Perhaps this is the power that hatred brings.
Ghost-type Pokémon, huh? They thrive on negative emotions and enjoy toying with other living creatures, even their techniques are based on negative emotions, such as Nightmare, Curse, Grudge, Fright, Misfortune Never Comes Alone, and so on.
Finished dinner and headed home.
There were no street lights on the way, only dim lights illuminating the houses dispersed everywhere.
Gengar especially liked this environment, running around everywhere with the Dreepy siblings, until they angered a resting Salamence, almost got caught by Dragon Claw, then hastily ran back.
"A bunch of idiots!"
Baimu gave them a solid punch to the head.
Halfway there.
A faint light suddenly flew over from the distance, like a flickering white Ghost Fire, scaring Blissey who hated darkness and had recently watched a horror movie with Mawile.
Until the person seemed to notice him and started approaching while shouting, only then did the vigilant Pokémon realize it was a Trainer's acquaintance holding a phone.
"Baimu! Finally found you!"
The chubby Lian Zuo was panting heavily, it was hard to imagine how someone of his physique could be one of the Meteor People's Village Protection Team's three stars.
He asked, "What's the matter?"
"I, I've discussed it with others, wanted to ask if you could post the battle from this afternoon online." Lian Zuo raised his phone, showing a clip of the edited battle.
Baimu exclaimed, "When did you record it?"
He didn't recall any cameras during the battle... Well, it must have been shot with a phone judging by the quality.
"Hehehe, of course it was secretly filmed with a phone. The quality isn't great, but we thought since you're not planning to join the Champion Alliance, posting this video could silence those guys online!"
Lian Zuo's little eyes were full of seriousness.
The Dragon Tamers quickly went online to check related news upon hearing that Baimu was not planning to join the Champion Alliance.
They discovered that yesterday afternoon, the Pokémon Alliance Executive Committee's Hoenn Branch—where Tamaranze's organization belongs—officially announced he was not participating in the Champion Alliance, preparing instead for the Ore Region's League Tournament.
The internet quickly erupted with great waves.
Even reaching the top of the hot search temporarily before dropping down.
Just a few days ago, everyone was discussing whether Baimu could defeat Da Wu and become the new Hoenn Champion, and now all of a sudden he's not participating?
Actually, it's quite common for tournament winners not to join the Champion Alliance.
The main reaction he received was due to Shanren and the Hoenn Alliance's excessive marketing tactics some time ago.
Except for Dan Emperor, no young Trainer has been on the blog's hot search so frequently.
But he's the undefeated King!
Galar Champion!
And Baimu, what kind of Champion are you?
A tournament winner, a festival winner—holding titles year after year that can be boasted about—
Well.
The Pokémon World's internet is relatively civilized, not that exaggerated, otherwise Baimu being nicknamed "Teacher Dabai" would take no more than a few hours.
Currently, doubts and speculations are prevalent.
Some people think Baimu cannot defeat the Hoenn Four Heavenly Kings and Champion, worried that stepping up would end his winning streak, thus using the excuse of joining the Ore Region's League Tournament.
Just like when he gave up other Gorgeous Competition events to participate in Ever Grande Conference.
Afraid of losing, afraid of breaking the mythical winning streak.
Though they're kind of half-right, such voices are not very strong. On one hand, Shanren worried about affecting Baimu's mindset, carried out positive PR and arranged Rainbow Team members to report them.
On the other hand, Porygon II directly used keyword blocking to eliminate most of the unfriendly questioning, not giving the Trainer a chance to see them.
Really.
It's already nice that it didn't follow the connection to beat people up!
After the hot search faded, mainstream internet discussion shifted from Baimu to Ore, focusing mainly on Ore Region's plans to host its first Pokémon League Tournament.
People didn't universally express a supportive attitude.
A considerable portion thought Ore was moving too fast.
For a small remote area's league... Or rather, a place where even a league hasn't been established yet—with introductions stating there aren't many Trainers—how many Trainers might participate in hosting the first League Tournament?
