"Ponio~"
Ogerpon stepped forward, her eyes full of pity as she raised her right hand.
Baimu was somewhat confused. He bent down slightly, then felt her patting his head.
He laughed helplessly. "Thanks, Ogerpon. I feel much better now."
He had always habitually patted Ogerpon's head as a gesture of comfort and affection. Unexpectedly, she had learned it from him.
A pat was a pat.
There was no reason Pokémon heads could be patted while a Trainer's could not. As long as she did not twist his head off.
Baimu did not care about such a trivial matter.
He apologized to the administrator. "Sorry about that... I offended you just now."
"It's fine, it's fine. Kids don't know any better. I should be the one apologizing," the administrator said, waving his hands repeatedly.
If Baimu had not reacted in that situation, he certainly would have.
To Kitakami, Ogerpon was both a Pokémon and far more than an ordinary Pokémon. She was the spiritual symbol of this place, the savior of everyone's ancestors. Kieran's words had truly been far too rude.
Seeing that Baimu had calmed down, Arven hurriedly chimed in. "If you ask me, we should've beaten that rude little brat up!"
Nemona pondered, "I thought something felt off when we battled before. Now that I think about it, their attitude toward Pokémon seems a little problematic."
That did seem to be the case.
Kieran's longing was based on the power Baimu and Ogerpon possessed, rather than on who they were.
Otherwise, why did he not like the other three Loyal Three?
There was nothing wrong with worshipping strength. Of course one could admire strength. But the way Kieran viewed Ogerpon felt more like he was looking at a tremendously powerful weapon.
That mindset was extremely common in Orre.
It