What a coincidence.
On the way back to Pyrite Town the day before yesterday, Ayana specifically mentioned that the Master of Battle Mountain was in Silicon City, and it's really quite a coincidence to run into him here.
"The Master of Battle Mountain..."
Baimu watched this street battle with great interest.
Currently, Feraligatr's Water Cannon hit an empty spot, and its left arm was tightly clamped by Pinsir using Cross Cut.
"Oh no!"
The sharp pain of the barbed thorns piercing into the flesh made Feraligatr howl continuously, trying to use its right arm to hit Pinsir's head to force it to let go.
However.
Don't be fooled by Pinsir being a single Bug Attribute Pokémon; its Physical Attack Species Value is higher than that of over eighty percent of Pokémon.
And the source of this high attack, besides those sinister curved horns that can snap a tree hugged by multiple people, also includes its terrifying strength that allows it to lift and throw opponents far heavier than itself.
"Hiss!"
With a sharp hiss, Pinsir suddenly exerted itself, its huge curved horns glowing a reddish-brown light, and with a certain Fighting posture, it grabbed Feraligatr's body and slammed it to the ground!
Bang!
The heavy crash and the trembling of the ground were heart-stopping.
After a short moan, Feraligatr fainted directly, losing its ability to battle, and the street battle concluded.
What exquisite Mountain Mist Takedown!
Clap clap clap clap——
Baimu, mixed in the crowd, took the lead in applauding.
The surrounding passersby suddenly realized, raising their hands to join the sea of applause.
As a Fighting Attribute Physical Attack technique, Mountain Mist Takedown can cause terrifying power equivalent to striking a vital point.
The most crucial part is that Pinsir used it without any pause, fluidly, as if it had an extra Fighting Attribute. Just from this move alone, Baimu could see that Bartas's level of Pokémon training far surpassed Ying Yuan.
As for how far Bartas has reached.
It's hard to say.
The difference between the two Pokémon was too obvious; Pinsir won against Feraligatr with only slightly rapid breathing and could recover soon.
Is there a chance to battle him?
Baimu saw Bartas shaking hands with Feraligatr's Trainer and intended to step forward to invite a battle, but unexpectedly there were many with similar thoughts in the audience, already rushing over.
He was a bit too slow, and by the time he got closer, the area around Bartas was packed tightly.
Is the Pokémon battle scene in Silicon City so thriving?
Baimu was a little surprised. There were many changes in Pyrite Town, but one thing hadn't changed: there were rarely Pokémon battles on the streets, even though Shanren had designated some temporary battle venues.
In the two days since returning, he'd only seen it once.
But soon, he realized these people might all be visiting Trainers. Firstly, they were generally quite young, no older than fourteen or fifteen, and secondly, their skin was relatively delicate.
The Ore region's climate is dry and hot, and even people from Silicon City can't avoid their skin being tanned and rough.
Traveling here? Coming with family?
Both are possible.
He turned away from the crowd, confident that there would be opportunities to battle Bartas in the future. Judging by today's performance, Bartas certainly wouldn't disappoint him.
Inside the beauty salon.
Four Pokémon emerged looking as if a layer of wax had been applied, shining and polished.
"..."
Baimu looked down at the altered-color Gengar, which shifted its gaze uncomfortably, its chubby paws poking at the air in front of it.
He turned and asked, "Who put lipstick, blush, and tied a pink bow on it?"
Just ten minutes of carelessness, and Gengar's face was made up like Jynx.
Truly an eyesore!
If it weren't standing with Mawile and the others, and its body color indeed being gray, Baimu would have suspected his Pokémon had been swapped.
Yikes!
He covered his face, unable to bear looking more. The altered-color Gengar giggled foolishly, while the other three Pokémon showed teasing expressions.
"It put it on by itself..."
The beautician smiled awkwardly, repeatedly apologizing, "Sorry! I'll remove it right away!"
But in truth, Gengar only put on a bit of lipstick out of curiosity, and the rest were applied by the beauticians in a fit of excitement they couldn't contain.
After all, "doing something different" was one of the few pleasures in their professional lives.
"...Forget it, no need, it seems to like it, let it be," Baimu shook his head.
If Gengar didn't want it, the beautician couldn't persuade, and besides, it was a bit of their effort; let Aggron and Hydreigon have a good chuckle at it.
Everyone can have a laugh together.
"Come back now."
Baimu recalled all four Pokémon into their balls, not daring to let Gengar slip into the shadows.
If it suddenly popped out in a crowd, he feared he might die of laughter, and it would be embarrassing if it went viral online.
Plus, seeing Gengar's reluctant look as it entered its ball, it was clearly planning to do just that!
This trickster!
He settled the bill under the beautician's careful watch, as she seemed worried about him using an excuse to refuse payment, considering the price wasn't cheap.
Fortunately, such a thing wouldn't happen.
"We look forward to your next visit!"
The Pokémon beautician happily saw him out the door.
Out of curiosity, Baimu once again walked towards the still-crowded street battle site, where Bartas, unsurprisingly, was engaged in a fierce battle with a new opponent.
Indeed.
The battle was quite intense.
Bartas used Crobat, with two pairs of fleshy wings, while his opponent used a Probopass, with a top red "hat" and a tuft of black "hair" under its nose, resembling an Easter Island statue.