Even if numbers are met, what about the quality of those Trainers?
To most Trainers, Regional Champion is a sacred term. If a small region's Champion can't even match other regions' Four Heavenly Kings, it simply damages the Champion's prestige!
Thus netizens believe the first Ore Tournament's winner may not be worthy of the "Champion" title.
Baimu's announcement to prepare for the Ore Tournament gained a lot of recognition, but also caused doubt about whether the Ore Champion has sufficient credibility.
The blog buzzed noisily, while the existence of other regions became negligible.
Shanren was happy to see the online criticisms.
He knew well that a region's development can't do without external judgment, and while accepting foreign aid, inevitably leads to localities being gradually eroded by external forces.
Becoming a top politician or business giant like Luozi is extremely difficult. The Galar Region's rise has already made those financial magnates who missed the opportunity regret, and Ore's emergence successfully piqued their interest.
As a local.
Shanren didn't hold much national sentiment, but he also didn't want Ore to become a place mixed with other regions, hence establishing a local beacon was crucial.
Baimu is that beacon.
The bigger the online uproar, the stronger the "backfire" when Baimu proves himself, and it will even further inspire Ore people's recognition.
[Our Champion defeated all doubts]!
In Shanren's vision, Baimu would unite Ore people, truly investing their passion for regional development rather than just muddling through.
What the Rescue Organization aimed to save had never been merely the lives of Ore people, but their spiritual ideas too!
However, this makes the pressure Baimu has to bear much greater than just being an ordinary Champion, although Shanren believes in Baimu's ability to handle it—after all, he's experienced worse, being criticized is nothing.
But to be safe, he advised Baimu to stay offline more and train.
Who would have thought.
Lian Zuo's goodwill allowed Baimu, who was protected by Shanren and Porygon II, to become aware of the online storm.
"Thanks, Lian Zuo, and everyone for being so concerned, it makes me feel bad. But I need to check with Heavenly King Genji first about this matter, what if it affects his reputation?"
He patted Lian Zuo's shoulder, deeply moved by these friends' care.
As for the online comments.
Feeling a bit uneasy is inevitable, he's not at the saintly stage of unfazed joy or sorrow, but being unable to eat or sleep would be an exaggeration.
What's more concerning to Baimu now is what ship Genji plans to take them back to Ore.
Three-masted Sailing Ship?
Might take a year to reach, just in time for the completion of Ore Tournament's venue.
Hmm...
He felt slightly overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, Lian Zuo was taken aback by Baimu's words before realizing it was indeed necessary to consult Heavenly King Genji, and without hesitation, he puffed away to Elder Qing Liu's house.
"Wait for me, Baimu! I'll definitely persuade the King!"
He shouted while running, annoying the Salamence that Gengar and Dragapult Siblings had previously bothered, causing it to roar in displeasure, sparking more Dragon-type Pokémon waking up, filling the air with rumbling.
Aggron and other Pokémon looked at each other.
"Sounds like Mareep."
Baimu shook his head, took out his phone and called Shanren.
Knowing Genji wouldn't refuse, a video of him winning against the Heavenly King would prove useful in swaying public opinion.
The mainstream regions generally have kind people, the more intense the uproar now, once he proves his strength, the more support he'll rally, as if a world compensatory mechanism exists.
Shanren might maximize the video's utilization value.
Call connected.
"Hello? I've got a video of winning against Heavenly King Genji, although it's a bit blurry, you can roughly see the battle situation, should I send it to you? Or should I post it myself?"
Baimu straightforwardly expressed his intention, considering it's daytime over there in Ore, he should be busy.
Shanren: 『...Say that again?』
"I, Baimu, defeated the Hoenn Region's head of the Four Heavenly Kings, Dragon Attribute Master Genji! Currently, hand at battle video..."
『Shut up, I don't want to talk to non-human beings.』
"..."