broke the sandwich in half, then broke one of those halves in half again and gave the pieces to the two little Doduo, then called out to Asahi, who was about to go get the Pokémon food:

"No, no need. They're just being greedy—they've actually already had breakfast."

Sure enough.

After eating a quarter of a sandwich, the Doduo siblings had successfully stuffed themselves, and now lay on their backs on the dining table, listlessly panting with their tongues out.

They didn't necessarily love the sandwich that much; they just didn't want to waste food their Trainer had shared.

The hidden Doduo Barulu was very glad he hadn't taken part.

That sandwich looked nowhere near as tasty as the ones their Trainer made!

Professor Suigao finished his coffee, stood up, and said, "Since everyone's here and supplies are in order, let's set off!"

"Yes, Professor!"

Asahi walked out of the cabin to notify A-Jian outside.

A moment later.

The massive salvage ship, accompanied by the roar of its engines, officially set sail, heading for Waterway 134.

All Baimu had experience with going out to sea; at the very beginning, when searching for Lugia, he had once set sail together with one of Team Aqua's large ships.

After that, he had even ridden a submarine down to the depths of an ocean trench.

Would this trip include a diving segment as well?

He gazed out at the sea, his heart brimming with boundless anticipation for what came next.

Earlier, Asahi had mentioned they'd been staying in Waterway 134 for over two months—why were they stubbornly sticking around here and refusing to leave?

The reason was that the more they searched, the more underwater ruins they found.

Professor Suigao believed that in the distant past, Waterway 134 had actually been a stretch of land, and an ancient civilization had built a magnificent city-state here.

Unfortunately, due to certain causes—whether rising sea levels, natural disasters, or the mischief of ancient Pokémon—the city-state of that ancient civilization was swallowed by the sea and became a piece of history known to almost no one.

"Look, a submarine from the ancient civilization."

Professor Suigao displayed a photograph taken by an underwater camera.

All Baimu was utterly astonished.

"The ancient civilization worshipped Kingdra, which could create underwater whirlpools with its breath, so they designed their submarines to look like this."

Professor Suigao spoke at length: "Speaking of which, this abandoned submarine was swept here not long ago by an unusual ocean current; originally it was somewhere else entirely."

All Baimu seized on the key point of that sentence: "Unusual ocean current?"

"Mm, about half a month ago, I suppose. The deep-sea currents all over the world suddenly changed, and abnormal weather appeared in many places. Some say it was caused by the awakening of some kind of Legendary Pokémon, but so far there's no conclusive evidence."

Professor Suigao's words made the corner of All Baimu's mouth twitch.

Pull one hair and the whole body moves…

He hoped this wouldn't cause some major mess, or else wouldn't he be just like the villains in those children's cartoons?

Baimu felt a sudden chill.

In fact, Route 134 has been nearly fully explored by Professor Suigao and his team; they believe they will soon locate the target's position.

"According to historical records, this ancient civilization's language leaned toward pictographic braille, possibly linked to their environment—such as a sky perpetually devoid of sunlight."

Professor Suigao vividly described the ancient civilization, then asked, "Baimu-kun, do you know how ancient humans referred to Pokémon?"

"Creatures?"

"Precisely—Creatures. Ancient humans called all extraordinary beings possessing great power Creatures, revering and fearing them. They relied on the legendary Giants' strength to develop a brilliant civilization and created countless astonishing technologies. Yet they feared one day they would be destroyed by them, so they sealed them away."

Professor Suigao said with regret, "Unfortunately, a century after sealing the legendary Giants, they suffered some catastrophic disaster; historical records drastically diminished, and many scholars believe they may have migrated elsewhere."

They cut the ox after grinding the grain…

Every time Baimu heard this story, he found it hard to swallow—could there be any trust left between Pokémon and humans?

They helped you build your civilization, and you sealed them away?

Suddenly.

The salvage vessel gradually came to a stop; Arashi walked out from the cockpit and said, "Doctor! We've reached the target waters!"

"Thank you, Arashi," Professor Suigao smiled and nodded at him.

Upon reaching unexplored waters, Professor Suigao and his team never dived immediately.

Instead, they first deployed unmanned submersibles to survey the seabed conditions, only donning diving gear when necessary.

The task of operating the unmanned vehicle originally belonged to Asahi, but with Baimu's arrival, it fell to him.

Arashi assisted from the side.

It felt just like learning to drive at a driving school.

Baimu recalled staying up all night reading the manual, then looked at the control panel before him—he hadn't expected to have to operate it so soon.

"Papri!"

Polywhirl II kindly emerged from the phone, attempting to crawl into the unmanned submersible to replace the trainer and take over operations.

The team had clear divisions; intelligent machinery was usually operated by it.

Arashi frowned and said, "During work, prevent Pokémon interference and avoid accidental operations."

Interference?

You mean me? You mean me!

Polywhirl II widened its eyes in disbelief, staring at Arashi—it had never imagined it would one day be mistaken for a Gyarados.

It was the best assistant!

Baimu quickly grabbed the indignant Polywhirl II and said to Arashi, "Sorry, sorry—Polywhirl II has the ability to infiltrate intelligent machinery and assist in operation; we've always operated this way before."

"Assist in operation?"

Arashi looked at the "demon-like" Polywhirl II, his brow slowly relaxing as he continued, "Even so, it's still not allowed—the deep sea changes unpredictably; allowing a Pokémon—"

"Arashi means the deep sea can't guarantee the safety of non-aquatic Pokémon, and with powerful wild Pokémon present, there's no need to risk it—machines breaking down doesn't matter," Asahi quickly stepped in to mediate, fearing conflict from miscommunication.

After all, Baimu seemed gentle when speaking, but when he fell silent for long stretches, he gave off an unsettling aura—somehow making her feel he was dangerous.

