At this moment, Wula La chose a move that Baimu had anticipated.
"Gyro Ball!"
The Wigglytuff in midair began to spin rapidly, enveloped in a silver glow, making it resemble a dazzling silver ball in a dance hall emitting mottled light.
The deviated position was adjusted, making its appearance quite imposing.
Milotic and Baimu looked up at Wigglytuff plummeting, unlike their previous evasive demeanor, neither moved as if they were waiting for something.
Wula La was momentarily stunned, and upon seeing the light blue water membrane on Milotic's surface, she suddenly realized, "Wigglytuff, bounce away quickly!"
It was already too late.
"Water Flow Ring."
Baimu's voice transformed the light blue water membrane into several overlapping thick, blue water rings, ultimately forming a slide-like structure. With Milotic's proactive rotation, it used the water slide to catch the spiraling Wigglytuff.
How could it catch it like this!?
Many spectators couldn't help but think this, but to Milotic, who had already used the Water Flow Ring in a myriad of ways, unloading force and redirecting weren't difficult.
The Water Flow Ring had handled heavier and fiercer things before
And as Wigglytuff continued to spin in its Gyro Ball state, before it even realized it, its body had reached the deck, landing right in front of Milotic.
"Hypnosis Techniques."
"Angel's Kiss——"
Simultaneously, Baimu and Wula La ordered, but Milotic's reaction speed was faster than Wigglytuff's, even if it was just half a second faster. As Wigglytuff was about to kiss Milotic on the cheek, the pink-purple multicolored light waves had already enveloped it.
"Puff... huh..."
Wigglytuff rolled its eyes and fell asleep.
Milotic lowered its beautiful and large head, amassing a luminous blue glow in its mouth.
"That's enough! Let's stop here!"
Wula La raised her hand to signal surrender and sighed regretfully.
Normally, street battles wouldn't be pushed to this extent. If you don't want to frequently visit the Pokémon Center and don't want Pokémon to become bandaged mummies, usually, they don't gamble on whether a Pokémon can wake up before being defeated by moves.
Moreover, the medical conditions on the ship only meet emergency standards.
However, with the Wigglytuff out, Garchomp eagerly approached, watching Milotic with great interest.
"Ka-boom!"
"Mi-lo."
Milotic met its gaze, instantly becoming serious.
Not to mention anything else, in terms of momentum alone, Wigglytuff couldn't compare to this guy. Even if it hasn't reached the level of its big brother Aggron, it's definitely enough to suppress it.
Wula La was taken aback, then looked at Baimu and said, "How about another round? My Garchomp is ready, it definitely won't disappoint you!"
She was confident in her Garchomp.
"...Forget it, let's talk about it once we reach the shore."
The latter gazed at the distant shoreline, the island where Pacifidlog Town is located was expanding in sight.
Seeing this, Wula La had no choice but to agree, holding onto the eager Garchomp beside her.
"Ka-boom..."
Garchomp was quite disappointed.
Milotic looked at it, contemplating how high the chances were of defeating this guy, fifty percent? Maybe only forty percent... or even thirty percent.
The onlookers gradually dispersed, a few, recognizing Baimu, quietly asked for autographs before leaving without attracting a crowd.
This made Baimu quite grateful.
At Shuijing Market, he was almost blocked to the extent of developing a shadow, the fans of the Gorgeous Competition were too enthusiastic.
——
Pacifidlog Town.
A seaside town quieter and more suitable for sightseeing and tourism than Baimu had expected.
Of course, livability was another matter.
The long-term exposure to sun and sea winds at the seaside made many people here have darker skin, one could say their complexion resembled wheat color.
His Pokémon's love for the seaside was limited to occasional visits, even Milotic didn't have deep nostalgia for the sea—it was more of a freshwater fan, not one of those salty water silly salted fish.
And everyone agreed that the most comfortable place was undoubtedly Verdanturf Town.
