But the Rescue Organization evidently disagreed, believing that the position of president of the Rainbow Group couldn't offset the contributions he'd made.
"The second thing is, you might have learned about this upon your return. I hope you can help persuade N over there."
Dennis furrowed his brows slightly when mentioning N, speaking in a low voice: "I understand that the Wild Pokémon are temporarily resentful of humans due to poachers.
"But completely isolating both sides won't lead to anything good; at least give them a chance to interact..."
Baimu responded to this, saying: "This is my personal opinion, don't take it to heart. I think N refuses because he believes the Pokémon have no way out."
"Way out..."
"Yes, the Ore people's lives are prosperous, yet the Wild Pokémon struggle for independence. All current changes seem to indicate that Wild Pokémon can't survive without being annexed by humans, and rejecting the olive branch from humans will only lead to extinction. Such circumstances make N unable to trust so-called promises, much like how the weak can't gamble on whether the strong will act capriciously based on personal desires.
Seeing Dennis' brows knit even tighter, Baimu knew he hadn't truly considered things from a different perspective.
Mutual understanding.
Is truly a massive challenge.
Fortunately, Dennis, like Shanren, is accustomed to solving problems, not just identifying them, and after some thought said: "He needs an equal footing?"
"Yes, only when Wild Pokémon can live freely, will N have the luxury to consider the harmonious coexistence of humans and Wild Pokémon."
Baimu stated bluntly: "The main purpose of inviting people from the Valley of Creation is to ensure the Wild Pokémon have a self-sustained food supply."
Dennis sighed at this: "I took this for granted, Baimu you have thought this through more, let's hold off a bit longer then."
"Uncle, you overpraise me. You have far more decisions to make daily than I do, besides I'm just more acquainted with N, hence I consider more from his perspective."
He didn't dare arrogantly claim credit.
Moreover, people aren't machines, it's normal not to be thorough all the time, as long as it doesn't cause major problems and is corrected in time.
Suddenly.
Dennis' brows gradually relaxed, revealing a slight smile: "The third matter, you might find interesting. Silicon City has a Trainer Training Center, with a Hall Master named Zhengyi, who is currently also the Gym Leader of Silicon Arena. Having heard of your battles outside, he wants to challenge you in a match at Silicon Arena."
He nodded in response, "Sure."
Dennis, seeing his decisive answer, chuckled: "Indeed, a battle between trainers is nothing unusual. Shall I give you his contact information and you can discuss the specifics yourselves?"
"Thank you very much."
Baimu was pleased to easily obtain the contact information of the Gym Leader of Silicon Arena, and upon reflection, asked: "If possible, could you give me the contact information for all existing Gym Leaders in the Ore Region?"
Dennis was slightly taken aback, "All the contact information? You want to..."
"I plan to challenge all the Gyms in two months, and if possible, I'd like to visit Battle Mountain as well." he confessed.
Dennis asked gravely, "Do you have confidence in this?"
Baimu replied, "It's not about confidence. If I lose, I might even be a bit happier, what I fear is winning too easily."
This remark sounded somewhat arrogant but concealed his concerns.
Dennis was naturally unaware of his inner thoughts, only feeling that it was fitting for a Trainer whose ambition was set on becoming the Ore Champion, he was truly spirited!
"Alright, I'll have Albert give you the contact information in a bit... No need to be too impatient, Baimu, you're still young, you have a lot of good youth ahead of you."
He seemed to perceive a faint urgency in Baimu and gently counseled him.
Baimu nodded in agreement, yet he knew many things wait for no one, delaying would only lead to accomplishing nothing.
After discussing business matters.
Dennis started talking about relatively light topics, like the specific development direction of Silicon City, the impact of outsiders on the local Ore people, as well as the league conference, which he was particularly concerned about.
"The current decision is to convert the former Battle Mountain into a competition venue, but considering the safety issues, the engineering magnitude is no small matter, so you have plenty of time to improve yourself."
Battle Mountain.
The only active volcano in the Ore Region, in the past, Trainers on Battle Mountain fearlessly built battle platforms from the bottom all the way up, creating a hundred layers.
