Temporary Reinforcement

He had established a friendly relationship with Chansey.

The main reason was that this little pink egg was understanding enough not to reject his attempts at communication because of its own tragic experiences.

Having been abandoned twice and still possessing such grace, Baimu truly admired her. He couldn't help glancing at her information a few more times.

Reading pure text was quite exhausting, but fortunately, he had specifically bought a literacy reading pen before. Even if he stumbled through it, he could still turn it into something he understood.

[Pokémon: Chansey]

[Type: Normal]

[Gender: Female]

[Height: 108 cm / Weight: 34 kg]

[Ability: Natural Cure]

[Level: 30]

[Moves: Pound / Defense Curl / Tail Whip / Soft-Boiled]

[Minimize / Sing / Heal Pulse / Heal Bell]

Only one offensive move, Pound? And she only knew nine moves. No wonder her "original price" was only 1.1 million.

Most Trainers in Pyrite Town were shortsighted and worshipped direct combat ability. They didn't really understand roles like support, team medic, or special wall.

"Every Pokémon has to be a god of war!"

A very straightforward way of thinking.

But Baimu thought Chansey was excellent. If she hadn't been kidnapped here, she would definitely have become an outstanding Pokémon nurse someday.

"What a talent that nearly got buried."

Under Chansey's puzzled gaze, he patted her fluffy little head. Then, so as not to favor one over the other, he also gave Aron a pat.

After soothing the two pillars of his actual team, it was time for the reinforcement sent by his good big brother, Liu Ge.

There were subtle differences in Poké Ball settings across different versions. The kind in front of him that could shrink clearly didn't let him see inside, so Baimu guessed it probably didn't contain a particularly high-level Pokémon.

High-level Pokémon had pride, after all. Just like Charizard, once they refused to acknowledge you, nobody could make them obey. Thinking about it now, the Rhyhorn carrying Shibata probably hadn't approved of him either.

"No matter what, you two should stay a little alert."

Baimu gestured for Aron and Chansey to step back.

But Chansey clearly couldn't understand his signal. She froze in place, somewhat at a loss. Fortunately, Aron was clever enough to friendly grab her little tail and tug her backward.

Only then did she retreat.

Bang.

A white glow flew out and transformed into a tender green figure like a fresh sprout. Slightly noisy wingbeats followed.

Buzz buzz—

"Vibrava!"

Baimu stared in surprise at the enormous antlion before him.

Was this what one expected from an executive's Pokémon? Compared to the two he had seen in the mine before, this one was far larger.

"Lafu!"

Vibrava danced nimbly through the air, the feelers on its little head bobbing up and down. Its dark green eyes looked rather cute.

Baimu noticed something on its left foreleg. When he took it off and looked closer, it turned out to be a crumpled paper ball.

Carefully unfolding it revealed a great deal of writing. He barely managed to make out some of it with the literacy reading pen and realized it should contain Vibrava's information.

At the bottom seemed to be a warning from Liu Ge. The wording was unexpectedly simple.

[This one is the youngest and the gentlest. Whether you can make it help you depends on yourself.]

"Young and gentle."

Baimu looked up just in time to meet Vibrava's gaze. "Hello?"

"Lafu~"

Vibrava answered softly. There wasn't the slightest hostility in its innocent, peaceful expression. Then—

Buzz!

It suddenly burst forward!

The close-range charge startled Baimu. Thankfully, he reflexively sidestepped, narrowly avoiding being rammed by Vibrava.

"Gu!"

"Wait—"

He hurriedly raised a hand to stop Aron, whose face was full of ferocity. He told him to calm the nervous Chansey before looking again at Vibrava, whose wings had stopped flapping yet who remained suspended in midair through Levitate.

This guy...

Baimu's gaze met those emerald-like eyes, and he actually detected an extremely humanlike mockery within them.

Gentle?

Maybe compared to Liu Ge's other Pokémon.

