"Roar~"
The Giant Steelix looked around, confirmed the direction, and then lowered its head, inviting the Trainer to climb on.
Baimu intended to refuse, but seeing the excited red pupils of the big guy in front of him, he nodded slightly and said, "Alright, Gengar! Please help me swallow the bike!"
"Heh-ga!"
The lively Altered-color Gengar jumped out of the shadow, grabbed its belly as if pulling open a tablecloth, and covered the Hoverbike inside.
Its shadow storage space wasn't particularly large, but it could easily fit a Hoverbike.
Baimu patted its head, feeling the cool, smooth texture like a perfectly fine balloon, "Thanks a lot!"
"Heeheehee~"
Gengar chuckled but didn't retreat back into the shadow. Instead, it raised its chubby ghost claws like a sunshade, curiously looking around.
Soon, both Baimu and Gengar jumped onto the top of the Steelix.
"Ha—lo—"
The Giant Steelix let out a melodious roar, akin to a steam locomotive setting out, rising slowly into the air with a bright flash, avoiding the vigorous trees to fly toward the underground passage.
In the forest.
The scattered Forest Rangers looked up at the Steelix-like aircraft carrier above, and continued their work nonchalantly.
Steelix running rampant in this area was no longer a novelty.
It wasn't uncommon to see it flying overhead every other day; initially, it was quite spectacular, but over time it was no more surprising than a Pidgey flying by.
However, Baimu on its top was worth noting.
Steelix was flying so high, it was worrying whether he might fall.
Nonetheless.
At that moment, Baimu was more concerned with the rising temperature of Steelix's body under the direct sun than falling, although the wind blowing in his face provided some relief, the guy beneath him was still a steel lifeform...
As he pondered, suddenly a shadow cast over his head.
"Hmm?"
Baimu looked up to see a large black umbrella shading his head, held by the Gengar floating beside him.
Feeling his gaze, Gengar turned its head and flashed a crescent-moon smile, "Heh-ga~"
"No wonder you didn't crawl back into the shadow earlier. So thoughtful, Gengar, I'm so touched." Baimu hadn't expected Gengar to have such a considerate side, and couldn't help but smile as he wrapped an arm around Gengar, rubbing its cat-like pointy ears.
The Steelix, focused on flying, raised its eyes, only then realizing that the flying height was causing discomfort to the Trainer due to heat.
"Roar~"
Steelix growled muffledly, lowering its altitude while speeding up its flight.
Not long after.
It arrived at an abandoned mine, ignoring the warning barriers at the entrance and passing over the dilapidated sentry post, giving a calling roar, "Halo!"
The roar echoed in the empty mine.
Baimu raised his eyebrows slightly, noticing the ground shaking continuously as if a heavyweight creature was approaching.
In the next moment.
A total of more than ten Onix and four Steelix emerged from different directions, surrounding the Giant Steelix and responding with low roars.
They looked at Baimu standing on top of the Giant Steelix, their eyes full of curiosity.
"Roar!!"
The Giant Steelix raised its head and roared at each Steelix and Onix before it, sending visible, pale sound waves that shook their bodies.
Then, under the curious gaze of Baimu and Gengar, they arched their long bodies, pressing their tails and chins to the ground, and closed their eyes in a pose of surrender.
Does this mean... submission?
Baimu, having a basic understanding of Steelix and Onix's habits, realized this behavior was similar to dogs exposing their soft bellies as a sign of submission.
Both actions involve willingly exposing their weaknesses.
"Roar?"
The Giant Steelix looked up at him with a slightly smug expression, as if asking, "Aren't I impressive?"
Baimu laughed helplessly, not expecting Steelix to have gathered so many minions in private; it was probably one of the few Pokémon that valued tribal relationships in the team.
"Impressive, impressive."
He patted Steelix's scorching forehead, while Gengar made faces at the other Steelix and Onix, its natural mischievous nature itching to play a prank.
But it held back.
Because the Steelix wasn't staying long in the abandoned mine, it carried Baimu and burrowed into the deep mine shaft located beneath the Rock Mountain.