That place carried an undeniable magic that made people want to stay, where the healer Blissey often wanted to visit Mann Chong's sister's shop and stay for a few more days.
Baimu promised them that once they finished battling at Glazed Gym, they would go there.
He decided to further enhance his strength in Verdanturf Town, and then at the tournament, overcome any obstacles, divine or human.
Soon after.
Baimu and Wula La came out of the Pokémon Center and booked rooms at the best nearby inn, politely parting ways to start organizing their belongings.
Mainly for Mawile's plushy array, without which it couldn't comfortably lie down and enjoy its phone and TV.
Only then did he take out the stale materials from his backpack for replacement, cleaning up the stuff that got dirty on the road from various factors and couldn't be cleaned in the short term.
With the help of Blissey, he freed his hands in ten minutes.
"Thank you! Home helper!"
Baimu patted the tufts on Blissey's head, the latter smiling happily.
Turning to the master bedroom.
"Seaside…"
He pulled the curtains closed; the sun outside was getting more glaring.
Who knows why, but in recent days the sunlight had been particularly punishing, as though with winter near, the autumn tiger decided to come out and prance about.
In more logical terms, besides the global temperature variation which is a topic even in the Pokémon World, Groudon located in these sea regions might be a good explanation.
Has it finally walked back from the Carlos Region to the Hoenn Region?
So exhausting.
Thinking about how in two days, the recently awakened Groudon would have to be called to contest the Legendary Giant Stone, Baimu couldn't help but laugh out loud... no, tears of sorrow might fall instead.
Unless the Groudon called by Hoopa is a second one, like Rayquaza.
Baimu hadn't interacted with them, unable to comment.
At dusk.
Returning from registering at the Pacifidlog venue, Wula La invited him to dinner; he initially wanted to refuse but recalled his previous interactions with Xiaoguang in Kaina City and agreed.
During the meal, Baimu brought up Garchomp's peculiar attitude towards Milotic.
Hearing this, Wula La smiled, a mix of embarrassment and pride.
"It's looking for a companion; it was attracted by Altered-color Milotic's appearance and wanted to see how strong it really is."
"...A companion? My Milotic is female!"
"A companion unrelated to reproduction, strictly speaking, it's something like a friend, but definitely different." Her face reddened a bit, almost matching her pink spiral pigtails.
Could it be a best friend?
Baimu mused silently, thinking that as long as the Pokémon agreed and weren't doing anything harmful to themselves, he didn't mind his Pokémon having more companions.
[Not only does the prefect not forbid lighting fires, but they also encourage people to light lamps!]
Ultimately, that's the idea.
And so.
With Milotic's consent and leveraging the relationship between the two trainers, Garchomp and it initiated the first round of private interaction.
A half-playful, half-battle style.
A clatter of moves exchanged; Garchomp indeed had the stronger advantage, but Milotic's aptitude in mastering ice made them both feel somewhat evenly matched.
A draw successfully promoted the bond between the two.
Unfortunately, due to Baimu's personal reasons, Milotic had to temporarily part with its newfound best friend—
Xijana had arrived.
She seemed less wild than depicted in the games, capable of wearing ordinary T-shirts and jeans and even leisurely drinking coffee while waiting for someone at a café.
Together with Whismur, it gave Baimu, observing from the window, a vibe of meeting a city office worker.
"Sorry, I'm late."
He sat across from Xijana.
"Not at all," Xijana said with smiling eyes, "But are you ready? Ready to undertake the trial. I must remind you, the trial is somewhat dangerous, you need to be cautious."
Logically, shouldn't she have pointed out the dangers to make him reconsider?
Why was there only a warning and no choice?
Baimu took a sip of tea, pretending to ask, "The trial location is in Pacifidlog Town?"
"Of course not, the trial site is at the Holy Land of our Meteor People, within the great miracle built for Dragon God Rayquaza." Xijana, not intending to be mysterious, directly stated:
"The Pillar of the Sky, a great place."