Chapter 762: A Storm Without Wind

Evening.

The outskirts of Kaina City.

Asahi and Baimu returned to base without incident and found Ajian already there, deep in discussion with Professor Suigao about something.

"Ajian! You're back already."

"Yo!"

The two exchanged greetings with smiles.

As the only tracker to let the target escape, Ajian casually glanced at the waists of the other two, then silently nodded in greeting.

He wasn't exactly the competitive type, but out of the three of them, he was the only one who hadn't successfully captured the target Regirock, which made him—the tracker with the best record—look very unprofessional.

"Asahi! Baimu! Perfect timing! Come look at this!"

Professor Suigao beckoned hurriedly.

On a large screen beside them, an enormous flat-topped mountain appeared, wreathed in clouds and mist, its vegetation extraordinarily lush.

Professor Suigao said, "This morning, I detected an extremely powerful Psychic energy signature near the center of the plateau on this border island!"

Asahi, upon hearing this, stared blankly at Ajian for a moment. Seeing the latter give a slight nod, she immediately grew excited: "Doctor! You mean—?"

"Exactly! I hypothesize this is Psychic energy released by Mew! Ordinary Psychic-type Pokémon simply don't produce fluctuations on this level!"

Professor Suigao's voice was full of excitement. "Bold hypothesis, careful verification. I'm very sorry to you all who just got back, but we have to move quickly!"

"Understood!"

Asahi responded crisply.

She naturally couldn't refuse—seeking Mew, the Pokémon ancestral symbol, was their fundamental objective.

The three legendary giants couldn't hold a candle to it.

Baimu looked at the image on the screen, well aware that Professor Suigao would most likely return empty-handed this time.

Because in the original storyline, the border island was covered year-round by unrelenting strong winds and rain clouds, making a normal landing almost impossible.

Only during the extremely brief dry season each year did the sky clear for a short while, which was precisely why Professor Suigao had launched the Mew Project, aggressively recruiting outstanding members introduced by various professors.

"Baimu! You'll come too, right?"

Asahi's voice rang out.

Baimu, pulling his gaze back, saw everyone looking at him, and nodded: "Of course. How could I possibly miss something like this?"

Even though it was an adventure doomed to come to nothing, there was no need to leave immediately.

Asahi smiled. Having just been helped by Baimu with the capture of Regice, she didn't want to part ways so soon.

And Professor Suigao continued:

"From the relevant materials I've looked up, I found that this is a flat-topped mountain on an island at the edge of the world. Evolved from rock accumulated starting 2 billion years ago, it covers an enormous area of 40,000 square kilometers, with an elevation exceeding 3,500 meters!"

"Forty thousand!" Asahi was utterly astonished.

What did 40,000 square kilometers even mean?

Hainan Island was only a little under 34,000 square kilometers—meaning the flat-topped mountain on this island was larger than Hainan itself!

Professor Suigao continued: "However, the climate around the island is rather harsh, shrouded year-round by typhoons and storms, so it has long escaped outside attention."

Huh?

He actually knew?

Baimu looked at Professor Suigao in surprise. The latter met his gaze and said, "But I've already gotten in touch with a friend who lives on a nearby island. From him we can get more detailed intelligence that'll help us get onto the island."

So he refused to give up until he hit a wall.

None of the three had any objections.

In the blink of an eye.

Two days had passed.

The cross-sea flight base touched down on a remote island far from the main thoroughfares, where a village of only a few hundred people had been established.

Their greeter was the friend Professor Suigao had mentioned—a short-haired middle-aged woman with an air of brisk competence.

Professor Suigao addressed her as Ms. Shoko.

"I'm a photographer, and also the editor-in-chief of Pokémon Nature," Ms. Shoko introduced herself.

Pokémon Nature.

A top-tier magazine documenting wild Pokémon in their natural ecology.

It maintained close collaborative ties with numerous Pokémon research institutes, and Professor Odamaki's articles were frequently published in it.

Baimu often saw this magazine at Pokémon Centers—during treatments and check-ups, with nothing to do, he'd casually pick it up and flip through it.

Unexpectedly—

Ajian had provided many wild Pokémon photographs for Pokémon Nature. Asahi revealed that during university he'd often ventured into harsh, rarely-visited environments to survey Pokémon ecology—mountains, deserts, glaciers, and the like.

Truly an outdoor expert and adventure specialist.

The reason he'd actively chosen the desert earlier, beyond accommodating the other two, was also because it matched his "specialty."

Who would have thought the lifelong hunter would end up pecked in the eye by a goose.

