"It's a shiny Beldum! The same kind of Pokémon as Champion Steven! Am I dreaming?"
"Is this a Dragon-type Pokémon? It's so domineering! I've never seen it in the Pokédex!"
"To think there are so many rare Pokémon I've never seen before! It's so enviable!"
Audience members who hadn't seen these two Pokémon before marveled one after another. Familiar faces who had watched Lionel's previous matches immediately and enthusiastically acted as commentators.
Beldum used to be shy around crowds, hiding behind Lionel and refusing to show its face. But this time, with Milotic and Tyrantrum by its side, it was clearly much bolder.
It sidled up to Milotic, mimicking its mannerisms. Its red eye flickered slightly as it used Confusion to lift several audience members into the air, eliciting constant gasps from the surroundings.
A boy in the crowd stepped forward, cutting the line to tease it on purpose: "Beldum, I want to float too!"
Beldum tilted its head and actually did as requested, except it carried him toward the back of the crowd, as if saying "get in line," making everyone laugh even harder.
Seeing Beldum steal the spotlight, Tyrantrum's competitive streak immediately flared up.
It lowered its head and nudged a little girl's hem with its head, as if extending an invitation.
After the little girl hesitantly sat on it, it shook its body proudly. The little girl screamed and grabbed its back in fear, but as she landed, she shouted with a red face: "That was so exciting! I want to do it again!"
Now, no one could stay calm. People wanting to be "Dragon Riders" immediately formed a long queue. Tyrantrum was busy spinning around, but its tail was cocked high in pride.
Mauville City's Nurse Joy, who was nearby, hadn't left yet. Unlike Chairman Susaki and Director Colosseum, who had many things to attend to, as the local Pokémon Center nurse, she wanted to take a moment to greet Lionel.
When she saw Beldum, her eyes lit up. She walked over quickly, her eyes curving into crescents with a gentle smile: "Beldum, can I have a hug?"
Beldum stopped its levitation antics and tilted its head, staring at Nurse Joy's face intently. Its red eye blinked repeatedly as if it were thinking seriously.
Then it turned around to look at Lionel. Seeing Lionel smile and nod, it flapped its body and flew into Joy's arms.
Joy held it carefully, her fingertips gently scratching its metallic body. Beldum squinted its eye comfortably and let out a light "ding-ding" sound.
"Beldum, I want to hug you too!"
A boy also leaned in and shouted.
However, Beldum shook its body haughtily and nuzzled into Joy's arms, while simultaneously using Confusion to give the boy a gentle shove, pushing him back into the crowd.
This "only recognizes beauties" behavior made the onlookers burst into laughter. Even Joy couldn't help but smile, poking its body with her finger: "You little fellow, you're quite picky about people."
This scene was captured by countless lenses, and the live stream's bullet chat instantly flooded like a waterfall:
[Arghhh, Nurse Joy got to hug Beldum! I'm so jealous my teeth are falling out!]
[During the Flint Gym match last time, Beldum wouldn't even let anyone touch it. How come it's so well-behaved for Nurse Joy? Appearance is everything, right?]
[Beldum: Only those with high beauty scores can hug, got it?]
[The streamer spoils his fans way too much. He has no ego at all and lets his Pokémon play with everyone for so long. I regret not going to the scene!]
After a while, Nurse Joy returned Beldum to Lionel. With the cool metallic sensation of Beldum's body still lingering on her fingertips, she said with a smile: "Your Pokémon are all very cute, especially Beldum. It's more lively than any I've seen at the Pokémon Center."
"Thank you for looking after it, Nurse Joy."
Lionel caught Beldum. The little guy was still trying to nuzzle toward Joy as if it hadn't had enough, and only settled down after Lionel gave its head a light tap.
While Lionel signed the autograph books being handed over, he smilingly directed the three little ones to pose for photos.
Milotic was responsible for "Beauty," Beldum for "Being Cute," and Tyrantrum for being a "Mount." The division of labor was clear.
Time slipped away bit by bit. The setting sun cast its light at an angle, gilding the noisy crowd with a warm golden edge.
The originally surging crowd gradually thinned out. Finally, only a few lingering audience members remained, reluctantly taking photos of Milotic.
Lionel raised his hand to check his watch and realized that nearly three hours had passed since the match ended.
Even the staff had changed shifts. The new young man was leaning against the wall yawning, but he still gave Lionel a thumbs-up with a smile.
"Alright everyone, let's call it a day."
Lionel waved to the last few audience members. His voice carried a hint of fatigue, yet remained gentle: "Thank you all for your support. I hope we meet again."
Although the audience wanted to stay longer, they knew they shouldn't intrude too much. They waved goodbye with smiles, saying things like "Keep it up!"
"We will always support you!"
As he walked to the arena entrance, the evening breeze blew against his face, carrying the unique scent of Mauville City's electric particles.
Lionel looked up at the sunset glow on the horizon; it was like an overturned palette, so brilliant one couldn't look away.
He walked out of the Pokémon Contest venue and ended today's live stream.
Lionel looked at today's stream settlement interface on his system panel. Seeing the popularity points numbers jumping on the screen, he couldn't help but be dazed for a moment.
This Mauville City Pokémon Contest stream, which started in the morning, plus the three hours of photo sessions and interactions with the Pokémon afterward, had actually reached a total duration of 8 hours and 4 minutes.
[Today's Stream Duration: 8 hours 4 minutes]
[Peak Online Viewers: 4,414,257 people]
[Total popularity points: 9,127,896]
——
Looking at that string of nearly 4.4 million peak online viewers, Lionel was overjoyed.
He remembered that when he challenged the Flint Gym a couple of days ago, the peak online viewers were only around 2.1 million. Today, it had nearly doubled.
Clearly, the scene of Feebas evolving into Milotic had brought an unexpected viral effect, attracting a large number of new viewers.
"It seems for the next period of time, I won't have to worry about items like Energy Clusters."
Lionel secretly rejoiced in his heart.
Looking at the popularity points, a relaxed smile played on the corners of Lionel's mouth. He directly chose to use all the popularity points for a high-level ten-draw gacha.
In his mind, the virtual draw interface skipped rapidly, and various items popped up one after another:
[High-level Pokémon Energy Cluster x2, Draining Kiss x1, Scald x1, Ice Punch x1, Play Rough x1, Substitute x1, Will-O-Wisp x1, Flamethrower x1, Defense Power-Up x11, Attack Power-Up x9, Speed Power-Up x8, Special Defense Power-Up x10, HP Power-Up x7, Special Attack Power-Up x12————]
[Draining Kiss: A Fairy-type move. The user steals the target's HP with a kiss. The user's HP is restored by over half the damage taken by the target.]
[Scald: The user attacks by shooting boiling hot water at its target. This may also leave the target with a burn.]
[Ice Punch: The target is punched with an icy fist. This may also leave the target frozen.]
[Play Rough: A Fairy-type move. The user plays rough with the target and attacks it. This may also lower the target's Attack stat.]
[Will-O-Wisp: The user shoots a sinister, bluish-white flame at the target to inflict a burn.]
[Flamethrower: The target is scorched with an intense blast of fire. This may also leave the target with a burn.]
The string of rewards made Lionel nod in satisfaction. The Pokémon Energy Clusters and stat-enhancing medicines went without saying.
The surprise was the Technical Machines. Draining Kiss and Scald could be given to Milotic, and Tyrantrum could learn Play Rough, giving him another move to counter Dragon-type Pokémon when the time came.