He knows Pokémon better than me.

By the time they left the steakhouse, it was completely dark, and Xiao Zhi didn't plan to rush to the aquarium that day.

"Let's go soak in a hot spring first, to warm up!"

While picking his teeth, Magua enthusiastically put his arm around Ash's shoulder and strode towards the Fountain of Heroes.

He looked like a nouveau riche who'd book the whole bath and sauna for the night.

Perfect timing! It's snowing lightly right now, making it the perfect time to soak in an open-air hot spring.

Hero's Spring is located in the center of Battlegrounds and is the largest hot spring in the town. The pool is square in shape.

Of course, although it is described as "open-air," it is actually surrounded by classical and solemn stone colonnades that support a marble ceiling.

However, it was not completely sealed off; there were gaps in the walls, some large and some small, and some fine snow would still drift into the hot spring through the gaps.

"It looks like it's been around for quite a while."

Xiao Zhi stood at the gate and sighed.

The hot spring is surrounded by a long, cylindrical corridor with a sense of historical depth, and the inner walls are decorated with abstract and ancient carved murals, making it look like some kind of ancient ruin.

Besides the hot spring pool in the very center, which is constantly emitting steam and has many people soaking in it, the place is bustling with human activity.

"Let's go down too!"

Magua pointed to the bathroom next door, rinsed herself briefly with the hot spring water, changed into her swim trunks, and was able to go into the water normally.

"Pikachu!" "Messi!"

When Pikachu and Draco Messia are placed in the water, the two Pokémon immediately squint their eyes and emit soft, low hums, as if they are about to melt into the water.

Ash chuckled as he stepped into the pool.

The hot spring pool wasn't deep, just reaching above chest level.

So he imitated the local Magua posture, leaning against the pool wall with his arms outstretched and supporting the edge, relaxing his whole body and leaning back, with only his head sticking out.

"comfortable--"

He let out a long sigh, as if the weariness he had brought from the wilderness was gradually disappearing.

"Bari."

Beside the hot spring pool, the Mr. Mime looked on with a hint of envy.

As an Ice-type Pokémon, this hot water isn't very friendly to it, so it can only sit on the shore and play on its phone in isolation.

"Speaking of which, it snows in the wilderness areas too, right?"

Ash suddenly remembered something: sometimes snowflakes fall in the Wild Area, and at that time, Ice-type Pokémon such as Snorunt and Boar will appear around.

However, the snowfall didn't last long enough to make it heavy enough to build a snowman.

Amidst the misty steam, Ash and Maga chatted about the aquarium, quickly moving on to issues such as illegal trading, exploitation, abuse, and counterfeiting.

"Bari bari!"

Beside the pool, the Mr. Mime sat on the ground with his arms crossed, nodding repeatedly as a witness.

"Is there such a thing?"

Magua took off his sunglasses, and his previously relaxed expression gradually turned serious.

He naturally trusted Ash and Mr. Mime completely.

He didn't usually go to the aquarium in Zhanjing Town; he wasn't very interested in it.

After all, as a Rock-type Gym Leader, he doesn't have much interest in damp places, except for hot springs, of course.

"Then I can't pretend I didn't hear about this."

Maga's tone was low. As the Gym Leader, he had a responsibility to maintain peace and justice in the region. However, to catch a thief red-handed, he couldn't simply use his position as Gym Leader to forcefully enter and search the area.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mime will go with me."

Xiao Zhi said, "Magga is a local celebrity, and we might alert him if we do something wrong."

Although the Mr. Mime is also an acquaintance
But now that he's wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?
"Bari!"

The Mr. Mime came closer and nodded vigorously.

When it worked at the aquarium, it usually wore clown costumes and exaggerated looks with masks, and was always ready to go on stage to help with performances.

That's completely different from his current mature businessman demeanor!
"Well, I doubt a businessman would dress like that."

Ash twitched his lips, wondering where the stereotype of Mr. Mime came from.

“Okay, then I’ll go and discuss it with Ms. Officer Jenny first. Once you have the evidence, I’ll take Ms. Officer Jenny and storm in.”

Magua patted his chest, indicating that he was ready to serve at any time.

On the steaming water, the Rotom phone automatically floated above the pool, and Ash casually opened the aquarium's ticketing interface.

"Huh, are the tickets for tomorrow already sold out?"

He couldn't help but complain, "Wasn't it said that the business was poorly managed?"

Beside him, Magua was also playing on his phone, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"It seems that the 'Gigantamax' show that the aquarium recently launched is so popular that tickets for these days are basically sold out before noon."

He still didn't believe that there were other places in Battlegrounds where one could Dynamax.

I randomly clicked on a video posted by a tourist on a video website.
It really is Dynamax!?
In the video, a Darmanitan, several meters tall, pounds its chest and roars with tremendous force, just like the Dynamax form in the Gym.

Most importantly, this Dynamaxing seems to continue, even after Darmanitan in the video used Max Ice three times in a row, it still maintained its enormous size.

"Is this the Galarian-like Daruma baboon?"

Xiao Zhi also clicked on the video. On the stage was a Daruma baboon that looked like a snowman, with thick arms and a huge snowball on its head.

It's the same color as the wild, bright red roly-poly toy I saw before.

It then unleashed immense ice, blowing out icy breath and showering down countless hailstones, drawing cheers and applause from the audience below.

Dynamax is the true "most popular" mode in the Galar region.

"Hmm, something feels off?"

Xiao Zhi stared at the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

It is indeed the size of a Dynamax, but something feels different from a Dynamax.
"Bari."

The Mr. Mime scratched his head, unable to tell the difference.

Did they really develop new technologies after they left?
There's no other way but to book tickets for the day after tomorrow or the day after that; seeing is believing.

After closing the ticket booking interface, Xiao Zhi switched apps, this time to the Galar World Championships app.

In the top left corner, it is marked that he is currently ranked "Superball: 470th".

Clicking the radar button on the map and scanning it, I was sure to see a number of trainers who were ranked in the mid-to-high range of the Ultra Ball level and I could challenge them.

"Just right!"

Ash's eyes lit up, his face flushed from the steam of the hot spring.

Since we can't get into the aquarium tomorrow, let's use this free day to eliminate all these World Championship participants! (End of Chapter)