3:00 PM.
The third round of the Gorgeous Competition's second battle has ended.
Liuqia unsurprisingly became Baimu's final opponent.
"It's within expectations."
He leaned against a nearby Altered-color Gengar, applauding the splendid performance just now, while looking down at the Milotic and Surskit lying on the ground in the drizzle.
Mira's expression of regret was also clearly visible.
Just as he thought, Liuqia knew Milotic-type Pokémon all too well, understanding their strengths and weaknesses thoroughly even without having raised them.
Moreover, Liuqia herself is stronger than Mira, so the outcome was not surprising.
If Mira had unleashed her cosmos and won against Liuqia, it would have been startling.
"A master-student internal battle..."
Baimu kneaded the soft yet resilient "ear" of the Altered-color Gengar with one hand, feeling it deform and then return to its original shape in his palm, he felt quite content.
He had long wanted to pinch it but hadn't found the right opportunity.
He always had a premonition that it would run away if touched.
On the other hand, Gengar, as a Pokémon made of shadows, was fascinating, with its whole body being one piece, except for its mouth, there were no other openings.
Even its eyes looked like stickers, unlike human's embedded eyeballs.
This was quite adorable.
Baimu stretched out his other hand, pinched the other ear, and gently rubbed it from behind.
"Geng~"
The Altered-color Gengar had a slightly awkward expression.
It had never been this close to a human being before. Seeing other Pokémon snuggling with their Trainers before, it did feel a bit envious.
However, when it actually came to closer physical contact, the Altered-color Gengar, always staying at the head-patting phase, felt somewhat uncomfortable.
But refusing...
Didn't seem necessary?
After all, it actually longed to get closer to Baimu, and the ears weren't uncomfortable. The fact that he could smile because of it made the Altered-color Gengar very happy.
After a while.
The nearby spectators were mostly gone.
Baimu let go of the Altered-color Gengar's horn-like pointy ears, dusted off his behind that had no dirt, and called, "Let's go, Xiaoguang! Xiaogang!"
Not far away, Xiaoguang, dressed in a cheerleading outfit, reluctantly withdrew her gaze.
"Miss Mira must be quite unwilling to accept this."
Xiaogang sighed, "No one is willing to lose to others, even when victory isn't everything, everyone still yearns for it."
"...That's true."
Xiaoguang forced a smile, as a fellow loser, she deeply understood the feeling of Mira, who lingered on stage not wanting to leave.
Xiaogang laughed, "It's okay! Just let me take action now, I'll prepare a delicious dinner for Miss Mira, and she'll definitely regain her vitality—"
Catching sight of something out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly leaned on the railing.
"Eh?"
A young man holding a little girl ran out from the contestants' passageway, they rushed over to Mira, embracing and crying together.
"Ah! It's Miss Mira's husband and daughter!" Xiaoguang exclaimed.
"Miss Mira has a husband?"
Xiaogang couldn't believe it and turned to ask the two.
Baimu looked puzzled, then turned to Xiaoguang and said, "She's always been married... you didn't tell him?"
"I thought you did."
Xiaoguang looked innocent.
She hadn't even paid much attention at all, really.
Baimu, muttering to himself, he has always been the type focused on competing, once in the zone, he wouldn't let his attention waver.
Who could have thought that Xiaogang, who had been gathering information on gorgeous older sisters for so long, didn't even know the marital status?
"Speaking of which, how did you fall for Mira... oh well, pointless to ask."
Baimu grabbed Xiaogang by the back of his collar and dragged him away.
Since this guy, not only was he in tears, but his whole being also turned to stone, clearly having suffered some emotional shock.
Serves you right.
For falling in love at first sight so easily.
And Xiaoguang, gazing at the deeply moving scene below, inexplicably thought of her mom far away in Twinleaf Town.
She decided to make a phone call later.
"Let's go, Gengar!"
Baimu called to the Altered-color Gengar who was also looking down.
"Geng!"
The latter quickly floated to follow.
After tonight's rest comes the final round.
Essentially speaking.
He and Liuqia "know each other very well."
Both had lived together in the Glazed Gym for over a month, during which all practice and battles, as long as they weren't deliberately hidden, must have been completely exposed in each other's eyes.
So it's nearly impossible to have a battle of intelligence disparity.
Unless one of them, like Xiaoguang or Ash Ketchum, can make their Pokémon perform exceptionally well with tacit technique combinations without any prior practice, or uses a crucial technique unknown to the opponent.
Baimu, of course, wasn't sure he could do it.
Liuqia...
It's hard to say.
Compared to the Altered Galarian Rapidash, the Altaria Xiaoqingqing is the Pokémon that embodies all her coordination skills, and more surprisingly, she possesses Super Evolution.
Perhaps Liuqia once had several years of Gorgeous Competition vacuum period due to her performing career, but after half a year's training, the overall strength of Altaria had already taken a huge step forward.
Outside the Battle Tower.
Baimu, Xiaoguang, and others met up.
"Xiaobai, where did you go!?"
Hoopa flew up to accuse him of taking away the Altered-color Gengar, but in reality, he had just gone to the spot the organizers had prepared for the contestants.
To avoid causing a stir, contestants' seats are often isolated in separate rooms.
Baimu raised his hand in a gesture of innocence.
The deeply disappointed Xiaogang immediately flopped onto the ground.
Balza asked, "What happened to him?"
Hoopa curiously poked Xiaogang's forehead.
"He fell in love with someone he shouldn't have," Baimu replied, seeing Mei Yali's sympathetic expression, quickly added, "This guy has fallen for more people in a year than the Pokémon he's caught."