A Perfect Ending

Watching Delibird carry Otsuka away.

Baimu found a barely cool spot to rest for a while. Once the radar had mostly cooled down, he slowly made his way toward the other two unlucky fellows.

If they could be saved, he had to save them.

There might not be much camaraderie between them, but he was currently holding a full twelve Pokémon belonging to his companions.

If their Trainers were alive, they could come reclaim them after this was over and negotiate a price. If the Trainers were dead, the Quicksand Team would collect them at a fixed price of one hundred thousand each.

And refusing to sell wasn't an option.

Naturally, Baimu wanted to make more money. He could pick a fight with anyone, but not with money—and he was badly short on it right now.

Halfway there.

"Beep."

Rotom Drone flew down. "The required number of participants has been reached. The team formation function has been unlocked."

Another one was gone already?

Baimu checked his wristband. The radar cooldown still had half a minute left. He had no idea whether the one gone was an ally or an opponent.

A little later.

He activated the radar and found that the fallen person was indeed an ally. There had originally been six red dots excluding Jian, making five; now there were still five, scattered everywhere like stars across the sky.

They said the team formation function had been unlocked, yet it didn't mark his teammates' locations. How stingy.

Fortunately, every enemy was at least eight hundred meters away from him, and none of them stood along the route he had to take to save people.

"Let's hope our teammates are reliable. Better not fight if we can avoid it. What do you think?"

He turned to Lairon.

"Lairon!"

Seeing Baimu's weary expression, Lairon nodded.

To be honest, it did want to move this new body around a little. During that critical moment earlier, it had exploded with sudden strength and hadn't paid much attention. Now, it only felt slightly unaccustomed to it.

Its mouth had become huge. Things it could once only eat one piece at a time could now be swallowed by the better part of a bowlful in one bite.

Its toes had changed from one little digit to three, making its stride more stable. Even when it raised its forepaws and stood on its hind legs, it no longer wobbled like before.

And although its body had become much heavier, every step from its four legs carried more power. Its running speed had not decreased—instead, it had increased.

All in all, there were only three words for it—

It had become stronger!

That unprecedented feeling made Lairon happy from the bottom of its heart. It was so excited that its whole body itched, and it desperately wanted to find a Pokémon to fight on the spot.

Unfortunately, fighting right now could easily cost someone their life. After thinking it over, it decided to follow its Trainer's wishes.

"Don't rush either. I know you're happy right now, and I'm happy too. But everything has to happen step by step. You need to learn to stay calm..."

Baimu rubbed its head, which had become scorching hot under the sun. "Besides, you still have another evolution ahead of you."

As he recalled, Aggron only needed to reach the forties to evolve. If they worked hard, they could meet the level requirement before next month, then look for another opportunity.

A safer one. Who could handle risking their lives every single time?

"Lairon!"

Lairon raised its head, its voice low and heavy like rolling stones striking the ground.

Though it was no longer as pleasant as it had been when it was an Aron, that too was proof of growth.

Evolution was undoubtedly something to celebrate. Still, it was a pity that the smooth, rounded head it had painstakingly polished was gone. This evolution had not only made its surface rougher, but had also turned it into the shape of a shovel.

What a shame.

Over the next half hour.

Baimu successfully rescued another half-conscious teammate and placed him in Delibird's sack. Unfortunately, when he finally located the last person, he discovered that the man had been dead for quite some time.

His ribs had likely broken and punctured his internal organs. His entire chest had caved in.

"...Rest in peace."

Baimu sighed, reaching out to close the man's eyes. "When you get to the Spirit World, remember to take revenge on Jian."

There were real ghosts in the anime world, as well as a land of the dead—the Spirit World, something created by some genius screenwriter during the airing of the fourth-generation anime.

Most of the time, wild Dusknoir were known as the gatekeepers of the Spirit World. They prevented things inside from getting out, while also stopping living people from entering.

→

At first hearing, it really did sound rather creepy.

But there was truly no need to be afraid. Even after death, humans would have a hard time defeating Pokémon. As long as one overcame the fear in one's heart, ghosts were really nothing much.

He moved the corpse into the shade. Supposedly, someone would collect it after the match, though he had no idea whether that was true.

At this moment.

There was only a little over an hour left until the competition ended.

Baimu ran back to where they had fought earlier and checked Jian's condition. Only after confirming that the guy was truly dead did he relax, silently resting where he was.

The east seemed to have become forbidden territory. Not a single red dot in the west had shown any intention of coming over; they would rather stay active within a small area.

What troubled him was that, during the time he had spent rescuing people, another red dot representing an enemy had disappeared.

What about his teammates?

How many were left?

If both sides still had equal numbers, then at this rate, they would undoubtedly end in a draw.

He had taken down four people by himself. With the Pokémon he had seized and the reward money, even if they lost, he would not have to shoulder too much blame...

That kind of wishful thinking would not do.

Baimu knew that the big shots watching from above were not particularly reasonable. Once they decided to vent their anger, who would care how much he had contributed? He began preparing a plan to head west and pick off the remaining people.

But when the radar finished cooling down once more.

He activated it and found that only two red dots remained. One of them had even solidified, clearly entering a battle.

A minute later.

That red dot vanished.

Only the last lonely red dot remained.

Which brother had suddenly unleashed squad-leader-level combat power?

Ah.

It was also possible that multiple people had formed a team.

Baimu suddenly understood. He stared intently at the final red dot, which seemed to have realized something was wrong and was desperately fleeing. The instant the radar's effect ended, the red dot solidified as well.

Half a minute later.

Rotom Drone descended. "The competition has ended. The Quicksand Team has won. Please remain where you are and wait for staff to arrive."

It was over?

They had won.

His teammates had unexpectedly pulled their weight, which surprised Baimu. He had thought teammates could only drag him down, but they were actually quite capable.

He recalled Lairon into its Poké Ball. A few minutes later, he saw a hovering cargo truck carrying a large container approach from the distance and stop in front of him.

The side door of the container opened, revealing several faces that first looked curious, then became astonished.

"It's you!"

"That's right. There are actually four people left... Huh? Where's Saruwatari?"

Baimu stepped into the air-conditioned container, feeling like he had come back to life. He looked around but failed to spot Saruwatari. "Did he actually lose?"

The four wore complicated expressions and shook their heads, indicating they did not know. One of them could not help asking:

"...Were all those people in the east taken care of by you?"

"Of course not. You're giving me too much credit. How could I possibly be that capable?" Baimu waved a hand. Seeing them visibly relax, he continued, "I just got lucky and dealt with four of them."

"Gasp!"

They sucked in cold breaths, then pressed on, "What about Jian? I secretly saw him earlier! He went east too, right?"

"I got lucky and buried him in the dirt. Enough about me—after team formation started, the five people were all dealt with by you together, right?" Baimu did not want to discuss it further and directly changed the subject.

One person said, "More or less..."

Under the normal flow of the competition, the outcome was usually decided once the team formation mode opened late in the match. Whichever team gathered more teammates first had the higher chance of winning.

Taking opponents on alone was simply too difficult. Unless someone truly had confidence in themselves or was exceptionally unlucky, few people would choose that kind of encounter battle.

Yet.

Baimu had taken down four people alone! Jian had even been among them!

How could they not be shocked?