Waves lapped against the beach.
Baimu gazed at Basculegion, but Basculegion wasn't looking at him. Its eyes were fixed on Shiny Milotic.
A strange air hung about it.
When he'd played the game, he'd thought Basculegion looked cool, especially its mistlike tail, which looked straight out of an ukiyo-e print.
But now—
Damn it!
How could a Pokémon be this creepy?
Baimu's mouth twitched. He stepped left to block its view and repeated, "I am an envoy of Great Venerable Sinnoh, here to retrieve the Plate. I hope the Noble will do me this favor."
"..."
Basculegion glanced at him, swished its tail, and moved around him to keep staring at Milotic.
The nerve of it!
Baimu fought the urge to pull out a Poké Ball. He went over to Milotic and whispered a few words to her.
"Milo~"
Milotic caught on at once. Swaying gracefully, she approached Basculegion with a sweet smile.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, this was the beautiful serpent ploy!
Basculegion's breathing visibly quickened. Every so often, it let out a low cry. "Basc! Basc!"
Then Milotic came within three meters of it.
"Basc!"
Basculegion gave a sudden shout. But instead of lunging at Milotic, it turned tail and fled, diving into the water and vanishing.
Milotic hurried to follow, but Baimu called her back.
"Don't chase it. It's like some bashful kid—the more you pursue it, the faster it runs."
He'd hoped the beautiful serpent ploy would spare him the trouble of feeding it. Who knew Basculegion would be this painfully awkward?
A Ghost-type Pokémon through and through!
Baimu had a lot to say about that.
"Tch!"
His shadow trembled faintly, and his Poké Balls rocked back and forth. Shiny Gengar, Dragapult, and the other Ghost-types were thoroughly confused.
The sleeping Galarian Corsola, meanwhile, had a