Trainers might skip meals with each other, but they can never skip battles.
Mann Chong found it hard to refuse, so he stood up and said:
"But what should we do with all this food?"
He didn't want to waste the thoughtful gesture from his cousins and turned to Gallade, who was having a standoff with Weavile, pleading for help with his eyes.
The latter quickly shook its head, as it wasn't interested in sweets.
Weavile was too focused on threatening Gallade with huffing sounds to pay any attention to the food.
Baimu's eyes fell and met Gengar, who had cookie crumbs at the corners of its mouth, and it smiled back ingratiatingly.
He tapped this fellow on the head, "I know you have a big appetite, leave it all to you, don't embarrass yourself later, okay?"
"Gengar!"
Gengar's eyes sparkled, and its mouth opened wide, larger than its body, gulping down all the sweets on the table in one go.
Even the two Dreepy didn't escape.
A few seconds later.
It suddenly burped, and out flew plates, wax paper, packaging that once held desserts, and even the wide-eyed Dragapult Siblings.
"Gengar giggles——" Gengar rubbed its belly in satisfaction.
Mann Chong and his two Pokémon were stunned, even Brother Dragapult, who was invisible, was shocked. It had planned to sneak a small cream puff, but Gengar devoured everything before it could.
Dejected, it wagged its tail.
Mann Chong mumbled, "Bai, Baimu…"
"It's okay, this energy will be burned off soon. To Gengar, this food is nothing."
Baimu said casually, grabbing the now clean Dragapult Siblings with one hand.
There weren't many particularly greedy Pokémon in the team, and these were among them. Brother Dragapult, being young, often snuck out for midnight snacks.
Sister Dragapult inherited the greedy trait but wouldn't admit it, always claiming to stop her brother, never to return.
Gengar is a true glutton, with an appetite as large as its rotund form, and its specialty is devouring large bowls, enjoying the feeling of its mouth being full.
Dragapult is also greedy but too shy to compete with other Pokémon, so Baimu often secretly sneaked it extra treats.
Basically, giving it what it missed out on before.
Mann Chong dismissed his worries and nodded, "Alright then."
The two went inside to say goodbye, saying they were going to find a place to battle.
Some employees who were very interested in Baimu wanted to follow and watch, but they settled down after a stern look from the manager cousin.
After stepping outside.
Brother Dragapult was still longingly looking at the table, its gaze somewhat dejected.
When it turned back, it found the trainer slowly walking behind, with a small cream puff gently held in his right hand.
"Waddles~"
Its eyes lit up, realizing the trainer had saved it for him, and it happily waddled over to take it, nibbling it bit by bit.
The dejection in its heart vanished completely.
And when Baimu noticed the puff was gone, he glanced at the happily wobbling Gengar at his side, "Tough job for you."
"Gengar~"
Gengar's call was clear.
The puff was naturally saved for Dragapult by Gengar, as Gengar could sense Dragapult's longing gaze whenever it wanted something.
But it knew Dragapult wouldn't eat from it, so it used the trainer's hand to feed it.
So considerate.
Baimu thought that going on a quest to find Gengar was indeed the right thing to do.
——
There are many battle venues within Ever Grande City.
But finding a free one is difficult.
The two walked down the street searching, only to find trainers already battling, and even if there was space, a line of people waited to get in.
The number of spectators was absurdly high, surrounding the venues tightly.
"Much more lively than the Silver Conference!"
Mann Chong was full of emotions; after winning the Silver Conference, he rushed back to Hoenn, with many images from the event still in his mind.
But compared to the current Ever Grande City, the crowd at the Silver Conference seemed far less.
Wearing a mask, Baimu said, "I just hope the caliber of the competitors matches the crowds."
Currently, he only knew of worth-watching opponents like Elma and Alice, all familiar faces. Hopefully, there will be more anonymous champions like Ash Ketchum had encountered.
They wandered for a long time without finding a free venue.
So the two simply entered the Natural Park, finding an adequately wide, deserted path.
