After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Hakuya looked at Lisia, who was fully armed from head to toe, and couldn't hold back the question he had wanted to ask from the very beginning.
"By the way, aren't we just going out shopping? Why are you dressed like that, Lisia?"
A baseball cap that half-concealed her fragrant, beautiful emerald hair; a black coat that completely hid her graceful figure, only succeeding in making her look excessively bloated; and dark sunglasses and a face mask that completely covered her emerald eyes and cherry lips.
Unlike the image she presented at the Pokémon Contest a few days ago, Lisia's outfit today lacked any of the lively, beautiful charm of a teenage idol. Instead, she looked more like...
A superstar who had sneaked out to play behind her agency's back?
Associating this with Lisia's identity as a Contest Idol, this thought suddenly popped into Hakuya's mind.
"Keep your voice down! It's because there are simply too many people here," Lisia pulled down her mask slightly and made a "shush" gesture.
The normally lively and cheerful girl seemed to instantly transform into a cautious idol desperate to avoid her fans.
"It's different here than at the Contest Hall. If I showed up here with my current popularity and got recognized, it would likely cause an unnecessary commotion. If that happened, I'd be completely surrounded by a mob of fanatic female fans. Not only would I have to sign autographs one by one until my hand cramped into the next day, but my original plan for our shopping trip would be completely ruined..."
Covering her glossy, luscious cherry lips with the mask again, Lisia's voice suddenly dropped an octave.
As she explained, her jewel-like emerald eyes peered through her sunglasses, landing squarely on Hakuya.
For Lisia, signing autographs until her hand cramped was secondary. Most importantly, she didn't want their perfectly good shopping trip to be interrupted by a mob of fans, destroying the beautiful, romantic atmosphere of them spending time alone together.
Recalling the little tips given to her by an online streamer friend she had known for over a year, Lisia's expression turned serious.
First, use a shopping trip to gradually close the distance between us. Then, chat frequently to increase his affection level. Occasionally give him some gifts, and then, on a specific special holiday, unlock a special interaction. Finally, logically max out Hakuya's affection meter, make him drop his guard, and have him form a Contest Idol duo with me!
Recalling the methods taught by 'Iono-chan', who was a few years older than her, the girl nodded secretly to herself.
Yes! I can't afford to make any mistakes in any of these steps. I have to firmly grasp this opportunity!
Unaware of what the girl was plotting in her head, Hakuya simply nodded thoughtfully after listening to her explanation, immediately expressing his understanding and sympathy.
"After all, you are the most famous idol in the Contest scene. It's normal for people to pay attention to you. If you didn't take the necessary disguise measures, walking down the street would inevitably lead to being mobbed by fanatic fans demanding autographs."
Being recognized and mobbed by fans to the point of causing a commotion was certainly not blind arrogance on this idol girl's part.
Although the popularity of Pokémon Contests still lagged far behind Pokémon Tournaments, after dozens of editions, the gradual refinement of the competition format, the vigorous promotion of commercial broadcasting, and the recent advocacy by Contest Masters who had achieved high status in both battling and coordinating had resulted in the Contest's viewership trending steadily upwards every year.
As the currently most renowned idol in the Contest scene, coupled with her uniquely charming and cute appearance, Lisia's fans were naturally not limited to Coordinators. Many people who preferred flashy battles were also drawn in by her cute stage persona and powerful coordinating skills, becoming members of the "Lissi Fan Club."
Of course, Hakuya's ultimate takeaway differed slightly from Lisia's.
While the girl was still plotting how to use the shopping trip to advance their relationship, he was just secretly rejoicing that he hadn't agreed to her proposal to debut as an idol duo. Otherwise, he would probably have to bundle himself up like this every time he wanted to leave the house in the future.
"Hehe~ That's exactly why I specifically changed into this outfit to deal with this kind of situation," Lisia said, doing a lively twirl, seemingly very satisfied with her plan.
At the end, she even added a sentence with a face full of pride.
"I've been standing here for so long, and not a single person has been able to recognize who I am~"
"Hmm... it is a very high-level disguise. If you hadn't specifically waved and called out to me just now, I wouldn't have recognized you at first either." Hakuya rubbed his chin, casting another glance over Lisia's attire, and revealed a thoughtful expression. "But I have this strange feeling... your outfit today might actually attract more attention here?"
"Eh?"
Lisia's expression froze slightly.
Then, following Hakuya's gaze, the girl looked around at her surroundings.
Because the meeting place they had agreed upon happened to be the most famous commercial street in Rustboro City. Museums displaying fossils excavated from all over the world, food stalls and large restaurants rarely seen elsewhere—they were all packed tightly together here. Even the headquarters of the Devon Corporation, the largest enterprise in the Hoenn region, was located right in the center of this commercial street.
Therefore, this area didn't just attract tourists from all over the world drawn by its reputation; even the locals living here always had a passion for strolling down these streets. Even though it wasn't the weekend, the spacious avenue was packed with people wandering and enjoying themselves.
However, at this moment, although the dense sea of people was surging shoulder-to-shoulder and back-to-back like the tide, it was as if they were deliberately avoiding something—forming a clearly distinguishable, empty circular gap solely around Hakuya and Lisia.
Lisia's outfit was simply too iconic.
Several female Trainers who had been observing this area for a while were holding their PokéNavs. They alternated between looking up at the heavily bundled Lisia and looking down to whisper among themselves. Finally, they confirmed that this was indeed the Lissi-sama praised as the cutest and most lively idol in Contests. Their eyes instantly lit up, and they swarmed over to ask for autographs.
Meanwhile, a Growlithe patrolling the street barked furiously in their direction, dragging over a female officer who was equally furrowing her brow.
The higher the foot traffic, the stricter the security presence usually was.
—The reality unfolded exactly as Hakuya had predicted. Walking down this street bundled up so tightly would result in either sharp-eyed super-fans deducing your identity through reverse psychology, or a patrolling Officer Jenny treating you as a highly suspicious individual and stopping you for questioning on the spot.
"Dammit, how did it end up like this~"
Finally, after signing autographs for the five female Trainers who had blown her cover, and then desperately explaining to the questioning Officer Jenny that she wasn't a criminal, the idol girl took off the baseball cap hiding her face, feeling utterly exhausted.
Her plan for a romantic, relationship-building shopping trip where just the two of them could be alone had completely failed right from the start!