The competition venue isn't particularly large, but the connection to a desert canyon makes the terrain infinitely more complex.
The radar shutdown forces Baimu to rely only on a compass to locate enemies.
His current position is still very dangerous, as the map showed a flashing red dot moving towards him before it was turned off.
If there's no mistake, that person is likely coming for him.
Jian?
Hopefully not.
"Do not proceed forward, please change direction."
Suddenly, the Aerial Rotom descended, providing Baimu with some intel.
There's a teammate in this direction, and they shouldn't be far away.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have stopped him from moving forward.
Will the red dot meet the teammate? I hope this teammate's strength is enough to handle it; this competition doesn't even have a proper support system.
Once in distress, you can only rely on the rescue function on the wristband to call for help; if you don't call, they won't come, and the accompanying Aerial Rotom would fly away after seeing a contestant fall, caring nothing about their fate.
People outside can't interfere with events inside.
Coupled with the rule against surrendering, the organizers can be said to be worse than beasts.
Baimu glanced at Aron, who was maintaining vigilance, and decided to check out the place where the battle occurred earlier.
If their teammate won, he'd just stop progressing and choose another direction; if the opponent won, he'd exploit their condition.
Of course.
He must watch out for other enemies drawn to the same spot along the way.
"Let's go."
He gently called, moving in the direction he remembered.
Seen from above, this desert canyon is breathtakingly magnificent. The rugged giant rocks stand like ancient sentinels, weathered by wind and sand, guarding the desolate land.
Unfortunately for Baimu, he prefers the greenery that symbolizes vitality and life, so whenever he sees these barren landscapes, he can't help but miss the vast landscapes of his past life.
"Do you like sand? Or rocks and iron blocks?"
Baimu turned to ask Aron, his low voice nearly drowned out by the humming of the Aerial Rotom.
Yet the latter clearly heard, lowered its head in thought for a few seconds, looked around, and then darted off as if discovering something.
His gaze followed Aron's movements, quickly identifying its target—
A tuft of grass, withered or naturally gray and yellow.
"Goooo!"
Aron's eyes glimmered as it looked at Baimu, like a puppy spotting its favorite toy.
If it had a tail, it would surely be wagging cheerfully.
"You like grass? Plants?"
Baimu looked at it in surprise, as a rock and steel attribute Pokémon, the rumored industrial predator, not favoring delectable iron ores but rather insignificant weeds.
Hobbies?
Seeing Aron nodding eagerly, Baimu considered whether to gather an entire pot of grass for Aron to nurture, or perhaps even flowers?
Onward.
To conserve energy, he would definitely avoid climbing mountains and find ways around dead ends.
Finally.
As Baimu was about to cross a certain corner, the wind rushed past his ears, mixed with faint cries for help. When he stopped and listened closely, the cries became louder and more piercing.
So close...
Not a companion?
He turned to look at the Aerial Rotom, noted its lack of response, and cautiously peeped forward to observe.
He saw approximately two hundred meters away, amid the fine dust kicked up by gentle winds in the canyon passage, a nearly naked boy clung tightly to the top of a spear-like giant rock, sobbing continuously.
"Did he lose?"
Baimu furrowed his brow; this person was undoubtedly one of his fourteen teammates, though not familiar, yet to fall into such a tragic state.
Not to mention being stripped of clothes, and from the look of it, his leg probably also had issues, with an ankle swollen like a ball, trapped somewhere making it hard to reach the wristband to call for support.
More importantly, where was the Evil Dog Team Member who defeated him?
He eyed the Aerial Rotom again; while it hadn't flown away, the sound of its four small rotors was clear to him, and even masked by the wind, it might be heard.
Concerned he might have been exposed, he gestured for Aron to look at the ground.
Aron understood and quickly burrowed underground using Digging.
Switching focus.
Baimu held a Smoke Ball in his left hand and a Pokeball in his right, quietly observing his surroundings.
He would stay motionless if the enemy did.
Only ten minutes remained until the radar resumed, at which point it would be clear whether that person had noticed him.
Not ruling out the possibility that the opponent was also waiting.
As this thought crossed his mind, new sounds came from the direction of his teammate, like the scraping and clopping of hoofs hitting the ground.
Baimu peeked again, spotting an Evil Dog Team Member perched on an Arcanine, newly arrived atop the spear-shaped rock.
The rolling dust kicked up along the path suggested his arrival mere seconds ago, with another Aerial Rotom flying behind him, circling around like a fly.
The opponent circled the giant rock twice, looked around, provoking Baimu to quickly duck, his heart racing nervously.
Yet surprisingly, the opponent neither spotted him nor heard the sound of his Aerial Rotom's rotors, merely dismounted and instructed, "Arcanine, find a way to get him down."
Hmm?
What does this mean?
Wasn't it they who took down the teammate? Or perhaps giving up after failing to catch a fish?
Regardless.
This person's appearance indicated there were no other Evil Dog Team Members hiding nearby, having spent so much effort fighting shadows.
Baimu lay prone and lightly tapped the ground, seeing Aron peek out before passing the Smoke Ball to it, whispering:
"Dig a bit deeper, sneak over, and stay at a distance to avoid detection. When I call battle, bite off the ring on this and toss it in front of that person. Top up the earth a little once in position."
"Gooo."
Aron nodded in understanding, retracting and commencing action.
Hoping for success.
Baimu set down his backpack, lightening his load, and quietly observed the distance, watching Arcanine searching to find a footing and figuring out a way to bring the unclothed person down.
Don't have any Flying Pokémon?
This was certainly good news for him.
After all, the Smoke Ball was something Flying-type Pokémon could easily resolve with a few flaps. Its primary function was to confuse opponents and cause panic, with the added benefit of momentarily disrupting Arcanine's sense of smell.
Close to two hundred meters.
If not for the presence of the Aerial Rotom, Baimu would definitely attempt to shorten this distance.
Even with the exceptional physicality of people in the Pokémon World, where a bit of training could make one comparable to a level one track athlete, and the outstanding ones easily outperform Bolt, two hundred meters was indeed too far.
He needed to find the right moment...
As he was observing, the earth abruptly raised slightly beside the Evil Dog Team Member's feet.
Damn it!
It's too close! The positioning isn't accurate!
Baimu nearly panicked into releasing the Pokeball, lucky the opponent focused more on the Quicksand Team Member atop the rock, missing Aron's presence.
At this moment.
The wind suddenly intensified, whipping up sand and stones obstructing vision.
The opportunity finally presented itself.