Practical Application

Rollout was hard to stop.

That part was pretty much the same as in the games.

Baimu could tell that Otsuka really wanted Graveler to stop, but he couldn't manage it in the short term. As a result, the two of them had no choice but to dodge the rolling boulder like they were playing dodgeball.

Graveler indeed hadn't attacked him on purpose just now.

Seeing Otsuka doing his utmost to dodge Graveler's Rollout, Baimu truly believed him.

At first, he had been the only one dodging. But as Graveler's rolling speed continued to increase, the situation became uncontrollable. Its momentum left it with almost no room for independent maneuvering, so Otsuka, as its Trainer, had no choice but to join Baimu's ranks.

"Get Aron out here!"

"You make Graveler stop!"

Faced with Otsuka's hoarse shouting, Baimu mercilessly rejected his proposal. The power of the Rollout had probably reached its peak by now. Getting clipped by it would likely send him flying.

"I—"

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, Graveler slammed violently into the wire fence. The tremendous impact embedded it directly in the fence and snapped several wires.

The violent noise drew even more attention.

"Now's our chance! Iron Head!"

Baimu shouted as Aron, which had been lying in wait underground the entire time, burst out and crashed into the already half-dazed Graveler.

The wire fence, already forcibly stretched after suffering metal fatigue, suddenly exploded apart. Graveler fell onto the battlefield, staring skyward with rings spinning before its eyes.

"Looks like I won." He announced the result to the furious, trembling Otsuka, then ran to the edge, crouched down, and high-fived Aron. "Yes! Victory!"

"Gur!"

Aron smiled with its eyes crinkled into crescents.

"Let's interview you for a moment. My side clearly has the weaker Ground type, so why did you use Rollout?" Baimu asked curiously, looking at Otsuka.

Otsuka said indignantly, "Who knew your Pokémon could use Dig? And it stayed underground the entire time without coming back up! Have you no shame?"

"No. Is that not allowed?"

"...One more round!"

Otsuka clenched his teeth and recalled Graveler with a Poké Ball. "I refuse to believe this!"

"Do you still have the energy?"

Baimu didn't agree right away. Instead, he turned and asked Aron.

Having spent almost the entire battle underground, Aron was brimming with energy and naturally volunteered eagerly for another fight.

Meanwhile, Otsuka mentally hacked Baimu to pieces, swearing that he had never seen anyone so shameless.

How could he possibly be out of energy?

"Sandshrew! Get ready for battle!"

He had to win at least once, or he would pass out from anger right here.

--

Noon.

After three battles, Aron had fought every one of Otsuka's Pokémon. It had won some and lost some, and in the battle it lost, it had exhausted itself halfway through and fallen asleep.

Looking at the countdown in the corner of his eye, Baimu realized that it seemed to have shortened slightly—by less than half an hour, perhaps.

Could it be...

Could battles shorten the Simulator's loading time?

Three battles had shaved off nearly half an hour!

That was amazing!

It was just a pity that Aron's stamina wasn't enough to support more battles.

Still, being able to shorten the time was already a blessing. After all, the Simulator was his strongest source of support!

For a moment.

Baimu's mood became even better. Even Otsuka looked considerably more pleasing to him now.

"You really do like using Rollout. Is that move really so good?"

He asked in confusion. Of the three Pokémon—Donphan, Graveler, and Sandshrew—Otsuka had used Rollout with all of them.

Donphan and Sandshrew simply had better control over it than Graveler. They could stop whenever they wanted. Graveler had wanted to stop but couldn't, and Aron had taken advantage of the result.

"That's none of your business—"

"Hm?"

"...Because when Rollout is trained to a high level, it can resist a lot of moves."

"Oh? Really?"

"Of course it's true! I saw it with my own eyes. Just by using Rollout, it ignored Water Gun, Flamethrower, and a whole bunch of other moves. That kind of power is what true strength looks like!"

Otsuka's face was filled with longing, like a fanatical fan of some celebrity. The only difference was that he idolized powerful Trainers.

"I see."

Baimu nodded and prepared to leave.

Until he had figured out the full structure of the Underground City and identified its important people, he didn't plan to linger too long. He would even skip finding food or getting Aron treated for its injuries.

He had offended too many people just now. He might end up being sabotaged.

However, he hadn't gone far when Otsuka's expression became conflicted and he chased after him.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" He tilted his head.

"About that Trade Evolution you mentioned earlier... I want to learn more about it." Otsuka seemed embarrassed, and his words came out haltingly. "I, I can pay for it."

Looking at his expression, Baimu considered it for a moment before saying, "Forget the money. Buy me a meal. Tell me you'll buy me a meal, and I'll tell you."

Although the guy was a little stupid, he wasn't all that unpleasant. It was a good opportunity to put Cang Zhilang's methods into practice.

