"Roar!!"
Aggron let out a roar of "Great Success in Divine Skill, I'm invincible now," waving claws and swinging its tail.
It was the epitome of pride.
Its roar attracted the attention of Mawile and other Pokémon.
Mawile was eating ice cream, initially looking like it was watching a circus monkey perform, but quickly changed its expression when it saw Aggron swinging its claws with a whooshing sound.
"Chee-do!"
It handed the ice cream to the nearby Chansey and trotted over to Baimu, looking up with a "Chee-do~"
As Aggron's old rival, Mawile knew very well why Aggron's strength occasionally surged suddenly. So it couldn't wait to come and coquettishly demand the same from the "culprit."
At this moment, Baimu inexplicably felt the emptiness that comes after frantically drawing cards, transcending the boundaries of having or not having success.
"I'm all out of levels..."
He gave Mawile a difficult smile.
The reward levels accumulated over three months were completely spent; saying he wasn't heartbroken would be a lie. Originally intending to use them for maximum efficiency above Level 60, he didn't expect to start at Level 50.
But there was no other choice.
Luckily, these rewards were mostly free, and for levels below lv.70, rewards were available at least once a month, not terribly precious.
"Chee-do—"
Mawile puffed its cheeks, feeling the Trainer was incredibly biased. It had never received such treatment!
Unfair!
It clung to Baimu's pant leg and stubbornly looked up at him, seemingly declaring, "You're not leaving until you explain yourself," and genuinely appeared somewhat angry.
"This is..."
Baimu recognized the problem. Situations like this, where fairness wasn't maintained, might seem easily dismissed with excuses, but mishandling could lead to deep-seated issues.
The simulator was indeed his, and the decision of how to use it lay with him. From his perspective, everything was entirely reasonable.
But as a competent Trainer, he needed to learn to empathize, placing himself in Mawile's and other Pokémon's positions to understand their view.
The Trainer gave great benefits to one companion, skyrocketing their strength, which is great.
But would the others feel envious? Would they develop the same desire?
If a companion has something and I don't, did I do something wrong? Is there something about me that doesn't satisfy the Trainer? How does the Trainer truly see me? Is my existence dispensable?
In the animated world, Pokémon are smart and gain human-like intelligence, but this also makes them more sensitive and emotional.
Even cats and dogs get jealous, let alone Pokémon.
Most importantly.
Mawile's jealousy is actually a transformation of its possessiveness and affection for the Trainer.
Why compare itself to Aggron? Why hope to have the same?
Because it cares, because it wants more attention from Baimu.
Otherwise, given Mawile's carefree nature in the Eco Park, what does it matter if its strength improves or not? Would it hinder its life?
Certainly.
At this moment, Baimu wasn't insightful enough to fully understand Mawile's thoughts but knew the importance of fairness.
Therefore, while carefully explaining his allocation reasons to Mawile, he decided to open the ability machines.
There were two left from the last time, and with the five given by the calligrapher, a total of seven.
The probability of drawing [Playful] was not low.
Just talking wouldn't be as effective as taking actual action, so Baimu gritted his teeth and began opening the ability machines.
The first one—[Coquettish].
The second one—[Magic Brilliance].
The third one—[Foggy Field].
The fourth one—[Magic Brilliance].
Oh dear.
These were indeed excellent moves, but at this moment, Baimu's heart was trembling.
Luckily, when the fifth one was opened, the suffix finally turned into the sought-after [Playful].
He let out a deep sigh of relief and smiled at Mawile, "Sold everything, finally got what we wanted, here, you try this out."
"Chee-do?"
Mawile, already a bit convinced, paused, then felt a new power surging within.
It quickly jumped to the side, glanced at the excited Aggron, and immediately charged toward it.
"Roar?"
Aggron detected Mawile's attack, but rather than panic, it greeted enthusiastically, lowering its head slightly to unleash its proud gigantic horn for a charge!
Unexpectedly, as the two were about to collide, Mawile dodged the horn like a rolling gourd, playfully maneuvering to Aggron's back and landing a couple of punches.
During the attack, little stars continuously flew out from its small fists, making it look quite cute.
Aggron, caught off guard, staggered heavily, almost collapsing to the ground.
"Roar?"
"Chee-do!"
Mawile stood on Aggron's head, thrilled with its newfound move.
Crisis averted...
On the sidelines, Baimu breathed a sigh of relief, and under Chansey's gaze, transferred [Coquettish] to it, "You have it too, won't leave you behind."
"Lucky~" Chansey, although not as competitively driven, was very happy to have its share.
More than receiving, it was more passionate about giving.
"As for you... if you had already fully evolved, that Feather Rest would be yours."
Baimu finally looked at Deino, somewhat regretfully.
The latter didn't understand what he was saying, and seeing the Trainer reach out, took a playful bite, seemingly uninterested in anything other than the hand.
And with that wave.
Baimu's skill reserves were also mostly cleared out.
Currently, only two skill blind boxes remained: [String Shot], [Feather Rest], [Strong Mental Will], [Thunder], [Foggy Field], and two [Magic Brilliance].
"Steelix, I've sacrificed too much for you."
He jokingly blamed everything on Steelix, though other reasons were involved too.
——
Considering the possibility of Steelix demolishing things.
The backyard, this place can't be used until it's successfully tamed.
The Quicksand Team is fervently working on plans to welcome back their boss, so making a high-profile capture of Steelix wouldn't be right either; might as well head down to the Underground City.
The place where he previously subdued the Vibrava would be nice.
Hope the boss hasn't run off.
He rode his bike to the nearby Underground City.
Fortunately.
Despite the chaos on the surface, with even one Underground City having collapsed, fearless merchants abounded, taking advantage to raise the prices of various supplies.
Even survival resources like food were shockingly on the list.
Baimu had long worried about this; the greatest problem for civilians during Pyrite Town's turmoil wasn't the potential involvement but the disruption of supply lines for living resources.
Liu Ge and Shanren reassured him that there was no need to worry; food and water issues had long been considered.
Since they said so, Baimu could only trust them.