"I just need to register for the Pokémon Center at the arena later; how about a three-on-three?" Baimu asked Mann Chong, who was a bit of a distance away.
The latter readily agreed, "Sure!"
The rules were set, and without further ado, both sides sent out their first Pokémon.
Baimu undoubtedly chose the Gengar who had been feasting just a moment ago; it emitted a sinister laugh as it floated to the front, unbothered by whether it would have to regurgitate everything later on.
Mann Chong chose Weavile.
"Sneasel!"
The cat-like Pokémon licked its sharp claws and looked defiantly at Gengar.
Just recently captured?
He remembered Mann Chong's Pokémon generally had gentle temperaments, even those like Garchomp, which were usually perceived as aggressive by others.
This Pokémon with a different personality, what kind of sparks will it ignite with Mann Chong...
Baimu was somewhat curious.
The battle commenced in a silent understanding, each side giving orders.
"High-speed Movement!"
"Magic Brilliance."
Weavile let out a low howl, its petite form suddenly bursting forth with incredible speed, almost leaping to Gengar's side and dodging its line of sight with a proud smile.
Behind it lingered a series of pale blue afterimages that took a long time to fade away.
So fast!
Baimu couldn't help but marvel at Weavile's prowess as an iconic swift Pokémon in games.
Its terrifying speed alone could crush several single-player NPCs' Pokémon, achieving a rapid sweep of opponents.
However, he had anticipated this and deliberately delayed his command.
To prevent Magic Brilliance from activating too quickly and alerting Mann Chong and Weavile to evade.
The opponent fell for it.
"Gengar!"
Gengar floated, raising its claws high, its grin growing wider with a blazing smile as brilliant and dazzling bursts of colorful lights erupted from its body!
Swoosh swoosh swoosh——!!
The fully luminous Fairy Attribute Energy shot like shining needles at Weavile, who found it hard to evade, engulfing it completely.
Boom!
Smoke exploded!
Mann Chong quickly shouted, "Weavile!"
The voice fell.
Weavile crossed its claws in front of it, breaking through the smoke, spinning several times in mid-air before reluctantly landing, surrounded by bluish smoke, its cheeks twitching from the stinging pain.
It looked at Gengar who was persistently laughing, its earlier arrogance replaced by humiliation.
"Sneasel..."
Weavile, a Pokémon with high speed and attack but not the best defenses.
Seeing its condition was still manageable, Mann Chong breathed a sigh of relief.
Baimu was somewhat surprised, "Not a low level, huh? Did you specifically train its Special Defense?"
Though Magic Brilliance isn't Gengar's inherent technique, it certainly counters Weavile's Evil Attribute, paired with Gengar's excellent Special Attack, shouldn't be so easy to withstand?
This guy is not ordinary... better to proceed cautiously.
He quickly said, "Don't compete on speed, skillfully use your elusive shadow abilities to dodge head-on."
"Don't rush! Run circles around it! Ice Shard!"
Mann Chong's command immediately followed.
Evidently scared by the earlier Magic Brilliance, he dared not let Weavile approach recklessly again.
Fortunately, even though this move was nearly omnidirectional, its spread was quite limited, maintaining a certain distance allowed for potential tactical play.
"Sneasel!"
Weavile swung its claws rapidly, running, while ice light gathered at its mouth, countless diamond-shaped ice crystals shooting toward Gengar.
But the next instant.
Gengar suddenly dove into the shade by the road, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Pop pop pop——
Diamond-shaped ice crystals shattered to pieces as they landed on empty ground.
Weavile paused, incredulously staring where Gengar disappeared, its mouth gathering another fierce ice light.
Just about to fire, the voices of the trainers and rival trainers echoed from both sides.
"Quick, jump up!"
"Mud Bomb!"
"Sneasel!"
Instinctively, it leapt high, and as it looked down, several deep purple sticky bombs brushed past where it had been standing, exploding with a pungent smell and a sizzling noise.
It was surprisingly from Gengar, who had hidden in the shadows behind it!