"None of them were even selected. Most were no good."

Ajian, hearing Asahi and Baimu bring up his past, added a line with studied casualness.

Asahi laughed and swatted him—who goes out of their way to undercut themselves?

And from Ms. Shoko, Professor Suigao obtained a great deal of concrete intelligence about the border island. Discovering that under normal circumstances the weather made landing essentially impossible, he couldn't help but show a look of regret.

"Really completely impossible?"

He still couldn't let it go.

Ms. Shoko said, "According to the local fishermen, every year the island goes through a brief dry season, and only then does it become possible to land."

"Short dry season? When will it be?"

"Usually between August and September, but due to last month's sudden abnormal ocean currents, global climate patterns have shifted—it's hard to predict in the short term... The climate on the border islands has also worsened; I don't recommend you take the risk."

Ms. Shang noticed he was determined to push forward, and reminded him in a serious tone.

"... I understand."

Professor Suigao nodded regretfully.

That's what he said.

With the elusive trail of the Legendary right before his eyes, it was impossible for Professor Suigao to do nothing.

Thus, he and Ajian jointly modified the unmanned deep-sea craft, granting it land-cruising capability.

Chao Ri, meanwhile, studied rare stones unearthed by local fishermen to investigate the evolution of the border islands and explore the possibility that they were a habitat for Legendaries.

She claimed to have studied molecular biology and geology at university, attempting to uncover the origins of Pokémon through these two fields.

Among the entire team, Baimu was the only one who was most "idle."

All day long, besides training Bagon and other Pokémon, he simply observed the past memories of Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi through the Divine Heart.

It felt like watching a period drama—extremely thrilling.

Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi could easily earn the nickname "Ancient Observers."

As the chief editor of Pokémon Nature, Ms. Shang was also very interested in these two Legendary Pokémon and asked if he could take a few photos.

Baimu had no objection, only requesting that she not mention him in the article's introduction.

Until Shan Ren had made no statement, publicity should be avoided if possible.

"Could you make them display their most natural reactions? The natural ecology before they were captured?" Ms. Shang snapped two photos, then sought his help.

He replied: "Before they were captured, they were in a sealed state. As for their ecology... I feel this is already their natural state. I've never demanded anything from them."

It was true.

Before they were sealed, Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi were never lively Pokémon; they were no different from the stone gargoyles or golems crafted by wizards in Western fantasy works.

Staring blankly was their most common activity.

"I see..."

Ms. Shang nodded thoughtfully, then sighed regretfully: "If Lei Luo were here too, it would be better. Missing one of the three giants from the myth—it just feels incomplete."

Baimu smiled helplessly.

Who could blame him? His Butterfree just wasn't up to the task.

If he'd known Ajian would run into trouble, he'd have gone to assist right after capturing Lei Ji, then turned to find Chao Ri afterward—the timing would've been perfect.

But.

From the memory fragments of Lei Jiaisi and Lei Ji, he discovered that the three brothers seemed to have some kind of mutual resonance.

If so, perhaps he could try using the power of these two to locate Lei Luo.

Three-meter divine pillars should stay with other three-meter ones.

If all else fails, he could just knock on the door of Lei Luo in the Crown Snowfield.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo—"

"Ji-ji-ji-ji—"

"Are you two communicating? Morse code?"

Baimu looked skeptically at Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi—how else could one speak and the other immediately respond?

The response was again doo-doo-doo and ji-ji-ji.

The Poliwhirl in his phone was indignant—it was determined to crack the language of Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi.

It refused to believe it.

A Pokémon capable of developing planets couldn't possibly fail to understand Pokémon language!

As for Chao Ri's forceful decision to entrust Lei Jiaisi to Baimu's care, neither Professor Suigao nor Ajian had any objections—and they couldn't possibly object.

The former was a professional researcher with zero interest in raising Pokémon or forcing them to battle.

The latter, like Chao Ri, favored only Dark-type Pokémon and trusted only them; his most frequently carried Pokémon were the one-hit KO Martial Arts Ursaring and Manectric.

Speaking of Manectric.

This Pokémon's personality was utterly opposite to Ajian's—extremely lively and talkative, a stark contrast to the trainer who couldn't spit out a word after three whacks.

Chao Ri teased that perhaps Manectric revealed Ajian's true nature, and that he merely pretended otherwise.

Baimu strongly agreed.

Ajian, as usual, offered no rebuttal, attempting to resist with silence—but during later battles with Baimu, it became clear he was slightly embarrassed, and thus tried to retaliate through combat.

His Pokémon were thoroughly beaten by Baimu's monsters.

