The Galarian Corsola listened to Baimu ramble on all morning.
It wasn't until he was exhausted that it managed to escape the ordeal.
This guy can really talk!
Before now, who would've thought he was such a chatterbox? If it weren't too lazy and hadn't thought Baimu's cooking was quite good, the Galarian Corsola would have kicked him out long ago!
Meanwhile.
Baimu, with a dry mouth and parched throat, wondered why the Galarian Corsola was so impervious to his words—surely, he could crack a stone with such a long barrage?
The ghost and the man, each with their own thoughts, found it impossible to be on the same wavelength.
"Sigh."
Baimu sighed, just about to go to the restroom, when he noticed a few other passengers and Pokémon sitting very upright in the distance.
How to describe it?
Perhaps it's the kind of posture a primary school teacher would compliment—backs straight, eyes staring ahead.
He felt a bit uneasy, seeing these guys in an empty ferry cabin, with such stiff postures among people and Pokémon, and the endless deep sea outside.
It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie!
But thank goodness he had the Galarian Corsola with him, so even if he ran into a ghost, he wouldn't be afraid.
Moreover, these guys seemed alive; they had shadows, could sweat, and their bodies were trembling. Baimu carefully observed and confirmed they were indeed human.
What game are they playing?
He shook his head in disbelief and went into the restroom.
At the moment the restroom door closed, the stiff passengers and their Pokémon abruptly relaxed.
"Phew, that lunatic finally left."
"The way he looked over here was terrifying! I want to go up to the deck..."
"Aren't you afraid he'll throw you into the sea?"
"I'm actually more curious about how he managed to talk to a rock all morning. Is he really human? I think I've heard of the legend of the sea ghost."
"Yikes! Why are you so annoying!"
The passengers chatted animatedly, with the occasional Pokémon cry mixed in.
Baimu, washing his hands in the restroom, had a head full of black lines. His ears were always sharp, and the conversation outside was not exactly quiet. They truly had a mutual misunderstanding: he thought they were ghosts, and they thought he was a lunatic.
"You've caused me so much trouble."
He splashed some water onto the Galarian Corsola.
The Galarian Corsola looked at him disdainfully, as if to say, "This isn't my fault."
Emerging from the restroom.
The chatting passengers immediately froze when they saw him, quickly dispersing and acting like nothing had happened, sitting precisely upright once more.
Baimu hadn't minded initially, but seeing them play this trick again, he simply stared at them in silence.
Sensing his intense gaze, the passengers sat up even straighter, but it was truly difficult to maintain the posture for too long.
Before long, they began to feel uncomfortable.
Baimu had no intention of actually playing with them. He glanced outside and saw the island where Martial Arts Town was located coming into clear view, so he got up and headed out.
As he passed by them, he abruptly turned and said to the wide-eyed passengers and Pokémon: "First of all, I'm not a lunatic; I was communicating with my Pokémon.
"Secondly, this isn't a rock, it's a Galar Region form of Corsola. You should be able to scan it with an illustrated guide. I hope this clears up the misunderstanding?"
Baimu pulled out his phone, booping it against the passengers' Pokémon one by one, lighting up the shadows in the illustrated guide.
The passengers were dumbfounded, and only after he turned and left the cabin did they awkwardly exchange glances without a word to say.
"A Galar Region... Corsola?"
"I think there really is such a Pokémon..."
"Did he hear everything we said from the restroom? Ah! How embarrassing!"
They each showed the kind of shame one feels when caught acting wildly alone at home by family.
——
On the deck.
Baimu grabbed the railing, gazing toward Martial Arts Island in the distance.
The Pokémon World is always more expansive than you imagine. The martial arts island that had only towns and caves in the game had enough content for over a dozen episodes in the anime, each with different scenes.
Including mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and even an abandoned gold mine.
He was particularly interested in a Mudkip breeding base there, where Mudkips are specially bred to be given to new Trainers throughout the Hoenn region.
Unfortunately, the place is generally off-limits. Ash and the others once accidentally got inside by climbing rocks. There, Xiaogang discovered a wild Mudkip.
What kind of fortune is that?
However, more than Mudkip, Baimu hopes to catch a Feebas, preferably a shiny one.
"Group-living Pokémon can be found in rivers and seabeds rich with water plants..." He looked at the statistics online about Feebas habitats, finding that nearly every river or coastal area in Hoenn had sightings of it.
Almost like Magikarp.
In the game, he remembered it was found in only one incredibly scarce location.
"Lucky Scale, do your magic."
He touched the box in his pocket, then thought that it probably couldn't make dreams come true.
Suddenly.
The ferry's speaker crackled to life.
"Approaching dock—Martial Arts Town pier. Passengers who are disembarking, please sit down and prepare. Mind the one-meter yellow line outside the exit..."
They had arrived in Martial Arts Town.
Baimu took a deep breath of the slightly salty sea air, the scorching sea breeze blowing against his face.
The summer in Hoenn is a bit more bearable than in Pyrite Town, but not by much, especially around noon—a difficult time for anyone vulnerable to ultraviolet rays.
The Galarian Corsola found it particularly difficult to nap in this heat.
It felt as if it were sitting inside an oven, continuously getting heated.
"Throating..."
"You're right; that's called the sun," Baimu said, fanning himself with his hand, noticing the deeply resentful look in the Galarian Corsola's eyes. He sighed and tucked it into his bag. "This way, it won't be hot."
If it stayed in the sun any longer, he feared it would curse him.
Reaching the exit, he again encountered the passengers who had regarded him as crazy. They wore rather awkward expressions. Seeing this, he said nothing, nodding slightly before getting off the ship.
"Need to sort out lunch first..."
He glanced around, then opened his phone to search for renowned restaurants in Martial Arts Town.
Restaurants in seaside towns are usually skilled at preparing various ocean ingredients, just as chefs in Yaoxiang City have discovered the secrets of freshness. He was also quite interested in Martial Arts Town's specialty foods.
Thankfully, the Pokémon World offered a Michelin-like star rating system for restaurants, which could guide his hunt for eateries.
"Octopus Barrel Cannon, a two-star restaurant, promising a taste impact akin to enduring an Octopus Barrel Cannon... What a bizarre tagline," Baimu chuckled, yet found himself intrigued.