"Indeed, how did its trainer even cultivate it?"
"I really hope to see it compete this afternoon."
"Hahaha, that's almost impossible, right? With this kind of performance, it's surely going straight to the semifinals. The rest will probably have to battle for at least a day, maybe even two."
A few passersby walked by, chatting and laughing.
Two days of battles?
Baimu glanced at the big screen. He didn't quite believe it at first, but after seeing the somewhat theatrical Pokémon battles, he felt it might really drag on for a day or two.
Not long after.
In the inn.
He didn't see Mann Chong at the front desk; presumably, he had obediently gone back to catch up on sleep.
"Welcome~"
A girl at the front desk whom he didn't know greeted him.
"Could you prepare one human lunch and six Pokémon lunches for me? The attributes are..."
Baimu had thought about it on the way, deciding to avoid cooking himself at noon to ready himself for potentially having matches in the afternoon. He also wanted to try the inn's cuisine.
Earlier, Qianli's wife, Mitsuko, had said the agricultural products in Verdanturf Town were of great quality, so the taste shouldn't be too bad.
"Your request has been noted."
The receptionist bowed in acknowledgment.
He nodded and headed straight back to his room. Once inside, he went into the bathroom and released Mawile from the Pokeball.
"Chido—!!"
As soon as it came out, it caught a whiff of its own foul odor and hurried to the showerhead, turning the water on without adjusting the temperature and dousing itself thoroughly.
After washing away the surface slime, it breathed a small sigh of relief.
But when it sniffed its arm and body again, it showed an expression of extreme disgust.
"Chido!"
"Alright, alright."
Baimu adjusted the water temperature for Mawile and handed over the special shampoo on the bath sponge. "Don't scrub too hard, or you'll lose hair. If it still smells, you can have a spa bath when we get back."
"Chido~"
Smelling the pleasant scent, Mawile visibly relaxed, nodded slightly, and covered itself with bubbles inside and out until it was satisfied.
After finally finishing washing and drying off its fur, Baimu assured Mawile that the Pokeball absolutely didn't stink, so there was no need to change anything.
Baimu let out a sigh of relief.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
Although Mawile wasn't as obsessive about clean fur as Ash Ketchum's Dusk Form Lycanroc had been in its early days, neglecting it for too long could have an impact on its mental well-being.
As he was about to head to the Pokémon Center, he opened the door to find Mann Chong sitting by the flowerbeds on either side of the entrance.
The kid had his head down, seemingly deep in thought.
"Didn't you go to sleep?"
He asked instinctively.
"Ah, Baimu... I've already slept," Mann Chong replied with dark circles under his eyes, blatantly fibbing, "How's the tournament at the battle tent? I was just about to go watch..."
Baimu replied, "Qualified for the semifinals."
"Amazing! Is it a Pokémon I haven't seen before?" Mann Chong stood up in excitement.
"It's just common Pokémon."
He pressed Mann Chong's shoulders, pushing him back to the edge of the flowerbed. "You should try to sleep, I'm worried you'll collapse. Hmm..."
Baimu took out a homemade essence spray from his pocket and sprayed it twice on Mann Chong's face.
"Ah!"
Mann Chong was initially startled, but soon his expression showed a hint of fatigue, and he began blinking more frequently. "W-what is this? Hypnosis spray?"
"You're overthinking it. This is a spray made with the Essence of Clarity and Sleep, effective only for insomniacs. To those who are alert, it merely feels refreshing. Kids shouldn't read inappropriate books."
"What... inappropriate... books?"
"Nothing really, just take this and get some sleep. Be careful not to collapse at the doorstep with no one to catch you." Baimu handed the essence spray to Mann Chong and, after thinking, took the softly swaying Pokeball from his waist and released Gallade.
"Help your Trainer back to his room."
He gently pushed Mann Chong into Gallade's arms.
A sense of calm washed over him as Mann Chong's eyelids, heavy from sleepiness, gradually closed.
Gallade carefully cradled its Trainer and gave a grateful look.
"No need to thank me. Just remind your Trainer to have more battles with me when he wakes up."
Baimu waved them off.
Great.
A favor was done.
Judging by Mann Chong's character, when he wakes up and sees the essence spray, he'll likely feel quite embarrassed, increasing the chances of him reciprocating the battle request.
Besides, with his current confused state, having more Pokémon battles might just get him back to normal.
Maybe.
He couldn't be entirely sure.
—
Leaving the Pokémon Center.
Aggron, as expected, had no issues; swimming in a pool was akin to swimming in the ocean.
And having just learned a new move, it was genuinely happy and excited.
"Looks like you really could learn moves like Water Cannon."
Baimu released it in a park, patting its arm and pretending to hold a microphone to its mouth. "Have you considered further developing into a Water-type Pokémon?"
"Groar."
Yes, it has!
Aggron slightly lowered its head, seriously nodding like those Pokémon interviewed on TV.
"Hahaha, why are you so cooperative!"
Baimu laughed and playfully kicked it.
Aggron also laughed, wagging its thick tail.
Just as they were about to chat a bit more, a voice sounded not far away.
"Wow! Such a big Aggron! It's awesome!"
"Indeed it is!"
Both turned to look and saw a group of trainers with their Pokémon approaching.