Even professional trainers couldn't defeat Baimu—how could you, a half-baked trainer who never won a League Championship and came from a research background?

There is only one Professor Oak in the world.

One afternoon.

Professor Suigao and Ajian successfully modified the unmanned deep-sea craft and officially began their exploration of the border islands.

However.

Unlike wild Pokémon in other regions, the wild Pokémon around the border islands were not only extremely powerful but also highly aggressive.

The preloaded defense module of the deep-sea craft failed within moments, sustaining irreparable damage.

Days of hard work were ruined in less than half an hour, leaving Professor Suigao, who had high hopes, with a prickling scalp—remote drones couldn't even approach; what could they do now?

Could they only wait for the short dry season?

The answer was—

Indeed, they could only wait for the short dry season to arrive.

Under Ajian and Asahi's persuasion, Professor Suigao began preparing a more detailed landing exploration plan, including but not limited to personnel preparation, funding preparation, supplies preparation, and related inventions.

The 【Dream Project】 that All Baimu was familiar with came into being accordingly.

Since it could not be confirmed whether the super-energy fluctuations on the island truly came from Mew, the research that should be done in the original plan still had to be done.

He finally began researching Registeel and Lei Jiaisi.

Ajian was in charge of assisting, Asahi continued surveying geological samples from the border islands, and the idle All Baimu decided to take his leave.

Now was indeed a good time to take his leave.

But he said he would first go find Regirock, to help the professor's research gather all three legendary giants.

The three of them had varied expressions upon hearing this.

"Looks like I really can't keep you around." Professor Suigao pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

All Baimu could be said to be one of the team members who fit his needs very well.

Ajian and Asahi were not weak, but they ultimately leaned toward research. If they truly encountered Mew, they'd have to rely on a powerful trainer like All Baimu to obtain enough information from it.

Setting that aside, he also greatly admired this young man.

"All Baimu…"

Asahi was full of reluctance. Since being helped by Qianli to subdue Lei Jiaisi, her friendliness toward All Baimu had shot straight up, at one point reaching the same level as her many-year friend Ajian.

But she also understood that All Baimu needed to realize his dream.

Ajian said nothing, only borrowed a fishing boat from the local villagers and personally sent All Baimu to the neighboring island that had a small airport.

Before parting.

He looked at All Baimu, who was about to leave, and couldn't help but speak:

"If you want to come back, come back anytime."

"Mm."

All Baimu smiled, lightly patted his shoulder, and said: "I believe once the newcomer arrives, you'll definitely be a great senior — provided you change the way you talk."

He ultimately couldn't help but tease this guy with one line.

Ajian neither agreed nor disagreed, only watched him wave and leave.

The 【Dream Project】 had only just begun; he had to go back and help Professor Suigao work out the entire process of absorbing new members.

From how to select personnel to what kind of trials to set, everything needed careful consideration.

——

The Hoenn region.

All Baimu once again arrived at Kaina City.

"Three visits to Hoenn." He took a deep breath of the slightly fishy sea breeze.

Finding the missing Regirock was actually not hard — if you really wanted efficiency, just call Hu Pa and have it summon one; if it's the wrong one, just search again.

Could there possibly be hundreds of Regirock under heaven?

But this quick-clear method had already been vetoed before leaving — firmly not relying on Hu Pa but on himself, so as not to be blind one day when encountering something Hu Pa couldn't handle.

And the method that didn't pursue efficiency —

Was to let Registeel and Lei Jiaisi help. All Baimu had just confirmed two days ago that these two had a "sense of presence between brothers" with it.

Maybe just standing there would attract Regirock over.

The disappearance point was on the southern side of the desert zone.

Given that Registeel and Lei Jiaisi, after escaping their seals, had remained in a "slow start" state with nowhere to go.

Regirock most likely just found a place to hide and reminisce about the past.

"Hope it didn't run too far."

All Baimu boarded the tram heading to New Zi Jin City.

At the same time.

Porygon-II brought him terrible news — the matter of Regirock appearing in the desert zone was going viral online.

More precisely, the ruins investigation team had posted the desert ruins that sealed Regirock online, which sparked a craze, and a large number of trainers and Pokémon hunters gathered over there.

"A storm out of nowhere…"

All Baimu was speechless, only feeling he had to hurry.

He wasn't afraid of ordinary trainers going to subdue Regirock; what he feared was Pokémon hunters.

These people used illegal methods to capture wild Pokémon — namely, using non-Poké Ball technological means to harm and capture wild Pokémon.

Regirock could beat Pokémon, but it definitely couldn't beat black tech.