Mewni looked worried; Professor Suigao stayed out of it.

Baimu picked up Polywhirl II, which was about to use its Prismatic Horns to form a mouth and bite Arashi, nodded, then tapped its head once, saying, "I understand. Alright, just watch me operate!"

Polywhirl II still felt disgruntled, but made no further unnecessary movements.

Arashi withdrew his gaze and began guiding Baimu like a driving instructor, as the unmanned submersible plunged into the sea with a splash.

The main camera and four auxiliary camera feeds appeared sequentially on the cockpit's glass LCD screen.

It must be said.

Operating the drone was unexpectedly fun—just like playing with remote-controlled cars and planes as a child, only slightly more complex, but fundamentally similar.

No wonder so many people in his past life spent thousands or even tens of thousands buying drones, even going to great lengths to fly them outside the city.

Unfortunately, his luck wasn't good.

The seabed did hold many dilapidated ruins, but after exploration, it was clear they were all ordinary dwellings—earthen pottery jars fused with seaweed shattered at the slightest touch, offering little value.

Noon.

The drone returned for resupply.

Baimu ate the lunch Arashi prepared while pondering the location of the Notice Stone Chamber.

Hmm…

He asked Asahi to bring the surveyed waters maps, only to find they bore no resemblance to the game's maps—he couldn't help but feel frustrated.

"Six locations remain; we'll finish exploring them all within a week at the latest."

As Arashi spoke, Asahi slumped helplessly onto the instrument panel.

After over two months of elimination-based exploration, what if the target happened to be in the very last area? How frustrating would that be?

Normally, you'd find something halfway through the search!

Professor Suigao said, "The most important thing in research is patience; often, research is no different from luck. Of course, spotting a problem relies on luck, but solving it relies on skill—you needn't be too discouraged."

Clearly, this was a researcher prepared to spend a lifetime studying with Mew.

According to the plot's progression, next year… no, this year, Professor Suigao would finally turn from misfortune to fortune and successfully locate Mew's whereabouts.

—

Night.

The bright moon spilled brilliant silver light.

Baimu leaned on the railing, gazing down at the multicolored Milotic undulating with the waves, and looked up at the moonlit sky, humming a lullaby.

"Mii~~ koro~~"

"The blue-finned, golden-scaled Milotic… so beautiful."

Asahi's voice suddenly rang out.

He turned his head, and a cup of steaming hot milk had appeared before him.

"Do you like sweet things? I added some Sweet Honey in."

Asahi, smiling brightly, leaned over the railing and, with an admiring gaze, looked at the shiny Milotic and asked, "Are you settling in today?"

Baimu thanked her and took a sip. "Nothing I'm not used to. Mmm, your taste is a lot like Old Man Shi Yuan Zhi's."

Asahi said in surprise, "Really? That Shi Yuan Zhi, the top of Hoenn's Four Heavenly Kings, also likes sweet things?"

"To be precise, it's MooMoo Milk with Sweet Honey added."

He added.

Asahi wore an expression of disbelief: "What a surprise. I thought a stern old grandfather like him would prefer something hard-boiled, like a black beer."

He shook his head helplessly: "Don't be fooled by the old man's stern, unapproachable look. He's actually both magnanimous and warm-hearted—a very worthy elder. I once rode on his Aggron, and with his help I learned a great deal."

"Isn't that just like A-Jian!"

The words burst out of Asahi, and a violent coughing sound suddenly came from beside them.

The two turned their heads and, to their astonishment, saw A-Jian, his face solemn, standing behind them, holding a plate of what looked like a late-night snack.

"Finish eating and go to bed early. We still have work tomorrow!"

He brought over the steaming stew, turned around, and left without another word.

As if staying any longer would make Jolteks crawl all over him.

Asahi burst out laughing: "See? I even suspect he comes at night to tuck you in. Remember not to lock your door."

"No way…"

Baimu vaguely heard the sound of someone falling, and decisively joined Asahi in mocking A-Jian.

Still, coming in the middle of the night to tuck him in—better give that a pass.

A "motherly man" or whatever—gave him the creeps.

The two chatted for a while longer, bringing up Baimu's dreams for the future, and also why Asahi and A-Jian had joined Professor Suigao's team.

Their reason for joining Professor Suigao was the same as Xiaomao's—both of them were striving toward the goal of becoming Pokémon Professors.

Also, despite looking only sixteen or seventeen, they were already enrolled students at Celadon University.

"You got into Celadon University!"

Baimu was quite surprised.

Celadon University's standing in the Pokémon world was undoubtedly on par with the very top universities of his previous life, and especially after Professor Oak came out of it, its prestige had shot straight up.

Anyone who could pass the entrance exam was unquestionably a top-tier genius.

Asahi egged him on to take the exam too, saying that if he was willing she could provide the prep materials she'd used before, and she was sure A-Jian would be more than happy to tutor him.

Baimu didn't give a flat refusal.

For one, Celadon University really did pique his curiosity; for another, when he opened a Trainer school in the future, having a Celadon University diploma as its principal would surely attract quite a few proper teachers, wouldn't it?

Of course, he didn't have that much free time right now.

Seeing the shiny Milotic that had been singing looking all lonely, Asahi sent out a few of her own Water-type Pokémon.

The result was—

Her Pokémon were completely enchanted by the shiny Milotic.

Especially her own Milotic—before it hit the water there was still a touch of pride on its face, but the moment it saw the shiny Milotic, hearts immediately popped into its eyes.

It looked, somehow, kind of silly.

The only one that could keep its composure was her Hit-and-Run style Urshifu, which, like a yoga master, pressed its palms together and stood on one leg, the very picture of stillness overcoming motion.

"Urshifu…" Baimu really wanted to touch it.