They were holding Pokeballs, repeatedly asking, "Do you want to trade your Aggron with my Dodrio? A three-headed Pokémon is very interesting!"
"Trade with my Gengar instead! It will definitely cheer you up! Joy is essential for traveling!"
"No, no, no, trade with my Snorlax instead. Although it eats a lot, it's very soft and comfortable to touch!"
They filled the air with words of persuasion.
Baimu exchanged a glance with Aggron, and the former waved his hand, "Sorry, Aggron won't be traded, and I haven't joined the Pokémon Exchange Conference either!"
Upon hearing this, those trainers stopped their persuasion actions, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, just a passerby."
"I thought you were a participant too."
"Sorry, let's pretend none of this happened."
Baimu was about to say it was okay, when suddenly there was a shout from afar.
"Come and see! Someone is offering Altered-color Pokémon for trade! So many Altered-color Pokémon!"
Altered-color?
He was slightly taken aback, and the trainers who had surrounded him immediately dispersed, rushing towards the direction of the voice, eager and competitive like sardines.
"As expected, where trainers gather in large numbers, similar things tend to occur."
Baimu turned to Aggron and said.
The latter swayed its tail and let out a low growl, "Groar~"
Aren't we going to check it out?
It knew that trainers have been pursuing the Altered-color Feebas, sadly it hasn't even encountered a normal Feebas lately.
"Indeed, we should take a look."
Baimu patted its head, recalled it into the Pokeball, and walked towards the direction where the voice came from.
He saw the crowd packed tightly, among them were several Pokémon with colors noticeably different from their kind, striking various poses, in the center was a jolly-looking, chubby man.
"Altered-color Wooper, Altered-color Lotad, Altered-color Slugma, Altered-color Cascoon... hmm? Why are there two?"
He was initially puzzled, but then quickly understood that they were probably evolved from two Wurmple.
Even in the game, this type of Pokémon makes it difficult to determine its evolution path because it depends on data, and this guy probably wasn't lucky, as one didn't evolve into Silcoon.
What a pity.
However, Baimu thought that Shiny Dustox looked a bit better than Altered-color Beautifly, the latter's color seemed a little off, like an old photograph, while the former resembled a nicely vivid "Dead Leaf Butterfly" wings.
"If you want to trade for my Altered-color Pokémon, please bring your own Altered-color Pokémon for a trade~"
The chubby man shouted at the crowd.
Exchanging Altered-color for Altered-color?
Many trainers in the crowd turned away upon hearing this, while the remaining ones refused to give up, approaching the man to pitch their Pokémon's strengths.
Baimu watched for about twenty minutes, seeing that the man couldn't complete his trades yet was still pleased, realizing that this guy was mostly just showcasing his Pokémon. There's even a "professional" term for this kind of showcase, called flaunting the shiny.
Too ostentatious.
Hopefully, no one gets fooled by dyed Pokémon.
Baimu was well aware that in the animated world many trainers liked to dye their Pokémon, and some unscrupulous people would dye them to pose as Altered-color Pokémon for sale.
Although this couldn't enhance Pokémon's combat abilities, sometimes standing out could provide a sense of superiority, hence it was sought after by many, even by trainers aiming to collect every Altered-color Pokémon.
He withdrew his gaze, regretfully returning to the inn.
Coincidentally, lunch was also ready, and he, along with Aggron and other Pokémon, finished lunch while waiting.
——
Afternoon.
As there wasn't much to do.
Baimu started training the non-battling Pokémon, like the Galarian Corsola.
The main objective was for them to learn more useful moves and to gradually increase their energy level.
The most crucial task for Galarian Corsola was undoubtedly to learn [Ghost Fire] and [Defend], the former allowing it to hold its own against physical attackers, and the latter preventing it from being swiftly taken down by Roserade as it was yesterday.
Even right after using a move, it could still try to hold up a bit.
If it managed to activate Defend, it'd be a huge gain.
The determined trainer had long made Galarian Corsola prepared for "overtime".
No choice.
Even a laid-back life can be quite complicated.
Sometimes putting in a little effort is for the sake of slacking off better in the future.
Baimu strictly followed Dr. Kukui's teachings, opting for active involvement in move learning rather than a laissez-faire attitude.
How to involve oneself in learning Ghost Fire?
He bought some white phosphorus, intending to conduct a chemistry experiment near Galarian Corsola to self-develop "Ghost Fire".
However, with Ash Ketchum's Gengar learning method, perhaps having Galarian Corsola observe more Pokémon using Fire Attribute Energy might also be a good choice?
Trying both couldn't hurt.
Perhaps this method might indeed work.
When Baimu ignited a cloth soaked in white phosphorus and tried to produce greenish Ghost Fire, a small flicker of bluish flame also appeared in front of Galarian Corsola.
It was brief but caught precisely by Baimu.
"...Haha, seems like we found the knack for it," he said, smiling at Galarian Corsola.
Every beginning is hard, once done twice, the third time will follow.
The downturned-mouthed Galarian Corsola glanced at him, giving a rare reply, "Uhm..."
It's Porygon's turn.
Truthfully, Baimu had no clue how to teach [Magic Space] move.
Forcing the former by sheer will wouldn't yield results either.
He even considered asking Dr. Akihabara to directly design a skill learning patch for Porygon—he wasn't daydreaming, as Dr. Akihabara did consider this.
However, due to various influences, this patch wasn't successfully designed.
But an assistant recently pointed him in the right direction.
Have Porygon design a program similar to Magic Space on a computer, making fast things slow, and slow things fast.
They say it could stimulate its learning module, thereby automatically comprehending Magic Space.
An intriguing idea.
So Baimu spent a fortune on a laptop.
Currently, Porygon is engrossed in learning programming, so Magic Space is temporarily set aside, with the move target switched to Frozen Beam.
Ice Attribute has considerable impact offensively.
The learning process was also simple.
Putting Porygon in a fridge to stimulate its internal Ice Attribute program suffices. Once it can activate Ice Attribute Energy, it will have learned Frozen Beam.
That's how Artificial Pokémon are; different from regular Pokémon in many respects.
The move learning process is too.
And it's Zweilous's turn.
Baimu hesitated a little.
He felt that instead of learning moves, Zweilous should focus on level enhancement—
The latter thought the same.
Losing to Mann Chong's Roserade yesterday left it very unsatisfied, believing that if it were Aggron who faced Roserade, it surely wouldn't have lost.
Where was the shortcoming?
Energy Level!
Putting it bluntly, Ability Value!
Zweilous knew well the significant difference in ability value and level between it and the high-level, battle-experienced Roserade, leading to Dragon Dive failing to penetrate the latter's Missile Needle and even being neutralized.
If Dragon Dive could connect, followed by Flame Fang, Roserade wouldn't need a follow-up strike from Steelix to fall.
A slight difference.
Represents a huge difference, means being unable to win.
Zweilous did not wish to continue like this; it wanted to level up, get stronger, evolve into a more powerful form.
The firm belief echoed in both of Zweilous's heads, listed as the most important task alongside contending for Aggron's ace position.
Evolve! Evolve!