—Praised as the brightest rising star among Hoenn's new generation of Coordinators, an idol holding the title of "Lissi"? ×
—Randomly dragging potential Trainers off the street to enter Contests, a social terrorist whose true form is an Altaria? ✓
The moment dozens of camera lenses focused on him, Hakuya admitted he was sweating a little.
It felt like being caught in the middle of a brutal love triangle, only to have the entire thing broadcast live to the whole world. It was a fast track to social death.
Fortunately, the idol girl in front of him sharply noticed the awkward atmosphere.
She hurriedly waved her small hands, shooing the gaggle of cameramen away to go film other Coordinators down the street.
After all, as the beloved niece of Wallace—a Contest Master who had dominated the competitive scene for decades—and an exceptional Coordinator in her own right, Lisia's every move garnered massive attention.
Whenever she stepped outside, numerous TV reporters would flock to her, hoping to score an exclusive interview for their Trainer segments.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to cause any trouble for you and your Pokémon."
The girl bowed slightly, her face full of genuine apology.
"I'm also a competitor in this Contest. I'm Lisia from Sootopolis City. I felt like you had incredible potential as a Trainer, which is why I specifically came over to ask if you were interested in Contests..."
"It's fine. My name is Hakuya."
Hakuya waved his hand dismissively, responding with a friendly smile.
"Besides, I actually was seriously considering whether to participate in this upcoming Contest."
"Eh?!!"
From a close but perfectly respectful distance, the girl's eyes sparkled like radiant emerald gemstones.
...
"Oh, oh! So you were just struggling to decide which Pokémon to enter with, Mr. Hakuya?"
After a brief explanation, Lisia nodded in sudden realization.
Then, her gaze naturally shifted to Floragato—who was gripping Hakuya's sleeve and glaring at her suspiciously—and to Milcery, who was floating mid-air looking as adorable as a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream. A faint glimmer of awe subconsciously flashed in her beautiful eyes.
Cool and cute.
That was the first impression that popped into Lisia's head as an elite Coordinator.
Judging purely by their appearance and aura, these were absolutely prime candidates for a Pokémon Contest.
And it was precisely for this reason—hoping more Trainers would join Contests and strive to unearth their Pokémon's unique charm—that Lisia had been so excited initially, rushing over to ask if Hakuya was interested.
As for the Rosa-fied Latias, who was puffing her cheeks and intentionally looking the other way...
Because her shapeshifting was so flawlessly executed, Lisia failed to recognize her true identity.
When the topic of choosing a Pokémon came up, Hakuya rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
"Yes. You see, I happen to have two Pokémon who both really want to participate in this Contest. No matter which one I choose, I'll end up playing favorites, which is why I was stressing out earlier..."
A proactive, assertive Floragato and a tsundere, "losing heroine" Latias. Putting them together made for an impossible choice.
And if he really went with his angelic Milcery, he had a strong feeling he'd be dragged into a basement by the other two working together.
Getting forced into an egg-breeding plan right now is a huge NO—
"I see! In that case, I've got the perfect solution!"
At this moment, the girl withdrew her assessing gaze. She first nodded with exaggerated solemnity, then tapped her lower lip with her index finger and spoke.
"However, this Contest is different from the usual ones! It's the Wallace Cup, an inaugural event founded by Mr. Wallace himself. The competition format requires a performance by two Pokémon simultaneously, so you don't need to stress over choosing just one, Mr. Hakuya~"
"Also, here is your Contest Pass to enter the Wallace Cup, along with a Pokéblock Case!"
Radiating the same youthful energy she had when she first appeared, the girl blinked and gave him a playful wink. Her fragrant, silky emerald hair traced a light, beautiful arc through the air as she moved.
Having successfully recruited a highly promising Coordinator, she prepared to return to her original schedule and get ready for the Wallace Cup.
"Hehe! Then I'll be looking forward to seeing the amazing performance from you and your Floragato at the Contest, Mr. Hakuya~"
"...Why do I get the feeling Lisia is just acting as a recruiter to pump up the participant numbers for Wallace's event?"
Watching the girl shove the Contest Pass and Pokéblock Case into his hands before immediately bolting, Hakuya couldn't help but mutter.
Jokes aside, the reality was definitely nothing like that.
Excluding the various evil syndicates and poachers, the vast majority of people in the Pokémon world were incredibly kind-hearted.
This was especially true for a "social terrorist" like Lisia.
Carrying extra Contest Passes and Pokéblock Cases to randomly hand out to Trainers she deemed to have potential was a 1:1 recreation of what she did in the Pokémon Journeys anime. It didn't surprise Hakuya at all.
As for her uncle, Wallace, he was a Champion-level Trainer who had maxed out his stats in both Pokémon Battles and Coordinator Performances. Just dropping his name was enough to cause a massive sensation among Trainers; he absolutely didn't need to send anyone out to drag in random people just to make up the numbers.
After learning that the Wallace Cup format required a duo performance, Hakuya returned to the Pokémon Center. He specifically looked up several recordings of past Contest performances and began to study them carefully.
His current understanding of Pokémon Contests was still limited to his basic impressions from the anime and games.
The specific flow of the competition, the detailed rules, how to efficiently score points from the judges using move combinations... these were all things he urgently needed to study if he was going to participate in the Wallace Cup in two days.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. This was one of Hakuya's core creeds.
However, if you asked whether he could actually win the championship of this Wallace Cup?
"Meowha~" "La-woo~"
Hakuya turned his head to look at the two figures beside him. They were glaring daggers at each other, but both of their eyes were burning with an intense, blazing competitive spirit.
With the unspoken subtext being 'Whoever drags the team down permanently forfeits their ownership rights to the Trainer', the combined performance of these two would most likely result in a synergy where 1+1 was far greater than 2.
Yeah, I just hope that 'Lissi' girl is ready to be elbowed by a fully motivated Floragato and Latias—
Once they easily cleared the Appeals Stage, they would use the Battle Stage to teach those Coordinators a lesson: that the sheer terror of overwhelming stats was also a valid form of a Pokémon's "charm."
"Nai~"
While he was deeply engrossed in studying the Contest mechanics, his daily feeding service arrived right on schedule.
"If you keep feeding me like this every day, I'm going to get fat eventually, Milcery."
With his mouth stuffed full, and a plate of whipped-cream Oran Berry pastries shoved in front of him by a highly expectant Milcery, Hakuya couldn't help but smile helplessly. In the end, he reached out and affectionately rubbed Milcery's head.
The Milcery line naturally offered Berries decorated with their own whipped cream to Trainers they trusted. Any dessert decorated by them became rich and sweet, bringing a profound sense of happiness to anyone who ate it.
And with his physical constitution enhanced by his Gym Badges, a little bit of high-calorie whipped cream every day wouldn't negatively affect his body in the slightest.
It's just that... if you keep acting like such a perfect, devoted 'waifu'...
...Milcery, sooner or later, Floragato and Latias are going to view you as Public Enemy #1 and team up to elbow you out of existence.
Hakuya was absolutely certain of this.