Pokémon that like to dig usually have similar habits; it's impossible to create a route in a straightforward manner.
So when Baimu barely adapted to the darkness in the mine, he quickly found countless openings leading in various directions.
Who knows if these bored Steelix and Onix have dug out the entire underground.
Interestingly, it seems that the Pokémon living in the caves aren't just them, as Baimu also spotted Sandshrew, Sandslash, families of Geodude, and even Zubat.
Compared to the vast barren land exposed to the sun, the dark caves are indeed more suitable for some Pokémon to live in.
Ten minutes passed.
Baimu could feel that the Steelix, which had been descending, now started ascending steadily. As a ray of light emerged from the end of his sight, he knew they had arrived at their destination.
Rumble——
The ground trembled.
In the quiet foothills, a shiny silver Steelix burst out from the cave, with a crouching human and a chubby, adorable balloon ghost on its head.
"Roar!"
It tilted its head back and roared, announcing its arrival, startling a few birds in the distant grove.
"Phew... it's still a bit stuffy inside the cave."
Baimu removed his mask and took a few breaths of fresh air. The characteristic of Steelix traveling on the ground is that it kicks up a lot of dust and sand, which lingers in the confined environment of a cave.
While this dust and sand are no problem for it, for Baimu as a human, it's quite tormenting.
He jumped off the top of Steelix, using the horizontal steel bone on its back as a fulcrum to land quickly and steadily, then released a group of Pokémon—except the Altered-color Milotic.
Since it's not suited for this environment, it's best not to come out and suffer for now.
Galarian Corsola: "..."
It didn't understand why it was released, to bask in the sun?
Let a Ghost-type Pokémon bask in the sun?
Does that make sense!
Corsola slowly floated above Baimu's head, deciding to protest by occupying his intellect's high ground.
The Dreepy Siblings saw this and their eyes lit up, stacking on top of the Corsola like a game of human pyramids, with Gengar delightedly "pressing" upon Sister Dreepy at the top.
Baimu saw Aggron and Blissey looking like they wanted to laugh but were holding back, and he couldn't help but reproach, "A bunch of lunatics!"
"Hiss-sigh!"
Hydreigon, not wanting to be left out, flapped its wings wanting to join in.
Of course, Baimu couldn't let this nearly 400-kilogram guy land on his head, Gengar only pretended to press, all its weight depending on its own floating, while Dragonair would definitely press firmly.
How much do the Corsola and two little Dreepy weigh together?
All together they don't even weigh a fraction of Hydreigon!
He hurriedly walked towards the mountain, with Hydreigon pitifully chasing behind, and Mawile jumping onto Aggron's shoulder, as it was a bit tired of running with the Trainer for so long.
With high hopes of reaching the long-desired mountain, Aggron stepped forward expectantly, with Steelix closely following.
Blissey looked around, only relieved when it saw the silhouette of Dragapult ahead, while Porygon II... never even got out of the cellphone.
This time, in addition to getting reacquainted with the long-unseen mountains, Baimu also intended to find a suitable spot to build a house, locate a place appropriate for creating a lake or a waterfall, as he hadn't forgotten his plan to settle down here in the future.
There was also a very important matter to attend to.
Attempting to undergo Super Evolution with Steelix.
"It's time for the first attempt."
He grabbed the Super Stone pendant hanging from his neck, and turned to look at Steelix, whose Super Stone was fastened with a metal ring around the back of its head and welded in place as per Steelix's insistence—it was worried it would fall off while digging.
Baimu had no choice but to find someone to weld it.
The peculiar expression of the welding technician was something he'd never forget.
"Let's give it a try first."
He stopped his steps and said to the Pokémon like Aggron, "You guys go explore, while I try Super Evolution with Steelix."
Aggron glanced at Steelix and nodded in response, "Roar!"
"Heh~"
Gengar carried away Sister Dreepy, who was holding the Brother Dreepy, who, in turn, was clinging onto the Corsola, a long line swaying gently in the breeze.