The highest platform was located at the volcano's crater, with tens of thousands of seats on the metal platforms' sides, below was the slowly flowing molten magma —
Who in their right mind would set a battleground here? And who would come to watch?
The Ore people would.
Indeed, every battle at the summit was packed until Ergin tried to seize control of Battle Mountain, forcing them to disperse and escape.
Baimu found it quite fascinating, he thought, interesting as it was, it was surely dangerous.
What if it erupted?
One can only pray that the Ore's Black Technology is reliable enough.
Through his conversation with Dennis, Baimu also discerned that his relationship with Shanren wasn't particularly good.
The reason being, he sent Shanren and his mother away from Silicon City early to prevent Ergin's corruption. Ergin, unwilling to lack leverage over Dennis, covertly sent people to locate them, attempting to abduct Shanren.
During this process, Shanren's mother had an untimely passing.
The young and inexperienced Shanren couldn't judge right from wrong, hence harbored a grudging hatred towards Dennis. Fortunately, Shanren later learned the truth, preventing him from becoming radical.
Even so, their relationship didn't improve, remaining in a tepid state.
Up to now, father and son seem to present a competitive status with each other, each trying to outdo the other in city construction, leaving the Rescue Organization helpless with these two leaders.
"Shanren didn't have many friends growing up, having you by his side makes me very glad."
Dennis patted Baimu's shoulder warmly, "Sorry, I don't have much free time, please excuse me for now. Feel free to continue exploring Silicon City."
"Okay."
Baimu watched Dennis and Albert leave the coffee shop.
It's a pity.
For now, he had no intention of involving himself in the father-son relationship, so the implied request for help in his subtext was ultimately going to be in vain.
Besides, how harmonious should a father and son's relationship really be?
Should Shanren meet and call out "Daddy"?
Ugh!
He glanced at the time and walked out the door; it was rare for him to visit Silicon City, so he definitely had to buy something to take back, "Mawile!"
Bang!
"Chido~"
Mawile landed and glanced around.
"Let's go! Shopping! Pick out something you and everyone likes!" Baimu encouraged excitedly, and Mawile quickly became enthusiastic.
The lady loves shopping, even if she doesn't end up buying anything.
Besides.
"Chido?" Mawile pointed to his own sparse bangs.
Baimu knew it was asking if there was a Pokémon Beauty Salon in Silicon City, "There should be... we can find out, or perhaps have Porygon II search for information online."
"Chido!"
Mawile jumped happily, settled on Baimu's shoulder, hugging his head.
The two headed straight to the shopping streets and malls of Silicon City.
——
Several hours later.
Baimu sat on a bench outside a street-side beauty salon where Mawile, Altered-color Milotic, Altered-color Gengar, and Blissey were receiving beauty treatments.
"Twice as expensive as in Hoenn... High rent? High costs? Rare things are valued?"
He watched the professional hands of the beauticians inside, thinking if he hadn't known better, he'd have doubted if he was being scammed.
To be honest.
Skills those people knew, he did too, and as a student of Adam, he might even do better.
But Mawile loved the beauty salon's atmosphere, so he could only play the role of the "Patsy".
Priceless is the Pokémon's happiness!
He idly browsed his phone, his attention caught by a commotion in the distance, and looked up to see a crowd gathering in a rectangular formation.
"Pokémon battle?"
Baimu, intrigued, left a message for Mawile and the others in the beauty salon and joined the crowd to observe the grounds.
He immediately saw a hulking blond man no less imposing than Ying Yuan commanding a fierce-looking Pinsir in battle against a young man dressed in standard Trainer attire.
The young man's Pokémon was the Water Attribute Feraligatr from Johto's Three Families, standing over two meters tall and exuding ferocity.
However, it was no match for the Pinsir.
A move of Earth's Surface was followed by a Cross Cut that forced Feraligatr to retreat repeatedly.
"Not ordinary..."
Baimu looked at the blond hulk, suddenly finding him familiar, and as he pulled out his phone to search, it dawned on him: "Bartas!"
The Battle Master of Battle Mountain, Bartas!