"Then let's be direct. Aron and I will fight you together. If you win, you can ignore me until we go back. If you lose, you'll listen to me until then. How about it?"

Baimu didn't use Liu Ge to pressure Vibrava. That would only too easily provoke its rebellious streak.

They would let strength do the talking.

"Lafu!"

Vibrava glanced at Aron with utter disdain, rapidly beating its wings as it dove at him!

Clearly, it intended to take him out as quickly as possible to show Baimu just how little it thought of him.

"Dig!"

Baimu shouted. Aron stared intently at Vibrava, swiftly dug into the ground, and burrowed down.

Buzz—

Vibrava swept over the ground like a bomber passing overhead.

It had to make a wide arc before turning back around, the dissatisfaction in its heart already reaching its peak.

But just as it dived toward the hole, intending to use Supersonic to force Aron out, it saw Aron poke his head out on his own.

"Mud-Slap right in its face!"

Pfft!

A huge clump of mud sprayed out. Vibrava couldn't dodge in time and got plastered all over its head and face.

Ground-type moves might not do much to a Pokémon with Levitate, but Baimu's goal wasn't to hurt it with Mud-Slap.

"Lafu!"

It swayed about in panic, constantly twisting its head in hopes of getting the mud off its face, but to no avail.

Its real-life basis was an antlion, not a dragonfly. Though it could fly at high speeds for short periods, it lacked the ability to make emergency stops. Once it got carried away, getting hit was inevitable.

Who told it to give up the surefire strategy of harassing them from range with Supersonic at the start?

It was just too young and too simple.

In the end, it was still a youngster.

"Chase it and use Mud-Slap!"

Baimu waved his hand. Aron was in a rather awkward position right now—he lacked any decent long-range attacks.

Baimu had considered learning new moves as early as the first day. The fact that he couldn't learn the Rock Blast he had obtained not long ago only made the matter more urgent.

"Gu!"

Aron chased after the panicked Vibrava. It flew unsteadily through the air, forcing him to keep aiming and spraying mud like he was spitting.

After spraying two or three times in a row, Vibrava finally went berserk when it realized the mud on its body and face was piling up.

"Dig, now!"

Baimu noticed in time and shouted. He decisively sprinted backward, scooping up the panicked Chansey as he passed her.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

A surging mass of yellow sand spun madly around Vibrava. Driven by the rapid vibrations of its wings, it blasted outward in all directions like raindrops.

Sand Tomb!

Baimu and Chansey hid in a corner, shielding their faces from the flying sand while peering through their fingers at Vibrava's condition.

It was like a headless fly now, flying and crashing everywhere, as pathetic as if it had fallen into confusion.

What surprised him, however, was that Chansey was only panicking, not trembling. He had initially thought she was simply timid, but now it seemed that she was more nervous and lost, unsure of what to do.

She occasionally looked outside, her face faintly showing something akin to worry.

"Are you worried about it?"

Baimu bent down curiously as he spoke.

Chansey looked up at him, rubbing her little hands together before her chest, looking deeply conflicted.

"In that case, go save it. Help it escape its current painful state."

Baimu smiled and patted her head. "Go do what only you can do—save, heal."

"Lucky?"

"Chansey! Use Sing on Vibrava!"

A gentle push from behind sent Chansey out of the corner. Looking at Vibrava wildly flying about in agony, the fear in her heart gradually faded. She took a deep breath.

Ignoring the sand blasting against her face, she placed her hands before her chest, closed her eyes, raised her head, and began to sing a pleasant melody.

"~La la la la~"

Baimu covered his ears and silently watched as, beneath the pale pink sound waves, Vibrava's frenzied movements slowed. In the end, it fell to the ground, closed its eyes, and drifted into sleep.

Please vote~ Please keep reading~

And let me recommend another book: Phantom Overlord of Pokémon, a Pokémon story with a mysterious, eerie style~