The young man was forgiven.
For one thing, he hadn't done anything unforgivable. For another, Baimu couldn't be bothered with him anymore.
Hau looked delighted.
Kindhearted boys generally hated making enemies.
As the Original Series theme song put it, "Yesterday's enemy might be today's friend."
Even if they didn't become friends, there was no reason to make another enemy.
That was why Ash often struck up conversations with peers who looked down on him, like Paul and Trip.
Gary didn't count. They'd known each other since childhood...
Hoku told Baimu that the young man had recently lost ten matches in a row and had been punished with gate duty. That was where his temper had come from.
Bottom of the rankings and a foul temper to boot. He reminded Baimu of plenty of esports players from his previous life.
Before long,
Hoku led the two of them onto a walkway built around the Battle Tree's trunk. This was where the trainers held most of their battles.
Thick vines supported the suspended arenas, each assembled from wooden planks. They looked dangerous.
In fact, they were so tough that ordinary Pokémon had no hope of breaking them.
The Battle Tree currently had more than forty participants. Each occupied an arena at a different height according to their strength.
The rules were much like defending a position: winners climbed, losers fell.
The arena at the very top of the crown belonged to the Battle Tree's strongest trainer—Hoku.
"You?"
Baimu and Hau both looked at him.
Their expressions couldn't have been more different. Baimu looked puzzled; Hau looked thrilled.
Hoku feigned anger. "What's wrong with it being me? Do I look weak?"
As someone Baimu had once used as a benchmark, Hoku was no pushover.
But compared with the postgame Battle Tree in the