Otherwise, this week would be rather difficult. Constantly acting like an outsider would only deepen the subconscious alienation and rejection around him, making it harder to blend into the larger environment and work discreetly.

"Huh? Really?"

Otsuka looked pleasantly surprised, then quickly turned his head away. "I'd still rather pay. I don't want to owe you a favor."

"I can't be bothered to think of a price. Invite me or don't; I'm leaving." Baimu didn't want to argue with him. He bought a bottle of juice from a vending machine and walked away without looking back.

Otsuka hurried after him. "I know a pretty good little restaurant nearby!"

"Go up to the surface and eat."

"What's good to eat up there? Let me tell you..."

"You're too talkative. I said we're going up, so we're going up."

The two of them gradually disappeared into the distance.

Everyone left in the arena looked at one another. Just moments ago, the two had been enemies, yet now they were chatting as they went to eat together. What was going on?

Back on the surface.

Baimu first searched around for Cheng Hong and the others. After learning from a Quicksand Team member that they had left long ago, he brought Otsuka to the Pokémon Center near the Sand Group's base and left the unconscious Aron in their care.

Afterward, he took Otsuka to Azure Iridium Street, where they had lunch at a familiar restaurant.

At first, the guy had resisted, complaining about this and that. But he soon began wolfing down the food, clearly famished.

As they ate, Baimu explained it to him.

"Trade Evolution is the phenomenon in which Pokémon evolve during an exchange, using a specific machine to trade Pokémon with each other. You've been raising Pokémon for quite some time, haven't you? How do you not even know about this?"

He was astonished. "This should be basic knowledge of the basics. It's like type matchups. You could find it out just by asking around. Didn't anyone tell you?"

Upon hearing this, Otsuka's previously excited expression immediately dimmed. "...No."

"Hm... Did you go to school?"

"...No, either. That's not necessary, is it? What good is school? Can it fill a person's stomach? Can it defeat the people who bully you?"

"So you're illiterate, just like me." Otsuka's resistant attitude didn't bother Baimu. "Did your family stop you from going to school?"

"What does that have to do with you?"

"Nothing. I was just asking. I'm the only one in my family, after all. Is your father also a Quicksand Team member? A Squad Leader?"

"...No. Just an ordinary member. And he's already 'retired.'"

Otsuka's attitude shifted from agitated to silent.

Retired? Ah... So that's how it was.

Baimu more or less understood the situation. The boy before him was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and his father likely wasn't very old. Judging from his grief-stricken expression, he hadn't retired normally.

He had been injured and forced to retire.

That was fairly common in the Quicksand Team. There were all sorts of reasons. After all, they essentially needed to fight constantly and had no real safety guarantees. It was an extremely dangerous life.

Baimu asked again, "Who are you affiliated with?"

"I'm in the youth unit my dad recommended me for. Even with a Pokémon, I can't be considered a formal member. I have to finish a match before I can choose which big brother to follow."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"...One. An older sister." Otsuka lowered his head.

"I see. You're already the pillar of your family." Baimu suddenly understood why Otsuka had given in so quickly. He had initially thought the boy was simply extremely timid and fond of bullying those weaker than himself.

Like how he had knelt the moment he was told to, without the slightest hesitation. In the end, he was someone who had recognized reality—a man whose backbone had been crushed by life.

Another pitiful, hateful person dyed black by the great vat of society's sludge.

He might be worth recruiting, at least a little.

Baimu tapped the table, making Otsuka raise his head. "If your circumstances have left you with no way out, why did you come provoke me? To release some pressure?"

People crushed beneath the weight of life often developed minor peculiarities, such as cursing at strangers online, causing trouble for people, deliberately leaving bad reviews for couriers and delivery workers, or even stealing things. They were all similar methods of relieving stress.

Most ordinary people found them difficult to understand.

In a place like Pyrite Town, bullying the weak and watching their pained expressions was a decent choice.

Otsuka: "..."

He couldn't give a reason, because such behavior was common and widespread here. It was like eating or drinking water—no reason was needed.

Yet faintly, after hearing Baimu put it that way, he also felt that what he had done was wrong.

"...Forget it. I wasn't trying to interrogate you, anyway. Your environment has had a huge influence on you. Without books or other means of acquiring knowledge, you can only imitate the people around you to determine right and wrong, and your thinking becomes fixed as a result."

Baimu finished his last bite of food. "Both your world and mine are too small. I hope that one day we can break free of Pyrite Town's restraints, open our eyes, and see the real world."

He stood and walked outside.

Otsuka was startled and hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?"

"To pick up my Pokémon, then figure out how to go to school."

"School..."

The boy stood there in a daze, his expression becoming complicated and impossible to read.