Mann Chong was quite surprised, "This is—"
"Alice's special ability allows her to communicate with Dragon-type Pokémon without barriers and feel their current emotions." Mr. Baimu explained briefly, with a somewhat complex expression.
He clearly wanted to learn this at first, why did it later turn into that?
After a few seconds.
Alice finished communicating with the Dragapult Siblings, her eyes filled with gentleness, and said softly, "What a lively pair of twins, it's great they encountered Baimu! Right?"
Sister Dragapult looked at her strangely and happily nodded at her words.
The journey to search for her brother was really too long, but she didn't feel pain because not only did she find her brother, but she also met her greatest fortune in life — Baimu.
Brother Dragapult saw his sister nodding, and he followed by nodding too.
Alice smiled softly and glanced around, asking, "I also smelled a scent~"
"Stop smelling, it's not good at interacting with strangers, your enthusiasm scared it." Baimu pressed her restless shoulder.
"Is that so..."
A trace of disappointment was evident in Alice's eyes.
It was getting late.
When Baimu learned Alice was also staying at Ever Grande Hotel, he prepared to introduce the two of them to Liuqia and the others, and to have dinner together.
The Ever Grande Conference guidebook recorded many shops he was interested in.
Alice and Mann Chong naturally agreed.
——
The next morning.
Baimu finished washing up and knocked on Mann Chong's room door.
"Don't tell me you haven't slept all night."
He frowned upon seeing Mann Chong, who was already fully dressed and ready.
The latter tangled his index fingers in front of his stomach, embarrassedly saying, "I slept for a little while..."
Baimu said helplessly, "Why are you nervous about running? Or did my words put too much pressure on you?"
"No, I'm worried about not performing well."
Mann Chong's voice gradually became quieter.
This young man, although he spoke softly, had the advantage of daring to speak up and not holding back.
"And what if you don't perform well? I'm not forcing you to run ten kilometers in ten minutes, and scold or despise you if you can't. Relax, don't burden yourself too much."
Baimu patted his shoulder, "Call out Gallade too, running can be just like yesterday when the two of us were looking for battle locations everywhere, taking in the sights and getting a feel for bustling Ever Grande City."
"Hmm..."
Mann Chong nodded and called Gallade out from the Pokeball.
With Pokémon present, this guy indeed relaxed a lot.
Baimu's choice of running companion Pokémon was Porygon II. The latter's legs transformed into wheel shapes, resembling toy cars, which intrigued Mann Chong.
The two went downstairs and met Alice who was likewise out for a morning run in the lobby.
"Hello~ Good morning~"
She waved and quickly joined the morning run group after hearing of their plans.
The three of them hadn't run far outside when they encountered Xiaogang lying on the ground twitching after being poked by Croagunk, while Miss Jun Sha stood helplessly nearby.
The corner of Baimu's mouth twitched as he inquired about the incident from Miss Jun Sha.
As expected, the daily flattering Xiaogang was backstabbed by his own Pokémon Croagunk, leaving Miss Jun Sha unsure how to handle it.
He promptly took the initiative to pull Xiaogang up and drag him away.
But Xiaogang got up early not to flirt, instead because he was interested in several dishes from last night and was planning to go to the morning market to buy ingredients to recreate them for his family back home.
Yet, upon seeing Miss Jun Sha, he lost his bearings.
Realizing the morning run group had increased to four, Baimu thought of waking Liuqia and Xiaoguang and asked if they would join the morning run group.
——They actually agreed.
Because last night they learned Baimu would become the Holy Fire Runner, feeling honored and planning to cheer him on and follow him for a short segment when the time came.
Morning run as early practice.
Thus.
The morning run group expanded to six people.
Baimu thought this small group's numbers would stop here, but unexpectedly, while running along the less crowded coastline, he and Liuqia were recognized by other early exercisers.
Those people tried to communicate with the two and asked for an autograph or photo, yet they kindly didn't disturb their morning run and quietly followed behind.
The number of people in the morning run group doubled super-fast.
It didn't stop there, others who didn't recognize Baimu or simply found the morning run group interesting joined in for fun.
The number of people in the morning run group doubled epically.
Thus.
The number of people and Pokémon behind Baimu increased, forming a beautiful line along the coast.
Mann Chong mixed in with the large group, looking bemusedly at the crowd behind him without understanding what was going on.
Where did these people come from?
But he soon immersed himself in the joy of not being as exhausted as usual while running.
A small worry in his heart was now gone.
Liuqia looked back at the crowd, her face brimming with pride over the broad influence of her diligent student Baimu.
Xiaoguang, out of breath, realized her stamina surprisingly didn't match Liuqia's... nor Piplup's! The little penguin had short legs but certainly didn't run slowly!
"Ah—How frustrating!"
Xiaogang, recovering from paralysis, seemed calm; after all, he was like Ash Ketchum, a man proficient in High-speed Movement!
What was mere morning running?
No one knows how long passed.
Baimu stopped, and the large crowd behind him also halted.
He sheepishly turned to look at the group of no less than a hundred people and wanted to know if these people were just idling.
But before he could say anything, a microphone suddenly popped up next to him, nudging in front:
"Hello! Mr. Baimu! I am the morning reporter from Ever Grande TV Station! Are you leading so many people along the coast to jog slowly, hoping to encourage people to exercise more as the Holy Fire Runner?"
Ever Grande TV Station?
Where did you come from!
Baimu was speechless as he looked at the female reporter in front and the cameraman carrying equipment behind her, judging by their panting, they seemingly followed for a while.
"…You can say that."
He didn't counter it, essentially because his initial goal was just to get Mann Chong out and running, letting him develop an independent inclination to exercise.
What's said makes sense.
The female reporter's eyes sparkled hearing this, "As expected! You truly are the glamorous rising star advancing in the Battle Arena! Always setting an example for us young people! I'm sure you can achieve victory… ah no, good results at the Ever Grande Conference."
Under the frequent cues from the cameraman's eyes, the female reporter finally corrected herself.
TV stations could promote contestants, but they couldn't clearly endorse any contestant to clinch victory, as the female reporter was there not representing herself personally.
Listening to this gave Baimu a headache, and he quickly modestly expressed he would strive and hoped to encounter strong opponents at the tournament.
A standard response.
The female reporter wanted to say more, but others, waiting impatiently, crowded in, enclosing Baimu and Liuqia tightly.
One group was calling Lord Baimu, while another was calling Liuji.
The scene was particularly chaotic.
The rest had been squeezed to the edges, each showing different expressions at the sight.
Mann Chong felt fearful, lacking social skills to face so many fans.
Alice was excited, aiming for the championship herself while understanding the attention given to a Regional Champion would be even greater than what Baimu and Liuqia receive, but she didn't care.
Xiaoguang was curious, wondering if she were in Liuqia's position, could she handle it like Liuqia did, probably with no problems!
Xiaogang… he felt a little envious as many beautiful big sisters surrounded Baimu.
This ridiculous morning run went on for two hours.
Only then did Baimu and Liuqia gain freedom, able to return to the hotel to rest.
Ever Grande City's population grew, as did those who recognized them.
To prevent similar situations from reoccurring, they all stayed quite restrained in the hotel for the following days, waiting for the tournament to properly begin.
Finally.
With Officer Jenny sending a message, reminding Baimu to arrive on time to welcome the Holy Fire.
The Ever Grande Conference officially commenced!