A Fortune and a Journey East

After selling the Anorith fossil, Bai Shi had made a fortune overnight.

And that wasn't even counting the bounty money and what he had earned from mining.

To his surprise, Bai Shi realized he was now very close to his goal of buying a house in Twinleaf Town.

After all, Twinleaf Town was a relatively underdeveloped farming town.

Unlike Jubilife City, where land was worth a fortune, housing prices there were much lower.

"Ah, too bad my Pokémon can't take any more. Otherwise, I could've dug myself a mansion out of this place."

Thinking of the hundreds of millions he'd missed out on, Bai Shi shook his head and sighed.

When he had first become a Pokémon Trainer, his short-term goal had been nothing more than a small home of his own in Twinleaf Town.

Now, without him quite noticing, that goal had turned into a mansion.

Human desire really was endless.

His growing appetite drove Bai Shi onward toward his new goal.

"I've certainly made a lot of money lately, but my Pokémon haven't gotten much stronger."

"And strength is what matters most. It's time I moved on."

"Of course, I still have to keep my promise to my Pokémon."

To keep his Pokémon motivated, Bai Shi had promised to take them out for a feast after they finished mining and give them a break.

But Oreburgh City was a mining town with relatively limited amenities.

The feast Bai Shi had promised would have to wait until they reached a major city.

To make up for it, Bai Shi gave his Pokémon an extra day off.

That gave them a chance to recover from the fatigue built up over days of mining.

Once their break was over, Bai Shi would set out again.

As for challenging the Oreburgh Gym again?

At his current level, Bai Shi still wasn't confident he could beat Roark.

Nor was he particularly eager to collect Badges for the moment.

One crushing setback was enough motivation for now.

Too many could destroy his Pokémon's confidence altogether.

He would be better off traveling elsewhere first, then coming back to challenge the Gym once they had grown substantially stronger.

Hearthome City lay east of Oreburgh City, and it was Bai Shi's next destination.

With a long journey ahead, Bai Shi bought a large stock of travel supplies.

He also hoped to catch a new Pokémon ready to battle along the way.

Then he could bring it to the Double Battle tournament in Hearthome City and give Paul, whom he hadn't seen in ages, a "surprise."

So Bai Shi prepared to spend an extended stretch living in the wild.

His battle with Roark had made him realize that his Pokémon not only shared the Normal type, but also had limited fighting styles.

Staravia relied on bursts of speed.

Dunsparce liked to use Dig to circle and harass opponents.

Stantler had trained almost exclusively in Confusion.

None of them was particularly good at holding its ground.

If they faced a large Pokémon with devastating attack power, they would struggle to withstand it.

Bai Shi planned to catch a Pokémon that excelled at close-quarters combat and could hold the line, making up for that weakness.

Now that his wallet was full, he could afford to raise one.

"Wait... I'm not going to end up with another Normal-type Pokémon, am I?"

Thinking of his strange "affinity" for Normal types gave Bai Shi an uneasy feeling.

Before he could catch a Pokémon, he had to encounter one.

Only by meeting the right Pokémon would he have a chance to catch it.

He couldn't simply decide what he wanted and expect it to appear.

That was all down to luck.

If he met a Normal-type Pokémon that was exactly what he wanted, he wouldn't have much choice.

He couldn't pass it up just because of its type.

"If it is a Normal type, Ursaring and Kangaskhan are both pretty good..."

"Hold on. Why am I already assuming my next Pokémon will be a Normal type?"

Bai Shi caught himself mid-thought and shook his head hard, trying to drive the dangerous idea away.

As far as he could remember, the only Normal-type specialists who had left a strong impression on him were Norman and Larry.

The former was a Gym Leader in the Hoenn Region; the latter was both a Gym Leader and an Elite Four member in Paldea.

Rather than follow their example, Bai Shi wanted to become a powerful Trainer with a varied team, like Cynthia.

"Before I leave, I might as well try checking in!"

Feeling a little superstitious, Bai Shi remembered the system, which hadn't made an appearance in ages.

He wanted to use it to test his luck.

Ever since it had given him a Great Ball, the system hadn't produced anything worthwhile.

And now that Bai Shi was better off, its meager offerings no longer impressed him.

Over time, he had simply stopped paying attention to it.

At this point, the system's main use to Bai Shi was as a way to test his luck.

"Come on, system. Show me what you've got!"

With a thought, Bai Shi pressed the Check-In Button in his mind.

"Congratulations, Pokémon Trainer! You have received one Bicycle!"

Perhaps because it hadn't produced anything good in so long, the Check-In System finally came through.

A black folding mountain bike appeared in front of Bai Shi.

"Oh, it actually gave me something good."

Bai Shi sounded a little surprised.

He had only said it on a whim, but the system had apparently taken him seriously.

He had a long way to travel, and the system had delivered a Bicycle at just the right time.

It was exactly what he needed.

It completely changed Bai Shi's opinion of the Check-In System.

"Not bad, not bad. I underestimated you!"

Bai Shi climbed onto his new Bicycle and took it for a few spins, grinning with delight.

He had completely forgotten how little he had thought of the system before.

"So my luck's pretty good right now!"

"Maybe I'll run into a Pokémon that isn't a Normal type."

Buoyed by that sign of good fortune, Bai Shi felt hopeful about his next catch again.

"Bai Shi, leaving already? Tired of mining? Sure you don't want to stay a few more days?"

Roark tried to persuade Bai Shi to stay when he came to say goodbye.

The time they had spent mining together had forged a friendship between them.

Roark was genuinely reluctant to see Bai Shi go.

It certainly wasn't because he wanted Bai Shi to keep digging up fossils for him.

But Bai Shi had made up his mind and politely declined.

"Mr. Roark, I'll definitely come back someday."

"When I do, I hope you'll accept my challenge again!"

The fossils still buried beneath the mine were reason enough for Bai Shi to return.

So he could confidently promise Roark that he would be back.

"Good. I'll look forward to seeing you again."

Hearing that Bai Shi would return, Roark relaxed a little and nodded.

As long as the man with extraordinary luck was coming back, Roark had no reason to worry about finding more fossils.

"Take care, Mr. Roark!"

Bai Shi held out a hand to Roark.

"You too!"

Roark smiled and held out his own hand without hesitation.

The two shook hands firmly.