On the third day of the mayor's absence.
The atmosphere in Pyrite Town seemed to have grown heavier.
Baimu heard some rumors in the restaurant about the mayor's subordinates taking the opportunity to amass wealth. They set up checkpoints at essential transport hubs, and no matter what faction, anyone wanting to leave Pyrite Town had to pay a hefty fee.
If you didn't pay, you'd be suspected of theft and taken back for a good interrogation.
Most people chose to endure it, but there were also those who couldn't stand it. Those hardheaded ones usually softened after clearing their "suspicions" through interrogation.
Moreover, the tolls had been rising day by day, with different prices set for different people.
Within a few days, everyone was grumbling, looking at the mayor's faction with increasing hostility.
Baimu found it odd. While the mayor's faction wasn't above taking bribes, they'd never been so "blatant" about it, their frenzied greed was shocking. Didn't they realize what they were doing?
It wasn't until he asked Shanren that he understood the reason.
Someone had spread the news within the mayor's faction that the mayor was about to step down, causing internal panic. The mayor's close aides, thinking they would return to Silicon City, couldn't wait to reap one last round of benefits.
Following their lead, the middle management, unsure if they would be retained, couldn't resist the earning opportunity right before them. With the chance to blame it on their superiors, they gradually went mad.
As for the lower levels, while they did earn, they also bore the brunt of public anger.
Getting paid the least, while carrying the greatest blame.
But Baimu had his doubts—this kind of lie should be easy to expose. Couldn't the mayor's confidants contact him?
Of course, they could reach him. The key was that the mayor himself believed he might be demoted.
"He's been given the cold shoulder for two days, his direct superior hasn't summoned him, so he must be extremely anxious," Shanren said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Your father's behind this?"
"Of course, from the summons to the two days on the cold bench, it was all arranged from Silicon City."
Shanren said, "Tell Wu, the time to leave is almost here, have him prepare. You too, the Quicksand Team's next project won't be far off."
"Okay."
Baimu nodded, conveying the message to Wu.
"I understand!"
Wu nodded vigorously, then said, "You wait for me, I'll be back after delivering the Deinos!"
Baimu said in surprise, "You're coming back?"
"Of course I am! Now that I've seen what's happening here, how can I just stand by? Not only that, I want to rally more Dragon Tamers!"
The young man, with a lion-like, flamboyant hairstyle, had fire in his eyes. Obviously, the days of hiding had built up a lot of anger, reaching his breaking point.
But Baimu was inevitably worried; saving Ore was originally an internal affair. Would the involvement of outside forces complicate the situation—
He was overthinking it.
The differences between regions in the world of the Pokémon anime were significant. At least there wasn't a clear sense of distance like between countries, otherwise, how could Ash Ketchum from Kanto become the champion of Alola?
The Elite Four members in each region might not even be locals.
Moreover, if the international police intervened, the issues in the Ore Region would no longer be just internal, but a global issue.
Baimu, looking at Wu's excitement, felt a premonition that the situation might get more complicated.
Originally.
The dark forces in the Ore Region only had to face internal resistors who wouldn't bow down.
But with the involvement of outsiders, it was hard to say what could happen.
——
During the external turmoil these days.
Baimu devoted more effort to fostering a bond with Deino.
Despite its siblings being disruptive, Deino gradually understood its differences from the other Deinos, such as its strictly controlled meal portions.
For instance, being secretly called for a midnight snack, or playing catch in the yard at night, eventually cuddling up to sleep in the living room.
Of course, a hand always seemed to end up in its mouth.
Each of these actions seemed to signify something.
Though Deino's mind was quite immature, it developed a certain understanding of some things since it had always heard:
"Someday, you'll find a Trainer to spend the rest of your life with."
Trainer?
The former Deino couldn't comprehend this, imagining it as something delicious or fun.
But after seeing Baimu and spending more time with him, this vague term suddenly became much clearer, bringing genuine joy.
After experiencing these complex emotions that were so new to Deino.
Baimu quickly noticed that this little creature had become more obedient, with a sense of increased intimacy.
However, its temper was still easily provoked. Just a few taunts from Aggron or Mawile, and it would be filled with rage, charging in for a biting spree.
Unfortunately, this was just a futile fury, achieving nothing, as the other two either had immense physical defense or could levitate away into the air with electromagnetic levitation.
But through Deino's instinctive actions when angered, Baimu could clearly see that biting and charging were its primary methods of attack.
In his plans for Deino's future, being a long-range special attack powerhouse was the top priority, maximizing Hydreigon's advantages.
Physical attacks would serve as backup methods, in case of close combat.
After all, his team was already heavily focused on physical offense; making it a pure physical team would be like having all blades and no diversity.
So he had to find a way to change its instinctual combat approach.
The day Deino could instinctively launch Evil Fluctuation at Aggron and Mawile instead of blindly charging would be a success.
Dramatically, Mawile had learned how to use Taunt.
Even though it had been trying to learn Sword Dance and being playful every day, it ended up mastering this move first.
Was it a coincidence, or did Mawile have a knack for it?
Aggron's electromagnetic levitation showed no progress. Recently, it seemed to enjoy fighting with Haxorus and took pride in the new slash marks on its body, becoming more resilient all around.
Chansey's progress on the dual wall technique wasn't going great either.
When it came to learning moves, they seemed to have hit a stagnation point, unlike the progress in other areas.
Was it because there were too many moves?
Baimu couldn't help but speculate, pulling out his phone to search for Dr. Kukui.
This young professor from the Alola Region was renowned for his research in Pokémon moves. His research not only included the unique Alola Z-Moves, but also ordinary moves as part of his study.
After all, Z-Moves were derived from ordinary moves, and the connection between the two was a focal point in research.
After pondering for a while.
He posed a question to Dr. Kukui via Poké Blogger.
Additionally, currently Aggron and the others spent so much time practicing and familiarizing themselves with old moves that it took up a significant portion of their schedule. Should he slow down the pace of learning new moves and instead dedicate that time to getting more familiar with their existing moves?
Considering the escalating events in Pyrite Town, he thought it might be necessary.