"Hey! No need to thank me for a bit of watermelon! But Porygon is truly amazing, I've never even heard of moves like Texture and Texture 2 before!"
The little watermelon-headed kid rubbed his nose, his eyes fixated on Porygon.
Porygon started to feel a bit uneasy under his gaze.
"If you're interested in Porygon, you can go to Mach City in Kanto to find Dr. Akihabara," Baimu offered proactively.
"Kanto!"
The little watermelon-headed kid was startled, sweat trickling down his forehead as he replied dejectedly, "That's too far, my grandpa wouldn't agree!"
"Hahaha, well, just wait until you're a bit older and travel later on."
Baimu happily munched on a watermelon, and when he caught sight of a sneaky fellow out of the corner of his eye, he dashed over, wrapping his arms around its two huge heads. "Stop overeating!"
"Hey wuu!" "Hey wuu!"
The Zweilous, each head holding a watermelon, struggled and cried out, its two heads burying themselves into the fruit, enjoying it so much that they couldn't stop, throwing a tantrum and acting coquettishly.
The little watermelon-headed kid quickly said, "It's okay! Eat as much as you want—"
"Nope, eating too much will upset its stomach and affect its normal feeding at night, which isn't good for its health." Baimu gave him a smile and slapped its two heads forcefully, "Let go! Of the mouth!"
Slap, slap.
Two watermelons hit the ground and shattered.
"Hey wuu!" "Hey wuu!"
The Zweilous's eyes shone brightly at the sight of the smashed watermelons, knowing that the trainer hated wasting food, thinking that these two melons would certainly be given to it, right? They would surely—
Suddenly, two vines darted out, piercing into the melons, absorbing all the juice and pulp.
The Zweilous stared at the suddenly vanished melons, and the whole dragon abruptly fell into a gloomy state.
The melons, the melons were gone...
"Woo-squeak~"
The Victreebel joyfully bounced a couple of times on the ground, its triangular eyes full of happy vibes.
The little watermelon-headed kid laughed and said, "You also like eating the melons at home the most, right?"
"Dummy."
Baimu, half-laughing, half-crying, dragged the Zweilous to the stream to wash its face; this guy had watermelon seeds and juice all over its face, which was sticky and gross.
Not far away.
The Galarian Corsola slowly moved away from the third melon; although it wanted to eat more, being dragged around like that wasn't great.
It also found it embarrassing.
"Oh!"
The little watermelon-headed kid seemed to have thought of something suddenly, "Since your Pokémon is so strong, why not try the Battle Tent Challenge?"
"Battle Tent Challenge?"
Baimu looked puzzled.
"Yes! Trainers choose three Pokémon to participate, and they can't give any commands or hints, they can only watch the battle through the big screen outside. As long as the Pokémon can defeat five opponents, there's a chance to win a Pokémon Egg!"
The little watermelon-headed kid said excitedly.
Hmm?
Sounds a bit like the battle palace in games?
He glanced at his Pokémon, genuinely becoming a bit interested, not for the Pokémon Egg, but for the autonomy of his Pokémon in battles.
Without his strategies and timely reminders at certain points, have they become stronger? Or weaker?
"Why does Verdanturf Town have such interesting competitions?"
Baimu asked, puzzled.
The little watermelon-headed kid chuckled and said, "Because many injured trainers and Pokémon come here, so they came up with this to keep their companions battle-ready at all times."
Ah...
So that's it.
He nodded thoughtfully.
Parting ways with the little watermelon-headed kid who had to keep tending the fields, the two agreed to have another match before Baimu left.
"I'll use my second Grand General to fight then!"
"You have a second Grand General?"
"Of course!"
The righteous expression made Baimu reflect on how different those growing up farming at home are.
In the city, at his age, if kids didn't go to Trainer School, they might not have come into contact with Pokémon, like the siblings in the movie "Everyone's Story" who kept attending an ordinary high school.
Verdanturf Town.
Although called the best environment town, there was no shortage of modern facilities and high-rise buildings.
Just that you mostly don't see cars on the main streets, most are motorbikes, and the plant coverage is incredibly high, with many residential areas covered in green, and many small buildings have walls draped in climbing ivy.
Pokémon Center—
Reasonably enough, there were no more single rooms.
Baimu had to find somewhere else to stay, but the hotels here were far busier than expected. Though the streets seemed devoid of foot traffic, he found three or four hotels fully booked.
Hotels wouldn't work...
A guesthouse?
Or maybe just buy a house in Verdanturf Town! My wallet is quite full at the moment, and though houses in Verdanturf Town are expensive, they are worth it and not pigeonholes. If I plan to stay in Hoenn long-term, having a house here might be a good option.
With this thought, he really started looking for a real estate agent.
Unexpectedly, after turning left and right, he didn't find a real estate agent but saw a figure that looked both familiar and a bit unfamiliar.
"Messy green hair, a sickly, good-boy air, always accompanied by Gallade…"
Baimu tentatively called out.
"Mann Chong?"
"Eh?"
The green-haired boy and Gallade turned around curiously, only to find no one there, causing them to look around blankly, "Who-who's calling me?"
He asked tremblingly.
After getting no response for a while, he quickly left with Gallade.
Hiding behind the signboard of a café, Baimu had a bizarre expression.
After Violet-haired Courtney and the plump Huo Cun, another fierce rival of the game protagonist, the sickly boy Mann Chong had also appeared.